Christmas Update

David was transferred from La Paz to Ciudad Concepcion - not Cabo San Lucas as he originally learned. He is now about 3 1/2 hours north of La Paz where it is very hot, very windy, and very dusty. Our Christmas Eve phone call we learned that the cockroaches are huge - David joked that they were as large as small dogs - he wasn't joking when he said they growled when you bug them...pun intended. David also said the cockroaches are so large that they pop like a firecracker when you step on them...oh, David...

David was reluctant to describe in detail his living conditions. All he would really describe is that he loves his new companion, has learned more Spanish in the last several days than he has in the last few weeks, and that he wasn't in a tourist area any longer! He didn't describe the conditions because, as he said, "Mom's on the phone". Must be pretty humble!

David sent one of his flash cards home loaded with photos. You'll also see how we managed to get David able to talk to his sister that evening.

Leaving La Paz and Headed to Cabo

We heard from David on Monday. He's still loving being a missionary and although he won't be home for Christmas he wouldn't have it any other way. We'll get to hear from him Christmas at some point and it will be a great phone call!! Everyone else in the family will be home huddled around the telephone hoping that he remembers how to speak English! So far, David's companions have been Mexican missionaries that speak little, if any, English so...sink or swim David!

We had written to David that while we were in Las Vegas last week we had to laugh at everyone wearing sweatshirts, beanie caps, scarves and gloves in 40 degree weather. To us...it felt pretty nice. Here's what David had to say:

"You wanna know what’s even funnier than seeing people wearing beanies and jackets and scarves in 40 degree weather? Seeing EVERYONE wearing beanies and jackets and scarves in 80 degree weather : ) It’s just not NATURAL!!!" Hahahaha...I guess everything is relative.

"Cold weather sucks. I can’t imagine what you’re all going through right now and I think it’s gonna be tough to come home. I’ll finish up in Sinaloa, of that I’m all but expressly certain. Which means I’ll leave a climate of pushing 130 degrees and a million percent humidity for a climate of like maybe 100 degrees and maybe like – a million percent humidity. Ahhhhh, NO ME DIGA!!! ;) But, it’s all good : ) It’ll be good to come home, and I’m way excited to see the house and Ashley and my new sister and all of you and everything, BUTTTT, I’m not gonna lie, I don’t wanna really come home. . . Sorry, I hope you all understand."

So you see...David loves being a missionary and he's happy being with the people of Mexico so even though he won't be home it'll be okay!

David has survived his first transfer - same place, new companion. His new companion is a Mexican convert and is 27 years old. We were pretty impressed that someone that age would be devoted enough to serve a mission even though nobody would expect him to.

As you can see, David seems to be serving in paradise. The water is so beautiful and it almost looks like he's serving on a pacific island. He loves his district, he loves being a missionary and he writes that he can't imagine being anywhere else doing anything else. As a parent you can't help but be grateful for stuff like that!

David writes "I’m still always hungry and WAYYYYYY tired, but that’s one of the things I love the most. Knowing that at the end of the day I walked and talked as much as I could and couldn’t have possibly done any more in the day. AND, I did it all with a half full belly and full of water, hehe"

David continues to do well in Mexico. He's had a bout with, well...lets just say "stomach problems" but he assures us he's much better now...at least the parasite test he took said he was okay... :O

David survived his first transfer - his companion left, he stayed. We haven't heard anything about his new companion, but David was very excited to learn new things.

Missionaries are required to use myldsmail.net for their emails home. The problem is, it's not unusual that emails...like, the whole email...is lost before sending it. So...David decided that he'd type his email in a Word document then cut and paste it into an email and hit the "send" button before it gets lost. The only problem is, in Mexico, Word is formatted in Spanish so David says that every word is underlined in red because it's spelled wrong! Oh well, the trials one must endure...

The apartment was out of water for 3 days just before laundry was supposed to be done on P-day. Showers with a bucket, laundry in the sink, who knows how things smelled after the first day let alone after 3!

