Tonight we attended the temple with the two missionaries that go home tomorrow from our mission, Sister Martinez and Elder McCartney. After the session we went out on the "grass" and took a picture of the nativity that is still there. In an earlier post I put a picture of the men building the manger but never put the finished product on the blog. I'm sure there wasn't snow in Bethlehem the night he was born either so I guess eventhough it's not what we're used to, it's more realistic than the freezing ones in Utah.
Elder McCartney is all smiles in this picture but the next morning when we arrived at the airport it was a little difficult. Mexico City has not kept up on the renewal of visas for the missions. When we took him to the airport they would not accept the signed paper from immigration saying that his visa was still in Mexico City being processed. He had walked through security and said his goodbyes and then they took his luggage off the plane and wouldn't let him get on the plane. For just a moment he looked like he was going to cry but the difficult thing for him was calling his parents to tell them he wouldn't be home later that day. His parents had the tears. Elder McCartney had to go to immigration here, get things straightened out and wait for tomorrows flight at 6:30 in the morning. When we got there the next day the flight had been cancelled because for some reason the Continental flight never arrived the night before so there was no plane. He was re-routed to Mexico City, then Delta to Atlanta and from Atanta to Minneapolis arriving at 10:40 pm, 30 hours later than he would had arrived. When Dad talked to his father, all seemed well because at least he was still on his way. Elder McCartney called the office once he got into Mexico City to say all was good and he was on his way. We've not received a phone call from his parents so assumingly he got home OK. Just as a side note, you'll notice the small pin on the left lapel of Elder McCartney's suit - it's a "grain of mustard seed" pin that we gave to all the missionaries for Christmas. We've continued the tradition and now give each new missionary a mustard seed pin and ask them to wear it as a visual reminder of the importance of faith.
Elder McCartney is all smiles in this picture but the next morning when we arrived at the airport it was a little difficult. Mexico City has not kept up on the renewal of visas for the missions. When we took him to the airport they would not accept the signed paper from immigration saying that his visa was still in Mexico City being processed. He had walked through security and said his goodbyes and then they took his luggage off the plane and wouldn't let him get on the plane. For just a moment he looked like he was going to cry but the difficult thing for him was calling his parents to tell them he wouldn't be home later that day. His parents had the tears. Elder McCartney had to go to immigration here, get things straightened out and wait for tomorrows flight at 6:30 in the morning. When we got there the next day the flight had been cancelled because for some reason the Continental flight never arrived the night before so there was no plane. He was re-routed to Mexico City, then Delta to Atlanta and from Atanta to Minneapolis arriving at 10:40 pm, 30 hours later than he would had arrived. When Dad talked to his father, all seemed well because at least he was still on his way. Elder McCartney called the office once he got into Mexico City to say all was good and he was on his way. We've not received a phone call from his parents so assumingly he got home OK. Just as a side note, you'll notice the small pin on the left lapel of Elder McCartney's suit - it's a "grain of mustard seed" pin that we gave to all the missionaries for Christmas. We've continued the tradition and now give each new missionary a mustard seed pin and ask them to wear it as a visual reminder of the importance of faith.
No comments:
Post a Comment