Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard said some sad goodbyes during last night’s episode of Counting On .
Jill Duggar, 26, and Derick Dillard, 28, were getting ready to depart for Central America on the July 10 episode of Counting On , “Joy Gets Engaged,” and the missionaries were making the most of their remaining time in Arkansas by surrounding themselves with family. As the Duggar Family Blog reports, Jill decided to cook one final feast for Derick’s mother, stepfather, brother, and sister-in-law before she and her growing family left the country. Jill was still pregnant at the time of filming, and she joked that she still had a lot of “food to consume” that wouldn’t be available in Central America.
“But not in a glutinous way,” Derick interrupted his wife to say.
During dinner, Jill Duggar handed her engagement ring over to her mother-in-law, Cathy. She explained that she didn’t want the bling to attract the attention of a violent thief.
“In Central America, I wear my wedding band, which is still valuable,” said the second-oldest Duggar daughter.
“But down there, it’s all about appearance, so if you have a stone or something, you just don’t want to take any chances. You don’t want to take the chance of getting your finger cut off just so somebody can steal your ring.”
Jill and Derick have often spoken of the gang violence that’s prevalent in the area of El Salvador where they live as missionaries. As Radar Online reports, the couple has even revealed that one of their friends in the country was recently kidnapped and murdered . The deceased had worked alongside them for S.O.S. Ministries, the Christian organization the couple partnered with for their mission trip.
The possibility of being robbed and murdered wasn’t Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard’s only worry ahead of their return to El Salvador; they were also concerned about what would happen if something went wrong during Jill’s pregnancy. Derick’s sister, Deena, asked the expectant mother if she had a backup plan in place if she couldn’t return to Arkansas to give birth like she had hoped to do.
“We have connections with a medical director in the area, but it’s a rural area,” said the Duggar daughter. “If we need to, they could point us in the right direction, but it’s not to say that it would be very quality healthcare.”
Before Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard headed to the airport, they had to make one final farewell; Derick bid adieu to his man bun. His wife became a hair-cutting pro by spending years shearing the heads of Duggar boys, so she did the honors of chopping off his long locks.
“So I’ve decided to cut my hair before going back to Central America because I found out toward the end of our time there that longer hair, it’s viewed differently,” Derick said.
“You don’t want to unnecessarily distract from the purpose of being there, and hair might be one of those things.”
The Duggar husband didn’t elaborate on why it’s considered a negative thing for a guy to have long hair in El Salvador, but it looks like he’s decided to keep it short since having it cut a few months ago.
Luckily for Jill Duggar, she didn’t experience any major pregnancy issues while she was in El Salvador. She and her family made it safely back to the states, and People reports that Samuel Scott Dillard was delivered via C-section on July 8.
[Featured Images by Jill Dillard /Instagram, Derick Dillard /Instagram]