November 3

Dear Mom,

Everything here is going well. We spent Halloween with Sister

C. She is older, and has a hard time getting up and down to

hand out candy. She tried to make us bratwursts (she said she

resisted putting the beer in just for us, I think she was kidding, but

we never know with her), but it took a pretty long time, and we ended

up having to leave. She is really sweet, though.

We have a family that is new here since I left. They are so great,

and we had a good lesson with them. The wife has a few people she

wants to share the gospel with, and asked us to bring by some

material. So we came back with some things, and started going through

it all, when her mother-in-law came in. She sat down and talked with

us for a bit. Come to find out she is a very faithful Christian, and

has attended many kinds of churches. Her son, the member here,

converted in college, and even served a mission. So she is fond of

the church, but has never taken the opportunity to pray and find out

for herself. Her daughter-in-law, courageously invited us to teach

the restoration right then and there, with no warning or preparation

on her part. We did so, and it was incredible!! Everyone there could

feel the strong spirit. There is something so special about our

unique message as members of Christ's true church. I know that it is

true. I know that it changes lives because I have seen it. There is

no other declaration on earth that can provide that spirit. I hope to

be able to have the courage that this sweet sister did, and share the

gospel as boldly as I can when directed by the spirit.

I love you all! I hope you have a great week.

Love,

Sister Bakker

October 27

Dear Mom,

This week was great! We had a fun Halloween activity this last

Friday, and had a great turn out! J and J took us, and had a

great time. They are doing well. I really love them. We also had

the primary program this week, and that was a ball. It is weird to

think that the only primary programs I have seen on my mission have

been here in the Alliance Ward. It is always a good time to hear some

of the kids having yelling matches as they sing, chasing each other

around the benches, and some of them chewing on their chairs and the

posts in front. All of that being said, the spirit was so strong, and

our attendance was almost a 1/4 greater than it usually is, which is a

great sign. There were many nonmembers there who were able to feel

that sweet tender spirit as the kids testified of our Eternal

Families. That is one of the best ways for anyone to feel the spirit,

to "come and see" for themselves.

I love being a missionary, and serving in this way. Every time I am

transferred I feel like I learn a little more about some of my

weaknesses and about my strengths and it really helps me to remember

how the Lord wants to help us grow (Ether 12:27, the scripture I chose

for the plaque).

I love you!

Love,

Sister Bakker

October 20

Dear Mom,

I have thought about it a little this week, and I realized how short

my time is getting. It is a little freaky to think about. Honestly,

as a missionary, you just feel like you are going to be a missionary

forever. It never feels like you are going to take off the tag.

This week has been great for me. I have not yet figured out my

specific purpose in coming back. I don't know that there is just one,

but I am definitely learning a lot more than I am probably helping.

Sister Byers has seen a lot of success in increasing all of our key

indicators, which means that we are teaching a lot more, and that our

focus is where the Lord needs it to be. That has been exciting. I

have also learned some pretty valuable lessons. Some unanticipated

things happened this week, that were unavoidable and considered to be

disobedient as missionaries (nothing big or anything). They were

things that we could have been better prepared for, but in all honesty

were mostly out of our control. I felt terrible! I was quick to take

blame, and pushed myself a lot harder than I should have been. Sister

Byers lovingly taught me that the Savior does not want me to beat

myself up for those things that happen. Yes, our repentance needs to

match our actions, but we also need to rely on His grace. I realized

that these lessons were needed for me to better understand what our

investigators, less actives, and members feel. Sometimes it is hard to

keep the commandments, and sometimes things are just out of our

control. Sometimes life is just hard, and all we can do is our best. I

thought I understood this principle, but I feel like it is all new to

me. I have felt a stronger sense of strength as I have come to rely

on Him, and know that I am enough.

I love my mission so much! I have been so blessed by our family's

sacrifices for so many of us to serve. Thank you!

Love,

Sister Bakker

Being dropped off for transfers 

October 13

Hi Mom,

Oh yeah, I am back in Alliance!!!!! Back to change Youngstown. I

don't know if I have ever explained really how a transfer works. So

for us, (it will be different for Rooster and Lys) we have to wait

until Monday night around 9:30 to get a phone call from our District

Leader, who had just received a call from the Zone Leaders, who were

just called by the Assistants. Only President, and the Assistants at

this point know what is going to happen. All the District and Zone

Leaders know is if we are staying, being moved somewhere in the stake

or being moved outside of the stake we serve in. So we all thought

that Sister Kunz would be transferred. She even said herself that she

felt like she would be, and I thought it was possible. We were pretty

surprised by the call when they said that I was being "out-staked."

There is only one stake that I can serve in that I haven't, which is

the Akron stake. That is where everyone was predicting since I have

already served in Youngstown and Toledo. Well, you pack your things

We went to the most appropriate restaurant for

me, Danny Boy's. It is pretty good!

on preparation day, and go to transfer meeting on Wednesday.

President speaks to us for a bit, and all of the new trainees

introduce themselves and their trainers, and finally the zone leaders

stand up and announce who will be serving in the zone. They always

start from the Toledo side and work over to the Youngstown zones.

They kept announcing areas, and my name wasn't called over and over,

and finally we passed the Akron stake, and I realized there was only

one other place I could go. I stood up, as they announced I would

serving in Alliance North, and gave a confused/excited look to

President Vellinga. He looked almost as surprised as I was, shrugged

and then laughed. There was a ton of gasps from the other

missionaries. It is super rare, almost unheard of to return back to

an area, especially after serving there for 6 months already. I was

so excited to hear about getting to go back.

My new companion is Sister Byers. She is really great, and very

humble. She is much different than any of my other companions, and I

am excited to work with her.  She and I have had a ton of fun surprising people with funny stories from the past and waiting for them to realize what has happened.

S Bakker and Byers doing a service project

Me coming back has been great for some of the families here.

There are some things that have changed since I left, and I am so

grateful that I get to come back and work hard to overcome some of the

challenges that have come in the last 9 or so months.

It is so weird to be back in my old apartment! I keep walking in

there waiting for it to be freezing just like what happened last year

with the furnace. Sister Byers thinks I am a nut... What else is

new, though?

I love you all!

Love,

Sister Bakker