Friday, October 3, 2014

Next stop... South Africa!

I spoke to Martin yesterday as they were leaving port and headed for Durban, South Africa.  It should take them around 9 days to arrive—pending good weather.  Martin, David and Doug saw a small break in the weather and decided to go for it and leave port and head to Durban.

This could be a good thing... or a very bad thing.  The weather has NOT been great and if they hit bad weather, then there would be lots of wobbling and teetering which is never good on the stomach.
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Last Sunday, Martin went to church at a small congregation of the LDS church on La Reunion island. At the end of church, and in true Martin fashion, he got up and invited everyone over for Family Home Evening (a night set aside for families and friends to gather—usually on Monday nights) on AMARA.  He called me after church and said he had a bit of anxiety about the get together because neither Sue or myself would be there to help out in the planning.  However, I was fully confident that Martin, Doug and David could pull it off (John had left earlier, via airplane, for South Africa to meet up with his wife, Tamrika for a short visit).

As you can tell from the photos below, it looks like the evening was a great success!
Members of the LDS (Mormon) congregation on Reunion Island.
The table is set.
Lots of yummy food for everyone.



The Branch President
(He overseas the congregation on Reunion Island).
 
This is a great photo of Martin and
a LDS (Mormon) missionary.
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This week,  Martin, Davie and Doug went on a hike with their aim at the highest peak that they could find.  They were able to climb to 9,500 feet which is equivalent to Mt. Olympus here in Utah.  Martin, who is the most athletic person that I know, and can climb any peak with ease, said he really struggled on the climb since he hasn't been able to workout out much since he has been sailing for the past 6 months.  He's anxious to get back to his regular workouts and climbing the peaks here in Utah. Doug was able to capture some great photos of the climb and of David and Martin at the top of the mountain.
David and Martin at the top of the peak.
The clouds settling in at the top.
Doug at the top!
Martin wrote me this morning and said things are going well and so far, so good.  I hope to hear from him tonight or tomorrow and hopefully there will be good news to follow.  I sure miss my guy and can't wait to meet up with him in the next two weeks.  I am wishing them smooth sailing until we meet up soon!