Saying Goodbye Is So Hard To Do

This is a very hard post to write. For the past week or so, we have been saying our "goodbyes." This has been emotionally straining for us. We have developed close, personal relationships with a lot of people. Sure, there is always video conferencing, but as we've experienced with our families, it just isn't the same as being there.

A couple of weeks ago, we visited our chiropractor for the last time. He has taken amazing care of us over the past two years. He is originally from California and has been here in Germany for several years. Diane had it all planned out to give him a Book of Mormon with our picture and testimonies in it. As we said goodbye to him, she handed him the book and told him how it had changed our lives. He seemed quite sincere in his appreciation of our gift.

A week ago last Friday, our floor in the office building was closed for electrical work. We decided to take one last quick trip. I wanted to see a different country, so we went to the Czech Republic. It was quite a distance for a day trip and on top of that it rained all the way there and back.

But, what an incredible time we had while in the Czech Republic. We visited two towns just over the border. When we arrived in each town, the rain became a light drizzle. The beauty of their buildings and the landscape was well worth the trip. I am grateful for Diane's willingness to go. She had been to the Czech Republic before, but she wanted to go on this long trip just for me. Here are some pictures we took there.

Once homes and now hotels.

River through town

Colorful buildings.

A recently restored Orthodox church.  They were

painting the inside during our visit.

Church up close. 

Colorful city.

The next day, we ministered to one of our assigned member families. They are a young couple with three small children and another on the way. The parents very seldom have down time from the kids and have been struggling to work on fixing up their home. We took the kids for a two-hour activity in a nearby park. The activity involved picking up trash in the park and woods.

It had been raining earlier in the day, but during the activity it cleared up. We had such a great time and the kids were wonderful. It was a bit hard to communicate. The oldest sister knows German and English quite well. The middle one is the brother. His German is much better than his English. The youngest sister only knows a very little English. That little girl would just talk to us and talk to us as if we knew what she was saying. Every once in a while, we'd have to ask her older sister what she was saying. From their smiles, I think the kids enjoyed our company as much as we enjoyed theirs. I know, for sure, that the parents were grateful for the time away from the kids.

We had so many invitations for dinners before we leave that we decided to invite some of the people to our place and have one big dinner. That is what we did last Sunday evening. It was wonderful. To have those we have been close to come together for the meal was truly memorable. We had our good friend Jan, whom I baptized a year and a half ago; Thong, whom I confirmed as a member of the church just recently; Eva, a church employee who lives in our apartment building who we have helped out a number of times; the sister missionaries; and the Elder and Sister Mellor, whom we minister to. What an enjoyable evening, but after they left, the reality of us leaving Germany made our hearts heavy.

Last Wednesday, there was a farewell luncheon for the four senior missionary couples who are leaving in the next few weeks. The night before I suddenly came down with a bad cold. Still, I got dressed and made it to the part where the departing missionaries say a few words to the other 14 missionary couples. Diane spoke before me.  She struggled through her words, but ended with by bearing a beautiful testimony by reading hymn titles from the hymn book. Interestingly enough, we both focused on the same thought--how senior missionaries give service. That is just what they want and that is just what they do, they serve. It was extremely hard to talk. Both of our emotions surfaced which made it hard to speak. Of course, the tears that came to the other missionaries listening didn't help either.

Tomorrow, we are confident that we will be called up in sacrament meeting to give our testimonies. This will be the last goodbye to a group. I anticipate that it will be just as hard as our missionary farewell luncheon. We are both prepared with what we will say, but we are far from being ready to speak the words.

View of Frankfurt from our temporary apartment.  Temporary

until we leave Germany.

Our good friend, Jan, will come over after church. That will be another hard goodbye.

As much as we are looking forward to be surrounded by friends and family, saying goodbye is extremely hard. How can you leave where your heart is?

This will probably be our last post on this blog. Soon we will be adventuring out on a new assignment. One in which we expect to grow even more than what we did these past two years;  grow closer to the ones we love, grow closer to each other, and grow closer to our Heavenly Father.

Squeezing It All In

Time is passing all too quickly now. We are squeezing in all that we can. Obviously, we are increasing our efforts to do what we can on our assignment, but we have decided to do some of the things and see some of the sights we have not had time for earlier on in our mission.

Our department had a farewell luncheon for us and for our manager, Brother Santos. He has truly impressed us with his leadership skills, his command of words when speaking, and most of all for his amazing insight on how to apply scriptures to work and everyday events.  He is going to Utah for Training before he becomes the next HR Manager.

It is a wooden shovel

I don't normally take pictures of food, but this is unique. It is called the dirt shovel meal. Notice what the food is served on. Yep, that's right.... a dirt shovel.

Elder and Sister Skoubye went with us to Paris for a few days. However, the day before we left an interesting thing happened.

A non-member woman, distressed because her husband had just died, prayed and felt the impression to come to our office building for comfort. The receptionist called the sister missionaries and they took her to the church next door. After talking to her a bit, they called me and asked for me to give her a blessing. I grabbed Elder Johnson, the Zone Leader, and we found them in the chapel. I was surprised to find that I knew this woman. She was from Canada and would periodically fly over to be with her sick husband who lived in the same apartment building as we did. She found comfort in several different ways, thanks to the senior missionaries and the younger missionaries. She was fed almost every night and was helped with taking care of the items in the apartment.

The day we returned from Paris, we were told that she was safely taken to the airport and was on her way back to Canada. She expressed an interest in the Church and plans to attend one that is only a couple of streets away from her home in Canada. The senior missionaries are amazing.  I sent out an email before I left and, without fanfare, they took care of the situation and helped this sister in need.

Back to our trip! We drove through Luxembourg and Belgium, stayed in Versailles, attended the temple in Le Chesney, and went into Paris on the train. Below are a series of pictures we'd like to share.

It was wonderful to be with the Skoubyes and to see the sights of Paris. Two things stand out the most to me. France is such a beautiful country, but I was more impressed by the friendly and wonderful people. The atmosphere is so inviting and open. They are blessed to live there.

The other thing that stood out in my mind was the experiences in the temple. We were there nearly the entire day.  ]If it weren't for the need of food and rest, I believe all of us would have remained there until the temple closed. It is a beautiful temple, inside and out.

Without further "adieu", here are the pictures.

Church in Echternach, Luxembourg

Sun coming through stained glass windows

Side street

Front of Paris Temple

In the garden area of the temple

Still in the garden area

Selfie

From the top of the Eiffel Tower.  A sea of city.

Cold but amazing

Leaving the area

We ate at a restaurant on this corner.

Notre-dame

Inside Notre-dame

Walking the streets of Paris

The Royal Summer Home.  Yes, all if it.

Church in the small village of Gueux, France

Down the street from the church.  

This is actually a restaurant.