Wednesday, March 29, 2017

8 Mths 0 Days 11 Hrs 30 Min AD (After Draper)

Not counting tho.

Hey hey!!

Pretty slow week here in Toronto..... All of our investigators have been partying for their Persian New Year aka Noruz (نوروز). so we have been doing our best to get things done and to find new people to teach.

A couple days ago Elder Milad and I had a goal to find 2 new investigators but we didn't have a lot of time in the day to go and out and do that. We felt like that was the goal we should set so we did it and just prayed that we would be able to get our goal.  We went to Scarborough to try and see an investigator but we weren't able to get in contact with him.... he has no phone and is rarely home but has read most of the Book of Mormon if not the whole thing by now and loves it, so we try to see him multiple times a week. After that fell through we didnt have much time until we had to leave so for the extra 15 minutes we had we decided to go contact on a nearby highly Afghani street.
The first guy we talked to spoke little English but we were able to communicate a little by saying Isa Masih (Jesus Christ) and translating lds.org into Arabic on his phone. He liked it and decided to set up an appointment on Tuesday!   The second guy we talked to was walking down the street when we stopped him, he asked which church we were from and we said "the Church of Jesus Chr...." and he quickly responded with "oh your Mormons?" He then asked us about the other book we believe in and asked how we can do that when in Revelations there shall be no books after that one. So we will have a good time talking to him on Tuesday at our appointment! 

Its amazing what the lord will do for you when you put in all your effort to push his work along.

Time flies out here! Already 8 months in and it feels like yesterday that I was getting off the plane.

love you all!

ارشد جک باکر

Elder Jack Bakker

Still Here!

So pretty much same old same old for me! Still here in Don Valley preaching the good word to the people of North York! The only difference is that now I am doing it with ELDER MILAD!!!!

This past week hasn't been the most amazing, pretty slow but that's usually how this first week is for us. Lots of cleaning and walking down Yonge street looking for new investigators. We did find one new but he can't meet until April.....

There is this holiday called Noruz that lasts an eternity. When it comes everyone just drops off the radar and it gets pretty hard to set up appointments and meet with people. So for the next couple weeks I'm expecting to be doing a lot of ground work on the street!

Sorry for the short email.... not much to report on.
love you all !!!!
happy spring!
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ارشد جک باکر

Elder Jack Bakker

Monday, March 13, 2017

Transfer #6

So transfer calls were last night and it turns out the I am staying in Don Valley again! I have already been here for 6 months and I wouldn't be surprised if I stay for 9.

My new companion is Elder Milad! He is super cool, He is from Vancouver and is a really good missionary. I am super excited to serve with him!!

Things are going well here in Toronto, a lot of progression in the work. We were able to get in contact with some of the Farsi speaking missionaries in Germany! They sent us the official baptismal prayer and interview questions that have been approved by Salt Lake! That's super exciting!

Our investigator is really thinking about baptism and thinks that he can be ready in about 3-4 months, we didn't get a solid date with him but he has been asking all the members how they got their answer that the Church is true and he has a true desire and real intent to find out for himself. He says that he could get baptized tomorrow but it wouldn't mean anything to him. I am so blessed to be able to teach people who truly want to know the truth. It makes me so happy to see the spirit work in the people around me and to see them physically and spiritually change.

Sorry I don't have a lot of time to write....

hope you all have a good week!!!!
The Don Valley Missionaries


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ارشد جک باکر

Elder Jack Bakker










Skyline at sunrise

Monday, March 6, 2017

Purify

Last Monday was my 7 month mark! So to celebrate Elder McBeth, Elder Milad, Elder Casdorph and I went to Niagara Falls!! Definitely the best way to start off the week.
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The highlight of my week was definitely zone council. Elder Milad and Elder McBeth held a great Talk Show called "The Zone Show" and they talked about the book Jesus The Christ, which has has me inspired to read it through.
Later our zone leaders Elder Munsey and Elder Shu talked about purifying ourselves as missionaries and becoming the best we can.
That has hit me hard as I have been reflecting on the last 7 months of my mission, thinking about the things that I can do better and about the blessings not only I will receive but the blessings that I will be able to see in the lives of the people I teach and the lives of everyone around me.

I went on exchange this last week and we played basketball with a group of Filipinos. Not sure if you have ever played ball with anyone from the Philippines but if you have you know how good they are at basketball. I asked one of the members that plays how much he played back home and he just looked at me and straight faced said "daily." It was definitely one of the best exercises I've had my whole mission.

I hope you all have a great week!









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ارشد جک باکر

Elder Jack Bakker