And We're Off!

After finishing our time at the MTC and in Salt Lake City, we could have stayed in Utah and flown from SLC to Madrid, but that would have meant that we wouldn't have had a car to use during those two weeks. Instead we drove from our home in Idaho to Utah, and then returned for the weekend before our flight which left from Boise. It was wonderful to be able to spend time with friends and family in Utah, and wish that we had been able to see more of you.

Having a chance to return home gave me a chance to rethink some of the items that I had already packed and make a few last minute changes. Having those two weeks as a dry run for my wardrobe choices and shoes in particular was very helpful. 

That weekend was a busy one, with last minute house tips and tricks for our daughter, Mairen and her husband, Zach, who will be staying there while we're away. We're very grateful to them for watching over the homestead, and hope that they will enjoy having a big house to themselves, a yard with plenty of squirrels to entertain their dog, Nala, and the blackberries and grapes that are abundant this time of year. And right about now, I'd guess that they would describe them as overabundant.

We also had one last dinner outing with part of our Family Home Evening (FHE) group. We started this weekly empty nester get together with some of our friends several years ago. It has been such a wonderful blessing to meet most Monday evenings to discuss the current lesson in our Sunday School Come Follow Me curriculum. We've shared tender thoughts and insights from the scriptures, held combined family potluck meals on holidays and dinner parties just because, and bonded while experiencing some of life's most difficult challenges.

My alarm went off at 2:45 on Monday, the 21st. I'm a night owl, and I can't count the times that I haven't been to bed until about then, so I started our adventure feeling more than a little upside down. Our flight left at 6:00, and we wanted to make sure that we were there plenty early to get our bags checked and ensure that they at least made it on our first leg.

As it turned out, Zach was flying out of Boise that morning too, on the same flight to SLC. He travels quite a bit for work, and our daughter brought all three of us to the airport at that unspeakable hour, bless her kind heart. Our flight was happily uneventful and during our layover the three of us had breakfast together and said our goodbyes. 

For the most part our day proceeded smoothly. Our connection in Atlanta was tighter than I would have liked and so am a little wilted but still smiling before flying to Madrid.  

I don't remember ever really sleeping on an airplane since I was a child. I get drowsy and start to nod, but for some reason just can't do it. This flight was the same. In flight movies and audiobooks are some of my favorite traveling companions. This trip's selections were A Man Called Otto, the movie version of A Man Called Ove, which I had already listened to and enjoyed. My audiobook was The Woman Who Smashed Codes by Jason Fagone. I didn't get very far into it, but enjoyed what I heard.

We arrived in Madrid on time, just before 9:00 am, on Tuesday, August 22nd. Thankfully, so did our luggage. Currently serving senior missionaries and our Mission Leaders were there to greet us, as well as Elder and Sister Durrant, senior missionaries also assigned to the Madrid North Mission, who were with us on the flight. They will be going to the Canary Islands, to serve on the island of Tenerife. Elder Durrant was one of the earliest young missionaries to serve in the Canary Islands nearly 45 years ago, and is thrilled to be able to return. We left the airport in record time, an event that we chalked up to having come in August, when nearly every salaried worker in the country is on vacation, leaving the customs counters oddly empty.

With photos taken (I haven't seen them yet, but will share one once I get a copy) and luggage loaded into the waiting cars, we headed to the mission office, which is the second story of a large new chapel north of Madrid. There we were well fed and just when it seemed like a nap was unavoidable we began an orientation meeting. I hope that I'm not the only recent arrival to have almost completely forgotten what that meeting was about other than fighting desperately to keep from falling asleep.

After the orientation, the same kind missionaries who met us at the airport brought us to our temporary apartment in Leganés, a large suburb about 13 km southwest of Madrid. Elder and Sister Croshaw had obviously spent considerable time getting the apartment ready for its exhausted occupants. There was food in the fridge, and the beds were made and calling. We didn't have to be asked twice.