Getting close.  We fly out of Lewiston in 12 days.  We have sold our car, found renters for our dear farmhouse, packed and stored most of our furniture and detritus, and completed our Pathway training. The amount of minute details is overwhelming.  Getting on the airplane is going to be such a relief, knowing that everything is finally done.  We leave Lewiston on December 26 and enter the MTC on December 29.  We will be there for one week and fly out of Salt Lake City on January 5.  We will be in transit for 22.5 hours, assuming all goes according to plan.
What an exciting adventure we are on!  So thrilled to be going to the Adriatic South Mission for 23 months.  Our mission includes Albania, Macedonia, and Kosovo.  It is located directly east across the Adriatic Sea from Italy.
I can hardly wait to actually get there and meet the people we with whom we will be serving.  Our specific assignment is called the Stake Young Single Adult Mission.  We will be working with members of the church who are 18-30 years of age.  We have taken initial training for Pathway, and the wonderful couple we are replacing will train us on-site for a week.  Pathway is a BYUI program which combines on-line classes with weekly group classes.  It helps those who cannot go to the BYUI campus to get a college degree.  We will also be doing whatever the mission president needs from us.  (I know - TMI - but I can't help myself.)
John has been studying very hard to learn the language.  It isn't easy for us old folks, but I know his efforts will be rewarded.  It will be a blessing to us for him to be able to at least recognize a few words and be able to express his feelings about the Savior in the Albanian language.
This mission has been and will be a tremendous experience for us.  Heavenly Father has blessed us in more ways than I would have imagined.