Well done Elder LeCheminant

October 28th found us all waiting patiently

at the Salt Lake Airport for Peter's arrival

Here he comes . . .

As parents of missionaries this is one

of the best days of your life!!

A hug from a brother he hasn't seen for 3 1/2 years

Meeting his 2 neices Avrey and Olivia for the first time

So glad Grandma & Grandpa Chem and

Gram & Grandpa could be there.

First stop before heading home-----Cafe Rio!!

Welcome Home Elder!!

Thanks to all of our family members who have loved and

supported Peter the last 2 years. Will we miss the weekly

emails, the adventures and the joy that having a missionary

brings? Yup, but it sure is nice to have him home too.

A Celebration

Digital invite made with Smilebox

2 Weeks and Counting

We are getting so excited for Peter's return home in

just 2 weeks!! Really the time has flown by these last

few months. We've got the rice cooker all geared up

and ready to go and his warm clothes are waiting. . .

Peter is pictured below with his companion, Brother and

Sister Tobias and then Elder Wong Yong Ko of the Area

Presidency and his wife who visited the mission recently.

On The Count Down

At church on Sunday one of my friends asked me

how many days until Peter gets home----yikes!!!

I guess we are down to counting days now . . .

. . . so 67 to be exact.

This is Peter looking happy and pain free.

Not at all like I'm sure he looked last week

when he passed a kidney stone!!

I hope he has a swinging good time these

last few weeks but I also hope he can

stay focused to the end

(Is that even possible?!)

A Long Overdue Update

Wow--the time is going by so fast and I am really overdue

in updating Peter's blog so here we go-----

Peter celebrated his 21st Birthday with quite the feast

including Hostess cupcakes from home!!!

The work continues to go well with these 2 recent baptisms.

Also the opening of the Cebu temple will be a great blessing

for the people in Peter's mission as it is just a short boat ride

away for them instead of a lengthy trip north to Manila.

Peter loves the people of the Philippines, when we talked

on Mother's Day it was clear that he will have a hard time

leaving in just a few short months.

The biggest news of all is that Peter will remain in the

Bacolod Mission on Negroes and will not be assigned

to the new mission on Panay. I think he was happy about

that as he loves President Tobias. In his email this week

he said that he has been assigned as a Zone leader so we

will be anxious to see where he was transferred to, most

likely this will be his last area. I hope he remembers. . .

"Trunkiness Never Was Happiness"!!!!!!

Transfer back to Negros

After almost a year of serving on the island of Panay, Peter

was recently transferred back to the island of Negros to

a place called Cadiz. It is near Victorias which was his first

area and so he has had fun reconnecting with people there.

Being 50 pounds thinner some didn't recognize him at first!!

The Iloilo Zone at the transfer meeting

A little sad on the boat ride back to Negros but happy to

serve where ever President Tobias sends him!

Fishers of Men

On a recent P-day these "Fishers of Men" took some

time off for an excursion to SEAFTEC also known as the

Southeast Asia Fish Technology Center where they do

research to help the fishing industry in the Philippines

Our "Star" Missionary. . .

A Happy Place To Be

Nothing makes missionary parents happier than to have

their son write home and say. . ."there is no other place

in the world I'd rather be right now!!"

Peter's District had the honor of being the top baptizing

district in the mission last week. Their hard work and

dedication is blessing many lives!! He said this in a recent

email, "While teaching an investigator I totally sat there

in the lesson and just kept smiling because it was such a

happy place to be." I'm reminded of a quote by Brother

Barrett in our ward who once served as a mission president,

he stated "Anyone can go on a mission but not everyone is a

missionary." I think Peter has caught the true spirit of

missionary work---keep it up Elder!!!

My Brothers Didn't Do This

Peter is having alot of fun making sure his brothers

know that HE is doing things on his mission

that they didn't do while on their missions. . .

. . .Yep they didn't ride a tryke (above) or a bull (below)

Nope----they didn't have to take pills to prevent "intestinal problems"

Not one of them ever climbed a coconut tree or sliced

the coconut open with a really wicked looking knife

Not one of them lost 50 pounds or. . .

. . .tried preaching the Gospel to a monkey----- regardless

they ALL had their own adventures that they wouldn't

trade for anything!!