September 25,2017 Email :D

I could just leave my email as the heading and just....YES!! I am so excited for General Conference!!! I love the spirit and revelation that comes from hearing the words of our dear prophet and leaders of the church!!! I know I said this last conference, but I would encourage all of you as you prepare for General Conference to ponder about and right down one or two questions of your soul that you would love an answer to! From my own personal experience and my testimony of our Lord Jesus Christ and how much Heavenly Father knows and loves each of us SO MUCH...I can promise that you will receive an answer!! It's so beautiful! 

This week I was so excited to watch Women's Conference I could almost not contain myself!! I am so grateful for the spirit that unites each and every one of us! There is a special unity, of course, that comes from the women as the church as we gather together to be edified and learn! As the choir opened with "Let Zion in her Beauty Rise" It was absolutely electrifying!! I just looked over at Sister Giles to see that she was just beaming too! The session was so good, with so many golden nuggets! I especially loved a quote I wrote down from Sister Jay D. Jones' talk.

"As the Savior lifts us, we can see more clearly. Not only who we are, but that we are closer to Him than we ever imagined."

SO GOOD!!! :D It is so true!

We had a miracle in our District this week! (one of the many, of course) But the Elders have been getting referrals like CRAZY and we just get the glorious opportunity to teach many of the referrals they receive. This last week, that got a referral from a member in Duncan that knew of a 13-year-old girl in the hospital and her single mom. The Elders went to the hospital and were able to give them both a Priesthood blessing. It went really well, and the girl and her mom excitedly asked to meet the Elders again the next day. They did, and because the girl, Tianna, was released from the hospital on Friday, she was able to come to church yesterday!! Tianna is the sweetest thing ever! Her mom couldn't make it, as she has some health concerns of her own, but Tianna came BY HERSELF to church. She sat with me and Sister Giles, attended all 3 meetings, and even went around meeting people with us. I would shake someone's hand and turn to her, and she would stick out her hand "Hi! I'm Tianna!" Her first day at church and she bore her testimony in Sunday school, sang the hymns like a pro, read scriptures and just loved it. I love her dearly and pray I can have the zeal that she has! She is golden and I am so grateful Heavenly Father has blessed me with her! She asked Sister Giles yesterday "Can I be an Elder?" "No, but you can be a Sister!" Sister Giles said. And indeed, I know someday she will be! :) 

I had some fun experiences with new drinks this week! Below I have pictured a fun drink that originates in Quebec. There is a nice member that owns a poutine shop here in Victoria and always feeds the missionaries for free! So we hustled on over there last week and enjoyed some poutine with this signature drink. It's basically like drinking a tree..a Christmas tree! A very strong, particular taste. 

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There is a fun family that we have been visiting the past couple of weeks that are SO COOL!! They're Quakers. (Kind of irrelevant to the story, but I think it's cool) We dropped by the other night, and they talked to us on the porch. They were eating rootbeer floats with a different kind o soda, and the dad got really excited!! He was like "I made it myself! You've got to try it!!" He came back with two, little glasses and was like "That's all we have left" Guilt trip if I've ever seen one! He called it Ginger Beer, and as we sipped at it, it tasted pretty similar to the spruce beer...but...ginger. :) Sister Giles just couldn't even handle it...I just drank it quick. He explained how he made it then...in a jar...and it ferments....uh oh! Did we just break the word of wisdom?!?! I don't know!! All I know is that I was totally sick throwing up that night and I've got a new story to tell! :O Ginger beer my friends...be warned!!

Wow. Our ward mission plan (that I may have mentioned before) is getting right along!! We have a special Ward council every other week just to talk about missionary work, and we launched it yesterday! We have all these tri-fold pamphlets (glossy paper, the works!) handed out to the auxiliaries and they are now meeting with their presidencies and quorums to get us names and action plans going!! I am SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!! I know that Heavenly Father can help us reach our goals as we put this plan into action!!

I love the gospel!! I love missionary work and the opportunity that we all have every day to share the gospel with somebody!! Let's use it!! 

HAVE THE BEST CONFERENCE WEEKEND EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,
Sister Van Valkenburg

September 18,2017 Email :D

I realized this morning that exactly 8 months ago I entered the MTC...wow! Time flies when you're in the service of your felling beings! ;) 

This last week we had so many fun activities!! Which is SO GOOD because as missionaries we are really trying to push activities to invite people out to! We started it off with a fun FHE activity at the church. We invited a bunch of families with young kids to come and bring chalk and had some treat assignments. We drew the Plan of Salvation and had so much fun! There is a man in the ward that makes things out of balloons and the kids loved all the fun hats and animals he made for them! So fun! The next day, we had the ward potluck!! We as missionaries sang and I was able to sing a solo and duet with an Elder in my district. It was so fun!! There was a great turnout and we are going to do it every month now!! We were also able to help with the food drive this week and have a fun ward corn roast after! Wow!! So many fun things!! ....just realized I didn't take any pictures...so sorry about that.

