Monday, February 25, 2013

I'M HAVING A BABY TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!:)


Mum, Pops, family, and friends!!!

Well, hi!! Eyup, you read the subject line correctly-I am going to be a mama tomorrow!:) (for those who are worried, my "baby" is my trainee...:)) yup yup, this past transfer was only 5 weeks so we got transfer calls last night and I've been told I'm staying in London 2nd and I'm training a new missionary!!!!! A 5 week old baby training a baby, is that even allowed???;) I'll be honest, I feel so incredibly inadequate to be training someone new, but if God wants me to train, then by golly, He'll help me train!:) I've decided that there is no need getting all wound up or worried about it, because this is the way God wants it, and I know that  He'll provide a way for me to do that which He asks of me, and I will grow in the process! Thank heavens that the gospel gives us that mentality, eh? But, of course, with anything the gospel allows us to have, we must accept it first, and then the blessings will come! AH! I LOVE MISSIONARY WORK!!!!!!! sorry. I just had to let it out. There's kind of a lot of love for this work inside of me and as a result, I might burst. So random side notes in the email are necessary. ;) So the sad thing is S. Messer is leaving me to go train a new missionary in the Don Mills East area in Toronto. She's absolutely STOKED because she's wanted to serve in Toronto since her first transfer!:) Thank heavens we've mastered the bus schedule, too because both of us are again on busses!! woohoo!! honestly, I love it! It allows us to talk with SOO many people, and keep talking to the regular bus riders!:) oh and here's another thing about transfers, they are splitting the London 2nd ward into East and West (I and my trainee-odd to say-will be in west) and ANOTHER set of sister missionaries will be put into the East. The ward will be THRILLED since they haven't had sisters in quite a LONG time!:) But the thing is, the L2-East sisters' apartment isn't ready yet, so they'll be squeezing in with us until it's finished, and we don't know when that'll be....haha! 4 sister missionaries in a little apartment with 1 washroom, it's going to be quite the adventurous week (or longer!) !:) It'll be fun, I'm sure I'll have lots of stories for next weeks email!:) Well, I think it's time for us to jump into.....

