December 8

Woke at 5:00 a.m. just before the whistle went off.  Was hoping to have the bathroom to myself.  No such luck.  I had to chase off three geckos before I could shower.  Breakfast was again continental, but not as good as yesterdays except that I found some sugar so I could have the lemon grass tea.  I actually like a warm drink in the mornings as was glad for it.

Everyone was dressed in Sunday best; white shirts and ties, and real dresses for the most part.  Elder Wakolo had driven up to speak to the YSAs.  Scott and I borrowed some chairs from the dining room and were just getting seated off the deck under a huge tree when we were asked to sit in with the dignitaries on the deck.  We tried to get Sister Wakolo to sit there, but she would not so we ended up front.  It is lovely to be honored as a missionary, but so often I do not feel like we are doing anything special and are certainly not personally worthy of the honor.

Elder Wakolo Speaking
at the Final Fireside

Final Fireside
I am on the left.

Elder Walkolo gave a great talk and it was going so well as he instructed the YSAs about this most important time of life.  He asked if they had any questions and the first one was, "Which is most important education or marriage." Elder Wakolo turned and look at those of us sitting in the front and asked what we thought and who would be willing to answer the question. WELL!!!

I know the attitudes here in Fiji and I found myself raising my hand before I had even thought.  I just bore my testimony that the answer to that question was marriage, but that each one of those sitting there had the right to their own answers.  I testified that with faith, Heavenly Father would give them the answer to that question.  I then told them about Chaya and Rex doing school together and how the first apartment they lived in made me cry it was so awful, but if you asked them now they would say that was a great time in their life.  Then, heaven help us, one of the members of a stake presidency got up and said that I was wrong.  That an education was way more important and, in fact, that they should not only wait to get married until their education was finished, but wait until they had purchased a home. (I wanted to tear his tongue out) Another member of another stake presidency got up and talked about having faith and how he quit a job so that he and his wife could be sealed in the Tonga temple.  Finally a YSA advisor got up (he was sitting in the back) and said that marriage was ordained of God and that the young adults only needed faith, two spoon, two cups, and two plates to get married.  He said other things and then he stopped and said, "If you don't have two spoons, two cups, and two plates share one spoon, one cup and one plate."  I was in tears when he finished.

There is a problem here in Fiji among young members of the church.  They are afraid to get married.  They are being told by their parents to get an education first.  In the three stakes in Fiji there are over 500 single member between the ages of 30 and 45 which is an indication that the youth are waiting to get married and then just do not get married.

I had three of our institute YSAs come talk to me and they were pretty upset.  I just told them to follow the prophet.  What does our prophet say?  What have past prophets said?  Follow the prophet and your life will happen the way it is supposed to happen.  Such a bummer way of ending camp.

Group Picture at the End of Camp

We packed up, took pictures, and headed to Nadi because Suzanne's plane leaves at 11 tonight.

Saying Goodbye to
Jade, Monika, and Susanna

Tevita Cegedrau and Villi Melan 

We decided to take the northern route to Nadi since we had not seen it before.  This route takes us through Rakiraki, Tavue, Ba, and Lautoka.  It was gorgeous and I thought the road was so much better than the one that goes from Suva to Nadi along the southern coast.  Better by far except for the four or five strips of road that had been torn up and left us driving on gravel.

A Fence Line
Some of the poles used to hold up the barbed wire
have taken root

More Growing Fence Line

There is barbed wire between these trees which
I assume previously looked like the
other two fence lines

Waterfall on the way to Ba

Pool at the Bottom of the Waterfall

Branch Meeting House on the way to Ba.

December 7

The get up whistle blew at 5:00 a.m. this morning.

This morning I am found a spider the size of a small salad plate sitting on the little ledge next to the roll of toilet paper.  Since I refused to share the bathroom with it, Scott had to go try to kill it.  The spider

got away.  Needless to say I will not be visiting the bathroom in the dark.

Breakfast was at 5:30 and devotional was at 6:30.  It was a continental breakfast consisting of fruit breads, scones (which they call pancakes), and some dark sweet bread which I thought was delicious.  They also made lemon grass tea which is only good if you have sugar.  We did not have sugar this morning.  Overnight someone had gotten smart and the food was served to us instead of taking what we wanted which insured that there would be enough food for everyone without cooking again.

At our devotional they also read off the names of the members of each group so that the YSAs had to go to the group to which they had originally been assigned.  Good idea.  They were also told that everyone in the group had to be together before anyone in the group could eat which fixed the problem of people showing up for meals two hours late.

