That's All There Is

We came into our final day and felt like we were late, even though it was only 7:45. The Lawes said they'd be coming in early, so we let the transition begin. I sat down by Sister Lawes as she continued the list of to-dos that she'd already started. We needed to check the email addresses and remove last week's go-homes, and, to my horror (really!) all the addresses,except for 4 or 5, were completely gone! Not what you want to have happen as you have one foot out the door. I ran back to the elders' computers and signed in. No missionary, no parents, no mission presidency, no stake presidencies, no contacts at all! Nothing! When the OE's arrived I shared the bad news and left it in their hands. Then, to make matters worse, they said that all the contacts in all the missionaries' phone were gone. The magnitude of all of this was really begin to cause panic set it. Then I mentioned to Elder Whittier how painstakingly Elder Lauper had deleted all of the mission contacts from his phone last night. It had taken 3/4 of the Golden State-Cavaliers game to complete the task. I guess that was the magic clue that Elder W needed. Apparently, all the mission phones, including Elder Lauper's, are synced together! He'd single-handed, crashed the whole system! We didn't know that, and I'm pretty sure if they'd mentioned it, it wouldn't have meant a thing. Before the office meeting began, Elder W had found and restored all of the contacts and life was going to continue in the LABRM office. Another crisis averted.

The fact that this was our last day in the office hasn't really sunk in yet. Some of the missionaries came in to say good-bye, and that was hard. The Plaquettes and I even shed some tears, but they'll be in the west following their missions. Sister King will attend BYU-I and Sister Call lives in Utah. I'm looking forward to some reunions.

Sister Plumb, Sister Barclay, Sister Hunter and Sister Woodward from BR North and LSU

BR Spanish Elders Crook and Peterson--Elder C is back after serving in New Orleans for several months

Following our meeting, Sister Hansen and Sophie (Pres was talking to SLC trying to get Sister Lawes into one of the necessary programs) presented us with this incredible

painting of a worker at the Cafe du Monde in New Orleans. Sister Hansen is the artist, and I'm still baffled as to how she ever found time to get out her paints with the busy schedule that they keep!

I don't know if this will make any sense at all, but, to me, this embodies our entire mission. If one picture is worth a thousand words, it may take that to make an explanation. When I think of the South usually the first thing I picture is Jackson Square and the surrounding area which includes Cafe du Monde. We've taken all of our children and grandchildren there literally at every time of the day and night, and it's just an experience that we loved in spite of some of the rudest servers we've ever encountered. Maybe that's part of what makes it so memorable. Then to have the painting created by one of the sweetest Sisters in the South makes it that much more meaningful. I know this probably make no sense to anyone but me.

We were completely surprised and overwhelmed by this generous gift, and it will be a priceless and treasured piece of art that will find a prominent place in our home as a continual reminder of the past 18 months and all that we've experienced and loved.

CAFE DU MONDE by SISTER MARY ANNE HANSEN

We turned over the keys and walked out the door, feeling like we'd left part of our hearts behind, but also like we'd done our best. This feels a bit like one of my favorite books--Madeline. "She turned out the light, closed the door. That's all there is. There isn't any more."