Christmas Day

No email on Christmas cause we got something WAY better.  We got to Skype together!!! 

The highlights:
1.  We got to talk to each other
2.  We got to see each other
3.  We all shared our testimonies with one another

Family Christmas Tree

Cutest Missionary EVER!

I think we were all so happy to see each other.

All the sisters together again.

Trying to get a screen shot

Much better

Days of Harmony

"These are the days never to be forgotten, days of Harmony" -Oliver Cowdrey 

It's official... I am leaving Independence South... This has been the best 7 1/2 months of my mission but I'm excited to go somewhere else. This week has been crazy and I'll try and capture it all but we will see!

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday we had these special trainings that were amazing. We talked about how to work better with members and practiced more effective ways to talk to people. It was amazing, they were mostly logistical meetings and we were training on skills but the Spirit was still able to teach me and help me with some concerns. It was a testament to me that the Spirit can teach us in any setting if we are open to learning. 

Tuesday evening we met with Tom. We brought our ward mission leader, Brother Garrett and his wife were able to join us. Tom just loves the Garretts and that helped him open up a lot. We decided to ask some hard hitting questions and Brother Garrett threw in a "Tom, do you want to get baptized?" Tom said he does, he just has some concerns with some things. He said he is going to keep meeting with us and coming to church until he converts or he gives up. But then he asked a turning point question. He has been struggling reading the Book of Mormon and praying everyday and we have been trying to help but that night he finally asked, "how". He is finally ready and has the desire to read and pray. I think before he just let other things get in the way and never really wanted to learn. We had been teaching him how to read and pray since the beginning of time but he didn't want to know so he never listened. But finally, he asked us "how". We came up with a plan to call him every night at 8:30 and read the Book of Mormon with him for about 15 minutes. He agreed and is doing really well. 

Thursday we met a lady outside her house and asked to show her #LIGHTtheWORLD and she was so excited to meet us she invited us inside to show the video to her and her mom. No one ever invites us inside! She really wants to lean more and her mom seemed a little interested so we are going back this week. Well, I guess I won't be back but Sister Roberts and her new companion will! 

Friday we had the opportunity to go to the Priesthood Restoration Site. It was AMAZING! 10 out of 10 would recommend. I had heard that it was an amazing place and a real testimony builder because it was the very place John the Baptist appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdrey to restore the Priesthood back on the earth and where they translated most of the Book of Mormon. Honestly, during the first part of the tour I didn't really feel anything special. But then we went to the room where Joseph and Oliver translated most of the Book of Mormon. We had the opportunity to read a verse from the Book of Mormon. As I read Mosiah 13:3, the spirit entered into my heart so strong I could not deny that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. 

Lots of Love!
Sister Van Buskirk

The other week in the snow

One our way to the PRS!

At the site in the snow!

The Priesthood is restored 

Aww bffs!

Sister Taber gave us our Christmas presents and since I'm leaving we decided to open them together last night. 

Us modeling our fancy new scarfs. 

Sister Moulder! Thanks for always helping us get back into our apartment!

Sister Chang!

 Brother Harris and Lila!

White Philly?

It snowed this weekend! All week members have been telling us it's going to snow and I didn't believe them because they did that all last winter and nothing happened. Okay we got that Noreaster last year. But on Saturday it snowed so much! Like 4 inches or something! It was so fun but the snow is basically all gone now. 

We didn't have a lot of time to email today so I'll just give you the highlights. 

-Tuesday night we went on exchanges with Morrisville. We exchanged back Wednesday night. 

-Weekly planning Thursday morning and then another exchange with pennypack that afternoon. 

-Exchanged back and taught about the temple to a young woman in a branch in new jersey learn more about the temple. The other youth were doing baptisms.

-Accidentally left the SEPTA pass with one of the pennypack sisters. Took a trip up there and were able to meet a super cool guy and talked to him for the whole 20 minute bus ride. 

-there was a girl on the same bus who saw us and said, "are you guys missionaries? Like from the Book of Mormon play?" Sister Roberts talked to her while I talked to the other man. 

