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