Our last group to receive in the mission.

We welcomed our last group of new missionaries.  This group was very excited to start their mission.  We wish we could work with them longer.

Our very last group to send home.

It is always sad to send home our missionaries, but this group is leaving with us.  We are all going home.   We hope we will get to see them again some day.

The Bucaramanga zone.

Bucaramanga is our favorite city.   These lucky missionaries get to work in this beautiful town.

Just love these. missionaries

                     Saying Good-bye with a smile.  This will be the last time to work with them.

The Terraza zone

Remembering Sister Martinez.

Sister Martinez painted this for me.  It is the tree that is on the 500 pesos on a coin from Honduras.   Sister Martinez fell and broke her arm in Barrancabermeja.   It doesn´t slow her down. 

The Barrancabermeja zone despedida.

Saying good-bye to Barrancabermeja

We are going to miss this family.

We have enjoyed having Nidia work for us in our house for the last three years.  We wish we could take her home with us. 

Only in Colombia.

The flowers are so beautiful here in Colombia.  Leaving Bogota the other day, we saw two people on this motorcycle carying three large sprays of flowers.  The lucky people that are going to receive them. 

A visit to Villa de Leyve on it´s 440 year birthday.

We enjoyed watching hundreds of school children participating in the 440 celebration of Villa de Leyve.

We found old bottles in the construction of the walls.

Villa de Leyve is around 500 years old and it is an old Colonial pueblo.  We found this site where one can see how the walls were constructed.  President Hacking wanted one of the old bottles, but didn´t want to go to jail while getting it out, so we left it there.

President Hacking trying on a Boyacense hat.

While in Villa de Leyve, president Hacking tried on a Boyacense hat.  He looks very local to the area now.

An old convent near Villa de Leyve.

Here is a court yard of an old convent that has been restored from its original date of 1612.

The Colombian flag in Villa de Leyve for the 440 birthday celebration.

Cucuta zone Good-bye.

District of Yopal good-bye.

Duitama zone good-bye.



Granada Zone Goodbye



Salitre zone good-bye.

Suba Zone fare well.

Bogota Zone with Elder Benavides.

Elder Benavides is looking for a chocolate, and he thinks there might be one in President Hacking´s pocket.  He was desperate for a chocolate. 

Our Bogota zone good-bye.





Our Bogota zone and office staff.

President and Sister Gamboa.

We enjoyed a lunch with President and Sister Gamboa.  They gave us some special keepsakes of our mission.  They had been mission president in Ecuador. 

Our last tour guiding excursion.

We have enjoyed being tour guides to our other missionary friends.  This was a day at the Paloquemao market.  We have enjoyed seeing Bogota.

A pocket full of roses.

We always enjoy going to the Paloquemao market.  My favorite part is all the flowers.  They are so beautiful.

President Waddel and Nidia.

No President Waddel, second counselor in the area presidency, is not standing on stilts.   He and Nidia, our maid, are posing for a photo.  As one can see, he is very tall and Nidia is short.  He came to thank us and wish us well after the mission.  He is North American.

The charred stare.

We visited the old center of Bogota, and we had an adventure.  This pig was giving us the charred stare.  He looked well done.

La Plaza Bolivar en the center of Bogota.

We visited the old part of Bogota for the last time.  There was a huge farmer´s market with many people and of course, many pigeons as well.

Our office staff.

We have had a wonderful support group with our office staff to keep things running smoothly.  We celebrated with a President Hacking home made sour dough pancake breakfast.  No one left hungry.  We are very grateful for these missionaries.

A traveling kitchen store.

All  these pots and pans are loaded on a rack on a bicycle.  The man in the center can move from corner to corner to sell his goods.  We hope he does not tip over.

Our last zone leaders counsel.

We have enjoyed working with our missionaries, but everything is coming very fast to our last time to do this or that.  Here President Hacking is giving some his last counsel. 

A new zone leaders conference.

Every time we have new assistants,we have new creative ideas to teach new principles.  This looks like mass confusion, but it did have a purpose.

The blackest day of our mission.

This was not a success story.  I was hurrying to make the breakfast for the zone leaders conference.  I made the omelet with 18 eggs, but it in the open and thought I pushed the Bake button and the timer button, but somehow, I pushed the clean button.  There was no safety latch.  The oven immediately started the cleaning cycle.  I had gone to get dressed, and when I returned to the kitchen, there was the blackest, smelliest smoke bellowing from the oven.  We could not turn it off.  It had to finish its cycle about 3 1/2 hours.   We had neighbors in the building coming to see if we were okay.  Luckily we were able to disconnect the fire alarm.  This was the result of my efforts. 

The zone leaders baked omelet.

This is a favorite breakfast for the zone leaders conferences.   Fast, easy and very tasty.  This was my second try and it turned out perfect.  We cut this and put it between  a fresh roll with a slice of ham and cheese. 

A double Pincho?

President Lozano the first counselor in the mission president and President Hacking are eating double pinchos.  They were so good, but we had never seen a double pincho before. 

We danced and danced.

The branch of Yopal with the branch of Aguazul hosted a good-bye party for us.  These members did some typical dances from the area for us.  They even invited us to dance with them.   We didn´t look as professional as they did.

My last brownies in Colombia.

I made my lasts batch of brownies for the zone leaders conference.  Many of the missionaries have asked for my recipe.  It is really easy to make. I go to the grocery store and buy a package of brownie mix and they are delicious.

Lunch with President and Sister Cortez

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We enjoyed our lunch with President Cortez in Aguazul.  It was a typical Colombian lunch with meat, rice and salad.

Saying Good-bye in Aguzul.

We visited the branch of Aguazul for the last time.  They are special people, and are meeting in a casa capilla.

A good-bye lunch with friends.

With a beautiful view from the hills of Chia, we enjoyed lunch with friends.  President and Sister Santa Cruz from the Bogota Stake.   President and Sister Lozano, mission counselor, President and Siter Mantilla from Granada Stake. 

Good-bye to Elder MacKay.

Elder MacKay was one of our tallest missionaries.  We had him sit down for the photo so we didn't look so short.  We wish him well, and know he will do great in life. 

A painful memory.

This is the very spot where I fell and broke my arm 1 1/2 years ago.  The photo doesn't show how step the sidewalk is.   I try to avoid walking on this side of the street now so I don't repeat the painful event.

A conversation with this rock snake.

Often in our mornings walks, we pass this park with this huge  fake snake that looks like it is coming over the wall.   We stopped for a little conversation. 

The Henderson's fresh tamales.

Dr. and Sister Henderson love to cook the local Colombian food.   These are fresh tamales made in their kitchen.  We were grateful for the invitation to share them.

An enjoyable evening in Barrancabermeja.

We enjoyed visiting with our District president, President Castillo, and his wife, and Elder and Sister Martinez from Honduras.  Sister Martinez fell and broke her wrist, but it did not slow them down. 

Our newest zone is Barrancabermeja.

We are excited to have a new zone in Barrancabermeja.  We now have ten excellent missionaries in our new zone, but we also have one adult couple from Honduras there as well.