OUT WITH THE OLD AND IN WITH THE NEW

Once again, we had new missionaries come in on Monday and the 15 were paired with their companions on Tuesday at transfers.

  We went to the temple Tuesday night with the 22 missionaries going home, then they spent the night at the mission home and went to the airport to fly home and be released. 

This is the last transfer for us in the mission.  So all of this activity is bittersweet. We have loved meeting the new missionaries as they come in...some of them anxious and nervous, and some just excited to be here!  And saying goodbye to those going home has been so hard.  It's easy to get attached to certain ones, and knowing you may not see them again is hard.  They come in tired and go home tired!  This last group of Elders (not the sisters) stayed up all night and then they all left for the plane around 0530.  Everyone except Elder Bettridge.  That's him lower right with his arm around Sister Mortensen.  His parents came to the Mission Office to pick him up and tour the mission with him.  His Mom had me video their hugs with him...tears everywhere!  Such a great young man and really nice parents.  He was one of our AP's a year ago and we really learned to love him!

Next week, I will begin training Sister Crowe to take over my position while Don trains her husband as the Vehicle Coordinator.  I've been cleaning out my desk and going through the files and getting rid of things she won't need.  I politely suggested Elder Breinholt may want to do the same:

As you can see...he has much more equipment and supplies than I do and I'm not sure there's much he can do to make it better! 

We've been talking about our mission a lot lately.  Don gets teary-eyed when he thinks about leaving.  This has been such a great experience for us both and I can't think of anyone I'd rather have gone on it with!  It hasn't been without it's trials...emotionally, mentally, physically (me), but we have learned so much.  We've been lifted by the Spirit, strengthened in so many ways, learned that the Lord truly does qualify who He calls.  We've been humbled as we've realized limitations that we weren't aware of...but again we've been blessed.  We've learned to laugh at ourselves and not take ourselves too seriously.  We've learned more about the Gospel than we'd previously known and our testimonies have grown.  We've learned that our capacity to love is larger than we knew and that it includes people from all walks of life.  Don has learned that he can drive on a freeway and I have learned (somewhat) to keep my mouth shut when he does!😩 We have opened out hearts and they have been filled.