The "Surprise" Email - Elder Valentine Temporary Reassignment to California

On Friday, August 28, Elder Valentine sent us the following email that announced a big change for our young missionary!

Hi family! 

So, I got reassigned to Santa Rosa California because my visa has apparently not gone through yet. I got the reassignment at lunch today and was told to email my family. I also got an email that I will forward to mom and dad that says to not call or try to see where the visa is, because it can actually slow down the process.

I'm not going to lie, I was a little dissapointed right as I found out about the reassignment. I've been waiting for six months to go to Portugal, and it was a little hard to find out that I am going to California. But I'm doing the Lord's work. My reassignment was also made by an apostle through the power of God. My testimony and ability to teach will serve the people well in Santa Rosa!

I am leaving on Tuesday still, but I leave at 9:50 instead of 8:00. I will probably only get to call home before I leave the airport in Salt Lake, so unfortunately I won't be able to call multiple times in other airports. But I might be able to call when I go to Portugal later, so that could be awesome to call more than once! I don't know how the calling works yet; I could call anywhere from like 5 AM to 8:30 or something. That's all, I guess! I know that Santa Rosa is where the Lord needs me. I am ready to teach and be an effective servant of the Lord wherever I am called. And, I'm not gonna lie, it might be kind of nice to be able to speak English for a little while! If you have any questions or whatever, I might be able to hop back on later, but I'm not sure if they just wanted me to let you know or be able to respond to the surprise or whatever. Anyway, I love you SOOO much! The gospel is true! Tchau, or goodbye, I suppose, for now!

Love,

Elder Valentine!

Photos from the MTC!

Here's a few awesome photos that Elder Valentine sent us this week! I like the MTC gang sign!! Our Elder--Zone Leader--missionary son is looking good! All the MTC food hasn't been too bad for him!

Elder Valentine and his companion, Elder Meza

One of Spencer's friends from High School, Elder Spedding

Missionaries in the District

From left to right: Elders Ploeger, Lewis, Meza, and Smart

The Whole District!

Elder Valentine Week 5 Family Letter

One of our last -- if not THE last -- message from Elder Valentine from the MTC!!

Oi minha familia! 

Hi family! It's so good to be able to write again! Unfortunately, I don't know if I have a lot to write about this week. Everything happens too fast! 

Although, one thing that I thought about a lot was the spirit I felt in that devotional last Tuesday. It was seriously the most amazing thing ever. I was so anxious and excited and ready to just go preach! I loved it! One of the things that I thought about while it was happening was that you guys should invite the Powells over for a family home evening lesson soon. I don't know how that popped into my head - lie. It was the spirit. I don't know why, but I had a really strong impression that you should do that. So, uh, do it! Tell me how it goes! 

I'm very glad that everything is going well at home! and that Anna can drive the van! And that Dad threw his back out! Oh wait. My bad. That stinks! Get better! I pray for you guys all the time! I hope that you can feel the blessings that come from the service of a missionary!

Dad, I would love it if you could send me some of your thoughts/scriptures/whatever about the Atonement. It's a big topic, but I feel like that's something that I want to be able to teach a lot better and would help me a ton. Or baptism if you can! Get better, home slice! 

Mom! do you remember that green jacket that Grandpa Folkman gave me for my mission? I think it's still in the closet! If you are sending anything else before I leave, could you send that with it? I would love it! And if you have anymore talks or whatever that you read, I love getting those from you! Oh, and thanks for sending that package last week! I love zucchini bread!

Ethan and Anna! Good luck in school! I pray every night that you guys will be able to be examples to the people you are with at school and that you can feel the spirit help you through this year as you read and pray daily to receive God's blessings. I love you! And Anna; I'm glad that you're taking orchestra! It will be so awesome for you! 

Manda: when is your baby coming?? I feel like I've been here forever, and everything just drags on, or goes incredibly fast, and I am just so excited for you, I just want it to happen already!

Kimber and Kevin: I hope that everything is going well for you guys! I miss seeing you guys and you kids, and talking to Kevin about missionary stuff, and everything. 

Like I said, I pray for you guys every night before bed. I really love you all so much and I am so glad to be able to talk to you once a week! 

