Hey Guys! It's Halloween!
I guess I will start off...
This week has been pretty good. We haven't had a bunch of appointments, but we have definitely talked to some interesting people on bahns and on the street. We have definitely planted some good seeds. Elder Jongejan even talked to some basketball players on a bahn and had an awesome conversation. One of the guys was 7 feet 2 inches. It was sweet!
I have been really working on learning as much as I can while I am out here. Right now I have been studying D&C and so far it has been really cool. I have learned so much about the early history of the church as well as many revelations regarding the Millenium, life after death, and the many records that are to come forth. I love the scriptures. When I finish D&C, I will start to work on the Pearl of Great Price then the Old Testament. Ah, I am so excited!
I am loving my time here in Nuernberg with Elder Jongejan, and I am excited to see what is in store for me next transfer!
So this week at church, we had an excellent Sunday. After our investigator came (for the fourth week in a row) the ward members have been getting so excited for missionary work! Members have been offering to help us out with appointments and giving us opportunities to help the ward with missionary moments. We had a great combined priesthood and relief society meeting where we talked about how the ward can not only do missionary work but ward work as well. We also showed them tools they can use to share the gospel such as pamphlets, pass along cards, and DVDs.
I really think that our new investigator is meant to get our ward up and moving with missionary work. She has been extremely receptive to what is being taught in the church classes. She has even read in the Book of Mormon and prayed, and I believe that she felt something. We have an appointment later this week, and we (and the ward too) are really excited about it!
Next week Elder Jongejan and I are teaching the priesthood class about preach my gospel. We are definitely excited but of course, we are still trying to decide what angle we want to take. We just need to listen to the spirit and do what he says.
By the way, the Germans don't really celebrate Halloween. There are a few that do, but it's not as big here. I think today we are going to be carving pumkins. We thought about doing a Hitler Halloween and carve our pumpkins with the stasches on them but I don't think we will have time today to go to the Doku Zentrum, which is the massive arena complex that Hitler built while he was here.
Oh another milestone... as of tomorrow, I am one third of the way done with my mission (but who is counting?) Also, I found out that I won't be getting home on March 2 2013, but I will be home 2 weeks before that. (Honestly I am not counting)
I am glad sister Davis thought that the letter (and cartoon) I sent her was funny. I thought it was hilarious. I was really tempted to show Aaron Vincent the cartoon over his email... Oh well. Haha.
Everything else is going welll over here and I hope that I will be able to stay for Christmas. They are already putting up the decorations all over the city. I will start taking pictures in a couple of days.
Thanks for everything, and no, I don't need more vitamins (I can buy them here) and other than that, I am doing great. By the way, candy is not a requisite for a care package. I am a fatty out here. =)
Elder Trevor Baker
MEOW!
Monday, October 31, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
October 24, 2011 The Good and the Bad--that's how it goes.
Hey guys, so this week had a couple of cool things happen and a couple of not so cool things. That's really how it goes though.
Anyways, so we were going to a members house and we were waiting at a bus stop and we hear this car really revving its engine. We look around the corner and we see this stalled car in the middle of the road (blown transmission) and we run out there and ask if there is anything we can do. ( I am sure she was thinking "duh") So we end up pushing her little European car down the road across an intersection and into this auto shop. It was really cool that we got to help someone right at that second. It was definitely scary though.
Then later on in the day, we were walking down the street talking about how pidgeons don't fly anymore, they just walk everywhere. Then out of nowhere, this pidgeon comes swooping down nearly hitting this guy in the face. We saw this all happen and watched the guy with a funny look on his face. Definitely one of the funniest moments of the week.
So we have been hit hard numberwise this week. The whole zone has been hit hard and we don't really know why. Maybe it's not the right time... Oh well.
Nothing really new has happened in the last week other than interviews with President which went well.
He talked about using service projects to make the Mormons get out there. He also talked about using surveys too. It sounded interesting and we are going to have to check out what the ZLs did for surveys.
We had an interesting lesson with an investigator who might not actually be investigating. We talked about a ton of different scriptures pertaining to God, and when we finished, he sealed the deal with, "There are lots of interpretations for these scriptures..." And kind of took it down that road. It's unfortunate that we might drop him because he wont make any progress, but that's the nature of the game!
