April 30,2018 Email :D

I Planted A Garden!!!!!

The title of this email is something that makes me probably a little bit more happy than it probably should...but I am a happy, happy camper because I planted an herb and flower garden last Monday and it is sprouting and I am so proud. 

This week has flown by!!! But it has been good! Keeping it short and simple, we have been using the smartphones a lot and have seen some cool miracles sharing Mormon messages with people on the street and being able to use group chats to coordinate!! So cool! I am so grateful for this tool!!!

We had our first District meeting of the transfer FINALLY on Wednesday, and for part of it, we were each given a physical goal to reach. I said I could do about a minute plank, so I was challenged to make a plan of how to do a 2 min and 15 second plank by May 16th. Likewise, each member of our district was given a physically challenge to complete by May 16th. There is a 5K time, one armed pushup, wall sit, number of pushups and then my plank. Ridiculous, right? But the principle behind it is AMAZING!! It is a concept I have known for a long time, but I realized this week, haven't truly applied. We planned out each day how to work to achieve our goals and put it on a chalkboard in our apartment. Each day my plank time goes up 6 seconds. So far, I am doing good! I've gone from being able to do a minute, to a minute and 24 seconds! It inspired me to plan better for each day of my mission. I have made so many maps, plans, goals, and diagrams for the rest of my mission now! And Heavenly Father is blessing us with miracles! We have been able to hit standards this week because of it, and we are getting happier and more physically fit at the same time!! So good!! :D

A fun story, we were at the Bishop's house this week for dinner, and were asked to scoot our chairs over to add someone to the table. So we did the little hands-on-chair-scoot-while-still-in-the-chair thing. As I scooted to my left, Sister Killick scooted her chair into my chair from the right and the collision got my fingers! Thanks to my trusty ring I wear every day, my fingers didn't get too damaged...but my poor ring went flat!! Bishop Hatch had to go get pliers to get it off my finger, and then did his best to round it out using a piping tip...holy cow! Hahaha it is a memory for the books! But it got me thinking. My ring protected my fingers. Even though I still felt some pressure on my other fingers, I didn't get hit as hard because I had made a choice to put that ring on. That ring is a ring my dad gave me on my 16th birthday to always remember to be pure and loyal to my future husband. It is important to me, and I have worn it every day since on my right ring finger. Because of the decision, I made then, I have been able to make choices consequently to protect myself from the colliding chairs coming my way through life. I have still felt the impact it could make, but I haven't been crushed because the choice I made then, has protected me. In Stake conference yesterday, President Marks told of how he bought a boat for his family. Consequently, he bought a truck to pull the boat. But that decision, he tied back to choosing to have a family in the first place because it is for his family. Every choice we make affects the future. There is no random decision! It is a bit of a jumble of thoughts, but my ring being squished and that thought yesterday clicked something in my brain. It is all tied together. I am more conscious of the decisions I make every day. Because someday, they will protect me. I may not see it coming, and I will still experience some pressure from them, but it will be less because of the choice I make now. Cool, hey?

Another parable for the week, when I started my garden, I started growing some sprouts in a jar as well. They are floated in water, and I am to change the water 2 times a day to prevent gross stuff growing in there and to stimulate their growth. *According to my understanding* This to me is like repentance. EVERY DAY we need to Atonement of Jesus Christ. We need to repent, even if the water seems crystal clear and everything is hunky dory! We won't be able to grow or progress without it. We won't be able to protect ourselves from the things that may invade our lives and cause problems in the future!

If I have learned one thing on my mission thus far, it is that everything ties to the gospel. It has to! God created everything for US!! In Alma 30:44 it says:
"But Alma said unto him: Thou hast had signs enough; will ye tempt your God? Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of ^aall these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the ^bearth, and ^call things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its ^dmotion, yea, and also all the ^eplanets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator."

Look around this week, and see what connects to the gospel for you! I'm sure you'll find something!! :D

Love you all! Have an amazetastic week!!!

Sister Van Valkenburg

April 23,2018 Email :D

Hello everyone!
 believe it or not but this is typed on my new smartphone!! Crazy!! Golly her a lot has happened in the past week and a bit since I emailed y'all! 

