First Letter!!

Well, we received our first letter from Dallin!  It came in the trademark, small missionary envelope.  This letter was his first assignment at the end of his first day at the MTC.  He reminded us that he did not know the address of our hotel, nor the PO Box that we have been using since leaving our home.  Fortunately, mail forwarding works.

There are 3 other Elders that are heading to Finland that checked in the same day.  One of which was one of Dallin's roommates at BYU.  His companion is from Kaysville, Utah and attends the school of the Prophets (U of U).

He reported that our friend from our Ward (Scott Sweeney) was correct about the food.  His first dinner was some meat with gravy!

This letter was followed by two emails on Wednesday (his P-Day).  We can now look forward to Wednesday emails from him while he is in the MTC!

Dallin's first email was somewhat of a chastisement that we had not sent him a letter.  To our relief, he received the letter that we had sent along with a cookie delivery that we sent prior to him writing his second email.

The following are a few excerpts from his email:

"Finnish is something else but I'm soaking it up like a sponge.  We're almost ready to pray in Finnish so it's coming along.  My companion was quarantined on Monday for having Swine Flu.  I know right.  He's been here for 5 days and he gets quarantined for another 5."

"Finnish is among a few other languages that is actually on a 12 week cycle, not just 10.  There are 3 other new "Finns" that are with me.  My companion is in quarantine and then there's Elder Schoof and Elder Empey.  I am feeling fine though.  There are 5 "papa finns" who have been here for 6 weeks already.  They are all helpful and nice; one of them is even from England.  When we got here, the "generation" before them was still here because they were delayed by the swine flu stuff.  They finally left monday, but because they were delayed, one of them actually got the swine flu and was in quarantine until monday.  They let him out about an hour after his group went to the airport.  He'll hopefully be able to leave in the next week or two.  He's now been here for 14.5 weeks.  Probably a new record."

"Finnish is going well.  I totally like it more than English.  It's only hard because there are lots of rules to remember.  English and most other languages have about 6 cases or so.  Finnish has more than 15.  The grammar all makes sense though, at least to me.   I'm thinking the gift of tongues thing is working.  Everything just seems to make sense, which is nice.  I think my companions are having a little bit more difficulty but it gives me a good opportunity to help explain some things because then I remember it better too."

"Dinner has lots of gravy, and so does lunch."

"Yesterday was our first day in the RC (referral center).  It's where you go in and make calls to nonmembers who have called and ordered various church materials.  We are supposed to call and make sure they received their material and then try and teach them some more.  Ultimately, the goal is to get them to have the missionaries into their home.  We spent part of the time in training and then they got us on the phones.  After 3 answering machines and 1 lady who I didn't really get anywhere with, I called an elderly lady in Georgia.  She had ordered and watched one of the church movies and wanted to talk about it, is what the comment box for her profile said.  I called her up and ended up teaching her about the restoration and joseph smith and the Book of Mormon.  She was fine with the missionaries bringing over a Book of Mormon to her so that was really a good experience.  The missionaries should be at her home sometime this week so hopefully that goes well.  We aren't really notified of how things turn out so we don't always know the fruits of our labors."

Obviously, things are going well.  I guess Sweeney continues to be right...a week in and still lots of gravy!

I was also very happy to get another letter when I arrived back in Denver from St. Louis on Saturday...a Happy Father's Day, homemade card from Dallin!  He signed it Elder "U of U" Grimm (I am so proud!).

We will keep you posted with other news.

Check-in Day

We took Dallin to the MTC today.  Given the cases of Swine Flu, we were not allowed to go with him into the MTC.  It was very organized and very much like dropping off a passenger at the airport, curbside.

So, we did not have any time to take pictures at the MTC, so we left Cath's sister's place and went to the Draper temple.  We have attached a few of these for your enjoyment.

We came to a series of "Happy Helpers" that directed us to a line up where a Sister and an Elder were waiting anxiously to take our "package".  The Sister checked Dallin in and the Elder grabbed his luggage and was going to be his guide into the building to get settled in.

After some tearful hugs, we saw him on his way to officially start his mission.

We are happy, but sad at the same time.  For us the "clock" has started.  Cath said that we only have 24 more Fast Sundays to go!

We have Dallin's address here:

Aaron Dallin Grimm

MTC Mailbox # 336-H24

Helsinki, Finland Mission

2005 N 900 E

Provo, UT 84604-1793

I am sure that he will appreciate letters.  In fact, he wanted us to be sure we told everyone to send lots of letters!

Setting Apart

Well, Dallin was set apart on Sunday, June 7th by our Stake President (Aaron Todd).  It was a nice event at the church building with just our family and a member of the Bishopric.

We leave on Tuesday to take Dallin to the MTC.  His check-in date is June 10th (our 21st Anniversary!).

Danika and Connor have acted as Dallin's companion as he cannot be alone now that he is a full-time missionary.  Tanner even waited outside the door of the bathroom at the hotel so he would not be alone (yikes!).

We are excited that this date is here.  He will be a great missionary.  More to come when we drop him off.