Outgoing Missionaries--On to their next transfer!

Twenty three of our fantastic missionaries left on Tuesday to return home or on to the country where they were originally assigned. Two are VISA waiters and one senior couple. We will miss them all terribly.

Outside of the Mission Home on Monday night! Gorgeous evening!

It's always fun to see them line up for an onslaught of photos before heading home. These pictures tell the story of how much they love their missions and how much we love them!

Sisters in Zion

Phenomenal young men, ready for their next adventure: school, work, dating, and acclimating to a new life wherever they end up.

Army of Helaman

Elder and Sister Samuelson are two incredible people. This is their second mission, and we enjoyed having them here.

Sisters Hammon and Samuelson 

Here's Elder Tippetts helping with breakfast. His mother would be proud. Immediately after this picture, he put on an apron, so he wouldn't spill watermelon juice on his white shirt.

Elder Tippetts helping with breakfast. 

Elder Treviño also helped out cutting musk melon. He also had an accident and sliced his finger. Fortunately, we had fixed it up before he left at 6:00 a.m. He had to go to Los Angeles to catch his flight. 

Elder Treviño 

Elder Treviño  had to leave early before everyone was ready!

Breakfast was comprised of sticky buns, scrambled eggs, yogurt, fruit, and orange juice. They weren't too nervous, so they ate heartily.

Breakfast before heading to the airport

Happy campers with full stomachs 

Breakfast of champions- sticky buns,  scrambles eggs, yogurt and fruit

This is what happens when the missionaries arrive. They bring luggage that mostly weight just under 50 pounds per bag. They come with two bags and must go home with two or pay extra! They leave a lot of things behind, pay enormous UPS fees to ship stuff home, have someone take the extra things home, or return later and pick up the loads of things they think they will need.

Suitcase galore! Thanks to Sister Shirley for the photo!

 One of our most favorite outgoing events is to have a "companion study" with the missionaries. Tonight we had a robust conversation and study about "light" and how we are going to kept injecting light into our lives every single day for the rest of our lives.

Studying together! Thanks to Sister Shirley for the photo!

 The shoes stack up when they begin to arrive.

Thanks to Sister Shirley for the photo!

Sister Hammon and Sister Dorny were twins tonight as they have the same blouse!

Thanks to Sister Shirley for the photo!

There is something the erupts when you watch them go up the escalator! In this case, it was lots of tears through waves galore!

Terminal 4 for four missionaries going east!

Even more tears, watching this group go up, up, and up and then through security. Before they went up, we said our goodbyes through tears and knots in our throat. Then, we waved at the them until they disappeared suddenly, just as they appeared suddenly at the top of the stairs two years or 18 months ago.

Terminal 2 for those going Salt Lake City!

Ah, the heart tugs as they trundled out of our lives, into their new lives at home. While they knew they needed to go home, many of them really didn't want to go home. We would have kept all of them had we been able to.

For mission presidents and their wives, it is, indeed, a tug and pull on heart strings every six weeks as missionaries come and go. We watch them come as young people, some of them just six years out of primary, still young, some immature, others incredibly homesick, and others ready to get to work. Then, two years and/or 18 months later, they leave as leaders, examples, incredible teachers, and spiritually mature to combat the challenges that await them at home.