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?