Missionary Homecoming!

Before Tom and I left for Argentina, I made surprise gift bags for Hailey and Spencer to open while we were gone.  Kelsey was going to be in Thailand for most of the time we were gone, so they needed a little something to remind them that they were loved!

Here we are on the plane to Argentina!!

In Dallas, waiting for our flight to Santiago, Chile.

First glimpse of the Andes!

We made it to Mendoza and were able to get our rental car without a hitch.  It was a nice car with a large trunk because we knew we would be carrying our missionaries' luggage!

First glimpses of Mendoza.

This is the Park Hyatt Hotel.  It is right in the heart of Mendoza and was very nice.  We felt safe and very grateful to be able to stay here.

Right across the street from our hotel was this beautiful park.  The weather was gorgeous, so after we got settled, we headed out to explore.  Everyone told us not to go out after dark, so we wanted to make the best use of our time while the sun was still out.  People were out enjoying themselves and playing with their kids.  There was a man making HUGE bubbles that the little children were loving.  It was so awesome!

It took us a while to find a place where we could get a drink, but we finally found a Subway, ha ha!  We shopped and bought some nice scarves and a mate set as souvenirs.  We had to use what little Spanish we know because hardly anyone spoke English!

The next morning, Tom and I got up really early so we could meet Elder Chamberlain at our meeting spot in La Consulta.  When we got there, he was nowhere to be found.  The church meeting had already started (Elder Chamberlain accidentally got the times wrong) so he and his comp were already in church.  We didn't know what to do because we didn't have a way to contact him.  It was FREEZING by the way . . . June means winter down south of the equator.  Anyway, we were huddling around the heater in the car when all of a sudden, Tom's cell phone rings and it's an international number.  Assuming it was Kohler, Tom answers, "Ola!"  There was an awkward pause, then someone on the other end says, "Oh, Ola.  This is President Goates."  We were so embarrassed . . . oh my gosh.  He was WITH Elder Chamberlain and his companion and they were headed our way to come and pick us up.  I did NOT expect to see Kohler's mission president when I saw Kohler for the first time.  It was a little strange to say the least because the last thing we wanted to do was get Elder Chamberlain in any kind of trouble.  Luckily, President Goates was super nice and he and his wife welcomed us with hugs.

Seeing my missionary son after two long years was a joy I can hardly describe.  All I could say was, "You did it!"  I was overflowing with love for my son and so proud of him enduring to the end!  Missions are not easy and I was beyond proud of him for serving the Lord so faithfully.  He hugged his dad and everyone was crying.  It was a very special moment for all of us.

We chatted for a little while then decided to head over to the branch to finish up sacrament meeting.

I wish I could have taken a photo during the sacrament meeting but it wouldn't have been appropriate.  I looked around me at the small, humble room that was their chapel and the few families that were there.  I think there was about 17 people or so.  The branch president spoke of Elder Chamberlain in his talk.  I could pick out a few words here and there but I mostly could feel of his spirit.  He changed the closing song to be "God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again."  I could hardly get the words out through my tears as I couldn't believe I was so fortunate to witness what I was seeing.  Here was my son, with his missionary badge on, sitting next to his companion, and WE were there!  It was surreal.

Elder Chamberlain and his companion taught the Gospel Essentials Class.  It was amazing to watch my son, the same little boy that struggled with language when he was a toddler, teaching gospel principles to people in Argentina in the Spanish language!! Missionaries are blessed with the gift of tongues . . . I truly believe that.  But as with many gifts, they take work to fully develop and I know Elder Chamberlain worked to get his Spanish right.  Seeing him in action was priceless!!

I loved the sign on the primary door!

It was a very humble building but these people loved it and were so thankful for it.

This is the branch president who told me I should be very proud of Elder Chamberlain and that he has a very big corazon (heart!) 

This family was kind enough to feed my son on many occasions.  I quickly learned how to say "thank you for the meals you made for my son" in Spanish because so many faithful women served him that way.

Here is the outside of the branch.

After church, we went to a member's home for an Argentine BBQ, or an asado.  They were so kind to us and fed us some really good food.

There was a bowl of fresh tomatoes, olive oil and oregano, then a potato, egg and carrot salad, and really good steak and sausage.

Their daughter pulled out her guitar and sang to us.  Then, Tom, Elder Chamberlain and his companion sang, "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" in Spanish.

Tom's first try at mate.  I tried it too.  It was pretty good!

This sweet lady is the grandmother and not a member.  Her husband died a year ago and her heart is still tender about it.  She is a devout Catholic, but when Elder Chamberlain teaches her about seeing her husband again, she begins to cry.  She was very teary-eyed when he had to say goodbye.

