Salom Sept 6

Hey Hey

So this week has gone by pretty slowly because pretty much all of our investigators decided to go on vacations so we haven’t been able to teach our normal amount. That’s ok though because it allows us to go out and find new people to teach! We were able to find 2 new people on Tuesday!!! The missionaries here in Richmond Hill run an ESL program (English as a Second Language) and we use it as a way to find new people to teach. Unfortunately there are only like 3 Persian people that come so we usually get put into the Mandarin classes. So for the whole hour we're teaching a lesson in all English about how to find a job to these people that speak only Chinese.. It’s nuts.

It seems like everyone in Toronto drives a nice car. Every family has a Porsche, Mercedes, or a BMW.

So last P day my companions and I went to Niagara Falls which was extremely fun but it also meant that we didn't have time to shop for the week so we have been rationing or food everyday for the past 8 days. It’s been a rough couple of days... lol

On Monday we had an exchange so we had a Cantonese elder come work in the Farsi area. Elder Mak is a super cool guy and speaks little English. It was great. Throughout the day we did our normal amount of studies and service and missionary work and whatnot until about 8 o'clock. We have this Chinese man that lives down the street from us and we see him every once in a while, he always wants to have us over at his house but we've never been able to go due to the lack of speaking Mandarin and all that. So on Monday he waves down our car and has us come into his house, lucky for us we had en elder from Hong Kong to teach him!! His name is Wong Wei.

Farsi is still going good here, I understand like 5% of what is happening in lessons but hey that’s more than last week.

I would love to hear from you guys!

love you all!

ارشد باکر
Elder Bakker

Persian Life

How's everyone doing?!?!?!?!?!?

All is well here in the Great White North!

Farsi or Persian or whatever you want to call it is still really hard if anyone was wondering...super fun though.
I feel like my mission life is half study and half teaching.
The members here in the Richmond Hill ward are amazing! we get fed like every night, and they always want to come teaching with us. It's great!
Finding new Persian people to teach is tough. There are a couple places that are highly populated with Persians, but once you have tracted through and tried to teach them, there's not much you can do... We work a lot off of referrals from the Persians that we are currently teaching. Also it's hard because a lot of them are Muslim and don't want anything to do with Christian missionaries. It is amazing to see people open up and listen to our message though.
Being a Persian missionary has its perks, Since we don't have a specified area and we are able to teach wherever there is a Persian investigator in the mission. We are also able to go wherever we want on p days! So taking advantage of that we are going to Niagara Falls!! I'll be on the border of the states...land of the free.

love you all!!!!

                                                          ارشد باکر 

Salam

Chekhabar!!

All is well here in Toronto!

My mission experience started out pretty crazy.... landed in Toronto thinking everything was going to be easy and just fly by, I thought that I had that world at my finger tips when I first got here. The Lord has good ways of humbling us.

So here's the story....

Day one: I land in Toronto, feeling great. It's hot and humid. Stood in the customs line for about 3 hours, what a blessing. Met President and Sister Shields, they are amazing. We drive to the mission home have dinner and a meet and greet testimony meeting and what not with the new guys and the Dragons(Mandarin AP's) and then we go to a hotel for the night, all is well.

Day two: We go to the stake center to meet our new companions and whatnot. So we are all sitting in a room with the new guys and all the new trainers, like 5 minutes from meeting them and the president pulls me out and changes my mission call..... in the previous night we had an entrance interview, we talked about how I come from a line of bakers originating in Holland and talked about Dutch and whatnot and he asked if I was intimidated by languages, I said no and he said great, then I left not thinking anything of it. So back to day 2 he says to me, "Elder Bakker, we have a need for more missionaries in the Farsi work." So now I'm going to be speaking Farsi aka Persian.  There are 7, including me, Farsi speaking missionaries in Toronto.  It feels like I started from scratch, but the Lords work is the same in every language.

On Tuesday night my trainers decided it would be good for me to invite someone to be baptised.. in Farsi... so that was cool.

On Wednesday we got me a dictionary and grammar book. had a meeting with the 4 other Frasi's in the mission and taught some lessons.

Thursday was amazing! we were able to see a couple get baptised in Slovania! They were taught by my trainers over Skype! Elder Atkinson(my oldest trainer) has taught people in 8 different countries and actually opened up the Farsi work in Germany! He is incredible.

On Friday we taught some more lessons, learned some more Farsi, and read some scriptures. you know the usual.

We got to go listen to Elder Ballard in person!! Super cool! Shook his hand and everything. Then after that we listened to him again (not in person).

On Sunday Elder Ballard did an Ontario wide broadcast that we got to see! So we heard from him 3 different times! He talked to us about following the Apostles extremely closely, and pretty much said that things are going to start getting crazy. We also got to see another baptism!!! Super cool week!

