December 19, 2014

    It is hard to believe that this was our last week in the mission.  It was such a busy week.  But as usual, the busiest weeks are the best weeks.
   Monday we received 7 new missionaries.  What was unusual was that they were all Elders.  This is the first time we have not had any Sisters come in on a transfer.  The picture to the left is of the seven Elders that came in.  They are a great bunch of Elders and an asset to the mission.
   The picture below is of the 29 missionaries at the Boston Temple the day before they fly home.  We are missing 3 Sisters as they were late getting to the Temple so they missed the pictures. 
   But with 29 going home and only7 coming in, lots of changes had to be made.  We closed 10 apartments.  This also required moving lots of furniture, bringing in 6 cars, and of coarse 10 phones. So their was a ton of coordination to get everything done. The sad part is that all this moving furniture and cleaning the apartments happens after transfers and after Sister Skidmore and I left for home.  This was a lot of work for Elder and Sister Holm.  We did as much as we could but the physical work couldn't happen until we actually moved the missionaries out. The Holms are wonderful and will do a great job!
  The biggest changes were due to the fact that 17 Sisters were going home and none came in.  So President Stoker had to make lots of changes to the rest of the mission getting all the Sisters taken care of.
   The picture to the left is of us with Elder Quinn and Elder and Sister Holm.  Elder Quinn is such a big man.  He plays football for BYU.  I wanted to get this picture because it showed his size.  Every time he would see me he would give me a great big hug at which time he would lift me off my feet and crush me.  He is a great Elder and we love him. 
   The Holms are from Idaho Falls and this is their 3rd mission.  They sure work hard and are so wonderful. We love them so!
   The next picture is all of us at the Boston Temple.  What a great group picture.  We love these missionaries so much and are so excited for them to return home to the families that love and miss them.  Words can hardly express the love each of them have for the Lord.  It is shown by their dedication and hard work for Him.  The world is a better place because of them.  The future of the Church will be good hands as they continue with their lives and hold to the iron rod.  They are our friends.
   The next picture is of MLT (missionary leadership training) meeting.  President Stoker changed this meeting to Friday because he wanted to train all the new Zone Leaders,  

 

District  Leaders, and Sister Training Leaders that occurred because all the leadership going home.  It was our last assignment before we left. There was about 60 missionaries there.  It was a bitter sweet time as we got to say our last good byes.  They all sang "God be with you until we meet again" to us and it was so emotional for us.  Tears were flowing.  It was sweet!
   The next pictures are of me with Elder Harrington and Elder Plyler.  I had so many teaching experiences with each of them.  They were assigned in Manchester for a long time which gave me great opportunities to serve with them.  They were great missionaries and had a lot of success.   I love them both so much!
   We had our 44th anniversary on the way home.  We stopped in Asheville NC and toured the Biltmore mansion.  It was decorated for Christmas and WOW!  It was so beautiful!
   Miriam and I had the most wonderful mission.  We made such good friends and learned to love our missionaries on another level.  But most of all our love for the Savior grew leaps and bounds.  We knew the Lord had restored His Church and that we were a part of it, and this experience added to the testimonies we already had.  Our love for the Work has grown so much!
Now its almost Christmas and celibrating the Lords birth just adds to the spiritual feast we are having. 
   Thank you Lord for this experience!  We love you!