Guess it's 2024

Happy New Year everyone! Can't believe its 2024 already! Hope everyone had a great New Years! 

Here's what happened this week:

Highlights:

-Members came in clutch! Almost every day this week we had a member meal. It was amazing!

-Had a great chapel tour with our new friend Jordie! He is super prepared, and even came to church on Sunday! He loved it and is excited to keep meeting with us!

Lowlights:

-Not gonna lie, it was a bit of a grind this week, just out in public a lot, trying to talk to  lots of people, and trying to help the community. So it was a bit tough to kind of have the same schedule every day, but its getting better!

Spritual Thought:

For this week, we had the wonderful opportunity to read all the gospel accounts of Jesus Christ calming the tempest. What really stuck out to me is that some of Jesus' Apostles used to be fisherman. They probably were familiar with the ocean and how to survive through a storm. However, it was still too much for them to awaken the Savior and say: "Carest thou not that we should perish?" Even in circumstances and challenges we face that we may be familiar with, we can still turn to the Savior. We don't have to do it alone because we have done it before. Christ is always there for us no matter what we are going through. He will lift our burdens and make them light. And if we turn to him, he can truly say to our minds and hearts: "Peace, be still."

Anyways yall, sorry its a bit short this week, but thats it! Have a great week! And just a heads up, transfers are next week, so my P-day will be either next Wednesday or Thursday! See yall then!

Haawa!

-Elder Biesinger

No pictures this week, I slacked a bit haha.

🎄Christmas Miracles!🎄

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope yall had a fantastic Christmas! Dont have a whole lot of time to write this week, but here's the update:

Highlights:

-I put my piano skills to the test for a music video on our mission Facebook page!

-Stake Nativity Pageant! Us missionaries got to talk to a lot of people and a lot were interested! We were able to meet this guy Jodie, and we are planning on teaching him later this week!

-Members came in clutch and we were fed almost every day this week! Such a great ward!

-We were able to get in contact with our friend Logan finally and he joined us for Christmas Dinner! He is super interested and we are gonna help him get connected with the YSA missionaries!

-On Christmas eve, one family had us over and we did a traditional German Christmas eve! It was fun to light the candles on the tree, and sing hymns in German(even though I sounded so bad haha). It was awesome to share Christmas eve with them!

-Still no snow here! How am I even in Canada??

For the spiritual thought today, I invite you if you haven't yet to go watch The Christ Child! Its such a great telling of the Christmas Story!

Anyways yall, thats it for this week! Hope yall have a fantastic rest of 2023! 

Haawa!

-Elder Biesinger

Pictures!!!

1-The Candle Lit Christmas Tree!

2-Got to see the Barons from Port Alberni! Been almost a year since I've seen them!

3-Heard from some more Port Alberni Members! These are the Housholders! Great to hear from them too!

 

The Marathon

Hey yall! Hope yall had a great week! This week was pretty much just a find grind haha, so not too much happened, but heres a few things:

Highlights:

-Exchange with Elder Araujo!

-Its nice to be in a ward again haha, having member meals and all that haha.

-The ward here is great, its fairly big, and fairly active from what I can tell.

What has been nice this week, has been just the little things the Lord has put into our lives, the little miracles. Each day we feel fulfilled!

A little spiritual thought I had from this week, is this phrase: life's not a sprint, its a marathon. Sometimes in life we want to take the easy way, the flat path, but in reality, its the climb that matters. As much as it sucks, and hurts, its for the better. But thankfully we dont have to go through it alone. Christ is there for us each step of the way. He has experienced how hard it is, and He can give us guidance and direction, and even carry us when we feel like we can't go on any further. The path back to our Heavenly Father is a long path, but it is also the harder path, but by taking it, we can learn from our mistakes, better pace ourselves, and prepare ourselves so that when we arrive back into the presence of God, we will be ready for eternity! Its a great and wonderful gift weve been given, this journey. And let us be grateful this Christmas for the love of our Heavenly Father for sending His Son, Jesus Christ, for us to help us continue on the path, our marathon, and making it all possible. All worth it.

Anyways yall, sorry its not much this week, but that's all! I hope yall have a wonderful week and a fantastic Christmas! Merry Christmas!

Haawa!

