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