And Now the Journey Ends!

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf once said, “So often we become so focused on the finish line that we fail to enjoy the journey.”   When we started this journey there were some hard times and obstacles along the way but I think we definitely found joy in the journey.

As I write this last post, we had mixed emotions as we left the beautiful country of Peru. We have loved so many things about Peru but I feel we will miss the people the most.  We have truly learned to love those we have come to know. 

We wore these name tags with pride as we served the Lord and the people of Peru.

The pages of this blog are filled with pictures of those who have touched our hearts.  We are so glad to have this photo journal to look back on in the years to come.  

Words cannot express what all of you have meant to us but it can be summed up with the words of my favorite song from the musical Wicked.

I've heard it said

That people come into our lives for a reason.

Bringing something we must learn 

And we are led

To whose who help us most to grow

If we let them

And we help them in return

Well, I don't know if I believe that's true 

But I know I'm who I am today

Because I knew you....

It well may be

That we will never meet again 

In this lifetime

So let me say before we part

So much of me 

Is made of what I learned from you

You'll be with me

Like a handprint on my heart

And now whatever way our stories end

I know you have re-written mine

By being my friend......

Because I knew you......

I have been changed for good......

We love you all so very much!!!!
We are blessed beyond measure for knowing all of you.

"Thanks for the memories!"

Our Homecoming

Today marked the real end to our mission as we gave our homecoming talks in Sacrament Meeting. The Bishop asked us to talk about "Recognizing the Tender Mercies in our Lives".  This tied in perfectly with our mission report since we saw many tender mercies throughout our mission.  Heather and Ellie sang "Teach Me to Know" a medley of "Teach Me to Walk in the Light" and" I Know My Father Lives". Robert accompanied them and they did a great  job.  Our Stake President, Bryan King was also there to hear us speak.

Besides the members of our home ward, we were pleased to have special friends and family members there to support us: Don & Linda McClellan; Heather, Robert, Micah & Ellie Stephenson; Michael Stephenson; Sadie Hartman; Nathan, Kristy, Christian, Michael, Finn & Esplan McClellan; Kimberly LeDuc; Randy McCoppin; Tami, Shawn, Sierra, Caden & Hunter Paskins; Mindi, Dave, Austin, Erin, Ivy & Oakland Gifford; Angie, Casey, Tristan, Wesson & Catelin Young; Richard & Sandy Maxson; Dave & Sandra Sorenson; Kathie & Chris Smith; Dave & Sylvia Child; Trudy & Craig Day and Jim & Patti Fackrell.

Afterwards we had a little brunch in our clubhouse. We served roast beef sandwiches, potato salad, spinach salad, potato chips, relishes, jello jigglers, cookies and brownies.  It was so good to see everyone again.  Thanks for coming to welcome us home.

Bill & Jim Fackrell.  Jim and Patti served with us
in Peru.  They live in Bountiful.

Dave & Sandra Sorenson.  They served with us in the
Logan Temple before we left on our mission. 

Some of the Youngs, Giffords and Paskins.

The Sorensons with their friend Karen, Sandy & Richard Maxson.
Sandy and I went to high school together in Northern California.

Angie, Tami, Caden & Austin

Sierra & Shawn

Micah, Ellie, Sylvia, Dave & Michael

Dave & Sylvia Child.

Sadie, Michael & Christian

Esplan, Kristy, Christian & Michael 

Jim, Bill, Patti & Linda 

Nathan, Dave, Mindi, Kimberly, Linda & Don

Mindi, Randy & Heather

Last Sunday we were still in Peru.  This has been a tiring week but we felt everything went really well today.  It still seems kind of strange to be back in Utah and we can't help but miss so much about our life in Trujillo.  However, we are happy to be back with family and friends for the holidays.

Thanksgiving

There is so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.  We are grateful we were able to serve a mission in Peru and that we have returned home safely.  We are thankful for our family, our own children and grandchildren as well as our extended family.  We are grateful for the gospel in our lives and for good friends and neighbors.  

