Curacao

 Originally we were supposed to arrive in Curacao about 8:30pm but, in Miami we were loaded on the plane (on time) and then sat there for 2 1/2 hours waiting for the weather to clear up so that we could take off.  I never realized how patient I can be while flying for 4-5 hours but if you are just sitting on an airplane not going anywhere it's enough to drive you crazy........😜.  We were really grateful when we finally arrived here (and all of our luggage made it too), got through immigration and customs really quickly and finally met the Egberts by about midnight.  We were definitely ready to "crash" when we got back to the room.  Not so lucky.......when I got in the suitcase to look for some pajamas everything in our suitcase was wet.....ugh!  We bought some nice hard suitcases but they had some fabric in the center for "expansion" where the zippers are.  We figured that they must have been left out in Miami while it was raining for those hours while we were waiting.  We spent the next couple of hours going through all of our luggage and trying to find places all around our Hotel room to "hang" things to dry them out.  Luckily there were two of the five suitcases that were still dry but we still didn't crawl into bed until after 1:30am.

This is the beautiful Island of Curacao

Our mission is the Trinidad, Port of Spain Mission.  The mission home was originally in the country of Trinidad but, due to Visa issues in that country, the home and office have been moved to the country of Curacao.  The home that was purchased just closed and keys were just received the day we arrived.  It still has some work to be done before it will be ready for us to move in.  Island life is a little more "relaxed" so we hope this will happen fairly quickly but I'm not holding my breath.  It will be nice to get in and feel a little more settled.  For now we are just living out of our suitcases and doing just fine in a Hotel in downtown Curacao.  

 "Changing of the Guard"......Right after having breakfast with the Egberts

After getting the keys to the house we went out to see it.  For the next few weeks we will be touring our mission and hoping that we will be able to move in when we get back.......fingers crossed!

The mission office is a little bit more ready.  The furniture for the office was delivered the day before we got in.  WiFi and office equipment will hopefully be all set up this week and then the office will be up and running.  The Parrs, our wonderful office couple, are excited for the office to be ready because their apartment has been doubling as the office.  The only downside being that they won't be able to work in their pj's😉.

 The Egberts spent the day with us teaching us some of the logistics of our mission and how to navigate some of the unique areas.  It was so helpful to have them teach us so much.  They had so much energy and have done such a great job in this mission that we really have big shoes to fill.  During some of our breaks from learning, we took some time to just enjoy our surroundings and they showed us around a bit.  This picture was taken on a floating bridge not far from our hotel.  By the time we crawled into bed, we were exhausted and Kyle said, "I think I want to get on a plane and head home tomorrow....."  I think he was really feeling the weight of the task we are undertaking.  But the next morning we called and arranged to meet some of our missionaries in the afternoon.  They are so happy and have so much enthusiasm that it was contagious and we knew that this is right where we want to be!  Thank goodness for our wonderful missionaries!!!!!!!!!!!!!