Oh yeah!!!!! My flight plans!!! Dad, I'm assuming that my VISA went through because my flight plans say I'm going to chicago, then germany, then portugal!!!!! I get up at like 3:30 tuesday morning, and my flight is supposed to leave at 8:30. I don't know yet how it all works for calling and stuff; we have an orientation thing on thursday that should tell us more. So I'll tell you all that I know on monday hopefully!

I love you guys! Be safe! Don't throw out any more backs! 

Love,

Elder Valentine!

Elder Valentine Week 5 Group Letter

Hi everyone! 

I've been at the MTC for more than a month now! I love the gospel sooo much! I have had some really cool experiences this week feeling the spirit work on me as a missionary and working with others and all kinds of good stuff! 

So first off, our Tuesday devotional last week was by Elder Echo Hawk of the Seventy. (I thought that was a pretty sweet name.) He talked about member involvement in missionary work and how 1 in 10 referrals from a member get baptized! How amazing is that? That totally emphasized the importance of being missionaries outside of the mission: which I can't really do right now, but you all can!! Anyway, He also talked about... well I don't really remember, because while he was talking, I felt the spirit probably stronger than I ever have testify to me of the importance and blessings of my calling as a missionary, and the impact that my preparations and diligence as a missionary will have on the eternal salvation of the people I will teach. It was the most amazing thing! I was sitting in the big auditorium where we hold devotionals and I literally could not sit still because the spirit was so strong. I felt like I needed to get up and go preach the gospel! I had so many inspired thoughts go through my head about what I need to do and how I can help others and serve my fellow missionaries and love and... oh man! What an amazing experience!!!! I testify that our Heavenly Father loves us and will give us blessings as we serve Him! I just want to go to Portugal already!

Speaking of which! I got my travel plans this week and I leave on Tuesday morning at 3 AM for portugal!!!! I am SOOO excited to get out there!!! 

On Friday, we had the opportunity to teach a lesson to a guy from Brazil on skype! It was so neat! It was totally different talking to someone who literally knew ZERO English. We taught him a lesson on hope, charity, and love, but he was super scripturally educated, so he basically taught us the lesson! Haha it was so funny! He had us turn to all these scriptures and taught us what he had learned about the topic. He has a son out on a mission and had a daughter out who got home, and he also served, so he is super missionary oriented right now, and taught us all of this stuff for our missions. It was super cool! 

Anyway, I think that's all that I have for the week. But I'll bear my testimony to you about repentance, the Atonement, and our Savior Jesus Christ. I know that God loves us. He sent His son to Atone for our sins so that we could become clean and live with Him in Heaven. Repentance is not something we should be scared to do! It is an amazing blessing that we should be ecstatic to be able to use always in our lives. Heavenly Father loves us most when we repent of our sins and start aligning our will with His. Because Jesus Christ suffered for our sins AND our pains, He knows us perfectly. There is not a single trial that you will go through that He can't help you with. All that we are asked to do is live the commandments and the word of God, and do our best to become like Christ, and He will give us unimaginable amounts of blessings. I know that Christ lives. He wants to help you. You just need to let Him! 

Okay! I think (think) that I might be writing on Monday before I head out, so that's when I will send my next email. Thank you all for your love and support! Have a good week!

-Elder Valentine!

 Hi this is Missionary Mom, Linda! On Friday during a very busy day, I received a text on my phone that I almost waited to look at later. But I'm so glad I decided to read it right away because it was a text from a couple in our ward, Craig and Kay Hess, who just left on Monday for their mission. That text was more precious than gold to me! I had a brief, good cry and the whole rest of my day I couldn't stop thinking about it. Hearing from someone who had just been with Spencer just moment before somehow made him feel not so far away. It felt so great! Here's the texts:

Spencer Preparing for the MTC

Here's some fun pictures from July 22nd, that great and wonderful day when Spencer entered the MTC!

Elder Valentine Week 3 Family Letter

Here's Elder Valentine's letter to his family for week three:

Dear Family,

Hi!!! Thank you so much for sending me letters and emails and packages and loving me! I seriously love it! And thank you for all of your prayers. I can feel them helping me here at the MTC. I love you guys!

