Tchau, Elder Carlson

 Elder Carlson was set apart on Monday, October 30th.  Here's a picture of him with the last 4 of the "Homies".

Bryce Hugh, Joshua, Ben Berlin, and Spencer Robinson.  

We packed all his suitcases that day.  After weighing them with all the necessities, we still had over 40 pounds to fill.  We sent 10 anti-perspirants, 2 big shampoos, 2 giant peanut butters, 3 bars of soap, 5 tubes of toothpaste, and more stuff we knew they can't get in Brazil.  

We also had room to pack him a Christmas package.  It was nice because they cost a lot of money to send, and if they actually get to the missionary, the government charges the receiver a large custom fee to accept the package.  

We gave him an "after Thanksgiving day" package with 4 stockings for his apartment mates, 2 packages of cookie mixes, and paper strips cut out of green and red paper to make a Christmas countdown chain.  For his Christmas package, here's a picture of what we sent.  American treats, card games to play on Pday, stickers to hand out to local kids, microfiber towels that dry well in the humidity, and duct tape.  (All the posts about things Brazilian missionaries appreciate said duct tape.  ???)

Tuesday, October 30th at 7:00 a.m.

Salt Lake Airport

Plenty of help with suitcases!

This ticket agent was quite helpful with getting Josh his boarding passes printed off.  However, he opened Josh's passport and ripped out some visa papers he needed to enter the country.  The instructions from the church specifically said not to remove the papers stapled in his passport.  We were scared but there was nothing we could do about it now.  

Everybody got a hug.  Josh said, "Well, goodbye guys", turned around and walked to security.

After that ankle delay, he was more than ready to get going.  

After a few turns on the people mover, we headed home.

I called the church's travel office as soon as we got home to tell them about the visa papers that were torn out of the passport.  They said he'd be fine as long as he had the papers with him.  They have too many missionaries lose the papers before they get to the new country.  They asked who it was so they could call and talk to Delta to make sure they don't keep doing this.  

Later that afternoon, I got a text from this man.  He sat next to Josh on the plane.  He was a member of our church.  He sent me this picture of Josh and said he was happy and ready to get to Brazil.  I texted the man my thanks and told him to tell Josh that he didn't need to worry about his visa papers.  

He sent me this picture as they left the plane in Atlanta.  He said they talked a lot about different ways to handle discussing the church.  He was confident in Josh's abilities and passion.  What a sweet balm for this mommy's heart.