Travels and travails: Arrival, Cyclone Winston and Temple dedication

We arrived tired but eager on Friday morning, everyone here was very busy with preparations for the Cultural Celebration and Temple dedication, so we didn't get the usual orientation. We didn't even know there was a big storm headed this way until someone from the Salt Lake group showed me his computer of the expected track straight into Suva. Winston was category four on Friday, a strong 5 when it hit. We did what we could to help get the Temple ready, mostly we just had to stay out of the way. We knew that Pres Eying, and Elder Cook and Area Presidency were all here by Saturday morning, and that Pres Eyring said to go ahead with all plans, that he was at peace.

The weather was already windy and rainy on Saturday, we had a Missionary meeting with the visiting Authorities on Saturday at 11 am, then we had a nice group lunch with all missionaries, as many as could make it in from the outer regions, almost all did arrive before the storm, Suva turned out to be the safest place in Fiji so that timing was a blessing. After lunch, we bussed to Vodaphone arena for the cultural event, it was moved from the outdoor ANZ stadium because of the weather. The youth groups were awesome to see, the dances from the different islands reflected some of the different character of each group. Some calm and soothing, others more energetic. The event was cut short by the government curfew, curfew started at five pm Saturday, most of us weren't home by then... It was very windy, maybe 50-60 mph by then, and raining hard. Our buses weren't ready for us as we stopped the show early. We were a wet mess of senior missionaries by the time our bus arrived. Then we had a flat tire, some opted to walk, but we stayed put and another bus arrived right away. The walkers also were picked up by a bus so no one learned lesson. We made it home from the nearby Chapel drop off, the Samabula Chapel.

Our apartment is served by a generator, as we saw the surrounding buildings outside the gates go black we were glad to be here. The winds were strong, many branches and palm fronds were falling, one or two thunked on our roof. The only trouble we had during the evening was water being blown under the seal on our main door, I mopped and used towels at first, finally I put towels on the outer door edge and shut the door against them. This stopped the water so I could go to bed, luckily it worked the rest of the night. Our water pressure was gone at first, but returned when a cord was run from our apartment to the water pump at our cistern. City power is being restored bit by bit, the Temple is still on the generator though.

The Temple dedication was an experience to savor, strong talks and the spirit of the building was changed. We have been able to work in the Temple this week, there are so many details that can only be done after the dedication, right when you are trying to get everything going smoothly.

These are some of our pictures, LDS.org has many better!