Run! It's the Mormon Missionaries!!

Momma Note:  This morning I was home and was able to respond right away.  I included our conversation because it gives a feeling of how Sister Baker is doing and her cute attitude.  I also included her letters to her dad and me.  Our personal letters are so much who she is and since her blog is her scrapbook of her mission I wanted to include them.   Emailing her back and forth today was just what I needed to restore peace to my soul!  Jocelyn is such a blessing in my life!  Also in response to her dad's letter she said that she thinks the pain in her legs and hips and joints is from when she caught "Dangy" or some other fever from mosquitoes  at the beginning of her mission because the pain in the joints can last a year or more.  We are praying each day for the pain in her legs to stop.  She says it is getting better with time. The hard things that missionaries go through.  Somehow they come out stronger for it.  What a blessing to get strength from hard things.   ~Momma Baker

So this week was rough. We ran into an obstacle this week that is called no one wants to talk with us. Man oh man. That really sucks. We had to cut all of our investigators because no one is progressing and no one will go to church and everyone lies to us. So we are starting all over. Wahoo. This week was suuper weird. We would go to teach a lesson and when we arrived on the street of that person they would see us and run. I’m not kidding. One time we were walking to our investigatores house and she saw us and ran into her house. This didn’t happen just one time this week. This happened about 10 times. (I’m not exaggerating) (really I’m not it could be more than 10) What a bummer. and also in other bad news. Brazil is going through a financial problem (like the rest of the world) so the church is going to help out by cutting some finances. So all of the chapels that are less than 3 miles away from the stake center will have to go to the stake center. So our little chapel/house will have to go to the stake center. And so guess what we will have to bring all of our investigatores to church on foot for 5 to 7 miles. That’s not cool. So maybe President is thinking about transferring us to another area. Wahoo. Another emergency transfer. Pray for me and my little ward/branch. I love them and want to help them so much. I don’t want to be transferred again. 

      But in the good news i went to my missionary mom's house yesterday because we were all trunky and depressed and we wanted to go to her house and she would be our adoptive mom. So me and my companion went there and we were all complaining and she was suuper depressed with the ward too so we were all talking and complaining and then we started to think about what we can do to help them out and to help the investigatores and everything and now we are all a little bit happier and we are suuper excited to help out so we are going to get the whole ward together to do something suuuper cool but we just need ideas. What could we do that is suuuper cool that could help our ward out? I need ideas!!!!!

 But anyway. I love you all you are all wonderful. Thank you so much for your support and help. I love you

love, sister j. baker

Our conversation:

Momma's response to the main letter:

Oh!  That is hard stuff!  If I saw you I would run too but I would run to you and give you the biggest hug you ever got!!  Silly people!  They don't know what they are missing!  Just start smiling and singing to them and they will all come running!

A big ward activity?  How about a bunch of games like a cake walk, hopscotch (out of chalk or on paper squares), four square, bingo etc.   Or you could do some kind of fireside where you sing and give a spiritual message??  Is there someone that needs service that you could all work together?   Or you could have a potluck dinner or picnic?  Even something like a bean bag toss or missionary tag or tag or teach them some primary songs??   How about a cookie day?  Our primary does that once a month and the kids love it and there are several less active kids that come to that.  You could have a cookie or treat swap?    An Icecream bar people bring toppings? Etc There's a few more! Keep it simple so you can do more activities and  you don't get too overwhelmed.  You are great.  You got this! I love you so much.  You can do this!  It's sounds like you have another challenge!  Just like the last place you have got what it takes to accomplish the Lord's will.  If anyone can do it, it is you.  I think Heavenly Father has such trust in you.  I know how delighted He is with you.   Yesterday Zac spoke on ministering and what it is and he used you as an example.  So sweet.  You're doing great!  I love the way that you turned your down time yesterday into something positive that you can help and serve.  That's my girl!   Go Joci go!! :)

Love  you

Mom

Joci:

 We will have to figure something out. I loved your ideas i love how in our ward we are always doing something. We always have some activity happening but here it’s completely up to the missionaries and even then sometimes it doesn’t happen we need to do a lot of activities. Thank you for your ideas. Thanks mama. I got this.  We will help this ward out.

 I love you thank you for believing in me. I love you

love, sister j. baker

Mom:

Yep!  You've so got this!  Thank you for our talk.  My soul has peace now.  You are just what I needed!  I've got you singing to me in the background and talking to you on email and now my world is right!!  I love you so much!  HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

I am praying for you!

I love you.