We went to Morgan to my sister's house for Thanksgiving two days after we returned home.  It was good to see Linda and Don again as well as their children.  Heather's family and Sadie went with us. They asked us to bring two pies and some deviled eggs.  Bill bought the "pies" and Sadie made the "deviled eggs."  After everyone had a good laugh and took pictures, we brought in the real thing.

We were so busy catching up and visiting that we forgot
to take very many pictures.  

Linda carving the turkey.

Kimberly, Robert & Heather

Don, Finn & Michael

Robert, Heather, David, Nathan & Kristy

Ellie & Sadie

Thanks to Wayne & Jan we were able to share a part of Peru
with the family.  Everyone tried some but Don was the only one who really liked it. 

Don & Linda brought us cookies from their cruise to Hawaii last month.

Don & Linda will be leaving on December 12th to serve a mission in the Curitiba, Brazil Temple. Friday was my birthday, but we spent it at home and away from the Black Friday crowds so we could get all of our suitcases unpacked.  We are loaning them to Don and Linda for their mission. We wish them luck in their new adventure.

Leaving Trujillo

Monday November 21st was our last day in Trujillo.  We finally got everything packed into five suitcases, two carryons and a backpack. Where did all this stuff come from? Jan and Wayne became the benefactors of a lot of our stuff that just wasn't going to make it home to Utah.

We went to lunch with the Hawses, Whitneys and Bentleys for one last Chicken Fried Chicken at Chili's. 

The Whitneys, the Hawses, the Hartmans & the Bentleys.
We have enjoyed getting to know all of these couples.
It is always fun to get together and share experiences.

The Bentleys serve in Pacasmayo, about 2 hours north of Trujillo.

The Whitneys serve in Viru, about an hour south of Trujillo.

That afternoon, Jan came down to take some last pictures of our apartment that we called home for the last 18 months.  It has been a fantastic apartment and we have loved the view of the temple every day.

We left for the airport at 7:00 PM with Oscar driving the suitcases and Bill and Wayne in the Temple Truck. 

Wayne, Oscar (one of our Engineers) & Bill.

Amy and Anali wanted to drive me and Jan to the airport. We were the officiators in the session when Amy came to the temple for the first time.  She and Anali are best friends.  They come to the temple every Thursday night. 

Jan, Amy & Anali.

All of the other temple missionaries were outside to say goodbye.  They even sang a Peruvian song for us.

The Guevara-Castros, the Gomez's, the Guevara-Magans, and of
course Wayne and Jan.  We have loved serving with these fun people. 

Waving goodbye.


Two last pictures of the temple before we leave for the airport.

We were asked by the Mission President to escort Sister Ashley Springer home to Utah with us.  She has been sick for several weeks and had spent the past week in a Peruvian hospital.  She has pneumonia and needs to go home and be treated by American doctors.  She was weak and had trouble breathing so she had to use a wheelchair.  At least we were given some priority treatment and moved to the front of the line in many of the airports.  It was a long flight home, more than 18 hours of flights and layovers. 

Checking in at the airport in Trujillo.

Anali, Amy, Wayne and Oscar.

Sister Marble, me, Ashley Springer & Bill.

President Marble taking a picture.

President & Sister Casos came to say goodbye.  They were there
to pick up the Ripples, the new missionaries replacing us.
They came in on the plane we were taking off on.  We didn't get to meet
them because we had to be at the gate.  They will be living in our
apartment.


Here is a picture of Debbie and Peter Ripple from Halifax, Nova Scotia.
They will be serving in the temple for the next 18 months.  They served in the
Guayaquil, Ecuador temple 6 years ago.

These pictures were taken in the Lima airport while we were waiting for our luggage.  We had to collect it from Lan Airlines and recheck it into Delta.

Heather and Robert picked us up at the airport in Salt Lake City.  We stopped and ate a hamburger at In-N-Out on the way home.  Heather and family had cleaned our house and car and Ellie and our neighbor. De Anna, made cute signs to welcome us home.  We are glad to be off those planes and happy to be back home.  We sure enjoyed sleeping in our own bed again.

The next project is unpacking all these suitcases.  Not only are there the ones we just brought home, but the Hawses brought 2 home for us in July and Heather and Robert brought two home for us in August.  We have sure accumulated a lot of "stuff".