Adventures in Paradise 32

Adventures in Paradise 32

Kia Orana, everyone! Our excellent adventure continues with more thoughts on just how far reaching our actions can prove to be. Last week, I told the story of the farmer who chose to import Myna birds to this island, with devastating results. His actions have had permanent and seemingly irreversible repercussions. We can never predict the scope of a single choice. This can be a daunting responsibility.

As is my custom, I check in occasionally on-line with ksl.com. It’s a nice little connector with a life I used to know.  Last week, there was an article about a young man who bought a home in Bountiful, Utah. Upon moving in, he discovered over 40,000 dollars in the attic of the home’s garage. The previous owner had died and the family had put the property up for sale. Many of us have had the somber experience of “cleaning out” a family home to prepare it to be sold. We know the emotions involved in sifting through a lifetime of memories and memorabilia. There are so many questions concerning what should be saved. How can we let go of anything that was important to a parent? I am sure that the Bangerter family felt this same emotional tug-of-war as they emptied their father’s home to make it ready for a new family and a new life.

So, the home was sold to a young man who says that when he entered the home, it “just felt right to him”. After looking at many homes, he knew that this modest house was home. He moved in and began taking stock of his new purchase. To make a long story shorter, he found some WWII ammo boxes in the garage attic. He was stunned when he opened the first one and found that it was stuffed with cash. The others contained cash, bonds and stamps. The total was almost 45,000 dollars! Coincidentally, this was almost the same amount that this young man thought he would need to make needed updates to the home. What luck!

What would you do in this situation?

The boxes were returned to the Bangerter family who had not known of their existence. One son did say that his father was always tucking things away, but they had no idea that he had done anything like this. They were surprised and grateful. This young man said that it made him nervous to be in the company of all of that money, knowing that it belonged to someone else. It never ever occurred to him to keep it. He knew who had saved it and he knew how to return it.

While I am certain that many of you have read or heard about this already, there is a specific surprising reason that I am retelling this story. Earlier this week, the story of this young man’s honesty appeared in the “Cook Island News”! Five thousand miles away, from Bountiful, Utah, a story of one man’s honesty made news in the South Pacific. Isn’t it interesting that being honest can be so newsworthy?

I wanted to let this young man know just how wide-spread his story had become, so I wrote to Josh Ferrin on Facebook. I didn’t write to congratulate him on his honesty. Rather, I wrote to tell him that his story had appeared in a newspaper in the Cook Islands. I wanted him to know that even on this little rock far away in the Pacific Ocean, people were surprised and impressed by his actions. Josh graduated from Bountiful High in 2007. You may be interested to know that I also wrote to tell Josh,that as one of one his former teachers at Bountiful High, I was proud of him too. Proud, of him, but not surprised.  

It’s a very small world, isn’t it?

So, as I assure you all that we are happy and trying to work hard, I will also tell you why we are posting no photos in this week’s blog. We cannot possibly post a photo of everyone who is a great example to us through their actions. Instead we would like to suggest that you take a moment and conjure up a mental picture of those whose actions you may admire or respect. Please know that had we posted photos, you all would have been there for one reason or another!

Love, Susan and Ward             Elder and Sister Belliston, serving in the Cooks

Adventures in Paradise 31

Adventures in Paradise 31

Kia Orana, everyone! Our excellent adventure continues with some thoughts on birds, offhand comments, differences in perspective and the effect that our actions have on others. Whew! How can these four subjects possibly be tied together in one blog?

My son is house sitting while we are away. He made an offhand comment on Facebook a week or so ago that has had me thinking about it ever since. He was complaining about being awakened at five o’clock in the morning by the annoying chirping of birds outside the bedroom window. I was stunned that he found this “music” so annoying, as I had always found it a welcome sign that spring had arrived. For twenty-seven years, I have considered this to be a lovely, peaceful way to start my day. What a difference in perspective my son and I have!

As I thought about his comments, it occurred to me that not only do I miss the sounds of birds in the morning at home, but I miss them here as well. For a tropical island, it is strangely quiet. That is, of course, if you don’t factor crowing roosters into the equation! There are almost no birds on this island. There is no chirping or singing, in the mornings; it is silent. Silent, that is, except for the Myna bird………………………….

Some days, I feel like we are living out a scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s movie, “The Birds”. In the early twentieth century, Rarotonga planters were concerned about the damage the Paper Hornets, Coconut Stick insects and caterpillars were doing to their crops. There was much discussion as to what could and should be done. At one point in the discussions, a planter suggested introducing Myna birds to the island. He had heard that they could quickly eradicate these pests and all would be well once again. Others voiced the concern that the Myna might somehow be destructive in other ways, but this planter was convinced that this bird was the solution to all of his problems. So, in 1909, this planter, against the wishes and warnings of his neighbors, arranged to have several pairs of Myna birds shipped to him. His argument was, “What business is it of yours what I do on my own property!” Parenthetically, these birds were shipped from an island where other larger birds kept the Myna bird population in check.

