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!