Our "FAREWELL"?

We kind of dreaded the "farewell".  We didn't want to make a "big deal" of our leaving for a mission, especially since this has become a prolonged situation.   It seemed like an awful lot of trouble to get talks and have food ready etc.  After the whole thing was over, we were really glad that we did it.  We had well over a hundred people show up that weren't ward members or immediate family.  It was so fun to see our family, immediate and extended, our ward family, our Welfare Services family, our deaf family, my martial arts family, some of Ken's business friends, some of his converts and my old roomies from college. 

We had such a good time renewing friendships and spending time talking with people that have been a very important part of our lives.  It is still hard to go to church and have everyone wondering why we are still here but we will get our visas eventually and then we will be off with no time for further farewells of most kinds. 

We are so grateful to all of you who chose to take some of your special and important time to come say good bye to us.   We enjoyed the eating and the talking long after sacrament meeting was finished.  We didn't eat everything 'cause somehow, the cream puffs and the pineapple and a few other things didn't make it to the table but in spite of the little errors, it was great!  We will certainly miss all of you but more importantly, we are glad you took time to help us understand how glad we are that you are in our lives.