Welcome Home Elder Grimm

Well, it's all over. David arrived home on Wednesday August 3, 2011 when he landed in Salt Lake City. He was very nervous about coming home - maybe because he doesn't speak English very well, it's too cold here (it's been about 90), there are very few short, brown people around here, and he speaks with a very distinct accent.

The reunion was very sweet. It is so much fun having him home and we can tell he loved being on a mission. It's taken a couple of days of adjustment, but David's hilarious sense of humor is returning and he's getting back to his old self.

We are so proud of David for his choice to serve the Lord for two years. He has fallen in love with the people of Sinaloa, has fallen in love with the gospel, and has grown and matured into such a great young man - we couldn't be prouder!

12 Days Left!

So David is down to less than 2 weeks left on his mission. For the last few months he's commented in his weekly emails that he wasn't ready to come home. He included that he didn't want to hurt our feelings, but he would stay much longer if he could. Well...this week that all changed. Now he's tired, he's worn out, and he's way ready to be home.

In his spare time, David finds a lot of pleasure finding, shall we say...unique things to take photos of. This probably isn't for the faint of heart...

In any event, we can't wait to see David!!! Of course there come with that reunion a little saddness...Daniel leaves in 5 days. His blog will be added to our family link.

Back to Baja

We learned the day before Mother's Day that David was being transferred back to La Paz, a city near the south end of Baja California. David has been on the mainland, much closer to the mission home, for more than a year but he's happy to be going back to Baja. We talked with him on Mother's Day and had a great visit! He's happy, he's looking forward to the beauty of the coast, he isn't looking forward to coming home but at the same time he's very, very excited - and maybe a little anxious - to return home.

David will be home from about August 1 until he has to go back to school at BYU later in the month.

Those who know David well can really appreciate the attached photos...

Dodge Ball Missionaries

We continue to regularly hear from David, each week in fact. David is still training new missionaries and he loves it! We are having more and more trouble reading David's emails. Each email has more grammar and spelling errors and more Spanish than we're used to. However, we're still able to tell that David loves being a missionary and would stay in Mexico if he could.

No new pictures from the mission field, but a sport report instead. This week the mission got together for a giant game of dodge ball. President Cantu organized the teams and presided over the tournament. David told us "We had a lot of fun. But I haven't thrown ANYTHING, much less a dodgeball in like 2 years. Now my whole body hurts. Or at least the parts I use to throw stuff"

David's Latest Update

David's emails lately have been pretty brief. The missionaries are staying so busy, trying to be obedient, and work with wards, branches and members that P-day is really for preparation, not just play. In fact, there hasn't been much "play" in P-day.

David has had a Peruvian companion for the last transfer and is hoping that they'll stay together one more time. He loves his companion and gets along with him so well that he'd like to stay with him through the holidays.

David writes: "This week was really good. We’re working more with the ward and members and it seem to be going very well. Sometimes it’s a little frustrating cuz members are retarded, but I guess I was a retarded member too at one time. I can’t believe I didn’t like doing this more before. I feel like I could never loose the missionary spirit. I dunno if it’s possible, but I figure I’ll be going to your ward when I get home, since I’m definitely not gonna go to church alone when I get back, so could you call me as ward mission leader when I get back? I know it’s the Lord’s call final, but you can think and pray about it for the next 8 months : )"

Susan and I had to laugh at David's comment - he'll be home for about a month before leaving for school so calling him to be a ward mission leader might be a bit of a stretch - but I'd sure consider it!

Busy, Busy David

The last few weeks have come with only bits and pieces of news from David. It seems that the missionary work is going so well that they only have an hour or so on their P-days to write home. And so it is with David. He's been very busy and writes a couple of paragraphs about how things are going...barely...and how busy they are. The last couple of weeks he's cc'd on the email he sends to the Mission President on how things are going. Needless to say, it's difficult to really know what's really going on since his emails are in Spanish. We just sent David a package that included a new cord for his camera so he can start sending pictures again. In the meantime, here area few older photos of David in Mexico.

We didn't get to hear from David this week. We don't know what happened but can only assume there were transfers and he just never made it to the email. Either that, or he was kidnapped by a drug cartel. The latter can't be the case because we're fairly certain that a 6'5" elder who isn't very happy can revert back to the 5 year old David we all remember...they'd have brought him back already!

