23 July 2010 Friday

Going home day! Already it is here. But first some things need to be done like mailing the box full of gifts the William family gave us last Wednesday evening as we visited their home for the last time. Also, for the Augustine Family, we took the pillows we purchased from Martha yesterday when she inspected the apartment, some towels, plus two pair of shoes we hope they can use. Dora made the climb to their home which was an achievement in itself. Jane was working but we got to say goodbye to Curtis and the boys, Jamal in particular. As a farewell jester Elders Nielson, Taylor, Rosales and Bowles treated us to a Domino’s Pizza dinner. Elder Taylor told Sister Faux a couple of weeks ago he was going to cook a dinner for her before we left but it ended up this being as close as he could come. But it did hit the spot. Then it was time to load our luggage and drive to the Hewanorra International Airport located in Vieux Fort to check in. Before leaving the apartment we weighed each one of our suitcases and according to our scale they were all within the prescribed limits. However, when we put our first suitcase on the airport scale it was eight pounds over. This is when we were thankful the elders (Bowles, Nielson, Rosales, and Taylor) were with. They carried our luggage to an out-of-the place area where they began sorting though and rearranging various items within our three suitcases. With their expertise in matters such as this it wasn’t long until we were back at the ticket counter with all three suitcases within the weight limits. After handshakes and hugs our final act was to present to Elder Bowles the keys to the auto. There is always a sunny side to everything. In Atlanta we had to change aircraft and by the time we retrieved our luggage, processed through immigration, customs and security we were on a dead run. We made it OK but not with much time to spare. We arrived at the Salt Lake City International Airport at 11:50 p.m. to be greeted by our sons Craig and Jeff and his wife Kris, and their children (our grandchildren) Wesston, Ceci and Hunter; our daughter Amy and husband Raulan and their children (our grandchildren) Connor, Jenna and Riley; and our daughter Becky-and just a few minutes later grandchildren Tascha and Hannah. Needless to say it was fabulous to be greeted by so many family members at this time of night. We rode home with Craig in our nice Buick Lucerne and it seemed so good. Once at home and the visiting mostly done it was 2:00 a.m. when we said our goodnights to one another. We are most thankful for a safe day of travel and especially the opportunity and blessing it has been for us to serve in the West Indies Mission the last seventeen months. We met some wonderful people and feel that we have formed lifetime friendships even if we should never meet them again. They are a beautiful and handsome race of people that we truly learned to love. We pray the good members of the Vieux Fort Branch will stay strong in the covenants they have made so they can be a good example and further the missionary work in that area of St Lucia.
Sister Faux, Yes, we are home from serving our mission in the West Indies on the Island of St Lucia. We had a wonderful time while serving there as we met and learned to love so many great friends. We learned so many new things about the island, the people, about ourselves and the church. We are happy to be home and seeing our family and our friends. We are back in our old ways traveling to our Idaho home, racquet ball and just enjoying life. We miss our friends in St Lucia very much and pray for them each day. We pray they can continue to have a good life and realize how important the church should be with them. What a great influence they can be to others as they stay active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I know the church is true and the principles that are taught are genuine and real and help us become better people. I am thankful for the opportunity to have served this mission on the Island of St Lucia of the West Indies Mission.