Kimber: Happy late Birthday!! I wish I could have written you on Sunday, but hey. I have a pretty good excuse. Your'e old! Para bens! (congratulations in portuguese!)

Dad: sup home skilly biscuit! That's cool that you got to do your offsite with all of those general authorities! you should tell me about it! I haven't heard anything about my visa, so I'm not sure how it will work out, unfortunately. I love hearing about your experiences teaching ward members and the talks in sacrament meeting (mom, too!) and everything! 

Mom: HI mommy! I love ya! so on a regular day, I wake up at 6;15 and get ready for the day, then we have study time in the classroom from 7 to 7:45. We eat breakfast for 30 minutes, and then go back to class for another hour of personal study, at which point our teacher Irmao Regehr comes in. He is our investigator Gordon, So for an hour he will leave and we will take turns going and teaching him as Gordon. Then we have a lesson on Portuguese and some gospel stuff for 2 hours. We eat lunch, and then have 3 hours for personal, companion, and language study, split into 1 hour chunks.Then we have gym for like an hour, go eat dinner, and go back to class where our second teacher Irma Wells will do the same thing. She is our investigator Laura, and then she teaches a Portuguese lesson and a gospel lesson. Then at 9:30 we go back to our dorm rooms and get ready for bed! that's a typical day. On Wednesday we have service at 6:15, so that's early, and on Saturday, but besides that it stays the same. On Sunday,we have sacrament meeting at 8, study time for a while, i have a branch council meeting I go to with the ZL's, DL's, STL's, and Branch presidency. oh. Those mean zone leader, district leader, and sister training leader, if you didn't know! Then we have a priesthood meeting as a district, go and walk around the temple, another district meeting, choir practice at 5, and then our Sunday devotional for the whole mtc. Then we watch a movie like meet the Mormons or "The testament" or watch a super good devotional by an apostle (which is like what we always do) and then go to bed. I think that's most of my schedule! a lot of study and a lot of the Spirit! Thanks for sharing the sacrament meeting talks! I love hearing about stuff like that! I can't believe Christian and Brittney both got married! Thats crazy! Last week you asked about a CD from Emily: I honestly have no idea. I can't listen to any music here, and I don't know about Portugal. Sorry! Oh! you guys looked way good in the pageant! and going to the other pageant sounds way fun! My packages have been so awesome! thank you so much for sending them! We have SO MUCH food in our room right now. Its crazy. Elder Meza's mom sent him like a HUGE box of all of this junk food, so we are loaded. The donuts were way good, thanks for sending my licence, and the letters, and everything! It's hard to think about everything you guys sent just because I'm trying to go really fast right now, but I really do love getting letters and packages from you. I can buy some of this at the store if you want me too, but i need floss, and maybe some Burt's bees chapstick? Elder Meza is addicted and said I should get some. I can buy laundry detergent if you want me to. It's so hard to remember things I want or need because I never have time to think!

Anna: I seriously love your quotes you send. Way good! they mean a lot to me! You're driving???? Stop. That's all. Your letter about girls camp was way good! It's so cool that you get to have those experiences! I'm so glad the spirit was there and that you had a good time. It's a good thing you're good at shooting: a year from now, when boys start chasing after you for dates, you can put that skill to good use. I also like the picture of me and Elder Meza. :) I cant belive schools almost starting! I feel like I should be there! I'm glad your clothes are normal. So, I really like choir. But I honestly don't know how your school will be because your teacher is different. Orchestra would definitely be a challenge, which is awesome, so... I don't really know. My suggestion is that you make a decision either way, and then pray about it. You will know if your decision is the best if you pray and feel good about it, or you will know it's not if you don't. But you WILL receive an answer. You just have to make the decision first! Me and Elder Meza are doing a lot better! We just needed the spirit more in our companionship. :) Anna; I'm gonna give Ethan some advice, but all of it applies exactly to you too. so please read it. 

