...By the Touch of the Master's Hand

Mum, Daddy, Family, and Friends,

I truly wish that I could convey in words the joy that I feel as I serve my Savior, Jesus Christ. So unlearned, young, simple, and unqualified, God has called me, He has called you, to share His Gospel with all others. I was talking with my trainer actually, Sister Messer, last week and she mentioned the Stripling Warriors. Did you know the word "stripling" just means young? I always thought it meant they were ooper strong. But young is all it means! I love how they had never fought before and had no experience yet they just knew that what they were doing was the right thing to do, and consequently, they conquered their task at hand with the help of our Heavenly Father. It doesn't matter how young or how unqualified or insecure or whatever else our stumbling block may be, if we own up to our task at hand with the help of our Heavenly Father, with our faith in our Savior evident in our words and deeds, we WILL conquer! How simple it is! Alone; we fail. With God; we win. every. time. I don't know about you, but I'd like to win, especially if it means eternal life in the presence of our Heavenly Father. How sweet that knowledge is!

So I know that the little one isn't born quite yet but I'd like to wish my soon to be born niece, Solana, a happy day of birth! and Keri, of course, I hope everything goes well! :) I'll be praying for you!! When she comes, give her a kiss for me and of course, a picture next week would be greatly appreciated! I love you Ker-Ber! Good luck and congratulations!!!:)

Now it's time for.....QUESTION TIME!!!

1. What Conference message are you sharing this week?Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles talked about the worth of each individual and how we need to help each other truly recognize and own up to our worth and eternal potential. He talked about keeping covenants that we made with the Lord and said something that touched me deeply; "The Lord sees mistakes differently than rebellion." How precious that realization was. God doesn't see mistakes as open rebellion. He knows our hearts and He knows our intentions and understanding. He is the ultimate judge and His judgements are just! When we fall, we don't fail. Look at those two words; fall and fail. They look like the same word, except the "l" on the second word has been cut to be an "i"; they probably both originally started as fall. Think about it; every single one of us falls from time to time, the only time we fail is when we cut all ties, we give up, we refuse to get back onto our feet. When we cut our aspirations, our determination, our diligence, we cut the "l" and it becomes an "i". That's when we fail. When we fall, we do not become failures. Even when the Ammonites fought, not one of them were killed, none were defeated. All were wounded, battered and bruised, but none were lost. As it is with us--> through Christ, if we fight, we will not be lost. We may get hurt, but definitely not lost. We will fall, but we will not fail. The Mormon message that comes to mind is "Lifting Burdens" on youtube. I recommend watching that. It touches my heart each time. God love you no matter what! You may be a $20 bill that has been torn and battered and run over, but you are still worth the full $20! (See video for reference)  :)

2. What's the update on Tedd?

He went to a funeral this weekend so we haven't seen him for a bit. Keep him in your prayers please:)

3. Ella?She's really cool! She was unable to come to church this weekend because of transportation issues with her wheelchair but she definitely wants to come and LOVES the 13 articles of faith!:) She has a wonderful testimony of Christ and is progressively working on her testimony of the Restoration of the Gospel by reading the Book of Mormon and praying about it. That's the best (and the only) way, eh?:)

4. Anyone new?Francois is so cool! He's african background but from France! So cool. :) He has met with missionaries in the past and said he'd "like to see if this whole Book of Mormon thing is true or not" Go ahead, ask God, Francois! :) haha just kidding, but seriously, he is awesome and he's super excited to know for himself!:)

And guess who's back?? JIM!!!! The 75 year old who requested missionaries to his house after seeing the family commercial. He's out of the hospital now and he's on a roll! We taught him the restoration and he said yes to baptism on 25 November! He's so cool, it's awesome!!:)

5. Are you feeling any better?Sure am!! Which reminds me, thanks so much for the package of cold and flu healing things! haha I'm geared up for the next round, bring it on, Canadian winter!! :)

6. Have you received any packages lately? (If so, which one(s))?

Yup yup yup!!! sure did, both of them!!! Thank you SOOO much!!! Truly, between Sister Williams and I, I think every single pair of tights has been worn within the past 3 days!:) WOOHOO!! Honestly, thanks a BILLION!!! Oh, and mom, you'll be happy to know that everytime I get a package I have to go the nearby shoppers drug mart to get it and the post office lady knows me now because of all the packages I go to pick up from her:) She's pretty proud of you:) And so am I! love you so so much!!!

