HOMECOMING!!!!!!!

Alyssa came home on March 29th!  What a sweet reunion to have all four kids in the same place at the same time for the first time in 3 1/2 years!

I See A Light

The church is true.

The book is blue.
See you in 2 (days).

This is Sister Bakker signing off for the last time.

I see a light at the end of the tunnel. I think I am going to go towards it.

The End

Well this is the end. Next week my time as full time missionary will come to and end. I was blessed to serve no Missão Portugal Lisboa. I served in 5 amazing areas (Amial, Povoa, Portimão,Mem Martins, and Odivelas) I had 10 amazing comps (Sisters Nielsen, Azevedo, Cullimore, Baugh, Steagall, Mendes, Alexander, Bryner, Barron, and Vanaquer). This mission was a blessing to me.

Eu sei que Deus vive. Que ele nos ama. Eu sei que esta igreja é verdadeira. Eu sei que Cristo é nosso salvador. E eu vou sou muita grata pelo oportunidade eu tinha de servir como um representante dele. Eu sei que isso é o caminho certo e que cada um de nos podemos estar come Deus depois desta vida mas temos que nos preparar agora! Eu amo minha família e sei que vou estar com eles para sempre. E sei que isso é o plano de Deus.

Thank you for everything.

This is Sister Bakker signing off for the last time.

See you all soon!

Google Translation:
I know that God lives. He loves us. I know that this church is true. I know that Christ is our savior. And I am very grateful for the opportunity I had to serve as a representative of it. I know this is the right way and that each of us can become a God after this life but we have to prepare now! I love my family and I know that I will be with them forever. And I know this is God's plan.

26 Years Old

So today is Sister Vanaquers bday! We played soccer and ate sushi and it was awesome! We had like 15 missionaries there. It was super cool! You all might have to be patient for the pics. Sorry. But it was really fun! She is 26 today. Yes she is 6 years older than me but people think that I am like 4 years older than her. It’s fine.

This week was great! We are getting really excited for Luica. She is going to be baptized on Saturday! And she is so excited. We taught her about temples and she got so excited to do the work for her parents and is really excited for the temple in Lisboa! She is so great! I am so excited for her!

This week we also had a small run in with a mouse. So we were walking in a dark alley way (that is always a bad idea, don’t do that.) And we see this cat. And Sister V was like "there is a mouse! Look the cat sees it and he is planning on how he is going to eat it" so I am like "yes let’s find the mouse" (side note: Sister V is terrified of mice) so I see it on the ground and I’m like "THERE IT IS!" but it was not moving and it was laying on its side like it was dead. So I was like "don’t worry it is dead!" so we get closer to it and it pops up and runs right on top of my foot! EWWW I felt its little body run over my feet!! So gross. Sister V screamed and almost cried haha poor thing! I may or may not have screamed too and jumped like a little girl. But needless to say we don’t go there at night now.

Well that is about it for me this week! love you all! see you in 2 weeks!

loooove,

Sister Bakker

p.s. Just a reminder to all of you who still read my emails. If you find out where my little brother will be serving his mission DO NOT TELL ME! It is going to be a surprise when get home! Thank you!

Brigadeiros

Hey there fam bam!

So this week was pretty chill. IT FLEW BY! I feel like i wrote you all like yesterday! Time flies when you are having fun!

So this week we did a division with Faro. I got to serve with my MTC comp again, Sister Nieson, that was super cool! We had a party and worked hard! I loved it! Also this week I learned how to make balls of cheese and brigadeiros. mmmm I will make them for you when I get home. You will be addicted and I will never tell you how to make them because it is a secret recipe that a member gave us and I was sworn to secrecy.

Also we had a party this week for a missionary that is leaving from our ward. He is going to the New York New, York North Mission. He is our ward mission leader and so it was really cool. He leaves for his mission the same day I get home actually. Haha that is funny to joke around with him about.

Also yesterday we had a cool thing that we did. We were in the church waiting for this guy that never showed up. And there were like 4 little kids there who were playing while their parents were in a meeting. So they saw us and were like "ahhhh sisters!!" they wanted to be sisters so bad and so we too them to the road in front of the church and they gave cards to all the people that walked by. it was awesome. no one can say no to little kids. We actually got some people to accept and to want to learn more! It was a really cool finding activity. I think I may call the PMG people and tell them to add work with little kids (that are really cute) to do more contacts.

