Dear Mom,
First of all, we got transfer
calls. Sister Chapman will be leaving the Toledo Stake tomorrow. I
predict she will be somewhere up in the Cleveland Stake. She was pretty
sad, but ready to leave. I will be staying here in St. Marys. I
hope I get to stay here quite a bit longer too. There is no place like St.
Marys in the whole mission.
So this week was pretty exciting in
a lot of ways. We just keep having good things happen.
Last week, Sister Chapman and I spent some time during our companionship
study and discussed all of the miracles that have happened these last two
transfers. The end result was a very long list and we were so full
of gratitude for the privilege we have had serving here together. We
concluded that every single miracle we had seen was a direct result of the
efforts of the members in the branch. The success we had with Jim and
other members who have been lost now returning has really sparked a flame in
all of them. I have never seen anything quite like it. Each miracle
came from a member’s involvement in teaching, inviting, visiting with, or
praying for it to come to pass. All we had to do was increase the faith
of the members. We did this by serving them and teaching them the
Doctrine of Christ. Preach My Gospel is inspired!!!
Update on all of the things that
have been happening with investigators and returning members:
Tera went to Young Womens on
Wednesday!! The YW president went with us teaching and extended a
personal invitation, and she loved it!
New Investigator: Karen (girlfriend
of less-active member Nathan, has 3 kids) has met with the Jensons a few times
in the last two transfers. The Jensons have had a goal to give us a
successful referral the whole time they have been here, and boy did they work
hard for it, and they deserve how prepared and excited Karen was. We
taught her the first discussion, and we all felt the spirit. I have never
seen an investigator identify the spirit so completely the during a first discussion
like that. She told us she "felt warm and kinda tingly inside and
just really happy. I really think this is what God wants for
me." She said that over and over. She knows how happy this
will make her family, and she accepted the invitation to be baptized. Now
she needs some more solid support from her boyfriend (hopefully soon fiancé),
so some prayers may help her there.
Jim is finer than a frog's hair
split two ways. That is all there is to say. Last night he and
Brother Y took us out for dinner at Pullman Bay in Celina. They
have pretty good food, but awesome homemade pies. It sits right
outside of the Grand Lake St Marys, so we had a pretty view.
Josh came to church! There
has been so much going on lately, and he really seems to have some desire to
make changes. We have just been reading scriptures with him for a few
minutes in the park, and have seen some progress. We talked to him after
church, and he told us that he had started reading scriptures on his own
(without us telling him to), and that he had read the story of Adam and Eve and
about Christ coming to the Americas, and all of it was talked about in
church.
We got to go help the Fs out again
this week. We did a lot of stacking wood (found out what a "woody"
or a wood roach is, not a pretty bug). We also spent a lot of time
chasing baby chickens, ducks and turkeys so we could clean out the garage and
get them ready to move them out to the barn. Those turkeys followed us
around in a big group all night. Robyn calls them her "latchkey
kids." Oh, did I tell you they have a litter of kittens. I still
have a soft spot for 'em. Heather and I named one Frankie. Brother
F made us fajitas. MMMM! We will be having Sister Chapman's
"last supper" with them tonight.
New Investigator:
Amber. Brother Y referred us to a family that is related to some
less-actives in the Lima Ward. Amber is in her 30's and is so
sweet! She lives up in Spencerville. We forgot to write down her
house number, so we called Brother Y to remind us where it was at. He
couldn't remember either. So we told him not to worry, and we would see
if we could figure it out. We found her really quick, and had a short and
sweet lesson with her. As we walked out we saw Brother Y, with his hair
all slicked back, pulling up on a big orange tractor to come rescue us!
HA! No one will ever be able to top our awesome Branch Mission
Leader. He really must love us.
We hope to have another family,
Christy and her kids, at church next Sunday in addition to everyone else.
We went over to see her, and she simply recognized it was time to come
back.
I love serving here. I love
my mission! I have come to realize this week that I needed to serve a
mission. I was right in my feeling when I said that I would be okay
whether I served or didn't before I left, and that Heavenly Father would still
be pleased with me, but this is what I was supposed to do. The Lord is
easy to please but hard to satisfy. D&C 7.... SO GOOD!!!
I love you all very much! I
am excited to talk with you on Mother's Day.
Love,
Sister Bakker
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