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

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