Elder Bodily Departs for Home!

Elder Bodily departs for home!

Elder Bodily left us today! As our "Senior Assistant to the President" when we arrived just over 6 weeks ago, we are now on our own. Not really! He trained us well and also the other Assistants that are taking over, Elder Davies and Elder Stephens. We love the picture they left for us to remember this trusty threesome!

Elder Bodily also left us with quite a surprise. He created a look-a-like picture for us patterned after one we had on the bulletin board of our son Brady from his mission. Elder Bodily had seen the picture and re-created it with the help of Elder Stephens and Davies. As he left the mission, he carefully replaced one picture with another one of him in the same position. A few days after he left I was walking through the kitchen and my eye caught this "similar, yet different" picture and I took such a funny double take. It took a minute for it to sink in..and then I just laughed out loud. Brady's picture was still there, just hiding under other pictures. Elder Bodily has placed himself in our hearts forever as our first trainer and very clever Elder.

We had a final dinner honoring Elder Bodily, since he is going home 2 weeks before the transfer due to school demands. 

We fired up our new BBQ or Braai as they are known here.

We had a last dinner together of BBQ steak, chicken, sweet potatoes, salad, corn and strawberry shortcake. We even forced Elder Bodily to teach the Assistants and me a short dance routine…that his mother made me promise that I would do….Afterall, Elder Bodily is a very talented dancer of many genres. He shared a few dance steps with us, before we got a short lesson. This will be a fun hobby for him as he pursues medical school.

Elder Bodily spent his last morning participating in our weekly office staff meeting. We celebrated by having a lite breakfast treat with some festive plates in his honor. He shared the scripture thought by opening the Psalm of Nephi (2 Nephi 2:15-32) and likened it unto his mission and himself. He humbly shared how he "has found his soul delighting in the things of the Lord, and his heart pondering continually upon the things he has seen and heard....My God hath been my support and hath filled me with His love..."

He helped us debut our new airport sign before he departed!
The “Trusty Three Assistants” will go back to the traditional model of Two AP’s!

We feel so honored to have grown to love and appreciate this great missionary and work closely with him in our "greenie stage."
We look forward to seeing Elder Bodily Utah-Side in just a little less than three years!