A Season of Savoring

Nos cheres famille et amies,

I am sitting at the computer, needing to put on paper the thoughts circling around in my mind, the sentiments filling my heart, and the love I feel reaching across the oceans between us.  Tonight, this seems like a daunting task.  But the feelings are strong and the need great, so off we go....

A few weeks ago, one of our missionaries was really struggling.  Some of the reasons were apparent, others were his alone to deal with.  Brent made a trip down the island to lovingly, but frankly, counsel with him, wondering after if it had made much of a difference.  Two days later, we went to District Meeting, prepared with some thoughts to share that we hoped might help.  As we walked into the room, it was obvious from his face that the problems were still there; I felt my stomach turn.  There was much to discuss that morning with the business part of the meeting lasting longer than usual.  I knew that Brent had something important to present, and I began to wonder if I should wait until next week to give my thoughts.  I had decided that when the Zone Leader asked me if I needed any time that I would just tell him "Not this week", but when he asked, I immediately said, "Yes," and walked to the front of the room.  What?  I wasn't going to do this.  What I shared, and testified of, was something that someone I love and respect gave to us when we began our work here.  It was:
            You are here for a REASON.
                    Things WILL BE hard sometimes.
                              The choice of how to respond is YOURS.
                                       Your choices DO matter.
                                                Regular people can, and do, work MIRACLES in the Lord's service.
                                                        You are NEVER alone.
                                                                  It is ALL worth it.
And then I closed with a statement someone else I love and respect has repeated for years:
                                                         NO EXCUSES; NO REGRETS!

It was now Brent's turn.  (This is a very abbreviated version.)  He began with  a thought posed by UCLA's Coach John Wooden:   Each day you have $86,400.00 deposited in your bank account and every evening it is emptied; what you don't spend, you lose and never gain back. The next day the same thing is repeated. If this were true, what would you do with that money every day?  You would spend it, of course.  You have such a bank account; it is called time.  Every day credits you with 86,400 seconds.  A balance is not carried over to the next day, and you are not allowed overdrafts. Each day the bank, named time, opens a new account with you.  Each night it burns the records of the day.  If you failed to use the day's deposit, the loss is yours.  Each day you are going to spend your time wisely or waste it.  What are YOU going to do?

This, of course, doesn't apply just to missionary work; it applies to all of us... everyday. It reminded us of the adage:  Life doesn't get better by chance; it gets better by change.  To see someone understand that truth, apply it to themselves, and become someone stronger and better because of it has been an affirming experience.  He is happy; he is learning to be a leader; he is giving it his best, and no one can ask for more than that.

Highlight of the week:  Did you know that 4,000 whales come to our part of the Indian Ocean every year to calve before they return to Antarctica? We knew that there had been whale sightings this time of year toward the southern end of the island, but one Sunday afternoon while I was cooking dinner, Brent was looking at the ocean from our sliding glass doors, and he saw something.  Could it be?  It was, and then he saw a FULL BREACH!  "Joan, Joan, come here!" We then watched some blows and some tails coming up ...right from our front room.  It was amazing!

Lowlight of the week:  Brent and I got up at first light and went to the marche to shop for our weekly fruits and vegetables.  As always, a great sensory experience.  This time of year, going into summer, it is HUGE, with several unique seasonal items available. The colors are stunning! There were also cartons of fresh eggs available, wrapped with a string.  I thought, "Great, I need eggs anyway; now I won't have to go to the market."  So I bought some.  When I got home and opened the carton, there were feathers stuck all over the eggs.   I guess they were REALLY fresh, but do we dare eat them??????

PHOTO GALLERY:

Mother and daughters saying goodbye to "their" missionaries at the airport.

Brent signed recommends for this family preparing to be sealed in the Johannesburg temple.  A special night with beloved friends.

Baptism in St Marie.

In case you haven't heard, the dress standards for elders have a new addition:  tan and gray slacks.  The elder from Tahiti, on the right, arrived with several pair, so our Zone Leader, on the left, just had to try them out for a day.  Brent wishes he had some!

Getting ready to begin a training breakfast.  I scrambled 25 eggs, fried up a huge pan of potatoes, served sliced ham with piles of toast, and every bite disappeared.  Not even a crumb left for the cockroaches.

