Home From the Mission

We left Mendoza Jan. 31 and arrived home Feb. 1st., our family and one of our missionaries was waiting at the airport for us and it was a wonderful homecoming and I cried a lot.  Afterward we went to our home, where the family had cleaned and prepared our home for us with the cupboards and refrigerator stocked with lot of good food.  The beds were made and towels in the bathrooms, it was all so perfect, and we were so happy to be home.  A giant thank you to our wonderful family.  Even Kayla waited to have the baby until after we came home (or maybe it was the baby who waited).  Altogether, it was fantastic to be back.

Here are a few pictures of the last few days.

We asked our ward family to pose for a last picture.  They insisted we sit in the middle front.

Our very handsome ward young men.  Some didn't get in the ward picture so I had them pose here.  The one over my left shoulder has his mission call and left the next week.

Cesar Mendoza with he and Eva's baby.

Our very good friends, the Mendoza family from Peru, we frequently had Sunday dinner here.

All the "oldies" going home.

We spent the entire day in Buenos Aires visiting with Dr. Hollingsworth and his wife and and touring the beautiful Rose Gardens, then back to Area Offices, where the shuttle whisked us off to the international airport, about an hour away, where we stood in multiple lines for about 4 -5 hours before we got through the checking and customs.  AND THEN: ENGLISH! It was such a shock when finally got on the American Airlines and everybody spoke "ENGLISH" (first time we heard it for a year and a half).  What a wonderful feeling! We were almost home.

After a 10 hour flight, we landed in Dallas Fort Worth and had a 5 hour layover where Dan and his family came and took us to breakfast (it was 6:30AM).  It was so good to see them all again.

When we landed in Salt Lake, our family was waiting for us.  A beautiful sight to see.  Even one of our Elders came to the airport, Elder Sandford, it was so good to see him again too.

And of course, we couldn't stop crying, we were so happy to be home and be with our families again.

Our family cleaned and prepared our home for us and all the shelves were stocked with food and the refrigerator too.  We are still finding little notes from the grand-kids tucked away everywhere we look. 

5 days after we got home, Chad and Kayla had their new baby, Austin Riley.  We thank Kayla and Austin for waiting for us, it was the icing on the cake.

Conclusion:
We loved going on a mission and working right in the heart of the mission and helping to keep it running, I can't think of any better way we could have spent that 18 months.  The whole thing, although difficult (because of the language problem), was wonderful and we are better people because of it.   We have made so many new friends and will love them forever, our hearts and minds have been enriched and enlightened.  The saddest thing was to not be able to wear my missionary badge, I loved being identified as a servant of the Lord, and I will always remember being "Hermana Packer" for a short sweet time, and I know "Elder Packer" feels the same.