March 20,2018 Email :D

Smartphones?

You read that right!! We were told previously that we were getting smartphones in June...so I was like....solid. That's when I go home. I might miss the smartphone craze!!! BUT we were told that we will all be receiving smartphones in this next transfer. So that will be next month! I will have 2 transfers on my mission with a smartphone!!! Hooray! The days of getting random boxes and unreadable messages from emojis and pictures are soon to be over!! :D

Fun event of the week? We were vacuuming our apartment building for the building manager, and we managed to blow the breakers....so all the lights in the hallways went out...it was super awkward! XD We didn't run into this problem last time we did it...and we did it the same way...so who knows why they went out, but the next hour was spent figuring out how to get all the lights back on! In the process, we found the log of when all the fire alarms went off in the building and firetrucks had to come, etc. We found the log of when one of the Elders was making french toast and set off the whole building!! haha!!

I got to go on exchanges this week in my last area with Sister Muir!! It was hilarious!! Throughout the exchange, we kept forgetting that we had ever been apart, and the poor ward members were so confused!! "You're back?!?!" Hahaha! So funny!! :) We saw so many miracles!! I absolutely love exchanges!!

We celebrated pi day on the 14th = I was a happy, happy camper! (For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, I am referring to pi=3.14 used in math to find the circumference&area of a circle. March 14th is pi day because it is 3/14 = 3/14) We bought a pie for District Meeting and enjoyed pie and pancakes together as a district. Both round. So good! Then we brought a pie to and investigator and her family. :)

Quote of the week was in Relief Society: "Please grant me patience, but please hurry!" referenced by an older lady as we had a discussion on Christlike attributes! XD So funny! I am absolutely loving these counseling sessions we are able to have as a Relief Society!! There are so many experiences and insights that each sister is able to offer! Communication is key for growing!!

During Gospel Principles yesterday, the teacher wasn't there, and we decided to have an open discussion lesson to learn from each other. We chose the topic of sacrifice, and talked about what it means to sacrifice. It was one of the most enlightening lessons of my mission! SO GOOD!!! :D I was able to learn so much from the YSA members around me and from the Spirit! It was brought to my remembrance an experience I had while I was in YSA in St. George. :) The missionaries came to our Gospel Doctrine class and talked of the story of Alma 24 when the Anti-Lehi-Nephi's bury their weapons of war. They encouraged us to write down a weapon of rebellion that we need to bury, we wrote it on a piece of paper, and buried it in the volleyball pit.
What are things that we have been asked to give up? What are our weapons of rebellion that we need to bury? As we talked in Gospel Principles this week, we brought up many temporal things (money, time, food) that we may have to sacrifice during this life to help others or come closer to God. But my mind reflected on what truly might be keeping me from coming closer to my Savior. Are there personality traits, hobbies, or little habits I have that may be keeping me just a bit further from Christ? What little pieces of the world have I allowed to become a part of me that I need to bury? The missionaries that day in YSA gave us each a picture of Jesus Christ with a paper on it that says "Have you buried your weapons of rebellion yet?" I took it with me, and have it hanging above my study desk. It's a good reminder for me each day to bury my weapons of rebellion!! :D

Just a heads up: I will be emailing AGAIN this Friday! Our Pday for next Monday is moved to this Friday because we are having Zone Conference and coming together from the 4 corners of our zone to have a pday together! So I will talk to y'all on Friday, then the next Monday! (April 2)

I love you all!! Thank you so much for being such amazing examples to me!!

love,

Sister Van Valkenburg

We took a bubble tea and bubble waffle break for our dinner the other day!! (Happy 14 months to me!)

Sister Killick got upset and tried to run out of the car...but she forgot that her seatbelt was on...XD

March 12,2018 Email :D

Chicken Hellfire

Hey y'all! :D

This week has been quite the adventure! :) In case you were wondering about the title of this email...we were on exchange this week, and Sister Ferrin came to spend a day with me! As we were trying to figure out dinner, we grabbed some chicken from the fridge and decided to marinate it in BBQ sauce in the oven. Pretty chill. Now here is the thing with missionary apartments. You NEVER know what you are going to find in the cupboard from past missionaries. We had quite the assortment of BBQ sauces to choose from...but here is the one we decided on: Hell Fire. It's hot. How hot? Apparently you have to special order it...it has ghost peppers in it, along with California Reapers.... 

