The other night I was looking through my Dad’s old missionary journal with Zach. So fun since Zach knew all the places he was talking about and even saw my Dad use words that he used (the Tahitian/French slang).
We came across a lot of entries about a family my Dad had spent a lot of time with – in particular the father of the family and two of the teenage/young adult daughters (Sophie and Josephine). He wrote about them a lot throughout his journal as the family – not only when he lived close by them, but when he moved to other areas of Tahiti too. One of the daughters seemed to have gone to school on the main island of Tahiti and so it appears he occasionally saw the family when they visited her (when he also lived on the main island).
The family was from the island of Tahaa, where it looks like (according to his journal) my Dad served a good chunk of time. Zach was hoping to go there as he wanted to walk in some of the same steps his grandfather walked in. Who knows – maybe some people there would remember him! However, Zach never made it out to the islands in his time in Tahiti.
Anyhow, on one page my Dad happened to write the last name of the family that he was close to. It was listed at the back of his journal with an address of one of the daughters. The name meant nothing to me – but Zach freaked out. The one family he had grown super close with over these past few months in Tahiti had the same last name?!? This family all lived next door to his missionary apartment – it was a big family so they even had 3 houses all in a row! Every week Zach would go to their home on his pday to use their computer and call us. He went for dinner multiple times per week and knew them all super well…. Truly a family that every mother hopes her missionary has to help take care of him:)
Zach right away reached out to the family to see if they knew the people my Dad had mentioned.
Lo and behold, the “Papi” (grandfather) of this family that Zach knew and loved – was in fact Sophie and Josephine younger brother!!!!! After several messages back and forth, Zach learned that out of all 19 children, 4 are still alive – Sophie being the only girl….She still lives in Tahiti.
We also saw my Dad mention the name of one of the sons – (he actually had written that he baptized this boy and one other (name was unclear). This son is also still alive (one of the 4) and lives in Utah!
My Mom had a few pictures she found and we were able to send them- and they confirmed that they were indeed pictures of the daughters/sisters!
Coincidence? Well, Zach’s first area and experience was pretty tough. He was happy to be transferred but really wanted to go to an island where he felt he would connect more with his grandfather. I was praying that he would be able to feel my Dad’s presence and receive some comfort from that….
Who knew that he would find himself getting to know and love and live beside a family that my Dad had known and loved all those years ago.
My Dad was with Zach the whole time.
