October 7

Dear Mom,

I am being transferred somewhere outside of the Cleveland Stake. I have no idea where I am headed, but you will all find out next week probably.  Sister Kunz will be staying here waiting for someone else to come in and join her, and continue to build up this place of miracles.

We have had a really awesome week! I love General Conference because we always see miracles as missionaries. We saw exactly what you saw, with the voice over language thing. I loved the talk by Elder Jorg Klebingat. I don't know that it could have been said more plainly. I

would agree with dad's thought of it being about choices and

consequences. Another theme I saw was the need for our own personal

conversion. Everyone emphasized the need to continually strengthen

and fortify ourselves not just for what is to come in the future, but

what is happening all around us right now. Prayer, scripture study,

family home evening, and temple attendance are so crucial. I also

loved Elder Anderson's quote about how spiritual questions deserve

spiritual answers. If we really must know something, we have to ask

God directly, and seek His word for our answers.

I love serving in this ward. We have seen success in different ways

than what I saw in St. Marys or in Alliance. We have seen individuals

change in ways that no one has yet seen before. On Sunday, we received a surprise phone call from Bishop G to thank us for helping a

particular sister in our ward. We have also worked really hard to see

miracles in finding. It is really hard to find the way that Elder Teh

was talking about, but that is how Sister Kunz and I have been

primarily working for the last two transfers. We are finally starting

to see some of the fruits of our finding efforts. Just last night we

had one of the most incredible lessons with our new investigator,

C.  She has been taught by the missionaries before, and has a great relationship with many of the people in our ward already. She knows that she needs something that we have to offer

because she feels the presence of the Holy Ghost when she talks with

us or thinks about this. She is willing to work and pray about it.

Last night, Sister Kunz and I pretty much taught her all of the 5

lessons out of preach my gospel. Not because we had planned that, but

because her questions lead to everything we teach as missionaries. She

understood it all very well, and even seemed to answer her own

questions about some older practices in the church and was able to

accept it. She is willing to pray to come to know if Christ really is

the Messiah and Savior, which she has never had a testimony of before.

It was an incredible lesson!

There are so many wonderful things happening here, and I can't wait to

see where else I am called to be apart of different miracles. I know

the atonement is real, and that we have the power to change. I know

that there is such a thing as peace of conscious, and that we can have

confidence in our eternal salvation. I love this gospel, and I love

being a missionary!

I love you!

Love,

Sister Bakker

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

Sept 20

Dear Mom,

Gladys Knight came last weekend, and it was so amazing!! Her choir

was phenomenal, and she and her husband both spoke. We had 4

sessions, and Sister Kunz and I were able to attend it three times.

Sister Knight's testimony really touched many hearts, and as a mission

we well exceeded the anticipation for the amount of referrals that

were received. If anyone ever has the opportunity to go and hear this

fireside they should take it. T was able to go with us, and she

and her mom really loved it. We also went with a recent convert in

the ward named F, and Sister K. Sister V was also

able to attend. While I was at one in Akron I was able to reconnect

with Sister Olson, who I haven't seen since I was in Youngstown, and

President K. They seem to be doing really well.

I love you all! I know that this is the most important thing we can be doing.

Love,

Sister Bakker

An old house made into a church on the University Circle

Sept 15

Hi mom,

My mission has helped me so much in my life and I have learned a lot about the plan of salvation, my purpose here, and how I can help others go to heaven. I will never regret serving a mission.

So this week has been so great! We have really been trying to build

up this area, and we have been hitting a lot of walls these last two

transfers. We have some ideas cooking up our sleeve that hopefully

will all pan out. As of this week, I don't know if you remember me

talking about a couple we found in Firestone a couple of weeks ago...

Well it turns out she is uncomfortable being taught by men, and so we

have been given permission to teach T and her niece A (12)!

We had an awesome lesson this week with them focused on the Plan of

Salvation, and the need to be baptized. They are now preparing to be

baptized on 11/20/14. They came to church with us last week, and are

coming to the Gladys Knight fireside this weekend with us! We have

been praying and fasting for people to teach, and are finally starting

to see the answers to our prayers! Such a blessing from Heavenly

Father that we get to teach them. They are doing really wonderful!

They do need prayers, though.

Sister Bakker