Just a Few More Hours

As Elder Cable requires some surgery that cannot be done here for quite some time, we have been advised by our Mission President and the Area Authority to end our mission three months early and return home to have him taken care of. It is with great regret that we leave the members, our Institute students and the missionaries whom we have come to love so dearly. We are excited to be home with our family again, but for today there is sorrow in leaving, even though we know it is right and for the best.

Everyone wants to say good-bye in a special way and they are showering us with meals and little gifts. They are far better to us than we deserve, but we love their warmth and kindness.

Sinead Cross, an investigator, wanted to fix dinner for us and the Elders. It was a fun evening. On Thursday we took the Elders to Interviews at the Ward as Elder Clark can't walk very far or ride a bike because of an unknown pain. We take them everywhere. Thursday we were off to Merthyr Tydfil for our last time teaching Institute there. We love those girls and they are hilarious. I recorded their Welsh accents. That was an experience!

Friday we did our last flat inspections. What a delight. It is something we will definitely miss. Our first stop was in Pontypridd, Elder Hummer and Elder Jagoda's flat. Elder Hummer had a teddy bear on his bed, Buster, and told me they have been together since he was a baby and that I should say "Hi" to Buster. I did. There are not a lot of missionaries who could get away with having a teddy bear, especially one that his companion must say "Good Night" to every night, but Elder Hummer is so cool, he can. In fact the missionaries call him Commander Hummer.

Elders Hummer and Jagoda really wanted to win the "Cleanest Flat Award" as Elder Clark nearly always wins. When we arrived they told me to look at the refrigerator. On it was a note: "Sister Cable, look in the fridge." I did, and there was a beautiful bouquet of roses for me. They won.

There's nothing quite like TGIFriday's. I wish we had discovered it sooner. It was fun to treat the Elders to lunch between Elder Clark's appointments with Dr./President Dearden.