blackrockbulletin: Adventures in Paradise 19

ADVENTURES IN PARADISE 19

Kia orana, everyone! Our excellent adventure continues with a focus on change. I have long been a fan of “makeover” stories. I love before and after situations. A plain Jane is turned into a beauty queen; a disorganized home becomes the epitome of organization; a house, totally lacking in charm becomes a showplace with the artful rearrangement of furniture and the addition a few well-chosen accessories. I have always loved the magic of the reveal. The juxtaposition of the old with the new and the potential for improvement is all great theater to me and I can’t seem to get enough. My friends know that it is a good thing that I do not have cable, as I might become addicted to Home and Garden Chanel. I thoroughly enjoy watching transformation.

We are observing a different sort of transformation here on our little island. I have noticed lately, that the trees have fewer blossoms, and that some leaves are starting to disappear. The evenings are cooler and the waves are higher as they wash up on our beach. It is quieter during the day, as the children are back in school and the moon is rising and setting in a different place in the sky. Fall is coming. I would not have thought that there would be so much noticeable difference in the tropics, but there is and it is tangeable. I am learning that like home, there are four distinct seasons here. I know the island well enough now, to recognize the change.

Many of you may have already guessed that this discourse on change would eventually focus on the change that we have seen in some of the people we are privileged to know. Unlike the magic of before and after, where one is not privy to all of the work involved in the process of changing, we have had a front row seat, as it were, while watching people alter their lives and redirect their focus. Where is it obvious when you enter a room that the furniture may have been rearranged, it is not always so easy to recognize the rearrangement of priorities in someone’s life. A gifted make-up artist can create an aura of physical beauty, while a change of heart or mind may be missed if one is not paying attention. The weight loss show. “The Biggest Loser”, features contestants pumping iron and participating in physical challenges, while, here on Rarotonga, many of the people that we know have been engaging in spiritual exercise. Perhaps I should create a “made for TV” spiritual reality show. What shall we call it? What about, “Extreme Makeover-Spiritual Edition”, or “The Biggest Winner” , or “ You Bet Your Life” or even “Wipe-out” where if the contestant “falls”, he has to go back and repeat that part of the course again and this time get it right! Well, it’s a thought……….

We know people here who are happier and more peaceful than they have ever been. We have seen families become closer and parents show more concern for each other. We have seen young people decide that it’s ok not to choose to follow friends who are headed in the wrong direction. We have seen people change their direction when it wasn’t easy. We have seen people become stronger, wiser and redirected. This is more entertaining and certainly more satisfying than any reality show that I have ever tuned into.

Marisha , a mother of four, arrived from

Fiji

and started lessons with us because her mother insisted on it. Marisha did not want to talk to us and it showed. She was sullen and quiet and often missed her appointments. Somewhere along the way, Marisha experienced a change of heart, and although we didn’t see the whole quiet process that went on inside, we could clearly see the result on the outside. She is happy and peaceful. She is being baptized March 5!

My seventeen year-old cooking partner has transformed herself from an unhappy, frowning teen with no direction to one who will get up early and walk a mile or so to early-morning seminary, because she loves what she is learning. While we cooked, I would talk to Alisha about how valuable her life was and that I didn’t want to see her waste it by making “dating” decisions that would alter her future forever. While we baked bread we talked about how important she was to her Heavenly Father and how He expected her to respect herself and demand respect from the young men she would meet. She is being baptized, along with her brother, John, next month and has plans to begin courses in Australia after graduation. She is excited about her future and her smile says it all.

It occurs to me that Ward and I might be changing as well. Learning is a lifelong process and we are excited to have the opportunity to explore a new culture. We understand a little Maori now and can even pronounce most names correctly. We have learned a Maori saying that puts the island attitude into perspective

Kia pukuru o nga vaevae

Kia mokora o kaki

Let your feet be like that of a breadfruit tree

And your neck like that of a duck

This suggests that we should learn to be strong and planted, like the breadfruit tree, whose roots run deep so that it can withstand strong winds, but still be flexible to accept and adapt to change when necessary.

As always, we are happy and trying to work hard. We always appreciate the e-mails and communications that we receive from all of you and hope that that does not change! We love and miss you all and that won’t change either! I did realize that I now spend more time deciding what flower to put in my hair that what I am going to wear! Lovely!

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

Friends surprised us with a surprise party for Ward's big day.

Don't tell anyone, but he is 70!

David and Isabel Akanoa and grandson at the surprise party

Taina and Tariu, who planned the party, with Taina's Auntie

What was I thinking.....giving a 7 year old, whoops ,70 year-old a drum set?

The little drummer boy with his birthday gifts. They were all hand-made. A drum called a Pate, a new tie and a hand-woven fan. The fan was made by an 88-year old. Lovely!