This will be our last missive from the mission. We’ll be here another week and a half, but we’ll mostly be getting ready to leave – clearing out, cleaning, doing all the final packing up, etc. – plus our usual meetings in the zone and in the mission, daily mission tasks and my physical therapy appointments.
Us, in our best mission photo.
It’s bittersweet to think of leaving, but, we are very glad we
came. It’s been a good experience and we’ve met some wonderful people!
Some people know that we were being recruited for another mission
— to manage the Family History Data Center in Frankfort, Germany. If we were to
go on that mission, we’d be in NC for about 8 months, then, head to Germany for
18 months. However, the timing for that no longer feels right. So, we’ve told
them to take our names off the list, and we won’t be going to Germany in 2019
after all. Although I’m feeling a tiny bit disappointed, we’ll see what the
future brings. . . There may be another mission down the road for us
one day.
We’ve been reading in 3 Nephi recently — the chapters that speak
of the Lord’s kindness and mercy and tenderness towards us. Such sweet verses!
They lift the spirit!
I stopped taking the heavy, narcotic meds last weekend. I’ve
needed them until now for pain management, and the doc has been gradually
decreasing the dosage, to facilitate getting off of them. I’ve been surprised
at how much better my whole body feels not taking those, even though I feel
more localized pain in my leg. (However, I’m optimistic that will get better
soon.) The physical therapist says I’m ahead of schedule as far as strength and
range of motion, but the last thing to return is balance (i.e. not needing a
cane for walking) and the exercises they’re having me do help with all three.
(Because, of course, increasing strength and range of motion improves balance.)
We will miss being so close to the beautiful Salt Lake
City temple. (And, it seems
unlikely that we’ll ever again live within a five-minute walk of any temple.
What a blessing that has been!)
We enjoyed a Days of '47 Pops Concert at
Abravanel Hall last night. The band, Joshua Creek, were the guest artists. It
was a fun beginning to all the Pioneer Day activities in the next couple of
weeks. We don't have plans to attend the rodeo this year, but we do have
tickets for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Pioneer Day concert next weekend.
Then, we'll really be ready to finish up the final packing and get on the road.
We leave here right after our farewell luncheon with the mission presidency on July 25 and arrive in NC on August 1.
