December 10, 2012 Christmas is Coming!

Christmas is coming and sometimes I can't wait until it has come. This season is the most stressful time of the year especially for missionaries. We are just beat up by all of the things going on around here.

Sometimes I think we need breaks, and Pday sometimes doesn't cut it. To be honest, I can't wait until the new year.

There certainly is a lot on my plate right now, and I am still debating what I should tackle first. Here is a good idea of what's going on:

1. Apply for Fall Semester (somewhere) for school

2. Concentrate on the missionary work here

3. Finish planning everything going on in Gera for the next 2 months

4. Write a talk and come up with a couple other lessons.

5. Finish anything else I need to do before I leave Germany.

I guess number two is an ongoing thing while I concentrate on everything else. Anyways...

Questions!

1.  So how are you and Elder Turner doing? Pretty well. 

2.  When are you going to send me a picture of you two? When I get the photo from the Lees in Jena.

3.  How did your Christmas singing go at the Market on Thursday? 
Great. We got a lot of good publicity from it.

4.  What songs did you sing? A list of about 15 songs. 

5.  Were they all in German or were some in English, too? Both

6.  Are people being more willing to listen to you talk about Christ since it's the Christmas season? Nope.

7.  Do you see many nativity scenes in Gera? No way.

8.  What are you going to be doing for p-day? Well, we have an appointment with Martin. And I am thinking about what I still have to do this month.

9.  Do you think you will have a dinner appointment for Christmas? Oh we already have a calendar up on the board in the hall. It's almost full.

10.  How have you been finding investigators lately? No, that's the hardest thing in this city. We got a referral though.

11.  Any news about how many new missionaries you may be getting in your mission since they changed the age for service? There will be a lot coming in. I don't know the specifics.

12.  What is a piece of advice that you have gotten from your mission president that has really stuck with you? Oh gosh, I can't recall anything right now. 

13.  How big are the stakes over there (geographically)? Not very large. Probably the same as back home. I have a skewed sense of size in Europe.

14.  Did you have any experiences this week that you'd like to share? Nothing that I can think of in the moment.

15.  What is church like for you on Sundays? It depends on the Sunday. Sometimes it's really long, and other times it goes by really quickly.

16.  Do you and your companion do anything special at church like teach a class or pass the Sacrament, etc.? Well, in Gera we bless just about every week. 

17.  You said your ward only had a few members in it.  It seems really small.  Why do you think that is so?

18.  So do you think you'll be in Gera for your last area? Or do you think you will be transferred?

19.  Have you gotten your new bed yet? No.

20.  What happened to the old one?  How did it break? Well it creaks every time somebody moves on it. It wakes the other person up because its a bunk bed.

21.  Have you heard from any of your old companions?  What's new with them? Well, Tyler Mayle is at BYU and other than that, I haven't heard anything.

22.  How are your investigators? They are doing well. We are taking things at a comfortable speed with them. I think both of them will eventually get baptized. But these things take time. 

23.  What is your favorite thing to teach people about? Everything. I haven't really thought about what I like to teach people. I just cover everything.

-- 
Elder Trevor Joseph Baker
Kirche Jesu Christi
Germany Frankfurt Mission
Corneliusstrasse 18
60325 Frankfurt am Main
Germany

December 3, 2012 It's December!

Well, this week sure has gone by. I don't even know what is happening with the time.

It sounds like Sister Kempe did a good job writing you an email. I don't like to gush... you know. I already know I am epic. : )

I am working on uploading a bunch of video diaries to my dropbox account... stay tuned for more details.

1. Is there anything else you've organized on your mission besides a mission choir? 

No, we have done other things like workshops, ward activities (especially Summerfestival in Saarbruecken), and other things like that. I also end up planning all the travel arrangements.

2. Tell me about the mission choir. 

So, we have the Elders from Jena, Werdau, and Gera singing in it. We recieved permission to sing on the stage this upcoming Thursday.

3. How many emails did you get this week? 3 or 4.

4. Do people send you letters ever? No.

5. How is your new companion?

 He is pretty cool. We get along well.

6. What's new in Gera? 

Nothing except for the Christmas Market.

7. How are your investigators? 

They are doing pretty well actually.

8. Do you work with a ward mission leader or ward missionaries? 

We have no ward missionaries that I am aware of. There is just the Kempes.

