BEST. WEEK. EVER.

Mum, Pops, Family, and Friends!!

HELLO!!! So let's just think back to that one time when you were around 5 or 6 and you surprised your mom or dad or sibling with a card that said "I love you" or cleaned their room and then hid to see their reaction?? (if this never happened to you, just imagine it. work with me, here...:)) and when they discovered it, they smiled or maybe even cried if your mom is cutely emotional? ;) well, that's how this whole week has been, seeing this Gospel change people's lives, including my own!!! Let me just start off with PollyAnna. We taught her last Monday night with the intentions of teaching her mainly about the Gift of the Holy Ghost. We said the prayer to open the lesson, but something just didn't feel right about focusing on the Holy Ghost, so we decided to ask her how she was feeling about reading The Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith being a true Prophet. She said that she feels good when she reads The Book of Mormon but hadn't prayed specifically about Joseph Smith yet, but for her "mind to be open to further knowledge". The duration of the lesson was us testifying to her and her expressing her fears about her family's reaction if she were to be baptized. I cannot express to you how incredibly strong the Spirit was in that room. She had us all crying. Towards the end, I felt very strongly to testify about the basic Truth of this Gospel and how if it truly is God's Truth, then she will be blessed no matter what her future experiences will be. We then invited her to kneel down and pray specifically if Joseph Smith was a prophet, to ask very directly, if the Lord's true church was truly restored to the Earth again through him. As she did so, the Spirit completley overwhelmed me. As she asked those specific questions, she went silent, flooding with tears, and I heard 4 gentle words whisper "I let her know." I couldn't help but cry myself, being so humbled by her true desire to know if what we had been teaching her was true, and God letting me know that He answered her prayer. How beautiful that moment was. As she thanked God and expressed her love for Him, she closed the prayer. We then invited her to be baptized and she is getting baptized this coming Sunday, June 16!:) Since that day, she has given up her coffee and tea, committed to living all the commandments and is SO ready to enter into a covenant with our Father in Heaven! Thank you all so much for your prayers on her behalf, because I can promise you, they have been felt!!! I simply love that God's Truth is convinced by Him and the Spirit and not by me, for it is not my gospel, it is His. I love that I can rely wholly upon the Spirit to testify to them of the Truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, and Joseph Smith, and the latter day prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and any other doctrine that has to do with His church! How grateful I am to simply be an instrument in the Hands of my God to do and say the things that He would have me do and say!! ah! How great is my calling......

Alright, I have more to share so let's jump into those questions, eh???:)

1.  How is sweet Polly Anna?

tee hee SOOOOOOO good!!!:) you should read the above description again. just because it'll make you smile and happy again. I did and...eyup! still makes me happy!!!!:):)
2.  Any word from/about Charles?  (We're keeping him in our prayers!!)

YES!!!!!!!! we had an incredible experience where we were going to drop by someone to begin teaching them, and felt that we should drop by him quickly and then go see if Charles was home. So of course, we followed that prompting. we quickly set up an appointment with Justin who we're teaching this week and then went to Charles. We said a prayer in the car before leaving and felt like we should stay in the car for a second and think things through. It was kind of weird, I'll be honest, because we rushed over there for the Spirit to stay "just wait", and we were a little confused, until (:D) Charles walked out of his apartment building. Sister Dyer and I and jumped out of the car and went over to him. He was so relieved to see us. He quickly apologized that he hadn't returned our calls or texts but he hadn't responded because felt embarrassed and didn't want to let us down, so thought it'd be best to just stop talking to us. We reassured him that we were there for him and wanted to truly help him be happy. :) We went on a walk with him and just addressed his concerns and worries, but even as we did, the Spirit was so strong! We've met with him a few more times since then, and discovered last night that he knows someone in the branch that recently started coming back to church. Even last night, Sister Dyer and I could tell the difference in his countenance, that he had more of a hope eluminating from him, and he said that he has been reading the Book of Mormon, especially the night before when his friends got into an argument, and he read exactly what he needed to hear, about God being there for you in your hard times!:) it was absolutely incredible!!! We recommitted him to be baptized on the 30th of June, and are so excited to continue helping him be a happier person and overcome his hardships. I just love how real the Atonement is, because it truly doesn't matter what you've done in the past, what matters is what you do from this point on. The Atonement is REAL. and it's for everyone. Even the person reading this who thinks it can help them. It can. but you have to be the one to allow it. I've had to learn it, too. And once I let the Atonement change me, I've been the happiest I've ever been, and continue to be. :)
3.  Anyone else to report on?

