Palmers in Tonga

We are flying over San Francisco Bay preparing to land after a 2 hour flight. On board our plane was another Missionary, Elder Saluone (pronounced S-all-oo-o-nay) from Denver, Colorado. Marlin actually visited with him while we were in the San Francisco airport waiting for our flight to New Zealand. He is half Samoan and is on his was to the same MTC that we are. He was glad to see us as much as we were glad to find another missionary. Things got even better when we noticed another young man who looked (dressed) like a missionary. It was Elder Johnson, from Glendale, Arizona, heading to the MTC in Auckland New Zealand.  Both Elder Saluone and Elder Johnson are called to serve in the Vanuatu Mission, an island country off the east coast of Australia.

We left San Francisco after a 3 hour layover (10:40 Utah time). The flight to NZ was thirteen hours, so when we arrived in Auckland, New Zealand we exhausted.  While waiting to go through customs we meet an Elder from Chile, who spoke very little English. He was really happy to find other missionaries. Our ride was waiting for us, but also waiting for others so we waited in the airport for another 2 hours looking for other missionaries.  We met another missionary couple, Kevin and Helen Williams, from a small town near Perth Australia. They are going to serve in the Mission Office in Bangkok, Thailand.  They are amazing, both are in their late 70's and heading out on a mission.