Happy new year!
This week has been fairly slow.... During the Holidays no one ever wants to meet or talk because they are always with family and friends.
So Elder Casdorph and I have been hitting our former investigators list hard. Lots of tracting and lots of slammed doors. You'd think people would at least be courteous enough to say "I'm good how are you?" instead of looking at us and slamming the door.
But I have learned something from all this. No matter how many people say no, or how many doors are shut, the Lord knows exactly where you are. He knows what you are going through and what you need. He will always put those people who are prepared to receive the gospel in your path. We knocked doors in three buildings last week with no success until the last floor when we ran into a man that was getting on the elevator. He listened to us and said that he is available to meet.
There is success in what we do as long as we work as hard as we can.
love you all.
happy new year.
ارشد باکر
Elder Bakker
Thursday, January 5, 2017
Christmas and Bolut
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
I hope everyone has a merry Christmas this year!
On Christmas Eve my comp and I were able to go to the Paez's (member in Richmond Hill) for breakfast. Then we went to a party with the Wilsons (Don Valley) where we had a 3 course meal, acted out the nativity, and sing Chirstmas carols until about 8 o'clock. Then we went back up to Richmond Hill for another party at the Macdonalds house! At the Macdonalds I was able to try some Kangaroo meat (@ElderSimons) and some homemade Hot Apple Cider.
Then on Christmas day we had our Christmas Sunday service combined with the Chinese ward and we had a lot of our people there! Lots of less actives, recent converts, and investigators came, it was awesome. After church we went to the Rollins home where I was able to skype the Fam! It is super weird seeing your family for the first time while still on the mission, but I loved it! The Rollins then gave us enough food to feed an army.
Later in the week we went to a new investigators home to help her out because she told us her house is haunted. She didn't answer her phone or her buzzer when we called. So to get into the building we said a quick prayer and called a random number on the buzzer list, Mrs.Turner. She answered and we told her that we have a gift for her, so she let us in and told us to come up to her pent house. When we got up there we gave her a Book of Mormon and told her a little about what we do. She then unloaded her whole life story on us and what she's been through and even the dream she had of her father comforting her. We gave her a couple scriptures to read and told her about the plan that God has for all of us and she told us to come back next time we were visiting someone in the building.
Our Investigator wasn't home but it was still worth going just to meet Mrs. Turner.
After that experience we took the member we were with home. On the way he told us about his Christmas and what they ate for dinner. He is Filipino so he tells us about this "Snack" they have called Bolut. For whoever doesn't know what this is, It's a chicken or duck egg that has been incubated or matured for around half a month. So he brings us in to try this with his family! Elder Casdorph had a duck and he went first. I had a chicken egg and that was something like 16 days old. what you do is you cook it, crack the top open, drink the juice, then peel the rest of the egg. As I peeled mine I saw that the top had a small chicken forming in it. I asked if that was normal and they assured me it was and said I was lucky it didn't have feathers yet. This thing had a full head formed with eyes and beak. Goodness. That was nuts.
Apparently they love feeding white people Bolut because they think it is the funniest thing ever.
Happy new year everyone!
ارشد باکر
Elder Bakker
On Christmas Eve my comp and I were able to go to the Paez's (member in Richmond Hill) for breakfast. Then we went to a party with the Wilsons (Don Valley) where we had a 3 course meal, acted out the nativity, and sing Chirstmas carols until about 8 o'clock. Then we went back up to Richmond Hill for another party at the Macdonalds house! At the Macdonalds I was able to try some Kangaroo meat (@ElderSimons) and some homemade Hot Apple Cider.
Then on Christmas day we had our Christmas Sunday service combined with the Chinese ward and we had a lot of our people there! Lots of less actives, recent converts, and investigators came, it was awesome. After church we went to the Rollins home where I was able to skype the Fam! It is super weird seeing your family for the first time while still on the mission, but I loved it! The Rollins then gave us enough food to feed an army.
