9 August 2012

It is as if I am in a dream, sitting in the Brisbane International Airport, having spent the night in travel across Australia from Perth!  Next stop, Los Angeles, and then on to SLC.  Only 4 days ago, we bought groceries, thinking we were going to stay another 7 months!  But a series of bad attacks of TN changed our minds.  I increased again the amount of meds, and here we are, already done with our mission to Australia!

A whirlwind of events brought us to this point, so fast and furious that I will never be able to relate them all here.  Once the word was out, we had a steady stream of visitors and phone calls expressing their love and gratitude for our mission.  The branch members seemed truly devastated, some bringing gifts and cards, others just visiting, and seemed not to want to go home, though we were pressed for time!  There were many hugs and tears.  We felt truly loved.  It’s funny how we could feel so unappreciated even as recently as eight months ago!  What happened?

On Tuesday night, our regular night to teach the Pansoys, Elder Ashby gave the two men some neckties, and showed them how to tie them.  To the two youngest he gave some little trinkets of his own, then told them about stake and general conferences and a few other things new to them.  Then we broke the news.  At first there were a few tears, but I don’t think it sank in, for they were soon engrossed in a scripture story from the Book of Mormon that means a lot to us.  We told together the story of the Anti-Nephi-Lehites and their valiant sons, the Stripling Warriors, and bore our testimonies.  We promised them that God would take care of them if they always keep their covenants, and that He has great things in store for them, His children.  We expressed our faith in them and our eternal love for them, and though we may never see them again, we will always pray for them and never forget them, NEVER!  We can keep in touch by internet and through the mail.   Then we all knelt together, and Bro. Pansoy asked Elder Ashby to give the prayer.  As he poured out his soul for this sweet family, there were sniffles all around, but on my left Joko, a handsome 17-year-old, was sobbing just as hard as he could.  We all held each other till we had to pull ourselves away.  Even John could feel the Spirit of the Lord in that meeting and the love, for I found that he was crying too, hanging his head in embarrassment.  He can’t even speak English!  I bent over and kissed him anyway.  Tenderest of feelings reminded us of God’s love for us in like manner.

Thank goodness for Sister Dale, who volunteered to come early on moving day.  I was in a daze, so she helped me make decisions, and finish up packing our personal things.  Then she stayed for the day, cleaning and polishing, washing our sheets for us—just everything!  What a gift!  Elder Ashby did a lot of little jobs to tie up loose ends (So much to be done!), and we were finally off, calling more of the members as long as we had signals on our phone.  As the miles passed, we recalled the events of the past eleven months, and the dear, dear friends we now had half of a world away from home.  What a wonderful adventure this has been in such a short time!  We feel like we lived more in these months than in the past several years! 

When we got to the mission office in Perth, we were swarmed again by the office staff and some of the young Elders and Sisters who were there to attend the Temple.  It seems that the Pansoys’ baptism has made us famous!  (I guess this is the closest we’ll ever be to it, so we enjoyed it.)

Everyone was so good to us.  We had one good night’s sleep at the Inneses, and then closed our bank account and filled perscriptions, etc.  The office couples helped us get our luggage all weighed after a general shuffling of everything so that I hardly knew where to find anything!  Last night, President Lindsay invited us to their mission home to have a nice long visit with him.  He seemed sincerely concerned, and so very congratulatory.  He said that we had filled a full mission in that we had accomplished so much, and that he had been hearing reports from all over the mission about it!  We were so thankfully gratified!  It was wonderful to get to know him better.  He’s easy to talk with and as articulate as we knew he would be.  Very personable.  He said they would expect to get to know us better after their mission is finished.  A parting gift, he gave me a beautiful Priesthood blessing, in which he promised me that I would make this trip in comfort, not being troubled by my TN or by ear pain.  (I had mentioned my fear of that because of having contracted a head cold in the last couple of days.  I remembered the trouble I had on my trip down here.)   

Then the few senior missionary couples who were in Perth for stake conference gathered for a send-off dinner.  I haven’t been able to eat much again, but we always enjoy being together.  After dinner, President L. gave us time to tell about our mission experiences and bear our testimonies.  Then everybody went with us to the airport to await our boarding with us.  We stole a glance on entering the portable walkway to see this little cluster of dear friends waving.  It was bitter-sweet.  We hate to leave, but we’re excited to be with our family again, and we feel good about our mission.  We have done our best.  That’s all the Lord wants. 

Goodbye, Australia!  We love you.