diff --git a/ts/data/data.ts b/ts/data/data.ts
index d48d8e68c..f27a727ff 100644
--- a/ts/data/data.ts
+++ b/ts/data/data.ts
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ let _shutdownPromise: any = null;
 export type StorageItem = {
   id: string;
   value: any;
+  timestamp?: number;
 };
 
 export type IdentityKey = {
diff --git a/ts/models/conversation.ts b/ts/models/conversation.ts
index e3082c801..d395bb6bf 100644
--- a/ts/models/conversation.ts
+++ b/ts/models/conversation.ts
@@ -632,6 +632,17 @@ export class ConversationModel extends Backbone.Model<ConversationAttributes> {
       if (shouldApprove) {
         await this.setIsApproved(true);
         if (hasIncomingMessages) {
+          // have to manually add approval for local client here as DB conditional approval check in config msg handling will prevent this from running
+          await this.addSingleOutgoingMessage({
+            sent_at: Date.now(),
+            messageRequestResponse: {
+              isApproved: 1,
+            },
+            unread: 1, // 1 means unread
+            expireTimer: 0,
+          });
+          this.updateLastMessage();
+
           if (!this.didApproveMe()) {
             await this.setDidApproveMe(true);
           }
diff --git a/ts/receiver/configMessage.ts b/ts/receiver/configMessage.ts
index d2894f537..ad6f53707 100644
--- a/ts/receiver/configMessage.ts
+++ b/ts/receiver/configMessage.ts
@@ -54,21 +54,33 @@ async function handleGroupsAndContactsFromConfigMessage(
   envelope: EnvelopePlus,
   configMessage: SignalService.ConfigurationMessage
 ) {
-  const didWeHandleAConfigurationMessageAlready =
-    (await getItemById(hasSyncedInitialConfigurationItem))?.value || false;
-  if (didWeHandleAConfigurationMessageAlready) {
+  const lastConfigUpdate = await getItemById(hasSyncedInitialConfigurationItem);
+  const lastConfigTimestamp = lastConfigUpdate?.timestamp;
+  console.warn({ lastConfigUpdate });
+  console.warn({ lastConfigTimestamp });
+  const isNewerConfig = lastConfigTimestamp && lastConfigTimestamp < _.toNumber(envelope.timestamp);
+
+  // const didWeHandleAConfigurationMessageAlready =
+  //   (await getItemById(hasSyncedInitialConfigurationItem))?.value || false;
+  // if (didWeHandleAConfigurationMessageAlready) {
+  if (isNewerConfig) {
     window?.log?.info(
       'Dropping configuration groups change as we already handled one... Only handling contacts '
     );
-    if (configMessage.contacts?.length) {
-      await Promise.all(configMessage.contacts.map(async c => handleContactReceived(c, envelope)));
+    if (isNewerConfig) {
+      if (configMessage.contacts?.length) {
+        await Promise.all(
+          configMessage.contacts.map(async c => handleContactReceived(c, envelope))
+        );
+      }
+      return;
     }
-    return;
   }
 
   await createOrUpdateItem({
     id: 'hasSyncedInitialConfigurationItem',
     value: true,
+    timestamp: _.toNumber(envelope.timestamp),
   });
 
   const numberClosedGroup = configMessage.closedGroups?.length || 0;
@@ -113,7 +125,7 @@ async function handleGroupsAndContactsFromConfigMessage(
       void joinOpenGroupV2WithUIEvents(currentOpenGroupUrl, false, true);
     }
   }
-  if (configMessage.contacts?.length) {
+  if (configMessage.contacts?.length && isNewerConfig) {
     await Promise.all(configMessage.contacts.map(async c => handleContactReceived(c, envelope)));
   }
 }
@@ -140,11 +152,11 @@ const handleContactReceived = async (
       contactConvo.set('active_at', _.toNumber(envelope.timestamp));
     }
 
+    // checking for existence of field on protobuf
     if (contactReceived.isApproved === true) {
       if (!contactConvo.isApproved()) {
-        // checking for existence of field on protobuf
-        await contactConvo.setIsApproved(Boolean(contactReceived.isApproved));
         // TODO: add message search in convo for pre-existing msgRequestResponse msg only happens once per convo
+        await contactConvo.setIsApproved(Boolean(contactReceived.isApproved));
         await contactConvo.addSingleOutgoingMessage({
           sent_at: _.toNumber(envelope.timestamp),
           messageRequestResponse: {