9. How many people are in your ward? 

20 Active on a good week.

10. Is Gera a very busy city or really urban?

It's more of a town. There is a mall here though.

11. When do you start singing at the Christmas Market? That's going to be on Thursday at 7:00 pm.

12. Is Gera very touristy? 

No, there isn't anything here except for some famous painter and some tunnels beneath the city.

13. What is your scripture study time like? How long? Companion/personal? 

I don't actually get much of it. I have to prepare for investigators most of the time.

14. Do you ever get to exercise? 

Well... I never used to run in the morning. I still don't. It's like trying to fight a war you have already lost. I am just going to wait until Jan. rolls around.

15. Do people there mostly stay home for Christmas or do they travel? 

I think it depends on the person and what their family is like. I have seen both.

16. What are you going to do for p-day? 

Clean and maybe take a nap or something. I may play some Pokemon with Elder Turner.

17. Are you getting addresses for people you want to keep in touch with in Germany after you get home? 

Yeah, I have already got the majority of them.

 

Probably not. They will just clutter up the apartment and that's the last thing I want.

Well, I hope you all are excited to talk with me in like 3 weeks. Forgot about that, huh? I bet you all were so excited to see me coming home!

-- Elder Trevor Joseph Baker
Kirche Jesu Christi
Germany Frankfurt Mission
Corneliusstrasse 18
60325 Frankfurt am Main
Germany

November 26, 2012 Working Hard

I can't wait until the Christmas season is over. It's so stressful... Anywho. Onto other matters.

I am writing my new transfer ideas for Gera so I can send them to president. It's hard to do something new during the Christmas season though. It's hard. I am just so tired all the time nowadays.

We had one of the members of the District Presidency come over on Sunday. He gave the lesson and I got the feeling that he was stirring up the hornets nest. He talked about member missionary work. It didn't go as well as he hoped I think. These things take time.

1. What's your week been like with your new companion? Pretty Cool. He's Pretty chill.

2. Where is he from? 

Texas.

3. Do you only have two transfers left???? 

Yeah. Actually I have 11 weeks.

4. What are you going to get yourself for Christmas? 

Probably some Movies in German.

5. Will you be sending me a new picture of you and your new companion soon?

I will work on that. I still need to have someone take it.

6. Did Sister Kempe tell you I emailed her? No...

7. What is your Christmas program going to be like at the Market?

 I don't really know. The people here didn't tell me much about it. We are going to be singing a variety of songs and hopefully we can practice them all before time comes to perform.

8. How many other missionaries will be there to sing with you? 5. 6 in all.

9. Are there any other couple missionaries in your city? 

No. There aren't very many couple missionaries anywhere.
10. What do the Kempes do on their mission? 

They help out in the ward and with missionary work where they can.

11. Can you see Dad and me going on a mission someday? Yeah, then you will find out what missionary work really is!

12. If Katie puts in her papers, where do you think she will go? 

France?

13. Did you know that Charlotte does a lot of business with Saarbrucken? 

 Yeah, but the sister city in the US is actually somewhere in Indiana.

14. Do you think Butler will win the State Championship again this year? 

Oh man, I have no idea. I will take a shot and say yes.

15. Do you see many people exercising in Germany--running, walking, playing soccer etc.? 

I see quite a few people running. It gets me trunky sometimes.

16. What will you be doing for P-day? 

Oh let's see, cleaning, Emails, teaching an investigator, and maybe even look around the city. I don't know of anything else to do around here.

17. Have you been teaching anyone? 

Yeah, we have 3 investigators but we are only teaching 2 of them.

18. What goals do you have for your week? 

Like, number goals? Those are sad. My personal goal is to combine Pokemon and Star Wars and talk about StarMon more often.

19. Where do you go to do your email in Gera? 

We go to the Kempes every week.
20. Have you gone to any other towns this week? 

Nope. It costs too much money.

21. When do I get to see a picture of your apartment? 

Never! We need to clean it first!

22. What happened to your bed, and did you get a new one? Elder Kempe is in the process of ordering a new one for us. Then I can finally get a good nights sleep. I have been sleep deprived for over 3 months now.

Well, you guys have a good one. I will try to destress today. Love you!

-- Elder Trevor Joseph Baker
Kirche Jesu Christi
Germany Frankfurt Mission
Corneliusstrasse 18
60325 Frankfurt am Main
Germany`

November 19, 2012 Thanksgiving Week

Well, it's Thanksgiving week!

