Before Abe Left -- "Farewell"

A week and a half before Abe left he spoke in church. I was glad it wasn't the Sunday directly before he left (as it often is for departing missionaries). It was nice to still have a little time to do family things together and to relax after the big day of friends and family gathering to hear him speak. 

We had family over for a breakfast before Abe spoke. The yard was a mess and of course there was a lot to do to have the house spic and span and to have food all ready, etc. A lot of the things I had planned on having Mike do ended up falling to me as our deck broke (!!!) right before the event. We didn't think guests in church clothes should have to leap over broken steps to get to our backyard and figured fixing it was a priority, but when Mike went to replace the steps he realized much of the wood underneath was rotting, so he ended up building an entire new deck. (I'm always amazed at how handy Mike is. I don't know how he can just build or figure or fix no matter what it might be that's asking for attention. Still, it would have been great if it had broken . . . a few days after the gathering instead of before!) :) 

(Here Summer and Mette sit on some loosely placed deck boards -- faithfully handing Mike screws as he sets and secures the boards in front of them.)

It was a busy few days getting ready. And I may have thought (more than once) how lovely it must be to ready for something like this without a newborn and a billion toddlers, etc. 

Nevertheless! It all came together, and it was happy seeing so many loved ones come to show Abe their support. His assigned topic was The Word of Wisdom (our church's health code). We laughed a little as that seemed about as difficult of a topic for a departing missionary to make a ten minute talk out of as about any topic he might possibly have been given. But Abe handled it masterfully -- keeping everyone engaged and interested the whole time. One story he told was about one of his Danish ancestors who loved pipe tobacco and having a jug of alcoholic drink on his table at all times. When he joined the church, his friends were surprised to see these things missing from his life. His explanation to them was simply that, if the gospel was worth anything, then it was worth everything. That concept tied nicely with Abe's choice to leave family and put education, career goals, friendships, etc. on hold for two whole years to serve God. 

Anyway, I didn't take many pictures, but here is a small sampling of a few loved ones gathered before we headed up to our church to hear Abe speak.