August 27, 2012 Transferred!

So, the big news! Transfer 12 is over and I have been reassigned to work in Gera. That is in the East under the former communist DDR.

So yeah, I guess I am kinda sad about leaving Saarbrücken, but that means I get to know a new area. I will be in the Erfurt district and my new companion will be... Elder Birth! That's right, I get to be Elder Birth's last companion before he goes home! I still can't believe that I am serving with him again too, that's so cool I think!

I have had a great time in Saarbrücken and I will definitely miss the blessed land. I got to know a lot of really cool people, and I definitely want to visit when I come back. Oh and now that I am leaving, we got our Ward Mission Leader yesterday. Go figure. Haha.

This past week, we had a great appointment with the Escobar family from Puerto Rico (I think?) and we had a great time. I finally learned how to play poker... 

We have also had a bunch of eating appointments lately too. Again, go figure, right when I leave.

So that's about it for the newness. Other than that, it's been real, it's been fun, and it's been real fun. Saarbrücken will always be that one area in my heart... 


Questions?

1.  Did your prediction come true?  Are you being transferred? Yeah, Gera. 

2.  When you get there, tell me all about your new companion.  Yeah, its Elder Birth!

3.  Has the weather changed at all?  Its been starting to get cooler this week. I am excited for winter. I hear they are really cold in the East.

4.  Do you get natural disasters there? Uh no. The weather is pretty mild here in Saarland.

5.  Did you send your box home yet? No, not yet, I have extra room in my luggage so I will carry it around for a while. Who knows, I may just save the money and wait until I get home.

6.  Do you need anything? I am thinking about a new camera. You keep talking abot taking awesome pictures and I will be with Elder Birth who is a photography guru. I really think I am going to buy one. 

7.  Did you get to teach the investigator you told me about last time? Which one was that? Raphael, or Lea? I haven't been able to meet with Raphael but Elder Johnson probably will. Lea is under 18 and her parents are not gung-ho about meeting with us. It happens.

8.  Did you know Mitt Romney spent 2 1/2 years on his mission to Paris, France? Yeah actually. I have heard a lot of stories about him in France. 

9.  Did you do anything fun for your last P-day in Saarbrucken? Hm, I want to go to Mettlach to ge some pictures of the Saar.

10.  Have you seen any of the elders that you trained with in the MTC? I saw Elder Liebelt and Mcguire a couple of times but not often. Then Elders Johnson, Jongejan, and Baum were there the same time I was. I know a lot of the old people. Haha.

11.  Do you keep in contact with any elders that you've served with or do you just see them at zone conferences, etc? I keep in contact with them through email. Its pretty cool. Elder Mayle emails me sometimes, it's cool.

12.  How did your interview go with President Schwartz? It went really well. He has a way of making you feel inadequate though. I don't really know how to explain it.

13.  What are your goals for the next month? I am not sure yet, I have a couple of projects to finish as well as the Book of Mormon.

14.  Do you have any advice for Colin starting 5th grade? Don't play video games all the time, go outside. Haha. 

15.  Do you have any advice for Emma starting high school?  (She loves band by the way!  She said it pushes her to be better!  She's a lot like you!) Participate in lots of different clubs. It is usually really fun. 



Love you guys! It's going to be a fast transfer!

Elder Trevor Joseph Baker

Kirche Jesu Christi
Germany Frankfurt Mission
Corneliusstrasse 18
60325 Frankfurt am Main
Germany

August 20, 2012 It's finally HOT.

Well hello again,

Here we are, we get transfer calls on Sat. at 9. I am kinda excited because I feel like getting a new area. What I mean is I want a new area for a change, and I think it's going to happen. 

There wasn't anything momentous to report from this week. We had a couple appointments with members which went well, a couple of other fallen out appointments, and the weather here is finally hot. Like 95 with humidity hot. 

I actually helped out an eternal investigator carry some "stuff" (junk) from his car to his apartment last Sat. I will tell you, I have never seen a more horrifying, apartment/home in my entire life. It was worse than any move I have ever done, and I took a shower afterwards. I was speechless. I guess in a way that was life changing for me.