Well, I have been like a day ticker for Elder Anderson now, I have been able to say exactly how many days he has before he goes home for the past transfer now. It's at 3, by the way.

We had a nice day at church and made out some appointments for the week. Unfortunately our investigator didn't show up, so we have to work on that a little bit.

Yeah, I don't know what else to talk about. Writing these things gets harder and harder as the weeks go by. Oh and remember when I said I had 100 days left? Yeah, that's already down to 87. Ridiculous. 

1.  Did you get transferred? I am staying in Gera.

2.  When does Elder Anderson head home? He goes home on Friday morning. He leaves Gera on Thursday morning though. 

3.  Who is your new companion? He is Elder Turner. He is a transfer younger than me.

4.  Where is he from? Despite the fact that we were at the MTC at the same time, I can't put a face to the name. But to answer your question, I have no idea.

5.  Do they ever eat turkey in Germany? No, they actually eat more goose and duck.

6.  Do they have any sort of Thanksgiving holiday over there at some time of the year? The only one that I know about is called Erntedankfest. Thats like a German thanksgiving. It literally means Festival of thanks of the harvest.

7.  Are you still in Gera? Yep. I am here for another transfer. Probably until I go home.

8.  Have people started decorating for Christmas like they have started to here? Oh gosh, yes. The mall here is filled with stuff and the Markt is also decked out.

9.  Do they have a Christmas market where you are like they had in Nuremburg? Oh yeah. We are actually singing in it this year too. We got a contract with the city to do a show. I am certain it will be well documented because of the Senior Couples that are coming.

10.  What are three adjectives to describe you as a person? Well, my companion said, smart, teachable, and serious. I on the other hand like to think of myself as cunning, unbroken, and humorous. I will give you an example. Elder and Sister Kempe were in our apartment taking pictures of our bed (we need a new one) and then Elder Kempe said to me, "You should have been on a mission 50 years ago. We would have had fun!" Then he looks at Elder Anderson and says, "Ugh, and you're the big bad Zone Leader." Haha.

11.  What are three adjectives to describe your mission? I don't know if I can condense everything in my mission book into three adjectives...

12.  What was the best thing that happened this week? I get a new companion! Just kidding... Or am I? 

13.  What are you going to do for p-day? Getting Elder Anderson ready to go home. He has 3 days left!

14.  When will you send more pictures? Uh, soon? I am not sure. Probably during transfers.

15.  Any funny things happen lately? Uhh... 

16.  When is your next zone conference? No idea. I should probably figure that out.

17.  When is the next time you will be in Frankfurt? Probably when I leave. I never go to Frankfurt.

18.  If someone mails you something to the mission address, how do you get it? Someone brings it to the Zone during transfers. Then I get it sometime around district meeting or splits or something.

19.  Do you think you'll be able to go to the Frankfurt temple some time? Yeah, like on Feb. 14th. Haha.

Thanks by the way for the money in the account. I will think of it as my Christmas Package.

Love you guys, have a great week!

I am actually excited about some of these things going on at home! You should also see if the missionaries can skype, I know that if they could, they would love that. We are told not to ask members so we aren't a burden, but since I have the Kempes, I will most likely be skyping home for Christmas!

Elder Trevor Joseph Baker
Kirche Jesu Christi
Germany Frankfurt Mission
Corneliusstrasse 18
60325 Frankfurt am Main
Germany

November 12, 2012 Lots of Traveling this Week

Well, here we go!

So another week has gone by and here we are. I guess the biggest news is that Romney lost. Meh, I'm not home yet. I will deal with it then.

It was interesting that lots of members in the states are depressed about it or are refusing to discuss it. I personally feel that it should be discussed, but not in church.

I have heard countless members here who say that they like Obama over Romney and that's ok. It doesn't mean I have to agree with them. I had already made the decision not to talk about it with any members other than missionaries.

The question of WHY we should talk about it isn't a religious one, but a political one. Obviously the members who didn't like the outcome are conservative and as Americans we are told to be involved in political activities. 

If you don't like how it ended up, learn from it. Correct your mistakes and try it again. It's not like the only day to be politically active is on election day; there are other things that can be done. 

Pretty much, don't let a letdown, push you off onto the sidelines. It just means you have to work harder next time.

