Christmas 2013

Elder Andrew Baker got to deliver Christmas gifts to the other missionaries in his area.  

I like the Reindeer decorated truck.

Elder Baker with Santa - Always a Happy boy!!

          

Elder Baker's visit to the Mesa Arizona Temple with President and Sister Taylor in December 2013.

Ties for Christmas 2013

Now Serving in Glendale, Arizona

Andrew has been transferred to 

Glendale Arizona!!

His new address is:

8150 N. 61st Ave., Apt. #3009

Glendale, AZ  85302

ADDRESS CORRECTION !!!

Elder Andrew Baker's correct Address is:

16450 W. Van Buren

Apt. #2039

Goodyear, AZ  85338

Saying Goodbye in Flagstaff, AZ 

Riding Bikes in Arizona
  

Lots of Cotton Fields in Goodyear AZ

Transferred to Goodyear Arizona

Elder Andrew Baker has been transferred to

 Goodyear Arizona

His new address is 

16540 W. Van Buren Apt #2039

Goodyear, AZ 85338

These are pictures from their hike up 

Mt. Humphreys just north of Flagstaff Arizona.  

It is the highest peak in Arizona at 

12,633 feet. 

Staying in Flagstaff

Newly formed river at a park in Flagstaff

Gotta love Monsoon Season

Elder Andrew Baker is staying in Flagstaff for at least 6 more weeks.

Address is still:

315 W Phoenix Ave.

Apt. #4

Flagstaff, AZ  86001

I also wanted to let everyone know that the church policy regarding emails to missionaries has changed.  Family, friends, previous priesthood leaders, etc. can Email missionaries now.  Here is the official statement from the Arizona Phoenix mission president:

 UPDATE: As of March 2013, the Missionary Department has amended its email policy allowing expanded email privileges for missionaries. They can now email friends, priesthood leaders and recent converts - the latter with permission from the mission president.

So if you would like to email Andrew you can reach him at this address:

baker.andrew@myldsmail.com

Elder Baker is also allowed to facebook, skype, and text missionary lessons or spiritual lessons with others.  

Following is what Elder Baker's mission president has posted:

As of July 31, 2013, the Arizona Phoenix Mission is an online-proselyting mission, authorized to use mormon.org; Facebook (including chat); email; Skype; blogs; and text messaging to help the missionaries accomplish their purpose.

It is so nice that we can communicate with our missionaries through these means.  We enjoy reading Elder Andrew Baker's Facebook posts and church videos he shares.  We can also post to his page or message him our testimonies, things we have learned in Church, spiritual lessons we have learned, etc.  We just need to keep it missionary minded.  

Last Sunday we skyped with Elder Baker during a Youth Fireside we had at our home. The youth were teaching each other principles from the "Plan of Salvation" section in the book Preach My Gospel.  After teaching each other we skyped with Elder Baker to discuss with him our success or questions on how to teach a certain principle.  It worked out really well and we all learned a lot about what it is like to be a missionary.  It was a great success.

Not all missions are allowed these online privileges yet, but all will be in the future.

Found a Cool Mustache

A Huge dog we walk for a lady in Flagstaff






Elder Baker hooked up to a sleep test machine.

Flagstaff Monsoon Season - Sept 2013

Hi Everyone,

Reminder of Elder Andrew Baker's address:

315 W. Phoenix Ave.

Apt. #4

Flagstaff, AZ  86001

Here is a little section of one of Elder Andrew Baker's emails to the family describing the monsoon weather in Flagstaff:

 Wow.. the weather here is crazy! It's cold and rainy all day! It's been a nonstop rainstorm the past couple of days... I imaging we'll have to be doing some more sandbags soon. Flagstaff has had TONS of flooding this year! It's been the wettest year in the history of Flagstaff!! That'll probably mean lots of snow in the winter!!

"The weather here in Flagstaff reminds me a LOT of my first semester at Rexburg. It's rainy, and cold all day, and at night it gets wayyy cold! It's been raining here for the past few days. Just nonstop rain. Every street is flooded, and lots of houses are flooded too. It's crazy. It's fun though. Way better than 110 degree Phoenix!! Still though, the rain brings back lots of memories of college, and being with friends.. Sometimes I really miss those days! I miss having unlimited freedom! Oh well, patience builds character!