Afterwards, we headed back to their apartment, which was humble . . . to say the least.  Again, words cannot describe how proud I was of my son, NEVER complaining about where he was living or what he had to endure.  He washed his clothes in this green bucket, in very cold water.

He slept on this filthy pillow (and had a pillowcase, thank goodness!)

This was a little market just outside their pench (apartment).

We were shocked at the trash that was in the gutter.  They had to jump over it everyday to get to their apartment.

This little stray dog was peeking at us through the stairs.  There were stray dogs everywhere!!

We went to go and take Elder Martinez to his new companion and picked up Elder Lawrence who was also leaving to come home.  Elder Chamberlain gave hugs to the other missionary who he loved so much.  When he said goodbye to Elder Martinez, I saw them look each other in the eye and they hugged and spoke of their love for each other and how much they had grown.  It was a rough companionship at first, but they grew to love each other by serving and it was sweet to witness.

Here is the mission office of the Argentina Mendoza Mission. Elder Chamberlain decided to stay one last night with his mission companions in the large pench just around the corner from the office.  They stayed up until 3am talking and reminiscing about their days as missionaries.  We are so glad he got to experience that.  The next morning we met him at the office to gather up all of his luggage.

Office Elders!

The chapel was right next to the mission office.  

Sooooo . . . this was the place where Elder Chamberlain experience that scary story of a man pulling a machine gun out on him and his companion, Elder Vilario.  He chased them down this alley and they were able to find safety in the cab of a garbage truck.  It was after a huge soccer game and lots of people were doing drugs, drinking, etc. and it was crazy.  He said this entire field was full of people but they felt so grateful it ended well and they were safe.  

This is a fun marketplace we visited.

Here is the stake center that was next to President Goates residence.  The missionaries had their closing meeting here.

Here is the mission president's home.  We felt very fortunate to be invited to the dinner and testimony meeting.  Hermana Goates made the yummiest homemade rolls and the dessert was to die for!

I have seen these long, red tables in posts from other missionary moms and now, it was MY turn to be there with MY son.  I couldn't believe it!

Every hermana is crying . . .

This group was especially favored by President Goates because it was his very first group as a mission president, two years ago.

President and Hermana Goates with Elder Chamberlain

This is Elder Bleak.  He and Kohler knew each other in the MTC and Elder Bleak's sister served in the Gilbert, AZ mission!  I worked with her very closely as RS President.  What a great family!

After the testimony meeting, Elder Chamberlain was released to us and we took him to the Hyatt Hotel.  He was in a bit of a shock at how beautiful and nice it was.  He said that he has walked by this place hundreds of times but never came in and always wondered what it looked like inside.  He certainly hadn't been living this nice for two years.

The boys are headed to the airport and we are gathering everything to head to San Luis.

On the far right is Elder Vosti.  He was Elder Chamberlain's very first MTC Companion.  What a funny guy he is!  He lives in Draper, UT so hopefully he and Kohler can hook up during college.

This was a favorite factures shop---Argentine pastries.

We had a really nice drive to San Luis.  Mormon Tabernacle Choir music was playing and we enjoyed hearing Elder Chamberlain tell stories about his mission.  Those were sacred drives to us and we enjoyed every minute with him.  This is a photo of the Ward Mission Leader in San Luis.  To say that they live humbly, is quite an understatement.  My heart went out to this family.  But when we met them and talked with them, they were happy and smiling and as friendly as could be.  Dirt floors, hardly any food on their shelves, yet the two older girls we met had served missions as did their son, the ward mission leader.  Faith like I have never seen before.

We then visited Marcelo Riveros and his sweet mother.  They lived in a much nicer home, the nicest we saw during our entire stay in Argentina.  She fed us not only lunch but dinner as well!  It was delicious and we could not believe their generosity.  Marcelo was a less-active member who had served a mission, but had forgotten what the Spirit felt like and had fallen away.  One day, his mother called him and said that she was feeding some missionaries and for him to come over and say hello.  He met Elder Chamberlain and they instantly became friends.  He trusted Elder Chamberlain and Elder Escobar and listened to them.  Marcelo gradually came back to church and now is completely active and teaching the gospel on Sundays.  He is actively involved with all of the missionaries and his life has been forever changed.  When his mother hugged us goodbye, she cried and cried, thanking Elder Chamberlain for rescuing her son.  After every day here in Argentina, Tom and I both say, "If we came just for this day, it would be worth it."  That's how we have felt every day here.

Here is Marcelo Riveros with his sweet mother.  They could not have been kinder to us.  We felt so welcome in their home and were so thankful that Elder Chamberlain had a place he could go where he felt the same way.

