21 Months and Over

Hey everyone!

You might be surprised to see an email for me. I guess I want to do one last closing email. My last week in Peru was really sad and really busy. We got to stay in our mission President's house for our last 4 days there as they wanted to spend the last few moments with us. During those last 4 days we planned out what we needed to do to prepare the mission for when all of the north americans were gone and the travel plans to get us home. Whenever there was a little free time, we always liked to go to our mission President's basement where we would play ping pong and foosball.

It was a fun week until the goodbyes began. First I had to say goodbye to my pension Hermana Patty and her husband Hermano David. They were the best and always helped us to feel at home. Both of them are returned missionaries so they know what it is like to be one and with that experience were able to help us out a lot. It was hard to say goodbye to them as they had been my pension for the past 6 months. Then Saturday night after the general conference we had a testimony meeting. It was the president's family with 5 of us north americans and one other elder. It was really spiritual but also really sad.

Then the next morning at 7 we headed off to the airport for a quick 30 min flight to Lima. Only 20 of the 57 north american missionaries flew out with us because the rest of them werent able to get the travel permissions necessary to travel to the airport. When we arrived in Lima we were taken to a US Emabssy bunker and waited there until our next flight arrived to go from Lima to Los Angeles. We flew home with two other missions: Trujillo North and Trujillo South. The majority of the airplane was missionaries. Luckily I got to sit by 4 missionaries from my mission. It made me grateful for the mission I went to and for the friends I got to know.

After a 9 hour flight to Los Angeles (which felt more like 47 hours), we waited in the airport for another 2 hours or so before getting shuttled off to our hotel. It felt so weird when we got back into the U.S. The Los Angeles skyline at night was a site to see. There were so many lights and so much more order. It made me grateful to have been born in the U.S. That night we got about 4 hours of sleep and had to be up and leave back for the airport at around 5:45. Then our flight got delayed and we eventually left around 9:30 for Salt Lake. It was a quick 2 hour or so flight and I fell asleep after take off and woke up over Utah Valley.

When I arrived in the parking garage of the airport, I quickly spotted my van with my family waiting. When I got closer I was greeted by Spencer with a big hug. It was the first time we had seen each other in 4 years as I left mid July 2018 for my mission and he got home from his about a week later. After seeing my family, we headed off for an In and Out burger for a good American burger. Then on the way home my ward surprised me by waiting on the street corner of my house with signs to welcome me home. I definitely wasnt expecting it but it was perfect. I feel pretty lucky with the ward and family God has blessed me with. It was probably the most emotional weekend of my life, leaving Peru, ending my mission, and getting to see my family and friends after a long 21 months.

I would like to personally thank all of you for having joined me on this wild journey. I hope these emails were not too long or too boring. Its been a good 21 months and I hope to one day see all of you again after this coronavirus situation calms down.

Love,

Elder Corbett

Photos:

1. Hasta Ver Patty y David!

2. 4 Years in the Making

3. The bois are back and 6 feet apart