Not to be Forgotten

 December 2025

It's now been over a year since we completed our mission. I came to this blog to print it up for Dad's Christmas gift this year and realized that the last week was never written about. After moving out of our apartment and office we piled our suitcases into a corner in the office building and headed off to Thailand for one last Seminar.

Just for fun seminar started with these scraped knees when I went down on a gravely dirty sidewalk no our  early morning walk the first day. They literally oozed and dripped all week, giving me greater compassion for my grandkids who sport scraped knees all the time!

The seminar its self was another big experience full of all the chaos and pressure and joy of the previous seminars. For starters, after months of complex and challenging issues, visas for Pakistani missionaries were finally obtained and we welcomed our first Pakistani returned missionaries. Like the other groups, many of these missionaries were unendowed. In Pakistan, elders all serve their missions in country without the opportunity to attend the MTC, thus no temple experience. All the sisters must leave the country to serve, due to the dangers women in Pakistan face moving around without a male chaperone; so they had already been endowed. We felt like the Lord had parted the waters to finally clear the way for them to come and there was a lot of excitement anticipating this new addition. As it would turn out, there were some cultural challenges that they brought with them. It was such an adventure for them to have left their country that they were easily distracted from the planned activities often coming late and even missing sessions, they stayed up late noisily roaming the hotel, and then slept through temple sessions. But they were happy young people who as missionaries have made Pakistan the highest baptizing mission-per missionary in the world. 

Here they come! It was a celebration!

This is one of my favorite pictures of all the Seminars.  These two sisters from India came through the front temple gates and just stopped in their tracks looking up in absolute joy.  They stood that way for several minutes before looking at me in wonder that they were even there.  These are the moments I don't ever want to forget because they change my Utah heart.

A spontaneous gathering of kids from at least 5 countries for a picture at the door of the temple

A table of young men hanging on every word Dad said!!

A beautiful sister from India

Another amazing story. This sister sat under the tree with Dad telling him her story of living alone with her mother and caring for her until she passed away in their home. This sister sat several days alone with her mother's body because she didn't know what to do.  Thankfully a the ward finally understood what had happened and stepped in to help her bury her mother and find a safe place to live. Again, in many of these countries women cannot live alone, and this sister needed safety. 

Our Pakistani sisters at the waterfront 

And AGAIN, the dancing is so so fun and full of happiness!

Headed home!

Headed home!

Our group picture. One of the best parts of this Seminar was that the member of the Area Presidency that hosted with us was Kelly and Terri Johnson. We met the Johnsons when they were mission leaders in Thailand when we were in Cambodia. We were fast friends and so to spend this time together felt like a blessing for all of us.

After everyone left we even got to go out on the town together via the boat taxi.  It was one of our favorite days of the mission.

One quick picture together of the temple before heading back to Hong Kong. 

Contrary to our hopes, our last two days in Hong Kong were wildly busy. We had to speak at the Monday morning building devotional and then spent so much time saying good-bye and taking pictures of those we love and had worked with.  Seth Ko here is the Area Travel Specialist on week days and a great bishop on the weekends. He is to be thanked a thousand times for all he did to facilitate the gathering of the missionaries from all over Asia to Bangkok. His patience and attention to detail are legendary.

Lyra! From Hong Kong, she worked in the OGC for much of our time there, then after a brief stint with Temporal Affairs she came back to the OGC just as we were leaving. Her gentle spirit was a blast in the craziness of the OGC.

Then is was a good-bye lunch with the OGC at our favorite Indian Buffet.  Polly and are Lyra are the superstar assistants in the OGC.  They both should go to law school just to get the certificate, they are attorneys in disguise. 

Then that night we had to give a slide-show presentation to all the senior missionaries at a farewell party. Then we picked up Cindy and went out on the town for one last time with her.  

One last egg tart and pineapple bun!

Loading the car early in the morning to headed to the airport. Excited and sad all at the same time.

This surprise is never to be forgotten. We were so so tired and when we checked in they upgraded us to business class. We thought that meant we had better leg room and were grateful for just that much because we just needed to rest. When we realized these were our seats we were shocked and I might have shed a tear. The chance to be comfortable and even lay down was more than I could imagine!
It felt like a gift!

But this was the real gift. There is no feeling like the one as you stride through the security doors looking for your family!  And you were there!! Just typing this makes me teary! So beautiful!

As you all know, we came home with a new view of the temple and to spend the time there with you was our highest priority. It felt as good as we had dreamed it would be. Thank your going with us.

As you all know, we came home with a new view of the temple and to spend the time there with you was our highest priority. It felt as good as we had dreamed it would. Thank you for going with us in those first two days. It was glorious.

No mission is served alone and your support when we said we were leaving again was unwavering. We never dreamed we would go to Cambodia, but we always dreamed we would go to Hong Kong. Thank you for supporting us as we made that dream come true. Coming to visit, sending pictures, FaceTiming, letting us join activities over the phone, it was all the glue that held our hearts together while we were gone.

We love you forever!