Later in the week we went to a new investigators home to help her out because she told us her house is haunted. She didn't answer her phone or her buzzer when we called. So to get into the building we said a quick prayer and called a random number on the buzzer list, Mrs.Turner. She answered and we told her that we have a gift for her, so she let us in and told us to come up to her pent house. When we got up there we gave her a Book of Mormon and told her a little about what we do. She then unloaded her whole life story on us and what she's been through and even the dream she had of her father comforting her. We gave her a couple scriptures to read and told her about the plan that God has for all of us and she told us to come back next time we were visiting someone in the building.
Our Investigator wasn't home but it was still worth going just to meet Mrs. Turner.
After that experience we took the member we were with home. On the way he told us about his Christmas and what they ate for dinner. He is Filipino so he tells us about this "Snack" they have called Bolut. For whoever doesn't know what this is, It's a chicken or duck egg that has been incubated or matured for around half a month. So he brings us in to try this with his family! Elder Casdorph had a duck and he went first. I had a chicken egg and that was something like 16 days old. what you do is you cook it, crack the top open, drink the juice, then peel the rest of the egg. As I peeled mine I saw that the top had a small chicken forming in it. I asked if that was normal and they assured me it was and said I was lucky it didn't have feathers yet. This thing had a full head formed with eyes and beak. Goodness. That was nuts. Apparently they love feeding white people Bolut because they think it is the funniest thing ever.
Happy new year everyone!
ارشد باکر
Elder Bakker
Kicked out of a Persian Party
 |
| E Bakker, E McBeth, E Janson, E Milad, E Casdorph |
Hey Hey!
This week has been pretty hectic... Day 1 with my new companion, Elder Casdorph, we spent a good chunk of the day cleaning our apartment and setting up appointmets. We also got rid of the bunk bed we have been using for the past 2 transfers. Goooooodness that thing was the worst. But now after all that, our apartment is looking pretty good.
Later in the week we decided we wanted to go see a less active of ours, but he wasn't home..... so we went to see another less active member, but he moved.... the good news tho is that a Persian man moved into the members house!!!! crazy how things work.
 |
| E Bakker and Sister Alexander who lives in the Kitchener Area |
When we were getting ready to go a man came up to us and asked who we were, where we came from and who invited us. After talking to him for a bit he said that he would walk us out. Probably the nicest kick out I've ever experienced. Haha, good times.
Well I love you all and hope that you are enjoying this Christmas season!!
کریستماس مبارک
--
ارشد باکر
Elder Bakker
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Transfer #4
This week has been pretty fun going from one dinner appointment to the next. Meeting all the members and getting pictures for my companion.
I went on 2 exchanges at the beginning of the week which kind of threw me off all week cause I missed so much. But that's all good cause I'm back in the swing of things here.
I can't remember which day but we went down to a place called DUNDAS SQUARE, its essentially just a smaller version of Times Square in New York City. That was pretty awesome. The only down side to going there is we have to drive on a rode called Church Street. This is a no go zone for missionaries. Just because of all the bad things that happen there.
The highlight of the week was the Christmas party put on by the church. Sooooo fun! We had around 12 Persian people there and they all had a good time. We also convinced one of our investigators to come sing with us on stage. She is in 6th grade and is kinda shy around new people but she loved it!
There was good food for everyone and good skits and different things preformed.
Sunday night we got our transfer calls! I am staying in the Farsi South area and I will be serving with Elder Casdorph!!!!
This next 7 weeks is going to be good.--
ارشد باکر
Elder Bakker
I went on 2 exchanges at the beginning of the week which kind of threw me off all week cause I missed so much. But that's all good cause I'm back in the swing of things here.
I can't remember which day but we went down to a place called DUNDAS SQUARE, its essentially just a smaller version of Times Square in New York City. That was pretty awesome. The only down side to going there is we have to drive on a rode called Church Street. This is a no go zone for missionaries. Just because of all the bad things that happen there.
The highlight of the week was the Christmas party put on by the church. Sooooo fun! We had around 12 Persian people there and they all had a good time. We also convinced one of our investigators to come sing with us on stage. She is in 6th grade and is kinda shy around new people but she loved it!
There was good food for everyone and good skits and different things preformed.
Sunday night we got our transfer calls! I am staying in the Farsi South area and I will be serving with Elder Casdorph!!!!