David's had a couple of hard weeks. He's trying to follow the counsel of his mission president about how to teach with the Spirit, but his companions are very young, very inexperienced, and not in the habit of teaching and paying attention. However, his letters have always ended on a high note as he preservers and does what he's been asked to do. He's past his year mark so it's all down hill from here...well, at least on a calendar.

First Mazatlan then Culiacan

David wrote the other day to tell us how excited he was to be on the mainland of Mexico and not quite so far away from the mission president. For a little while he was in Mazatlan and this last transfer he's been sent to Culiacan, where the mission home is. This is how we learned about Culiacan..."Soooo, I am now officially in the most dangerous city in Mexico. . . Culiacân. . ." Pretty nice comment, eh? It was so nice of our cute kid to keep us informed so we don't worry.

Transfer to the Mainland

Well, David has finally been tranferred to the mainland - Mazatlan to be exact. Of course he's not in a very "resorty" kind of area, but it's Mazatlan nonetheless.

David has yet to serve with an American companion, and as of the last week even his mission president isn't an American. But David isn't complaining. He loves his companion and his new president and his Spanish is so good that he even types his emails with an accent.

David let something slip a couple of weeks ago that still has his mom a freaked out. It seems that in many parts of Mexico little vehciles or carts drive around each morning with loudspeakers and give little, short blurps of news as it travels around. Apparently, the evening before this particular announcement was given David and his companion heard, shall we say, some strange noises that were explained when the news was broadcast - here's how David explained it:

"The culture is completely different. There are parties in the streets every night, there aren't as many alcoholic drunks in the streets, just the partyers, and the people are a little meaner. Well, a lot meaner. Haha, but it's fun. There are little carts that drive around in the morning with speakers that yell the announcements of the city. How many were killed, where and how, haha : ) I heard my first murder last night walking back to the house. Then we heard about it, who he was and how many bullets he took in the morning. Pretty interesting. But don't worry, the missionaries are safe cuz no one cares about them, haha : )"

Yep - the kid really knows how to instill confidence that he's really going to be okay.... ;/

Elder Grimm in May

Recently David has been assigned to train a new Mexican missionary. So far, since arriving in Mexico in late October he's had a grand total of ZERO American/English speaking companions. He was able to call home on Mother's Day and it was pretty fun to hear his Spanish accent. He was also able to talk with Spencer, who served his mission in Mexico, and we laughed and laughed as the two of the jibber jabbered away.

David is still in the south end of Baja California and will probably stay there just a bit longer. In preparation for this return to the mainland he send some stuff home to us. His daily planners were FULL of appointments and names. The work is progressing very well and it's pretty common to have photos emailed home of a baptism. He loves being a missionary and his emails have changed so much that we've wondered aloud what happened to the kid that left here - it doesn't even sound like him anymore. However, as you can see...the area where David is serving is...shall we say...a little barren?

So David is a trainer missionary now. He's been in the Cabo San Lucas area for a couple of weeks and loves the work more now than he did before! He loves his new companion and has mastered the language. A while back there was a big earthquake near Mexicali, Mexico several hundred miles north of him. Nobody in So. Baja felt it. There was that huge earthquake in Chile before that and a concern included a tsunami warning for the west coast of the North America - again, nothing.

David wrote of an experience he had a few months ago that just cracked us up:

"One day in Constitucion we tracted into an inactive member on accident. She'd been inactive for years and just didn't wanna be a member anymore. I explained the following to her:

'Okay, that's fine, well here's what we can do. I dunno if you know this, but you have a record in the church. If you don't wanna be a member anymore, we can bring this form to you and there is a part that you can sign that says you don't wanna be a member anymore and it will literally undo your baptism and confirmation here on Earth and in heaven, too. Would you like to sign it?'

'Yes! Bring me the form!'

'Oh, okay, well really I wouldn't like to do that, but if it's what you want. But you should know that when Christ comes again to judge us all, he's going to see this form. He will see your name, the date in which you were baptized and confirmed, and also your signature saying that you didn't wanna be a member of His church anymore. Like I said, I really don't wanna do that, because it means condemnation for you, but if it's what you want, we'll bring it.'

'I really have a record in the church?

Yes, ma'am.'

'And Jesus is gonna come again and see it?'

'Yep.'

'And he's gonna condemn me for it?'

'Yep.'

'What time does church start?'

(With a smile on my face) '9 in the morning.'

'Okay, I'll see you at church.'

'Gracias!'