On a more serious note, here is a part of a recent email where Andrew is discussing Maturity:

I guess on that same thought, I've been thinking a lot about maturity. I think it's kind of a skewed concept in the church. I think a lot of members of the church view maturity as someone who is stoic, and doesn't talk much.. someone who doesn't laugh, or joke around. Almost like maturity means not having a personality.. Well, anyways.. I was thinking about it, so I decided to look up "maturity" in the dictionary.. It said something like this, "progressing, progressed to a desired point."
So I thought, "where do I want to be?" and "What is my desired point." And the more I thought, I realized that I want to be like God.. eventually become a creator of my own.. President Grant said that "God is jovial. He laughs, He smiles, He is pleasant, He is a beautiful, fun person." So in reality, maturing isn't necessarily losing your personality, but growing your personality. We all have different gifts, and talents. We have different inherited personalities, and god-given personalities. We all go through different "fires", forming us into a unique person... well, that's just a long thought! hahaha

Here are the latest pictures of Elder Andrew Baker!!

Moved to Different Apartment in Flagstaff

Here is Elder Andrew Baker's 

NEW ADDRESS

Elder Andrew Baker

315 W. Phoenix Ave.

Apt. 4

Flagstaff, AZ  86001

Andrew is staying in an apartment with 3 other missionaries and the two sister missionaries moved into his old apartment.

Following is a quote from Andrew's latest email:

"Wow! The weather here is crazy! It's mostly in the 60's all day. It gets warm up to about noon, then the monsoons roll in and it dumps rain for hours. The streets get flooded, there's houses flooded out... trees are getting knocked down. There's huge hail here. When the streets flood, cars can't even get through. Huge traffic jams. Garbage and branches are floating down the road. It's awesome! I love this weather! Most of the work we did last week was service. We helped fill, and stack a TON of sandbags. It was crazy! Sounds a lot nicer than hot Montana! ;)  I love the weather here. However, they said that this is a very very strange monsoon season. They've never seen so much flooding before! So far, it's the 3rd wettest year Flagstaff has ever had. And the season isn't over for a couple more weeks. Whewww..."

"Speaking of the temple, I was reading a little while ago in Luke. I think chapter 3. In verse 43-45, Mary and Joseph lost Jesus. Imagine how you'd feel if you lost your kid. And not only your kid, but the savior of the world. I'm pretty sure Mary felt like she had just ruined salvation to everyone. I'm sure she was panicked, anxious, frantic, angry, frustrated, and devastated. She looked for him for at least 3 days. Then, in verse 46, after searching forever, trying to fix their problems on their own, they decided to go to the temple. I'm not sure why they decided to go to the temple, but I'd guess that they had basically given up on searching for Jesus. I'd guess that they were there to talk to god. They went to the place where they knew they could feel peace. And at the temple, they found Jesus, and were so amazed. I think each of us needs to go to the temple, or at least a place of sanctuary more often than we do. Maybe it's the woods, or the bedroom in prayer. We need to go to some place where it's quiet, where we can let out our frustrations to god, and let him help us. It's in those quiet places where we get our answers to our problems. Where we receive revelation."

AZPhoenix Mission Address

Please use the Arizona Phoenix mission office address for 

PACKAGES 

Arizona Phoenix Mission

Elder Andrew C. Baker

18001 N. 79th Ave.

Suite C50

Glendale, AZ  85308-8394

For

LETTERS 

mail to Andrew's apartment:

Elder Andrew C. Baker

2714 N. Izabel St. #3

Flagstaff, AZ  86004

Thank you everybody for sending letters to Andrew.  He loves getting them.

Flagstaff Missionary meeting with President and Sister Taylor

Here are some photos from a meeting with the 

Arizona Phoenix Mission President - Pres. Taylor

Car Inspection - Looks Clean

A Game they were playing to get to know each other better.  

Andrew is on the right.

A Beach Ball and String.  Looks like Fun!!

Flagstaff Address

Andrew Baker's Flagstaff Address:

Elder Andrew Baker

2714 N. Izabel St. #3

Flagstaff, AZ  86004

Meeting in Phoenix

Here are some pictures of 

Elder Andrew Baker in Phoenix.

This is a picture of some of the missionaries with 

President and Sister Taylor in the Phoenix mission.

These are some of the missionaries that are serving in Flagstaff, Arizona with Andrew.

Here is a picture of Andrew manning the grill at President Taylor's house.  It was 110 degrees at 9pm at night.

Some Pictures from Crystal New Mexico

Elder West, Elder Andrew Baker, Elder Jones

 Angel Moroni Pumpkin

Andrew's friend Sean

Families in Crystal, New Mexico

NEW Address & Pictures

New Address for Elder Andrew Baker:

2714 N Izabel St. #3, Flagstaff, AZ 86004

This will be his address at least until the middle of August. If he gets transferred, I will post his new address.

This is a picture of Elder Andrew Baker and his first mission president, Pres. and Sister Batt (from Idaho).  

Since Andrew is in the Arizona Phoenix Mission he has a new mission president (Pres. Taylor).  Andrew said that he really going to miss the Batts. He just loved them both.

