June 14, 2011 Another Tuesday P-Day

Hey mom!

This week has been pretty crazy, we found out that our investigator from Serbia is a Muslim and them we found out he has been reading JW literature. Ugh, oh well. But we still need a translator. Haha

Then we went by a couple of potentials who might be interested. We stopped by one lady, but when we handed her a Tamil Book of Mormon she said, "No, I cant read this book." We asked why and she said, "My pastor told me not to." Elder Mayle and I discussed this for over an hour. I can go into detail about it in a letter or something.

So in Jesus the Christ I am marking my scriptures as I go along. It's getting pretty intense. That book goes so deep it's ridiculous.

On Wednesday night, Elder Mayle and I made the Krefelder Kraken. It's a combination of his brownies and my cookies, and tons of chocolate. The bottom layer iswas brownie with white chocolate. The middle layer was my cocolate chip cookies with (german) chocolate chuncks. (I actually found Crisco here!) Then the top was brownie with Lindt chocolate drizzle. It was amazing, you would be proud.

Elder Mayle started doing all the p90X moves I remember every morning and evening. We are starting to get exhausted, but that's OK. Maybe we will call it our humility program. Haha

Apparently we got a golden refferal yesterday. This girl was an exchange student in Idaho, has a Book of Mormon, and loves it. We haven't met with her yet, but her being golden turned into a priority.

Oh we were in Kempen going by a couple of people and we were standing on the gleis or platform at the trainstation and we were waiting for our train. I was looking around seeing who is around and Elder Mayle notices a really cute girl checking me out. I guess I must be doing something right. Haha I love being a runner.

Monday was a feiertag here which means that all the stores close. We still proselyted but there was no one outside so we went by as many people as possible. It was still good though. And that is why Pday is on tuesday this week.

I worked in Mönchengladbach with Elder Garlick on Sat. That was intense. We rode bikes all day so my butt and legs hurt so bad. He is definitely the hardest working missionary I have seen here. He is a great guy.

So we ran out of food like 2 days ago and because Monday wasnt pday we werent able to get any shopping done. We started going through some of the stuff that has been here for a while. There is a reason it hasn't been eaten. I had some nasty potato puree thing. So we went out and got döners.

For Colin: My companion is way cool. He likes music like me and we play frisbee every week.

Katie: You have to destroy all the liberal hippies when you get into AP Gov. Do it for me!

Mom: We have Zone Conferences every transfer and District meetings every week. I found out on Sat. that I will be staying with Elder Mayle for another month and a half which is pretty sweet.

I still haven't heard from Sean. I will probably shoot him a quick email this week.

Love you all!

Elder Baker

June 6, 2011

Woah, first of all, the Davis Family went to the Krefeld ward? There is no way. That's so crazy.

We had a conference call with the mission president about the veggies situation. We talked about it pretty thoroughly too. I am not worried about it just because we dont really have the time to go get fresh vegetables every other day or so. Always busy busy busy... And yes I am proud of you. (Mom note: I told him I wasn't worried about him or the veggie scare and asked him if he was proud of me : )

Geez, school is really going by fast for you all. So Katie is basically a Senior now? That's so ridiculous. Haha.

I could print out the emails but it would cost money, and honestly, the week goes by so fast that before I know it, I am writing another email back home. I don't have time to get homesick. haha

I hate news like that about Sean. I hope he is doing better. You should tell him that when he feels better he should write me an email and send me pictures of our craziness back home. I am still praying for him.

It's been pretty fun here. It's still Krefeld and it's still Germany. People here are not big on talking about religion, but they will talk about politics all day long!

I find it interesting that we actually have to be selective as to who we street contact. We were told by President Ninow not to contact someone if they are obviously Muslim. Oh and drunk people are not fun either. There was another companionship that almost had to call the police because a drunkard was harassing them. Just another day in the life of a missionary. Haha. Let me know if you don't like hearing about things like that.

Nothing new has really changed here, still teaching and still preaching.

Oh, I wouldn't mind some new pictures of some friends. Sean especially. I have a wall of pictures and he isnt on it at all! There should be some good ones on Facebook or something. But I love getting to see pictures of back home. Maybe Dad could download some higher resolution photos and send them to me in an email. Then I can go and print them out.

Oh and I am going to want to see about music. I love it but I don't want to carry around a ton of CDs everwhere when I get transferred. So right now I am calculating my options. Lots of Elders actually use Ipods, so I will see about that.

Basically this week we got a couple of baptismal commitments out of a couple of investigators and hopefully we will see some progress out of that.

Well that's all for now, I will talk to you later!

Love You!

Elder Baker

May 30, 2011 Week 5 in Krefeld, Germany

Well, here it is, week 5 in Krefeld.


