August 8, 2011 Heyo

So its another week here in Kre-Feld!

Well, I have gotten to know Elder Birth a little bit more now and he is a pretty cool guy. The only problem is that I get the feeling that I wont be with him for more than one transfer. We have both talked about it and we both get the same feeling. But you know, anything can happen. I actually joked that I would train next transfer. Haha. Now that would be interesting. I doubt it though.

Anyways, on to things that happened during the week. As far as productivity goes, Edler Birth and I get a lot done together witch is really good. We had a few more lessons than last week and we have been building a stronger relationship with the ward. I feel like I am starting to see success. Watch I am going to get transferred. Hah.

So I was in Düsseldorf last week. Again. I was with Elder Telfer, one of the zone leaders, again. Haha. We still had fun though. We basically went all over the city and did some refferal work. It was intense but fun. Elder Telfer is definitely zone leader material.

So we met this lady who was refferred from Göttingen a couple of weeks ago at the church. We brought Brüder Polkähn along and had an awesome tour of the building. We went into the Chapel and the woman explained that i looked really plain. Brüder Polkähn explained that pretty well and because he used to be catholic, he was able to give her the perfect answer. We later showed her the Baptismal font and she was like, I really want to be baptized. So I guess we have a soft baptismal commitment! =)

So I just thought of something I thought was really interesting that I learned this week. So, as missionaries, we deal with goal setting and using these numbers as key indicators of how things are going in our particular area. Well, I realized what a goal really is. A goal is something that I or we as a companionship achieve. So applying it to missionary work: Lets say I want to have 2 baptisms. That is not a goal, that is a wish. It depends on somebody elses agency for it to be fulfilled. This being said, I have learned how to not feel bad if I fall short of goals. I have learned not to be dissapointed to the point where I feel like I am at fault. I still feel bad for the person who may not have made the right choice, but as for myself, I have learned how to feel successful, even where on the surface it may not look like it. Sorry if that doesnt make sense, I can feel like my english is going. Haha.

Oh funny story. So I was not adequately warned around here that the Germans put weird stuff in their Ice Cream. So I bought some Straciatella Ice Cream, which is very delicous by the way. I hadn´t looked at what was in it because I was just used to buying it. I bought the cheapest kind. It was actually a different brand than what I usually get. You can see where this is going cant you? Anyways, I had already eaten half of it and Elder Birth had just finished talking to me about the stuff germany put in their ice cream. That made me really want some. So I go into the freezer and pull it out and walk back to the couch with a spoon. I really didnt want to check on the back and just start eating but I took heed to Elder Births advice. He asked " are you going to check?" I was like... "maybe" It was at that moment that I realized that this ice cream was especially delicous and i couldnt quite get the taste. I checked. It had "Wein" in it. So I had to go and throw it out. I will say though, this ice cream was delicious. Anyways, to end the story, I was really sad that that ice cream was so good but so bad. Oh well. I guess thats my lesson for not checking what is in stuff before I buy it.

Well, Elder Birth and I may play a couple games of Die Siedler Von Catan and maybe some frisbee later today.

I hope everything is going well at home and by the sound of it, it is.

I love you guys!

Elder Baker