This next 7 weeks is going to be good.--
ارشد باکر
Elder Bakker
Fried Dumplings and Alyssa's Old Companion
The week started off pretty good.
This week my Awesome sister sent me the information of her companion that she served with in Lisbon, Portugal. She now lives here in Ontario and weirdly enough in the city that we have just recently started working in! It seems as though the Lord is really throwing us a bone as we expand Farsi work out to Kitchener/Waterloo. After one visit there we have 2 investigators, 3 potentials, and a Member that lives there that we are in contact with. AWESOME! This blessing has made the work in Kitchener that much more effective and now we have more reason to go more frequently.
Later on in the week I went on exchange with an Elder named Elder Davis. All was well when we first got together but after our usual morning scripture/language study things got a little out of control. We decided to make dumplings for lunch so we boiled some and they tasted weird so we decided to put a pot of oil on the stove and fry them! We left the oil on the stove for a little too much time so when we put the first dumpling in it exploded and molten oil went everywhere (no one was hurt). We started to freak out because it was shooting oil everywhere so we couldn't reach over and turn off the stove..... so with all the adrenaline that was pumping through my body I put on an oven mit and just picked up the put and ran it out onto the balcony. Surprisingly, I only got burnt once. Now that the oil was outside we decided to try cooking the dumplings out there, and it worked! We then made like 20 dumplings out on the balcony. It was awesome.
On sunday we had a FANTASTIC fast and testimony meeting. Super spiritual and overwhelming. To top it off Elder Jansons dying testimony to the ward got us 18 appointments for this week. What a blessing. We are going to be running from member to member all week to get pictures for Elder Janson before he goes home.
The Church just came out with their Christmas Initiative #LightTheWorld. I invite you all to go check it out on Mormon.org. There are different challenges everyday that give us ideas on how we can serve. Its Awesome!
love you all!
ارشد باکر
Elder Bakker
This week my Awesome sister sent me the information of her companion that she served with in Lisbon, Portugal. She now lives here in Ontario and weirdly enough in the city that we have just recently started working in! It seems as though the Lord is really throwing us a bone as we expand Farsi work out to Kitchener/Waterloo. After one visit there we have 2 investigators, 3 potentials, and a Member that lives there that we are in contact with. AWESOME! This blessing has made the work in Kitchener that much more effective and now we have more reason to go more frequently.
Later on in the week I went on exchange with an Elder named Elder Davis. All was well when we first got together but after our usual morning scripture/language study things got a little out of control. We decided to make dumplings for lunch so we boiled some and they tasted weird so we decided to put a pot of oil on the stove and fry them! We left the oil on the stove for a little too much time so when we put the first dumpling in it exploded and molten oil went everywhere (no one was hurt). We started to freak out because it was shooting oil everywhere so we couldn't reach over and turn off the stove..... so with all the adrenaline that was pumping through my body I put on an oven mit and just picked up the put and ran it out onto the balcony. Surprisingly, I only got burnt once. Now that the oil was outside we decided to try cooking the dumplings out there, and it worked! We then made like 20 dumplings out on the balcony. It was awesome.
On sunday we had a FANTASTIC fast and testimony meeting. Super spiritual and overwhelming. To top it off Elder Jansons dying testimony to the ward got us 18 appointments for this week. What a blessing. We are going to be running from member to member all week to get pictures for Elder Janson before he goes home.
The Church just came out with their Christmas Initiative #LightTheWorld. I invite you all to go check it out on Mormon.org. There are different challenges everyday that give us ideas on how we can serve. Its Awesome!
love you all!
ارشد باکر
Elder Bakker
Turkey Day Finally Came!
The week started off with me rearranging the apartment because I was bored of the arrangement. shortly after that we finally got rid of the smoke/weed smell in our bathroom! The solution was duct tape over the vent and it worked surprisingly well!