A Report for the Sunny Beaches of La Paz

You may have seen on the news that Baja California was once again poised to get whacked by a rather large hurricane. Fortunately, the hurricane lost energy at it neared the coast and was downgraded to a rather strong tropical storm. As can be expected we were a little anxious about the storm and David was thoroughly disappointed when it didn't hit. He and his companion were given instruction by the Mission President to buy some food and water and be prepared to stay home for a couple of days; they didn't need their supplies.

David and Elder Sagura spent some time on their roof making preparations for rain and a leaky roof so you'll see a chance to see where David lives...well, at least the roof that covers the place. We learned that the house David is living is owned by Americans so it's not bad for Mexican standards. We also learned that they inherited a dog named Blanco who is a rather large black lab and according to David probably weighs more than Elder Sagura.

David is adjusting to food and water probably as well as can be expected. Here's what he had to say about that: BE WARNED....This isn't for the faint of heart or those easily grossed out...;)

"Diarrhea? Yeah...Not funnnnnnn. Not at all. I had it way bad all day Saturday and I felt like dying all day Sunday. But, none the less, we have a marvelous work to do, so I worked through it. I have a step counter and it was about 20000 steps that day. Almost 20 klicks. Yeah, tough day. I'll spare you the details, but I probably went about 20 times that day, and each time it got less and less solid until it was just water. Literally, just water. I would drink and about 20 minutes later, it was outta me. It was literally just agitating it straight through me. At one point, I drank a powerade and about an hour later I pooped red water that actually smelled like fruit punch powerade that in all honestly was so clean and pure, I could have drunk it if it wasn't in a toilet. I called the President's wife and she said to take Pepto and Imodium. Other that that, welcome to Mexico. Haha :) But I'm fine now, and I duno who it was, but someone was praying for me that day. I could feel it. So thanks :)"

See...I warned you...

Another Hurricane in Mexico

We finally got some photos from David in the mission field. He's settling into missionary life and getting along with companion, Elder Segura. Earlier in the week we were tracking a hurricane that was closing in on the resort areas where David is serving. The hurricane was initially a category 5 storm in strength but late this evening it had been downgraded to a tropical storm...with 60MPH winds and 2 inches of rain...some tropical storm. David and his companion, as well as the other missionaries in the zone, were instructed to buy food and water and be prepared to stay home for the next couple of days. We'll find out next week how it really went.

The work in La Paz, Mexico is going well. David's ability to speak Spanish is improving. His companion is a Mexican and speaks very little English so it's kind of "sink or swim" for David. Here's how David describes his experience with the language:

"But anyway, life is great!!! Time is flying and it's hard to believe that it's already been another week and I'm writing to you!!! During the day, it's really king of weird. Very special. During the day, I can't talk to the people, I stumble over every other word when I teach. . . If I can teach. . . I can't talk to my companion very well and there are TONS of misscommunications. This place is soooo different. I can't do anything by myself and I feel kinda like a baby bird. The Mexicans here laugh at me all the time. And to tell you the truth, it just sucks. at the moment. And then, I get home and start writing in my journal and I pray and I do all the reflection and stuff. And I love it. I look back and just can't believe how I lived any other way than being a missionary. I really am going to be sad when I have to leave. THAT will truly suck. But Spanish is coming along fine. I still can't understand much. And I can't speak for crap. And I can't even understand myself when I think in Spanish, which is a VERY strange feeling. But it's coming :)"

So there you have it, David is happy and that's all that matters. By the way, we just cracked up when we saw the pictures of David at his zone conference...he's so tall!!

First P-Day in Mexico

We finally heard from David on Monday, his first p-day in Mexico. David has been assigned to the La Paz, Baja California Sur are of the mission. Here is how David describes the weather he was greeted with:

"DUDE! Look up the weather here! It's CRAZY!!! I'm in La Paz, Baja California Sur. The very first day, yeah, umm, a hurricane. It rained for about an hour, totally horizontal, harder than I've EVER seen before. About ten times more rain and windier here than I've ever seen, even on our trip home from Virginia. Look up pictures of Sri Lanka, and that's about what it looks like. All the streets become rivers and the water is AT LEAST a foot deep, usually deeper. It's pretty sweet :) It's rained every day except today and is WAY hot, but I wouldn't have it any other way,. All my paper stuff I carry is ruined, except my scriptures. They turned out fine, hmmmm ;)"

