We are very excited for our new missionaries. They always come with such excitement and zeal. A little bit groggy from the plane ride, but ready to go to work.
It was also time to say goodbye to another group of missionaries. Each of these seven missionaries has made such an impact on the mission. It will be very different without them here. They have served well, and will be missed in the UKM.
Farewell dinner
Unfortunately, two hours before the lunch and testimony meeting with our departing missionaries, I was called away on an emergency. I was so sorry to miss the final meeting with them.
I received a message from Elder and Sister Wright that something was wrong with Elder Wright. He was having episodes of bradycardia, or a slow heart rate. These episodes were causing him to feel light headed, and very tired. At first they were very sporadic, but then they started to happen more and more often. I was in communication with the Area Doctor, and we made the decision to get him home to Utah for care. We had a group of missionaries leaving on Thursday at 11:00am to transfer to Rwanda, so it was decided that I would travel with them and escort Elder and Sister Wright back to Utah. The decision was made at 10:30, so I had 30 minutes to say my goodbyes, pack, and leave.
When I got to Rwanda, the plan was to sleep that night, then pack up all their belongings, train office missionaries in all the things that Elder and Sister Wright had been doing, take care of all legalities with the new office missionaries, and say our goodbyes all in one day. They would be leaving at 6:00pm that night. It felt like a massive, and almost impossible task, but we just got to work. It was amazing to see the Lord's hand in everything we did.
There were a lot of people who wanted to come say goodbye to my parents, including all the missionaries. We actually had time to accomplish everything, and eat lunch with the zone who sang them several hymns (our favorite was Come, come ye saints. We kind of laughed when they sang, "...and should we die before our journey's through..."). We also had several of the members come by and say goodbye, and help them to accomplish all they needed to do.
We made it to the airport with about an hour to spare. We had two 50 lb. suitcases each (6 total) along with carry on bags. It's quite a chore getting through security. You have to put all of your suitcases through an x-ray machine. Dad was in a wheelchair, and mom was helping me get all the bags through the security check. It went relatively smooth. Then we went to the ticket counter and started weighing all the bags to check them onto the plane. The woman at the ticket counter said that a man in an office wanted to speak with me. To our shock, we were told that the flight had been over-booked, and there were not enough seats for us to get on the flight. We had been bumped! I was so surprised! I told them that this was a medical emergency, and they said they were sorry. I tried to buy business class, or first class tickets, and they said they were sorry. I couldn't believe that as blessed as we had been to accomplish EVERYTHING that day, this is what happened just as we were getting ready to get on the plane. I decided that it must be the Lord's will, because he had helped us so much throughout the day, but I still was completely shocked. As we tried to leave the airport, everyone we passed acted shocked. I guess people don't get bumped off flights in Rwanda. Each security guard we passed asked why we were leaving, and what was the "program". One stopped us, and when I told him that I spoke with a man in the office, he said to wait, and walked over to that office to verify that we were really leaving. They didn't even have a way for us to exit, it was quite a chore to get out of the airport. We called the zone leaders and asked that they come back to the airport to pick us up. That night we slept soundly, we had worked so hard! The next morning, my dad confided that he was glad to get a day of rest in before taking the long flight back to Utah. He really would not have been able to handle such a flight after such a hard day of packing and training. The Lord knew he couldn't handle it, and allowed him to have another day to rest, and we are grateful.
Taken after we were told we wouldn't be getting on our flight home.
Our amazing new office elders in Rwanda
FINALLY boarding the flight
Their view of Amsterdam... these were comfortable chairs!!
Our seats on the flights were all together.
They were so surprised to have so many waiting at the airport to welcome them home! It even brought tears to their eyes.