-Elder Biesinger

Pictures!!!

1-4: Breakwater with Elder Araújo!

5: View from Mt. Douglas after dark!

 

I Did Not See That Coming...

Hey yall! Hope yall had a great week! This week was great! Some big changes, but lots of great things to come.

So probably the biggest surprise was there has been an out of sync(emergency) transfer. I am no longer in Victoria YSA, but I am now in Victoria 2nd Ward. This is likely a temporary change for the next few weeks, I'll likely be back in the YSA in January. The reason for the change is my new companion, Elder Schmidt, has been really struggling the last few months, and just lost his driving priveliges, so they needed a switch-up. I am now technically training, and am a district leader. Lots of changes, and I found out about it yesterday haha. However, the Lord has a great plan in store, and I am excited to see what comes next! It may be hard, but there is still much for me to learn!

Anyways, heres what happened this week:

Highlights:

-Exchanges with the Assistants! 

-Christmas Zone Conference!

-Interviews with President Gill!

-Stake Christmas Devotional!

Lowlights:

-Got a little sick this week, but a quick recovery!

-Got transfered out of the YSA :(

Exchanges with the Assistants: This week I went on Exchange with Elder Roth, one of the Assistants. We have known each other our whole missions, so it was a ton of fun to be companions for a day! We also saw a lot of miracles! One was we got Wendys for lunch, and while we were in line, I struck up a conversation with a YSA age guy in line behind me. We had a fantastic conversation! He was interested in learning more about the church and coming to YSA activities! He is also from Belgium which was pretty cool! But the exchange was fantastic! A definite highlight of the week!

Zone Conference: For Zone Conference this week, it was all Christmas themed! A bunch of Musical numbers, and lots of Christmas videos and messages! It was incredible! I was even able to participate in 2 of the musical numbers(piano and guitar) and play the piano for the conference! It was busy organizing and setting up for the conference, but it went great! Got to also see Elder Guiterrez, an old companion I had back in Surrey, so that was great!

Stake Christmas Devotional: Going along with music, we had a massive Christmas devotional for the Stake here in Victoria on Sunday! And WOW there are so many people in this stake that are musically talented! The Spirit was super strong, and definitely a great way to kick off the Holidays!

I guess kind of something that has been on my mind lately is Light, and how Jesus Christ is the Light and the Life of the World. I have been thinking about how Jesus Christ is like a Prism, He refracts the light from the Father to all of us, all over the world, and as the light hits us, we can either choose to be another Prism, or not. If we choose to be, we then continue the chain of refracting light to others around us! It truly makes us the angels in other people's lives! Theres an incredible video that goes along with this. Its called Hold Up Your Light, by Elder Marcus B. Nash of the Seventy. You can find it on Gospel Library or the Church Website. I invite you all to watch it! It shows how a simple act of kindness can carry the Light of the Gospel to everyone! As you do so, I promise that youll be touched by the Holy Ghost to help you this Christmas Season to Light the World!

Anyways yall, thats it for this week! I hope yall have a fantastic week! Take Care!

Haawa!

-Elder Biesinger

Sadly, I sucked this last week to take pictures, I promise to be better next week!

🌟The Lighthouse🌟

Hey yall! Yet again, another week has somehow passed! The Christmas spirit is really kicking into full gear here in Victoria! There's been parades, fireworks, and LOTS of decorations. And its only the 5th haha.

It was a great week! Heres the rundown:

Highlights:

-An amazing Exchange with Elder Mackenzie!

-Exchange with Elder Bolingbroke!

-We got a lot of referrals this week so we've been busy!

-Breakwater Lighthouse miracles!

-First Presidency Christmas Devotional!

Exchanges:

My exchange with Elder Mackenzie was great! We've known each other our whole missions so it was a ton of fun! And it was good for him! We had a crazy miracle! In his area, they haven't found anyone to teach in a long time, and we went out and met this really cool guy who was super interested in learning more! A big miracle for him!

My exchange with Elder Bolingbroke was also great! He is a newer missionary and it was good to get to know him! He had a blast being in the YSA for the day, and he seemed to have a lot more motivation heading back to Sooke!