This picture of the missionaries that are changing from the New Mexico Farmington mission to the Arizona Phoenix mission.

 (I think).

Looks like a beautiful Mt. Humphreys sunset in Arizona. 

The following is part of Andrew's email.

"Things are going pretty well here too. The weather is great in Flagstaff. It's monsoon season, so it stays pretty cool, and rains a lot. There have been two days so far where it's rained so much that the streets have flooded! It's crazy!

The work here is picking up. I got a new companion. His name is Elder Nield, from Oregon. He's a good worker. I'm glad I have him here. We're going to do a lot of good work. We are working with the ward a lot more. That helps out a lot. In the Phoenix mission, we aren't really allowed to tract. Wheewwwwwww! We do things a little differently, but hey, it seems to be working pretty well. What we do is we pick some members to visit. Then we say a prayer with them. After the prayer, we ask if they know anybody else we can pray with... they usually give us some less-actives, or even some non-members, and BOOM. Referral. It works pretty well so far. I like it."

Elder Andrew Baker is now in the Arizona Phoenix Mission

Hi Everyone,

Please DO NOT SEND MAIL to the 
New Mexico Farmington Mission address anymore.


As of 1 July 2013 Andrew's mission has been divided and he is now serving in the Arizona Phoenix Mission. 

I don't have Andrew's address yet, but I will post it as soon as I get it.  

Andrew is still serving in Flagstaff Arizona and is a Zone Leader there.  He says that the people are great and they remind of the people in Missoula.  Kind of layed back and easy going.  The weather is usually in the 80's in the summer and the scenery is beautiful.

He has had some experiences with bed bugs (not his bed) and didn't know that they were real.  So the saying "Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite" rings true to him now. Yuck!!  He is just grateful that the bugs weren't in his apartment or his bed. Haha!

In Flagstaff there is a University and so there are some Sorority houses too.  He knocked on the door of this one house and it was answered by some barely dressed females.  He said he had to keep eye contact while telling them that they were there to teach about Jesus.  The girls said they weren't interested (he was relieved), he and his companion left and that is when they noticed that there were a lot of girls dressed in bikinis playing volleyball outside.  Pretty funny.  Andrew's dad told him that when he was serving on his mission his mission president told the Elders to sing a hymn when in those situations.  I think Andrew was singing some hymns that day.

Mailing Address

Just a reminder that mail sent to Elder Andrew Baker goes through the New Mexico Farmington Mission office first.  
Here is the address again:

Elder Andrew Baker
New Mexico Farmington Mission
400 West Apache St.
Farmington, NM  87401

Saying Goodbye to Navajo & Crystal New Mexico

Andrew has served in Navajo & Crystal New Mexico for the past seven months.  He really loved living there.  He has very fond memories of the people he has met and the people he has taught the gospel of Jesus Christ to.  He loves the Navajo people and wants to bring his family from Montana down there to meet them (looking forward to that) when he completes his mission.  He also has great memories of bonfires, rolling tires down mountains, mud bogging, getting stuck in the snow, turkey attacks, gutting sheep, playing basketball, eating new and interesting food, getting firewood, etc. He will dearly miss you all as he moves on to Flagstaff Arizona.

Gutting a Sheep with "Grandma" and Elder West

Sheep Fat stuffed in sheep intestine. Andrew ate it !!

Like I said above, New and Interesting Food.

Elder Andrew Baker is being transferred to Flagstaff, Arizona today (12 Mar 2013).  It's a beautiful area of the U.S. The Grand Canyon is just north of Flagstaff so we are hoping Andrew gets to see it.  The Flagstaff area is more populated and he will actually be able to shop at a Walmart.  Knowing Andrew though, he will miss the more simple life of Navajo, New Mexico.

Seven Month mark!!

Elder Andrew Baker has been serving the Navajo people in New Mexico for seven months now.  He is really enjoying his mission and the people there.  He has developed some close friendships that he will probably carry throughout his life.  He actually would like to stay in this area for his whole mission.

Andrew has been training a new missionary (Elder West) for the past 12 weeks and enjoys that aspect of being a missionary.  Andrew finds the Crystal and Navajo areas of New Mexico to be beautiful with the mountains and high plains.  The winter has been cold but sunny.  One night it got to -21 F and their pipes froze in their trailer (not fun).  He said he has three blankets on his bed to stay warm.  They drive a Chevy 4x4 Colorado truck and have been stuck in the snow and have also helped a lot of people get unstuck.  The roads there are mostly dirt or no road at all so the truck definitely comes in handy.

Elder Baker and his companion have been teaching a lot of lessons on the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people there and they have several baptisms coming up soon.  According to his emails he seems to average about 25 lessons a week.  Andrew is so happy to see people change as they embrace Christ's gospel.