how important are the members of the church? ESSENTIAL!

so this week was different first off i went on divisions with my zone leader elder Toledo on thursday and turns out he lives in daltons mission! I learned so much from him about how important it is to listen and how important it is to love the people he was an incredible example of those two things! 

        then this week we tried to find more investigators and less active members to teach. so we did a LOT of contacting! we yelled Allo! a million times this week and we didn't get one new investigator. it is hard but it requires a lot of patience! so we have been trying to find new ways to get investigators and we started asking the members in every way possible. we were given 4 new references and two possible investigators. but now in order to keep those people we need the members to keep helping us and go on visits with us so those people have a friend to help them. Without members what we do would literally be impossible! so i want to extend a challenge to everyone that reads this email! please think of every person you know that is not a member and choose one that you can invite over for dinner, family night, movie night, or anything else and then all you need is 10 minutes or more if you can to have the missionaries talk with those people while they are in a comfortable but different setting. Please find a way to get involved with this work the missionaries need you but more important the lord needs you too!!!!

      then we talked with a contact we had and met her dad and he told us all about his time spent in whales and all about some places that i'd heard of! it was so cool how a conversation about his life led us exactly into the plan of salvation and he said he would be willing to listen to our message we are SOOOOO excited to teach him!

     then this week we had a reactivation! Nicole was a member when she was a little girl but her family fell away while she was still young, so she never really was a member. so right before i got to the sector they started teaching her. and she had been truly prepared by the lord. Anything we asked her to do she did with no questions. now she is active and her husband Patricio is listening to our lessons!!!! at first he told us he wanted nothing to do with our message!!!!!!! she is so awesome and her husband has been touched by the spirit it is sooo exciting!

      well just to let you all know right after i am done emailing i am going into my house until friday morning. September 11 is independance day for chile and they blow up cars and shoot guns so tomorrow is my super deep clean of my house!!!! wahoo!!!! gotta love chile!

                                                       Love elder groen

p.s. i sure love all of you!