August 31

Hey! 

So great couple of weeks! We had T's baptism last week the 23rd and Brother G was baptized this week the 29th and confirmed today the 31st! It was awesome He has come such a long way in his understanding and personal development! Really exciting! 

I also got to go up to Johnson City on exchange with Elder Russo! He is doing well, he is a zone leader up there and really tearing it up! It was good to go see him. 

Oh a couple weeks ago we went down to Chattanooga and there is a civil war mansion down there that they meet in for the Chattanooga branch so I took some pictures I'll include them its a pretty cool building. 

Elder Mumm and Gibson and I are doing great over all! busy all the time. Transfers soon and MLC Tuesday. Oh yeah you wanted to know about Elder Gibson. Well we call him Gibby first off so that's good. He is from Price Utah, he went to the UofU for a semester, he is a bull rider and almost went pro but decided other, wiser, paths with his career. He has a big voice and is really easy to get along with. He is a nice addition to the team! Well thats about it for this week! love ya! 

Elder R.A. Bakker

August 28

Hey mom sorry I haven't been able to communicate this week but I just wanted you to know that Brother T got baptized the 23rd and confirmed the 24th (lyssa's birthday) and we have a baptism tomorrow the 29th as well for Brother G! So its a hectic week! Transfers are soon and we are slammed with that and MLC is next week which we are also frantically preparing for. We also picked up 28 new potential investigators the 24th at a local college religion day thing for freshmen some of them seem super solid! 

have a good week! 

love ya! 

Andrew

August 17

Hey there! 

Hey here is a quick update. We just finished zone conferences this week so glad those are all done. We got a new companion mid transfer! Elder Gibson.Tthere are now three of us to keep up on all the work that there is to do and so President Griffin can take us out one on one more often for speaking assignments and stuff like that. What a Blessing! (our new catch phrase) Other than that we have been super busy with mid transfer departures for school and stuff so we sent 6 missionaries home this week. There were also a bunch of other missionaries that needed moving around so we were involved in that. Once again lots of driving, no surprise there. 

We did however get to head down to Dalton Georgia to get some Villa Juarez! Best Taco truck in the mission. I already told you about it before, it's so good that they cemented it into the ground right where it stands. 

Our investigator Brother T passed his baptismal interview and will be baptized next week in South Carolina, that's where his family and friends are at.  So we are pretty excited about that. Brother G is still on board to get baptized the next weekend on Friday the 29th so that is exciting too.  Well, other than that I'm still in Tennessee and I'm still doing missionary work. Life is pretty much the same as its been the last 21 months. It has really been cool to see the Lord bless us for out labors and efforts even though we spend very little time in our area working. Its all true! 

Love Elder R. A. Bakker 

August 11

hey mom sorry I didn't get an email out this week. its been crazy but I still love you and life is still good. just fyi we had a new companion for a few days (Elder Dye) and he goes home tomorrow.

 love ya have a great week!
> Andrew

So, Andrew and Elder Mumm were driving the mission van moving some furniture and the like on a famous road known as the Tail of the Dragon.  A photographer was on the road taking pictures of everyone who drove by, including these two missionaries.

Aug 4

So transfer week has come and gone, that has been a big relief. We hardly get any sleep at all that week. This week has been filled with driving. lots and lots of driving. I drove throught Gatlinburg and the Smokies on Saturday on our way down to Cherokee NC, that was a beautiful drive! I took some pictures ill try and send them on tomorrow. We even saw two bull elk next to each other watching over their herd of cows, one with six points per side and one with five, I didn't even know there were elk out here. 
I drove President Griffin out to Asheville solo with him so I sat on the stand next to him and he "recognized my presence there" during Sacrament meeting... that was weird.  Elder Mumm stayed in Knoxville to go to church at our branch. The other things going on this week are zone conferences and Mission Leaadership Council. I'll be training on the Book of Mormon at MLC and Each zone conference.  
The much bigger news is that due to an Ebola Virus epidemic going on in Africa several missions are being evacuated and we are getting 3 new elders permanently reassigned here monday and tuesday from Liberia and Sierra Leon. So that will be an interesting thing this week. It seems like its just one thing after another Im busier than I have ever been in my life, every time I blink Im writing another email home. 
Well life is good sorry my email is short but I love yall! the Gospel is true! 

Love Elder R.A. Bakker

July 28

Hey there! 

So sorry I didn't get to email last week! Life has been crazy! Transfers are coming this Wednesday and there is a lot to prepare for! Its the biggest transfer the mission has seen to my knowledge. 19 missionaries going home Thursday (6 more in a couple weeks for school) and 16 coming in. That's quite a few people to worry about. Its doubly crazy because it's president Griffin's first transfer. I enjoy helping, but its a big responsibility for sure. 

We are doing great in our area! We had 4 investigators at church last week and 3 this week. There are 2 on with a baptismal date: Chris on the 23rd and Andrew on the 29th of Aug. We are tearing it up out here. 

You know its pretty funny to see the work ebbing and flowing like it is and does, it seems to go however the Lord chooses for it to go. I have felt like an obedient diligent worker my whole mission and sometimes there is success to be had and sometimes there isn't. That's a striking part of faith, its not been about all the things you do to "earn the Lords blessings," rather its about our trust that the Lord knows what he is doing. We are obedient and diligent because we love Him and we try to qualify for the Lords blessings, and when it is right we receive. Its been a theme of my mission. 

Well all is well here and the days keep flying by. 

Thanks for everything!

Love ya! 

Elder R.A. Bakker

At a ball game for a YSA activity

July 14

Hey!

Great week this week! We did a lot of traveling, we only slept at our apartment 2 days the last 7 days, every other day we were on the road staying with other Zone Leaders. We attended 5 zone training meetings this week and 4 last week. Pretty fun, I not only gave another on the spot 20 minute training, but the zone leaders stole our training we gave at mission leadership training so I had to write a new one from scratch during the meeting. It was kind of fun actually, the missionaries really seemed to enjoy it, I trained on "Becoming a Master Teacher." - I love it. So that was pretty good. I'm as tired as all get out from all these meetings. I was able to spend quite a bit of time with the Griffins this week especially, the youngest, she is like my baby sister. We played a lot of "princess pet shop" while I was timing and rotating missionaries out for interviews in the hallway during the meetings, the sisters in the mission tell me that I will make a great dad and that this is "good training" for me. The Griffin girls are all a lot of fun and and Elder Mumm and I have been adopted into the family. We even had Sunday dinner over there tonight and are having ableskivers for breakfast in the morning. YUM! 

For our investigators this week we were only able to see two of them. Chris was at church today and we had a great lesson with him and are anticipating his baptismal date of Aug 23rd. The other investigator was a kid named Andrew. He is kind of an interesting guy, but very intelligent and quite interested in the church. We are looking forward to several lessons this upcoming week with other investigators. 

Hmm other random things of the week. I broke a sisters hand in a zone activity game... that was rough. She seems to be doing ok though considering, and isn't too mad at me, apparently I owe her Panda Express (a Southern delicacy that you can find in Farragut) so maybe that will alleviate some of the hard feelings. And I can officially dunk a basketball again. I could a little bit at the beginning of my mission, but I'm getting back into shape a bit so basketball is way better now. I'm coming for ya in October Jack.

Life is good, time is moving fast, busy as a bee, being blessed, and loving every minute.

Love ya 

Elder R.A. Bakker