October 16,2017 Email :D

ONCE ON THIS ISLAND

So...a lot happened this last week! But I only have a short amount of time to write!! 

The title of this email is because I will be leaving this beautiful island! :( only for one transfer was I able to be here....but it was something that I will be eternally grateful for!! :) 

We had a zone call Saturday night to tell us our news, and I have been called to go back to the mainland!! I will be in Langley, right by the temple! I am so excited to serve with my beautiful new companion, Sister Bloomfield, and run run run!!! 

This last week we had a really fun soccer night with an investigator family and a less active family in the ward. It was a fun little pick up game with little kids running in circles and giggles all around! We had a wonderful talk with them after, and the Spirit was so strong! Oh I love them!

Last night was the musical fireside that we have been planning for the last couple of weeks! It was awesome!! We had 11 musical numbers stake-wide and the Spirit was SO STRONG!! It was one for the books!! I was able to play the piano for the congregational hymns and for the EFY medley that us missionaries of course had to sing! It was a different version though with different harmony..pretty cool! Elder Deppe and I sang "Because He Lives" again, and other musical numbers were "His Hands" "Savior Redeemer" "Come Thou Fount" a Christian melody from a family of 6 girls all singing...STUNNING. It was a highlight for sure!!

We had a wonderful miracle this last week! We had about 2 hours of time to go finding and decided to go downtown. In the morning, we decided to plan specifically what we would look for for each 15 minute block. So for the first 15 minutes, we planned to search downtown for a man who had lost a loved one, for the East Elders to have a new investigator. As we were walking downtown, we found a man named Jason. I stopped him, just asking what he was up to, and as we talked, we learned that he had lost his mother! It was such a testimony builder to me that Heavenly Father puts those people in our paths! As we talked, he said he had to go, and I felt prompted to invite him to a singles night activity the next day. We would be playing board games. We went searching for other people afterward, and Heavenly Father blessed us to find almost all the people we had planned for! Blessings!! The next night, we were going to drop in on the game night, and got a call from the East Elders. Jason came to the game night!! We were able to attend the game night and pass him off to the Elders. He became a new investigator. One of the Elders came up to me later that night and said "Sister Van Valkenburg! How did you know to invite him to the game night?!" And I was like..."I dunno. The Spirit...why?" And he told me that  Jason has literally traveled the country to play games. He loves board games! It was yet another testimony builder for me that Heavenly Father is SO AWARE and will put all these people in our paths!

Oh I am so excited for the miracles I will be able to see in my new area, and am so grateful for my Heavenly Father showing me each and every day that there truly is a perfect plan for each and every one of us! 

I love you all! Have a wonderful week!!

love,
Sister Van Valkenburg

The Parliament building at night <3

Selfie after soccer! I love these girls!!

British Colombia: the best place on earth!

Low quality picture, high quality district!! We had such a blast this transfer having our district also be the missionaries of the ward!! Gonna miss em!