Ethan: Dude! Your comic is so good! It made laugh so hard! If you patent those bags, please make sure that I get some free ones. They look way good. So. You're a deacon. You have about six years before you can go on a mission, you're starting junior high, and there are a lot of things that can happen to you right now. You're, like, growing up! So I have some advice for you. Please please please read the Book of Mormon every day, and pray morning and night. It is such a good habit to have, and you will be so blessed for it. Try to maybe cut back on playing so much and focus on the gospel primarily (family counts as part of that), then school work, and THEN you might be able to goof off. But I think It's so important to put things in priority order. Your life will just get busier and busier, and if you play all the time, then you will be really stressed and life is gonna stink. Also, be an example for your deacons quorum and the kids you meet at school. Always be nice to everyone, and try and look for ways you can share the gospel, even if it's just talking about church on Sunday. Not that you don't already do these things. But as ;you share your testimony and show everyone what a REAL deacon and member of the church is like, people will seriously love you for it. Girls too. haha! For real though. I only kind of figured this all out Senior year. But once I did, it was almost funny how many people looked to me as an example and told me about it, and thought I was super cool; I didn't know it when people thought it, but when people said that they thought I was a huge example, they meant it. I was just trying to be nice and be a good kid and stuff, but people really look up to you. People would say that I was the kind of person they wished they could be, and they thought that I was on a "different level" than most people in the school. and girls like you a lot more! HAHA I knew a lot of girls who had a crush on me because of my happy and loving personality. (and since Kimmy was the same way, that was why everyone said that we should date and gross stuff like that. It was really annoying, actually.) But the point of this huge ramble is not to tell you how cool I am. Because I don't think I'm that cool. the point is that through your diligence in studying the scriptures, and serving your family, and then your friends at school, and by trying to serve and by being the best deacon you can, you will start to realize that you'd rather have this really good stuff in your life, rather than playing all of the time. It changes your perspective on who you are and what you can do, but only if you TRY to do better. Okay? okay. I love you, brother! You am smell like grass!

Saxtons and Farnsworths: Thank you so much for writing me! I am so glad to hear from you! I'm SO excited that Parker is starting his papers! It will be hard for him as the Adversary works on him in this decision, but it's a huge blessing! And the fact that Cameron is coming to church and reading the Book of Mormon is SO AWESOME! I love hearing that! I am so excited for you guys! Thank you Farnsworths for your advice and thinking about me! I for sure know that prayer is powerful, and thank you for testifying of it and making me want to pray even harder!

Okay, well, I think that is all I have to say for now. I wish I could remember evryting that people ask me about and stuff, and I try my best, but I get so busy that It's hard to think! so I'll try and remember more next week. I love you guys so much!! 

Love, Elder Valentine!!

Elder Valentine Week 3 Letter

Here's Elder Valentine's Week Three letter to his adoring friends, fans, and family:

Dear Everyone,

Hello again! I don't know about you guys, but time is seriously flying right now! It's almost hard to think of things to write because everything happens so fast! 

First off, last Tuesday night, President Nelson came and spoke at the MTC!!!! It was broadcasted to all of the other MTC's, so it was a big deal. I was in the choir so that I could be in the same room as him because there were so many people there they had to overflow into like 5 other rooms. When he walked in, the spirit was SO strong; I have honestly never felt the spirit come as fast as it did right then. It was amazing! He talked about three main goals that God has for us as missionaries: 1. to help gather scattered Israel. 2. families of gathered israel are to be sealed in the temple. 3. we are to prepare for the second coming. He talked a lot about perfect obedience; he gave an example of him performing surgery and how if any step was done wrong or only part way, his success had no guarantee. It was only when he was exactly obedient that he was sure of his success. We need to be completely obedient to the commandments and the rules the Lord has set for us, because that is the only time we are guaranteed the greatest blessings. And purpose in recieving those blessings is not just to improve ourselves; it is so that we can more effectively "invite others to come unto Christ." Anyway, the whole thing was just amazing.

We had another English fast on Thursday, and I could actually understand and talk in Portuguese! it was seriously amazing! The blessings we are given through the priesthood and through callings is TOTALLY real. I would be nowhere close to my level of Portuguese without the gift of tongues. It was a really cool experience. I planned an entire lesson with Elder Meza completely in Portuguese, and our lesson with our investigator went really well. 

