Suva activities, those we do outside the Temple.

Swimmers at sunset, at new Lami park.

Young man crossing the pipe bridge.

Pleased to be alive.

Fijian dancers at an event called the Young Leaders Ship Tour, Vodafone arena. Japan sponsors
a tour ship with young people from around the Pacific, this year they included the Ukraine. It was
a fun event.

Wailoku ward on Sunday.  Malakai, with Brother Apenisa Seru,
Bro Nabulivula, Cindy and Rodger.

My lonely tree again. Tide was up with the sun.

There are three bunches of bananas on the
trees behind our apartment.  These trees
were decapitated by Cyclone Winston.  They
say that caused them to get fruit the next season.

Wailoku Ward and Island Saints, continued.

We have been overwhelmed with number of groups coming from the South Pacific island nations to our Temple.  This week we have 26 from Karibati and 24 from the island of Tanna in Vanuatu (Whitegrass Branch).  I have received many papers from families and wards planning to come.  Several of these have been or will be the first members from their islands to receive the Temple ordinances.  They are symbolic of the Church growth in this region, as pioneers they sometimes arrive without some paperwork needed, but we usually find a way to get everything accomplished while they are here.

Right now from Tanna we have a sister with her son's family, she is 97 years old.  Flying to Suva, or taking ships and ferries as will happen from Rotuma and Rabi island, is almost too much to take in for them.  They arrive somewhat bewildered, picture the tired and huddled masses, yearning to be endowed with power from on high.

One of the White Grass Branch sisters had an experience that typifies the manner in which government power can be distorted in any country on earth.  That power corrupts and dehumanizes becomes obvious.  This sister, never having been off her own island, and away from her own village, flew for a one night layover in Port Vila on Vanuatu.  The family shared some apples and she put one leftover apple in her bag.  When she arrived in Fiji, with no ability to speak Fijian and little English, she failed to declare her apple, this resulted in a $400 fjd fine, and left her devastated thinking she would  never be able to afford to pay the fine and return home again.

The Bakatus, sealed with their children, also from Kiribati.
Mahonri Moriancumr is their sleeping two-year old

The Karowas, a returned missionary couple,
who came to be sealed from Karibati.

A Temple sealer, Brother Vakarewakobau and our
Temple Recorder, Bro Sakiusa Maiwiriwiri outside the Temple.

Apenisa Seru baptized his father, Bro. Tuavali
at our Wailoku ward fount last weekend.

Snorkeling near Beqa Island

We drove to Pacific Harbor and went on a boat from the Pearl Resort to a reef near Beqa Island. The reef was called Kobi Reef and had lots of fish and pretty nice coral.  The current was very strong and the swim back to the boat on our guided loop was almost too difficult; like needing to be towed by the group leader difficult. Luckily I made it to the boat to get a picture of the stragglers.

Pearl Beach looking to Beqa Island

Olsens

Cindy

Andersons

Long way back to the boat, into the tidal current.

Octopus

Same octopus swimming

Fighting back to the boat.

Busy times, Saints from Vanuatu, Karibati, and Papua New Guinea

Vanuatu Saints with Cindy.

The last group sent us a present with the next group, the Souvai
family sent us a Vanuatu cloth.

New DVD player in the upstairs kitchen/dining area.

Fiji Central market.

Lawn bowling with the senior missionaries.

Suva bookstore purchase of exercise books for school
donation for family service in April

Mini-rainbow over Temple.

Tides out for the small boats.

Avoa and Heatomeara Sarufa from PNG

Wasea Small and Sr Sefiti are married in the Temple,
4 Feb 2017.

Rotuman garlands.

A New Year

We had a quiet New Year, there were lots of fireworks around us, I slept through the crescendo at midnight.  Such is the life of an  old person.

We have been busy with our callings, we had several Karibati groups and now are beginning a string of four groups from Vanuatu.  These people are the best to work with, so happy to be able to come to the Temple.  They often cry just to arrive at Patron Housing. This Tuesday we had 12 new endowments.  Vanuatu is interesting because of the languages we get to experience.  Both English and French colonists were in parts of Vanuatu, so those languages are used in schools, one or the other that is.  The real unifying language is Bislama, a type of Pidgin English, French and Spanish.  We had a session yesterday with the room audio in Bislama, we weren't able to attend but hope to get a chance soon. It is a language that will bring a smile to your face when you hear it and when you try to speak it.  The most languages I have spoken at a single session so far is three, I am hoping to have a confluence of Saints and get to do five some day, Fijian, English, French, Karibati and Bislama.  I guess the ultimate would be to have a Spanish visitor at the same time....

Karibati Saints also have wonderful Spiritual experiences and open our eyes to some things we are missing.  These island groups live much simpler and less structured lives, exact time of events isn't generally a priority.  They do usually understand the need for some things in the Temple to have starting times but not in all cases.  My desire to have order in the Temple must sometimes be secondary to their needs and style of worship.

We enjoy the work with Patron Housing, it has its headaches and is hard at times to get groups scheduled.  Tentative dates change with most groups, as does the number and actual make up of people in the group.  These trips are often their first trip off the home island, first flight, etc. They worry about pick pockets and pressure salesman when they go to town.  Usually they quickly get used to the bus and start going to Suva Central to shop and look around.  Suva is not scary for us, compared to other places we have been.


The Temple has the same creche as we had in Santo Domingo.  Here are some recent pictures:

Some mornings the air is still when we go walking, it is like walking in honey.

Christmas Holiday to Nananu-i-Ra Island and McDonalds Resort

We drove up from Suva with the Clarks and returned with the Andersons.  It is about 3 hours to the Ellington Wharf boat dock, and a 10 minute outboard ride from there to the Island.  We had 6 couples, lots of food and it was fun.  The snorkeling was good, somewhat low visibility with all of the recent rain.  There was a sunken dive boat that somehow broke mooring and sand in about 15 feet of water during the storm last week.

The Resort was basic,older but clean.  We brought our own food, some were at McDonalds and some at the neighboring Beethams resort.  The weather was good with no lost time to rain!

Heading out to the Nananu Island.

Z Magnette shirt.

Sunken treasures.

Taking off her fins.