Here's a letter Trevor sent to us that he's going to send to a family friend we just got back in contact with. He knew Trevor as a little baby in Western Samoa. I just liked the letter so much, that I thought I would post it for all to read. --Kris Baker
I got an email from my dad and he said that you might have some interest in some aspects of mission life out here in Germany.
Well I guess first thing is first, I will let you know about the cities I have been in so far. I have been in Krefeld ( Near Duesseldorf ), Wesel ( Also near Duesseldorf), and Nuermberg. Krefeld and Wesel were nearly completely destroyed during the war so there is not much in respect of historical sites, but they are still really cool cities. Nuermberg was actually Hitler's main city and it was there that he built a massive complex of buildings and an arena. I wish I had some pictures of it. It looks just like Germany should look like. There is even a castle too.
Well the rumor around here goes that Germany is a hard place to serve a mission. Every mission is hard, but I know that Germany is the place for me to be because the trials there are suited perfectly for me and my weaknesses. The Lord really does lead his church by inspired leaders.
As far as "success" goes around here, it is hard to gauge it in terms of the visual "fruits of your labor." The statistic is that out of every 1000 doors knocked, there is a baptism. The way that I measure success is that if I come home from my mission without a single baptism, without a single person that I ever talk to take any steps closer to Christ, and without any recognition or praise, I would still consider it a success under the one condition that I learned something, and made myself a better person by applying what I have learned.
Personally, I have not experienced a baptism of anyone that I have taught. However, there are a couple of people who are ready to be baptized and are working towards it. There is an investigator in Nuermberg named Rebecca. She is 17 and was doimg a report in school on Mormon women. On one Sunday, she just came right into sacrament meeting and asked if she could learn more. We of course said yes and proceeded to teach her the missionary lessons. We had finished with the first three when we asked her about her report. She said that she already finished and was learning more for herself. At this point she was almost done with reading the Book of Mormon. Later we asked her if she had a testimony of the Book of Mormon and I asked her to explain what she felt. She said that she felt relly calm and that it felt nice whenever she thought about it. It is truly amazing the power of prayer that we can recieve answers from our Heavenly Father. She now has a baptismal date on the 18th of February, the day after she turns 18.
There is also an investigator we had in Krefeld who was contacted on the street about a year ago. His name is Eckhardt. He is an older guy but extremely intelligent. I actually couldn't understand him for the first 3 months I met with him because he likes to use really complex German words. Well after about 6 or 7 months, he finally came to church and started making progress. Then once he started progressing, his life went to total chaos. He got evicted, his mother-in-law passed away, he lost his job, and he got really sick. By this time I am in Nuermberg and the Elders lost contact with him for a while. When they finally came back into contact with him, he said that he needs to be baptized. He finally recieved his answer. During this proccess, he said that what the missionaries taught him destroyed every concept of religion that he had before. He said that this isn't just another shallow religion, but that this is what he was searching for. The Elders are setting a date with him as I write this letter!
Of course those kinds of stories are the things that really make it worth it being out here. There are always the punk kids who decide they want to yell "Sect!" at us or even the occasional beer bottle they throw at us. Last week actually there were a bunch of kids that were harrassing us. Nothing came of it, but it does happen. Sometimes we make fun of them by making the situation really awkward for them. Haha, it's great.
With all of the crappy things that can go on here and even having to live with the rules ( some of which I don't like, but I won't go into that), being out here really is the best thing I have ever done. I don't think I can ever say, "Going on a mission was the best thing in my life." But I can say that going on a mission is the best thing I could ever do for my life. It has taught me so much that I could write volumes on what I have gathered. It has taught me what really matters most in life, and it has taught me where I am weak and where I am strong. I have learned how to deal with stress, frustration, and pride. All of these things aside, I have learned most of all about myself. I have learned who I am, where I came from and where I am going.
There is a quote from Truman G. Madsen and it goes
like this:
"One begins mortality with the veil drawn. But slowly he is moved to penetrate the veil within himself. He is, in time, led to seek the Holy of Holies within the temple of his own being."
-Elder Trevor Joseph Baker
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