Love you all!!
Khoda Hafez!!
(Goodbye!!)

kh makes like a german glottal sound btw

Book of Mormon and the old Iranian flag

Mission tag in Farsi, I've ordered mine, it will be about 6 weeks before I get it

Book of Mormon and Bible in Persian

                                                                     

Milk in a bag.

Landed in Canada!

Jack made it to Canada!  His mission president sent an email with some pictures saying he arrived safely and all is well!  His address is always the mission home address listed on the side of this blog, but his current apartment address is:

                                                        Elder Jack Bakker

                                                        102 Gordon Rowe Crescent--BSMT

                                                        Richmond Hill, ON L4C 8R1

                                                        CANADA

Sister Shields, Elder Bakker, President Shields

Elder Bakker arrives in Canada

Incoming missionaries to Toronto Canada

Last MTC Letter

Hey hey

What’s going on everyone

Its crazy how fast things are going here. Its also crazy how little of the real world I hear about. So will someone please tell me how the Olympics are going or something?! goodness. All I’ve heard is that Michael Phelps has gotten a couple medals but what’s new?

I only have like 2 days left here in the mtc then I’m off to good ol' Canada ay.

Elder Tarter and I have been killing lately, just got an atheist to accept our invitation to be baptized, so thats cool.

We are also teaching this other guy named Arnold and he is a legend. He has been a professional photographer, built log homes, worked as a phone repair man, beat cancer, and he has been married like 3 times. What a man.

There are way too many snacks in our residence hall. Everything is much appreciated and is being eaten but it has definitely taken a toll on me lol. The animal crackers were gone in one day, all 98 cookies that I have received have been eaten quickly and the banana bread was gone in like 2 minutes (banana bread was easily the best thing that I have gotten in a package). Also everything came in a toaster box and everyone here literally thought that I got a toaster. People came into my room asking me why I got a toaster hahah. All good though. I love getting stuff.

Hope all is well in the 84020

I’m starting to pack today so I should probably get off and go switch my laundry and whatnot

love you all

Elder Bakker

At the Provo Temple 

Elder Tester, Elder Simons, Elder Bakker at the MTC

HEY HEY HEY

The MTC is an amazing place. I love it here.

Time is flying by and Elder Tarter and I are killing it!

We started teaching investigators on Monday, Ganlin and Sergio.

Ganlin didnt show up Monday but we have been able to teach her on Wednesday Thursday and Friday which is great.

We have been teaching Sergio all of this week and he is amazing! He has been feeling the spirit every time he prays and has accepted our challenge to be baptized!!!!

Throughout the week is pretty much just class and teaching and meals... we get little time to do anything else.

Seeing all the new missionaries come in on Wednesday was great! I got to see so many people I know! Elder Simons and Tester are killing it! I haven’t seen Elder MacKay yet but I am looking so I’ll see him soon!

I saw Elder Sorenson, Sandlin, Selman, and Anderson as well. They look great!

Food is awful and it seems like I’m not getting enough sleep even though I get like 8 hours a night, the days are extremely busy and so exhausting.

Getting mail is the best thing ever. Sorry if I haven’t written you a letter back yet, I still need to buy some envelopes and stamps and what not.

Still waiting on my flight plans so I’m not exactly sure when I’m leaving...

love you all
Elder Bakker

Elder Tester, Elder Bakker

Elder Simons, Elder Bakker

MTC Week 1

Hey Fam!!

All is well here in the MTC!

My companion, Elder Tarter, is a great missionary and is oddly similar to me... lol. He is from Idaho, played rugby in high school and is going to Toronto with me.

We are rooming with Elder Dixon and Elder Ward also great missionaries! We are all heading to Toronto and are eager to teach.

First day was pretty much just orientation and class all day long but it was enjoyable and fun. Our district seems pretty big with 12 missionaries but maybe that’s because our class is in a broom closet.

Second day felt like a full week in itself. Woke up at around 6ish showered and got ready to teach our first investigator, Yvon, about God’s love for her and her family. Then we had class/lecture for the rest of the day. At the end of the day we met our Branch President (President Liston) and his councilors (Ogden and LaTurner). They called Elder Melville to be our District leader. He is a super funny and outgoing guy. Super long but it was a good time all the way through!

I have seen so many missionaries from Draper here already and it makes me so happy! Saw Hadley, Scott, Cash, Reavely, Lawson, Coon, Gibbons, Goodrich, Pupunu, Akagi, Nielsen, Miller and probably more I just cant think good right now, lol.

Not sure who told me that the MTC food was incredible, but they’re dead wrong. The food here is average at best and I have definitely had better chocolate milk before... but the rumors about the orange juice are apparently true, I just haven’t been willing to try it yet

I don’t have much more to say other than I love you all and hope you are all doing well.

Love,
Elder Bakker