Adventures in Paradise 5

Frederick Williams

Elizabeth Kenyon

Fimone grandchild

Juliuz Matutu (helping his mother block print fabric)

Janice Fimone

Zena & Jiya Anand with Elizabeth Kenyon

Elizabeth Mose with brother & sister with a Tapioca Plant

Elizabeth Mose with brother & sister

Sister Lobb's niece

Sister Lobb's niece & Sister Belliston's hand

Elizabeth Mose with friends and family

Elizabeth Mose with friends, family & Elder Belliston

Mrs. Mose and baby

Sister Fimone with grandchild

Zena Anand

Tailor Pemberton

Sister Luke's daughter

Zena Anand 

Liann Pemberton

                               ADVENTURES IN PARADISE  5

                                          9 November, 2010

Kia orana, everyone! Our excellent adventure continues with a special treat for everyone. As you know, we have been enjoying the beauty that surrounds us in all of its many forms. We have found the island to truly be a paradise, the people to be generous, sweet and humble, the Maori language to be daunting and the weather to be ever-changing. But the thing that we have been most taken by is the beauty of the children of this island.  It would be difficult to find a child that, by blood, would be one hundred percent Rarotongan.  The lines have blurred between Maori, Rarotongan, Fijian, East Indian, and those born in New Zealand or Australia. Many Cook Islanders move to New Zealand, and since they are New Zealand citizens, they are free to travel back and forth at will. So we have a melting pot of sorts that has produced the most beautiful children that I have ever seen. I have informed many here that if, in eighteen months, when the Bellistons leave, they notice a child or two missing, they have only to look in our luggage! At any rate, the photos that we include this week are all of the children that we have met. You might also take a moment to look past the child to his or her surroundings. These photos were all taken either in their homes or on family land and speak to the simple lives these children live. Take special note of Janice, whose parents named her after a former missionary. Her parents are almost children themselves, but before they would allow the photo, the father changed her dress, while the mother combed her hair. The final touch was the flower that her father picked right outside his home. You may also notice that daylight is shining though a huge crack in the wall of her home. What more can I say here? Please enjoy these pictures as our Thanksgiving gift to all of you from the children of Rarotonga.

Well, I will compose myself now and tell you about other adventures. Janice’s mother is pregnant and due in four months. She has been trying to stop smoking, but says that she needs a new focus. Soooooooo, Sister Betty Crocker here, came up with the idea of bringing her a home-baked treat every day for one week to get her off to a good start. Today she said cookies sounded good, so cookies she received. Tomorrow will be cinnamon rolls! If you think smoking is expensive, try supplying home cooking when eggs are six dollars a dozen and butter is even more expensive! It’s for a good cause and we are very happy to help.

Do you remember my saying the we have learned to expect the unexpected? Yes? We have mentioned before, that this weekend is our island district conference. This is the equivalent of Stake conference. This is a big deal and many members from the outer islands are flying in to attend.  Ward and the choir have been practicing for over a month for this and have even learned one of the songs in Maori. Sunday Ward came home from practice and informed me that I was speaking! “Detective” Belliston had seen a copy of the program and was nice enough to get my topic and the time I had been allotted! It turns out that the person who was to inform me of this assignment is the same one in charge of obtaining our Cook Island visas! We have mentioned, haven’t we, that we still do not have visas!

As you might expect, we spend a lot of our time visiting with people and trying to help them in any way that we can. Ward’s Maori is coming along and I am proud of him for all of his hard work with the language. People find him easy to talk with and we most always find the time we spend with people filled with laughter. Where I am afraid that I will make a mistake with the pronunciation of a word or phrase, Ward is fearless about this. I envy that. We find that we both have our strengths and they seem to compliment each other. Ward is a tease with people and they love it. It endears him to them and makes him approachable. Often when he sees someone he knows as he’s driving, he jumps out of the van and forgets to put it in park! The van we drive is big, ugly, dented and very recognizable. We enjoy having people wave when they see us. Often, you can hear us before we actually come into view. Tonight another one of the children in our photos, came running out of the yard when she heard us approach. We love this!

We have another baptism on Thursday, and as usual, most of the branch will be in attendance to show support for the new member. As usual, there will also be a feast. So much of what will be brought for dinner comes from the land. The pineapple is the sweetest we have ever tasted and Ward is thrilled that the Mangos are almost ripe!

As I write this, we are having a downpour outside. Summer is upon us and the humidity is high. People here cope by wearing a towel around their necks and using it! We mentioned in our last letter that it is also hurricane season, so please keep your fingers crossed for us.

As always, we are happy and trying to work hard. We will be honest and say that sometimes it is easier than others. But in truth, we were not promised easy. We were promised that it would be worth it and it is. As Thanksgiving approaches at home, please know that we are thankful for all of you and the place you have in our lives. We celebrated Utah’s first snowfall with a bowl of homemade chili on our veranda overlooking the ocean. One of us finds nothing to celebrate, however with the U of U-TCU game results!  You are all in our thoughts and prayers and we hope that all is well.

Love to you all, Ward and Susan   Elder and Sister Belliston serving in the Cook Islands