-Taught the Judge today. He's doing well. Still reading the Book of Mormon and still loving it  

Have a great week and remember to #LIGHTtheWORLD! I love you all!

Lots of Love!
Sister Van Buskirk

 Life is funny.  Laugh a little

The District

Sister Horsley aka my favorite person ever. 

Ward Christmas party ft. Bro. Abad as Santa Claus

Merry Christmas everyone! I feel like it's appropriate to say that now that it is December! We had a super fun week here in the great city of Philadelphia!

Wednesday I went on exchanges with Sister Kuta! We did a lot of finding and trying to show everyone we met the #LIGHTtheWORLD video. Not a lot of people wanted to watch it but we did meet a man named Jeffery who is from Africa that was interested! Hopefully, we can get in contact with him soon to teach him! 

Thursday we received a call from a YSA member that joins us for lessons sometimes. She ran into one of our potentials and she told her she was wondering why we had never called. The last time we had stopped by her mom said she probably wasnt interested and thats why we never stopped by again. But we gave her a call and she wants to meet with us soon! We also called our investigator, Mercedes and talked to her for a bit. She's been able to read the Book of Mormon and said she has felt a lot of peace from reading it. She wanted to come to church this week but wasn't able to make it for some reason. She has a lot of tough things going on in her life right now. 

Friday we had a meeting and I saw Sister Summers! Best part of the day however was that it was officially time to #LIGHTtheWORLD! Because we were in a meeting all day we weren't able to do much but we did do something! We live in a row home apartment and when you walk in he front door of the row home, there are our mailboxes. Under the mailboxes someone put a crate for people to throw out their junk mail which is very convenient and I very much appreciate it. However, it has been overflowing and leaflets and mail gets all over the floor. Sister Roberts and I decided we were going to clean it up and empty the crate. It looks fantastic now! 

Saturday was the best day. We did some more finding and then later we taught our investigator Regina. Regina is so great! Probably about four or five months ago Sister Garner and I met her in front of her house and invited her to Gladys Knight. After Sister Neuffer became my companion is when we finally taught her. Actually, I taught her on exchanges. Then she dropped off the face of the earth. We finally got in contact with her again and she is ready. She kept talking about how she is committed to us now. It was also day 2 of #LIGHTtheWORLD in which we were able to share our testimony with Regina and help her "drink from the living water" It is amazing when those we teach recognize the difference we make just in their daily life. Regina said she always feels so much better after we come. It's because we have the spirit! You can the spirit as well Regina!

After our lesson we ran to the church for the ward Christmas party! It was really fun. They had a little sing a long for the primary kids (and Sister Van Buskirk because she loves sing a longs) Then came Santa Claus! Brother Abad is this big Philly man with a prosthetic leg. He could give my dad a run for his money in the sarcasm contest. Brother Abad came out in a well loved Santa suit and the kids were so happy. There is so much joy in the Independence Ward. It's people like Brother Abad that are excited to do those little things like be Santa that is something the Savior would do. It's the little things that bring joy into people's lives. 

The #LIGHTtheWORLD initiative is here to help us bring joy into other's lives. It's the little acts of sincere service that people truly appreciate. I hope you all have the chance to serve others during this season. Jesus Christ was our ultimate example of giving and helping people have joy. Please go to www.mormon.org to #LIGHTtheWORLD. I know joy comes from service and remembering our Savior, Jesus Christ. I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week!

Lots of Love!

Sister Van Buskirk

The giant Christmas tree at the art museum 

Our morning run to the rocky steps

I know I forgot my nametag. It's the first time ever so please don't think I'm an apostate missionary. 

Philadelphia

The Jarrettown sisters! 

The Petersons whom I love!

#LIGHTtheWORLD

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!! 

On Friday the new #LIGHTtheWORLD dropped! In Independece south however, the initiative started on a downhill slope. We tried talking to everyone we met but they were so rude! One guy swore at us and said some nasty things about Christmas. Satan was really trying to pull us down. BUT!! Then we saw some guys moving in and offered to help. For the first time in like however long I've been a missionary they actually said yes! We were able to put the message of #LIGHTtheWORLD in action! It was all uphill from there. It was just awesome to see how hard satan was working but we didn't let that discourage us and we were able to see miracles! 

