July 4, 2015 Homeward Bound!

"Where we love is home--home that our feet may leave, but never our hearts."         Oliver Wendell Holmes.

Our home away from home.

People and things I will miss:

Young Adult Family Home Evening:

Oh how we love these people, each and every one!

Scarlett and Xavier

Elder Jin my favorite missionary from China!!

Office Staff:

This is Losa, the director of Family Services and the greatest champion of Self-Reliance. She is the person who taught us the most about Island culture, specifically Tonga and Samoa.

This is Leslie, she is the receptionist for Family Services. She is another friend and someone who has taught us a lot about Maori culture. 

Ian and Sofia. Ian has been a great help to us in the office during his school breaks. Sofia was our first successful graduate of Self-Reliance who got the job she wanted. She works at the Service Centre (Dave actually has to turn in all his receipts to her, she's in charge of him!) 

This is the last Morning Tea we attended. We have a monthly tea to celebrate all the birthdays for the month.

Cultural traditions

This is Leslie's son on the day of his graduation. He is wearing a feathered cape that is common among the Maori of New Zealand and also common to Tonga and Samoa. 

Self Reliance friends:

Our boss, Johnny Leota and the Joses, the Self-Reliance couple in Melbourne.

Mission President:

President and Sister Howes. They finished their time as mission President two days before we did:)

Saturday adventures with friends:

These are our friends, the Allens. We will miss Saturday adventures with them!

I will miss the random artists out on the streets of downtown Sydney.

Good-by parties:

Leslie and Losa gave us a great surprise going-away party. We will treasure our green stone necklaces and our haka warrior picture.

Enjoy the Maori song they sang to us. This is a good-by song the Maori sang to their loved ones going off to war:

https://youtu.be/wWB4hyuBOMQ

Our office staff and friends (sorry Sofia, I just realized you are cut out of this picture)

Faalenuu and Brittany 

We had a super fun farewell dinner with our neighbors. We love these guys, they made the neighborhood fun! Our little dinner party lasted 6 hours, that's how much we enjoy each other!

Farewell dinner with Johnny and his wife, Betty. We will miss these guys a lot!! We learned so much from Johnny.

The Temple:

My favorite day of the week was Thursday morning when we got to work in the temple.

My 'support staff' from the temple. These women helped and loved me so much!

President and Sister Barr, the temple president and matron. We love them so much!

Look who surprised us by coming to the airport to say good-by, Elaine and Jody!!

Good-by Australia, we love you and will miss you!