Elder Price in West Africa: Goodbyes

The goodbyes seemed to go on forever. They started in July with a Norton family reunion where Rain said goodbye to both sets of grandparents in San Diego and many cousins and aunts and uncles. Rain said goodbye to a few close friends throughout the summer as they left on their missions. We had a little open house for family and friends earlier in September (another goodbye to Grandma Norton who flew in for the occasion), followed a few days later with a "Hawaii-side" ohana reunion. Followed by a farewell for his cousin, Leif, who left for his mission to Portugal the day before Rain (yes, feel free to laugh--cousins names are Leif and Rain). Rain said goodbye to his work friends and his crossfit friends. He said goodbye to Emma.

Then the day was upon us and it was time to take him to the airport. We loaded his bags in the car and were just about ready to go when Rain looked at the piano, looked at me, and asked, "Is there time for me to play a song?" This was the result. A quick version of "Redeemer." I pulled out my phone to record it after he'd already started. There may be some sniffling going on in the background. It may have been a tearful morning.

We had a family prayer. More tears. More hugs. Family hugs. Then we loaded into the car for the drive to the airport. We managed to be upbeat and cheerful for the drive. Dale's good at distracting us by pointing out funny things ("look at that crazy jacked up van!").

We met up with two other Liberia-bound missionaries at the airport, Elders Robb and Witehira, and their families. Rain's airplane seat was next to Elder Robb.

Elder Witehira, Elder Robb, and Elder Price

We got to the airport with plenty of time for photos and chatting, as we postponed the inevitable tearful goodbyes. We all stood around and watched as they went through security and out of sight.