Day 369 - Saturday, July 1, 2017

 Saturday morning was spent finishing our packing and trying to make four bags weigh exactly 23kg.  We definitely didn't make it but that's what the postal service mail is for.  We scurried about trying to make sure that everything was fit as a fiddle for the Johnson's arrival.  We have lived in the mission home for 3 years.  We knew every square inch of it, decorated it and loved it and the memories created inside it.  What do you do to ensure that it is ready for a new mission president and companion who will come in, adjust to and begin to love it as well?  It was shelter from the storms.  It was a place to show our appreciation to our District and Stake leaders.  It was a place of training and council for our Missionary Leadership Council.  It was a place where our departing missionaries could spend the last two days of mission life before returning home.  It was a place where the arriving missionaries developed trust in their new leaders as the missionaries learned how much the leaders loved them from the very minute they set foot into the mission.  The memories are valuable, varied and will last for an eternity.  We are so very grateful for the grand opportunity it has been to labor for 3 years in this humble portion of the Lord's vineyard.   

The pacing begins as our guards, Jose and Danilo are waiting (patiently) for the Johnson's to arrive.  They were so excited!

The Johnson's arrived on Saturday evening after a long drive from Manila.  We had dinner and introduced them to Sister Connie who will make their lives much smoother by attending to their needs in the home for 3 years.  President and Sister Johnson are lovely people on Skype but even better in person. They will be loved by many...including us!