We have two investigators right now; Laura and Gordon. Laura can't support her family because both her and her husband are out of jobs and are broke, and she has prayed before but she felt like she had never received an answer from God. Gordon is an inactive member. He served a mission only a year or two ago, but he is really struggling with faith and his testimony. They are both really difficult to teach, but our best lessons have been when the spirit testified of truth rather than what we said. 

We had our first TRC with a member, which is basically just a home teaching lesson to returned missionaries who volunteered to come listen to our awful Portuguese for a half hour. We had two sisters, and one of them gave feedback to us about how our lesson was inspired and exactly what she needed! we talked about acquiring Christlike attributes like faith and charity and love, and she really needed that. It was super cool!

On Sunday, I got released as the branch music coordinator and I am now serving as our district's District Leader. It is a really good opportunity to serve the elders and sisters in my district, though it is pretty difficult. My district has a really hard time focusing during study time and inviting the spirit through reverence, so that is something i have tried to work on with them, as well as obedience to mission rules and the sort, and 3 of the 5 companionship's are not working together well because they don't communicate effectively and hold in their feelings rather than being honest. Some also don't see the effect their words or actions have on their companions and our district... anyway, there are some issues that I have tried to help resolve, and I have needed to rely on the spirit to help me know what I can do.

If there is anything I want to leave with you, it's that as members of this church, it is our responsibility to help bring others unto Christ. The blessings we receive that make us better are to help us become better disciples of Christ. We watched a talk by elder Bednar where he talked about a lady who, in the face of losing her daughter in a car crash, was primarily worried about the other girls who survived, getting the message to their families, and taking dinner to a somewhat selfish and needy sister who was angry because no dinner had been taken to her that night. The lady who lost her daughter had the instinct to serve, even when she had huge problems of her own. Christ gave two commandments; one, to love God, and two, to love our neighbors. I can testify that as we serve and lose ourselves in the work of the Lord, we will receive huge blessings, and be eternally happy as we turn outward to others rather than look inward at ourselves. This lady had every right to not want to help others. But she did anyway. We are blessed for being everyday missionaries. Look for opportunities to serve and pray for those you know are struggling, and you will receive personal revelation and direction from the Spirit to help you accomplish those goals. I know our Savior loves us, and that he wants us all to be happy, but he needs our help to do that. So go serve someone! Lose yourself in His work, and you will find yourself in it. I hope that makes sense.

I love you all! thanks for supporting me in my service as a missionary! Talk to you next week!

-Elder Valentine

Elder Valentine's 2nd Family Letter

Here is Elder Valentine's 2nd letter to his adoring family. We love you, Spencer! Here it is:

Hello family!

I love you so much! I don't really miss home, which is good, just don't be offended. I seriously dont even have time to think around here. But it's been really good! Thank you so much for Including me in all of your prayers! I have felt a lot of blessings recently and I have no doubt it is from those prayers. The MTC is pretty good; Elder Meza and I have been getting along better, which is good, but it's still hard sometimes to just talk to him and try and be his friend. Like, we're good, but it's just like awkward silences sometimes. My music calling is going well; there are so many talented people in my Zone! There are super good piano players and flute players and singers, and they are all willing to share their talents! I actually get released on sunday, so someone else will have to do my job. But i have enjoyed it! 

I eat way too much. I'm gonna be fat. the end.

Ethan and anna, im sorry that you dont feel good! i actually havent felt good lately either! there is a flu virus going around the MTC, and i may or may not have caught it. I dont really know, but I hope it goes away!

Kevin, thanks for writing me! And for your advice and just saying hi! I really appreciate it so much!

Dad: I have seen elder talbot a few times! i actually think he left today, which makes me sad that i didnt get to see him one last time before he left! I go to the temple every p day, which is super awesome, so ive now been twice. the most important thing I have learned is how powerful the Spirit is in teaching, and how important sincere prayer is! It's our way to literally talk to our Heavenly Father, and He loves to hear from us! My prayers have seriously changed here. I find myself praying so much for other people and guidance in serving the Lord. I can absolutely see the blessing as I pray with my whole heart. I love it SO much!

OHHHH!!!! tonight for our Tuesday devotional, I heard an apostle is coming!!!! I'm so Excited!!!! Ill tell you about it next week!

as for treats, I honestly dont know. I like lots of stuff. Super not helpful, but hey! I like surprises!

