Farewell to Elder Miole

Whenever one of President Carlos' assistants returns home or to the field, we let them organize a farewell dinner. They get to pick the menu and decide who they want to invite to come. Elder Miole always loved all the food we served in the mission home but after thinking about it for several weeks he decided to ask for President's "Saucy Pork Chops" and invite the Cauayan Zone to dine with him.

 President's secret recipe is so delicious.

 The San Mateo Sisters: Sister Cajigal and Sister Ramos pose in front of the Christmas tree.

 Sister Kushi and Sister Saez from the Cabatuan Branch.

 Elder Betancourt lifts his trainer Elder Reyes

 Lettuce salad, rice, sauce and pork chops--delectable!

Afterwards we played spoons. Yes, it got very wild and now there is a permanent scratch down the middle of the dining room table. Elder Miole stayed in until the end but Elder Gloria won.

After dinner we all headed over to the church next door for a Branch Family Home Evening--but really it was a surprise going away party for Elder Miole. 

 While we were waiting for things to get rolling I invited over some of the sisters to see the mission home decorated for Christmas. We had 9 nativity sets on display and the sisters loved looking around!

 A few kids tagged along and they loved seeing the Christmas tree and our dancing Snowman.

 Finally the party started rolling and as usual they played some super fun games. This was a hand squeezing game. A coin was flipped at the beginning of the line. If it was "heads" the first person in each line (it was a relay race) squeezed the person next to them's hand. The first team to get the squeeze to the end of their row won.

 About this time they showed a fantastic video that the YSAs made of Elder Miole. It really took him by surprise.

Later they asked him to come to the front where they sang him a special song and said nice things about him. He was truly a beloved missionary to missionaries, President and I, but also to the members.

We MISS Elder Miole and wish him much happiness in the future.