We will start where we left off. Zone pray and Elder David A Bednar! It was so good! Karaoke was a hit, as was the barbecue and playing werewolf as a Zone! 

Friday we were able to Skype in to Vancouver where he met with all the other missionaries in the mission. It was hilarious! We were like the little outsiders looking in from afar! But it was one of the most spiritual experiences of my life! I am so grateful for what I was able to learn by the Spirit!! Elder Bednar didn't give a talk. Right from the get go it was a Q and A format for all the missionaries!! ...minus us of course. It is amazing how when he answered a question of one, it was an answer to many. Funny how the spirit works that way, Hey?:) The questions and the Spirit got to be better quality throughout the meeting. It was amazing! 

The next day, Saturday, we were able to do our little zone pday and then Elder Bednar flew up and met with us!!! The Prince George Zone!!!! Like 18 of us. With him. For 1 hour. I cried. He walked in the room and shook all our hands, skipping all musical numbers and hymns (for which I was relieved because my hands were shaking and I was pianist for all) and he got right down to business. He asked us if we could start off right where we left off Friday with the other missionaries. So we did! We talked about what we learned and asked our questions. It was amazing !! I was able to stand before an Apostle of the Lord and tell him what the spirit taught me. He directly asked me a question and I stood and answered. Amazing. 

Following our special time with him, he taught the stake for 2 hours and we were able to observe. He did the same thing. Q and A. This time, about 80% of the questions he answered were from the children. Like 10 year olds. It was amazing!! Not only were their questions inspired, but the answers. Once again, one question was posed each time, but many were answered. I learned two main things from Elder Bednar. They are tied together and what he asked us in each meeting to learn. 

1. Be an agent, not an object. An agent acts. An object is acted upon. 

2. I do not need to be with a member of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles to feel the Spirit that strongly. Each day, each prayer, each meeting can be just as strong of a spiritual experience! 

This last weekend we had zone conference and got our smartphones. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch together before with President and Sister Wong and discussed how we pronounce things. It was hilarious!!! During zone conference President Wong said "synergy. How do you pronounce that Elder Lisney?" "Bananas" says Elder Lisney. So funny!!! I learned a ton!!

One of my favorite parts about zone conference is that we get to drive President and Sister Wong around for their meetings. They took us out to dinner Thursdaynight. At dinner, they showed by example how to contact people and we were able to see so many miracles with the people just eating at the restaurant! They truly are amazing. 

Also, this is probably the most important part of the whole week. Not really. But kind of. I FINALLY SAW A MOOSE!!!!!! We went on exchanges this weekend with Quesnel and as we were on our way out there I saw a MOOSE in the woods...in the woodsen..... it was one of the happiest moments of my life! So cool!!!

Here is a picture of my face right after at the bottom.

Oh it is such an amazing opportunity to be on a mission!! Heavenly Father is so amazing and in the details of the details of our lives!! Love you all!!!

Sister Van Valkenburg

April 13,2018 Email :D

Hello, hello!
This email will be short....I am so excited for Elder Bednar to come! To have one of the Lord's Apostles here...oh I am just super excited!!! At one point he will be meeting with just the missionaries (18 of us) and we are preparing as much as we can for it! 

We have seen so many miracles this week! It has only been a few days, but we have accomplished so much! It is AMAZING to see what Heavenly Father can help you do when you set goals, make plans and act in faith! He is truly amazing!!

Funny story: We were having dinner at a member's house and she had a fancy little whipped cream dispenser that she was using to put the whip on our cake. She put it on Sister Killick's cake...totally fine. Then she cam e over to me. Whipped cream went EVERYWHERE!!! And I mean everywhere. Like the walls, the cake *thank goodness* the floor, the cabinet behind me...and of course the majority went on me! Funnier story: The exact thing happened to me in Langley as well! Even funnier story? Sister Killick made whipped cream just a week ago and managed to cover herself in it as well. Whipped cream. Who'd have thought? XD

I hope you all have a miraculous week!! Share the miracles you see!

love,

Sister Van Valkenburg

April 9,2018 Email :D

Revelation Upon Revelation 

Hello hello!