I guess that Zone Conference is on Thanksgiving this month and there is an awesome member there who is going to cook for us! I am so stoked! She cooks for all the Zone Conferences as well as other missionary events. Members here really know how to hook us up! She even said that she was going to go to Grafenwöhr (sp?) and pick up some American stuff off of the base. Yeah!
Thanks guys for sending me so much mail!
(Keyboard at the internet shop is horrible so sorry it's not too long today.)
Love you guys!
Elder Trevor Baker
Anyways, so we were going to a members house and we were waiting at a bus stop and we hear this car really revving its engine. We look around the corner and we see this stalled car in the middle of the road (blown transmission) and we run out there and ask if there is anything we can do. ( I am sure she was thinking "duh") So we end up pushing her little European car down the road across an intersection and into this auto shop. It was really cool that we got to help someone right at that second. It was definitely scary though.
Then later on in the day, we were walking down the street talking about how pidgeons don't fly anymore, they just walk everywhere. Then out of nowhere, this pidgeon comes swooping down nearly hitting this guy in the face. We saw this all happen and watched the guy with a funny look on his face. Definitely one of the funniest moments of the week.
So we have been hit hard numberwise this week. The whole zone has been hit hard and we don't really know why. Maybe it's not the right time... Oh well.
Nothing really new has happened in the last week other than interviews with President which went well.
He talked about using service projects to make the Mormons get out there. He also talked about using surveys too. It sounded interesting and we are going to have to check out what the ZLs did for surveys.
We had an interesting lesson with an investigator who might not actually be investigating. We talked about a ton of different scriptures pertaining to God, and when we finished, he sealed the deal with, "There are lots of interpretations for these scriptures..." And kind of took it down that road. It's unfortunate that we might drop him because he wont make any progress, but that's the nature of the game!
I guess that Zone Conference is on Thanksgiving this month and there is an awesome member there who is going to cook for us! I am so stoked! She cooks for all the Zone Conferences as well as other missionary events. Members here really know how to hook us up! She even said that she was going to go to Grafenwöhr (sp?) and pick up some American stuff off of the base. Yeah!
Thanks guys for sending me so much mail!
(Keyboard at the internet shop is horrible so sorry it's not too long today.)
Love you guys!
Elder Trevor Baker
Thursday, October 20, 2011
October 17, 2011 One Week Closer to Christmas
Hey guys!
So I really don't know what happens to these weeks, they just fly by. I honestly don't know where my time went.
Well, I guess the big thing that happened this week was a little experiment. We (all 4 Elders in the city) decided to see how many pass along cards we could pass out and see how many referrals result from it. So far we haven't had anything directly result from it, but its still a good idea.
We had a couple of referrals within the last couple of weeks but they didn't turn into any investigators. Oh well, things happen.
Yeah, this week has been kinda boring, I just hope it picks up around Christmas. Things have been a lot of the same.
Well, I have been reading a lot of conference talks and they are sweet! The one by Elder Ardern is sweet--it talks about using time wisely.
Then there was the one by Elder Callister talking about the Book of Mormon. I have used some of the teaching examples in a couple of my lessons from his talk. The idea about the Bible is one point and the Book of Mormon is the second point. And when we draw a line between both of them, there can only be one line.
Well this email is going to be pretty short this week.
I am so proud of all of your trying to spread the gospel back home! I know that all of your efforts will not go unblessed!
Thanks for sending me all of those emails and I am trying to write back to the people that wrote letters I promise!
Love you all!
Elder Baker
So I really don't know what happens to these weeks, they just fly by. I honestly don't know where my time went.
Well, I guess the big thing that happened this week was a little experiment. We (all 4 Elders in the city) decided to see how many pass along cards we could pass out and see how many referrals result from it. So far we haven't had anything directly result from it, but its still a good idea.
We had a couple of referrals within the last couple of weeks but they didn't turn into any investigators. Oh well, things happen.
Yeah, this week has been kinda boring, I just hope it picks up around Christmas. Things have been a lot of the same.