Here is me with my son, Elder Chamberlain, and Sister Riveros

The Riveros Home in San Luis

The Elders' Apartment where Kohler lived

This was another sweet family that we visited and they had the cutest little puppies!  The father gave Elder Chamberlain a hammock that was handmade in Peru!  Tom loved it so much that he bought one for himself too!  The young girl on the right was able to be friends with Kelsey on Facebook so they could chat and get to know each other too.

I brought several copies of my book and gave them away to the children that I met.  It meant so much to me seeing the joy on their faces!

In San Luis, there was a beautiful cathedral that we visited.  However, there was a painting of John the Baptist sprinkling Jesus with water, rather than immersing him through proper baptism.  Interesting....

The one souvenir Elder Chamberlain really wanted was to have two soccer jerseys from the most famous teams in Argentina . . . Boca and River.  We finally found the shirts he wanted and they look SO good on him!

Elder Chamberlain introduced us to these yummy sandwiches that are crustless!  Super good!

When we first drove into San Juan, we met some of the Elders at their chapel so we could deliver some packages from home to one of the missionaries who's family lives in California near my sister, Suzanne's home.  Elder Escobar was one of the missionaries there and he was one I really wanted to meet.  My son talked so much about this sweet missionary and how kind he was to him.  He lived in Mexico before his mission and didn't have much but he was such a hard worker and had so much faith.  I watched my sweet son literally give the coat off his back to this sweet Elder and he said, "You need this much more than I do.  Please take this."

Elder Escobar and Elder Chamberlain

This is in front of the chapel in San Juan

 The chapel was newly renovated and Elder Chamberlain had not yet seen all the finished work outside on the chapel grounds.

 We were all super happy to see how nice it turned out.  He was thrilled for the members there!

 These two Elders really have a special place in their heart for each other.

See, no more coat :)

We visited the apartment where Elder Chamberlain lived, and in the parking lot was this dog.  Kohler said, "Dad, pull over!  I wanna see that dog!"  He ran up to it and gave her a hug.  He told us the dog's name was Diana and that she was the most loyal dog ever!  She would follow the missionaries and even went to several appointments with them that were far away but she would always find her way home and was always there to greet them.  What a sweet little thing!

 He said, "Mom, this dog would scare off other dogs.  She would protect us!"

The missionaries played a lot of soccer games out here and even had a water balloon fight that I saw from photos Elder Chamberlain sent home.  It was cool to be there in person and see what I had only before seen in photos.  But, being there in person, gave us a very real perspective on really how rough it was living in an area like that.

 This is probably one of my most favorite photos of the entire trip.  The woman on Elder Chamberlain's right is very special.  One day, Elder Chamberlain was tracting and his companion chose to go down a certain street.  He asked Elder Chamberlain which house they should clap at, and he chose this house.  A sweet mother answered the door and let them in.  They taught this family the gospel and the mother and her three children were all baptized!  When we arrived at her house, it had been almost one year since she had seen Elder Chamberlain.  She just began to sob!  She kept saying, "I thought I'd never see you again!"  She hugged him so tightly and told us how much she loved him for changing her life.  She even told us how she had a dream of seeing her husband dressed all in white and that she believes that someday he will choose to get baptized.  
I was truly so blessed to be there to witness the sweet Spirit that was in this home.  The older two children ran home from seminary and came in the house ALL smiles to see Elder Chamberlain!  It was such a privilege to watch our missionary son share some scriptures and leave his testimony with this family (again, all in Spanish.)  Tom and I just couldn't believe how incredible the feeling was.

 This was a typical neighborhood in San Juan.

 We met a really nice woman with her darling son.  Her husband, who is not a member, eventually came out and he was really nice.  He looked through my book and wanted to see every page!  It was super sweet.  In every home, they would pull out glasses and offer us soda or a lemonade drink and the family would stop what they were doing to come and visit with us.  Truly, their hospitality and manners were so impressive.

He was so kind to look through all of the pages and was trying so hard to speak English to us.

They don't have a garage so their kitchen acts as part garage, part kitchen.  They really had hardly anything in that humble home, but still the children were all smiles and they all LOVED Elder Chamberlain!

ALL over Mendoza we saw vineyards.  Kohler told us that if we had come in the spring, it would have been much greener.  The vineyards would just go on and on as far as the eye could see.

The last family we visited on our trip was the Bishop's Family in San Juan.  I think they had 10 or 11 children but only 6 were still living at home.  They were all beautiful and SO fun to talk to!  Every time Elder Chamberlain would make a joke or say something funny, the girls would laugh and laugh.  I think they thought Elder Chamberlain was super cute :)  Then, the little brother would come in and make us all laugh by ripping the heads off of his toys or shooting at us.  He was a crack up! ha ha!

After spending some time with the Bishop's family, we decided it was time to go so we headed to our hotel and decided to have a small dinner because we were really hungry.  The empanadas here are SO good!!  Elder Chamberlain said, though, that the ones on the street were much cheaper, and actually more delicious than these here at the hotel.

