It's been almost a month since my last post.  I just couldn't bring myself to write.   It has been such an emotional experience to leave something I loved so much. We are headed home from our mission.
Our last day was a busy one with a staff luncheon and lots of training.

Elder and Sister Decker on the left and Elder and Sister Fenton on the right. 

 Our first stop was in Georgia to see my MTC friend Beverly.

 This is a view of Beverly's home from the road. A southern mansion.

We had dinner and met her family.  Beverly served her mission in New Jersey.

 

Next stop was New Orleans.  We've never been there before and while it was interesting, I'm not sure we'd ever go back.  We were there for two nights and of course went down to Bourbon Street to check that out.  We watched the paddle wheeler on the Mississippi and took a tour to see the downtown area and hear the history.

Next stop Forth Worth, Texas to see our good friends and former neighbors, Bill and Mary Dodge, who just moved this summer. 

A great evening and a spectacular visit!

 

It was at this point that Doyle realized we had a problem with the 5th wheel.  We headed west and headed for Abilene.  Upon further inspection he discovered that the problem was brakes and suspension.  We were at the door of the repair shop first thing in the morning.   This took 12 days to resolve.  We went to a museum, went to the mall and looked at lots of new and used 5th wheels.  I read a couple of books and we did some exploring of the area, but 12 days in Abilene is way to long. 

 

Finally, off across Texas to Arizona to visit Aunt Betty and we were fortunate enough to be able to connect with a couple of former missionaries that we served with.  It was great  to see them again!!!

This wonderful couple, Alec Brannan and Rachel Brand, is getting married next month!

 

Going through Las Vegas requires a stop at Hoover Dam.  We spent the majority of a day there and as always, we enjoyed it.

Saw several of these signs along the way.

Today we are in Medford, Oregon and making our way north to Washington.  We have family in Oregon so we'll be here for the next week or so.

 

Serving our mission in South Carolina was certainly one of the highlights of our lives.  It was a busy time of spiritual growth and learning.  It went by too fast, but we know that others will be in our future.  We loved our missionaries, our fellow senior missionaries and our mission president and his wife. 

 

 

The weather has been so beautiful!  We've been in the low 90's, high 80's with night temperatures dropping into the mid-60's.  I looked at the weather forecast for the next few days and it's calling for some thunder showers, but they don't always happen.  The interesting part of the weather report was the 99% humidity.  We must be getting used to it because I never would have guessed the humidity as being that high.  The humidity was the thing that worried me the most about coming here to South Carolina, but other than the month of July it just hasn't been that bothersome to me.  With that said of course, I don't have to work outside in it most of the time.  Some of our moves into new apartments have left many elders and sisters pretty sweaty though!!

On Monday night I made one of our favorite dishes, Cajun Jambalaya.  It is pretty spicy and has three meats in it, chicken, shrimp and Andouille sausage.  We cook the sausage on the BBQ first before adding it to the pot.  I put the sausage on the grill and came back into the fifth wheel to do some prep.  Well...I forgot about the sausage.  When I looked out the window and saw smoke billowing out of the BBQ I knew it wasn't good.  I quickly went out to rescue the sausage and this is what I found.

Not suited for human consumption.  I have never so totally destroyed anything on the BBQ like this one.  It was pretty funny.  I immediately called Elder France who was at the store and he brought me more, but he did want to pose with the slightly overcooked meat.  Funny guy.

   

On Wednesday we finally got the keys to a new apartment in Summerville.  The two sisters that we moved were pretty excited about that!  They had been staying in a two bedroom, one bath apartment with four other sisters since transfers!  I heard not one complaint.  They were all eager to tell me that it had been just fine and they had worked out a bathroom schedule in the morning to every one's satisfaction.  What wonderful sisters we have.  It is such a joy to serve with them.

Sister Walker on the left and Sister Chatterton on the right.

Elder Johnson and Elder Adams helped Elder France move all the furniture up to the sister's new second floor apartment.

After our big move, we headed back for the office to do some paperwork.  There's always something to do!  Two of our elders showed up, so I did what I almost always do...I got my camera to take pictures for moms who read my blog.  Here you go Sister Marberger!  Your handsome missionary and his companion Elder Judd.

 

On Thursday we went to Greenville for another move.  Two of our elders got to move into a newly refurbished apartment with new stove, dishwasher and refrigerator plus new carpeting will be installed tomorrow.  They are very happy!!  We took the truck and trailer up to load their things and help get everything switched around.

Elder Farnsworth in the yellow T shirt and Elder Muir in the blue one.  They did an awesome job.  They had everything in containers and ready to be loaded when we got there.  We brought a couple of extra containers to put their freezer and refrigerator items in but that was all.  We took them out to lunch at the southern buffet called Green Tomato.  It was all very good food.  Great place to go in Greenville.

Friday was a very intense day in the office with training and staff lunch and meetings.  President Holm's adoptive parents were in town for a visit so we all went to Atlanta Bread for lunch.  They have a conference room there and we always try to reserve it for our luncheons.  Everything on the menu always turns out to be very good.

Going around the table from left Sister Holm, President Holm, Elder Mihlberger, Sister Mihlberger, Sister Decker, Elder Decker, Sister Fenton, Elder Fenton and of course Elder France.

                                                      It was a day for lots of pictures.

These were taken in the President's office in front of the map of our mission.

Elder Decker and Elder France. 

 

                                              Sister Decker and I in the office lobby.

                                 The Fenton's (on the right) will be working in the office.

Elder France and I with our wonderful assistants to the President, Elder Brimhall on the left and Elder Stadel on the right.

Friday night dinner with the Mihlberger's.

Saturday morning sausage and gravy with our current branch elders.

 

What a blessing to serve with such outstanding elders and sisters!  What a blessing to serve in South Carolina.  This opportunity to serve has certainly blessed our lives.

Love y'all.