The English are Coming!

OLÀ FAMÍLIA!!! Tudo bem?!

This week was probs one of the best if not the best week on my mission so far! I cannot even start to tell you all that happened. Lets just start at the beggining. I got to go on a division with my favorite girl from Mozambique! Sister Jumua! She is super cool I really love her a lot!! We taught a lot of cool people, including that family from Cabo Verde, and they totally accepted the invite to be baptized! WAHOOOO now we just have to get them to get married. Then Sister Steagall and Sister Cullimore got to teach this couple Ana and Antonio! They are so cool!!! She is totally wanting to get baptized and she is like all about coming to church and learing more about everything! She is so cool!!! ahhh I love them so much!!! They are so great!

Ok so now i want to talk to you a little bit about the coolest thing that has happened to me on the mission so far. So let me set the stage for you... Imagine a big road with weird empty apartment buildings on both sides a bunch of English tourists going to the beach, me yelling at this creepy guy on the phone in Portuguese and my comp walking along side of me trying to keep up with this super weird conversation I was having. Just then this guy stops us and go's "wow girl Mormons that do this preaching thing too! I have only ever seen boys" so Sister Steagall talks to this guy while I finish up my conversation on the phone. We talked to him a bit found, out that his name is Mathew, he is here trying to start over. And when I say start over I mean he came to Portugal with a backpack of stuff NO money and literally nothing else. He hitch-hiked here from England about 1 year ago and he was in the area looking for a job. Well we then talked to him about the church. We ended up teaching him the first lesson on the road and inviting him to be baptized. At first he was really hesitant but we told him that if he asked God if this was what he needed to do that he would receive an answer. Well he did, literally sitting right there. We watched as he turned from maybe to wow this is the most true thing in the whole world. Well in the end he accepted the invite and will be baptized this Sunday! HE IS SO PREPARED!!! We have been teaching him and everything is going so well! He loves the book of Mormon and he loved church on Sunday! He is so cool! It really was a great example of God telling us where we needed to be and where he needed to be for us to find each other! And why sisters are important too! Mathew actually told us that the only reason that he talked to us is becuase we were sisters! WOW!!! He is so cool! I love miracles! The only problem now is that it is hard to teach all this stuff in English. I have never done it before... I give props to ALL english missionaries.

This week was so great! I LOVE MISSIONARY WORK!

Please take this advise that Sister Jumua taught me this week, eat your oranges like apples. They taste better!

LOVE YOU ALL!!
Sister Bakker

Today for P-day we went to a castle!

A Stick, Torn Up Pillow and a Dead Guy

Ola Familia!!!

Ok soooo this week we had a very average week. Like no joke it was like same old same old. UNTIL Thursday, We decided to go see our investigator that came to conference. We felt that we really needed to reteach the first lesson to her and invite her to be baptized. Well the first miracle was that she was in her house. The second was that she accepted the invite to be baptized on the 19! We were sooooo excited! Well long story short we went to go get her for church on Sunday and she went to Lisbon and just forgot to tell us. ya... it was really sad cause now she is no longer marked to be baptized. But if we can finish up teaching her this week we can still see her enter the waters of baptism if she comes to church next week. So we are really praying hard for her! So after she wasn't home on Sunday both Sister Steagall and I were really sad but neither of us wanted to say anything so we walked to church real quiet. I think that we both knew that in our hearts we were praying real hard to see a miracle that day. Well we went to church and for the first 2 hours no one showed up. Not a single investigator walked in. Then at the last minuet just as sacrament was starting we had the family that we are teaching walk in! Then not long after that we had a couple that we have only talked to like one time come as well! It was so amazing! We had an amazing testimony meeting and the spirit was so strong! In the end even though we did not have the one person we thought would come be there we had 5 other people come! It was so amazing! And the couple that came is planning on coming to an activity that we are having on Friday and then again to church on Sunday! MIRACLES PEOPLE MIRACLES!!! BUT WAIT THERES MORE! So later that day the Elders in Lagos had a baptism. They have to come to our chapel to have it and so we got all the stuff ready to go for them. Well they got there and we were told that 2 people would be getting baptized but only one got dressed and they told us that the other person backed out last second. So they did the baptism and it was amazing. Well we went to help her get dressed after and when we came back out Elder Seeley (one of the elders from Lagos) was crying and came up to us and told us that after the baptism when they started playing the piano and wait for her to be done changing the other person who was supposed to be baptized but in the last minute felt that he was not ready, looked at Elder Seeley and said "I cannot wait anymore. I need to be baptized now." So they baptized him as well. I have never felt the spirit so strong in my whole life! NEVER! It was so amazing!

God really does love all his children so much!! I love the mission so much! It is days like yesterday that make it all worth it! I am so happy to be here serving our Heavenly Father!

Oh I should probably explain the title of this email. So to tie our Sunday off in a big old bow, we were walking in the street and we saw a big group of people. Well we kept going and realized that they were all gathered around this guy that was laying on the side of the road with a torn up pillow and foam all around him and a stick. He looked super dead. Like Sister Steagall and I no joke were like "what the, that guy is DEAD!!" So we stayed a minute and then an ambulance came and we saw the dead guy move so, ya, he wasnt actally dead but we have no idea what happened. It was super weird. This little story is also my advise this week. Never play dead on the side of the road. You will freak out the missionarias if you do.

OK well love you all! As always thank you for your prayers! Sounds like you are all having a grand time in goold ol' utah! Glad spring break was a blast!

Fica Bem!
Sister Bakker!

I Hear Our Prophet!

Sister Bakker says never give 8 missionaries mustaches in a package they open on a train!

GENERAL CONFERENCE IS LIFE!!!!! Can I please just tell you how blessed we were this weekend. We got to watch the morning sessions live!!! that was so cool and we also got to watch the first part of the afternoon sessions live but had to finish them the next day due to having to be home by 10. We also got to see them in ENGLISH!!! WAHOO! It would have been great to see it in Portuguese and I think that I would have gotten most of what was said but it really is so much better to watch it in you own language! I love conference so much! We are so blessed to have a modern living prophet! I love his so much and I am so grateful for his and all the words spoken this weekend! And what a blessing it was to hear them over this beautiful Easter Sunday! What a great way to spend Easter this year! The cherry on top was that I also got to spend this Easter as a missionary! Wow God really does love all of us a whole lot!

This week was great! Nothing to crazy to report! You know the classic random dude that gives us oranges on the road and the oldy that cries when we offer to say a prayer to help bless her day. Classic! We are still working really hard here to see miracles and to see our investigators enter the waters of baptism! Man life is so good! And the usual homeless man that we have to avoid usually was not in his usual spot and the elders said that he has been spotted in their area so we are thinking that maybe he has moved! How can life get better? I am no joke on cloud nine! 

My advise this week is not really advise as much as it a request...Please all of you take a minute this week and remember your savior and all that he did for YOU personally. Then when you have thought about that think of someone that you know that needs that same knowledge of the Saviors love for them. It can be ANYONE! Just think of that one person and them and find a way to give them the gift of the gospel. It could be by having them over to eat dinner and meet with the missionaries (as a missionary I can tell you that this would be AWESOME) or you could give them a hug and tell them you love them or you can show them the new Easter video. There are so many ways to share the love of the Savior with the world and my challenge to you this week is to actually do it. STOP saying I will tomorrow or thinking that someone else can and you take action and DO IT!! God needs all of us to do our parts and He needs all of his children to return to him. How can you help him with the grand work? 

I love you all and I love my Savior! Thank you as always for all your prayers in my behalf! They do not go unnoticed! 

Sister Bakker...OUT (insert finger guns here)