Have a killer week. TTYL. YOLO. (hope that is still a thing)...

beijinhos,
Sister Bakker

Life is Life. Vida e Vida

So don’t really have a lot of time today to write. We are going to Belem to festa with the sisters in Povoa! but I hope you are all doing good! I will just tell you a quick story!
So we were in a really big lesson on Friday night and we were there and we were helping this guy decide if he wanted to be baptized or not and it was really intense. Well we were about 30 mins from home and we were in his house until like 21h50 (9:50 pm) and we have to be home at 22h. so ya we left there full of the spirit and all crazy and we looked at each other and at the same time we just RAN!!!!! We ran so hard and so fast in the POORING rain in our skirts and little rain boots and I was trying to talk on the phone to tell the elders that we were going to be late. haha It was crazy!!! So we just ran!!! And we did not stop! Well some home we made it home 3 mins after 21h. It was a miracle that we got there in the time that we did. So we get in the house and we just fell on the ground and died! haha it was fun and really crazy! The elders just laughed at how stupid we are. But I know that we helped that guy a lot so it was worth it!
Love you all so much! hope you all have uma boa semana! fica bem! and choose the right always!
love lyssa

S V and I knocked on some pretty cool doors this year

We went to Lisboa

Yes, I was really running from the street car

We had a fruit fly invasion

 

The little girls in the ward wanted to do my hair

When it Rains Wait for the Sun

Well here I am again. Writing you all back home. I feel like I did this yesterday! But this week I actually have things to say!

So we are teaching this lady named Marisa and she is really loving the lessons and church and everything and wants to be baptized! Well the problem is that she is not married. So we are now helping her get married! Wahoo! And we are also teaching her son Bruno who is going to be baptized this Sunday! We are really excited for him! And excited for this family. We are now praying that the dad, Manuel, will have his heart touched and be willing to talk to us too! We could baptize them all as a family! That would be amazing!

Also this week Sister Vanaquer’s almost mother and father-in-law came to see her and take us to lunch! turns out I don’t understand French at all. haha well a few words here and there. But it was cool to meet them and to hear Sister Vanaquer really speak French to people. It was cool! They are really nice.

This week it also poured rain! EVERYDAY it was pouring! haha but that is ok we have good coats and one umbrella so we were ok! We survived. One day it even hailed! We were walking up this huge hill and it started raining so we keep going and it starts raining really really really hard. So we keep going. And then it starts hailing. So we ran and hid under a bus stop for a few minuets. It was awesome! I think it was the first time that I have seen hail since I have been in Portugal! I actually really loved it! Also the same day we talked to a guy in the road and he was really really weird. He asked me to marry him. My comp didn’t really understand why I got all mad and walked away with out leaving our card. I told her after what he said and she got all red and was like "lets go back and give him a punch in the face!" haha she is the best! I love her so much!

The mission life is the life for me! I love it here so much! And my only advise for you all this week is the just keep going cause even sometimes it rains there are always sunny days ahead!

Love you all! Ficam felizes e ficam fixe!!!
Sister Bakker

The Beginning of the End

Well it happened. One more transfer has come and gone. I received news last night at 22h28 (11:28 p.m. for all you who don’t read time like I read time now) that I will be staying here in Odivelas with Sister Vanaquer! WAHOOO we could not be happier. I felt like we won 6 bajillion euros when they told us the news. We were very happy to stay together. So as of today I have started my last transfer. It really is the begging of the end.

This week was a good one! We are teaching this cool lady named Marisa! She is marked for baptism on the 27th. We may have a small problem though because she is not married... hmmmm well maybe we will also be having a wedding. We will see! This week we also continued to teach Ihita. She is doing great! She does not speak any Portuguese but every day she goes out of her shop at the bus stop that is just in front and she gives our cards to people and makes a phone with her hand and makes the ´call this number´ sign. She is the best and she has a Book of Mormon in her shop in Portuguese with a message from us in it and it has our number. We gave it to her because she was like "what if someone comes in and wants to know more after I give them your card?" She is so excited to be a missionary! Even though she cannot talk to the people she is doing her part! She is amazing! haha and this week she told us that people are buying tickets to go to Mars (don’t know if that is true or not) and that we need to put a church on mars because then all the people on Mars can be part of the Mormon family. She like freaks out and gets really stressed when she thinks about how many people we need to help still to find the church. Like no joke I think just by her faith alone all of Odivelas will be baptized. She is something else. Also this week she is going to go with a member that speaks English and she is going to start doing her family history. She is so excited to help her family that has passed away to be part of the Mormon family too!

This week we also had a very cool conference with President Dyches of the 70. He came and did a mission tour here and so I got to go to 2 conferences with him this last week. It was really cool and I learned a lot. One of the days was just for the leaders in the mission. So I had to leave my greeny behind. So what they had us do was that me and Sister Vanaquer slept in Povoa and then me and Sister Donahoo went to the meeting and we left out babies behind. But the cool part was that we got to go to the family night they have in Povoa and I got to see my recent converts and some members that I miss and love so much! It was so amazing and really was a huge blessing. God really does love all of us a lot.

