Tuesday, October 17, 2017

That six week cycle can be so painful!

Once again we're going through the transfer cycle.  Many tears shed over departing friends.  We truly consider them our children.  We're okay with sharing them with the parents that sent them here...
With 14 leaving, it was a great meal followed by the final testimony meeting.  There is so much energy in this group.
 As much as they've matured during their venture here, they are still fun-loving young adults!
 This elder back to Utah,
 this elder off to California after 10 days or so here with his family,
this elder back to Utah
 This sister returns to southern part of Korea,
 as with this good sister back to her Korea home town.
 This sister served four transfers right here in our area and returns to her home in Korea.
 This elder returns to northern Utah,
 This good elder returns to Florida and to help with some hurricane relief...
 This good elder returns to central Utah,
 This elder returns to Tennessee.
 This elder served ten months or so in the office, first as supply manager then as an assistant.  He returns to central Utah.
 This sister spends about two weeks in Korea with her family before returning to Oregon.
 This sweet sister returns to England,
 and this sister returns to the Philippines. 
How much we'll miss them all. What an international group we have shared our experience with.  There were so many tears shed those last 24 hours, we almost needed an ark!

We welcomed an amazing group of ten elders and four sisters.  Amazing stat for all of you, of the eight elders who came from the US, all eight are Eagle Scouts in the Boy Scouts of America!  There are amazing facts about each one of these young people.  They represent the cream of the crop for this age group!   They came into the airport ready to work. (this is also one of the tallest groups of elders we've received!)

This elder is from northern Utah
 This elder is from central Utah
 This sister is Korean, but her family emigrated to California many years ago.
 This sister is from Northern Nebraska
 This sister is from north central Utah
 This sister is from Korea, but her family emigrated to Hawaii
This elder is from far northern Utah
 This elder is from Washington and is a cousin to a missionary in our mission from the Philippines.
 This elder is from central Utah
 These next two elders are both from the same town in the south east corner of Korea.  They know each other and are excited to serve near each other.

 This elder is from Arizona
 This elder is from South Carolina
 This elder is from central Utah

Here's the picture with the missionaries and their trainers.  As we meet with them and get to know them we continue to be amazed at the selflessness, the humility and great desires to serve others.  There are so many thing said about this generation, but these young people are amazing, intelligent, talented young adults.

Of course, we had a few unusual pictures to go with it all, but not many.
Occasionally, the missionaries complain about foot discomfort since they walked 5-10 miles each day.  Sister Turner tests a few things to see where the pain is.  This poor elder has some plantar fasciitis which Sister Turner has had. She shows them how to massage it.  As you can see by the look on his face, our Assistant is not impressed with the massage!  He now knows what personal things he must do to improve his situation without having Sister Turner's torture skills.:)

Here we found a cute little vehicle to transport friends and family! I'd be afraid to hit a bump and go over backwards.  The biggest person ought to be in the front, not the back...
This week we were a little delayed due to technical issues.  But, it appears they are worked out.  We begin interviews again this week.  We'll be doing them in the homes of the missionaries. You'll get a sense of their housing situation.  Some are too small and we've added missionaries. We'll be moving to new apartments.  We'll get a sense for the cleanliness and care as well.  Look forward to seeing your missionary in their natural environment.  We love you all!