Your momma

Joci:

oh good. im glad. dont worry about a thing. every little thing is gunna be alright. i love you. 

i hope you have a great week. Give a smell (Momma note: she meant smile but I thought it was hillarious so I kept the mistake) to Alex on his birthday for me. 

i love you 

love,sister j baker

A letter to mom

Hey mama! What a great letter from you. I love to hear about the family. Zac is wonderful and I'm glad that some people are seeing his goodness and I'm glad that he is letting other people see. He is crazy and that's good too but he has a wonderful heart. I miss him soooo much. And Alex. oh my goodness. He is soooo huge!!! I dont even think i will recognize him when i get home. He is a giant!!!! When i left he was 6ft and a little bit! Now he's 6ft 4 and 16 years old!!! What happened to my little baby brother?! and Kaiti. All of the elders want to date Kaiti. Everyone that sees her picture wants to date her. She is sooooo pretty and nice too. Everyone in jr. high will like her. I wish that i would have had the opportunity to go to jr. high in salem. I hated jr. high in spanish fork. Hated it with a passion. And i love you. You are wonderful. The best mom in the world. You know that you are the best mom in the world when your daughter is blessed on the mission. I am sooo blessed here with people that take care of me. I have a mission mother here in caico. Her name is Fransisca. Whatever i need i can go to her and she takes care of me like i was really her child. You are wonderful. I really miss you a lot. a lot. and dad is the best dad that ever existed. He is that constant force right behind you when you need it. That's what i like about dad is that he is always there. He is constant he doesn't waver. I love my family. I miss you all. But hey just 6 more months. wahoooooo!!!!!! 

 i love you mama! Thank you for everything. i love you

love, sister j. baker

A letter to dad

Hey dad. It's good to hear from you. I'm so happy to hear about my family and how you all are doing. It's wonderful that each one of you is being a missionary and teaching and helping the gospel where you all are. I hope that you all are doing all you can to help the ward and the stake at home. I sure love you guys. You all are an example to me. thank you for your love and support. 

Hey i think i found out the problem about my feet. Do you remember when i caught chickagoina? and i had that bad rash? Yeah well one of the problems with the sickness is when you catch it, it can stay with you for up to a year. One of the side effects is soreness in the joints. That would explain my hips and legs and feet. And its getting better with time to i think that is is. Freaking misquitoes. ha ha but its getting better. Don't worry. 

i love you soo much. thank you so much for helping me out and being my support. 

love, sister j. baker

Transfers!

Welp fam. i was..... transfered. (theres no surprise there) ha ha. But I’m happy about it. I really really loved natal. It was my favorite so far. (Currais always will have a special place in my heart, but Natal was my favorite) and now I’m in Caico. It’s neighbors with Currais. It’s in the same stake as Currais. ha ha. Its funny i stay in the same stakes in the capital and in the interior. Whaaaat. ha ha. But i am in a branch now. Our branch as 30 members! What?! and there are 2 complete families in our branch. It’s crazy. When you have such little amount of people you have to start giving calling to teenagers. This branch is run practically by 17 and 15 year old kids. The biggest callings are adults but the rest is the teenagers. Its pretty cool. But they are all suuuper excited in this branch. I love it already. This area is a bit hard and has a lot of favela (dangerous area that is made up of houses falling apart.) But i love it. (its not too dangerous dont worry) 

   My new comp is Sister Leal (lay-al) she crazy and suuper cool i like her a lot. sister leal is out for 7 months. and she is from belem. i live with her and percy. my apartment is great. 

   Ha ha but do you want to know how i arrived in the Caico bus stop? I arrived with Percy (my fish) in a glass jar in hand. It was suuuper funny. Just imagine. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. 

Welp, thats all i have got to say. 

I love you all.

love, sister j. baker

ps.11 months!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Letters!

Momma Note: This week I had several family members call me to tell me that Joci had written to them.  They all spoke of the personal letters that were "so Joci".   The one letter may be slighlty inappropriate for the blog but since it is her scrapbook of her mission I decided to include it.  The picture is to my sister's girls.  Since they drew pictures for her she drew a picture for them.  It is of our families camping together.  Pay close attention to the Baker family and check out Zac and Al.   I don't have a copy of Mum's(my grandma) letter but she said it was a personal letter to her and that it meant so much to her.  Hearing about these letters was almost as great as receiving one myself!   Also I got on Sister Brown's blog and copied some of her pictures and so here they are. I sure love my missionary!  I am so grateful for her and for the support of her by so many people.  ~Momma Baker

Momma Note: The following is from Sister Emily Brown's blog.  It is talking about Joci and her investigator that she loves so much.  Joci has written all about her experiences the last few weeks.  It was fun to read about this from Sister Brown's point of view.  Joci loves Sister Brown so much.  It has been such a blessing for them to be together the past few months.  Sure love these missionaries!  ~Momma Baker


"This week the other sisters had a miracle baptism (I´m sure Sister Baker will explain all about it in her weekly email) of an "eternal" investigator - Mara. She´s passed through 4 or 5 sets of missionaries (me included) and she just wouldn´t be baptized. She went to church every sunday, had all of the church materials/apps downloaded on her phone, participated in gospel doctrine and relief society, and no one could figure out what was holding her back - other than Sister Baker and Pinheiro. She was finally baptized this week, and we were all SO happy! I think of that scripture in Alma 29 that talks about rejoicing in the success of others - we´re all a part of this work."

Best Baptism Ever!

