Sooooo maybe the water was a little cold but it's okay right?

AJ GOT BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!!!! So the baptism was set for 1pm on Saturday. Thursday we get a call from Brother Guy, our ward mission leader. He says, "Sisters, we have some bad news. AJ might have to work on Saturday. But he still wants to get baptized on Saturday no matter what so it might just have to be in the evening." We prayed so hard that he wouldn't have to work but he did. So we moved the baptism to 8pm that evening. We asked the elders how long it takes to fill the font because they had a baptism a few weeks ago. They told us 2-3 HOURS. We were like okay okay we can do this. But Brother Guy was like, "I can fill the font, no worries". There was also a ward activity that night 6-8pm so the baptism was just going to be right after. We get to the church about 6:30 and Sister Stubbs gets the feeling that we should check the font. So we go check on it and it's empty! We never even asked how to turn it on because we didn't need to. So we said a prayer and asked to know how to turn on the font and for the font to fill quickly. As soon as we opened our eyes I saw the lever to turn on the water. Right next to the hot water lever there was a lever for cold water. So maybe the water was a little chilly but at least there was water! 

Sherman is awesome. She told us everytime she picks up the Book of Mormon she can't put it down. However, she still hasn't come to church. We are a little disappointed but hopefully we can bring General Conference to her this week and that will inspire her to come to church. 

We had another lesson with Ercel and it went really well! We invited him to be baptized and he said he would think about it. He really likes having us come over and teach us but he also has not come to church yet! That's what we should focus on especially with General Conference this weekend! 

The air force base is in our area and sometimes we see these HUGE airplanes. They seriously look like whales flying through the sky. It's my favorite thing. There are a lot of members in our ward that work at the base so we are hoping to get on and look at the planes up close!

General Conference is the best time of the year! Just think, select men and women have been chosen to speak to the whole world! If you listen with a purpose. Meaning if you listen with questions in mind I can promise that those questions will be answered. General Conference is a great place to receive personal revelation. There is a quote by Robert D. Hales where he says, "In conferences we can receive the word of the Lord meant just for us." (Thanks for the quote mom) General Conference is for you! I love you all and I hope to be able to hear what you learn from General Conference this weekend! 

-- 

Lots of Love!

Sister Van Buskirk

You sound like a goat. In labor!

So we have this cute old lady in the ward named Sister Temple. Everytime I talk to her she leaves my in tears. The kind of tears that come from laughing not from crying. We were at the Relief Society birthday party and another lady in the ward, Sister Balcena had one of those party things that you blow into and it unrolls. Do you all know what I'm talking about? Anyway, Sister Balcena kept making this weird noise to make it sound like this party favor would make noise. Sister Temple comes up to her and says, "You sound like a goat. In labor." Probably the funniest part of my life.

Not much happened this week. We went to Golden Retraining on Wednesday and then a mission tour on Friday so it made for long days in Broomall. Long but good!

We taught AJ on Thursday and it was awesome as always. He comes straight from work so he is super tired but he soaks it all in and just loves it all. He asked us that night, "I don't think I have to work on Saturday anymore. Can I get baptized then?" We were like we want you to but you still have to get interviewed! He had his interview on Sunday and it went great so he is ready to roll on Saturday! Please keep him in your prayers because we know Satan is going to work hard this week! 

Friday was the mission tour and Elder Brent H. Nielson of the seventy came and it was amazing because he is also head of the Missionary Department so he knows his stuff. It is just amazing to be able to go into meetings like that or even just our normal meetings on Sunday. Answers to questions come if you come prepared. Heavenly Father doesn't just want us to just grin and bear it through all our meetings. He wants to give us answers and the best place to do that is through the scriptures and our church meetings. 

Sunday we met with a couple named the Buzards. They have been less active for years and years. We asked them what steered them away and it was just the fact that Brother Buzard got a job where he had to work on Sundays. They had just recieved their temple recommends when that happened. They just got out of the habit of coming to church. But they do want to come back. They would love to go to the temple. It just has to start with getting back to church and reading the Book of Mormon everyday. That is how we stay anchored to the rod and stay on the path. 

I love you all and hope you have a great week! Get ready for General Conference! It's going to be amazing! (As always)

-- 

Lots of Love!

Sister Van Buskirk

We were trying to measure our couch

The Relief Society Birthday party!

I love my Sister Stubbs

Dover had a St. Patrick's day parade complete with a man and his cart selling souvenirs 

The circle of life

Just pranking the zone leaders

I had to come all the way to Delaware to eat a cactus

What a fun week we had! It's always fun sharing the gospel! NOt much happened but here are some funny stories and updates about our investigators.