Everyone was waiting to devour the eggs, while the Zone Leader took "just one more call."  So conscientious.  You can see where we did our whale watching!

The new companionship ready to head down the coastal highway and begin their day.

The La Reunion zone, which recently doubled in size.

Elder Heap checking the cars after zone meeting.  "Would you really take out the best looking girl in town in a car that looks like THIS inside?"

We are fully aware that all of this will soon be only a memory...we tell ourselves daily to  enjoy totally each and every experience.

Don't just look...SEE!
Don't just hear...LISTEN!
Don't just experience...UNDERSTAND!
Don't just live...SAVOR!

With all of our love and best wishes for you;  A bientot,

The Castaways

Ramping Up and Reminiscing

Bonjour encore de notre petite ile de La Reunion, (Hello, again, from our little island of La Reunion)

Life on Reunion is really ramping up each week now.  We aren't really sure why...it could be because the missionary force here has doubled, with all its ups and downs...it could be because without a missionary couple here for about eight years (full-time) Madagascar has realized that many things they were doing for Reunion could now be handled by US...it could be because in anticipation of how quickly the next three months will fly by, we are trying to order supplies , organize all needful things, and minimize any potential difficulties for the next couple who (hopefully) will arrive here, all the while doing everything we have done for the past fifteen months.  District conference is approaching - two weeks from today - Brent and I will be speaking in the Saturday evening session and bearing our testimonies during the Sunday session.  It sounds like a swan song, n'est ce pas? (doesn't it?)

I need an escape from the day to day, so tonight I am going to write about only "Highlights" of the last little while.  Moments that have warmed our hearts, lifted our spirits, and made us smile. So journey along with me as I reminisce....

We have an elder from Korea who arrived 4 1/2 weeks ago; a great young man.  We were talking one day, and I asked him how he was doing.  His reply, "I would really like to have some chopsticks; do you know where I could get some?"  What do they call chopsticks in French?  Is there even a word?  My response, "NO PROBLEM.  We will find some for you."  When I went to choir practice in St Denis (the Christmas program is approaching) I asked a member whose husband is Chinese, if she could help me.  The word for chopsticks is "baguette de Chinoise" and she told me that she had some she would give him.  Brent and I would be attending another branch the following Sunday, so I asked the missionaries to get them from her and drop them off to him.  He called me that night.  "Sister Heap, this is Elder........  I just wanted to thank you for the chopsticks.  I didn't realize what a DIFFERENCE they would make; it was so WONDERFUL to eat with chopsticks again...and...Oh... really...I... just CAN'T tell you.  Thank you so much.  I LOVED eating dinner; I felt so HAPPY."  I could tell from his voice just how much comfort - a little bit of home - they had afforded him.  It made our day; we laughed because Brent said, "Think about it.  If you only had chopsticks, wouldn't it be great to eat with a fork again?"

A sister, also arriving 4 1/2 weeks ago, lives above us.  We knew she was an accomplished violinist, but she has been very busy, learning the language, learning to drive here, learning how to be a missionary, learning how to cook with what is available, so she hadn't even taken her violin out of its case, until....one week ago, when she, too, needed something familiar.  We heard slight strains coming from above, but couldn't really hear well until this morning, Sunday morning.  All the windows were open, ours and hers.  It sounded like she was playing in our apartment.  Imagine this friends:  you are getting ready for church and a live concert violinist is playing "Come, Come Ye Saints." Yes, is was amazing.

Just today we had dinner after church with a special family.  She is a great cook and her dishes are always very tasty and very Creole creative.  She served a salad with potato/ fish cakes for a starter and then presented a huge pot of rice and a steaming pot containing meat and vegetables.  It was delicious, but the meat consisted of round chunks, with funny shaped bones in the middle and definitely didn't look familiar. We were all eating, ( I finally picked my meat up with my fingers when I saw the hostess do it because the meat was difficult to get off with a knife.  Brent was still struggling with a knife and fork trying to be polite) when she asked, with a twinkle in her eye, "Have you ever eaten tail of beef before?" Tail of beef?  Ahhhh, now the funny shaped bones made sense.  Brent looked up at her and without missing a beat, smiled and asked, "You washed it really well didn't you?" (They love his quirky sense of humor here.)  Now we have eaten tail of beef and we'll bet YOU haven't!

