Elder Van in Spain: Members are the best!

Me and Elder Fuentes, in our district, chilling on top of el castillo de la atalaya

Hola a todos!

Wow, it has been another amazing week!!! All I have to say is, without the help of members, missionaries just will not see as much success as they could. And I have seen that this week. We have received so many references from members in our branches of people who may be interested in hearing the Gospel, and it has been awesome!

First-person we have been teaching is Ariel. He is not a member; however, his wife is. They are from Paraguay, and they drink mate! So we are going to be doing that together soon, however with the virus, we still cannot meet in people's homes; however, we can if they have a balcony, patio, or something similar to that where we can maintain social distancing. Lucky for us, Ariel and his family have a really nice patio, and we were able to sit and teach Ariel about the Restoration. And I had an interesting experience while teaching him. So in Spain, a very large majority of the population are "Catholic." By that meaning, they were baptized when they were young, but rarely go to church, however they all believe in God. And as we taught him that God is our loving Heavenly Father, I asked him what role has God had in his life. And he told me, honestly nothing. And I was not expecting that, as usually most people believe in God, but it was interesting to see that wow, this guy just has no idea. And so I testified that God exists, and he is there. He answers our prayers and loves us unconditionally. I felt the Spirit as I testified of God and His love, and I know it touched his heart. So we are really excited to follow up with him this week.

Unfortunately, we were shut down by the stake to hold meetings in the church. Not sure why however it was short-lived. They also have discouraged zoom Sacrament Meetings. Which at first was quite odd, however makes more sense. A couple years ago, President Nelson and the apostles introduced the Come Follow Me program, and shortened church from 3 hours to 2 hours. Making a more home-centered worship. We didn't quite understand why but enjoyed the awesome scripture guides and for sure the less hour of church. And here we are, with a global pandemic, and yet we have continued to still worship on Sundays, and feel the Spirit as we do so. All I get from that is the Prophets and Apostles know what they are doing! I just won't believe that "by coincidence," they introduced a home-centered worship before a global pandemic would put the whole world on hold, and church meetings would be suspended until further notice. That did not "just" happen. I know that the Prophet and Apostles receive revelation from the Lord on how-to guide and lead us in these latter days, and this is just one clear example.

I hope everyone has had a great week!

Élder Van Wagenen

God Bless America, Viva España

Fotos:

1. I went fishing! In Spain, in the Mediterranean! It was way different than Lake Tahoe, or in Yosemite Wilderness, but it was fun! We were just catching small ones for bait.