Monday, April 25, 2016

Saying Goodbye



Going on a mission is a fabulous experience.  If that mission is in a foreign country, it's both exciting and a little nuts.  We were country bumpkins when we left and street-savy, city dwelling pros when we returned.  We learned to love the Romanian people and their culture and their way of life.  We will never be the same.

During our last week we said goodbye to a people and country we came to love.  More than anything though, we said goodbye to missionaries that we came to love and respect.  They are wonderful examples of hard-working, humble, dedicated men of God.  We will ever be thankful for our association with them.

Our District at Caru Cu Bere, our favorite Bucharest restaurant.


Our beloved Mission President and his wife,
President and Sora Lundberg.  We spent our last night in Bucharest with them in the General Authority Suite!
It was hard to leave our Branch President and his family.
I assisted in Primary with this lovely lady.  She didn't speak
a lick of English and I spoke a tad more Romanian yet,
I was able to explain Sharing Time and Singing Time and
Primary was off and running!  A Mission Miracle!




My blazer with the lining in shambles.  Our shoes were worse but we gave them away as we walked away from our apartment for the last time.


We love this family.  We love them so much that we invited Ioana (seated next to her mom) to come to America and attend BYU under our sponsorship.  Elena followed her the following year under another sponsorship.  It has been a blessing to be a part of their lives.

On April 22, 2016 Ioana graduated from BYU with a Bachelor's Degree!
Elena will graduate from BYUI in 2017.