Well first of all, this past week went pretty well. Better than last week. Last week we spent a total of 3 days in our area due to comp exhanges and meetings. I was in Duisburg, Mönchengladbach and Düsseldorf.

In Duisburg it is apparently the dirtiest city in the world. Apparently, but it was still fun. I was with Elders Stephens and Scott. Elder Scott is from Hilton Head SC and he is hilarious. We had a lot of fun.

In Düsseldorf I was with one of the zone leaders Elder Horlacher. I learned a lot from him. Düsseldorf was huge though and the crazy thing is that there is only one or maybe two elders in each of these cities.

Mönchengladbach was really crazy. I was with Elder Forsyth who is from Boston and we went around teaching people and helping someone move. (dad would love that) Basically it was a nightmare. Packing things while we moved them and such. But it was still service. Oh well. Then we went to go teach a couple families. We taught an older guy who is actually a Gypsy. Like no joke. He can't read or anything but he is still interested and wants to get baptised in the river Jordan in Israel. He is a bit eccentric too. It was definitely a fun lesson.

But now I am back in Krefeld. It looks like I am going to be staying here for another transfer. Thats pretty good because I like my ward. The coolest family is the family from Spain. Way awesome. And then there is Bruder Polkhän. He is 93 or 92, I cant remember, but he rides around on his bike everywhere and is so funny. He talks about the war all the time. He spent time in a Russian POW camp as well as one in France. In church he talked about how he had to boil grass because they had no food for like 4 days and how they collected water in their helmets. He is way cool and I am going to get a few pics with him before I leave.

Elder Mayle and I got a couple really good ideas for baking. We are going to make a brownie cookie cake. We are going to do the first layer as brownie and then the middle layer cookie and the top layer brownie with caramel drizzled on top.

Just another thought, whoever invented ice cream needs to be exhalted.

Sorry this letter isn't very long. I was put on a computer with a horrible keyboard with some guy listening to Turkish pop music really loud right next to me.

Well love you guys. I hope everything goes better this week than last week. Oh and your monthly counter is 3 down and 21 to go. (Mom's note: This monthly counter is for Colin, especially. At the beginning of his mission, Trevor started counting this way for his little brother Colin, who misses Trevor very much!)

Not that I am counting. haha

Well Until next time!

Elder Baker

May 23, 2011 Monday, Monday

Well Hello Hello!

I got you some pics from the MTC. I will send you another Email with the rest of the ones I got here in Germany.

That's cool. I had no idea a ton of people have been asking about me. I guess I am more popular than I think I am. Haha. That's cool though. Any news from my friends? Anyone get married? Haha.

I talk about the theater a lot, which is funny. I end up telling a lot of the good stories about that place quite frequently.

My German is coming along pretty well. We had a bit of an off week last week because of all the different conferences. I spent only a couple of days in Krefeld. We ended up having a couple of our investigators leave which always sucks but its whatever. I always say you can't get worked over someone elses decision. I did what I could but they chose to use their agency.

So that being said, we have a lot of finding time. Basically, we ended up doing doors for a few hours on Sat, which was fun but exhausting.

Ok, so I guess the weather here has been getting really nice too. I can start to wear short sleeved shirts too. Funny thing about the kids here is that even though its ridiculously hot outside, they will still wear pants and a jacket. I find it odd but amusing. Haha

That's so awesome about people helping out. It makes me feel a lot better about the money situation. I have always thought that money works itself out. I know its true too. Tithing is great.

I have been reading in the New Testament lately and for the past week and a half I have been going through it. I got through the Gospels a couple days ago and now I started in Acts. Its way cool to read about all these things and I am learning a TON. When I finish the New Testament I am going to start reading Jesus the Christ and mark all the scriptures that it refrences, as well as all the descriptions about the verses. Then when I finish all that, I am going to read through it one more time marking anything I have left behind. Basically the New Testament to me is the biggest DUH statement regarding religion. Its just so obvious that Jesus is the Christ.

Well, today Elder Mayle and I are going to go to Stadtpark Fischeln and throw the frisbee around for a while. We even went running this morning and started buying healthier food! (which is ridiculously expensive by the way)

Well, I will talk to you next week!

Später!

Elder Baker

P.S. Oh and tell Dad he needs to either email, or send me the Jehovahs Witness paper thing that either him or Papa B wrote. I really want it!

May 18, 2011 Emails to Mom, Dad, and Aunt Glenda combined

Guten Tag!


Hey! So my Pday this week was changed to Wednesday for some training meeting, so this week has been pretty crazy. I will agree with you that time is going by very quickly. Its almost scary.

Cool about Katie's prom.

And I guess the big news back home is that Romney is leading some of the polls against Obama, the middle east STILL is crazy, and there is always one car at home not working.

I also heard something about archaeologists in central america somewhere finding some kind of Gold plates? I am sure you know how quickly THAT kind of information can get around missionaries.

