The Wonderful Missionaries

I am going to share a letter from one of the wonderful Elders! I always tried to have the missionaries over This Elder made it a lot easier for the future missionaries to be welcomed into our home. After they became great friends the Elders were over all the time even on P-day! Washing clothes feeding babies in their high chair, and relaxing. The spirit was in our home! Elder Grimm and Elder Wayts thank you so much for becoming friends with Barton!

Dear Barton,

I remember very little about lots of things from my mission way back when.  It has been nearly 10 years since I met you and your family.  I remember thinking that you I knew that you would get baptized, it would just be on your own time.  I think that both Cindy and I wanted that time to be on our terms.  It was not until I realized that I would rather have you as a friend than try to push you into any decision that would lead to you pleasing anyone but the Lord.

I also remember thinking that if there was a guy that I met on my mission that I would like to be a friend, it was Barton.  I always liked hearing you talk about the same things that I really loved.  Fishing, hunting and trucks.  There was a time when Elder Wayts and I got to spend some time fishing with Barton, this was about the time I realized that we were pushing him beyond his time table, so I just tried to enjoy the fishing.  It may have been a bit easier to enjoy had Jason not “rocked the boat”.  Those were some fun memories that I will never forget.

I hope that things are turning out the way you would like.  I know that my life is a lot different than I thought that it would be at this point.  I am trying really hard to be a good guy and not fake anything.  I remember you talking about honor and doing things for the right reasons, I think that you made a bigger impact on me then than I did on you.  

I think a lot about those days and how much Jason and I liked going to your house.  We both knew that we would eat great and feel like we were at home.  In fact now that I think about it I felt more at home in your house than any other house on my mission.  

I wish that I were a better friend now.  I have been trying so hard to get my own family in order that I have lost touch with so many people that I wish that I had not.  I am very glad that Cindy has always included me in what has been going on.  I realize that it should be easy to keep in touch these days.  Call me old fashioned I guess I just haven’t kept up with technology.  

Anyhow I really miss you and your family.  Thanks for the things you taught me.  Doing the right thing for the right reason is so much more valuable than just doing the right thing when you are doing it for the wrong reason.  

Take care old friend, some day we will have to drown some worms together again.

Brian Grimm

And Elder Grimm, see ya'll at our Sealing, and if not, we know that it is because of the sacred responsibility that you and your wife hold to your family