That's my spin for you guys.

Well, other than that, I spent a few days in other cities. I was in Weimar on Tuesday and Wednesday, and I then went to Jena on Thursday then returned to Gera on Friday. Elder Anderson got there on Saturday. Pretty much, it's been a busy week.

Oh and as a side note, the Elder Anderson I am serving with now isn't the same one from Nuremberg. That Elder Anderson already went home. 

I find out on Friday who I am getting... yay! Then transfers are next week... they certainly fly by.

1.  Do you know your exact return date yet?  (Don't check if it will make you trunky.  I can wait to know). Feb. 14th, 2013

2.  Are the winters in Germany more humid or dry? Humid. Wet and miserable.

So other than that, there really hasn't been anything special going on. Its been a stressful week but I am doing good. I will try to get some pics to you this week too.

Talk to you later!

-- 
Elder Trevor Joseph Baker

November 5, 2012 Remember, remember...

Remember, remember, the fifth of November, the gunpowder treason and plot. I know of no reason, why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot.

Well, that's my thing for the day. It's the fifth of November, and I celebrated by eating toast with a cooked egg in the middle of it, where the breat was taken out and the crust was left. I love the movie V for Vendetta...

Anyways, on to more important things. I have officially 100 days left as of today. (Don't worry I am not counting, I have a calendar that tells me) and Elder Anderson has about 17 days left until he goes home and I get a new companion.

I guess the most important/interesting thing that has been happening is the hints I am getting from my companion and everyone else in the Zone that I am going to be training for my last 2 trasnfers. Elder Anderson has even told President Schwartz that he wants me to train. I have thought about it a lot though and I would do it if it comes to that.

1. Does Germany have Daylight Savings Time? 

Yes! I was so happy when I heard that I get an extra hour. I was still exhausted at church though. Sister Doerlitz said I looked like it. Haha.

2. So how is your new camera? 

Uh amazing. I haven't had the chance to take a lot of pictures with it lately but I will be going to Weimar tomorrow so we will see what will happen.

3. Any exciting news in Gera? 

Well, we are having trouble leaving people to make their own descisions... that's always annoying. You know, people making their own choices. We were planning on setting a baptismal date but we need to cover some other things before that is done.

4. Do people get flu shots in Germany? 

I think so, I have seen some ads around but I am not sure if that is what they are for. It's something to do with shots so I am assuming flu.

5. How is Elder Anderson's Trunkiness quotient on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the most trunky?? 

Probably like a 5. I am getting it out of him. It's just a matter of time! Hahahah!

6. Has this transfer been flying by for you, too? 

Yeah, I don't know if its that I am excited about christmas or what, but I am excited!

7. Do you think you'll be able to skype again at Christmas? 

 If I stay in Gera then yeah, I will be able to. If not, then I will make it happen somehow.

8. What are you doing today for p-day? 

Chillin. I am also going to take a nap.

9. How is the ward?

 They are doing good, they have made some good progress, but we still need to work on some things.

10. Have you learned any new German words lately? 

Pech. It means sucks. Like "He had Pech" means "Sucks for him"

11. Do you think you'll be able to have a good conversation with Herr Hablutzel when you come back? 

I can usually talk about what I want to talk about. I can talk about anything with him.

12. What is the part of Preach My Gospel that you think we should focus on first in Family Home Evening? 

Maybe the missionary lessons. Yeah, that would be good. Cover the first lesson for the first week.

13. What is the best part of your day? Sending emails.

14. Any questions for us at home? Did you vote?

I will be considering doing something for band during the fall semester. Tell Emma to keep in mind that I haven't touched a Euphonium in over 2 years let alone played one in band. I think it would be really fun.

Have a great week!

-- Elder Trevor Joseph Baker
Kirche Jesu Christi
Germany Frankfurt Mission
Corneliusstrasse 18
60325 Frankfurt am Main
Germany

October 29, 2012 Week 4 of Transfer 14

This is week 4 out of 6 and I am in transfer 14 of 16. Things are looking bleak. Haha.

This past week has included much recollection of past events and even some anticipation regarding the future, more specifically, my future. I still don't have a clue as to what is going on. I need to take some more time to figure out what I need to do before I get home for example registering for classes and such.

Let's see, it snowed last week. I will send more pics.

