HOME SWEET HOME

Getting home was a major undertaking.  It began Monday afternoon when we had to move all of our household belongings out of our house and move them into storage.  Because there is another missionary couple arriving in the East Mission pretty soon, they were the ones to come and help us move everything.

We appreciated their help. It really didn't take long as we didn't have very much.  It proved to be more difficult than we thought it would be to say goodbye to the old blue couch,  We got it used, and it served us well. 

We had started packing our suitcases about a week ago, but by the time we went to bed on Monday it had to all be done.  Trying to squeeze two years into a couple of suitcases was tough.  We ended up paying a little bit for extra baggage weight.  President and Sister Dester picked us up on Tuesday morning to drive us to the airport.  The drive there was a melancholy moment for us all.  We have grown to love this couple with all of our hearts.  Saying goodbye to them was the most difficult part of leaving.

It is said that when a senior couple leaves their mission they cry all the way to the airport, but they make sure that they don't miss their flight.  That was true for us.  Wayne will never forget looking back as we ascended the escalator and seeing President Dester offering a hand salute.  It will forever be a cherished memory. 
   There were a couple of moments of anxiousness as Wayne's suitcase was singled out as a potential bomb threat.  LaRae had to go down on the runway to identify the bag and open it up to prove it was nothing more than a harmonica Wayne had brought with him in hopes he would find time to learn how to play it.  That never happened.  LaRae was none too happy when she found out that Wayne had boarded the plane without her, but she was OK when she saw that he had graciously saved her a seat next to him. 
    When the plane finally landed in Salt Lake City we took a great big breath of air.  We were home! Our loved ones were there waiting for us.  Yellow balloons and welcome home signs were everywhere.  In just ten minutes of hugs and kisses all of the tension and stress of having just spent the last two years of our lives in one of the most dangerous cities on earth was all swept away.  We were home.

There were a thousand things waiting for us to do at home.  Unpacking a lifetime of belongings and moving them back into the house, trying to tidy up a yard that was a little neglected, getting cars registered again, doing our income taxes, and getting a little bit of food in our fridge kept us busy every minute of the next several days.  On Friday night we had a special treat of going to a mission reunion.  We saw many of those we had served with and loved.  Lots of them had cute little girls hanging to their arms.

As you can see, the white shirts and ties are a thing of the past.  There were nothing but smiles and embraces.  Girlfriends were treated to a night full of boasting and laughing over who had the worst apartment, or the most terrible assignment.  There was such joy! These guys will be friends forever.  There is something special about the bond of friendship that is forged in the furnace of missionary service.  We loved seeing them all again. 
    We brought home a couple of small souvenirs to try to help us remember our time there. Our little grandchildren were thrilled with the soccer shirts that we brought them.  With seventeen of them we can field quite a soccer team.

Perhaps, our greatest joy was in meeting our new one.  Little Brielle was born while we were away and this was the first time we had ever seen her.  She is a little bit of a "momma's girl" right now and cries every time we hold her, but that will solve itself in time.  Such is the sacrifice of serving.  In our "report" to the stake presidency and the high council another of the senior couples who had just returned from their mission said they had been asked how they could serve a mission.  "Don't you love your grandchildren?"  This sweet sister said, "We served our mission because  we love our grandchildren."  We know that very soon these shirts will all be too small and worn out, but, we hope that the memory that "grandma and grandpa" had served a mission will stay with them forever!  

   Well, this is the end of our story.  We aged a lot during these two years and have some work to do in order to get back into shape, but we worked as hard as we could, for as long as we could.  And we gained so much from having served this mission.  We gained friends that will last a lifetime, experienced a different culture, relearned a foreign language, deepened in our love and understanding of each other, and watched as our Heavenly Father unfolded miracles on our behalf.  Our family thrived while we were gone.  Not bad, huh!  

                         May the Lord bless you.  Until we meet through the written page again, adios!