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17 June 2013

Dear Homefront,

First things first, Happy Fathers Day to all Fathers present and future.  Also, a very happy Flag Day to all my fellow patriots.  Another week is gone for us here in the VRM.  This past week has been kinda slow, but still really good.

On Tuesday, we had the Farewell Mission Conference for President and Sister Perry.  It was a very emotional day for much of the mission.  Elder Burton, our new "Car Czar" (Fleet Coordinator) is probably the most creative out of the three I've had over the course of my mission.  He asked everybody to be at the conference a half hour early with their hoods up and trunks open and he went through and inspected all the vehicles.  He then gave a prize to the best car in the mission (unfortunately not us).  During the conference he also showed some of the training videos that I've never before seen.  Then both of the Assistants gave trainings on the topic of what makes a successful missionary.  Sister Perry, as part of her last remarks, had prepared a list of "The Best of Sister Perry," or things that she most commonly was known to say.  The list was as diverse as Sister Perry can be, including humorous things like "Eat REAL Food" and "Use Hand Sanitizer" to more serious topics such as "No matter how far you fall, you are never out of the reach of the Atonement."  Following Sister Perry's remarks, President opened the floor to a Q&A session.  At the close of the meeting, President and Sister Perry shook all our hands one last time.

I don't know how President Wilson is going to do it.  He has some very large shoes to fill.

Other than the conference, not a whole lot happened this week.  We took advantage of some of the down time to update our maps and records so that we could regroup and work more effectively throughout the rest of the transfer.

It is still crazy to think about how close the end is.  I'll do my best to keep working hard and go right up until the end.

Stay safe, stay happy, and I'll see you all in a couple weeks.

With much love,

-Elder John Y. Roberts

PS:  I thought we'd decided that Dad didn't want to cut my mission short by picking me up, so I'll most likely just fly home.  But I would really love to go up to Washington for the Perry's homecoming address.

PPS:  I'm not sure exactly how the grant will work if I leave after the first semester, however still would rather get some and have to give some back than get nothing.  Thank you for filling that out.