Goodbye, Elder Johnson!

Zach's farewell was perfect.  He did a great job on his talk and had so many friends and family there to support him.  He really is such a great kid and so many people love him.  It was evident in Sacrament meeting on Sunday.  After the meeting, we had a lunch at a park.  I was really worried about getting that all together, but my friends Carrie Johnson and Emily Smith helped me so much.  They picked up what I had at home (napkins, cups, trays, tablecloths pictures, meat, rolls, sauce ingredients, etc) and took care of everything for me.  I was so grateful!  I could have never done that with everything that took place the day before.

It was fun to see our Baseball friends, family and other friends at the park.  My sister, Debbi, flew in from Kansas City to surprise us--that was really fun to see her.  It had been 6 years.  Our summer citizen family from Phoenix came also--it was really nice to see them again.  Families of Zach's friends who are serving missions came also and it was nice for there support and those who are preparing to send their kids off on missions.

On Sunday evening, Greg, Zach and I went to meet with the Stake Presidency.  They had Zach share his testimony and other thoughts about how he will be a good missionary and then we shared some thoughts about what we felt were Zach's strengths.  It was a cool meeting--cool to hear what Zach had to say and share our own thoughts.

Greg's sister Shannon and her family stayed over night Sunday.  It was fun to visit with them.  On Monday we said goodbye to them and my sister Debbi flew home.  That night Zach was set apart as a missionary.  The Stake President and Bishop came over to our house and we had a little lesson where he shared some scriptures and thoughts and then asked the kids what they thought were Zach's strengths that he would take with him into the mission field.  It was a teary evening.  Then the Stake President set him apart.  It was a special time for our family.

Friends stopped by most of the evening to say goodbye to Zach.  Greg got him all packed up and he was ready!!

Tuesday morning was tough--we knew we were in for a rough day.  We all got ready.  Grandma and Grandpa Butler came over to say goodbye--we packed up the car and ran a few errands.  We picked up some pictures that we had printed for him to take and a few snacks for the plane, etc.  We were finally on our way around 11:30 am.  We stopped in Layton for lunch at Red Robin--Zach loves Red Robin.  It was nice to have one last meal together as a family.  We then went to Bountiful to say goodbye to Great Grandma Dee.  She is 101 and will not be around when he gets home.

Lunch at Red Robin

Grandma Dee and Elder Johnson

Then we were off to the airport.  Saying goodbye to Zach was the hardest thing we have ever done.  It was so hard.  It is a crazy thing--we don't want him here--we want him on a mission, but we also miss him like crazy.  He called us from San Fransisco on his prepaid phone--it was so good to hear his voice....oh we miss him!  Things are going well and now we know he has landed in New Zealand and we are anxiously awaiting his email.

Goodbye, Elder Johnson!!