Fast forward, now, to twenty- first century Rarotonga. The good news is that you will not be able to find a Paper Hornet, Coconut- Stick insect, or a single caterpillar on the island. Hurray, the planter was right! The bad news is that the Myna bird multiplies very quickly, loves fruit and raids the nests of the local birds and eats their eggs. Uh oh. The result is that other than chickens and roosters, which are much larger than the Myna, and the Myna itself, there are almost no other birds on the island. So, quoting from a pamphlet issued by the Ministry of Agriculture we find that: “Today the stick-insect plagues of the past are forgotten. The attention of the people is now on the Myna plague.”

One man’s “personal” decision eventually affected the whole population of Rarotonga. I have been thinking so much lately, about how what we choose to do affect others. It’s been my experience that we often have no way of knowing how something we choose to do will influence those around us as well as those we will never meet. How could this planter ever have envisioned the breadth of the consequences of that one choice made so long ago? Would he have made another choice? We will never know, but what we do know is that our choices can be far reaching, so it is wise to be thoughtful when making them.

 I have found myself examining my life in the hopes that I have made more positive choices than negative ones and that, hopefully, those choices have been not only for my good, but for the good of others. I suspect that many of you have had the same concerns on occasion.  We do not exist in a vacuum.  Our lives intertwine and intersect as we move from one phase to another. Most of us could not exist without this interaction. I believe that this is the way our Heavenly Father meant it to be. I believe that He wants us to enhance the lives of others.

So, as always, we are happy and trying to work hard. I’m grateful to my son for inadvertently providing me with the idea for this blog. I am not so thankful for the Mynas who ate the bananas that I was going to turn into bread, and after whom I have to clean the veranda every day! I keep thinking about that one planter’s choice, and how it has affected so many others over the years. We continue to be grateful for the choices that you make that affect our lives in so many positive ways. From our perspective, you are all the best!  Thank you!

Love, Ward and Susan                          Elder and Sister Belliston, serving in the Cooks

Our morning visitors

Unwelcome  guests on our veranda.

Adventures in Paradise 30

Adventures in Paradise 30

Kia Orana, everyone!  Our excellent adventure continues with thoughts on comings and goings.  Most of us look forward to coming events.  It’s exciting to circle a special date on our calendar. Our sense of anticipation only serves to heighten this excitement.  Most of us enjoy looking forward.  I, personally, have always loved calendar boxes.  Those little daily squares can hold such promise and can be filled to overflowing with coming events. It’s just too wonderful to flip through the months and savor the future! 

Late Wednesday evening, long after our last appointment was over, Ward and I decided to watch a movie. Our “vast” movie library includes “The Other Side of Heaven”, which is the true story of John Groberg’s  LDS mission to Tonga.  This movie holds special interest to us because it was not filmed in Tonga.  The Tongan government chose to charge exorbitant fees to allow the filming, so the producers decided to look elsewhere.  Their elsewhere became Rarotonga and several of the scenes were filmed right on our beach!  Now that we know our little island so well, we love watching the movie so that we can spot not only locals but the local scenery as well!

As usual, Ward fell asleep during the first scene, so I was left in the dark enjoying this little story by myself.  Having seen the movie several times (all of our visitors enjoy it as well), I was well aware of the ending, so it came as no surprise to me that Elder Groberg is finally released and leaves Tonga for home.  What surprised me Wednesday, is the depth of emotion I experienced as I watched that young man say goodbye to the people that he had grown to love.  There on “our beach” was a scene that I will be playing out in the future.  It was a box that I had already marked on my calendar months ago.  I had marked my coming release before had I learned to love this place and it’s  people.  But now, as I watched this young man, draped with leis, and tears streaming down his cheeks, I became acutely aware that I too will be going.  I felt, Wednesday evening, that same sense of loss that the actor was portraying.  I could feel it. It was real!  As much as I miss home, how can I ever leave here?

This brought to mind the song from Camelot, “If Ever I Would Leave You”.   Lancelot is telling Guinevere of all the times that he wouldn’t or couldn’t leave her.  As he sings, he says that he couldn’t leave her in springtime and he tells her why.  As the song continues, it becomes clear that there is no season when he could leave her and that he will not leave her at all.  That is what I am feeling at this moment.  How can I ever leave here?

So, if you have access to that music, or if you can hum along, please have in mind that lovely song as you view the photos of times here, when we cannot imagine going.

As usual, we are happy and trying to work hard.  Sometimes we are so busy that we don’t know if we are coming or going, but it is all good.  We are determined to make the best use of our time here, all the while knowing that it is limited.  Perhaps, I should just mark another calendar box by drawing a big heart around it.  This would feature the day that we are going to see old friends and family again.

Love, Ward and Susan                         Elder and Sister Belliston, serving in the Cooks

How can we leave the John boys and miss seeing them grow up?

How can we leave the sweet experience of a baptism on our beach?

How can we miss enjoying Christmas with good friends?

How can we leave such warm welcomes?

How can we leave such cute dancers?

How can we leave the fun and joy of a wedding?

