Homeward Bound

So that was kind of fast! Our mission has ended and we are back home in Arizona, and yeah, it's over. But the memories and relationships and growth and joy will last forever!!!

Join me for some highlights (amongst all the weeping, joy, craziness, blubbering, excitement...OH THE EMOTIONS!

Last staff meeting...worthy of a staff photo!

Goodbye dinner with the women in black.

Packed up and ready to go...I don't want to talk about it.

We decided to take 4 days to get home and not drive so far each day because we were TIRED! We had decided to travel home in a very direct path, however we did see a couple of interesting things on the way...

Oklahoma City bombing site...one chair for each victim...very sobering and also peaceful.

Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo...

...never thought I would see Cadillacs face down in the ground and decorated so interestingly, but I'm always open to new educational experiences.

And here we are...what a beautiful sight.

It feels so good to be home...I miss Tennessee! AGH!

We had TWO DAYS to get ready for our homecoming so it was mass hysteria for a little while but so, so happy...

The Weavers and Sister Guernsey came all the way from Utah! 

We also had some missionaries from various parts of AZ that joined us. SO MUCH JOY!

It was a super happy day that I didn't want to end. I am forever grateful for this mission experience and the eternal relationships we have made. It is and forever will be a cherished time.

Grandma Klundt came down to be with us for our homecoming also and we all headed up to Prescott the next day to see Ashley, Emma and James. Ok, get ready for photos of grandkids, y'all!

4 generations! 

So much happy right there!!

Reading time!

Game time!

More happy! Most adorable face ever!! (The one on the RIGHT!)

Most adorable face ever! (The one on the LEFT!)

Life is good.

Cori and Jordan invited us over for dinner the night after we got back and we were able to see their beautiful home. We went out with them again on Wednesday to a Korean restaurant.

It's called something that sounds like pom-bi-diddy (pause for Scott to roll his eyes) and it was pretty darn good. The meat was magically delicious...unlike Lucky Charms.

We spent the rest of the week going through boxes that we had left here and wondering why, after 18 months of not using it or missing it, we were putting it all BACK in the cupboards. Life is such a mystery. We have made some progress, even more than we would have thanks to Grandma Klundt, THANK YOU! 

We are slowly getting used to being home and wondering how our mission could have passed so quickly. We loved the feeling of being on the Lord's errand all the time, automatically, and we miss that. We will now be making more of an effort to be anxiously engaged in good causes and continue to gather Israel in other ways. 

Thought for the week...

"Because the Restoration reaffirmed the foundational truth that God does work in this world, we can hope, we should hope, even when facing the most insurmountable odds...why should we not hope that righteous desires and Christlike yearnings can still be marvelously, miraculously answered by the God of all hope? I testify that the future is going to be as miracle-filled and bountifully blessed as the past has been. We have every reason to hope for blessings even greater than those we have already received because this is the work of Almighty God, this is the Church of continuing revelation, this is the gospel of Christ’s unlimited grace and benevolence" (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, April 2020).

I love the hope I feel because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's true and it's filled with miracles. 

I leave you with a beautiful AZ sunset...

I have missed our street!

...and a GLORIOUSLY YUMMY cup of Handel's ice cream...

I have missed French Silk Pie!

We love you!

Just plain old Scott and Julie