And yes Döner is good. Basically it is calf and lamb meat which they shave off a massive cooking hunk and put it in bread. They then put sauces and vegetables in it. Its really good.

My companion is actually Elder Mayle, and he is from Windsor CO. He is pretty funny. He is into music and everything like I am except for running.

We do a good deal of tracting but its not as effective as working with the members. I was in Duisburg yesterday and we did tracting almost all day. It really depends on the area.

As for the people, they are generally closed off to religion or even talking about it. They do not like churches at all, but that doesnt mean that they dont have any kind of faith. Most people believe in God but dont really want to have anything to do with a church.

We do cook a lot of meals, typically pasta and bread with meat and cheese. I tried some really expensive cheese yesterday which was amazing.

Oh one quick thing about sending packages. Dont send packages to my address. I would have to sign for it and I wont be at the apartment because I will be out being a missionary. So all the packages should be sent to the mission office. I dont know what that exactly is but I am sure you have it. So if you could just put that info out on FB or something that would be cool. Danke!

Oh and the Brötchen is really good. Its the same idea as a Baguette but smaller. The idea of crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. It was really good putting expensive cheese and meat on them. I still havent been to a Fleischerei or a butcher. It should be soon though.

We still drop by the family from Spain every week. They are super cool, I am about to tell them to add me on Facebook. Haha.

So that's cool that the APs are still in Matthews ward. Our APs are still in Frankfurt. Cool stuff.

There is just so much going on. Well, I will talk to you all later, I still have to send a letter to my Mission President.

Tschau! Love you all!

Elder Baker

May 9, 2011 1st Email from Germany

Hey Mom!

I am glad I was able to talk yesterday too, it was pretty cool. My companion´s parents called him too. But it was pretty late when he got the call.

My day primarily consists of going out after studying and stopping by potential investigators and seeing how they are doing. After that we typically teach lessons if we have any, and then we try to talk to people on the street on the way to and from our house. Other than that, we don't have a set schedule we go by.

I am glad Jesse is so supportive of me out here, he is a really good friend. You should let Sean know about my address too if he doesnt already know.

The bread we use is called Brötchen and we butter it, put garlic salt on it, then put the meat and cheese on it. The cheese is called Butterkäse and its pretty good. Oh and I love the milk here too.

We have already taught a couple of lessons and it went pretty well. It was mostly my companion talking but after a while I started to chime in too. We taught a family from Spain too which was really cool. I already told you about that over the phone though. But it is what the father said that was really funny. He said that when people brush off religion, he wants to grab them by the ears and say, ´´Listen to the Elders!´´

I just read about Charlotte some kind of city brochure this morning. I saw that Charlotte was mentioned in it and thought, what? Still that's pretty cool.

Oh and my favorite new soda is a Turkish drink called Gazoz and it tastes awesome! I think we are also going to eat Döner today too, which I am really excited for, its my favorite thing to eat here.

I heard that Mitt Romney is running for president and leading a lot of the polls too. Interesting thing, it would be cool if he chose Huntsman as a VP candidate. Well, anyways, because I don't know the whole story, I will stay out of it. Cool little tid-bits from Brother Iacono.

Well, I am out of time for this week. Until next week!

Bis Später!

Elder Trevor Baker

May 1, 2011 Last Day at the MTC

Hey Fam!

So I realized I have a few stamps left that I can use so I am going to send a couple notes.

First of all, today has been amazing. I have had a really good time here at the MTC. (I found the tunnels.)

I have got to hear a ton of cool stuff since I have been here, and my knowledge of the gospel has definitely increased.

I guess in a way, I am learning why it is important to be out here. And in a couple more days I will really find out what it means to be out there.

Looking back on it, I feel like I have used my time here pretty well. I, of course, could have done more, but that is applicable to everyone, not matter who they are, or what their work styles are. All in all, I feel satisfied and good about my accomplishments here.

So,Ich weiß dass ich mein Zeugnis mit die Menschen in Deutschland teilen werden. Und Ich weiß dass es wichtig für mich und die werd. Ich weiß dass wir mit unser Himmlische Vater zuruckkehren Können. Und Ich weiß dass wir das tun können durch das sühnopfer Jesu Christi. Ich bin sehr dankbar für das. Und Ich bin sehr dankbar für die gelegenheit zu dienen.

Mom here using GOOGLE TRANSLATION: I know that I will share my testimony with the people in Germany. And I know that it is important for me and the. I know that we can return to live with our Heavenly Father. And I know that we can do that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I am very grateful for this and I am very grateful for the opportunity to serve.

I love you guys so much, and in the morning I leave for Germany.

I will send you my contact info when I get the chance. But for now, I still have my email. We will see when I am able to check it too.

Thanks guys!

Elder Trevor Joseph Baker