How can we leave good friends?

How can the Easter Bunny leave the children?

Who would host the Easter Egg hunt?

Who wants to miss seeing the children have this much fun?

How can we possibly let the sun set on our time here?

Adventures in Paradise 29

Adventures in Paradise 29

Kia orana, everyone!  Our excellent adventure continues with some thoughts on “Sticker Shock”, learning to live simply and an invitation to play our version of “The Price is Right”.

 Imagine that you are wheeling your cart around a supermarket and you suddenly spot a mouth-watering temptation.  Giddy over your discovery, you quickly drop this item into your basket and happily move on down the isle.  Your little euphoric bubble is burst when the checker scans your treasure and you experience the dreaded sticker shock!  The item that was once so tempting is three times the cost you had expected.  What to do? Many of us would decide that the promised pleasure would be worth any cost.  Others of us would reconsider and sadly decide that the price was too high. The item would be left at the grocers. For still others, there would be no choice.  To be honest, this last group would probably have noticed the price sticker in the first place and the item would never have made it into the basket.  I suppose that the real question here is how would you react to walking away from something that was once so tempting?

Here on our island, sticker shock and making these kinds of choices happens every day.  At first, I was surprised that our friends did not rail more against the injustice of high prices and the fact that one company owns most of the food stores, the furniture and hardware stores and the pharmacy. Can you say monopoly?  But it is the way it is and there is no use in living life in a constant state of frustration. People love living here and they do not believe in wanting more than they have.  It is that simple. They have learned to adapt.  A motor scooter becomes the “family van”,  two yards of fabric (pareau) becomes an attractive dress when wrapped in an ingenious way, and ice cream, the national dessert, is purchased on the weekend when it is much less expensive.( This is a clue to our game!) To be perfectly frank, it is the Americans who visit and think that people here are deprived.  It is just not true!

So, having said that, for your enlightenment and entertainment, we invite you to:

“COME ON DOWN. YOU ARE THE NEXT CONTESTANT ON THE PRICE IS RIGHT!”

What follows is a series of photos.  All of these items are currently for sale on the island. Simply read the description and write in your price guess.  The answers will be revealed at the end of our blog. Have fun and if you like, put yourself in the place of someone here who faces these choices every day.  

As you begin, please note that the prices are in New Zealand dollars.  One NZ dollar equals about .80 American cents.  There are no trick prices or questions here, only reality.
 

2011 Ford 4x4 Diesel 5-speed_________________

2011 motorscooter (forgot the brand, but not Honda)___________

Pre-fab, ready to deliver home. One room, with small  bathroom.There is no kitchen.

_______________________

Kambrook (New Zealand brand) Steam Iron

___________________

Designer handbag: Handwoven by a local  woamn from the Pandanas leaves.

______________________

Heinz Ketsup (brought in from LA Costco) 44 ounce

__________________

Sharp microwave (purchased from the only appliance store on the island)

__________________________

1 litre milk ...shipped in the box from NZ.  Refrigerate after opening.

(just a step up from no milk at all)

_________________________

Daily paper__________________

30 Eggs________________

2 Litres of Ice Cream (shipped from NZ)

Weekday price____________

Weekend Price____________

Cup of Noodles, brought in from LA  Costco

___________________

Mabeline Nail polish ( Hint here: I did not notice the price until I was at the checkout)

___________!!!!!!!!!!! (another hint)

Petrol by the litre

________________________



   Answers:  Please feel free to let us know how you did with our game. We can brag about you in our next blog!

1.    Ford Truck       37,740.00

2.    Scooter               3,500.00

3.    Home                22,000.00

4.    Iron                          89.00

5.    Purse                        25.00

6.    Ketsup                        8.50

7.    Microwave             400.00

8.    Milk                            2.50

9.    Newspaper                 2.00

10.  Eggs                          14.00

11.  Ice cream (weekday)  8.50  

                        (weekend)  5.00

12.  Noodles                       2.50

13.  Polish                         16.00

14.  Petrol (litre)                  2.50   Approx: 10.00/gallon

We hope that you have enjoyed playing along with us.  On this island, it is no game to be able to support a family and to live a good life.  One might now understand a little better, why so many  here live off the land where ever possible.  When you realize that power is almost seven times more expensive here than in America, you might appreciate why people do not turn on their lights in the evening. Baking is not an option for many and air conditioning is not even considered.

As always, we are happy and trying to work hard.  We are learning to appreciate the simple things that bless our lives and count you as part of those blessings. Not, I might add that any of you are simple!!!!  Just yesterday, I noticed an Amaryllis blooming in our yard.  At home, I would have paid good money for the opportunity to watch it sprout and bloom.  Here, money literally can't buy that pleasure.  So, while you remember that a Ford truck is, 37,000,  nail polish is 16.00 a bottle, and petrol and electricity are pricey, please be aware that the Amaryllis, the sunset and the view of our home from the mountains are priceless.

Love, Ward and Susan             Elder and Sister Belliston, serving in the Cooks