Goodbye, Elder and Sister Luster

Elder Jim and Sister Joan (nicknamed “Joey”) Luster will say goodbye to the West Indies Mission on August 26, 2011 when they fly home to friends and family eager to welcome them home in Ephraim, Utah.

Time and assignments for this talented couple while in the WIM have been busy and varied. The Lusters have served twice in the mission office – Elder Luster as the Finance Secretary and Sister Luster, first as Secretary to the President and later as WIM Travel Secretary, assigned to help schedule airline reservations. In between, they served on the island of Tobago where Sister Luster taught seminary and provided shadow leadership to the Relief Society, Young Women’s program and the Primary in the branch, while the former college professor worked with the priesthood brethren and branch presidency and managed petty cash reimbursements and JP Morgan Cards for senior couples - all done remotely from Tobago. The couple’s final assignment was a return to the work they enjoy most of all – working with members in the branch in Point Fortin, Trinidad.

According to the Lusters, “the most memorable part of our mission was the time we spent in Tobago working with members in the branch there. We grew to love and appreciate those people because of their dedication and testimonies of the Gospel. Our experiences there will forever be stamped in our memories.”

Another memorable experience while serving in the West Indies Mission was the opportunity to attend the Couple’s Conference held in St. Lucia. “It was great fun to meet face-to-face with senior couples who, up until then, we had only known through conversations on the phone or through e-mail. We will cherish the acquaintances we have made with the wonderful senior couples with whom we have served. What an inspiration they have been to us! After we all return home we hope to be able to visit many of them and reminisce about our experiences,” say the Lusters.

“We will miss the native people, their friendship, and bright smiles. They are truly our brothers and sisters in the Gospel and we have felt at home here. Also dear to our hearts are the young missionaries. Their spirit and dedication to the Lord’s work has been very impressive. It is truly a miracle to see the enthusiasm with which these young people leave the comfort of their homes to travel to an unfamiliar part of the world,” says Joey Luster.

What the Lusters’ will NOT miss are "bars on the windows and padlocks on the doors and doing business in offices where clerks are hidden from view behind a glass plate where communication is only through a small hole,” states the Utah sister missionary. “We are anxious to return to our family and friends, but it will be bitter-sweet to leave behind those we love in the Caribbean.”

Until we meet again, Elder and Sister Luster . . . you are loved and will be very much missed here in the West Indies Mission.