Adventures in Paradise Volume 2 #13

Kia ora! Our excellent adventure continues with some thoughts on an experience that took place in the Cooks and the permanent blessing that it has been in our lives.

Some of you will find that this is a story you have already heard. For that, I beg your patience. For in the retelling there is yet another sweet addendum. For those of you who may be hearing it for the first time, there will be one or two very touching surprises. The moral to the story is to listen very carefully to the promptings we receive. It’s that simple. Listen. Oh yes, and acting on those promptings is a very good idea, as well.

One day almost four years ago, Ward and I were driving around the tiny island of Rarotonga. I really do mean around, as there is only one two-lane road and you either drive clockwise around the island or counterclockwise. On this particular day, we were driving counterclockwise and were about to enter the little town of Avarua. We hadn’t been in Raro very long, so most of the people and places there were still new or foreign to us. Ward was driving, when I had the distinct impression that we needed to stop. After telling Ward to stop, I questioned that impression and told him to move on. This happened three times; each time after telling Ward to keep driving, the impression became stronger. After the third time, I finally told Ward that we now needed to turn around. I remember that Ward was somewhat concerned about my indecision. He asked where I wanted to go and I replied that I didn’t know. All I knew was that we needed to turn around and I had faith that when the timing was right, I would know what to do next. For a few moments, I had forgotten to listen. But then I remembered.

I felt impressed to stop in front of a large white building. There were two sets of French doors; one set of doors were open, the other set were closed. It would seem natural to choose the open, more inviting of those two sets of doors, but I felt prompted to do just the opposite. Lives were changed the moment that I walked across that threshold. Inside I saw a lovely young woman who was operating a little nail salon. Her face was familiar, as it is such a small island, but I had never met her. My mind was frantically working to assess the situation and discern my reason for being there. I had no idea what to say or do next.

Finally, I asked Leanne (as I did think to ask her name) if she had an open appointment for a manicure and it just so happened that she was free at that moment. What a coincidence! I stepped outside to tell Ward that I would be a while and the questioning look on his face was answered on my part by a shake of my head and a shrug. All I knew at that moment was that I was going to have my nails done! I still had no idea why I had been prompted to be there, and I was hoping with all my being that by the end of my manicure, there would be clarity.

Clarity came as this young woman shared that she was scheduled to have a medical procedure the next morning .She was frightened and felt very much alone. Not being a Cook Islander, she was not familiar with the hospital or its procedures. Save for her little family, she had no one to turn to. Leanne felt very isolated and it was unsettling.  She did not understand the paperwork that she had signed and although I am no doctor, I believed at that moment she had made a huge mistake in giving written permission for the process to take place. I told Leanne that I would accompany her the next morning and we would sort out the situation at the hospital together. We visited with Leanne and her family that evening and Ward assisted her husband in giving her a blessing. That same evening we started falling in love with three children. Ivan, Usharn and Calaiyah. That love affair has continued.

To make a long story a little shorter, an abbreviated form of the procedure took place the next morning and all was well. Leanne had someone to hold her hand and to help her navigate the confusing world of medical paperwork and I was beginning to appreciate once again, why it is so important to listen and to then act when prompted to do so. We formed a bond with this sweet family and tried to help in their times of distress. In an interesting side note, Ward happened to notice that due to a clerical error, Ivan, who was ten years old, had no recorded baptism. On a lovely, balmy Saturday morning, Ivan was rebaptized in our ocean. We grew very close to this family, but I had never told Leanne how it was that I happened to enter her shop and consequently, her life that day. I never told her that I had listened to and acted upon the promptings of the Spirit. I was waiting for the timing to be right to share my story with her.

One Monday evening, several months later, the timing felt right, so I decided to give a Family Home Evening lesson on listening to the Spirit. Several families were in attendance, including Leanne and her children, and I began my lesson with the focus on listening to the promptings and then acting upon them. At some point in the lesson, as Leanne was moving from the lounge to the kitchen and back again, I noticed that some of my story was beginning to sound familiar to her. When I reached the part where I announced “This is how we met Leanne and her family”, I noticed that Leanne was crying. She had stepped into the kitchen and had not returned. Fearful that I had overstepped by sharing her story, I was anxious to speak to her and try to make amends. I was mortified that I had hurt her. Walking into the kitchen, I found Leanne sobbing and I was heartbroken. I put my arms around her and attempted to apologize for jeopardizing our friendship. The next moment will be forever and indelibly etched into my heart.

Leanne looked at me and managed a smile. She told me that I had nothing to be concerned about and that she wasn’t crying because she was upset. She was crying because she had something to share with me. That day, months ago, when I had been prompted to have Ward turn the car around, was the same day that Leanne had been fervently praying for help. Suddenly I realized that I had become, by listening to the promptings of the Spirit, an answer to someone else’s prayers. How amazingly wonderful it was and is to know that my Heavenly Father had used me as someone’s answer!  I personally have learned that it’s my job to listen, but it’s not my job to question the why’s of the promptings. Sometimes, as in the case of meeting Leanne and her family, I was blessed to know why. In fact, most of the time, I never know why and that, I think is as it should be. I have learned to have the faith to listen without question.

If you are still reading, and I hope you are, I would like to share yet another blessing that has come to us through our listening that day four years ago on a little island in the Pacific. Leanne and her three children moved to Hamilton, New Zealand three years ago and we missed them so much that we came to visit them last May. It was early in the morning , while we were waiting for our rental car at the Auckland airport, that I noticed a man wearing a black suit and a name tag run by us. Ward called, “Hey Elder” and the man turned around and came towards us. When we asked if he was a senior missionary, he replied, “No I am the mission president”! I then surprised us all by asking if he could use another couple and the rest, as they say, is history! As I write this, Leanne and her family are visiting us in Gisborne.  Periodically while composing this blog, I have had Ivan, her oldest son, as my editor-in-chief, catching my spelling errors and watching my sentence structure. It was by reading this blog at my side, that Ivan first came to know how it was that we became a family. It was while sitting with me at the computer, that I had a chance to remind Ivan of how important it is to listen and then to act. It is a lesson and blessing that we won’t soon forget. We are grateful.

As always, we are happy and working hard. It has been a very sweet week and we have so loved having our little family with us. We are grateful, also for the extended family we have at home and for all of our friends who feel like family. Thank you and please remember to listen.

Love, Ward and Susan   Elder and Sister Belliston, serving in Gisborne, New Zealand 

 

Who could not love these faces?

( Ivan, Calaiyah, Usharn and Leanne)

 

These faces are another story!