This morning each group had four experiences in which they were to participate.  While they were setting off, Scott and I were asked to take some of the leaders into Korovou (45 min) to buy more food for supper.  It was a delightful ride with Suluetta Kama, Sister Deloi, and one sister who was riding with us into Korovou to catch the bus back to Suva.  Korovou is small, but we got what we needed a huge frozen bag (40 lbs) of chicken and one of fish.  While Scott and I were walking along the main road one of our institute YSAs got off the bus from Suva.  His parents had insisted that he stay in Suva for physical fitness testing to become a prison guard.  Had we not been there he would have had to wait for another bus to take him out to Natalie-ra.  A tender mercy.

When we got back, we drove to the furtherest place that the YSAs had to walk for their experiences.  It was a long, long, hilly, hot walk.  We got to the place at noon and four of the ten groups had not been there yet and lunch started at 11:30.  Someone had misjudged the amount of time it would take to do all four experiences.  One experience was to find water in the bush, another was to build a billibilli which is a bamboo raft, and the third one was to make improvements at the local village school which was the one furtherest away.  We stayed at the school until all groups had come.  Scott even went out and picked up two of the groups and brought them to the school.  One trip he had 21 YSAs in the van.

Yard Work at the School

Another Group Doing Yard Work at the School

These activities took so long that the afternoon activities were canceled.  Everyone took a nap.  Scott and Suzanne took a boat out to see the spinning dolphins after their nap.  We then got ready for the dance and dinner.

Dinner was obviously on Fiji time as we did not eat until 8 o'clock.  The dress for the dance was
church dress.  But as you can see, every girls and
many guys just threw on a Sulu which counts as
a skirt.

Suzanne at the Dance

Maggie at the Dance

I knew that sulus were versatile, but had no idea how versatile they really are.  I saw them used as a ground cover for sitting on, in lieu of a necklace, as a blanket to ward off the night chill, as a table cloth, to cover up a swimming suit, as a prop in one of the group presentations, as a curtain, to stay dry in a light rain, and the list goes on and on.  Everyone carries a sulu in their backpack just in case.  I wished several times over the two days we were at camp that I had brought one of mine to camp.  I won't make the mistake again.

BilliBilli Bonfire at the Dance

The dance was interesting.  As no one here has cars,
the DJ came up in a bus on the first day.  He started
the dance and after two or three dances the music
stopped and one group was called upon to do their group
presentation; song, skit, joke, etc.  Then we danced for
a while and had another group performance.  Interesting.

I love Fiji.  Everyone knows that church dances are to end
at midnight.  So-o-o at midnight the DJ announces the end of
the dance.  They have a closing prayer and then so everyone
feels good and no one is disappointed, the DJ says there will
be three or sometimes five more songs.  The dance ended at
12:30.

December 6

Today was get ready and get to Young-Adult-Camp day.  Suzanne had to pack to leave as we are going straight from camp to Nadi so that she can make her 11 p.m. flight out of here.  All of us were nervous about her flight being delayed or canceled.  She has to be back to work on Monday.  I never cease to be amazed at the peace prayer brings.  We can't change what will happen with her flight, but praying about it brought all of us a sense of calmness.  What a blessing.

We are driving our van, and following the bus to Nataliera.  Do not ask me how to pronounce Nataliera.  It is an eco resort on the northern shore of Viti Levu (our island).  When we got to the Samabula Chapel they had ordered only one bus which was about half as many seat as there were YSAs. The boys ended sitting on the floor in the isles, and on the steps for the hour drive out to Korovou and the 45 minutes on the dirt road from Korovou to Nataliera.  Ouch!

Entrance to the YSA Camp
Really the name is Natalie-ra
Suzanne in her sulu chaba that she bought
at the Flea Market.

Road (driveway) into Natalie-ra

Our Bure
Even though you can not see it, the roof is
covered in leaves, probably banana leaves.

Our Mosquito Net

Ceiling of Bure
Covered in woven mats.

Wood Walls With Tapa Cloth Decoration

Our Bathroom
Notice light coming through wood slats.

Cold Water Shower.

We unpacked and then explored the camp.

It seems that on Tuesday when a final count was taken of attendees

there were 200 YSAs who had signed up and paid.  When we got to

the camp there were 261 young adults who got off the buses.  OOPS.

We had a short meeting explaining camp rules and then divided the YSAs into ten groups.  Of course like YSAs all over the world no one went to

the groups they were supposed to be in but to the groups where their friends were.  We were called to everything with a whistle.  Dinner was interesting.  We had been told to bring whatever we needed to eat.  I packed some plastic plates and cups that could be washed and a knife and fork for each of us.  Most of the Fijian YSAs brought a huge bowl, a spoon and a huge mug. Some brought ice cream containers which in Fiji are square and plastic.  We had two spigots with which to wash our utensils; one on the beach and one by the road between two bures.  