I am actually sending in absentee ballot voting stuff today, so you can go brag to Brother Ross or something. 

1.  What was the best thing you did this week?  A member knocked off one of his side mirrors scraping against another car yesterday. It was pretty epic. Haha.

2.  Where do you think you'll be transferred to next? I will be going to Nordhausen, as far away from everything that you can get. That's been the trend of my areas so far.

3.  What stuff are you going to send home? Probably my pokemon cards, legos, and a couple of books that I don't want to carry around.

4.  Who is cooking the food for the luau? Me. Hopefully I can teach a few people how to make it as well in case I leave.

5.  What was your talk about last week?  (I'm not surprised you prepared at the last minute!  haha) It was about comfort through service. (Then I went to do service for this eternal investigator. That was not comforting at all.)

6.  You gave good advice for Katie for school.  I think she will do it.  What advice do you need to give yourself right now? Uhh... I will find out on Sat. when I talk with President Schwartz! Haha.

7.  Have you heard from Sean? He sent me an email this week with the address and stuff.

8.  Any new investigators? Yeah, one just walked into church! I think he was a former investigator at some point.

9.  Carissa Simons' farewell was today, but I missed it.  Don't you think it's cool she's going to the Temple Square mission? Yeah, sounds fun. The only thing I know about that mission is that there was a time when the sisters had their own fitness studio.

10.  I like your ideas for college majors.  I could totally see you doing those.  HMMM...no question for this one, I guess. I might have a question for you though! Have you ever thought about investing? I have been thinking about it lately as a way to make money work for me. I don't know much about it so sadly it will have to wait.

11.  That's cool you got to spend time with Elder Jongejon.  Too bad he was sick.  Have you been sick before on your mission like that? Hah, no way. I have always been the healthy one. Of course that's never helped me when I wanted to get out of school.

12.  What fun things do you have planned for your p-day? Uhh. Groceries? I guess that's fun. We might mix some things up with what we buy, you know to stay on my toes. Haha.

Well have a great week!

Elder Trevor Joseph Baker

August 13, 2012 Ramstein

Hey guys, 

So this past week has been pretty good. I was in Ramstein (Yeah, like the band, but the band is actually spelled with 2 m's) with my former comp Elder Jongejan for 2 days while he was sick at home. That was pretty awesome. We talked about guns and politics and what we wanted to do when we get home. It was so fun. It took us back a year ago when we first started working together. Can you believe it's been so long? 

I had my first epiphany last night where I thought of how far I have come and how the time has been flying. Its ridiculous.

I had my talk on Sunday (which are always hastily prepared) and Elder Johnson said it didn't sound thrown together. But at the same time no one at church really mentioned anything about it so who knows. 

Elder Johnson went to Frankfurt with the other leaders. The first thing he said was that he doesn't want to be in leadership anymore. Haha. 

I have also been thinking a lot about this mission book I am going to start. I think I want to include everything I have done and read and studied in it. It's definitely going to be massive but I first need pictures and and some of the other goodies I habe saved up over the past 12 transfers and MTC (talks, study journal entries, spiritual thoughts, journal entries, ward activities, etc.) It's going to be epic and I am going to be sending a sneak peek of my Trunky Book in video format! So stay tuned. 

So how is that absentee ballot going? I forgot how much I love politics. I get this huge rush everytime I think about it. I haven't had that for like 4 years. Haha. Do you remember how intense I was during the last election? You must have thought that I was a political pundit of sorts working for Fox News. Haha.

Maybe I should do law AND political science... That would be  a stellar combo. Haha.

Oh and if you could also thank Grandma for the money she sent for my Birthday, that would be nice. I will be thanking her as well. 

1.  So did Elder Johnson get a golden Elder to train this transfer? 
We don't know yet. I am betting yes, against his wishes. Haha.

2.  How many new Elders are coming?  Did you ever find out? 
I think somewhere around 18 Elders are coming in. I live in the information Black hole of the mission. I never know anything.