Not too much happened since Thursday. We went on exchanges and we spent the whole day finding and talking to people. We met with Tom and he is doing wonderful. He is going through a lot but I have seen so much change in him. He is a very different person than when I meet him 6 months ago. It is amazing to see how the Gospel of Jesus Christ can change people from the inside out. Right now, the change Tom is going through is his attitude toward the trials in his life. Later, the outside changes will be to be baptized. It's going to take a while but Tom will definitely be truly converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

One funny story just because my email is so short. Many moons ago when I was companions with Sister Garner, two sister missionaries came to spend time in our area. Their names are Sister Neuffer and Sister Roberts. They both had companions that were dying so while they went to the temple we gave Sister Neuffer and Sister Roberts some names and addresses to stop by. Little did they know they would both serve in this area! Anyway that's it for this week. 

I hope you all take the #LIGHTtheWORLD initiative seriously. It is a great way to remember Christ throughout the month of December but also throughout the year. I would love to see how you all #LIGHTtheWORLD and I will try to include what we have done here in Philadelphia! Let's all go #LIGHTtheWORLD! I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week!

Lots of Love!
Sister Van Buskirk

Ps. If any of you care about our mouse problem still we are now at a kill count of 5! #micearenice 

 Have I ever mentioned that car selfies are the cutest selfies? 

Exchanges with Logan! 

Sister Baker is such a great missionary!

Sister Training Leader

I know you both asked last week or the week before about being a Sister Training Leader. I have some time so I thought i would take some time to explain. A Sister Training Leader is like a girl Zone Leader. We are responsible for all the sisters in our zone. The zone is the whole Philadelphia stake. There are 7 wards and about 12 companionships. 5 out of 12 companionships are sisters so we are responsible for 4 companionships of sisters. A few months ago when I was getting a new companion this is what happened. President pulled Sister Neuffer out into the hall and told us we were companions. He then proceeded to ask if we would be the Sister Training Leaders. So I have been a Sister Training Leader since I got Sister Neuffer. Sister Roberts and I are still the Sister Training Leaders. Basically, we go on exchanges with the sisters to help them with their areas or anything they need because we can't go on exchanges with the district leader, that's apostate. We also call them throughout the week to see how they are doing. That's basically it. It's been pretty fun but mostly stressful. Sister Neuffer was a Sister Training Leader for most of her mission. Actually she either trained other missionaries or she was a Sister Training Leader. So she taught me what to do and how to do things. Sister Roberts has never been a Sister Training Leader so I have to teach her but I have no idea what's going on sometimes but it's fine. We just make stuff up and hope for the best. 

Lots of Love!
Sister Van Buskirk

Let's go swimming

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all have some good turkey and stuffing and lots and lots of pie! We had a pretty good week here in the PPM! 

The adventures of Sister Neuffer and Sister Van Buskirk have ended but the adventures of Sister Roberts and Sister Van Buskirk have started off with a bang! Sister Roberts is really awesome! She's from Austin, TX and went to BYU Hawaii before her mission! 

On Saturday Lila was finally baptized! It took a long time but it finally happened! On Wednesday we met with her and she was so excited to be baptized. We were supposed to go over on Friday but she wasn't home. We were really worried. This happened a few times. Not the night before her baptism but we had to move her date back a few times because she would miss lessons. We decided if she showed up on Saturday she could get baptized because she had been taught everything. On Saturday we were stopping by some people we had some lessons with when we got a text from our ward mission leader, brother Garrett. He wanted to know if Lila was getting baptized. We called her friend, brother Harris and he told us they were on their way! He then had me talk to Lila and she explained that she woke up this morning and she knew the devil was working hard to get her to not come. But she said she finally had enough and she wanted to get baptized! It was the best thing I have ever heard. We practically ran to the church. Partly because we were having a lesson with Tom right before but partly because we had to prepare for a baptism! Sister Neuffer was able to FaceTime on of the members and watch the baptism and I had to give a last minute talk on the Holy Ghost but it was so great! Two kids that the West elders were teaching were also able to be baptized so it was a really special day to see three of Heavenly Father's children enter the waters of baptism to make those special covenants with Him. 