PACKAGES!!!

FINISH MY SENTENCE....

 

7. The funniest thing that happened this week was....
I was a 5 second run away from contacting a telletubby. The only thing keeping me from running to him and talking to him about the restored gospel was the fact that we were in a car in the middle of a 3-lane road. Had there not been another lane, I would have ran and contacted him. But, he still waved to us!!!!:) Yes, there is a picture of him. I thought he was pretty cute. :)

 

 

8. The most embarrassing thing that happened was....Jim kissed me. eyup, he did. twice, actually. on the cheeks, which is better than the alternative but yes, he kissed me. and my face went blood red, oh my heavens, I was so embarrassed!!! so when we first got there, he got so excited to see me that he said "Sister De Groot!!! welcome back, I've missed you! Give me a kiss!" to which I pulled back VERY quickly and dodged the bullet. I thought I was pretty sly until after the lesson I shook his hand and he pulls me close to him and kisses each of my cheeks. the goober. Needless to say S williams and our member couldn't stop laughing! Neither could Jim, as he felt pretty proud of his accomplishing a kiss. oh my goodness, i thought that coming to Toronto I wouldn't have to worry about all the hugs and kisses from people like my siblings did on their missions because they went clear across the world, but oh no! I have to worry about it a lot here!! haha oh my goodness...so embarassing. I think my face is turning red now...wonderful....ha! :)

9. I wish you could have seen when....above; number 8. oh my lanta.....

10. I felt the Spirit so strong as....I heard our member bear her sweet testimony to Francois during our lesson. She is new to the ward and a convert at 19 from the catholic religion. She just gets it, the work of our Father and she has the most BEAUTIFUL simple testimony I have ever heard and felt! Reminds me of the testimonies of mom of dad. It was a great feeling, that's for sure!:)

11. Something I have discovered about missionary work, that I never realized before, is...God really doesn't want you to be someone else, He doesn't expect you to be perfect. Everyone has always said that but it just never clicked for me. but it did this past week! I don't need to be perfect, I just need to progress. that's how it is for all of us! woohoo! so glad this finally makes sense in my heart as well as my head!:)

12. Sister Williams and I have bonded this week over....her half birthday! October 17th we made a cake and ate it all by the next day. don't judge us...:) why is it that my bonding moments with my companions usually consists of us eating and laughing hardest over the dumbest things? couldn't tell ya...but it works! haha:)

13. I am most grateful for....

     a. Members testimonies     b. Spiritual epiphanies     c. Diversity; I LOVE TORONTO!!!     d. Hearing about peoples mission calls (Megan Lamoreaux!!!! CONGRATS SWEETHEART!!! SOOO excited for you...write me, maybe?:))     e. Ontario Falls. so. stinking. pretty. !!!
Well, my lovelies, I'm off to grocery shopping and preparing for this wonderful coming week! I know this glorious restored Gospel is true! and how much joy it has brought to my life!!!:) God loves you, He loves me, and He lives! Thank heavens for that eternal truth!!!

"How sweet the joy this sentence gives; I know that my Redeemer lives! May the whole world know it, and embrace it, is my sacred prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." ~Present Monson.

How great is our calling!

Love,
Sister De Groot :)

Me showing how much I love service opportunities!
We helped a lady clean out her garage! haha good times:)

Missionary Invitation: Boost up your self esteem this week; read question #2, watch "lifting burdens" mormon message,