Farewell

I know we're not supposed to call them "farewells", but it certainly doesn't feel like a regular church meeting when you have missionaries leaving! This past Sunday Mom and Dad spoke in our ward. They spoke on strengthening home and family. We had a great turn out! It was so wonderful to see most of my parents' siblings and their families, as well as several supportive friends. My Grandma, Dad's mom, even made it! Sending sons on missions must be part of the mothers job description.
We recorded the church meeting, because we had a few family members absent. I will post it here as well, if there is anyone else that would like to hear it. ----> (Farewell) After the meeting, we gathered at the condo clubhouse and had some yummy munchies. We ate soup, cookies, and veggies. Mom and Dad got to visit a lot of friends and family. It is amazing to see all the support for their mission.
Since last Sunday, things have been a whirlwind of excitement and preparation. We are vigorously working on making sure Mom and Dad's things are cleaned, packed and stored while they're gone. We're also checking and double checking the things they need to have packed to take. We have all of their luggage put together, and are just finishing shopping for a few last items.
Challenges have been getting tougher. Dad had some emergency dental work done this week. Which, really is more of a blessing since he will not have this same care in Ukraine, and it's great that it can be done here before he leaves. We are getting through these last few days and are excited to have the end upon us!
Mom and Dad will enter the MTC on Monday, October 28th. They will likely be staying in a hotel, since the rooms in the MTC are full of young missionaries. They will stay in Provo for a week, learning about their mission, Preach My Gospel, and whatever other training they will need. On Friday night, they will come home and stay one last weekend with their family. Then, from the information we have so far, they will fly out on Tuesday, November 5th. I will be continuing the blog from here at home with all the updates we recieve from them.
We are so excited to see all of the miracles take place to get our missionaries to Ukraine. The work is hastening on!
I had a few requests for the mission address to be posted, so here it is:
Prospekt Bogdana Khmelnitslcogo 67a
Donetsk 83087 Ukraine