Sept 23

Hey!

This week has been great we have finally had a greater opportunity to work in our area! We are still working with Cody and he is coming right along and we were also able to commit a lady named Maria for baptism as well. We have less time in our area than most and the Lord continues to bless us for doing our best that is something that is sure. Maria we met the first week in Poplar Creek. We went to a gas station to pick up a few drinks for our hour and a half drive to a meeting for one of our districts, and when we were checking out we gave the lady at the counter a pass along card and she asked us for a Bible. I had to think if we had one in our car or not to give away (we are in the south we don’t give out a lot of Bibles) and then she said yeah a Mormon Bible! So we gave her a Book of Mormon, told her about it and got her information and told her we would come visit. We were finally able to catch her at home this week and we taught her about the Book of Mormon and she asked "so are they the other sheep that Jesus was talking about in the Bible?" and we jumped on that!  that was cool. We testified of its truth and divinity and committed her for baptism for mid October. She is very prepared.

The only trouble with people like this are they are very very fragile. The anti-mormon people and literature out here come from everywhere around you. So the trick is getting a solid fellowshipper in to help them when that comes because it inevitably will come. So we need to take it one step at a time. But its really cool still.

Another highlight this week was I went on exchange with one of the assistants in the mission and he is over the Knoxville/Cumberland YSA branch and we went to Farragut for an appointment and I got to see a member family over there that I was fairly close to then I called Brother R and he took us out to get a couple steaks. Always great to see Brother R!.

The work is good I have been trying to set some new goals on the kind of person I want to become from the last year of my mission. There is a lot to accomplish and not a lot of time to do it, but its amazing the Lord excels growth exponentially when you are in his service. Thanks for everything and for the birthday wishes! love you

Love ELder Bakker