QUESTION TIME!!!:)
1.  What can you tell me about your time with Donna & Jacob that I don't already know?
(Note from Sheryl...I received a message from a girl I knew as a teenager on Long Island, whose son received a mission call to the Canada Toronto Mission (he enters the MTC next month).  Donna had a business trip to London, Canada this past week and took her son, Jacob, to see the area.  While they were there, they took Janelle and her companion out for ice cream!)
well I don't really know what she told you...but they're great! It was cool to hear her talk about you and the krugers back in the day and how you babysat her and all!:) and her son jacob who's coming to this mission in a month or so, he's not worried at all, so chill! I was so impressed!! haha Both S. Messer and I were a bit nervous right before we came out but nope! Not Jacob!:) But it was really cool to meet with them, I'm glad they were able to get together and talk about my cute Gandolph family!!!:)
2.  Favorite scripture of the week
Mosiah 2:6 talking about how the people pitched their tents with the doors TOWARDS the temple to hear King Benjamin speak to them. I thought of it both literally and figuratively: literally so they could see him and hear his words, and figuratively so that they turned their views toward the temple and allowed the words to not only go into their ears but into their homes as well. I know that allowing the words read from the scriptures, said in our prayers, heard from the prophet and apostles, or even from some little child at the podium in sacrament meeting, to enter our homes and change our habits to go in harmony with the Lord's teachings, then the Spirit in our homes will increase and we WILL feel ourselves becoming closer to Christ! :)
3.  Funniest story (these are my favorite, so spare no details!!!)
ok, this was kinda funny.:) so the other day s. messer and I were on the bus on our way to an appointment when this lady with a rather loud voice comes on the bus and sits down across from us.We asked her how her day was going and then we responded as well, and when I did so, I smiled because, well, I like smiling, eh? :) But when I smiled, her face changes and she basically yells "WOAH!" both s. Messer and I (along with everyone else on the bus) looked at her and were puzzled and asked what happened. she replies, very loudly might I add, "YOUR TEETH ARE THE SHINIEST THINGS I'VE EVER SEEN!!!" At this point, everyone on the bus was looking at me, and we all know that I don't like forced attention, right? so I instantly go bright red. but hey, everyone was watching so we proceeded to tell her about the Book of Mormon and the Restored gospel. She wasn't interested but hey, maybe someone else heard, eh? I'm learning to take awkward situations and turn them into something gospel related. it's hard, but hey, I'm learning!:) 
4.  Favorite teaching moment
teaching Eloid the word of wisdom. (aka Lloyd. we discovered we had his name wrong. our bad...:) he accepted it immediately and has been living it since!:) He already knows those things aren't good for your body so us telling him that God asks us not to allow those things into our body, was good enough for him! That man has the most incredible faith in Christ that I have EVER seen!!!:)
5.  Do you ever go on splits?
Only on district meeting days when we blitz the areas in our zone. I've spent an hour with S. Marler (another newbie like myself) and an hour with S. Anoosha and S. Fabiano. They are all teaching me so much! I just love it!!!:) OH!!! and when we blitzed this past Wednesday  guess what I saw??? I saw a home with a mailbox with the name "DEGROOT" on it!!!!!!!!!:) I've never been more excited to knock on someones door!!! but....they weren't home. We left a number with my name on it but...they haven't called. yet. ;) 
6.  Individual updates on investigators, please!  (Lloyd, Sheila, Shawn...) :0)
Eloid: been doing REALLY well! He's accepting everything but we had to move his baptismal date to the 17th of March but he's willing to get baptized on that day. He couldn't come to church yesterday because he got food poisoning from eating duck...yeah, we love him. :)
Sheila: we haven't been able to meet with her this past week, she's making lots of excuses lately, but we're going to meet with her hopefully this week so we can continue helping her to progress:)
Shawn: ah this man is SOO humble! He came to church on Sunday (with a big mug of coffee...haha) and says he's been reading and praying and really enjoys it. He says he has not yet gotten an answer if this is true but will continue to read and pray and meet with us!:) Word of wisdom lesson is happening tomorrow night with me and my new baby, so prayers would be definitely appreciated!!!:)
Jamie: New investigator! We contacted her sister on the street and she gave us Jamie's info. she's 15 and interested in religion. She came to church yesterday and enjoyed young women's but thought sacrament meeting was really long (she's a teenager, so it's understandable). but she's meeting with us on Saturday  going to an activity with the youth on Tuesday and even wanted to go to the temple trip on Saturday but we had to inform her there were some other things we needed to teach her before that could happen...:) 
7.  What was your reaction to Keri's email?
Note from Sheryl...Keri wrote to tell Janelle that she and Ernesto are expecting baby #2!  We are SO happy for them!!!)
BAHHHHHHHHHH!!!  OH. MY. GOODNESS. GRACIOUS. THAT IS SO VERY EXCITING!! 
BUT, I DUNNO IF IT'S COMMON KNOWLEDGE YET, BUT IF IT IS I AM SO EXCITED FOR YOU CAREBEAR AND I LOVE YOU SO VERY MUCH AND OH MY GOODNESS, WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!:)
something kind of like that....:)
8.  What other random thoughts do you have to share? 
I do not doubt that Alexis and Amanda Johnson are helping me out here in Canada.:) I can't really describe what has happened, but I know that they, along with other angels, through the guidance of God, are preparing the hearts of the people in Canada, America, and EVERYWHERE else in the world! God knows what He is doing and I have no doubt He will lead me where He wants me to go, the way He wants to do so! My faith is increasing each and every day, and thank heavens for His guidance, or this work could not continue.

Well, I need to head out, but know that I love you so very very much! This Gospel is true, no matter what other people say! If you have experienced the Holy Ghost testifying to you of the truthfulness of this gospel, than please, DO NOT forsake that which you know for some little thing of which you don't know. God teaches line upon line, so if you feel inadequate, step up. Then, when you feel you're doing your best, then God will help you! In the MTC, one of my teachers shared this beautiful poem,

"Come to edge" He said.
"No, I'll fall."
"Come to edge" He said.
"No....I'll fall."
"Come to edge" He said.
I came to the edge, He pushed, 
And I flew.

When it seems that you can't take anymore, think of Jesus Christ, because He's been there before!  I love you all so very much and hope you have a SPLENDID week!:)

Love for now and forever,
Sister De Groot:)

Missionary Invitation #6: Make a mormon.org profile. If you've already made one, then update it, and then SHARE IT! Facebook or email or whatever it may be, just share it! We pass out hundreds of mormon.org cards and just imagine if someone who knew nothing about the church came across your profile and was touched, and joined the church because of it!:) You know it's true, so share it so others can be blessed with the knowledge, too!:)




1 comment:

  1. Keep smiling Janelle your pearly whites open opportunities it seems :0) good for you for taking advantage of "an awkward situation" thx for your example and encouragement..... Love you and good luck "mama!!!" N always, Aunt Lauren

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