Well, I have been reading a lot of conference talks and they are sweet! The one by Elder Ardern is sweet--it talks about using time wisely.
Then there was the one by Elder Callister talking about the Book of Mormon. I have used some of the teaching examples in a couple of my lessons from his talk. The idea about the Bible is one point and the Book of Mormon is the second point. And when we draw a line between both of them, there can only be one line.
Well this email is going to be pretty short this week.
I am so proud of all of your trying to spread the gospel back home! I know that all of your efforts will not go unblessed!
Thanks for sending me all of those emails and I am trying to write back to the people that wrote letters I promise!
Love you all!
Elder Baker
Monday, October 10, 2011
October 10, 2011 Things are changing!
Well Hello Hello!
Things in Nürnberg are going just as well as ever! So this is the first week of the new transfer and things are changing! So the weather has been changing and it's getting cold and raining. I am actually glad it's getting cold. My reason for this is because when I wear a coat, I dont look as fat. =)
So yeah, leaves are changing, we are having just as much fun as ever too. It's fun when we walk along this busy road to get to the U-Bahn station. These massive trucks decide they want to drive really close to the curb and splash water on us. Haha. It's fun though, on the way here Elder Jongejan got nailed.
So we were in the middle of an appointment and Brüder Keller, our joint teach was talking about the war and when he was little he had to scavenge to make money to buy food. He was talking about how the Americans bombed and destroyed a lot of Nürnberg. He pointed at me and said, "Ihr habt das gemacht!" Which means, "You did that!" Elder Jongejan and I were laughing because he makes little jokes like that all the time. It's all in good fun. It's funny what he does to missionaries; he tries to make it awkward for us by using sarcasm. Most Germans don't get sarcasm, but Brüder Keller does because he spent a lot of time around Americans after the war. So most missionaries don't expect a
German to use sarcasm. We get caught off guard sometimes when he says that we have to pay him for joint teaching appointments. He is hilarious. He even tells us to wire money in from the mission office. Haha.
Well, Elder Jongejan and I had a nice refferal from a little (and I mean LITTLE) community (that's the only thing I can call it) from mormon.org. Well, we finally got out there, after taking a train from the trainstation and and walking for like 2 hours--on a hiking trail. We get there (in the rain) and use the doorbell, and this guy comes out. He's like "Yeah?" So we were like, we recieved information and stuff. He respond with, "We don't believe in anything." We offered to leave a card and he said, "It's not necessary." Yay... referral contacted... Either way, we might end up going back and putting our number on a card in their mailbox. I think the wife was the one who had interest.
Also, in Nürnberg it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! (This is the Christmas capital of the world) And I LOVE IT. There is a pre-Christmas market in Fürth, which is part of the city, and I hear that they have a roasting Ox every year. Like an Ox on a spicket just turning. I also hear that it's really expensive (which is why I won't be having any) but delicious. I guess I can just take pictures? Haha, The four of us are going to check it out today. (If the weather lets up).
Let's see, there was also the suspected alcoholic cake (which we got from a member) so hurrah for number 2! We went by a less active and she was like, oh here is some apple cake I just made. So we had it and it was alright and took some home. I was eating dinner (after finishing our fast) and I was like, why does it smell like alcohol? Well we deducted (is that the right word?) that the cake was the source so we threw it out. Fun.
I had Elder Anderson call the office and they said that they never got the package so yeah, apparently it's lost in Germany somewhere. So I say that we should skip the Christmas package and save myself from a lot of trouble.
Well that's about everything interesting that happened this week. To be honest with you, I was thinking this email was going to be a lot shorter. : )
Well on to the "challenges" section of the email. (I call it "challenges" because I refuse to call it complaining.)
The work here is slow but I see signs of improvement. I have been looking up some of the prophecies for Germany, (there's a lot, and I will share some of those next week so I can write them down and stuff) and there is a TON that has to and will happen to the church here in Germany. I have heard things that were shared by apostles and general authorities that speak about Germany exploding with members. I am excited! For now however, I need to learn patience and work on preaching the gospel humbly. The work is slow and steady, but it will pick up. My question is, Will the people become agents unto themselves, or will something act upon them?