We also taught Tom this week. Actually like 30 minutes before the baptism started. But he was also able to stay for the baptism and that was a really good experience for him. We talked about following the prophet and then we showed him President Monson's testimony of the Book of Mormon. He really liked that President monson promised that we study, ponder, and apply the teachings of the Book of Mormon we will be able to resist temptation. We invited him to read Alma 36 and he finished it before 7 the next morning. Then he finished reading Helaman 16 around 10:30. He texted us yesterday and said he finished 3 Nephi 11! Tom is on a roll! Even though it's small, I can see such a change in him since I first met him 6 months ago. He told us he feels different, especially when he goes to church. Tom is the best!

We received a couple really amazing referrals this week but one is probably the greatest example of member missionary work I've ever seen. There is a couple in Alpine, UT, the Snyders. They came to Philadelphia last summer for the temple open house because Brother Snyder had ancestors from here and he also wanted to do some family history. While they were here they met a wonderful old lady named Sylvia. She is in her 90's but the busiest woman I've ever met. For Mother's day the Snyders sent her a book by President Uchtdorf. She absolutely loved it. They prayed about it and decided that now was the time to send her a copy of the Book of Mormon and a set of missionaries. Plot twist: Sylvia lives in the West elder's area. But President Randall decided that Sylvia should be taught by Sister Roberts and I. Crazy things happen in Philadelphia. Sylvia is just the sweetest thing. She was so grateful that the Snyder's sent her the Book of Mormon and she is excited to read it. 

Other crazy stuff:

-A guy serenaded us with a song about Jesus after we invited him to church. 

-We tried to invite a JW to church on accident. 

-A Seventh Day Adventist talked at us for about 45 minutes. I'm still confused about what he was trying to argue. But we swapped literature and went on our merry way. 

-We tried to teach a lesson in Spanish. I'm so grateful for Spanish elders. 

I am so grateful for this opportunity I have to serve a mission. I love that I get to spend all my time serving the Lord and helping others come unto Christ. I am grateful for my family and the love they give me and I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon and the peace it brings in my life. I hope you all take the time this week to really look around you and thank Heavenly Father for all that He has given you. I love you all and hope you have a great week! 

Lots of Love!

Sister Van Buskirk

Our last selfie...

Our first selfie!

When the bus just drives past without picking you up...

Lila's baptism! Ft. Brother Harris.

Some of my favorite people, Sister Clemence and Kiyah

All my companions are dead

Hi everyone! Thanks for opening my email this week. I'm sure it mostly had to do with my subject line. Let me clarify somethings. As a missionary you are "born" into an area, I was "born" in Milford. Then at the end of your mission you "die". It just so happens that every single companion, Sister Cragun, Crane, Garner, and Neuffer are all going home this Wednesday. In the words of Sister Neuffer, "This is the PITS!" 

Anyway about my week here in Independence South. By the way, I'm staying for my 5th transfer! Whoop whoop! We saw so many miracles and wacky stuff this week I'm excited. 

We were able to have a lesson with Tom. He has been very busy so we haven't been able to set something up with him but he comes to church every week. The whole ward really loves him and if he's ever out of town for something and misses church, they always ask about him. We had a lesson last Sunday about the law of chastity which is something Sister Neuffer and I sensed he might have a problem with. When he met with us this week he said he loved the lesson. He said a few weeks ago he had the impression he had a problem with that and needed to change. He said he couldn't remember what he was doing or what he was reading but he knew he needed to change. We talked about the Holy Ghost and how it speaks to us in different ways to tell us what we need to know. As we talked about it, Tom said that was what he has felt at church and specifically in the Gospel Princeples lessons on Honesty and the Law of Chastity.