We had a fun miracle this last week that I would LOVE to share!! We were visiting with our sweet investigator Julie, single mom of 5 kids, and were talking about ways that we could help her sweet kids to learn better about the gospel. Two of them are dyslexic and they all pretty much have anxiety and depression and it's just a hard setup for the sweet family. We learned that Jessie, the oldest, used to take piano and Julie mentioned that she was happier then. Now, she won't even go to school. She refuses. SO that was on our minds, and when we left the house, we decided to go across the street to drop by a potential. Her name is Julianne and she is a preacher for her church. Not only was she made a new investigator from our visit (that's right. A preacher, and she is open to hearing our messages that will CHANGE. HER. LIFE) but as we visited, Sister Giles was prompted to ask if she teaches piano, noticing a keyboard in the corner. She said no, but that if we knew somebody who would like to learn, they were welcome to have her piano. Just like that, the Lord blessed us with a piano for Jessie! We were able to pick it up on Saturday with her mom, and the look of gratitude in her eyes and the feeling of love that was in the room, I will never forget!! 

Speaking of pianos, a cool insight this week was given to me from a speaker in sacrament meeting *aka one of the best times of the entire week* He went and played a C and a B (right under it) together. Kind of a sour tone. And he said that that in music is called dissonance. That it just sounds off. But, he said, when you add some more notes, or information, (playing a C chord with it CEGBC) that it makes a beautiful sound. It's similar in the gospel. Sometimes we hear something that just doesn't resonate with us. It makes us kind of cock our head and wonder about it. But as we pray and sincerely seek to know what is true, searching the scriptures and the resources that God has provided us with, that we will receive the answers that we need and it will become beautiful to us. So cool!So true!!

A fun quote from President Eyring resonated with me this week. 

"You hold in your hands the happiness of more people than you can imagine."

Wow. What do we hold in our hands? Obviously it could mean the Book of Mormon. We also hold our phones...generally. What could you share with someone this week that could bring them that complete eternal happiness that comes from the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ? :) 

I love you all so much! Keep loving and serving!!

Sister Van Valkenburg

Sorry this is the only pic I've got this week...but at the ward potluck, the balloon man made me a set of wings! Haha so funny!
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September 11,2017 Email :D

I LOVE MUSIC!!!
Oh my goodness! You know, sometimes you don't realize that something is missing in your life until you find it again. In my last area, we didn't listen to music...like at all. We used transit to get everywhere and I just never really put it on in the apartment. I know. Not like me. But with this new transfer, I have music back! We are driving around in the car singing, I am able to sing a solo and duet in a potluck tomorrow, I'm playing the piano to accompany people and for Relief Society...and I just got here! I feel like myself again and I didn't even realize that music was missing. Well, now it is in full swing and I am so so grateful! My testimony of music and the spirit that it brings is growing so much and I am so grateful for yet another way that heavenly Father has allowed us to communicate to Him and feel of His Spirit! Such a blessing!!

As I was reading the Book of Mormon this week, and though I don't have any specifics, just....wow!!! The Book of Mormon truly is the word of God and fills your heart with so much joy!! I strive to find at least one thing Heavenly Father is trying to teach me on each page. What helps y'all with your studies? :) 

Let me tell you...the work is rolling forth here in Victoria!! This ward is AMAZING!! We meet with the Bishop every week just as missionaries to talk about the work, all the ward missionaries come to our meetings, we go out every Wednesday with members to visit other members! It's so cool!! Members come to the church with names of people they feel inspired to see, we pair up and go out for a couple hours!! We expect to have at least 10 couples this week. We are having a ward potluck Tuesday, tonight we are having a huge combined family home evening, Sister Giles (my new companion whom I love dearly) and I are planning a gallery walk/talent show and starting up an art class. The food drive is on Saturday too and we are having a corn roast! There is hockey on Thursdays, Basketball on Wednesday and so much more in the works!! We see so many blessings each day as we just build the ward and referrals and baptisms are on their way!! I love it!

Sorry I don't have much else to say today...but oh goodness I am so happy and grateful to be here!! I love this gospel and love the miracles we see each day of God working in our lives!! Keep smiling!!

love,
Sister Van Valkenburg

Also, my new address if anyone wants to send letters :) 

216-1243 Bay St.

Victoria B.C.

V8T 4X4

Walking around on the trails :)

I love these flowers!

A little example of how big the mosquitoes are here...no bueno!
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September 4,2107 Email :D

Island Girl!

Hello hello!
We will be short today because my mind is just a jumble!! Transfer calls came, and I have been called to go to Victoria!! That's on Vancouver Island and is apparently BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!! I can't wait! I know that Heavenly Father calls us exactly where we need to go!!

This picture sums up my week! The two on the left are the Mims. I love them to pieces! They are some of the best fellowshippers and missionary minded people I know!! We need people like them in the world! Next to me is Sister Kim. I love her so much as well and can't wait to see what Heavenly Father has in store for her! She is an amazing missionary and so talented! Her testimony can move mountains! On the right is Teresa. :) Teresa will be baptized in 2 weeks and I am SO SAD I will miss it! I have been able to see her grow from someone who was quite down and not knowing where to go, to a beautiful glowing disciple of Jesus Christ!! She knows what she wants and she knows where she is going. She is amazing! <3

I'll keep it short for today, but I just want y'all to know that I know this church is true!! No matter what we go through, we WILL overcome. Through Christ! Have a great week :)

love,

Sister Van Valkenburg