July Pics

dog bite

Trainer

Elder Gebert, with his "Papi", Elder Haskell

First Baptism!

From David:

Hey, this week was awesome. I had my first baptism! Already! And it was in Spanish. They're twins from Peru. I dont know if I can email their names. They've been taught for over 9 months, but now they finally set a date with us. I was really nervous, but my companion went first. He messed up a couple of times and her hair came up, so he had to do it again. So that took a lot of pressure off me! She's super scared of water bc she can't swim, so that made it interesting. I didnt mess up though! It was so cool. We thought they got lost on the way bc we were waiting for about an hour for them. We saw them driving, but they weren't at the stake center. They don't have a cell phone so we were just waiting. We were getting worried they weren't going to show. They ended up being in the back of the stake center. We didn't even know there was another entrance. That was nerve-wrecking though. It was a really cool feeling and I can see why some missionaries want to extend their mission. Not saying I will, lol, I'm just saying I see one of the reasons why :)

Jambalaya and Smoothies

In one of her countless boxes to David, my mom sent him mixes to make one of his favorite dishes: Jambalaya. So, he treated his companion and the other set of Elders that they live with to dinner. THEY LOVED IT! And of course, ate it all.

And before you make any cracks about him cooking, David has always been quite the chef. One time, when he was about 4 he got up in the middle of the night and decided he was hungry and needed to fix himself a sausage muffin. So, he stuck a frozen one in the microwave, pushed a bunch of buttons (including the start button), then eventually went back to bed because "it took too long". We still wonder how long that thing cooked. It was a black lump that stunk up the house for days... long after it, along with the glass tray it was adhered to, were thrown out.

All joking aside though, he really is an amazing cook. He always reminded me of the famous chef, Curtis Stone.

Looking The Part

Letter From the Mission President

{click to enlarge}

If you're interested in getting his address, send either my mom or me an email or leave a comment!

1st Day in Long Beach!

Elder Gebert, with the Mission President and his wife,

President and Sister Sexton

Yesterday, my parents received a letter from the Mission President formally letting them know that Elder Gebert had arrived safely in Long Beach and was out proselyting by 6PM that evening . He also said that David had been paired with his first companion and trainer, Elder Haskell. David had also sent a letter with his Mother's Day card talking about the experience of being paired with Elder Haskell. They were all gathered in a room and before the assignments were made, David leaned over to his companion from the MTC and said, "THAT guy is my trainer", pointing to Elder Haskell. Sure enough, he was right! He really, really likes him, which is AWESOME news to get. He also wrote that they are in a "verrrrrry Spanish" area. We all got to talk to him on Mother's Day (missionaries get to call home twice a year... Mother's Day and Christmas) and he sounds great. He's very happy to be out in the field and said that they have 6 baptisms lined up. Before he entered the MTC, he had gotten some white pants for his baptisms, but they hadn't been hemmed. So, he left without them and my mom said she'd send them once he got on his way. Well, when he called with the news of 6 baptisms, he said "I need them NOW!". Needless to say, my mom overnighted them yesterday :)