So my advise for you all this week is that if you buy tickets to go to Mars make sure that when you get there you guys start the church. Ihita will be very very happy. Love you all! thanks for all your love and support!

love,
Sister Bakker!

My Povoa peeps!

Holy Toes!

Hey Guys!

So this week was a good one! Ihita is doing great! She is going to give a talk in church in 2 weeks so I am excited for that! I think that I am going to have to translate it all but that is ok! This week we went to Benefica for our zone conference. That was cool! Presidente Tavares had lots of good stuff to tell us this week! I love being with them! We also had interviews. Don’t worry I passed. My comp is doing great. It kinda of scares me a little, we are like the same person. Her humor is so dry and she is so French that everything that she says is that much funnier. We are getting along pretty good over here!

Today we went to Sintra and I got to see my recent convert Mariano! That was so great! He is doing good and he is dating a member now. We went with the sisters and the APs and 3 members to the place where Presidente Monson dedicated Portugal! It was really cool! Totally worth it!

My advice for the week comes from my shoes. If your shoes are falling apart just sow them back together. But don’t do it on the outside. The members will make fun of you and tell you to buy new ones. You have to put the patch on the inside then no one will notice! Just a tip for all you future missionaries out there! Or just buy new shoes. But that is complicated. My comp saw the hole in my shoes and she yells HOLY TOES! hahaha good times with my frenchy! got to love her!

Love you all! Fica bem. Eu amo vocês e estou animada para vocês aqui em breve! via ser bui de fixe (como eles dizem aqui)!!! Espero uma boa semana por todos ! Eu sei que Igreja é verdadeira e sei que Cristo é nosso salvador! Obrigada por tudo que fazem para mim!! também é fixe que posso escrever qualquer coisa aqui e a maioria de vocês não vou perceber nada. Fica bem!

com muito amor,

Sister Bakker

I made sweet rice!  Mariano taught me how

The plaque where Pres Monson dedicated Portugal

The sisters who went to the dedicatory site

all of us who went to the site

What is Ghost?

Hey there family!

So my life is pretty same old same old. This week we taught Ihita more. She was so excited to get the Holy Ghost but she got scared that it was an actual ghost that would like haunt her or something. So one day during the lesson she is like "sisters can I ask you anything?" and we are like "yes" and she is like "What is ghost? If I do bad does ghost do bad too? Will he be mean to me?" and we are just like ohhh Ihita and so we explained it to her again and she got all excited and was like "HOW MANY DAYS UNTIL SUNDAY? I NEED HOLY GHOST NOW!!" haha she is the best! I love her broken English! I feel almost like I am speaking another language with her and Sister Vanaquer cause they both don’t speak Enlish like super, super, super well so I have to do translations in my head and speak really slow and use small words. I love them!

I love my area here! It is pretty cool! We don’t have tons of cool stuff as far as like cool Portugal stuff but the people here are just the best! And it has been so long since sisters have been here that the members love us like crazy!

Thanks for all you guys do for me! love you all tons! Tenham uma boa semana!

com amor,

lunch at a brazilian place with irmã luciane

sister bakker

lunch with irmã elizabet

Baptism?

January 25, 2016

So family,

This week was one of the coolest weeks of my whole mission. Miracles happen. Put your faith in the lord. WORK HARD and never ever ever quit.



So this week on Tuesday the elders called us and asked if we had any appointments on Wednesday at 5. We were like "elders we don’t have ANYTHING" so they laugh and are like well you do now! So Wednesday comes and we were doing a division. So I was with Sister Donahoo who is now in my old area Povoa. So anyway me and her go to this appointment and the elders tell us what is happening. So we went to go see Ihita. She is a 33 year old lady from Bangladesh. She is Chirstian and so for that she and her husband Evan had to flee their country so that they could be safe from persecution. So they went to England. While there things were not going so well and they had to leave again and the only place that let them in was Portugal. Before leaving she told us that she had a dream that Christ came to her and said that there was a present waiting for her in Portugal. So the elders found her husband in the road. He said that he did not believe in God but that they could talk to his wife. So they talked to her a little but it was dangerous for them to go to her house because she was living in a very dangerous area that did not allow Christians to go there. So she was hiding her faith there and the elders were having a hard time finding her. Well 3 weeks ago she came to church. We translated it all for her and she liked it. Then a week later she moved to our area. So the Elders call us and tell us that we had an appointment. So we are now at the appointment and she tells us her story and her life. We teach her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and she accepts everything! We marked her to baptized on the fallowing Sunday. During the week we went to see her everyday to help her and to teach her. And I will say this, she changed. It was the change in her as she accepted the gospel in her life. She was so ready! She only speaks English so that was a little challenging but we did ok! Then yesterday after church we had the chance to see her enter the waters of baptism! Ihita was baptized and after she came to us and she had the biggest smile and she told us that she felt so clean and so happy and she lost her words because the spirit was so strong! It was amazing! She is so great! Miracles really do come true! Sister Vanaquer and I are so happy for Ihita!