Wowza! Whenever we have P-day on Tuesday, the next Monday seems to come just so much faster! This next week will especially go by faster because I will be emailing you on Friday...will give you more details later on...:) 

So another reason this week FLEW by was because we had MLC! So off Sister Killick and I went to Vancouver on Thursday, and came back Friday. In the morning while we were packing, I started taking all the proselyting stuff out of my bag, except a few mormon.org cards. We were just going down for a meeting and coming back up anyway! But I felt the impression to pack a Book of Mormon and one of each of the first pamphlets. When we got on the plane, I took my seat next to a nice gentleman named Paul and we started talking! He is amazing!! He has two kids, just a year behind me and my brother with the same age gap. He told me about his family, his job, his religious beliefs, and more! He told me that he had packed a book to read on the flight (1 hour 15 min) but that when he looked in his carry on, he couldn't find it. God works in mysterious ways, hey? :) We talked the entire flight, asking and answering questions, and by the end of the flight he had a copy of the Book of Mormon and the first few pamphlets we give to people. ALL relevant to answer the questions he had asked. Following a prompting, I said I had a challenge for him. He had mentioned that missionaries will come to his street, but had never knocked on his door. I said "The next time that you see missionaries, invite them in and ask them to share a message with you. I promise you that you will receive answers to questions you may not have even asked." He accepted the challenge, and asked if it would be a good idea to feed the missionaries as well! Who does that?!  Of course, I answered with the affirmative! ;) Paul is golden. As we spoke, the Spirit was so strong, and I was waiting for him to say "Gotcha! I'm a member of the 70!" But it never came. What made me worthy of such an amazing experience? What qualified me, a little sister missionary from St. George, the opportunity to sit next to Paul on that flight? I have pondered and prayed about this experience many times since Thursday, and I have summed it up to Heavenly Father's love. He wants ALL of us to feel of His eternal love. He wants ALL of us to experience the Spirit working in our lives. He needed Paul to know that He is there! He needed me to remember the same. And I am so incredibly grateful to be a tool in His hands that day, and forever. :) 

Another amazing experience I am SUPER excited for is this coming weekend! On Friday, Elder Bednar will be in Vancouver meeting all of the missionaries in our mission! It will be an impromptu 3 hour session with one of the Lord's chosen Apostles! Everyone in our entire mission will be there! ....except for my zone. We will be here in Prince George. BUT on Saturday, Elder Bednar is coming to Prince George! He will be in my chapel, in my Relief Society room to meet our stake and members! Us missionaries (18 of us in the Prince George stake) will get to meet him personally! I have been asked to play the piano for the hymns and a special musical number if he asks. I am so honored and excited to meet an Apostle of the Lord!! :D I KNOW that Heavenly Father has chosen and ordained him to serve as an apostolic witness of Him and our Savior Jesus Christ! What an incredible opportunity for us! This is why I will be emailing on Friday instead of next Monday. :)

One of the sweetest people in the universe, Ellen, crocheted me this sweet scripture bag!! I am so excited and so grateful! She's the best!! :D

I hope you all have an amazing week and recognize the miracles that Heavenly Father blesses you with! There are so many!! :D

love,

Sister Van Valkenburg

April 3,2018 Email :D

I Promise I'm Still Alive!
Hello everyone!! Golly gee whiz it has been a while!!  We moved our last P-day because of zone p-day and zone conference..and then we had our P-day moved to today for Easter! Haha! But wow we have had such a wonderful week! Between Easter, General Conference and plenty of time to do missionary work, we had a ton of fun seeking for and teaching Heavenly Father's children! 

First things first, DID YOU JUST LOVE GENERAL CONFERENCE?!? Oh my goodness participating in the Solemn Assembly was such an uplifting, spiritual experience! I am so grateful for our living prophet today who receives SO MUCH inspiration of how to move the Lord's work forward! I mean...one can only drop so many mics in General Conference!! hahaha It is just evidence to me that Heavenly Father is truly hastening His work here! I am so grateful to be out on a MISSION at this time!! :D Here on the front lines, we are able to see so many miracles as we follow the counsel of our leaders!! I know that you can too! 