Breakwater Miracles:

This week, we had time for finding so we went to a Lighthouse attraction where a lot of locals go! And we had some fantastic conversations! We met a couple who we taught the whole restoration! And we talked with a guy(named Zach haha) about religion for over an hour! Both were interested in coming to church! Big miracles for Victoria!

Also, I've thought a lot about the names of Jesus Christ. Theres the classic ones like Prince of Peace, and the King of Kings. But one I've been thinking a lot about is how a name of Jesus Christ is The Lighthouse. A Lighthouse is critical in guiding ships to shore, and warning them of any danger. It helps the ships go through the darkness, while using light to guide them! Just a little thought I have!

First Presidency Devotional:

What a fantastic devotional! If you haven't seen it I invite you to watch it! Particularly Elder Gong and President Nelsons talk! Both spoke so much about how Christmas isn't just a time to Celebrate a moment that happened 2 millenia ago, but Christmas is a time to celebrate the fulfilling key in our Heavenly Father's Plan for us! Without Christ it wouldn't be possible!

Anyways yall, thats it for this week! This upcoming week has lots of exciting events coming up! So stay tuned! Have a great week yall!

Haawa!

-Elder Biesinger

Pictures!!!!

1: Me and Elder Mackenzie on Exchange!

2: A lake where we contacted!

3: A cool painting on the Nativity!

 

-The Little Things-

Hey yall! Hope you had a great week! Not too much happened this week, but here's the highlights:

Highlights:

-We were able to get in contact with our friend Dassarie! Its hard to reach out to her, so it was great to get in contact with her.

-We also met with our friend Jake this week! He is progressing well, and we are excited for him!

-We had a YSA devotional from Elder Bragg of the Area Presidency! It was fantastic and I learned a lot.

Lowlights:

-On American Thanksgiving, the Spanish Elders got into a pretty good accident(everyone was okay though), so we spent that day figuring that stuff out, BUT Elder Schmidt, another Elder in our Zone, made us a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner! It was great!

Anyways, sorry this may be the most boring email ever haha, but regardless of this week being pretty normal, and nothing too exciting happening, there were still so many tender mercies from the Lord. Each day there were so many little things he did for us. It was still a fantastic week!

Anyways yall! That's it for this week! I hope yall have a fantastic week!

Haawa!

-Elder Biesinger

Also I took absolutely no pictures this week, but ill send some old ones haha.

All Photos are of Victoria and the Surrounding Area!

 

☆Let The Holy Spirit Guide☆

Hey yall! How was your week? I hope it was good! My week flew by! Heres what happened:

First, with transfers. I am still in Victoria YSA, but I got a new companion. Sad to say goodbye to Elder Natori. But he is going to Haida Gwaii! So excited for him!

My new companion is Elder Astle. He is pretty cool. He is a much newer missionary, and hes from Wisconsin. We get along super well and work really well together!

Highlights:

-Had a fantastic lesson with our friend Jake! He is progressing very well!

-Southeast Sidney Miracle

-Found out someone I tried teaching in one of my old areas is being taught again! So exciting!

-Miracle with Jordan!

-Mission Leadership Council!

Lowlights:

-Our friend Fynn was going to get baptized this last Saturday, but an hour before his Baptism, he told us he was sick. He still wants to get baptized, but we will have to wait for him to recover.

-Transfer travel for the missionaries in my zone was chaotic. One day I was up at 4AM and didnt get home until 10PM.

Southeast Sidney Miracle: After dinner one night, me and Elder Astle had no plans, so we said a prayer and let God guide us wherever. We felt like going to Southeast Sidney. We live in Victoria, so that is about 40 minutes away. But we followed the Spirit, and went towards Sidney. We didnt use any maps or anything. We just let the Lord guide us. Eventually we ended up at this small neighborhood. And we felt to go to this specific door. We did, and we met Jen! We talked with her at her doorstep for almost 30min! It was a fantastic conversation, and we gave her a Book of Mormon! She even read it in front of us! She didnt have too much interest in learning more, but she definitely planted the seed in her heart! Quite a miracle! 

Jordan: The following night, same thing, we had spare time, and me and Elder Astle prayed on where the Lord needed us. Elder Astle felt like stopping by Jordan's place. He is someone he taught in his previous area, but lost contact. So we swung by his place, and he was home! He invited us in and we had a lesson with him for almost an hour! It was an incredible lesson, and Jordan loved every bit of it! We are hoping he will come to the YSA activities soon!