The only other things I can think of that happened this week is that I found out that my name tag makes a way good kazoo, and I got our whole district playing hymns with parts and everything. SO FUNNY! Our zone leaders left this week, so now its just me and Elder Meza in our room. I hope new guys come in tomorrow to our room! Elder Ah Quin can recite the ENTIRE first harry potter movie. It is stinking hilarious. Like, no joke. The whole thing.

Well, I'm on for like ten minutes, so if I forgot something I'll try and say it, but I love you SOOO much! I'm actually crying right now. I hope no one sees me. I love getting letters from the family. Please dont stop! Okay! I'm heading out! Love you! Bye!!

Love,

Elder Valentine!

2nd MTC P-day - New Letters!

Elder Valentine enjoyed his 2nd P-Day in the MTC today. He was able to attend the temple this morning, and write a couple of letters! Here's the email he sent to his large and ever-growing fan club:

Hi everyone! It's been a really good week! New elders came in last week, and it was really fun to see all of the dork dots on everyone's tags because all you hear all day from other missionaries is "welcome to the MTC!!" Which is nice for like 2 minutes, and then you feel like the new kid at school. It makes me laugh! Some of my friends came in (Elder Achter, Elder Henderson, and Elder Stewart) and it was really cool to see them! except all of them are going state side, so they all leave the MTC before me. Lame.

The days SERIOUSLY blur together. It's so bad that I can't even remember if I mentioned that in my last email! So I'll try my best to tell everything!

My district had an English fast on thursday, which means we only spoke portuguese the entire day. It was SO hard!! I couldn't say hardly anything I wanted to. But it was a really cool learning experience for the language; I feel like I learned a lot! We are probably going to do an English fast every week from now on! Super cool!

The investigator, Barbara, that Elder Meza and I have been teaching, totally gave up coffee, to which she said "coffee is life!" but that she was willing to do it! So cool! and then, Barbara became our second teacher, whose real name is Irma (sister) Wells. She is seriously so cool! We have learned a lot from her because she REALLY enforces only speaking portuguese, and she has a really good style of teaching that invites the spirit all the time. I love it!

We had fast sunday here at the MTC, (not like you all didn't) and it was so good! Fast sunday's here consist of 2 big devotionals, one with the MTC presidency and the other with a guest, who was Sherri Dew! Her talk was so powerful! She talked a lot about the need to bare (bear?) your testimony to investigators, because most of the world has never heard someone say with conviction "I KNOW this to be true!" 

We are so blessed to gain perfect understanding through the spirit. Those blessings come through our diligence in living God's commandments and listening to the words of our church leaders, who are inspired and called of God to progress His work here on Earth. Don't ever be afraid to bear (bare?) your testimony. The worst that can happen is that the person won't feel anything because they are closed in their hearts, and they'll be like "that was nice." and then you'll be on your way. The best that can happen is that you introduce one of God's children to the most important knowledge they have EVER heard in their life, that of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and their salvation becomes an obtainable goal. So please. Don't be afraid to bear/bare your testimony. 

I'll start us off: I know that our Savior, Jesus Christ, lives, and that he atoned for our sins so that we can be eternally happy. He loves us so much that he paid for every sin we have or will ever commit. Think about that! Really, really think about it. He loves us. He loves me. I have felt his love so much as I have been here at the MTC. So many blessings have come to me from the spirit, whether it be language help or understanding of principles or just comfort being here away from everything I've ever known. Joseph Smith restored this gospel and translated the most true book on Earth, the Book of Mormon. I know that because if he didn't, then basically my whole life, and the next two years, and the history of this gospel, would be the biggest chain of coincidental "miracles" that you've ever seen. Which it's not. I have had spiritual confirmation of the truthfulness of this gospel. And I'm going to go share that Spirit with as many people as I can. You do it too! like I said; you could literally save someone eternally. That is a worthy reward for a few minutes of uncomfortable testimony baring/bearing. So just do it! :)

I love the gospel! And all of you! Thank you for supporting me in my mission! See ya'll next week!

-Elder Valentine!