Yet Another Update from the Castaways

Bon Jour Tous,

Well, we are on hurricane watch again...torrential rains, winds not as big this time, the storm surging through the ocean right between Reunion and Madagascar and, hopefully, missing a direct hit for both of us.  President and Sister Adams were scheduled to come in tonight (Thursday) for a zone conference on Saturday and several other meetings with priesthood leaders, but, of course, everything had to be cancelled. Our worst day is supposed to be tomorrow, and right now we are only on yellow alert (yellow, orange, red is the progression to indicate seriousness), so, maybe, we will only get wet.  I wish you could see the rain; it is like a fire hose pointed at our sliding glass doors.  Unbelievable!  But, I KNOW, it is warm here and we have NO snow.  What do we have to complain about, right?  We have followed the weather back home closely, heard about it from many of you, and we know it is a good winter to have missed.

On our last post, we talked about some of our areas of focus here in addition to the missionaries.  It is interesting how quickly that can expand, with fingers leading out into other directions.  Last Thanksgiving we helped the missionaries with a fireside...remember the blessing tree?  I had asked them at the time if the branch had a budget for them to work with.  Their response was that no organizations had a budget; there was no money.  "What, that can't be right?"  "No, really, there is no money for anyone."  So Brent had a job to do:  find out how the island finances work, which he has been working on, treading very carefully, but asking questions, talking to branch leaders, checking with President Adams. Why don't the branches have a budget?  Meanwhile, we have both been addressing, with the missionaries, the lack of youth programs here.  Granted, some branches have few youth - one branch has one young woman and one young man, siblings - but there could be combined activities with other branches.  The missionaries are excited to work with the youth and have many good ideas of things to do. We are moving ahead with a plan to implement a Wednesday activity night.  I have been looking for Boy Scout Handbooks and Leaders Manuals in French, with no luck, but we have ordered one of each in English and the elders will translate, one at a time, the sections that the leaders need.  Also, I have talked to the district Young Women's leaders...only a few Personal Progress booklets here, and yes, they would love to be able to work with the program.  I think you can see the problem:  no money, no way to order the materials because the branches don't have ordering accounts, and the mission can't pay for branch supplies.  We did what any of you would have done and the booklets are on their way.  In the mean time, Brent is working with a member who understands church accounts and how they work, to set up bank accounts for the branches so that when they do get money, they will be able to use them to order supplies.  Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of church materials here, just not always the ones they need.  Be grateful that a phone call or a distribution center is so accessible for you.

On 23 January, Brent celebrated his 75th birthday in the middle of the Indian Ocean; what an exciting way to mark a milestone.  We took our Pday on that Wednesday and went (what else) up to the last cirque - Cilaos - which we had never visited and spent the day.  We discovered an interesting fact that you might enjoy.  This island was created by a huge volcanic eruption, and, at one time, was just one big volcano.  After many eruptions, the volcano imploded, creating the three cirques, or bowls,  in the center of the island and leaving one smaller volcano on the south side.  Cilaos is supposed to be the most picturesque, with a beautiful little town, spectacular vistas, and hiking trails for every level of hiker.  We were planning on taking advantage of a good hike that day, but when we arrived, we found, to our disappointment, that the trails were closed due to damage from the last hurricane.  Great, great day anyway and we loved and appreciated every minute!

Lowlight of the week:  When I received my instructions from the former mission presidents wife, she cautioned, "Don't bring circular skirts because the winds here will blow your skirt over your head." Really?  I didn't have any circular skirts, but did have one that was a little flared, not much...but so cool and comfortable to wear.  Monday I had to accompany one of the sister missionaries to the dentist - wisdom tooth problems - walked outside to make a phone call and, all of a sudden, my face was covered with coral.  You guessed it...my skirt!  I really hadn't believed her, but she was right; it blew right in front of my face! (and no slip because it is too hot here) Luckily, I was the only one in the parking lot.  So embarrassing!

Highlight of the week:  The night before Brent's birthday, the doorbell rang.  Four missionaries were standing there with a box of chocolate eclairs, a lighted candle in each one, two containers of ice cream, and sang Happy Birthday to him.  They came in laughing and proud of themselves for the surprise and we all shared the treats.  On Thursday, the day after his birthday, we went to the south of the island for a district meeting and two missionaries there - elders - had baked him a key lime and an apple pie. They were bursting their buttons because the pies were SO GOOD.  Again, we all enjoyed the treats and had a good time together.  Such a great, great experience.

District Young Women's activity.  We had the most wonderful Saturday together and that was when I was able to talk with the leaders about what they needed to begin the Personal Progress program in all the branches.
There are vanilla beans growing on one of the trees behinds us in this picture.

Two Sundays ago when the St Andre "group" was begun.  Interesting sidelight:  Earlier in the week, six missionaries with two branch presidents and the district president met to clean up the small building to be used.  Brent spent several hours on the end of a power hose washing down the outside of the building. The missionaries were cleaning, hanging white boards, etc.  I was inside mopping floors.  It was so hot that the sweat was literally dripping off the end of my nose, and I didn't wipe it off because it appeared again instantly. Anyway, I looked out the window and the three priesthood leaders were standing in front of the building discussing where to put the sign (which hadn't even arrived yet!)  I almost shook my wet, dirty mop out the window on top of them.  "Oh sorry, I didn't see you JUST STANDING THERE!"  I think you get the picture, but they rally did work hard later.

The night we had Cindi, Nicholas, and Chloe, our investigators,  for dinner.  Such a darling family!

Birthday eclairs for Elder Heap!

The Birthday boy in Cilaos.

Birthday pies...the elders you can see were the chefs.  Everyone is clapping after singing Happy Birthday.

Pday hike with the missionaries.  This canyon is just a short distance from our house.  We all felt like mountain goats and had to watch our footing very  carefully.

Just had to share a little of our island beauty.  There is a whole row of these trees blossoming along the roadside.  Our personal favorite so far; we love yellow!

One of our great blessings here is the feeling of connection we have with home, family, and friends.  We may be half way around the world, but Heavenly Father has helped us to still feel a part of everything that has always been so important to us.  One, of many, blessings unique to serving a mission.  Thank you for your love and support; it is what keeps us going.

A Bientot!

The Castaways