Set time

 Elder Ireland! We survived the quarantine together in Andalucia, reunited a year later!

 Hola a todos!

This week I have learned the importance of setting apart time from my personal, crazy busy life, to listen to the Spirit. Not that it took me a year and a half to learn this, however as an office Elder, I have a very busy schedule, in which sometimes we need to change our schedules, or make some other sacrifice, so that we can study and take that time to receive revelation. However, something else I have been doing apart from that is before I go to bed and after saying prayers, I like to just sit and ponder. Luckily for me, I live on the 13th floor of a building in the middle of Barcelona, and I have very nice views of the Mediterranean sea, the Sagrada Familia, Tibidabo, Camp Nou, and many other Barcelona landmarks.  I love going out to our balcony, looking at the city, and just think. Thinking about how my day went, what went well, what didn't go so well, my problems and concerns, and just life in general. And I have found that in these times, I have peace of mind, one that helps me take a complete break, and reconnect with my Heavenly Father. And as I keep doing it, I feel even closer to my Heavenly Father, and it's these moments and experiences that give me the boost when we have a tough day, or the energy when we have a busy and exhausting day. 

The work keeps moving forward! I hope everyone has a wonderful week, and look for that time to reconnect! You won't regret it!

Élder Van Wagenen

God Bless America, Viva España

Fotos:

1. The Elders from San Sebastian came this past week. Elder Blake here makes me look like I am a very short man

2. Plaza Catalunya during Sant Jordi

3. Visit with a member!

Presentations and presentations!

Bunkers with the boyz

Hola a todos!

It has been a crazy couple of weeks in the office! We, as the social media specialists, have been quite slammed, as usual, but very busy with training the mission. We were able to present in 2 zone conferences this week, one of those being in person! That was super fun. We also held a social media devotional this Sunday, and everything went super well! We are also going to every single zone in our mission and doing virtual training on how to work on Facebook using stories, sometimes I still can't believe that our main tool to work and find people is on Facebook, it is crazy, but it is super awesome, and I love being at the heart of it because I hear of so many awesome miracles that have come from Facebook.

Speaking of miracles, we had asked the Elders who are currently serving in my beloved old area of Palma de Mallorca to share a miracle they had recently seen on Facebook, and it is just so cool and so awesome that I wanted to include it here. We have 6 pages throughout our whole mission, and all the missionaries are in charge of publishing regularly on these pages, you likely have seen very similar things going on in your local Facebook. And the miracle that the Elders in Palma shared is an excellent example on why we do just that. A person was just on Facebook scrolling through their feed, as many people do, and for some reason, she saw a post made on our page out in the islands. The Spirit touched her heart, and she went to the page, and SHE texted the missionaries so she could know more. The missionaries quickly taught her the lessons, and she is going to be baptized here very soon. The Lord still prepares people to receive the joy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and He does so by guiding them to us through their feeds. It is so crazy to think about, but that is the new normal, so awesome!!!

Just as the Lord leads and guides these people to hear the good word, the Lord also guides us in our lives. We are faced with decisions every single day, sometimes it's debating what cereal to eat, and other times its bigger decisions, where to work, where to live, what to study, etc. But, just as I said, the Lord can guide us and help us make the correct decisions. With that, it requires faith. Luckily, our beloved Prophet gave an amazing talk on faith, and how to grow it. I loved that he said if we want to grow our faith, we must do things that require faith. And if we do, we can move our personal mountains in our lives, with help from God. If you haven't read that talk yet, ya should!

Until next week!

Élder Van Wagenen 

God Bless America, Viva España 

Fotos:

1. Visca Catalunya 

2. Castillo de Montjuïc a year and a half later. Last time I was here was in Nov. 2019

3. Nov. 2019, my first day in Spain. Do I look any different?? Jaja

4. Mate with a true Argentine

5. Barcelona ❤

6. Bunkers

The Spirit is so good

Our District

 Hola a todos!

This week we had a really cool teaching experience with one of our amigos, Giari. Giari is from Venezuela, however, had lived in Chile most of her life. About 2 months ago, she came to Barcelona. She loves to travel and adventure and came to see if living in Spain would be good for her and her husband, who stayed in Chile. She had met with the missionaries while in Chile, and the missionary who had previously taught her reached out to us, and we met and started teaching. Things were going really well in our lessons, we've had one a week for the past month or so. This last week we weren't exactly sure what we wanted to teach her, and so we created some backup plans, but really went in relying on what the Spirit needed to teach her. We got to talking, and we quickly sensed that something was wrong with her, she just wasn't as happy as she was. We kept on talking, and she told us that she will sadly be returning back to Chile. We were sad, as is she, however, she feels that she didn't waste her time here and that maybe it was God's will. At that moment, I received a strong impression to watch a certain video. After watching said video, we asked her what she was feeling, or if anything had called her attention. She struggled to come up with an answer, as she was fighting back tears. She then said she doesn't know why God had her come in the first place, or why her time was cut short, she thought maybe it was just to meet you 2 here in Barcelona I don't know, but I know God knows best. Spirit was felt so strong in that moment! We later invited her to attend General Conference, and promised that she can receive very personalized answers from the messages given there. And this is the best part. She said oh yeah I've already received answers, with this! (Taps on Book of Mormon cover). In that cita, we learned of this woman's incredible faith in God's plan, and also that she had received a testimony of the Book of Mormon. Is that not just the coolest thing ever?? She may not get baptized here in Spain at this time, but I am very confident that in the short future she will start a new life as a faithful member of Christ's church.

At the end of the week, we had General Conference, also super awesome! I loved so many talks, but more importantly the spirit that I felt as I listened to the messages. I really enjoyed President Nelson's talk, and his invitation, with provided steps, on how to grow our faith. I really liked that he said do things that require faith, and your faith will grow. I just love that! If you haven't taken a listen yet to those talks, it would be a big shame. So go listen to those talks!

Until next week,

Élder Van Wagenen 

God Bless America, Viva España 

Fotos:

1. Good talk eh?

2. Arc de Triomf

3. Barri Gótic 

4. I SAW AN IN-N-OUT STICKER ON THE STREET AND IT MADE MY DAY

5. Cascada monumental