On Wednesday we saw the Judge! And guess what! President and Sister Randall came! That was amazing. We talked a lot about Jesus Christ and what He has done for us. It was probably one of the more focused lessons we have ever had. President also said that it was a lot better than the one he went to about a year ago with the Judge. Also, the Judge is coming to church! Hopefully. We have been slowly but steadily trying to commit him to church. One of his judge friends is actually the stake president in one of the other stakes in our mission and so he might come to stake conference on sunday. If he does, President said we could go with him! A

On Saturday, we set a goal to invite 20 people to church. Sister Neuffer had an impression to go to Fairmount, the wealthier part of our area, not our favorite part so we are hardly ever there. We went and talked to some people but no one was very interested. So we headed to our appointments. Later that day we ended up having to drop something off at home with only about an hour and a half left till our next appointment and after that we would be done for the day. We still needed to invite about 13 more people to church. We went back to Fairmount and invited about 4 more people. We really didn't have very much time left but we wanted to reach our goal. So we said a prayer and went to work. We stopped 5 people in about 3 minutes. None of them were interested but we kept moving forward. We were able to then exceed our goal by inviting 24/20 people to church. As we were heading to our appointment we saw a man standing on a corner and we decided why not. So we met Nicholas. He had been to temple square and seen a video about the Church but that was basically all he knew. He was really interested in learning more and we were able to set up a lesson with him for Thursday. 

Saturday we also had another very odd lesson. Sister Garner, I hope you know who this is about. This was a very odd lesson. John called us the day before and asked us to come over and we could have a lesson and then we could eat because it was Veteran's Day. John wanted to pick up where the sisters left off last time. We read Mosiah 5 but when John reads the scriptures, he just shouts. While we were in the lesson an ecclesiastical leader came over because John had called him earlier. John wanted him to bless the food. So he came, blessed the food, and then left. We had to go but John was upset that we couldn't eat with him. So he packed up some food for us to take home. As we were leaving another ecclesiastical leader showed up. Both of those men were very confused why we were there. We were also confused why we were there. Ruth, John's mother, was very lovely. She liked reading the Book of Mormon.

Sunday, we decided to knock the street of our referral. We received this referral a few weeks ago but never had time to knock the other houses around. While we were knocking, a woman walked around the corner we said hello and then introduced ourselves. Immediately, she burst into tears. She said she knew that God sent us to her today. We were able to teach her about the Book of Mormon and set up another appointment. The best part is she lives in another apartment in the same row home as our referral. I feel like Heavenly Father has a sense of humor sometimes. 

I know Heavenly Father answers our prayers. All we asked for was to reach our goal on inviting people to church. He gave us those people even though they weren't interested. After we worked our tails off He led us to Nicholas who was prepared to hear our message. Heavenly Father doesn't usually answer our prayers in the way we want it, but they are always answered the way they should be. I love you all and hope you have a great week! 

Lots of Love!
Sister Van Buskirk

We made some defense systems against our mice! P.S. we caught two more. 

All my companions! :( This was at their departing temple trip and since the temple is in our area I just "happened" to be there. Okay actually my companion was there so I had to go pick her up. 

The Traphouse

So not much happened this week! We did a lot of finding, we actually spent a good two hours tracting. Most of our finding is done while we run around our area like chickens with our heads chopped off! We did talk to some solid people that I'm really excited about! 

Halloween was this week. I kind of imagined Halloween to be a different kind of scary than it actually ended up being. Tuesday morning we get up, go to district meeting like normal. Then we do some finding and have coordination. We have dinner with the Taber's and then are inside by 6pm. Probably around 7:30, Sister Neuffer and I are sitting on the couch. I think we were calling people trying to set stuff up. Then, Sister Neuffer goes, "hey! I just saw a mouse...." Great... We just sat on the couch for the rest of the night and we definitely saw at least two mice... The next morning we went and got mouse traps as soon as we woke up. We caught two so far but we saw another one this morning. We covered one hole and went and got more traps today. These mice are not going to stay! Stay tuned for next week's update on how many mice we have caught! 

Tom is doing great! He comes to church every week even though we haven't had a lesson with him in about 3 weeks. We just try and stay in contact over texting and see him at church. He told us that he is going to Florida in a couple weeks but he's staying until mid-February... So I suggested we could contact the missionaries in Florida for him to meet with and he said, "I was already thinking about asking you to do that. I was also going to try and find the church that's close by. You can find anything on the internet." Yes Tom Yes! But why do you have to go all the way to Florida for 4 months! But that's okay because the Florida missionaries are so lucky. 

