Elder Van in Spain: Changes!

Our district, we made a fantastic meal consisting of Texas Roadhouse style rolls and butter, mashed potatoes, sausages, and ribs

Hola a todos!

It has been a wild week, to say the least!!! I love the mission, it is always so interesting and there are always things changing. And well, we had one of those changes this week. Our Mission President called us on Friday to tell us that my companion, Elder Madsen, was being transferred, and I was going to stay and get a new companion. It was completely unexpected, and we were not prepared for it at all, but it's been great. We have been running around and making sure everything is good, and at the same time still getting the work to move forward. It's like working at In-N-Out, the time just flies when you are absolutely slammed with things to do!!

We had a mission wide conference this week, through zoom, and there were quite a few things I enjoyed. 1 thing that was said was that success isn't the absence of failure, but rather going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm. Also reminded me of a quote from Winston Churchill that says, "attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference." And in life, including missionary work, we will experience rejection, loss, and yes failure. Out in the mission, we are asking people to change their lives and come to Christ. And for some people that is very hard to do, and we see a lot of rejection. However, it is my decision if I want to see total failure. I have learned, especially in the mission and even more so in quarantine, that your attitude can make or break a day. Christ, our Great Example, demonstrated this perfectly. A couple examples: When he fasted for 40 days, imagine that 40 days! Nowhere does it say and it came to pass that Jesus complained. (Matthew 4:1-3) Nowhere! When Jesus and his disciples were rejected by a Samaritan village, nowhere does it say and therefore Jesus became angry and pouted. (Luke 9:52-56) Nowhere! But rather He kept a positive attitude, high enthusiasm, even though he was having some hard times and experiencing rejection. Although you may not see what some people define as "success," the decision to fail is left to us. Do we let our tough situations and setbacks wear us down? Do we let it get the best of us, and do we succumb to failure? Well, the choice is yours, my friend. And of course, this is much easier said than done, however, I know and have personally experienced, that having that positive enthusiasm and a good attitude makes the world of a difference. It was for sure a great reminder, especially during these tough times with the virus and the quarantine.

Thank you to everyone who wished me a Happy Birthday, I had a great day and felt loved by many of you and your emails and birthday wishes. I also hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend!!! Ether 2:12, if you haven't heard of that scripture yet, go look it up. It's a great one.

Élder Van Wagenen
God Bless America, Viva España

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