3.  What things are on your list of must do's before you get transferred out of Saarbrucken? 
I need to get a Saarbrücken scarf and send a package home full of stuff I don't want to carry around.

4.  What advice do you have for Katie as she goes off to college? 
Keep your room clean, get enough sleep, do your homework/studying, and magnify your calling and you will pass everything easy. It's mostly psychological.

5.  Did I ever send you a picture of Katie at her graduation? 
I don't think so.

6.  Did you ever meet with your mission president?
 No, I meet with him on Aug. 28th.

7.  How is your luau planning coming?
 Pretty good, we have an appointment with the new EQ President to see what we have left. 

8.  Are the people who live in your ward mostly people who have grown up in Saarbrucken, or have they moved there from other places? 
I think most people grew up here and never left. Apparently the job market here took a hit when they got rid of the steel and coal buisness. (Ring any bells? America?) So a bunch of the members who were involved left the area and found work somewhere else. Fun fact: A lot of younger people are leaving Saarbrücken because there is no work here. They come here to study and then leave when they are done. It's definitely taking a toll on the area.

9.  Are you staying in Saarbrucken this transfer? 
We get transfer calls on the 25 th this month. I am pretty sire I am leaving though so it's busy busy busy.

10.  Dad wants to know when you need the rest of the luau music by? 
By next week would be optimal.

I hope you all have a great week!

Love you!

Elder Trevor Joseph Baker

Kirche Jesu Christi
Germany Frankfurt Mission
Corneliusstrasse 18
60325 Frankfurt am Main
Germany

August 6, 2012 Oh Yeah

Well let's see what's been going on lately. Bear with me if this turns a little political. It shouldn't though.

I have been hearing lots of things about the election, the economic crisis in Europe, and just the state of the world in general and it got me thinking. I guess the first thing that came to mind was that even though I have no access to media outlets here, I hear a lot from the missionaries serving in American wards (pretty much my entire district). I don't know if missionaries can get out of sync or out of touch with the world unless a conscious effort is made. But I guess that wasn't the most important part. I think what impacted me the most was how much of a corrupt society we live in.

What I am trying to say is that people run around, screaming that they have the answers to the worlds problems when, in reality, they are just giving an over the counter remedy for the symptom and waiting for the sickness to pass. I hold those in high respect that work frantically for solutions for the problems we face in the world. However, sometimes, we run around with fire extinguishers in times of flood.

I would go on and on, but it's not that important.

Obviously, this sickness has a solution, but no one is bold enough to even mention it. No one wants to hear the hard truth that we have to change ourselves if we are to change the world.  No one wants to hear the news that what they are doing is wrong and that it must stop. That they must get over their bruised egos and change themselves. All of the cunning, malice, selfishness, pride, and self righteousness must be pushed aside and shunned for the world to truly change.

Replace these negative attributes with love, charity, virtue, kindness, and humility, and we can turn this world into something better. That's the solution. Following the teachings of the Master. Who else do we have as an example? The only person on the earth who was perfect. The only person who magnified these qualities to divine proportions. Jesus Christ is the way.

I see people every day who think of God as like (I am quoting Neal A. Maxwell on this one) a kindly grandfather who is content with us trying to find our own way back to him. A God who is content when we take pleasure in sin. Or even a God who is completely disinterested in what we are doing here one earth. This is not the case. He is there, he cares, and he loves us so much that he is willing to allow us to deal with one another knowing the consequences.

That's the spiel for the week. It's pretty ridiculous. Lots of Europeans follow American Politics, so I hear a lot.

Other than that, this week has been pretty good. I had a split with one of the Zone Leaders. I find splits a waste of time honestly... This one especially. It was basically just an excuse to psychologically analyze the companionship and area. It was pretty wack.

