Some more serious trending going on today.   Today’s episode was so much fun!  David showed his comic side and his serious side.  Can’t believe how much I am enjoying this even though I understand only what a few people are saying. 

We have yet to see what the stipulations will be on David’s amount of contact. Lets face it, he’s not your average missionary. I’m sure things will be handled a little differently for him — I’m not saying he asked for special treatment, just that his is a unique situation.

And I know of several missionaries who maintained blogs while on their mission. I think the church even encourages that. I’m not saying he’ll be spending a ton of time communicating with fans; just that its not like we won’t hear a peep from him for 2 years. I personally hope that he does NOT feel obligated to try to keep in touch with his fans too much. Clearly this time is something he really wants for himself to be able focus on his mission. An update every now in then, whether from David himself or through a third party, will be sufficient for me. Just to know he’s still alive, ya know? 
For the fans, I think we’ll be getting goodies (music, videos, etc) that were put together before he leaves for quite a while.

Its gonna be sad to see him go but I’m so happy he has the chance to do something that is really important to him. So I’ll chill for a few years and wish him the best.

ScottyHaleyFan How do you know David’s fan base has ALOT of Mormon? In Asia, for example, I think the Buddhist and Catholic religion dominate. In Latin America, it is probably the Catholic religion that dominates. In North America, there are lots of Mormons in Utah but it is still a very small group relatively speaking. Just curious as to the basis for this statement.

 He is not saying yet, and he may never tell us until he is back.  There are more safety concerns with David than other missionaries.  We do think it will be a Spanish speaking country, because when asked when he would do a Spanish album, he said maybe after his mission because he would be more comfortable doing something in Spanish after his mission.

I too do not want David to try to keep in touch with fans. I want him to have at least one important thing in his life that he does not have to share with the fans. I want this experience to be about him and the people he will be serving. Also, from what I understand, missionaries don’t have a lot of personal time. I think I heard they have one day a week to attend to personal things. I would rather David spend time communicating with his family and friends then worrying about communicating with fans.

I agree that David should not feel obligated to communicate with his fans during his mission but I get the sense that he enjoys doing so and enjoys the response he gets from fans. No way that a person would be able to do weekly or biweekly blogs for 4 years if he did not genuinely enjoy doing them. I don’t know of any other Idol or celebrity generally who vlogs like David. The Disney stars likes to send out vids alot but they always seem to be about buy my CD, follow me on Twitter, request my song on radio, trend my project on twitter, etc.

As for leaving behind the “celebrity life”, I don’t think he actually lives the celebrity life except when he’s in Asia. I do wonder whether he’ll be permitted to bring and use his credit cards on his mission or whether every missionary has to have the same standard of living during a mission, regardless of personal wealth. I find it hard to believe that someone like Mitt Romney would have had to live the same way as every other missionary during his mission, but I don’t know.

Kitwana — I 100% agree with you on that one. I think David truly does enjoy interacting with his fans and definitely wants them to not feel completely cut off from him during these two years. He really said as much in the vlog. As I said before, I just hope people understand that clearly he can’t communicate with fans at the level he has before the mission. A brief update now and then will be fine for me — just to know he’s doing okay :)

From what I understand about missions, he and his companion will be assigned lodging that is provided by the church. All missionaries pay a flat fee of $400 per month to offset the cost of lodging, food and other expenses. Missionaries are responsible to any extra expenses that arise for personal purchases. The type of lodging they have varies depending on the location. Sometimes its an apartment, sometimes it might even be in a lodging house with others. It will not be the Ritz for sure lol. But I’m sure David will have no problem with that. Probably the biggest adjustment for him (aside from missing his family) will be the lack of computer/cellphone/etc. I think that would be a big change for anyone who is used to having one on a daily basis. I would probably lose my mind without my phone.

I’m on board with those who think he will be back and better than ever! I’ll be hangin’ in there eagerly anticipating his return!

FYI- missionaries are not allowed to do blogs, but family can do a blog of letters and pictures. I do one for my son where I post his weekly letters and pictures he sends home.

Someone asked if David will live differently from the other missionaries. No, he will not. They live in various circumstances depending upon the country they are sent to. My son who went to Thailand lived in pretty nice places because it was very inexpensive. The mission chooses places for the missionaries to live. I have a son who is in Florida working among the Haitians. He lives in a normal apartment complex, but he works in very poor areas.

You may have heard some people say Mitt Romney lived in a mansion during his mission in France. The truth is that he was what was called an AP- assistant to the president) and lived in the mission home. The mission home is usually bigger and nicer since the mission president and his family live there for the three years while they serve and when new missionaries come in, they stay there for a day or two before they are sent to where they will be working. Mitt Romney actually was in a very bad head on collision where the mission president’s wife died and then he ran the whole mission for 6 months, which is really amazing when you understand what a responsibility that is. 

Someone also mentioned that missionary guys often get to know the girls pretty well. That is because they work together. They do not date, but they interact. It would not be unusual for David to marry someone from his mission.

Elizabeth Smart just got married to a guy from her mission (to france) that was from Sottland, I think.