Sept 28

Dear Mom,

A trip to the Art Museum

I loved the Woman’s Broadcast! President Uchtdorf's talk was a call to repentance for me. I know there is so much I can be doing to demonstrate more charity towards those that I serve and work with. I am so grateful for conference, and I look forward to this weekend. Pretty cool to think

that all 6 of us will be doing the same thing at the same time even

though we will be all over the country.

This week we had a member of the quorum of the 70 come to our mission, Elder Michael J. Teh. It was so great to hear his words of counsel for us as a mission, but more for me. I learned a lot about what I can do better, but most importantly I gained a lot of insight on what

I have been doing well. Being here has been really hard for me

because we have been trying to get the ball rolling, and it is a

pretty big ball, and really hard to get it to get going just like it

is in any area where the missionaries are new. I have spent a lot of

time questioning the way Sister Kunz and I have been doing things

since we have had few investigators to teach. Elder Teh put those

worries to rest. In a very Christlike way of teaching, he helped us

as a mission to discover for ourselves what the best ways we can be

spending our time. He taught us that tracting, though can be good and

productive, is more of a missionary "thing" that missionaries do to

try and find as many people as they can to teach. He then went on to

help us understand that working with the ward members is the best use

of our time because that is where the majority of the baptisms come

from. He acknowledge the difficulty of working with members of the

church around the world. They have many excuses from, "I have shared

the gospel with everyone I know, and they have all turned me down" to,

"I don't know anyone outside of the church." As legitimate as those

concerns are, when missionaries and members are doing all that they

can, those concerns go away and opportunities to find and teach those

who are elect come about. Sister Kunz and I have spent the majority

of our time focused on the needs and concerns of the members. From

them, we have been able to see miracles in those who are less-active

and active. I know that just because we have not had a large teaching

pool of investigators, we have been so blessed to help these members

gain confidence and understand the importance of missionary work. One sister in our ward, who is also a returned missionary, said, "I have

never been so missionary minded in all my life as I have this summer

with the sisters coming over so frequently."

I know that this is God's work. I know that when we are doing our

best and following the spirit, regardless of what others around us are

doing, we will see miracles! I think the greatest miracles I have

seen these last two transfers have been in myself. I know that the

atonement is not just for our sins, but also applies to everything

that holds us back from receiving the full blessing of God. I love

being a missionary! I love my mission!

A view of Sister Bakker's apartment complex

I love you all!  Our family is pretty special!

Love,

Sister Bakker