I know that through our trials and through our faith god works through us. I know that when people accept the gospel and take it into their hearts they are truly converted. I love the Lord. I love this church and I love my mission.



Love you all so much! thanks for all you do!

Love always

Sister Alyssa Bakker!

frenspaniportuglish

Sister Vanaquer making crêpes like a boss. This week she is going to teach me how to make tiramisu. toma folks, thats all the pics I got for the week... i will do better next time.

Yo yo yo! so there are a ton of Africans in my new area so I feel that I am aloud to say cool things like YO and SWAG and flash church related gang signs. We are rockin it here in Odivelas! 

So this week was good! We went to mission council and had zone meeting. So that was cool. Sister Vanaquer was so confused at Mission council. poor thing. I tried to explain zone leader and District leader and STL and all that. I think I just made her more confused. But she is figuring it out now! She is super cool! This week she taught me to make crepes. I feel so French! Also she speaks mostly Spanish instead of Portuguese and so I understand all of it but I am also learning Spanish now. Wahoo I am going to speak like 4 languages when I get home all thanks to her!! 

So I am in the sketchy internet cafe and there are like 3 cockroaches crawling on the tables around me. gross. haha I love Portugal! 

There is not really that much to report this week so sorry for the lame email. But wish us luck this week we have a lot to do and not a lot of time do it all! wish us luck! 

Love you all, fica fixe sempre! 

Sister Bakker

Odivelas is the Place for Me!

I came into Odivelas with a big American bang! Of course now that I have a super cool American flag jump suit I am with a French comp. It makes it that much better!

Hey there yall! this week was crazy! We are working really really hard and doing crazy stuff. My comp is cool. She is going to teach to make real French crepes and I am going to help her make cookies. Vida boa. Life is great! Love the mission. My area is crazy! we are literally opening it like brand new so we have like no investigators still but it is all good we just talk to EVERYONE! I like it ok. It rained ever day this week but the sun came out today! yay! Love you all! thanks for all the support and love!

LOVE always
sister bakker


Good bye Mem Martins!

Mariano making faces at me

Lili, she is the best!  Her mom won't let her get baptized yet, but she is totally going to be a missionary one day!

I am a Mom--Part 2

It looks like I am smoking sketch stuff, but it is lemonade with weird herbs.
Everyone just passes around the same cup.

New years at the Stake President's house

Hey there!
Well one more week has come and gone! Today is transfer day! So yesterday we were at our bishop's house and the mission presidente calls us. I saw his name on the phone and I knew that one of us was going to have to do something crazy this transfer. He only calls for transfers when you are getting a calling of some kind. So we all went real quiet and I answer the phone. He was all happy and was like "am I talking to Sister Bakker?" well he said my name right so I know that this was big. Like big enough that he actually learned to say my name right. I took a deep breath and cool as a cucumber I said "sim!" I dont think he knew I was really nervous. Well he goes on to tell me that I have been called to be the new TLT. I am not totally sure what that stands for but basically what that means that I am now the sister training leader over the sister training leaders. I will be over half the mission and Sister Alexander (my old comp) has the same calling and is over the other half. Then my presidente goes on to tell me that I will also be training a new sister, Sister Vanaquer. She is French. Wahoo. I hope that she speaks English or Portugese. If not this could be a little hard and we might play a lot of charades. Then as this gross sick feeling came into my stomach he went on. I will aslo be transfered to open a sister area in Lisboa. My area is called Lisboa 5 but I think that it is part of the Odivelas ward. There have not been sisters there in about a year or so. He then asked to speak to my comp and told here that she too will be training. Ya it was crazy! I am pretty scared. But it is going to be awesome! I don't think that there is a better way to end my mission than this! I am excited! I think we are going to have tons of fun and see tons of miracles!I hope that it is going to all go good! Wish me luck!

Mariano and me

I am going to miss mem martins I love it here so much! Last night to say good bye Mariano taught us how to make arroze doce in the church! haha he is such a weird dude but I love him! He is the coolest recent convert ever!

This week was full of fun and I am sure that this next one is going to be a crazy one! Wish me luck out here! love you all! thanks for all your love and support!

Com muito amor,

Lunch with Roberto (he's in the bishopric)

Sister Alyssa Bakker

the bread man