Haha, and she went to church for 4 weeks before I left. I'd imagine she's still active, haha : ) It always works out good in the end : ) Trust me, the story is WAYYYYY more funny in Spanish :)"

This week we asked him about calling home for Mother's day and hopefully being near a phone. Here is how he described the phone situation:
"I dunno if I've told you all this before, but we don't have a phone and we haven't had a phone all transfer, so it's been a little tough. I know, I know, Ammon didn't have a phone either and still kicked butt, but I don't have a sword, so we can call it even : )"

Sixth Monty Tie Vandalism

It's hard to believe that David has been a missionary for six months already. Following missionary tradition, David vandalized one of his ties in celebration. The Church's email server is pretty weird and it sometimes takes us several days to get all of the pictures he sent (last week it took from Monday to Friday for the photos to arrive). David has another new companion and remains in Ciudad Constitucion, about 3 hours north of La Paz. Here's what David said about his NEW companion:

"I received a new companion, Elder Cornejo. He just got here in La Paz (We have to go there for the transfers) like an hour ago, so I don’t have a picture of him yet. Kinda funny, though. The two of us together only have 11 months of experience in the mission combined, so it’ll be a good chance to develop some good leadership skills and learn by a little baptismal fire : ) He seems really cool, though, although I haven’t really gotten to know him yet. We’ve got 3 and a half hours in a bus to Constitucion to do a bit of that, though : )"

We found it interesting that members of the church, and the wards and branches they all live in, in Mexico aren't really much different than those found here in the states. Here is what David wrote about a challenge in his current area and the observations he's made and what he's learned:

"We’ve got some good investigators over there, so I’m hoping we'll be able to make some good progress and make the ward a little stronger. It’s kinda interesting, the ward has some problems with the bishop, or better said, he’s working hard to develop his leadership skills and run the ward smoothly, but he’s having a hard time. I don’t blame him, though. He’s way young, and because of his past screw ups (Which I account to his simple lack of knowing) he doesn’t receive a lot of support from the ward. It’s partly his fault, but there are some members who don’t make the situation any better. But the point of all of this is that it’s interesting to see how the problems of the ward become the problems of the missionaries. Like I feel like it’s my home ward and I wanna help out. Kind of a cool feeling."

I've also included a photo collage of where David is living - I have no idea how he did this, but it's a circular view of his neighborhood.

Our Little Boy is Maturing in the Gospel

He may be maturing in the gospel, but he's still a little kid at heart! He loves his new area, he loves his new companion and it seems that those two things have given him the opportunity to develop some other blessings. Here's a portion of one of his last emails:
"The night I got your package, I was thinking about what Alexis told me about the missionaries in England and the vision that Joseph Smith had about God crying. It was looking like I wasn’t gonna get my package that night, which really bummed me out. Then the thought came into my head that I should pray for it, even though it’s selfish and stupid and really doesn’t matter. So I offered quick prayer in my head and when I finished, I envisioned in my head how long it would take from the time that I said amen for us to receive a phone call. I kinda walked it through in my head, the sister receiving the impression that she should call, dialing and then putting the phone to her ear and waiting. And then out phone rang. . .Pretty special.

Also, I did what Sara said about praying for other people’s prayer to be answered and I asked Heavenly Father if I could do that. I asked to be an angel and answer a prayer. That day, we found a woman whose parents were inactive members and were meeting with Jehovah’s Witnesses. She stopped us in the street and asked us to come in and talk to them. So we did. Then when we left, she looked me in the eyes and said (translated) “You don’t know how long I’ve been praying for an angel to come and talk to them.”

David is REALLY in Mexico

David sent some photos this week with his email. You'll see a picture of the bedroom and bathroom of the apartment - Alan sent photos home from the Phillipines that didn't look much different so this wasn't a huge shock at the meager conditions where the missionaries live. We learned that David had a problem with his teeth that required a visit to the dentist...in Mexico...in the boondocks...this is how he described that experience'

"I busted a tooth open on a sucker and discovered that I had a pretty deep cavity. Also in the very back of my mouth in one of my molars. The dentist was legit, or at least so it seemed and I think he did a really good job filling the cavity. It looks good, at least : ) He wasn’t very good with the novicane, however. Actually, he totally sucked so it hurt a lot. I actually don’t think I had any in the part where it was needed. Good thing I’ve got a high tolerance for pain, right? Haha. But yeah, that was kind of an adventure."

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...