Anyways, thats all for this week! A week of miracles for sure! I hope yall have a fantastic week! Heres a cool scripture I found this week:

12: And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:

13: To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.

1 Thessalonians 3: 12-13

With the Christmas season coming up, the Lord can help us to love, heal, and help those around us! So let us go forward with Gratitude and let the Lord guide us this Christmas season!

Have a great week yall!

Haawa!

-Elder Biesinger

Pictures!!!!

1-Homemade Pizzas 🍕 

2-Chocolate Milk Run

3-Me and Elder Astle on the Ferry

4-Yesterday"s Sunrise

 

🇨🇦🍔The Last Supper🍔🇨🇦

Hey yall! Hope you had a great week! This week had its ups and downs, but we saw some pretty cool miracles! Heres what happened:

Highlights:

-The Last Supper, A Le Belle Patate Special.

-Exchange in Sooke with Elder Brown! The Sooke church building was an old Dentist's office, so it was pretty funny to see it haha.

-Lesson with our friend Hayden!

-Sidney Miracles!

-I helped make some Ugandan food for a member meal. It was quite tasty.

-There was a branch temple trip, and our most progressing friends Victoria and Sofia went and got to see the temple!

-Our friend Fynn is en-route for his Baptism this Saturday! I am so excited for him!

Lowlights:

-Today I say farewell to Elder Court, He is finishing his mission. He is such an incredible Elder! Excited for him, but he will be missed!

Transfers are this week, I'm pretty sure I'm stsying in Victoria, but I'll probably get a new companion. We will see what happens tomorrow!

The Last Supper: A member owns a local poutine shop, and whenever missionaries are finishing their mission, he cooks them a Last Supper meal. Its pretty much a massive Bacon Cheeseburger, and a poutine on the side. So much food haha. But Elder Court absolutely destroyed it haha.

Lesson with Hayden: This lesson was miraculous. We started off and Hayden was having a really bad day, and was at his breaking point with God. He was super frustrated and me and my comps didnt really know what to say to encourage him. But the Spirit flooded in, and we testified so boldly on the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, that we all were left in tears. I myself have never so boldy testified of the Book of Mormon. He felt the spirit and you could tell he needed it. It was our first lesson, and we even invited him to be Baptized. He is praying about it right now, so if everyone could please pray for Hayden! It was an incredible lesson, so spiritual, and a moment to remember!

Sidney Miracles: On Saturday, we went to Sidney(North of Victoria) for a lesson, but it canceled 5 min before we arrived. But we had some time, so we decided to go visit some YSA members. We visited 2 of them, but they both werent home, BUT we got to talk to their families! And they both really needed us there right then. The first family, we shared a message that they said they really needed, and they felt super uplifted. The second family had a member who was in a lot of pain and really needed a priesthood blessing. It was wonderful that even though these members werent in our assigned unit, we were still able to minister to them when they needed support!

Anyways, thats all for this week! This upcoming week is going to be busy! We got transfers, Fynns Baptism, and MLC! Lots to look forward too!

Have a great week everyone! Stay strong and always remember that God loves you!

Haawa!

-Elder Biesinger

Pictures!!!!

1: Another Castle

2-3: A cool ocean view with my comps

4: A bunch of the Branch. Legends.

5: Dowtown Victoria at night!

 

We Thought Y'all Were Secret Agents

Hey yall! This week absolutely flew by! Lots happened and miracles were everywhere! Heres what happened:

Highlights:

-Mission Leadership Council in Richmond!

-This week, we had quite a few members reach out and feed us, which was a miracle, because we dont have much food haha. But we were also able to minister to them which was amazing!

-Exchange with Elder Johnson!

-UVic Miracles!

-Our friend Fynn passed his Baptismal Interview! He will be getting Baptized in a few weeks! Im so excited for him to make this promise with God!

-Got to visit a castle, that was pretty cool haha.

-Victoria Multi-Cultural Night!

-Stake YSA temple fireside!

UVic Miracles: While on exchange with Elder Johnson, we had some cool street contacting experiences at the local university. For one, we were walking in a library, and Elder Johnson felt like talking to these 2 guys. As we were talking, they said that when they first saw us they thought we were secret agents and they were in trouble. It was pretty funny, and we had a great conversation with them!

