Our Island Trip

On Thursday evening,  May 3, we flew from Tana to Mauritius, an island east of Madagascar for a couples conference. We went with President Donnelly, his wife and the Fareea's from Tahita. We stayed at Tamarin Bay near the Indian Ocean at a resort. On Friday morning we had breakfast with the three missionaries serving there and a local sister who is companion to the only sister still serving there. After breakfast we had a introduction & testimony meeting under a Gazebo, with tropical birds chirping around us and the ocean sounds and smells filling our senses with delight.. After the missionaries left we changed into P-day clothes and went on a boat ride out into the bay to see the mushroom island. The ocean was a beautiful blue green, white sand beaches and palm trees and tropical flowers lining the beach. We then had lunch, checked out of our rooms and sat near the ocean until our rented bus came to pick us up. We then drove to a port and boarded a Ocean freighter, and watched the sun go down as we left port headed for La Reunion, another island in the Indian Ocean.   We had dinner on the boat, stayed in first class, and crossed the ocean, which was rough at times throughout the night. We arrived in Reunion at sunrise, had breakfast and prepared to disembark. The A.P. elders were there to pick us up, with a van and their car. Then we drove along the ocean on a modern freeway to the President's apartment in St. Denis that has ten switch-backs up a mountain. Their living room window overlooks the ocean and the airport. As planes come in to land it looks like they will land in the ocean, and the water gets ripples and whirlwinds as the big planes land. After settling into our room, we drove downtown to a large shopping mall, bought a few souvenirs, and some food. We had lunch there at the
mall, and ate a delicious fruit tart that reminded me of fruit pizza. That evening we went to an outdoor market that is only held once a month. We got to try Creole food. The people that live in Reunion ( the
gathering place) are French or Creole, a mixture of Jamaican and French. There's not a lot of English spoken there. We also had a wonderful Carmel ice cream cone. Ice cream in Mada isn't very creamy,
more like sorbet. Sunday morning we went to church in a branch in St. Pierre about two hours away. We met with the sisters and had an ocean-side picnic listening to the waves and watching wind surfers. We then went back to the apartment and relaxed, had naps and enjoyed the day, except Sister Cornelius who wasn't feeling well. On Monday we did more sight seeing, walked along the beach, rested and had a FHE & fireside with all the missionaries. One of the sister missionaries, Sister Neves, is related to Fred Adams. Her uncle is married to Glennis Adams. We had dinner with them and listened to their sweet testimonies. Tuesday, our last day in Reunion we drove up the canyon to Hellborg, and saw beautiful waterfalls everywhere.  It was so lush and green and spectacular. It reminded us of Hawaii. It was a wonderful conference, feeling the spirit, and getting to strengthen our testimonies. We will always treasure our time there and feel blessed that we were able to do this. If we hadn't served a mission we wouldn't have seen the things we have seen, met the wonderful people we have met, nor felt the spirit that we have felt here serving with the missionaries. We truly have been blessed to be here and made wonderful friends and memories. Love all
of you and thanks for your friendship and prayers. Happy Mother's Day to all you mother's.
Love, Elder & Sister Cornelius

Mushroom Island

Unusual Mountain

The Rainbow from our apartment

Sister Missionaries

The walk at the Hotel in Mauritius

Oceanside Picnic

Sunset

Me in
front of a Bauo bab tree

The Beach

Tropical Flowers

The little village we stopped at called Hellborg.