We also helped a friend of a member move a couple of couches. I carried a couch for a pretty good distance by myself and then Elder Johnson switched with me. It was pretty cool. We invited him to Sommerfest, which was pretty good. He is a cool guy and one of these days he is going to take the lessons. I just have a feeling. :)

1.  How many lessons do you usually teach during the week or the month? Probably like 7 on a good week. So yeah, 28-31 ish a month.2.  Has your area had any baptisms lately? Not for a while. A couple of years I think.
3.  Have you gotten together with the French missionaries again?  Do they usually come over to Germany or do you go over there? No not lately. I think they are coming this sunday to visit the Forbach Branch. We never go over there because we don't really have a reason to.
4.  Is Germany hot in August?  Is there much humidity? In some places is like hell but worse, but here it's been pretty tolerable. Nürnberg was crazy hot. It got so stupidly hot that we used to change our shirts halfway throughout the day. Haha. I don't ever want to go through that again.
5.  So did you have an interview with President Schwartz at your last conference? Actually no I didn't. I am having one Aug. 25th. The last time I had one was Feb. So it's been a while.

6.  Did he give you any new advice? ...No. Haha.
7.  What is the best thing you cook now? Well, we don't do much cooking. We usually eat more whole foods like fruits and veggies. The only thing we cook is rice, beans, carrots, bell peppers, and sometimes meat. It's a pretty good lunch. It gives me enough energy for the rest of the day. 
8.  Have you fixed any of your famous chocolate chip cookies for this area yet? No. It's hard to find crisco and brown sugar and on the chance that I find it, it's way expensive. 
9.  How are your plans going for the luau? Pretty good, we need a little bit more music... so if you could pass that along to Dad. I think for food we are going to do musubi, pani popo, and that somen salad thingy. Decorations are going to consist of leis. 
10.  Did you get all the music Dad sent you? He sent me about 12 songs. I need about 8 more.
11.  What schools do you want me to check on for you getting into when you get back?  Sister Hanks told me today that BYU schools offer return missionary scholarships.  Do you want me to check on that, too? Uh, I think right now, I will wait until fall to get back to school. I had the idea that I could work a couple of jobs through winter spring and summer before staring school. I am looking at UNCC or something like that. I really have no desire to go to BYU. 

12.  Is the Niesen family the family who takes care of you dinnerwise the most often? Yeah more than most. They are way cool. They feed us when they can and for me, that is enough. We get an appointment maybe once every three weeks or so. I can't take it more than that. It's a bit of a splurge for me to eat rich food that often.

Kinda on the same note, I have gone down from 91/90 Kilos to 81.1 since new years. Thats about 200 lbs to 178 lbs. I have become a bit of a health guru compared to other missionaries. Elder Johnson and I have strengthened our resolve for these last 3 weeks to workout exta hard and keep the diet up. My goal is to get all the way back down to 76 Kilos or abou 169 lbs. That's what I was 2 years ago during winter. 

I am starting whats called 6 months to sexy. I officially start next week. haha (14th) But it's going to take some willpower and concentration. Actually come to think of it, I started just over 21 years ago. ;)

All in all, this week has been pretty good and I heard a rumor that Elder Johnson could be training next transfer so that would mean that there is a possibility of me leaving.

With that in mind, I am finishing everything I want to do in Saarbrücken if I do leave. 

Next week for me is goong to be pretty busy. Elder Johnson goes to Frankfurt for some training meeting and I will be staying with Elder Bame and Elder Peterson in Kaiserslautern. They are 2 of the coolest guys out here, so it will be a load of fun.

I am not sure if I told any of you about this yet, but I started to collect things for a mission chronicle. I have already started what I like to call a "Trunky Book". It's not so much a trunky book as much of things that have influenced me in life and what I plan on accomplishing after my mission. It's pretty small (I can hear your sighs of relief) and it will be nothing compared to my mission book. I am collecting stories from companions and little notes I wrote down long ago for this monstrous endeavor. It's going to take so much time, but I think you all (and myself) will appreciate it when I get home. 

Well I guess this turned out to be a pretty decent email. It should considering I took a while to write it.

Have a great week and I look forward to next week's email. 

Love you guys!

P.S. Don't worry about money, I am doing just fine.

Elder Trevor Joseph Baker