Courtney and Ben Visit Bonaire!

This is Elder and Sister Vander Veur's daughter, Courtney, guest posting about our recent visit to Bonaire! My husband, Ben, and I were on the island for over two weeks (we returned last week) and really enjoyed experiencing a taste of Elder and Sister Vander Veur's mission life.

Elder and Sister Vander Veur on the beach

Elder and Sister VV are great at meeting people and making friends. Everywhere we went on the island, one of them would start up a conversation with someone at the store, on the street, or in the restaurant, and within a couple minutes they'd all be laughing. People were often curious about why they're living in Bonaire and the Vander Veurs will explain that they're missionaries and would sometimes extend an invitation to attend church or learn more.

Sister VV's knee has been hurting since November so they hadn't been walking daily like they used to but her knee was feeling better so we did part of their normal route and got to see the beauty of Kralendijk in the morning.

This is an American couple that has a house on the main road in Kralendijk so they come to Bonaire multiple times a year and have gotten to know Elder and Sister VV. When they found out the VV's are missionaries they started calling them Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker.  Haha! Sister VV doesn't wear nearly enough make up to warrant that nickname! ;)

This cute Dutch couple also visits Bonaire often and they sit on the same bench each morning eating breakfast. We found them in their usual spot for a nice visit.

On another visit downtown we ran into their friend who leads tours around the island

The Vander Veurs invited the Albus family (members of the branch) to dinner at their apartment with Barbel Albus's Dutch parents, Hank and Lida, who were visiting. The VV's have become good friends with Hank and Lida.

The Vander Veurs live in a mother-in-law apartment which is part of the home of one of the Dutch branch members

Look at that crystal blue water!

The branch of the LDS Church on Bonaire splits into two different groups for their Sunday meetings depending on the language they speak. Members of the branch speak Spanish, Papiamento, English or Dutch (most speak more than one). The Spanish/Papiamento speaking members meet in the morning and the Dutch/English members meet in the afternoon. We were there for three Sundays and attended the Spanish/Papiamento group once and the Dutch/English group all three weeks. The Dutch/English group is much smaller than the other. There were only 4-5 adult members other than us and the other missionaries so Ben and I were both asked to speak in sacrament meeting our second and third Sundays on the island! It was a great experience to share our testimonies with the members there and to get to know some of them.

All the missionaries went to a zone conference in Aruba one weekend while we were there so we got to use the car while they were gone. The young missionaries came back a couple days earlier than Elder and Sister VV (who were doing an audit) so we gave the elders and sisters rides to the grocery store on their preparation day. We also had the elders over for dinner (they get fewer invitations since there aren't as many Dutch/English members) and were able to visit an investigator with them.

At church after the Spanish/Papiamento sacrament meeting. The church is a house that the members have been renting for many years. They have a great deal on rent but there is no air conditioning. 

The outside of the church building

Sister VV and Courtney with the sister missionaries and an investigator. Bonaire has six missionaries on the island. Elder and Sister VV, these two sisters and two elders. The sisters work with the Spanish/Papiamento group.

Me and Ben with the elders, who work with the Dutch/English group of the branch. 

One day we decided to drive around the island and document the places Elder and Sister VV see on a regular basis. We called it the Day of Documentation, or D-Day. We also drove to all the sites where Ben and I went snorkeling or scuba diving and took pictures of the yellow rocks that mark each site with the name.

On "D-Day" we also drove to all the sites where Ben and I went snorkeling or scuba diving and took pictures of the yellow rocks that mark each site with the name.

We had Family Home Evening with the Albus family

We took lots of pictures like this...I couldn't help it. Look at that view!

Downtown Kralendijk

The Vander Veur's favorite grocery store, called the Warehouse. Avocados are much larger in Bonaire.

The main attraction of Bonaire is scuba diving because you're able to walk right into the ocean anywhere on the east side of the island and scuba! Ben and I got certified before our trip and were able to do six dives, as well as many snorkeling adventures. The water is a gorgeous blue (as you see below) and the reef is teeming with parrot fish, angel fish, honeycomb cowfish, barracuda, trumpet fish, and many others. We were lucky enough to spot a lion fish, two spotted eagle rays, a seahorse and a turtle! What an amazing experience. I love the water there.

We did our first two dives (in one day) with a guide but realized we had all the knowledge we needed to do it on our own so the next four dives were just me and Ben! I was a little nervous at first but it was an amazing experience and I'm so glad we did it!

We saw lots of the stoplight parrot fish (in the middle). This one is in the initial phase. During the terminal phase it turns green, red and yellow.

Ben loves the feeling of flying that you have while floating through the water

We rented an underwater camera for one of the days while diving. We got some great video and photos.

Can you see the seahorse? It's hanging upside down. We never would have found this on our own but some divers told us about the seahorse and even described exactly where it was so we could find it. I was so happy to see a seahorse and it was much easier to catch a picture of it because it didn't move, besides swaying with the flow of the water.