September 7

Hi Mom,

This has been a good week! So for starters, Sister Kunz and I have

been praying for Brother B and his family, who has not been focused

on in a long time if at all. There is no record of them in the area

book other than on the ward list, and the ward doesn't really know who

he is, except for President R. So we decided we would call

President R to see if he would like to go and extend and invitation

to the Gladys Knight Fireside. President R was more than thrilled.

So we called Brother B, like we do frequently, with the expectation

of us leaving him a message and just hoping that he will be home. This

message had a bit of a different ring to him when we said that

President R would be coming with us. He called us back immediately,

all excited. He set a specific appointment with us and everything.

When we arrived, he was dressed in his best church suit despite the

hot weather. We had a nice meeting with him, and his wife. It was a

miracle, President R later told us, that Sister B sat in and

participated. He told us that she had never ever participated in a

church conversation in the 20 years he has known the family. It was an

incredible experience. We found out a lot about some things we can do

to hopefully help him have a desire to return to activity. After such

a long time, miracles are happening in people who have said they would never change or come back. I am so grateful to be apart of this great work while the Lord is hastening it. I truly do love being a

missionary.

Another awesome miracle for the week... Sister V came to church

with her daughters!! She told us that she wouldn't be able to until

the end of October because she was going to be out of town, but she

committed to come, and she did! It was so great to see her there, and

her daughters seemed to like it too! That was great!

Sorry for the confusion, mom. Transfers were last week. Sister Kunz

and I are pretty much guaranteed two transfers together to be able to

finish up her training, and then usually one of us will switch.

Sister Jarvis left, and we have a new sister here, who Sister Jackson

is training, named Sister Hemenway. She is also from Idaho. Sister

Jackson has actually been here for awhile. When Sister Kunz and I

came here, we just split the area that had already been worked in.

Also this transfer will only be 5 weeks, so hopefully that doesn't

throw you off too much.

Other big news! ST. MARYS SPLIT!!!!! There is just too much work

there right now to be handled by one set of missionaries, and has

split in half. I will let you know more about the details of the

split when I hear more. From what I have heard through the grapevine

is that it is still on fire. I hope that is true. I miss it a lot

there.

Well I love you all! I know that this church is the only church by

which we can be a family forever, and though life is hard sometimes,

it is worth it.

Love,

Sister Bakker