​So, being the crazy sisters we are...we dumped half the bottle on our poor chicken, put it in the oven, threw it together with some rice, and packed it away to the church with some ranch! SO GRATEFUL I remembered the ranch! We sat together in the YW room waiting for people to show up for basketball and just about died!! Hahaha such a sweet memory!

Another fun food thing: I discovered, thanks to Sister Killick, the best hot chocolate ever! You either make vanilla bean hot chocolate or normal, add in a peppermint tea pack, throw in some vanilla ice cream, and you're good to go!! :D SO GOOD!!!

We had ward conference yesterday, and President Ryan had some words of wisdom to share. He talked about the new Star Wars movie, and how excited he was to see it with his family! He sat there and at a point in the movie, was distracted by the sound of people around him eating popcorn and rattling their candy wrappers. It caused him to be so irritated for "7 minutes" that he lost complete focus of the movie and missed what he had waited so anxiously to experience! He related it to our life on earth and when we allow things to distract us from the happiness we are here to experience! :D Wow! So good!

I have so much more to share...but have so little time! Just know that I love all of you and love being a missionary! There truly is no better calling!!! 

love,

Sister Van Valkenburg

​We went to a member's house this week that used to be a pro arm wrestler! SO COOL!! SO MANY MEDALS!!! (Kaylea, one of the best people ever is in the pic with Sister Killick.)

March 3,2018 Email :D

Vancouver, Eh?

Hi Y'all! 

This week is going to be super short, I am so sorry!

But this week was crazy and amazing! So super super busy and it has been a blast! The best part of the week (one of the best parts) was going to Vancouver for MLC!! Oh my goodness I love flying and I love Vancouver and I love missionary meetings!! :D It was so fun being around my old stomping grounds! As we had a few hours for contacting while we were there, Sister Killick and I rushed to a SkyTrain station and zipped down to see the Mims! Oh it was so good to see them! I love them dearly!! <3 We were able to call a couple other old friends to say hello and it was so good to reconnect! Vancouver will always hold a special place in my heart! <3

At MLC, we were trained on a lot of things, but one of my favorites by far was a video we watched about an Emu. (which I thought was an ostrich for the entirety of the video and for a few minutes after...but that's fine. If somebody could look up the difference between the two and email me, it would be muchly appreciated) During the video of the emu, it goes to a picnic table and seeks to get some human munchies...and somehow gets some Virtual Reality goggles strapped to its face!! OH MY GOODNESS!! As it watches through the goggles, it sees the sky and envisions itself flying. It flaps its wings and runs around the other emus, in its sleep it is practicing to fly, in the morning again, it tries and fails to fly. The other emus think its crazy. Finally, one day, it actually takes off and flies off into the sunset as the other emus watch. Of course, we know that emus can't fly. BUT. That is the point! How many limits do we put on ourselves when we know that through God we can accomplish the impossible?! When the emu finally took off, finally flew into the sky, it did not have the VR goggles on. It had a clear vision already of where it wanted to be and how it was going to get there! I am personally applying this to my life by striving to have a vision of what Heavenly Father can help me to become and aiming for the sky! I will be the first emu to fly out here in the Canada Vancouver mission! Watch me! 

Also, still going strong with the music! I had the change to sing in a quartet "Because He Lives" 2 times at MLC. The spirit was so strong! I was also able to put together a small number of "Savior, Redeemer of my Soul" sung by 5 missionaries as I accompanied for a fireside last night. We had an amazing turnout with 3 potential investigators there and a few recent converts and less active members. God is so good!! :D

I love you all and encourage you to find an emu plan! How can you get into the sky?!

Sister Van Valkenburg

On splits with Sister Flukiger and Jensen in Vancouver! We took a selfie in a really fancy washroom

WE FOUND A MOOSE IN VANCOUVER AIRPORT!!!!

We were SO TIRED after our trip to Vancouver! Here is Sister Killick in the airport as we waited to be picked up and taken home.XD
​