Lowlight of the week: The elders in St Pierre had to change apartments so we went down to help them move and make sure that the apartment they left was clean (more than we bargained for!)  I made them pull out a shelf unit in the kitchen so they could clean under it and I'll bet it hadn't been moved for YEARS, it was FILTHY.  I picked up a broom and took a swipe at what a thought was just "dark stuff" that had collected there, when some of the "stuff" started to move and I realized that a lizard was in the middle of whatever it was.  He immediately dropped his tail, I mean literally, he just left it behind, and began waddling away.  The interesting thing was, and I couldn't help but just stand back and watch, that the lizard and its separated tail were moving in perfect synchronization as if they were still connected.  Fascinating little factoid learned while cleaning but definitely NOT worth it.

PHOTO GALLERY:

Whether in this life or the next, we will see you again our friends!
Those are orchids growing in pots on the fence.

The fruit of the island...goyavier.  I can't even begin to describe it: tart, sweet, incredible, but they each have about 12 little BB like seeds inside that the natives just swallow.  We were warned that if one eats too many goyaviers, severe constipation follows.  A colon full of BB's couldn't be good!  I put a whole bunch of berries in a large pan with a little water and sugar, boil them down while I am doing something else, run them through a strainer (if you hit a seed, it would break your tooth) and we use it as syrup for French toast, topping for ice cream, or just add it to plain yogurt. YUM!

This is my little "get ready" area.  There is no vanity in the bathroom, just a freestanding sink; in fact, there are no outlets in the bathroom.  All I need is right here, with a mirror propped up on two slat boxes.  It is amazing how little we really need; life gets pretty simple on a small island. (There is no choice BUT simple for us.)

An entrance to someone's house that brings up images of "The Secret Garden".  I so want to sneak in and peek around.

We took this picture because of the striking lime and red color combination.  When we put the picture on the computer,  we noticed the hanging lilies, a little past their peak, but still beautiful.

Here he is, isn't he ADORABLE?  Our new roommate, El Gecko, who doesn't make any noise and eats all the bugs.

A couple of weeks after the new missionaries arrived, the Zone Leader organized a hike around the Grand Etang (lake). We took an offshoot trail, taking us up to a horseshoe area of seven waterfalls.  These are the missionaries heading up to the waterfalls.  The hike was steep AND worth it.

I couldn't resist climbing over the wet, slippery rocks to have a picture taken close to the bottom of one of the falls which came from several hundred feet above me..  Of course then everyone wanted to do it, getting closer, closer, closer...wetter, wetter, wetter.  They loved it.

Have you seen these people?

Perfect P-Day and Joanie had chocolate chip cookies back at the car.  They were SO grateful.  

                         The Highlights and Lowlights ebb and flow here...much like all of life.
                         This IS our life right now and what a grand blessing and adventure it is.

As President Monson counseled: "So much in life depends on our attitude.  The way we choose to see things and respond to others makes all the difference:  To do the best we can and then choose to be happy about our circumstances, whatever they may be, can bring peace and comfort."

                                                         It works; we can testify of that.

                                                            Love from The Castaways

Still Sorting It Out...

Ca va mes amies? Bonne dimanche pour la conference generale.

It is 8:22 AM in Utah right now and you are all padding around in your pajamas thinking how nice it will be to settle in front of the TV and watch yet another Sunday session of general conference.  We hope you appreciate the convenience of all you have at home.  Here, everything is so much more complicated, but still possible, which is such a blessing.

The saga here continues.  With the huge influx of new missionaries, the American missionaries headed our way are now trained at the MTC in Ghana.  Ghana, a very small operation until now, is flooded with incoming/outgoing missionaries, all being trained for different lengths of time depending upon their language skills.  No more X number of weeks for training; if you can speak adequately (?), you are shipped out, which creates many difficulties.  We expected a group of seven missionaries to arrive on 4 September.  Every missionary companionship on our island would be affected and needed to be in St Denis (11/2 hour drive for some) on the morning of 5 September to meet their new companions, assist with the preliminary training, enjoy lunch together, and be taught by the President Adams.  Well, on Monday, 2 September, we found out that they weren't coming.  Yes, you are right, WEREN'T coming. Someone in Ghana had forgotten to purchase their tickets, so now they would be arriving on Thursday instead.  Everything scheduled had to be rearranged; the missionaries had to fill up a day they had kept free and cancel appointments for the day they thought they would be working.  The president had to reschedule his flights and a whole weekend of plans, and our heads were swimming trying to make everything work...but it did, they are here, full of enthusiasm and spirit, and we are loving watching them all sort it out together.  And then...

