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.