From Portugal With Love: December 15, 2013

On Monday we attended our last devotional with the church office employees. It is sad to say goodbye to such wonderful people. We will really miss our association with these dear friends. We stayed to see if Elder and Sister Markham had any last-minute questions, then went to our apartment to complete the final weighing of our luggage and preparations for leaving. We also had to return our Vodafone equipment and pay our final bill with them for our internet and phone service.

In the evening we were invited to dinner and a testimony meeting with President and Sister Fluckiger and the six young Elders who had completed their missions and were returning home the next day. We had a wonderful meal and the testimony meeting was very special. All of us bore our testimonies and shared our love for our Savior, His Gospel, and the wonderful experience of serving Him as missionaries.

Tuesday, December 10^th, we arose at 5:00 AM, got ready, and traveled to the mission office where we turned in our car and phone and traveled with two young Elders to the airport to begin our long journey home. We had a short flight from Lisbon to London of about three hours. Elder Grover, from Arizona, was on the flight with us and also spent some time with us in London until we had to separate for our long flights to the US.

Our flight from London to Los Angeles was an 11-hour flight in cramped quarters. We managed to relax and enjoy the travel, but my legs and feet swelled to the point that I was unable to put my shoes back on when we landed and had to wear the sandals that were in my carry-on bag. In LA we had to wait for our luggage and then clear customs before we made the last flight to Sacramento. Unfortunately, our last flight was delayed about an hour, so our already late-night arrival became even later for those who were meeting us in Sacramento. Due to the lateness of the hour, some of our youngest grandchildren were not able to come to the airport. But, we did get to meet our newest granddaughter, Lacy, who was born while we were on our mission. What a joy that was! One of Elder Henry’s suitcases didn’t arrive with the others, even though there were all checked in together. They brought it to us late the next day. We arrived home at about 2:00 AM, so our travel time was about 29 hours.

On Wednesday night we met with President Yates so that we could be released from our calling as missionaries. The next night we reported to the Stake High Council and Brad and Suzie arrived from Salt Lake City to spend a few days with us.

We were asked to speak in Sacrament Meeting on the 15^th to report on our mission. It was great to be back in our home ward and to see all of our friends and family again. Myrna and Naomi came to hear us speak and to eat with us. We are so grateful to our Heavenly Father for the blessings of serving Him as missionaries. We have many precious memories and friendships to hold dear to our hearts.