There was a sister missionary in Ghana who was scheduled to arrive 16 October.  Her language was great (five years of French and a summer in France with Study Abroad) so they said she would be arriving the middle of September.  Okay, we can do that.  She flew from Ghana to South Africa, where she was supposed to board a flight to Madagascar and then to Reunion.  When she got to Johannesburg, ALONE, she found that her flight to Madagascar had been cancelled.  SOOOOOO, when would the next flight be leaving?  No one knew; MAYBE tomorrow sometime.  She was in Joburg for 24 hours plus, was finally able to board a flight to Mauritius and then to Reunion.  She arrived, being a trooper about the whole ordeal, only to find that somewhere in all of this mess, her luggage hadn't made it on the plane.  I will spare you all the nightmarish details, but EIGHT days later, she still didn't have any luggage.  None of the three airlines she had flown with would accept responsibility and said it was "the other guy's" fault.  She was wonderful for about five days, but then she began to wilt, and, of course, we finally got to the conversation we knew was coming.  "If I am here to do God's work, why isn't he helping me find my luggage?  I don't think I can do this another day."  I looked at her, Brent was meeting with some local leaders that evening, and thought, "What can I possibly say to her?" because at that point I really didn't think she would EVER see her luggage again.  But we talked about why she was here, the fact that she could go home, the decision was hers, but did she really want a few things in a suitcase (three months of shopping and planning; you know how that goes) stop her from doing what she was sent here to do? We talked about how she got through Joburg alone and that she could do this too.  She still wasn't sure.  She went upstairs to bed.

The next morning I knocked on her door.  She answered, dressed (same outfit), with her name tag pinned on her shirt, and I knew she had crossed the bridge and would be staying...no matter what.  That night at 11:30 PM we went to the airport and, VOILA, after all those days, trips to the airport, phone calls, meeting with anyone and everyone, her luggage came sliding down the carousel.  You should have seen the smiles; it was a wonderful moment, but the BEST PART was HER knowledge that she had successfully sorted it out before the luggage arrived and had made her decision to see it through.  Moments which can't adequately be described.

Highlight of the week:  We have  new gecko!  Brent saw him scurrying across the wall two nights ago. We haven't seen him since, but we know he is here somewhere, our new apartment buddy.  Brent doesn't get to vacuum any more!

Lowlight of the week:  We came home from a particularly long day, I looked in the mirror, and noticed that one of my earrings was black and the other one was purple...not even remotely similar in color or style.  You tell me, how did THAT happen?  Funny thing; I didn't even care.  Just took them off and got ready for bed.

Photo Gallery:  YES, our computer is back!

A tiny street in our favorite little island village, Entre Deux (remember, between two?).

Mangez Ensemble (eating together) after sacrament meeting.  Brent's comment, "I've never had so much fun on a Sunday."  

Two elders were going home (front left and back right) and wanted to have "one more French repas", so they bought their favorite baguettes and cheese and stopped by to enjoy eating them "chez nous" (at our house) when their last day was over.  You can't believe just HOW MUCH bread and cheese those three consumed!  Great night.

A new arrival...VERY tired.

We told you about this.  He showed up for a training luncheon, and I saved him for a departure dinner that night.

Same great elders at their departure dinner. Still eating, but NOT willing to share their water with the cockroach.  I anticipated this moment all afternoon.

P-Day hike with President and Sister Adams.  We were high in the mountains, came around a corner and found a little family who lived up there.  They had a crate of oranges that were probably headed for the open market.  We bought some from them and were they ever good.  Fresh off the tree!

This is their home.  Very neat and clean; totally self-sufficient.   A huge vegetable garden, mango, papaya, banana and other assorted fruit trees, chickens, ducks, goats, sheep, even a solar panel.  A little corner of paradise,

We send our love to all of you at home.  A bientot!

The Castaways