We visit Fiji and say some good-byes

President and Sister Ostler hosted a senior couple seminar earlier this month. They needed some time with us to receive instruction on the care and handling of illnesses among the young missionaries and also felt that those who are off serving in part of the mission might enjoy getting together. We were gone a week, but it was an humbling, eye-opening, wonderful week.

The Mission home sits in a complex on one of the highest points in Suva with the Temple, The temple president's house, patron housing for the temple, the mission office, temple worker apartments, and a distribution center. A real respite from tired Fiji. We had a room in the temple patron housing that had a refrigerator so that we could have breakfasts and lunches. Evenings were usually with one or more of the locally based senior couples. Meeting and associating with these dear people was one of the highlights of the trip. Some a few years older than we, a few just a couple years younger. All serving missions out of love for the Lord. And they do many things. They travel all over the mission auditing branch, district, ward and stake records. they staff the Temple. They serve the missionaries as an onsite nurse. They instruct and educate others on how to be better teachers. One evening the Ostlers hosted a game night at their house that included a delicious dinner cooked by a number of the resident sisters. On another occasion we spent time together teaching each other about our parts of the mission as well as receiving instruction from the nurse. One of these couples is in Fiji as a volunteer. they started a mission and had to go home early for some medical reasons. He is the retired CEO of a small software company that he had taken public. He is now working with local return missionaries teaching them how to use local programs to gain necessary work skills. Like many others, they are Canadians who seemed to be disproportionally represented in this group.



Another major feature of the trip was being in the temple everyday. The Fiji Suva Temple is one of the smaller temples but as lovely and serene as any of the Lord's Houses. It sits at the summit of the highest point in the city. When we went out and needed a cab home, all we needed to say was the Temple and they came right to it. We understand that ships home in on Moroni lit by the sun during the day and illuminated by night. Must be a great parable there! It had been a long time since our last temple visit. We didn't realize how much we were missing it.

One brief humerous event. One of the older workers, a wheat farmer from North America, was having trouble pronouncing my name. So I helped by equating the name to 'mouse' with a 't' just at the end. Seemed to help as he didn't trip on it anymore that day. The next day on arriving, our friend greeted us full of enthusiasm to say our name since he now knew us. 'Brother Cat.' I am afraid we were just a little irreverent for a minute. Completely true.

The temple was an unanticipated gift of the trip.



On the final days of the seminar we took a trip on a river in 30 foot flat bottomed long boats, shallow draft and powered by 25-30 hp outboards. Two destinations. First was a Fijian village where we visited their school, enjoyed a tribal welcome, ate a delicious lunch and then had a chance to shop. As near as we can tell, an enterprising tribal leaders caught up with the boatmen and suggested the village visit. Apparently with great success. There were 40+ of us in our party. We understand the village got US$10 from the boat company for each of us. What entrepreneurs.

The second destination was another 45 minutes up river. A spectacular waterfall. We had to leave the boats and hike up a narrow path for some time to see it. Beautiful sight. I would have swum had I been properly clothed! However we did get doused a couple times as we negotiated some rapids.



Fiji is an interesting country and quie a contrast to New Caledonia in many respects. Fiji came to be as a result of volcanic activity many years ago. It is consequently not very mineral rich. It was an English colony for many years before declaring its independence some 40 years ago. The English influence shows in its historical architecture, its language and driving on the left. Independence has been hard. Much of the infrastructure is in need of repair particularly roads. They have had frequent coup d'etat. The current government is a military dictatorship which is at least stable and apparently not as corrupt. The Church has been present for a long time. Much longer than New Caledonia. President McKay used to enjoy coming here. The old hotel which was his favorite is now an empty shell, but the chapel for which he pointed out a hill top location is still there. The Church runs a large school complex just down the street from the Temple complex.



And finally transfers and good byes. We had gone to Fiji with the Ostlers just after a zone conference. And knowing that just a few days after our return we would send two missionaries home. One to her parents in Lifou, Sister Seiko, and the other to Riverton Utah, Elder Morrill the Senior Zone Leader. We will miss them both for very different reasons. Sister Seiko is a quiet, hard working sister to whom President Ostler could turn anytime he had an issue to resolve. And he did so. Her parents are stalwarts of the Church here who have sacrificed much to build the Church on their native island of Lifou. Elder Morrill had the rare combination of talents able to laugh at himself, lead effectively and keep everybody moving forward. Something of a 'jokester,' he was the origin of the spongebob prank of earlier writing. We worked closely with him over almost a year. Of course, you can only be such a missionary if you also work very hard. Rumor was that he was going to run away with Sister Mautz. But she stayed! Sorry, Elder.



I released Sister Seiko this morning. We had a picture last night from Elder Morrill with his family. The feelings emanating from those photos are identical even though the families come from different backgrounds thousands of miles apart. Faithful service born of love for Heavenly Father and His Son bless missionaries and their families

Lifou wedding and new sister missionaries

New experiences come regularly even after more than a year here. Among these was a marriage involving a family from Lifou and therefore its tribal leaders as well as a family from France. And then we welcomed 2 new sister missionaries from Tahiti.

The wedding combining the coutume of Lifou, a service at the Magenta chapel to the Church on behalf of the groom and then all of the events around a traditonal Lifou wedding showed us how marriages take place. Quite the events.

We started the evening before the wedding with coutume, or the customary exchange of gifts. This first time was between the tribal leaders in Lifou who had come, the family and the Church interestingly. Tribal chiefs are patriarchs of large clans or families. Otherwise they look like pretty normal Melanesians. Because they were all coming to the Church the next day, they wanted to be respectful to us. I represented the church along with the local branch president. Our gift to them was a copy of the Book of Mormon. Also important was the chance for us to talk about the church to these tribal leaders who lead the tribes on Lifou where we have just placed missionaries for the first time in two years. So we were grateful for the opportunity this wedding presented to present the Church to these tribal leaders.



The following day, after the wedding at the mairie or before the government which is required of all marriages in France and its states, the couple and extended family of well over 200 people joined us at the chapel. Opening hymn and prayer, then talks by the branch president and myself about eternal marriage, importance of the family and welcoming the teachings of the Savior into their home, a vocal solo, and then off to more coutume. This time gifts by the couple to her parents as well as gifts to the couple from everybody present. The giving of gifts through all of this was quite public with an announcement at the end as to just how much money they had received. To say nothing of mountains of rice in bags, sugar and other staples. What did they do with it all? During all of this was a seemingly spontaneous, unaccompanied singing by the older women who had seated themselves along one side of the space while all of the gifts were presented and given by whomever wanted to. A film clip with sound follows:






Nearby, a group of women, dressed similarly and led by quite a character did a kind of line dance accompanied this time by a group of men on whistle like devices. the line of women did a kind of two-step as they approached various people. It appeared to us they were 'loosening up ' the crowd to be more generous with the couple. Their leaders would signal from time to time to the whistlers so they would stop while she spoke. We were highly entertained.



The end of the week welcomed new sisters arriving with President and Sister Ostler as well as a zone conference. there was much to do as we prepared for a week's absence for a senior couples' seminar in Fiji. Transfers took place as we prepared for that trip also. Subject of the next entry.