On Thursday an amazing member named Barbara Ann put together a big Thanksgiving dinner for some missionaries and President Shields and his family. It was awesome. She had American flags on the table and everything. And being her favorite I got to cut the ham. ;)
The next day my comp and I made a day trip 2 hours west to the Kitchener/Waterloo area in search of Persians! And the trip was a major success! We found one woman and her family that speak Dari (Persian dilect) and it was easily that most confused I've ever been on my mission but somehow my comp was able to talk to and understand her. I was able to teach her the restoration and she was easily one of the most open Muslims I've talked to. After that we were able to meet with another man in a Burger King, he has met with the missionaries before and loved talking with us! He is going to church this Sunday with the suster missionaries over there! The third person we talked to is awesome, she is pretty childish and funny but she keeps bringing people to the gospel even though she isn't even a member yet! So things are looking up in the Kitchener/Waterloo area and we are planning on making the trip over there more regularly!
That's pretty much everything this week, hope you all had a wonderful T
hanksgiving!
love you all!
ارشد باکر
Elder Bakker
On Thursday an amazing member named Barbara Ann put together a big Thanksgiving dinner for some missionaries and President Shields and his family. It was awesome. She had American flags on the table and everything. And being her favorite I got to cut the ham. ;)
The next day my comp and I made a day trip 2 hours west to the Kitchener/Waterloo area in search of Persians! And the trip was a major success! We found one woman and her family that speak Dari (Persian dilect) and it was easily that most confused I've ever been on my mission but somehow my comp was able to talk to and understand her. I was able to teach her the restoration and she was easily one of the most open Muslims I've talked to. After that we were able to meet with another man in a Burger King, he has met with the missionaries before and loved talking with us! He is going to church this Sunday with the suster missionaries over there! The third person we talked to is awesome, she is pretty childish and funny but she keeps bringing people to the gospel even though she isn't even a member yet! So things are looking up in the Kitchener/Waterloo area and we are planning on making the trip over there more regularly!
That's pretty much everything this week, hope you all had a wonderful T
love you all!
ارشد باکر
Elder Bakker
Thanksgiving (USA)
I know it isn't Thanksgiving yet but I can't email on Thursday so I will say it now, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Here in Canada everything is just a copy of America, and since there are so many missionaries from the states here we are allowed to celebrate the REAL Thanksgiving :)
Later on in the week we met with our recent convert for the last time... sad day but we are super happy for him! The entire time we were teaching him he was looking for a job and sending in resumes but not having any real luck. Then within a week of his confirmation he recieved a job offer, accepted and moved about an hour and a half away.What a blessing for him!
The day I went on exchanges this week happened to be the rainiest and coldest day of the week.... and the elder that I was switching with lost his bus pass so we were on bikes.... all day..... I'll tell you what, Freezing rain on bare hands is the worst. It was so cold, and I am now sick because of it..... ugh.
all good tho. Still working and learning and baptizing here!
Love you all and hope you are all able to see the little blessings in your life!
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ارشد باکر
Elder Bakker
Here in Canada everything is just a copy of America, and since there are so many missionaries from the states here we are allowed to celebrate the REAL Thanksgiving :)
So this week has been pretty interesting. At the start of the week our zone leaders sent out a text inviting all of us to really focus on baptism this week and that if we did we would see blessings from it. So thats exactly what we did! We started to focus on baptism more, and we definitely saw the blessings from it. A member of the church that was baptized a couple years ago and is now less active has started to meet with us and has been coming back to church more regularly. We have focused on helping her bring her family to church but for some reason she didn't want her family involved in the same church that she is a part of. This last week we met with her again and the first thing she says to us is "lets set a baptismal date for my son". WHAT?? he has been taught all the lessons already as he has grown up learning with his mom, so now he is able to be baptized and we set a date for December 3rd! soooooo cool!
Later on in the week we met with our recent convert for the last time... sad day but we are super happy for him! The entire time we were teaching him he was looking for a job and sending in resumes but not having any real luck. Then within a week of his confirmation he recieved a job offer, accepted and moved about an hour and a half away.What a blessing for him!
The day I went on exchanges this week happened to be the rainiest and coldest day of the week.... and the elder that I was switching with lost his bus pass so we were on bikes.... all day..... I'll tell you what, Freezing rain on bare hands is the worst. It was so cold, and I am now sick because of it..... ugh.
all good tho. Still working and learning and baptizing here!
Love you all and hope you are all able to see the little blessings in your life!
--
ارشد باکر
Elder Bakker
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