When the whistle went off, we qued up with the YSAs.  We were served chicken, dalo, sliced of watermelon and pineapple.  There is a drink they make here that is very much like koolaid but less sweet and less flavorful; it was served with dinner.  After dinner Scott and I were to facilitate a discussion group on social media.  We waited and waited and then realized that it was not happening because kids had not answered the dinner whistle and were still eating.  In fact, the kitchen ran out of food and some of the kids did not eat until after 11.  We ate all the food that had been brought for dinner tonight and tomorrow night.  Some of leaders never did get any dinner.

The Kitchen

The Stove in the Kitchen

One of Two Burners

More Kitchen

Where We Ate All Our Meals
Although they did have an indoor
dining room.

Our View For Every Meal.

We were told that we were to facilitate a discussion on social media.  I had found some questions and some quotes that I thought would be appropriate, so I started the first group.  I was dying on the vine when Scott butted in, thank heave, and got better participation.  I decided that Scott had to do the second group which he started by telling stories that made the group laugh and laugh, but because he was in his entertainer mode, he forgot where the discussion was supposed to go, so I butted in and moved the discussion in the right direction.  Better.  The third group Scott started again, got the YSAs laughing and then I led the serious discussion.  Wonderful.  It was absolutely pitch black by the time we started the fourth group so we had to stand in the light of a---cell phone.  Yup, that's right.  A cell phone.  We were rushed for time, so the discussion was not as good as the second or third groups, but still better than the first one.  After the groups we held a final meeting and everyone was sent to bed.  We were grateful for the fan in our bure which kept the air moving.  Aaaaah.

Official Meeting Place
This is basically a deck.
Because we were so many, most had to sit on a tarp
(to the left) or stand around the edges.

December 5

We went to the temple this morning with Suzanne.  The sisters were so cute with her.  They do not advertise it, but they have clothes here if one is without.  Many of the Fijian Saints who live in outlying
areas can not afford to have temple clothes, many Saints come in from the other islands without clothing, and, of course, people come from elsewhere unprepared to attend the temple; so our temple has clothing to loan out. We were grateful they did. It was cute that Suzanne had one shoe that fit and one shoe that was way too big. She just grinned--a memory of Fiji.

We then spent the afternoon riding around, shopping, and visiting the Fiji Museum which turned out
to be much nicer that I would have supposed.  It was a great, relaxing day.

I was reminded today that people are always watching us as Latter-day Saints. I was wandering around the museum store when the clerk asked me if I knew the Whippys? I said that I knew of them; they are a large family (at least 4 sons + daughters) and the dad used to be the Service Center Director here before he was assigned to Papau New Guinea. The clerk went on and on about how wonderful the Brother and Sister Whippy were and what wonderful children they had. It was obvious that the clerk held the entire family in high esteem. I was overcome by gratitude for this family who had been good examples "in all things, in all times and in all places."  I wonder if we will ever know the power of our example.

December 4

Spent sometime today shopping.  Scott and Suzanne rode around Suva.

Elder Hamula, our Area President, came to Fiji for two weeks on Friday or Saturday of last week.  We missed his first fireside because Suzanne's plane got delayed.  We were privileged to have him speak to just the senior couples at the Mission Home tonight.  To save Sister Klinger who has been hosting him and his wife, we all brought a part of the dinner that went along with the fireside.  A couple of months ago I had the non temple couples over to our flat for dinner after church.  I served BBQ chicken sandwiches.  Chicken in Fiji is touch.  I had reduced the cooking time in the crock pot to 2 hours.  It was delicious.  So I had been asked to do the meat.  I was glad to do it.

I put the chicken in the pots (we fed 37) at 4 o'clock thinking it would be done at six and forgetting that I needed to shred the chicken and reheat it with the BBQ sauce.  Duh!  So at ten minutes to six Scott,  Suzanne, and I are hurriedly shredding hot, hot chicken.  We walked into the Mission Home at exactly 6.  Then we waited until 7 to eat because Elder Hamula was interviewing missionaries and got behind.
I was so pleased.  While I was working in the kitchen, Scott noticed that Sister Hamula was sitting by herself.  He, of course, went over and sat down by her and had a great conversation.  Delightful woman.  I have been praying that we would have five minutes with Elder Hamula.  I am so afraid that all the YSAs will have to do without an institute again unless they replace us.  Sister Hamula asked Scott why we were here and he told her.  Later when Elder Hamula came into the room, I introduced myself as the CES missionary over the institute.  His reply was, "Yes my wife told me all about you and your husband's work."  She had to have left the conversation with Scott and gone right into the interview room to report to her husband.  Amazing.

