It is not almost August. seriously. someone is switching calendar months on me....

Mum, Pops, Family and Friends!!!

HELLO!!! ok, really...where did the last week go???? My goodness, time FLIES!! But hey, it really was an awesome week!! I never thought I'd be worried about our investigators at church, but yesterday we had 4 investigators there (Kevin, Joe, Luke, and Chris) and as you can see, they're all men and all in Elders Quorum, so the whole time, we didn't know what to do with our little nerves! haha silly sisters...:) haha We saw SO many miracles occur, which we're undoubtedly grateful for!:) I'll elaborate, but first, I need to send out some SHOUTOUTS!:)

First off...HAPPY BIRTHDAY KER-BER!!!! I can't believe you're one whole year older! I'm so proud of you. ;) I hope you know how much I love you and pray that you have a SPECTACULAR day!!! Tell Lia to give you a giant hug for me! + fetus to give you a kick...:) Happy birthday, big sis!!

Next goes to....BILL!! HAPPYBIRTHDAYBILL!!!! Goodness gracious, you're just so great! I love you lots and hope you have the greatest birthday ever, why? well, cause you deserve it, that's why!:) Tell Nina and Elin to dog pile their daddy for his birthday, alright?;) Love you, Bill! Happy Birthday!!! (ps. got your letter this week; your house is GORGEOUS!:) Congrats!!!)

Last...HAPPY PIONEER DAY!!!!:) My respect for the pioneers have increased DRAMATICALLY since I've been out here, and I cannot thank them enough for enduring such hardships and staying true to the faith they had in Jesus Christ! They are my heroes, and let's all remember to be grateful for their sacrifices so that God's work could continue forward!:)

Alright, well then, since we have no more shoutouts, let's jump into....
QUESTION TIME!!!:)

1.  Did you receive a package this week?

Not yet! But the Canadian Post deliverers and I are becoming friends, that's for sure!:)

2.  What the newest info on Charles and Polly Anna?  (How did PollyAnna enjoy the temple?)

Ah man, sadly something came up for both of them, and they couldn't make it but they're definitely going next month!!!:)

3.  How is Luke?

SOOOOOO good! We met with him a few days ago, and he had the nerve to wait a WHOLE 15 minutes before telling us he got his answer about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith!!! haha just kidding, but we were SOOO excited!! He said he went into a set of trees near his house like Joseph Smith did, and he prayed asking if it was all true, and he said he felt like he was dropped into the presence of his Heavenly Father, the Spirit was SOO strong! :) As he relived that moment, he was just BEAMING!!!:) We've been teaching him everything he needs to know for his baptism, and he just can't contain his excitement, and neither can we!!:) He's just so great!

4.  Agya?

Agya is doing well. He thinks the Book of Mormon is true, but is nervous about being baptized. we want to show him the Restoration video and feel that will help ease his concerns so he can ask God if he needs to be baptized again by His restored authority. He loves church though, that's for sure!:)

5.  Is Moses an investigator?  (wasn't sure what a "former" meant...former investigator???)

Yes he is, sorry! He was a former investigator who we began teaching, but he's super super busy and not very interested at this time, so we're not sure if we can continue meeting with him. I'll let you know. :)

6.  Alex and Joe update...

Joe is doing really well, and is helping Alex act upon his desire to find Divine Truth. Joe is so awesome and loved church yesterday. He said this past week that even though he knows he's not living up to his full potential right now, when he reads the Book of Mormon and prays, he feels that someone is listening and urging him to be better, and he says "and I recently discovered that I can do that through Jesus Christ." How awesome is he??:) He's making incredible progress, and so grateful for his desire to submit to God's will!:)

7.  Anyone else I'm missing???

KEVIN! so Kevin is from the Bahamas (I think...) and he wants to be baptized on august 4th!:) when we contacted him on the street, he immediately caught on to the idea of a prophet on the Earth right now, and said that if that's true, God has one church, and he wants to be apart of it!:) How awesome, eh???:) 

and Chris is doing well! He is one super awesome investigator!!! He is very Russian Orthodox and has a gotee (how in the snapsky do you spell that??) that he plays with as he stares deeply into space to signify that he's processing everything we're telling him. haha pretty awesome, eh?:) makes me giggle. :) But yeah, so he's doing well, came to church yesterday and says he just wants to find truth, so he's in the process of reading and praying, and we'll let you know more in the coming weeks!:)

Since we had SO MUCH FUN playing "FINISH MY SENTENCE" last week, let's play again, shall we?!?

8.  MY FAVORITE TEACHING MOMENT THIS PAST WEEK WAS...

teaching Luke as he expressed he knows this Gospel is God's Restored Church!!:) Priceless.

9.  THE THING THAT MADE ME LAUGH THE HARDEST WAS...

scaring S Dyer last night. I won't go into details. but I was basically "honking" like mom does when she laughs hard. :)

10.  MY FAVORITE COMPANION BONDING MOMENT WAS....

silly enough...companionship inventory. If only you knew the power of the Spirit when I talk about S Dyer and her incredible Spirit and work as a missionary!!! I LOVE HER!!!:)

11.  I WAS SO EMBARRASSED WHEN....

I tripped while contacting the other day. super super awkward. but hey, good thing I thrive in awkward situations as a missionary!:)

12.  I FELT THE LORD GUIDING ME THE MOST THIS WEEK WHEN...

ah man...I totally said that I'd plan this answer this past week and I totally forgot. how? I didn't write it down...my bad...doing so right now, ask me again next week and I'll have the answer!! but short answer: When I put in my full faith in him and then put one step in front of the other, working as hard and effectively, together with S Dyer, as we could!:)

Well, my lovelies, I must head out, but never forget that I know this Gospel is True! Always has been, always will be. I testify that God love us, every one of us! Christ Lives and provided the way for us to return to our Father again one day! The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is simply that church Jesus Christ established on the Earth, restored in these days through a humble man, Joseph Smith, who wanted to know the truth! The Priesthood authority of God, the power to act on behalf of God in our day, has been restored through that humble man, and miracles continue to happen every single day because of that priesthood authority! I love my Savior, my Father in Heaven, and His restored Church! I love this Gospel, and I LOVE being a missionary!!!! I hope you love being a member missionary as much as I do! :) and oh, how GREAT is our calling!!!:)

Love for now and for ever,

Sister De Groot:)

Missionary Invitation: Take inventory of your testimony, find out where you need to strengthen it, and then devote 30 minutes a day studying only that from the scriptures, conference talks or whatever else it may be. and then in one week, take inventory again. I can promise you, as you do so, if you do it with a sincere desire to strengthen that lacking area, it will be tremendously strengthened by our Heavenly Father!:)

Luke 15, don't wander, don't neglect, don't willfully rebel. Stay true to the faith you do have! Fan the flame of your faith!:)