It was so nice having Elder Chamberlain around because he helped us speak Spanish to many people!

On our last day before our flight, we went to a post office to mail Suzy a small package.  It had a much better chance of getting to Chile while were in Argentina than mailing it from the U.S.  It took one hour for him to wait in line and mail this simple package.  Things just take longer here in Argentina.

On the way to the airport, look at what we saw!  I've never seen a cart loaded so high!

Well, here he is . . . all packed and ready to go home!

As he walked down the jetway, I could see in his face that this was surreal . . . it was HIS turn and he was actually leaving Argentina.  Two years!!!  He said he saw missionaries come and go and the day he would leave seemed like it was forever away.  Now, it was here.  It was today.  It was his time.  He had served faithfully for two years and now, it was done.

One last look out the window at the place he lived for two years.  So much love for this place . . .

The beautiful Andes Mountains on our way to Chile.

I still couldn't believe that I could reach over and there would be MY missionary son!  I rubbed his hands and tears just poured down my cheeks as I thought of the service those hands had given over the two years.  I thought of them clasped in prayer as he endured scary situations, challenges of feeling lonely, of learning the language, of adapting to a new culture . . . all the things those precious hands had to do . . . those hands that I once held as a little boy, I was now holding as a returned missionary.  My heart truly was overflowing with gratitude.

Here is a quick shot of his entire group that was leaving to go home.  This was taken when they were in the airport heading to Buenos Aires.  Elder Chamberlain was the only one who had parents come to get him.  I know a big part of his heart wanted to be with his "missionary family" too.

We landed in Atlanta, Georgia and got some food to eat while we waited for several hours on our layover.  Elder Chamberlain kept commenting on how clean and organized everything was and how awesome it was to hear English again!  He was really thankful to be in the USA.  What a blessed country :)

 Here is the gang welcoming Elder Chamberlain home from his mission!!!

 I love the anxious look on everyone's faces as they are watching to see him walk down!

 Here is Kohler with some of his boy cousins:  Will, Nate, Luke and his bro Spencer.  One of the most touching scenes I witnessed was Luke hugging Kohler.  He began to cry and he said, "Kohler, remember when you told me before you left that I should treat girls with respect and try my best to obey the commandments, well I want you to know that I did what you said!  I did!"  It was so sweet.

 Here he is with some of his girl cousins:  Noel, Eden, sis Hailey, Olivia, and Maya.

 Here is the awesome LaDuke Family!

 And here is the awesome Davis Family!

  He has never seen little Dean Davis before!  What a little cutie pie!

 OUR FAMILY IS BACK TOGETHER AGAIN!  YEAH!!!  All of our kids cried when they saw him and they just kept hugging him and didn't want to let go!

Grandma and Grandpa Marshall didn't want to miss this moment for anything!

 Here we are, back at home in Gilbert, Arizona.  What a temperature change from winter to summer!

Rider was SO happy to see him!!

These two boys have been best friends since they were 8 years old.  They lived across the street from each other and have been inseparable ever since.  Well, I guess they were separated for 2 years but the hug they gave each other was well worth the wait.  So much love for these two guys!

My amazing sisters and mom put together a "Welcome Home Lunch" for Elder Chamberlain!  It was sooooo nice not to have to worry about cooking anything and we could all sit and talk.  My favorite part was watching the cousins all sit around Elder Chamberlain and listen to his stories.  It's like they were glued to him and waiting on every word.

 Elder Chamberlain had to wait until 5 p.m. to be released so Pres. Gallacher could be there.  That was such a spiritual experience . . . listening to Elder Chamberlain bear his testimony and then with tears, take off his missionary badge.  What a moment . . .

 Isn't this cake great!?  I just had to have it!

 The following day, we met Tom's family who drove in and we all went to Buffalo Wild Wings, Kohler's favorite restaurant!!

 FINALLY - the wait for good BBQ wings is over!!!

We were so grateful that Tyler, Lisa, Wade, Colleen and Mary were able to come and support him!

This boy sure loves his grandma!

 These sweet boys all served together in Mendoza, Argentina.  They came in just for Kohler's Mission Homecoming.

I know I probably wasn't supposed to take this photo, but I couldn't help it.  Seeing those two best friends, sitting side by side, waiting to give their missionary homecoming addresses, just warmed my heart.  I had to capture it.

As the parents of a missionary, there truly are no words to describe the love we feel for this son who gave two years of his life to serve his Father in Heaven.  It has helped me understand more and more the love Heavenly Father has for us, as His children, when we obey His commandments and do our best to follow His will.  I will forever be grateful that I had the opportunity to be a Missionary Mama!