Suzanne went with us.  Everyone was so kind to her including Elder and Sister Hamula.  Both of them spoke at the fireside.  He told us that our families would be blessed beyond our wildest dreams, because we are serving missions as senior couples.  He even said that if we had children who were wayward they would be back.  It brought me to tears.

It was so wonderful to look across the room and see Suzanne sitting (she chose to sit behind everyone), sharing this spiritual experience, and knowing that the blessings promised us included her.  I am so blessed to have children who want to come visit, and who are willing to make the sacrifice to get here.  

December 3

Spent the day on the Navua River.  The Navua River Trip is a right of passage for every senior missionary.  We waited for Suzanne to do it and I am glad.

The river is about thirty minutes out of Suva.  The trip starts in Navua village.  The company that runs the river is owned by an LDS family.  Basically one rides up the river in a motor boat which stops at ?? village.

Scott on the River 

Me, Our Guide, Scott
on the Navua River

Suzanne on the River

At the village one is greeted by a members of the village and ushered into the village bure (burr ay).

Village Greeter in a
Tapa Cloth Sulu
with a Shell Horn

A very formal Kava ceremony (which is traditional) is held.  One man from the village welcomed us, and one man from the tour who is chosen to lead our clan/tribe accepts the welcome and thanks the village for hosting us.  In the middle each man, and a Ratu (village royal family member) takes a drink of the Kava.  The tour guide told us over and over that the Kava is not alcoholic and therefore fine to drink.  He even state that they give Kava to babies.  After the original three drink, the kava, in the same coconut shell, is delivered to each person.  It used to be absolutely forbidden to refuse to drink, but between the Mormons, Seventh-Day Adventists, and modern thinking one can safely refuse to drink.  I have heard stories that early missionaries-not LDS-were eaten because they refused to drink.  Nice to be born now!

Pouring Water our of a Bamboo Pole
Into the Kava Bowl over dried Kava.

Passing the Kava
Notice that only men are sitting on
front row on the floor.
Women in the back only

I have been told that Kava is not alcoholic; it is a stimulant.  It makes your tongue and lips go numb.  It is against the Word of Wisdom and its use has created major problem for some church members especially ones that are still in villages, or who are tied closely to their village of origin.  Every leader who has come to Fiji in the past four or five years has preached against Kava.

After the ceremony we toured the village, saw woman making tapa cloth, weaving rugs, and men making hats out of leaves.  We also visited the village preschool.

Suzanne with the village preschoolers
in their one room preschool.

We were then fed lunch which was delicious, and watch a short program of traditional men-only dances.  Women sing in the background.  We had a chance to purchase Fijian crafts.  Suzanne bought a Fijian drum, a necklace and earrings made out of cococut shells, and we bought a woven mat.

Dancers.
Notice the ceiling.

More dancing.

Dancing with the villagers.

We then proceeded up the river another 45 minutes.

On the way to the big waterfall

Another waterfall on the way up
the Navua River

Bamboo Trees

We actually went over some small rapids on our way to the waterfall where we would be able to swim.

On the way to the big waterfall.

Still on the way to the waterfall.

Swimming to the other side of the pool.
Scott and Suzanne were hoping to
swim under the falls, but there was
way too much water coming over the falls.

Resting on the other side.

Then we rode a bamboo raft down the river, but not very far as the wind was coming up the river, and blowing us in the wrong direction.  It was funny to see on of our guides jump into the river, grab a line attached to our raft and literally swim down stream pulling our boat.  So after a few minutes of that, we changed to the motor boat and made our way back to the beginning.

Fun day!

December 2

Got up.  Ate breakfast before we remembered it was Fast Sunday. We will make it up next week. Left Nadi by 6:30 so we could make the Lami 2nd Wards meetings. We barely made it on time. Went to the YSA class where we knew about half of the class:  Lillian, Mavis, Sosi, Brandon, etc. All were nice to Suzanne.

Got home, unpacked, ate a cold lunch and then went to the Missionary Christmas Fireside. We had over 30 YSAs come to sing.  Hallelujah!  Now if I can just get them to practices.

YSA Girls Singing at Fireside
Meme, Lillian, Mavis, Maggie
Dreke, Molly, Vani

YSA Guys Singing at Fireside
Filipe, ?, Tavita, Timoci, ?
Lomani, Dan, ?

Suzanne Singing
Olive, Sister Klinger

More YSA Girls
?, Leslie, Mereta, Olive, Suzanne