Day 13, Rarotonga

That's a thunderstorm blowing onto the Island.

The waterfall. A bunch of people had been on a four-wheeling tour and stopped to swim.

This is the pulpit with the church's logo.

Murray's birthday gift.

Hello again. It's Monday, and the weather has been hot, hot, hot. This morning Ron and I set out on a mission to hunt down a pair of shorts for Ron. He's very particular and the shopping is very limited, so it was more of a hunt than a shop. But we hit every store/shop on the Island in the search. It was really more of an excuse to explore. We saw people from the church, went to some of their shops, stopped in at this most amazing waterfall and had lunch at one of the resorts, The Rarotongan. We outran a thunder storm at one point, which is when we ducked into the resort and had lunch while we waited out the storm. It was a pleasant morning. We're really getting ready to come home, which of course we can't until this time next week, but we're emotionally already home. We've been chatting with our kids nearly every day and missing them and the grandkids a lot. Now it's a countdown until we can go home, but that's not to say that we aren't having a good time and enjoying ourselves because we really are. We had a great evening tonight. It was Murray's 56th birthday and Nancy organized a dinner for the key leadership in the new church to surprise him at his favorite restaurant. It was a great night, full of fun and laughter and great food. Nancy gave him a sprounting coconut tree for a gift, which is the logo for the new church. It represent new life. That's what he wanted. One of the guys in the church owns a Black Pearl shop and he engraves them with dental tools, some of the most beautiful work I've ever seen. His name is Toke and he engraved a key chain with the coconut logo on it for Murray. He was thrilled. It was a late night and we just got home at 10:30. We're on the deck getting attacked by the "mossies" so we'll go for tonight. Talk again tomorrow!