Wednesday, March 11, 2015

    What a roller coaster day!  There was no sleep for me after about 4:00 a.m. so it was also a long day, but we had a wonderful time on our last day in this beautiful temple.  We tried to soak in every sight and sound, enjoy every ordinance, and savor the hugs and good-byes. 

    The phone calls, visits, gifts, and kind wishes just kept coming all day and into the evening and we were overwhelmed by it all.  We have a lengthy list of emails now with the good intentions of keeping in touch which will certainly dissipate as time and distance separate us from our Honduran friends.  But it will be fun to keep in touch at Christmas time and special occasions.  Several sisters shared kind sentiments in the women’s part of the prayer meeting this morning and even though there was no one there to interpret, I understood most of what they said.  It warmed my heart to over-flowing. 

    President Ocampo and his wife had us come to their apartment after our shift where he released us as temple ordinance workers and gave us our certificates and letters.  They both shared their appreciation for our service in their country and in the temple and made us feel like our sacrifice to be here was important to them.  Pres. Ocampo also gave me a new Temple Recommend since mine expires this month and that was a nice experience.  He spoke enough English to get the job done.

    It would be too lengthy to list here all of the people who called and came by today, but we certainly felt loved and appreciated.  Everyone wants to come to the United States in the future and Glade promised to take them to Yellowstone Park if they get close enough to Idaho to come see us. Everyone expects us to come back and some said to bring our family so they can get acquainted J 

    We have been packing up everything, giving things away, throwing things away, and saving things for the couple from Washington who will be here to replace us in about ten days.  We have packed and weighed luggage—then re-packed and re-weighed it trying to distribute the contents and get each suitcase to the right weight.  That has been the hardest part of packing for sure!  Glade has been very patient with all the shuffling and he has to do all the lifting.  Needless to say—we are exhausted and ready for sleep. 

    Good Night Everyone.  We love you and can’t wait to see lots of family tomorrow night!   We are praying for safe travel for everyone.  It’s really hard for me when everyone is traveling such great distances, but I am trying not to worry too much and have faith that we will all arrived safely and have a wonderful gathering.  It’s hard to believe that this is our last night in Tegucigalpa.  There have been tears shed today, and I’m sure there will be more tomorrow.  That is a good message in itself.  

With Sister Ocampo.  We could have been closer friends
had we shared the same language, but we shared smiles
and feelings about the important things.

This is my sweet friend Sandy who speaks English and
was a life saver to me when we first arrived.
She did not come to the temple often, but often enough
to bring tender mercies and encouragement to me.