Another Miracle was right after, we stopped at a Gas station to talk to some people. And this guy just walked in and was like, hey its the missionaries! Do you have a Book of Mormon? Ive been wanting to read one! We had an incredible conversation with him, and we hope to see him again!

Multi-Cultural Night: Us missionaries in Victoria ran a Stake Multi-Cultural activity on Saturday! We had a great turnout, had some great food, and all learned a lot about other cultures within the Stake!

Stake Fireside: Sunday Night, we had a YSA Fireside with the Stake Presidency! It was super spiritual and all our testimonies grew!

Anyways yall, thats it for this week! I hope yall have a great week! Take care!

Haawa!

-Elder Biesinger

Pictures!!!

1: Donair Poutine, it was excellent!

2, 3, & 4: Pictures at Hatley Castle with my companions.

5: My companions and Ethyn(a member).

 

 

Blessed are the Poutine Makers

Hey y'all! Hope y'all had a great week! This week was pretty good! Here's what happened:

Highlights:

-Golf Drivers range with the District on P-day!

-Exchange with Elder Schmidt!

-Got to visit Beacon Hill Park, a famous park here in Victoria!

-This week we did a lot of teaching! Helping our friends to get back on track, and seeing how we can help them come closer to Jesus Christ!

-We are currently Visiting the Lower Mainland, and will attend the temple today!!

-Also, I gave a talk on Sunday! So that was fun!

-Also, lots of Poutine this week haha. Elder Natori LOVES poutine, so whenever we eat out, its usually poutine haha. 

Anyways, so this week was pretty much a grind, but I can definitely say the Lord had a lot of Tender Mercies for us! Little moments here and there really made the week amazing! Definitely this work is inspired!

Anyways yall, have an excellent week! Take care!

-Elder Biesinger

Pictures!!!

1-Me, Elder Court, and Elder Schmidt!

2-Sunrise

3-Peacock at Beacon Hill Park

4-Another Sunrise

5-Just Chilling at the Library

6-The Temple at Night, next to the Moon!

 

 

 

⛰High On the Mountain Top⛰

Hey yall! It was a great week! Lots of miracles and fantastic moments! Heres what happened:

Highlights:

-Volleyball Night!(Oh how Ive missed them!)

-Got to go to a pretty cool cathedral in downtown Victoria!

-Got to go to Downtown Victoria! It was pretty cool!

-Institute!

-Basketball Night!(Ive also missed this!)

-Sunday! It was fun to meet all the YSA!

-It was also fun to meet all of our friends this week! So much potential here in Victoria!

-Mt. Douglas Miracle!

-Pumpkin Carving with the YSA!(Sadly there   wasnt enough pumpkins do I wasnt able to make one.)

Lowlights:

-None really, just a pretty good week!

Mt. Douglas Miracle: Yesterday we felt impressed to go to Mt. Douglas park to go finding! As we arrived there was no one at all there. We all said a prayer that the Lord would lead someone to us, and about 5 minutes later, Haylee and Kahlil came by! We ended up talking to them for awhile! They showed some interest, and we invited them to come to YSA activities! It was a cool little miracle!

Sorry, not too much this week, it was mostly just getting familiar with the new area. But it was still a great week!

Anyways hope yall have a great week! Take care!

-Elder Biesinger

Pictures!!!

-1 & 5: The cathedral we visited!

-2 & 3: Downtown Victoria!

-4 & 6: Mt. Douglas

-7: Me and my companions Elder Natori and Elder Court!

 

 

 

 

⛈Master, the Tempest is Raging⛈

Hey y'all! This week has been absolutely crazy! So much has happened! Lots of changes and and new faces! Heres what happened(buckle down, its gonna be a long one):

Firsf of all, it was a sad time to say goodbye to Elder Solomon and Haida Gwaii. I loved my time there, and the people will always have a spot in my heart. I have been transferred back to Vancouver Island, but this time I'm in Victoria! I'm super excited to serve in the YSA here! 