Of his arrival in Mexico David wrote:

"Well, the first day was NUTS! We got to the mission home, after shoving 6 of us and the president and his wife and ALL of our luggage and backpacks into a little luxus SUV, it was pretty crazy. But it was cool because the first thing we saw when we stepped out of the airport doors was a pick up truck with a 50 cal mounted in the bed and driven and operated by dudes in camo and with black ski masks. Just like the technicals in Black Hawk Down. It was pretty sweet :) They were the drug police and I guess if they get a report of anything suspicious drug wise, they don't ask any questions. They'll just fill a house with lead if the dogs smell cocaine. Hehe, We could learn a few things from these people ;) But we got to the house and did a little orientation with the president and his wife and the secretaries, then I wrote to you and then we went to the mission home where Elder Cope and I had to reduce our total weight (One back pack and a bag) to 25 kilos. Dad might know this, but that's just a little more than 50 pounds of stuff. If you remember, All in all, after the books I got in the MTC, I have about 125 pounds worth of stuff. Yeah. . . Kinda crazy :)" David was flying to Baja for his first area and the small plane had a weight restriction, that's why he had to reduce his luggage - everything he couldn't take with him was left at the mission home.

David was able to email home during p-day and most, if not all, missionaries use an myldsmail.net account given to them at the MTC. Well, even thought David sent his email at 11:58 PM we didn't actually receive it until about 8:30PM. Probably a huge amount of email going out all over the world all at the same time.

Sorry, no pictures to post - he needs to find the right cord to hook up the computer and camera to send them.

Last Days in the US

Well, it's hard to imagine, but David has been in the MTC for 8 weeks! He's now a veterano missionary who will leaving the MTC early, early Monday morning for Mexico. David's last assignment at the MTC was a zone leader. He's learned a lot the last couple of weeks in his leadership calling and now has a brief taste of what church administration is like.

David's travel itinerary is as follows:
LV: SLC at 600
AR: Dallas/Fort Worth at 935
LV: Dallas at 1215
AR: Mexico City at 1445
LV: Mexico City at 2110
AR: Culiacan at 2205

The cool thing is that David will be in same time zone as home unlike his brother Alan, who was not only in a different time zone but a different day in the Philippines, or his cousin Dallin who is in Finland. At least we'll know when he should be awake and sleeping without having to do any complex mathematical calculations.

David's Testimony Request

We received a letter from David last week and it had a request in it. He explained that he was sitting in the Provo temple and received a prompting that his testimony should be recorded and distributed to friends and family. Well, here it is:

I know God has a plan. I know that God, in His omniscience, has provided a way for all of us to be born and receive a body, live a life here on heath, and return to live an exalted life with Him in the Celestial Kingdom. God, in His love, has provided this path for us to travel because he wishes for all of his children to return to him and live in His glory.

I also know, with all of my heart, that God has not provided his children with a way to His glory in exclusion, but has provided a designated plan for you, one of his independent and literal children. The Lord has a plan built specifically for you. He has built your life piece by piece and wants only for you to follow the plan He has laid for you. I promise you if you do, that is accept Christ and his atonement for our sins, repent, and be baptized, your life will be blessed beyond anything you have yet experienced and eternal joy will be yours.

I know that like your individual plan, my plan includes this very same acceptance. It also includes the consecration of two years of my life to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have received a direct revelation from an ordained patriarch, and personal revelation on an immeasurable scale for myself. One example of which is this very letter.

I hope that you heed the words of prophet and scripture and come unto your Savior, Jesus Christ.

The Newest Elder Grimm at the MTC

We dropped our son, David, at the MTC on Wednesday July 29, 2009. David is our second son serving as a full-time missionary. He'll be serving in the Culiacan Mexico Misson. To be honest with you, dropping off a child at the MTC is one of the most rewardingly difficult thing an LDS parent has to do! One of our friends said, "how can anything so good hurt so bad?"

David joins his cousin, Elder Dallin Grimm, at the MTC - Dallin is headed for Finland but they should overlap at the MTC for a few weeks before one of them departs. Hopefully they'll be able to see each other. David also joins another cousin, Elder Justin Goodale as a full-time missionary; Justin is serving in Oaklahoma.