Elder Van in Spain: Quarantine: Week 12

June 6th, 2020. 6:30am.

After realizing I was in the same time zone as France, we woke up at 5:30am, hiked for 5 miles to a mountain, to celebrate the 76th anniversary, to the exact minute, of the D-Day landings.

It was awesome.

Hola a todos!

It has been a crazy week!!! But it also has been amazing! The quarantine has been slowly being lifted, and in fact today we received a lot more freedom, and we can spend a lot more time outside. Blessings! But big news this week was that there was going to be some changes in our district. 2 elders in our district will be leaving, and our area just doubled in size, so it is going to be a fun transfer! And we can also use the car now, so it is going to be a very fun transfer!

This past week, I hit 8 months, a third, in the mission. And it is truly incredible how fast it has gone by. Truly crazy thinking a year ago I had been a fresh high school graduate. And I had some time to reflect, and really see what the mission has done for me. We come out here, and give up everything for 2 years, so that anybody can have everything for eternity. But also, we as missionaries grow and learn. And my spiritual, emotional, physical, and mental health has grown exceedingly in the past 8 months. And I can even kinda talk in a new language! One way I have really seen myself grow was spiritually. My testimony of this Gospel grows by the day and my gratitude for it as well. I know that this is the Lord's church on the earth and that the Book of Mormon is true. Time and time again I have been able to apply it to my life, even though it was written centuries ago. I know it's true! And anybody can read it, and if you have a true desire to know whether it is true or not, you can also receive that same confirmation. I love that book!!!

I hope everyone has a great week, and a friendly patriotic reminder. June 14th is Flag day!!! So hang up the stars and stripes this Sunday!!!

Until next week!

Élder Van Wagenen

God Bless America, Viva España

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