October 7

Ate at the Whiteheads today.  She is a wonderful cook and it was so nice not to have to cook.  She just invited us after we visited her ward today.  So nice.

Scott and I realized yesterday that we have not visited the Suva 1st ward YSA class, so we decided that we would go there after our own Sacrament Meeting.

The Suva 1st ward building was the first real chapel built in Suva (all of Fiji I would guess).  It was built under the direction of President David O. McKay.  It has a lovely huge chapel.  The ward struggles.  President Klinger has assigned the Whiteheads to this ward.  He does that to help wards that are struggling.  We arrived a little early and learned that the class met in the chapel.  We walked in and waited and waited.  Finally two girls came it.  One conducted the class the other taught the lesson.  It is interesting to note that here in Fiji each Sunday School class has an opening exercise with a song, a prayer, and sometimes a scripture based thought.

The point of all this is that we started class with four of us (including Scott and I) but by half way into the class there were at least 30 YSAs.  They did not sit together.  Most sat alone, but there were never anymore that two sitting together.  No one answered the questions asked by the teacher.  It felt really disjointed and cold n that class.  The adult advisor walked in about ten minutes before class ended.  No one acknowledged Scott or me.  In fact, Scott had to walk up to the front just before the class ended to ask if he could make an announcement.

I knew by the middle of the lesson that this ward needed to come to the institute for an activity.  These YSAs were obviously not friends with each other, so we needed to introduce them to other LDS youth with whom they could be friends. We will be sponsoring ward activities starting the end of this month. Each ward is invited to come to the institute along with another ward so that the young people get to know each other.  The ward provides the food, and we provide the activities.  It also allows the YSAs to see the institute and feel comfortable there.

After class I asked the advisor if he had already had the monthly activity for the class.  His reply made it obvious that they do not have a monthly activity, so I told him that he and his YSAs were invited to the institute on the last Friday in October.  We are going to have to go back next week to make the announcement----and probably the week after.

As a side note Elder Wakolo, our area seventy, walked into the class about half way through and made some very pointed comments.  Isn't it interesting that a man as busy as he is would know what YSA class is struggling and make the time to visit the class.   The church is, indeed, run by revelation.