AJ is great. We taught him the law of chastity and he's like 27 or something so that was a little awkward... The only other time I have taught it as a missionary was to Lila and she was like 67 so huge difference in what we had to emphezie. But it went great! We were even able to talk about the Word of Wisdom and he was disapointed about the no coffee thing but he said he would do it. Later that night we were on Facebook and he posted something awesome. I attached a screenshot so you all can see it too. The gospel is amazing! Even the law of chastity can relieve stress!

Taught Phanord, Alvin, Ercel, Julien, and Mel. Not at the same time of course but they are doing really well. We wish they would move a little faster but you can't drag someone through the gospel. You have to be patient. Sherman is still stuck in Maryland as far as we know which is sad but again, we will be patient. 

We were teaching one of our investigators who is like 28 or something. All of a sudden he goes, "It's my birthday this weekend" In my head I was like "that's great can we talk about the Book of Mormon some more. Thanks" I know I know. Not very Christlike but I just love the Book of Mormon. Anyway then he starts telling us about the different options he has to celebrate. And then he goes, "Are you guys busy tomorrow?" We told him we were and he was a little sad but then he gave us brownies so that was nice. 

We were over in this apartment complex where actually a lot of our investigators live and we were waiting for this member to join us. All of a sudden we hear yelling and look up and over by a different apartment building we see a FedEx truck and a UPS truck. Yep, you got it kids. The FedEx man and UPS guy are fighting. We just heard the end of the fight but it was probably the best part. The FedEx guy goes, "Whatever man, you don't even got that much stuff!" I promise you all, that is a direct quote.

I hope you all have had a fantastic week and have another even better week this week! I love each and every one of you and I know your Heavenly Father loves you even more. I know He knows each one of you and what you need better than you know yourself. Just remember that there are three people that love you. Heavely Father, Jesus Christ, and Sister Van Buskirk.

-- 

Lots of Love!

Sister Van Buskirk

When all the sisters where floral

Shot, yelled at, and lied to

Once upon a time there was a couple sister missionaries just doing what they do best and then some terrible things happened but also some wonderful miracles. 

First they were shot at. We were stopping by a less active member and this little boy who was probably about 4 or 5 starts shooting us with his stick and yells, "Watcha lookin at?!" We tried to give him a pass along card with a picture of Jesus but then he started sharpening his stick with another stick. I was like, this kid is going to stab us lets go.

Later that week we stopped by another girl and her younger sister answered the door. We asked if she was home and the sister said, "yeah, I'll go get her." When she came down stairs she says to us in a very loud and matter of fact tone, "Jaykeira says, 'bye, bye, bye, I'm not home!' But she is home!" We laughed and then left.

Finally we were lied to, or so we thought. We stopped by this man and we will call him Mr. J Yeager. As we were walking up to the door I noticed his license plate said "JYEAGER". I thought, perfect, he's home. When someone answered I asked if Jordan was home. The man that answered said, "No Jordan lives here" In my head all I could think was, "Please stop lying to me sir, I know he does, I can see his lisence plate." But we polietly said no problem have a nice night. For the rest of the day we were so bugged by the fact that he had lied to us. Later that evening as we were reporting we realized his name wasn't Jordan... It was Jacob........

But are you ready for some miracles! We met with Sherman and she is so fantastic. Aparently after we set her with a baptism date she told her family and they were like, "Oh so you are the only one in this house getting saved" We laughed and we are teaching the whole family tonight so hopefully it goes well! 

We had a record of 7 investigators at church! Sherman wasn't able to come because she had to go to a funeral. She was supposed to be home in time but I guess her family decided to stay longer. But AJ came and brought his kids again and they loved it! When we met with him this past week he just kept saying, " I am so mad I didn't know all this earlier. I wish I would have joined the church earlier" He is so awesome and we are so excited for him!

Yesterday was fast sunday which is normally really hard. However, as a missionary, I have seen so many miracles. We went tracting for a bit and weren't expecting to talk to anyone really. But we were able to meet some really amazing people and share the #BecauseofHim video. I know that as a missionary fasting brings miracles but I also know fasting ALWAYS brings miracles. There is no doubt in my mind that God hears every prayer and answers every single one. Love you all! Have a fantastic week! See some miracles and don't get shot!

Lots of Love!
Sister Van Buskirk

We love selfies and each other 

Rita's is open again!

Hung out with the Harrington sisters today

Our new friend Teresa 

Possibly my most favorite people on planet earth. (Besides you mom of course ;) )