1. Grammie wants to know if you've eaten Gaisburger Marsch (beef stew) and Nudelsalat (noodle salad). I have had Nudelsalat, thats pretty good. Of course there is the classic meat, potato, and red cabbage.

2. What was the best thing that happened this week? Well, we went to the birthplace of J.S. Bach and where Martin Luther wrote the Bible. That was cool. I will send off pics in a minute.

3. When do you go on your next split? I have a split this week on Wednesday throught Thursday. I get my companion back on Friday. I am going to be with Elder Smart. He reminds me a lot of Elder Mayle. Haha.

4. What did you think of Berlin when you were there? It was cool. I haven't seen much of it because we were in a bus and in the conference center the whole time.

5. How is your mission book coming along? I am filling in a few of the things I can, but time hasn't been on my side here. Soon enough, it will be close to done.

6. Is Elder Anderson getting trunky yet? Surprisingly no. I don't know if I am doing something wrong... Haha.

7. What do you have planned for your p-day today? Well, after I fixed Elder Kempe's computer... again... I think we are going to get some shopping done. Nothing special.

8. Where in Lehi does Elder Anderson live? I have no idea. I already asked if He knows Leslie and Jason, but he didn't.

9. Have you heard from Sean?  I actually have. He shot off an email last week. It was good to hear from him again.

10. Do they drink hot chocolate in Germany? If so, does it taste better than hot chocolate here? Not really. Mostly coffee. I have had some but I don't think its as good as American stuff.

11. So what kinds of things did you talk about with the missionaries that you saw a few weeks ago that you were with in the MTC? We talked mostly about where we were in Germany, what the other members of our district are up to and we swapped a couple of other stories. 

12. How long do you feel like you've been out on your mission? I feel like its been a really long summer camp. Thats what I said to Elder Birth. I am going to come home and expect everything to be the same, but it wont be.

13. Have you seen the Kempes lately? What did they do when they were in Berlin? Yeah, we see them all the time. I am not sure what they did in Berlin though.

14. Do you get emails from anyone else? Just you and Grandma. I of course get a few from friends but not very often.

15. What news would you like to hear from home? Topics? Oh man, I don't even know. I would ask about the election, but that's almost over and I already know what's going to happen. Maybe I should look at Schools or something? I don't know...

16. Did your appointments this past week work out with any of the people you were trying to contact? Hah, sadly no. No one is ever home around here for some reason. We did teach like 6 lessons in one day. That was cool.

17. How is your apartment? Did you clean it yet? No, my companion can sometimes be a detriment. I have taken the initiative in separating the sides of the room to "my side" and "your side."

18. I'm glad you got a glorious nap last week. That made me smile! What other things do you do that you consider glorious? Rest. Rest is glorious. That and spending time with members.

19. Do many people ask you about the election here in the U.S.? Surprisingly no. I thought they would be asking us all the time. I did hear from our Branch President that the press has been consistently negative when speaking about the church here in Germany. I have to keep my cool more often than I would like.

20. Do you teach many people who are from other religions?  The Germans like to make a patchwork religion or as I like to call it sometimes, "Cafteria Religionists." They pick and choose what they like from different religions and philosophies. It makes things rather hard sometimes.

21. Do you teach many people who don't have any religion? Most people in Eastern Germany are atheists. Most of them have no intrest in religion so we don't teach them. Those we do teach believe there is something more out there so we talk about that.

22. What is your favorite type of service to do for people in Germany? Well, it snowed two days ago so we went out and shoveled snow.

23. What advice do you have for people who are planning to go out on their missions earlier now (18 for men, 19 for women)? Preach My Gospel. Study it.

24. Any special advice for Katie about missions or preparing or anything else? You're going to learn a lot. You might as well start checking out Preach My Gospel and some other stuff now. I don't know what else I could write out in an email. There is just so much.

25. You wanted me to remind you this week about your Christmas box. If you don't want us to send one, we can put money in your account so you can get something you want there, but I thought you would want something to open up. : ) What are your thoughts? I would rather get something here. I don't feel like wasting 60 bucks sending something through the mail. I am still thinking of what I want for Christmas. Gosh, it's so far away, but at the same time, it's not.

Have a great week!

-- 

Elder Trevor Joseph Baker

Kirche Jesu Christi

Germany Frankfurt Mission

Corneliusstrasse 18

60325 Frankfurt am Main

Germany