Also, I am back in a trio! My new companions are Elder Court and Elder Natori! Elder Court is from Alberta, and this is his last transfer as a missionary! Elder Natori is from Japan! He is a newer missionary! They are both incredible! Excited to work with them!

Anyways, heres the highlights of the week:

Highlights:

-Calming the Tempest Miracle!

-2 day Exchange in Burnaby with Elder Walcer and Elder Whiting in Burnaby before transfers!

-Mission Leadership Council in Richmond!

-Victoria Stake Conference!

-Zone Conference in Nanaimo!

-Washington East Stake missionaries!

Calming the Tempest Miracle: I flew out of Haida Gwaii in Sandspit. It requires a short 20 minute ferry to get over there. When we traveled down to the Airport, the weather was awful. Super windy, rainy, and stormy seas. I was very stressed that the ferry was cancelled and we wouldn't be able to make it over to the Airport. However we prayed and asked if the storm could calm down so we could make it over. And the Lord provided! We turned a corner, and the storm almost ceased to be! The water became as calm and clear as glass, and we were able to make it over! Such a cool miracle!

Burnaby Exchange: Before heading to Victoria, there was a waiting time and I stayed in the Vancouver zone with Elder Walcer and Elder Whiting! I love these Elders so much! It was great working with them again for a brief time!

Mission Leadership Council: After the exchange, I got to meet my new companions at Mission Leadership Council! It was also great to see lots of other missionaries! We had a very spiritually uplifting meeting and all left feeling refreshed and excited for the upcoming transfer!

Victoria Stake Conference: After arriving in Victoria, we were able to attend Stake Conference on Saturday and Sunday! It was great to meet new members! The conference was spiritually uplifting and amazing!

Back to Nanaimo: Yesterday, we had Zone Conference in Naniamo with the Nanaimo Zone! It was great being back up in Nanaimo! Zone conference itself was incredible! Lots of inspired words, music, and good to see missionariss I havent seen in awhile!

Washington East Stake Missionaries: God has been so good! The stars have seemed to align! With me heading down to Victoria and up to Nanaimo for Zone Conference, I was able to finally see Elder Barlow and Sister Brown from back home! We are all from the same Stake(and originally ward!) An awesome reunion and it will be fun working with these incredible missionaries!

Otherwise, thats pretty much it for this week! Excited to serve in Victoria YSA! Its gonna be fun! And excited to see the miracles come!

Have a great week yall!

Haawa!

-Elder Biesinger

Pictures!!

1-Last day on Haida Gwaii with Elder Solomon!

2-Me and Elder Magno heading off Haida Gwaii!

3-Me, Sister Brown, and Elder Barlow in Nanaimo!

 

◼Blackout!!◼

Hey yall! Hope yall had a great week! This week was amazing! Heres what happened:

Highlights:

-Exchange with Elder Mackenzie!

-Exchange with Elder Gibbs-Hector!

-Harvesting Seaweed on the beach- probably one of the wierdest services ive ever done haha.

-Playing billiards with our friends Vince and Stacey! Sadly out of the 4 of us I took dead last haha, but it was a ton of fun!

-Had to give a 10 min talk in church with zero preparation time, and it went really well!

-Power Outage Miracle!

-Canadian Thanksgiving with the Parnells in Old Masset!

-Remember Danielle? The lady I gave a Bible and Book of Mormon to in Prince Rupert? Shes letting us rent out her house in Masset so missionaries will be able to stay on Haida Gwaii more permenantly!

Lowlights:

-None this week, it was an excellent week!

Power Outage Miracle: Sunday Night, me and Elder Solomon were deciding what to do in Skidagate, when we recieved the prompting to drive back home early. It was about an hour and a half back home. 15 minutes after we got home, the power cut out. 

A massive tree on the road to our house fell on the power lines, and it took the team until 7AM the next morning to repair the lines. Until then, the road to our apartment was blocked off. There was no other way to our apartment. If we were 20 minutes later we wouldn't have been able to make it home for the night. A bit of a crazy miracle!

Anyways, thats it yall! Not too much, but still an excellent week! Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Also, transfers are coming up this week, so stay tuned to see what happens!

Haawa!

-Elder Biesinger

Pictures!

1-Daajing Giids Village

2-A cool whale statue

3-Me and Elder Mackenzie

4-Me and Elder Solomon playing billiards