Guardian Angels

Bonjour!

A few weeks ago Brent purchased an Ipad Ebook entitled Angels by Donald W. Parry.  It came highly recommended, discussing the presence of "angels among us" and how they are involved in our everyday lives...comforting us, guiding us, and protecting us.  We were soon VERY aware, in specific ways, of the angels in our own lives and in the lives of the missionaries here.

Brent and I were driving home from the bottom of the island, just approaching the littoral, a coastal part of the highway with huge rock cliffs on one side and the ocean seawall on the other.  There is a very small shoulder on one side and the traffic is wildly crazy there, zipping in, around, and out...not a place you EVER want to have to stop.  Just before we entered the littoral, our little Yaris began making a terrible clunking sound, spewing copious white smoke out the back.  Luckily, there was a turn off right after it happened, where we coasted to a stop.  Brent got out and immediately a man appeared to help him.  Thinking, "Where did he come from?" I watched as he peered under the hood with Brent, pointed out a small parking lot just down the street, helped Brent push the car into a stall as I steered,  found the nearest towing company, (we had no idea who to call) waited with us 1/2 hour until the service towed our wounded car, and then insisted on driving us home.  Where did he come from?  He was driving behind us, witnessed our predicament, and immediately pulled off to help.  We have been here a year, but situations like that make you realize how helpless you really are...he was our "littoral angel" (pun intended).  If I hadn't been a missionary, I would have hugged him, stranger or not!

Another example.  We have a missionary who arrived eight weeks ago, who has been ill since two days after her arrival.  Five trips to the doctor, three trips to the lab for tests, and one late night visit to the emergency room later, the problem persisted.  When President Adams came, the latter part of July, her discomfort worsened, and he was immediately on the phone to South Africa.  Four days later we were putting her on an airplane to Johannesburg for specialized treatment.  That was still not easy.  She was flying alone, was ill, and had to change planes in Mauritius, where she had to recheck her luggage.  More fees, different currency, always the possibility of unforeseen visa problems.  We hugged her, Brent reassured her that he had called the Elders in Mauritius and they would be at the airport to make sure everything went well, and then we sent her through security.  Neither one of us could swallow.

When she arrived in Mauritius, she went to the transfer area instead of the luggage pick-up area.  She had no phone, the missionaries couldn't find her, couldn't call her, and the workers wouldn't let them go into the transfer area to help her.  Her luggage would not transfer.  Well, guess who shows up?  President Adams had gone to Mauritius after he left us, and was flying back to Madagascar that day.  He thought his plane left at 3:30, which put him at the airport just when all of this was happening (He had misread the ticket; his flight really left at 5:30).  He quickly spoke to someone in authority, entered the transfer area, calmed her down, and had those with the proper pull make sure that her bags got on the right plane.  Coincidence?  Unlikely.  We couldn't help but feel that possibly a great-grandmother she never knew - her guardian angel for the day - was there watching over her, arranging events to make sure "her little girl" got the help she needed.

The Saturday before she left, the St Denis branch was hosting a missionary fireside.  Brent and her two companions attended and I stayed home with her.  We talked about trials in our lives; I held her while she cried with frustration and fear for what was ahead; we laughed together about some funny experiences we had shared during our short time together; I reassured her about what was going to happen in South Africa.  Her angel was there, putting a thought in my mind.  I remembered a picture I had pinned on the cork board in the spare bedroom; you have seen it:  the one where Christ, holding a baby in one arm, reaches down with the other to help a little girl climb over rocks and out of the water.  I took her into the bedroom, telling her not to look while I covered the top two-thirds of the picture.  "What do you see?"  "A child trying to get out of the water by climbing on the rocks."  I took the paper away.  "Now what do you see?"  She began sobbing; the analogy was clear; it touched her heart and helped her to know that Her Savior was reaching down to her as well.  I took the picture down and gave it to her.  Her angel knew what she needed to know, and now she knows.

Our goal here is to see with new eyes, our daily blessings.

Lowlight of the week:  The sister missionary and I were in the doctor's office waiting room, with the zone leaders, when CRASH, my end of the double chair bench we were sitting on, collapsed.  One minute I am sitting on a chair and the next, I am sitting on the ground, with my knees level with my eyeballs, in the middle of a pile of metal.  I was stunned AND severely jolted.  I sat there for a minute, not sure if I could get up.  All the missionaries were stunned as well, staring at me, not knowing what to do.  Well, I had to do SOMETHING and I knew that I couldn't stand straight up, so I rolled over onto my hands and knees and wobbled my way to a standing position, everyone still staring at me.  Believe me, AWKWARD doesn't even begin to describe it.  (That is one of the things we laughed about together!)

Highlight of the week:  GOING TO BED and not having to SPEAK FRENCH ANYMORE!

Photo Gallery:

 P-Day, scouting out a hike for the Adams' next visit. (They always schedule a free morning while here and look forward to a fun hike together.  Trying not to disappoint is a lot of pressure.)  At the end of our hike through the sugar cane, was a magnificent waterfall. 

The fish market fascinated us.

The July departing missionaries;.  The sister in the middle, on her way to Tahiti, was going to be on a plane for 34 hours total.

Missionary, future missionary, and senior missionary....joyful!

I know, we did a whole blog on this, but they are still blooming, and we can't stop marveling.

Remember the primary program post?  Well here is that cute boy...again...with his family.

Joanie hanging up the laundry.  A tiny washing machine, and this handy little unit.  Life gets pretty basic here.  This is the office, behind me is a map of the island.  We were looking at it a lot when we first arrived; not so much now.

This young man was baptized in March; he baptized his sister in July.  This was a great, great day.  We gave him a copy of Preach My Gospel and he was THRILLED.

Love those Young Women!

          Thank you for being our angels so many times, in so many ways, without reservation.

             We know that this work is guided by the Lord, with help from ministering angels.

                                                                         A bientot!
                                                                    The  Castaways