blackrockbulletin: Adventures in Paradise 70

Adventures in Paradise 70

Kia Orana! Our excellent adventure continues with some thoughts on the opening line in a novel by Charles Dickens. In writing about the struggles of the French revolution, Dickens says that, “It was the best of times and it was the worst of times”. In this last week, I have often thought of those cryptic words as I have pondered the events that have changed the lives of people that we love. Perhaps I should reverse our personal order of that quotation to state that is was the worst of times and then it was the best of times. This week, we are saddened by the dissolution of a marriage that separates a father from his children, while at the same time being elated by the good news from another little family.

This week we have witnessed the sad demise of a family unit. People that we have learned to love find it impossible to continue in a marriage. Lack of trust and respect between the parents culminated in a tragic confrontation that left the mother no choice but to leave the marriage, thus separating the children from a father whom they love. This couple has not been able to correct past mistakes and have found it impossible to move ahead together. We have watched helplessly from the sidelines as this drama has played out in the lives of five people whom we hold dear. Advice, counseling and an outpouring of love and support were not enough to rescue this relationship and we are mourning its passing. It is a death after all and as it is with all deaths, we know that life will never be the same for any of us. As with any other life changing event, none of us knows where this will lead and we are concerned and more than a little frightened. Such is the nature of this particular beast.

This last week has been one of lost sleep and many tears and we are weary. We will continue to be in contact with this family but our concern will be carried on from a long distance in a few short weeks and I am having adifficult time thinking about leaving our island under these circumstances. It has been a week where we have felt totally helpless and ineffective. It certainly has been the worst of times and my heart is broken. It was in this mood that we answered a phone call from another young couple who said that they wanted to speak with us.

Mumsy sounded very serious on the other end of the line. You may recall meeting Mumsy and Tere in our blog when we first introduced you to their new baby. They had named that baby Belliston and Mumsy had thanked us for rescuing her husband. My heart dropped when I heard her voice, but I told her that we would be happy to have them come to the mission home. She said that they wanted to speak with us and truthfully, after the week’s events, I quickly jumped to the conclusion that this would not be a pleasant meeting. Can ones heart sink any further, I wondered as we waited for their arrival.

Mumsy spoke first, stating that they had something important to tell us and I could almost hear my heart pounding in my chest. My mouth went dry and I was very near to tears. Looking at Mumsy I could see that she was about to weep as well and Tere sat quietly with his hands folded in his lap. Then they both looked up at us and smiles spread across their faces. They had set January 2013 at the date that they would like to be sealed AND they wanted to do it in the Salt Lake Temple with us as their witnesses! I cannot adequately describe the relief and joy that I felt hearing their simple yet profound announcement. The baby that I was already missing was coming to Salt Lake City and we would be there to meet him at the airport. Granted he would be walking by then, my having missed his first steps, but he was coming none the less and we were thrilled. We cried with this little family as we described to them what it would be like in that sealing room. We told them what a beautiful sight it would be to see the three of them all in white. We told them that we loved them and we couldn’t wait. The rest of our time that evening consisted of more touching conversation and our speaking to them of our hopes for them as a family. They asked us to take some family photos as well as one or two pictures of Ward and me with little Belliston. Their plan was to blow up these photos and hang them in a prominent spot where our baby could look at our faces every day, so as not to forget us.

It was the best of times that evening and perhaps as I mentioned in a previous blog, we cherished it all the more for having experienced very opposite emotions in previous days. Our good news expands as we expect that many of you will be able to meet this little family early next year. Please plan your vacations accordingly! We have experienced depths and heights this last week and are grateful for the peace that returned to our home last Tuesday. We will continue to love and support both families in the coming months and my wish for our friends who are struggling so at the moment, is that they too will feel their own peace in the not too distant future.

So, as always, we are happy and trying to work hard. We are thrilled for the progress that Mumsy and Tere have made towards becoming an eternal family and are just as excited that we will be seeing them again so soon. I have always threatened that when we left here, we would take at least one beautiful child with us. I did not expect home delivery! Thank you again for being supportive friends and family and we once more are reminded of the value of loving relationships. I can’t wait for you to meet little Belliston, and we will celebrate the best of times by teaching him how to build his first snowman!

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