Funny story: We were tracting and we go up to knock on this door and a woman looks out the window right before we knocked. I waved at her and she just looked at me like I was a weirdo and turned around. After we knocked (their door was open and we could see right through their screen door) a lady walked down the hall. We knocked again and we could hear voices. We knocked one more time and someone yelled, "No one is home" Great. I love tracting. 

I know my Heavenly Father loves me. I know He loves all of you. I know that because I have prayerfully studied the Book of Mormon. His love is expressed in the words of His prophets. Read the Book of Mormon. You will find peace there.

Lots of Love!
Sister Van Buskirk

The streets of Philly

The Fall of Philadelphia 

The mice goin bye-bye 

Sometimes the elders are the best.

Sometimes the elders are the worst.

Wait, you're a vegan?!

What a week! Birthdays, baptisms, and exchanges! It was a crazy week here in Independence South. 

Monday, to celebrate my birthday we went to the Free Library of Philadelphia. It was like the best thing that has ever happened. They have a rare book exhibit and so there were little plaques about the different books and things. We felt so cultured when we left. It was great. I'm so excited to come back and be able to actually read the books! 

Sister Neuffer told our district leader it was my birthday so he made everyone sing. So that was uncomfortable... We had dinner with some members and since Sister Neuffer is the greatest, she made sure they knew it was my birthday. They had a cake and everything. The great thing is Sister Southwick is vegan... So the cake and ice cream was vegan... Thanks everyone for the sweet birthday messages! Love you all! 

Wednesday I was on exchanges with Sister Peterson and we did lots of tracting. I forgot how hard tracting is... I'm so grateful for the fact that we can literally walk outside and there are people to talk to. We don't have to go hunt them down. 

Friday I went on exchanges with Sister Williams and Sister Gassaway. They are in a trio so I was blessed with 2 companions for the day! We were able to teach a lady, Zuley, the restoration and the spirit was so strong as we testified of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. We found out her cousin is actually a member and she's been to church with him a couple times so she's excited to join them at church! Sister Williams and Sister Gassaway are the best missionaries! I am so blessed to be able to learn from them. 

Saturday was the east elders baptism and then the Halloween party. Us missionaries decided to switch nametags as our costume. Since we don't have a parking lot we decorated some doors and the kids came around trick or treating that way. This ward does really creative family costumes. We were very impressed. 

We had a really amazing lesson in Gospel Principles yesterday. Brother Garrett, our ward mission leader, taught about eternal marriage and eternal families. I know what you all are thinking, "wow Sister Van Buskirk. You must be trunky if you thought the lesson on eternal families was amazing." Well, you are all wrong. As Brother Garrett testified about eternal families, the spirit was so strong. Then our investigator Tom said, “you are speaking with such sincerity. This thing that you are talking about, I want that.” The spirit hit me so hard, I got emotional. I want him to have that. I want him to be with his family forever. We spent the rest of the class listening to testimonies of those that have been able to go to the temple. I dont think there was a dry eye in the class. Brother Garrett then invited everyone to prepare to go to the temple. 

I know that families can forever through the blessings of the temple. The temple is the greatest place on this earth. It is the place I feel the closest to Heavenly Father. I would invite all of you to prepare yourself to go to the temple. I love you all so much and hope you have a great week! 

Lots of Love!
Sister Van Buskirk

 Sister Peterson is the coolest!

Thanks mom!

 I have this weird habit of wearing clothes after I open them as gifts. The sweater is from Casey. The shirt is from Sister Neuffer. The pants are from Ross. 

The view from the top of the Rocky steps where we go running every morning. 

Yesterday was a bit wet but we kept smiling!

The Independence Ward missionaries! (If you look closely there are 2 Sister Van Buskirks and 2 Sister Neuffers)

Thanks mom...

The Wilsons!!! 

The vegan cake...

Sister Neuffer made me crepes and got us matching shirts. (You could say my birthday was crepe ;) )

Hogwarts. I mean the Free Library. 

 Philly in the Phall. (Notice the trash)