Transfers have come! Sister Killick and I are staying here together in Fraser, Prince George!! Yay!!! :D We are going to see so many miracles! Not many people in our zone family are changing as well! Woohoo!!

There are a couple analogies I would love to share..but have such short time!! I will type as fast as I can and see what we can share. :) 

The first is a thought from Zone Conference. :) We talked about the Brother of Jared and the barges that he was to build to cross the ocean. Many times we talk about the light and how Christ is the light that keeps us going through the wind and the waves. But this time we talked about how once we are completely in the boat, they literally were at the mercy of the wind and the waves. No ability to see at all. But completely in the hands of the Lord. President Wong asked us if we were the last person to get in, our job would be to push off the barge into the water. Would we stay on the shore and wave goodbye, or would we run and jump in as it floats away, trusting completely in the Lord? I want to run and jump in. I know that He will lead me to the promised land!! Provers 3:5-6 

This last week I went to Triple O's and had my first Triple O's burger. They're a big deal up here in BC. I didn't know what I wanted to order, though, and since the person I was ordering from is a potential investigator, friends with one of our nechako investigators, I asked him to surprise me. Order for me. He brought out a delicious chicken burger that I thoroughly enjoyed, and explained that it was on the secret menu! It got me thinking. Many restaurants have secret menus, but the ingredients they use are no secret to us! They use the same ingredients they use for other menu items, but just in a different order. It's like that with the gospel. We know all the ingredients that will make us happy and help us to learn. But when we go through the Spirit, we can receive revelation especially for us. We receive a different combo specifically for us, we just need to ask!

I am out of time!! I love you all!!! Have an amazing week applying General Conference!!
love,

Sister Van Valkenburg

I didn't fit...so I made it work!!

My mission mom (Sister Thurber whom I love dearly) sent this to me!! SO FUN

March 23,2018 Email :D

Family Feud?

Oh my goodness gracious!! It feels like just yesterday that I was emailing y'all!! ....it was only 3 day ago...so that might be why! This short proselyting week has really built my testimony on urgency. We only had 3 days (today is pday, tomorrow zone conference, and then Sunday) to really work in our areas and find people to teach. 3 days less than we are used to and each moment suddenly became so precious to us to find these children of God! In Prince George, it is hard to find people to teach. Last transfer we found (sadly) 2. In 6 weeks. In the last three days, because of our focus, urgency and faith....we were blessed to find 4 new people to teach!! :D In many ways I am so so grateful for this experience. It really pointed out to me that every moment is so precious and that God will place people in our paths when we are diligently seeking and prepared!! Isn't He so good?!

Today we had our zone p-day for the transfer!! Oh golly gee whiz it was so fun! Another testimony to me of prioritizing time and getting things done was planning it! I spent every spare minute the past week planning this activity with Sister Killick! Every moment was precious!! We started the activity with a huge pancake breakfast with "all the fixin's" and played a couple games of werewolf. (it's an interactive role play game similar to mafia) IT WAS SO FUN to play as a zone!!! Then we got down to business for family feud! We split everyone up into 3 teams (made a cute scrabble board of our names to tell them who was on each team), got name tags, and proceeded to go through a series of competitions representing our teams!! It was a blast! We had a plank challenge, 3 legged race, riddles, balloons, moving M&M's with a straw, most jump ropes in a minute, hellfire sauce, coke chugging, yoyo tricks, getting fruit snacks out of a bowl of flour, an easter egg hunt in the church, egg/spoon race, trust falls, fluffy bunny, juggling, toilet paper mummies, charades/pictionary speed challenge.....man it was so fun!! Everyone was out of breath and smiling! :D Best part? We spent $10 on everything...minus breakfast. Who says you can't have fun on a budget? ;) 

Oh my goodness I just CAN'T WAIT for GENERAL CONFERENCE and EASTER SUNDAY!!! Oh wait!! It's the same day!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! :D :D :D Is anyone else as pumped?! I know that Heavenly Father blesses His Apostles to speak through the Spirit. Any questions you have, whether you know you have them or not, can and will be answered as you prepare yourself spiritually and watch General Conference. :) 

I love you all!! Have an absolutely amazing week and a half! Talk to you in April!! :*

Sister Van Valkenburg