I guess I will leave that as a nice little segue (spelling?) to my next email.
Love you guys!
Elder Trevor Baker
Things in Nürnberg are going just as well as ever! So this is the first week of the new transfer and things are changing! So the weather has been changing and it's getting cold and raining. I am actually glad it's getting cold. My reason for this is because when I wear a coat, I dont look as fat. =)
So yeah, leaves are changing, we are having just as much fun as ever too. It's fun when we walk along this busy road to get to the U-Bahn station. These massive trucks decide they want to drive really close to the curb and splash water on us. Haha. It's fun though, on the way here Elder Jongejan got nailed.
So we were in the middle of an appointment and Brüder Keller, our joint teach was talking about the war and when he was little he had to scavenge to make money to buy food. He was talking about how the Americans bombed and destroyed a lot of Nürnberg. He pointed at me and said, "Ihr habt das gemacht!" Which means, "You did that!" Elder Jongejan and I were laughing because he makes little jokes like that all the time. It's all in good fun. It's funny what he does to missionaries; he tries to make it awkward for us by using sarcasm. Most Germans don't get sarcasm, but Brüder Keller does because he spent a lot of time around Americans after the war. So most missionaries don't expect a
German to use sarcasm. We get caught off guard sometimes when he says that we have to pay him for joint teaching appointments. He is hilarious. He even tells us to wire money in from the mission office. Haha.
Well, Elder Jongejan and I had a nice refferal from a little (and I mean LITTLE) community (that's the only thing I can call it) from mormon.org. Well, we finally got out there, after taking a train from the trainstation and and walking for like 2 hours--on a hiking trail. We get there (in the rain) and use the doorbell, and this guy comes out. He's like "Yeah?" So we were like, we recieved information and stuff. He respond with, "We don't believe in anything." We offered to leave a card and he said, "It's not necessary." Yay... referral contacted... Either way, we might end up going back and putting our number on a card in their mailbox. I think the wife was the one who had interest.
Also, in Nürnberg it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! (This is the Christmas capital of the world) And I LOVE IT. There is a pre-Christmas market in Fürth, which is part of the city, and I hear that they have a roasting Ox every year. Like an Ox on a spicket just turning. I also hear that it's really expensive (which is why I won't be having any) but delicious. I guess I can just take pictures? Haha, The four of us are going to check it out today. (If the weather lets up).
Let's see, there was also the suspected alcoholic cake (which we got from a member) so hurrah for number 2! We went by a less active and she was like, oh here is some apple cake I just made. So we had it and it was alright and took some home. I was eating dinner (after finishing our fast) and I was like, why does it smell like alcohol? Well we deducted (is that the right word?) that the cake was the source so we threw it out. Fun.
I had Elder Anderson call the office and they said that they never got the package so yeah, apparently it's lost in Germany somewhere. So I say that we should skip the Christmas package and save myself from a lot of trouble.
Well that's about everything interesting that happened this week. To be honest with you, I was thinking this email was going to be a lot shorter. : )
Well on to the "challenges" section of the email. (I call it "challenges" because I refuse to call it complaining.)
The work here is slow but I see signs of improvement. I have been looking up some of the prophecies for Germany, (there's a lot, and I will share some of those next week so I can write them down and stuff) and there is a TON that has to and will happen to the church here in Germany. I have heard things that were shared by apostles and general authorities that speak about Germany exploding with members. I am excited! For now however, I need to learn patience and work on preaching the gospel humbly. The work is slow and steady, but it will pick up. My question is, Will the people become agents unto themselves, or will something act upon them?
I guess I will leave that as a nice little segue (spelling?) to my next email.
Love you guys!
Elder Trevor Baker
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Elder Baker and Elder Jongejon & the Nurnberg District
October 4, 2011 Staying in Nurnberg!!
So I am staying in Nürnberg with Elder Jongejan!
Basically, I don't even know what happened this week, but I will try to sum it up.
