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...