So yesterday, our ward mission leader brought his boss to church, we were so incredibly excited for him!!!!:) Her name is Katie, and she is an absolute sweetheart! She LOVES God so much and just wants to find where God wants her to be. :) She and PollyAnna became INSTANT friends and helped each other throughout all 3 hours of church, and they both loved it. Katie said that it was definitely different from what she's used to, growing up in a Baptist Church, but she loved coming, and the feeling was incredible. We invited and taught her the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ just after church, with our ward mission leader sitting in on the lesson. He testified to her of how the Gospel has helped him in his life, and how he gained through personal testimony and experience that it was indeed true. it was so great to see his testimony and how it changed his life and how deeply he feels about it, and his desire to share it. Katie could see it too, she committed to reading and praying about the Book of Mormon and she said she wants to come to church again next Sunday. We also have the "Women at the Well" relief society activity this saturday that she's really excited to come to, seeing as she LOVES feeling the Spirit through music. :) She's so incredible, and so excited to learn!:)
4.  Did you get your package from Sister Zerkle last week as planned?

Sure did!!! Thank you so much!!! except....I made the mistake of bringing it to the church where all the other missionaries were at for preparation day and the candy was devoured in like 10 minutes. Gotta love the elders, eh? haha But really, thank you SOOO much! I was so excited to get the Ensign, I may or may not have been jumping up and down...:)
5.  FAVORITE teaching moment...

PollyAnna praying about Joseph Smith and receiving an answer. That was the first time that I have been in the room when someone we were teaching prayed about and received the answer that this Gospel was true. ah. so incredibly powerfully. :)
6.  FAVORITE companion study...

Sunday morning when both of us were going over our talks to each other, and sharing insights. As we talked about the eternal plan that God has set for us, we were testifying to each other about the Atonement again, and how it really doesn't matter what we've been through, but that we can be truly clean and cleansed from those pains. Just because you make a mistake, it doesn't mean you're thrust down or shunned by our Heavenly Father or people in the church, but that you can be truly clean and cleansed through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. That's why He suffered; so that you don't have to.
7.  BIGGEST "made me smile" moment...

Charles telling us that we were an answer to his prayers. I don't think I could have smiled any bigger. and I smile big. you know that. :)
8.  MOST EMBARRASSING moment...

that awkward moment when we were contacting and I introduced myself as Sister Dyer and her as Sister De Groot. The guy looked at our name tags super confused. ha. haha. my bad....
9.  FUNNIEST moment...

look below (under Best Companion bonding moment...)

10. BEST COMPANION bonding moment...

discovering Sister Dyer's adoration for sugar. probably the most entertaining thing I've ever seen! I just love her so much!!!:):):)

Well, my lovelies, I'm off, but please feel that I know this Gospel is TRUE!!! I haven't been forced to believe something because my parents do, or my siblings, or my friends, but I believe it because I've found out for myself that it is true. The last two paragraphs in the introduction of the Book of Mormon invite and promise blessings. So when I was a young teenager, I took up that invitation, and I can testify that I received those blessings, that knowledge that the Book of Mormon is TRUE, that Joseph Smith was indeed, a TRUE prophet, and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is indeed the Lord's kingdom once again established on the Earth, preparatory to the second coming of the Messiah! It's TRUE. and it's changed my life forever, how grateful I am that I am here sharing it with all those I come in contact with!!! HOW GREAT IS MY CALLING!!!

Love for now and forever,

Sister De Groot:)

Missionary Invitation: Read those last 2 paragraphs in the introduction of the Book of Mormon and take up its invitation. If you're reading this and you are not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and would like a copy of the Book of Mormon to see what I'm talking about and to find out for yourself, then go to mormon.org and sign up for a free copy and browse the doctrine of His true church, or contact my family, I am sure they would LOVE to help you find answers that will make you happier than you've ever been!:)