So I heard a story from a couple of Elders in my Zone. Apparently the Pope lives somewhere around here in my zone. And some Elders were doing some door to doors and found someone. They asked him what the purpose of life was. The man answered, if I have any questions about that I will ask my brother; he's the Pope.
So we found a new finding idea (because I hate doing street contacting and door to doors) we basically stand near one of the entrances to the old city and hand out pass along cards with our info on them. So far we have literally seen dozens of people fold up the cards and put them in their pockets. It's worked so nicely. People around here hate it when we walk up to them and start talking with them, so we are starting to get a little more creative. It's something that I learned out here that I can expound on later.
So General Conference was sweet! I got a ton of notes on it too! (I have never done that before) So my favorite talk was definitely by Elder Tad R. Callister. He totally nailed it out of the park with his talk! I am actually going to print it off today too. I loved how he said that it was either true or it wasn't. And that the only way you can figure it out is if you read it. (The Book of Mormon) (sorry my thoughts aren't as well rounded as they used to be, I have been thinking in German lately)
Well on the way to emails today there was a guy who thought he was so clever. He walked up to us and started asking us crazy questions and then brought up polygamy. It wasnt his ignorance that was making me angry, it was all the people who were staring and laughing, while he was making us look like idiots. Well, I figured what he wanted was a negative response so we didn't give him one. Haha sucker!
So Elder Jongejan and I already started an Advents Kalendar. It's so cool! We are going to do one for next month too! Haha!
So there was a quote from a talk that I heard, it wasn't general conference though. It said, "All frustration comes from unmet expectations." I thought that was so right. I was having a frustrating day yesterday and it was because I was expecting too much of myself. I was expecting myself to be a robot and be able to pull the missionary work all by myself. Of course that's not how its going to be. Oh well, live and learn.
So I found out that Elder Petersen is coming and going to be living in the same apartment as us! Yeah! I am pumped.
In my personal reading, I am working on Doctrine and Covenants, which has been going really well, I am almost done. I love reading scriptures!
Well, things here are going well. And I hope you all have a good week!
Elder Trevor Baker
Basically, I don't even know what happened this week, but I will try to sum it up.
So I heard a story from a couple of Elders in my Zone. Apparently the Pope lives somewhere around here in my zone. And some Elders were doing some door to doors and found someone. They asked him what the purpose of life was. The man answered, if I have any questions about that I will ask my brother; he's the Pope.
So we found a new finding idea (because I hate doing street contacting and door to doors) we basically stand near one of the entrances to the old city and hand out pass along cards with our info on them. So far we have literally seen dozens of people fold up the cards and put them in their pockets. It's worked so nicely. People around here hate it when we walk up to them and start talking with them, so we are starting to get a little more creative. It's something that I learned out here that I can expound on later.
So General Conference was sweet! I got a ton of notes on it too! (I have never done that before) So my favorite talk was definitely by Elder Tad R. Callister. He totally nailed it out of the park with his talk! I am actually going to print it off today too. I loved how he said that it was either true or it wasn't. And that the only way you can figure it out is if you read it. (The Book of Mormon) (sorry my thoughts aren't as well rounded as they used to be, I have been thinking in German lately)
Well on the way to emails today there was a guy who thought he was so clever. He walked up to us and started asking us crazy questions and then brought up polygamy. It wasnt his ignorance that was making me angry, it was all the people who were staring and laughing, while he was making us look like idiots. Well, I figured what he wanted was a negative response so we didn't give him one. Haha sucker!
So Elder Jongejan and I already started an Advents Kalendar. It's so cool! We are going to do one for next month too! Haha!
So there was a quote from a talk that I heard, it wasn't general conference though. It said, "All frustration comes from unmet expectations." I thought that was so right. I was having a frustrating day yesterday and it was because I was expecting too much of myself. I was expecting myself to be a robot and be able to pull the missionary work all by myself. Of course that's not how its going to be. Oh well, live and learn.
So I found out that Elder Petersen is coming and going to be living in the same apartment as us! Yeah! I am pumped.
In my personal reading, I am working on Doctrine and Covenants, which has been going really well, I am almost done. I love reading scriptures!
Well, things here are going well. And I hope you all have a good week!
Elder Trevor Baker
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