Thank you all for your prayers because a wonderful miracle happened this last week. Mara was baptised. This was the best baptism i have ever had and i feel like i promised her before this life that i would find her and be patient with her and help her with all her doubts and that she would be baptised. She will be a wonderful help in this ward. The bishop already talked to her and marked an interview with her to give her a calling. Man oh man. It's wonderful to see the people that you baptised happy and firm in the gospel. I am so happy here. What started to be my worst area and the hardest area for me turned out to be my favorite. It's funny how when you trust in the Lord and do what He askes everything turns out just fine. 

    This week I met so many weird people. You know only on the mission you walk down the street and everyone stops and talks with you. We were walking down the street and 4 people stopped us and talked to us. Most of them were drunk and i think the other was crazy but still, if i wasn't a missionary i wouldn't have met these people. One thing that is cool is that people can see our light. They notice that we have something different. Most people don't try to find out what it is but they notice. It's pretty cool. 

I'm great. My health is great. I'm happy and healthy. and really happy. I don't know if i want to leave this area. I want to finish my mission here. ha ha. but i know i wont so thats fine. 

And that's all i have to say. ha ha. I love you sooo much. 

ps. i teared up at Maras baptism. it was sooo goood. i love her so much.

Well thats all i have for this week. I love you all. Thank you for your prayers. This week is transfers. Who knows what will happen?! It's always crazy.

I love you all.

Love, sister j. baker

ps. i teared up at Maras baptism. it was sooo goood. i love her so much.

Satan's Dog

 Well, this week was amazing. We baptized 3 boys. They are crazy!!!!! I love them. They remind me a lot of my 2 crazy brothers. It’s so fun to sit with them in church, but hard at the same time because the Joc in me wants to joke around with them and be crazy. But the Sister j. Baker in me wants to tell them to sit quietly. ha ha. It’s rough. ha ha But well 2 of them were from the sisters area but we taught them and everything so i think i will count them as my baptisms. ha ha. 

    Many miracles happened this week. I felt me and my companion guided by the spirit many times. I saw many miracles this week. Sometimes i felt like i was on 17 miracles. I’m not kidding. For example, the sisters had a baptism on Wednesday and we went to support them. Well the door to the baptismal font wouldn’t open and everyone was getting a little nervous. We were looking everywhere for the keys and we couldn’t find them. The sisters started to get really sad because it was really hard to get this person to church and to get her baptized but when i thought that it wouldn’t work the other sisters went to pray and i was in the hall with 2 elders and Sister Pinheiro was down the hall a little bit. Elder Phillips started to joke around with the door and he knocked 2 times and tried to open it and it opened. WHAT!?! Yeah. That’s right, 17 miracles! Also we were able to talk with 2 people that were grumpy and ready to send us away and we were able to talk to them with the spirit enough that they softened their hearts. One was the mom of the kid that was baptized on Sunday and the other is our investigator. It was pretty cool. I saw the spirit work a lot this week. 

     But well i have a story that will make you all pee your pants. I don’t know if it will be because of fear or laughing but hear we go. Soooo... this week we lost our keys to our house. So just the other sisters had keys so we left together and we would return to our house at the same time so that we could get into our house. So normaly, its all good and it was working for a couple of days. But tudo bem. So and also a minor detail there is a dog at our neighbors house that is CRAZY. He is suuuuper scary. when we pass by he barks and foams at the mouth and tries to escape to eat us. So anyways, me and Sister Pinheiro were returning home after a hard day of work. We were tired and so we started to return home. So we called the others sisters to see where they were at so that we could get home at the same time. but they didn’t answer their phone. But we thought its ok, it was about 8:45 and our curfew is 9:30 at the latest latest so we thought it was ok. So we were returning to our house and we turned the corner to see our neighbors devil dog LOOSE! I almost peed myself. I grabbed Sister Pinheiro and we started to walk slowly backwards. It saw us and started to come towards us. Thank goodness a car passed in front of us so we were able to run but we had to go another way to get to our house. So we went the other way and he was waiting for us on the other side!!!! Satan’s dog was chasing us!!!!!! Oh my gosh it was soo scary. So we went to some members houses close by but they weren’t home. We called the sisters, they weren’t answering so we spent about 30 minutes running from this dog. Well the streets were getting a bit dangerous because no one was in them. So we just kept moving trying to see if the sisters already got home passing to see where the heck was the devil dog. It was so scary, and you will never believe what happened next. There was a family on the corner ready to leave somewhere so we went by them to be a bit more safe and when we arrived on the corner they started to freak out! "ah! Don’t stand there!" and we were all confused and they said "Don’t stand there! A man left an offering de macumba for satan right now!!!!! and your standing on it!" Ah man i was about ready to die!!! There were weird strings all over and a bowl of food and alcohol and money. It was weird and not a fun thing to stand on. I didn’t like it. Well, we walked around for a little bit longer with a weird feeling of macumba and not peace, waiting for the sisters. Finally we called someone in our apartment to open the gate for us and we sat in the bottom of our apartment waiting for the sisters to enter in our room. It was terrible. ich. But it’s ok we laugh about it now and we were safe. 

Well i love you all. Thank you for your prayers. 

Love, sister j. baker