We got to speak with David, live from San Pedro, Peru, yesterday, which was fun and crazy at the same time. Quite the adventure. Coincidentally, we received some pics from David as well, which I am sending along. Some are from this past week, during the zone Christmas party, others date back to the MTC in Lima, Peru. The picture of the finger in the sky is David touching the moon his first night in Peru. The apartment pics are of his present abode, with his trainer Elder Yuppanqui, who has since completed his mission. David told a story yesterday of his first day in the mission field. He said he was walking with Elder Yuppanqui when a couple of guys called them over to their house. The guys had been drinking. As they stood there talking, David - who could not understand the conversation - had a hand in his pocket. One of the guys at the house stood up and began speaking to David in Spanish to get him to take his hand out of his pocket. David did not understand him, but noticed Elder Yuppanqui speaking in his defense, getting nervous. The guy at the house then pulled a knife on David. The situation did not escalate beyond that, and David laughed about it. Elder Yuppanqui told David that he had never before been threatened by anyone with a weapon of any kind, after 22 months in the mission field, and thought it strange that David would have such an experience on his first day. (David loves relating events like that.)
It was impressive hearing David's Spanish to people in the background. Occasionally he would say something to someone there with him, have a brief conversation in Spanish, then get back to the phone. We put him on speaker phone and had him say a blessing for our food - in Spanish, of course. David seems to be very happy, doing very well - despite the fact that he is spending his first Christmas holiday away from home, in a foreign land. It is quite the blessing to be able to speak with him by phone, and to receive regular email communications from him. We would like more pics, though. David has not been very adept at getting pictures to us via email. Still working on that.
It is a wonderful thing to see our young men in the mission field, growing, serving. I have to admit, as much as I love having David out there, I miss him - but I am grateful that he is willing to serve and look forward to all the growth he will receive through his mission experience.
Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and continue to enjoy the holidays.
Mike
P.S. For those of you who do not know, David's cousin, Cody, was called to serve in the Iowa Des Moines Mission - English speaking. David was sure Cody would be called to serve with him in Peru and that they would both be fluent in Spanish, so a little disappointment there. Cody leaves in mid February.
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