10.14.13

Hi all!

Our investigators are all doing really well! We have been praying mightily for them to all start coming to church, and this week we had 4 of them there! It was wonderful! Virginia even came to Sacrament Meeting before attending to a family emergency. I was pretty jazzed, but sad she was having family troubles. Rex, Malinda, and Timmy came too.

 

We learned this week that Malinda is a recovering addict. She has been sober 7 years and has really turned her life around. She was telling us yesterday that she has stopped using swear words because she could feel that crude language and the spirit do not mix. It was a pretty tender experience. I want to write a book about her amazing conversion! 

Rex has also really been softening to the spirit and loved church! When the Stake President asked if he would be back next week he said "absolutely!". I am so thrilled for each of these sweet people. I am blessed beyond belief to be serving with and among them. 

Transfers happened today and I am thrilled to say that I get to spend another transfer here! Life is great!

10.7.13

This week has been good. Kinda crazy, but lots of fun! We had a sisters conference on Thursday which was interesting, but a good time. General Conference was awesome. I loved Elder Oaks' talk, and Elder Holland's talk, and President Monson's talks. And all of the talks. Conference is like Christmas for missionaries! Our investigators are all doing well and we even had two of them join us this weekend to watch conference! So, I thought this week I might just give you a run down/update of our current investigators. I am kinda wiped and can't really remember what all we did this week, so you will have to read this instead. Love you all!

Ian- 21 year old male, VERY Christian background. Showed up at church about a month ago wanting to know more about the Mormon church and has been meeting with us ever since. Ian is pretty skeptical, but also open to feeling the spirit. He puts on a tough front, but really knows that it is all true. He struggles coming to church because his family is super anti. But he always shows up to activities and we have lessons with him regularly. We are praying for his family to soften their hearts!

Virginia- 70 year old female, sweetest woman on the planet. Was searching for God in her life and was invited to meet with us by her LDS neighbor. She is sincerely seeking the truth and LOVES church. We ate dinner with her this week and she told us she is glad to have granddaughters in her house again. She loves the Book of Mormon and is working to rebuild a relationship with her Heavenly Father through prayer. I am so excited about her enthusiasm for the gospel.

Malinda- 40 year old Female, AMAZING. She and her husband, Bob (less-active member) were hit by a truck while on their motorcycle on the highway in June. In the hospital they both received priesthood blessings and have both miraculously reached almost complete recoveries. She says that after she received the blessing in the hospital that she knew that she was truly being blessed by the power of God and she knew that she had to have that in her life. She knows that The Father has kept her alive for a reason and is doing everything she can to fulfill that purpose. She is being baptized November 18th. I cannot wait!

Rex- 75 year old male, a little crazy/hilarious. Requested a copy of the Book of Mormon from mormon.org. He started to read it, but couldn't understand the language so he ordered the Living scripture DVDs online and is going to watch those instead. We have only had two lessons so far, but both have been filled with the spirit. He has committed to be baptized on October 26 and was very pleased that he would be invited to join the church and that God would want him to be part of his true church and that he could hold the priesthood. He is a big sweetheart. 

So, those are the main/ exciting ones. I am probably forgetting someone but will include them next week. I love this work and I love these people with all that I have. I guess I love all of you hooligans too.

Love,

Sister Baker

9.30.13

Hi!

We had a pretty good week this week. We did more missionary work. Surprise! We found 4 new investigators this week which was pretty cool. One in each ward. We have really been praying to build up the area and the Lord has been blessing us for our faith and hard work. I guess not blessing us as much as those people who have been searching for the gospel. One of the people we found this week is Virginia. She is an older lady and has spent much of her life believing in God but not being able to find a church that has felt comfortable to her. She has had a very interesting life and is very interested in the Book of Mormon and the gospel. She is really nice and cute, too! She came to church yesterday and loved it! She said that everything felt good and comfortable, which is what she has been searching for. We will begin the lessons with her this week. 

We also started visiting an older man named Rex. He requested a Book of Mormon from Mormon.org and hee is pretty interested in the gospel. He is a child of God, and I know that the gospel can help him to find the lasting happiness that he has not been able to find elsewhere. One of our favorite ward missionaries, Sister Milburn came with us to visit him and we have been laughing with her for days about some of his more colorful comments about having some nice looking young ladies in his home (for some reason old men seem to really like us...). Sister Milburn always seems to come with us on our more interesting visits and keeps us entertained. She is pretty awesome. 

 Well, besides the normal day to day, Sister Ketring ended up in the ER on Wednesday night for some abdominal pains...  That was fun. She is fine now. We also made some super cute conference notebooks with a member this week. We are having lots of fun in between lots of hard work! We stopped by the house one day to grab something we had forgotten and had a package with a "call me, maybe" note from the UPS guy. That was pretty funny. We are devising a plan to teach him the gospel. 

Our cute friend, Renee recieved the Gift of the Holy Ghost at church yesterday. We weren't able to do it last week because of stake conference. It was a beautiful blessing. She doesn't have many church clothes and ha no modest skirts, so Sister Ketring and I each found something we could give her so that she could be comfortable and modest now that she is a member of the church. The joy in that girl's face was radiant and contagious. For as much opposition as she has, her commitment to be righteous and follow the example of our Savior is something special. In a lot of ways she reminds me of Jessi (I miss that girl!) in her determination and dedication to the gospel at such a young age. I know I say it every week, but I love seeing people change their lives to come closer to our Heavenly Father. 

We also attended a baptism for a man I helped teach in Parma on Saturday. He is so humble and converted. This is also where we were able to see Some Peterson folk... We had lunch and the official tour of Nyssa with Grandma and Grandpa Peterson before the baptism. It was so fun! Going back to Nyssa felt a little like going home and it was super fun getting to spend the day with (almost) family! All in all it was a pretty great week! Sorry this email was a little random, but hat is kinda how our week felt. 

To end on a spiritual note, Sister Ketring and I had a really great conversation in the car this morning about the worth of souls and what it means to be a daughter of God. It is a pretty spectacular thing, to have this divine birthright. I am so grateful to know who I am, to have a foundation in Christ that cannot be shaken, and to know that I can always be better through the Atonement of my Savior. I love this work and I love this gospel. Also, I love each of you! Have a blessed week!

Love,

Sister Baker