Stepping Up

Ca va mes amis?  Nous esperons que pour vous tous allez bien aujourd"hui, (We hope all is well with you today.)

I pulled out my Coolpix camera to snap a GREAT picture a few day ago, and the screen flashed the message, "Out of memory".  I thought, "How true!, but I didn't just run out today, most of it has been gone for quite a while!"  The experience, however, reminded me of why writing this blog is so wonderful for me. It forces me to make mental note, and then hard copy note, of the large and small parts of our days here that I don't want to forget.  Different than a journal entry; the blog, for me, is like a photo album.  I am not searching my soul; I am just happily reliving and recording what is interesting to me and just might be of interest to you. With that in mind, here we go...

About a month ago, Brent and I attended Conference de Jeunesse (youth conference) up in the charming little mountain village of Entre Deux, which means between two (it is between two rivers).  We had dinner with the youth, and then the District President and Brent both spoke.  These young people were amazing, still engaged and asking questions at 10:30, really involved. We found that there were 12 prospective missionaries on the island.  Pretty good for a church population of about 600.  Brent told the mission president about it, who said ,"Let's get them all together for a meeting when I come next month."  That expanded to include their parents, all the Branch Presidencies, anyone who wanted to attend.  The youth filed in and all sat at the front of the chapel.  We looked at them: young women from Girl's Camp, young men and women from Sunday School classes we've attended, young men Brent had met with in Aaronic Priesthood activities, young women I had worked with, families we had dined with, laughed with, and served with.. It was North Ogden in the middle of the Indian Ocean.  The meeting began with a video clip from the worldwide broadcast, a choir of 2,000 missionaries singing Called to Serve. Talk about goodebumps! The spirit was so strong that I could hardly contain myself; something I am not really good at to begin with.  The meeting was great and served its purpose:  instructions, questions, answers, and  laughs.  One bright sidelight: the president wanted to do some role play and called a young man out of the group...the QUIETEST young man on the WHOLE island, just a great young man, but quiet.  I was worried for him and thought,"Is he going to be able to do this?"  Well, he did, and he did it well.  I now call him, "Notre etoile" (our star) and he just beams.  He stepped up and tried, and when  we do that, Heavenly Father always fills in the rest.

Another example of stepping up that strengthened us. President Adams came to welcome a new missionary from Tahiti, send two exceptional missionaries home (the last of all the missionaries who were here when we arrived), and hold a Zone Conference.  It was a big WHOOSH, and then he was gone.  Our missionary force here is new; our only experienced missionary serves as a Zone Leader - notice, there is NO plural there - solo - (he is SO amazing; we can't believe all he is able to do without a helper),  and his companion is the new Tahitian, so he is a trainer as well.  We invited them to help us by giving the lesson to a family we are teaching, in English.  The Zone leader taught the apostasy, doing the wonderful job we knew he would.  He had asked his companion, who speaks very little English, to teach the Restoration, telling him he could teach in either French or English. Knowing what they were going to be teaching, I had reviewed those sections in Preach My Gospel earlier in the afternoon.  As the elder began teaching the Restoration, in English, my heart swelled as I followed, in my mind, exactly what had been outlined in PMG.  His language was limited; his spirit was strong and willing to try. He spoke simply; he quoted Joseph Smith's account of seeing the Father and the Son; he bore testimony.  He stepped up, just as the Zone Leader has stepped up, performing a demanding job solo, and the Lord filled in the rest for both of them. STEPPING UP; it is all that is asked of us, and we have seen it in action here many, many times.

Highlight of the Week:
The sister missionaries who live above us called on the phone last Sunday, "Soeur Heap, the gate (the automatic iron gate that guards our apartment) won't open.  Can you come down with your automatic clicker and open it for us so we can get in?"  I went down and tried, but the gate was broken.  We realized that we were locked in and they were LOCKED OUT.  They said that they would go back down to the church and do their weekly planning and, maybe, by then it would be fixed. It wasn't. This was the highlight!  Brent told them, "Don't worry; I will throw some food over the fence for you.  You will be fine!!!!"  Yes, someone finally solved the problem, but the look on their faces still has us laughing.

Lowlight of the Week:
Our trusty little Macbook Pro finally said, "I quit."  We have been babying it along for a while now, and I'm not ashamed to say, praying for it as well.  The Apple store said they would have to send it to France.  We are NOT sending anything to France, and found an Apple dealer herewho could fix it, but alas, it will take three weeks (the part has to come from France).  I can blog on the office computer, but we have no way to attach any photos.  A REAL lowlight for us, especially since we had missionaries leaving that we wanted to brag about and show you.  In three weeks it will be totally a PHOTO GALLERY post.
We know you are disappointed; so are we.

                                          Stepping up...may we all be found willing to do so.

                                                                        A bientot!

                                                                    The Castaways
      

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