Our lead photo on this blog is the same one that we gave to each of our children for Christmas. We hope that they keep it close so that they and our grandchildren will remember why we are not near. We have truly been called to serve by our Heavenly Father through his living prophets. We feel it and want all to know that we are trying to do the will of Our Father.
As we finished up our week in the MTC, we continued to be blessed with spiritual experiences. They take you out of your comfort zone, but you go through the experience with growth and confidence. The role playing appeared very real, certainly the emotions that we had were real. As we taught and testified, the spirit confirmed to us and those around us that we were doing His work. This photo is from one of the "standard" photo shoots in the MTC. Of course, we are pointing to the Europe Area, which is where we are now serving. It was taken by a sister who had arrived at the MTC the day before. She and her companion are going to serve in France. This same day was Debbie's birthday. We celebrated that night by going to the Provo Temple and having a nice meal together at P.F. Changs.
.
After finishing up at the MTC, we had another weekend to make final preparations and say more good byes before leaving on the plane on Monday morning. Finally, the moment arrived, Jacob awoke early to take us to the airport at 4:30 am. All arrangements worked as planned. We had about 5 hours laying over at the Atlanta airport. Then we continued onto Frankfurt that evening, arriving this morning at 8:20 am (Frankfurt Time). After all this excitement and a full day of work, we are ready to go to bed and begin overcoming jet lag for one last time. As I look up at our wall in our bedroom, I see a new wall hanging that we brought with us from the U.S. on this last trip:
With my sweetheart by my side, we are now "home". We pray for our family and loved ones. However, the majority of our time and energy will be devoted to helping build the Kingdom of God.
