Another Life Changing Experience

Today I want to tell you about another life changing experience we had last week as we drove high into the Namosi Highlands to visit and give a Priesthood blessing to a friend’s wife that we have made here in Fiji.  Let me start at the beginning.

I have shown pictures of the fun river trips that we have had the privilege of taking in the last 6 months we have been here.  We have experienced breathtaking scenery, wonderful food and people who have stolen our hearts forever.  We have made friends with many of the river guides as well as the owners of “The Jewel Of Fiji” Navua River Adventures.  Scott the owner is a member of the church and takes such good care of the Senior Missionaries.

Elder and Sister Jackson have been so kind to invite us along on their family trips and the Upper Navua River Rafting trip was one of our all time favorites.  We have become very good friends with Moses (the guide) and have had discussions about the church with him.  He asked us if he could come to church with us when he comes to Suva.  Now I’m sure you remember him from prior blog posts.

When our kids were here, we took them down the Lower Navua River trip.  It was then that we took a box of church DVD’s, pamphlets and other reading materials which he had requested.  Also, the Jackson ‘s son Kent sent him a pair of shoes with Damon and they were in the box as well.

That day, Moses told us that his wife Alavina was really sick and had been in the hospital.  They found that she has cancer and the Dr. told Moses to take her home and give her what she wanted.  Not very encouraging.  We asked if Elder Peterson could come and give her a Priesthood blessing and he was more than grateful.

Last Sunday after church, we headed off with Elder and Sister Jackson for a day we will hold very dear in our hearts forever.

We were supposed to pick Moses up in Navua town and give him a ride back to his village.  It is a 2-hour car ride up a very large mountain.  When we arrived at our meeting place, Moses asked us if we could also give his cousin a ride.  We told him sure and then he asked if his cousin’s wife could also have a ride.  No problem, we had the white rhino with lots of room.  Off we went to the village.

 

I
t had been raining for 2 days straight and we were afraid the roads would be very bad, but we were pleasantly surprised thank goodness. We didn’t have any problem. What a beautiful drive it is.  These pictures just don’t do it justice.  The greenery and foliage is absolutely spectacular. 

As we arrived at the village, we were welcomed with open arms.  Moses and Alavina have four small children ages’ 14 mths to 7 years old.  They are beautiful and well behaved children.  We sat on woven mats on the floor and visited with them for a while.  We brought with us a big box of food and some goodies and somehow the kids found the goodies and were in heaven.  They don’t eat much sugar in the villages. 

Moses has 5 brothers and they and their families were all having dinner at one of their homes next door.  I had to use the bathroom (which was an outhouse) so I walked past the brother’s home.  They called to me to come in so I visited with all of them for a while.  In the Fijian custom, there is no furniture in the homes.  They eat on the floor sitting on mats.  It was such an amazing thing to experience.  The Fijian’s take such good care of each other.  Families are everything to these wonderful people.

Elder Peterson stayed back at Moses’s home and talked to them about the Priesthood blessing that he would be giving to Alavina.  He pretty much gave the first missionary discussion to them.  There was such a strong spirit in there home.  Elder Peterson and Elder Jackson gave her a wonderful blessing.  How grateful I am for the Priesthood and for a husband who is worthy to call upon our Heavenly Father in times like this to bless the sick.  I think it really made an impression on Moses.  I don’t know how much he understood, but I know he felt something. 

                                                       

We played with the kids (all the cousins heard about the goodies so the whole house was filled with beautiful children) and they sang to us also.  One of Moses’s daughters was fascinated with my glasses and wouldn’t take them off.  She was such a doll. 

                                                         

We played for a while and then it was time to go.  Many hugs and kisses were exchanged that day.  We were invited to come back and visit and we will do that for sure.  We asked if there was anything we could do for the village and Moses asked if we knew anyone who could put a toilet in the little school there in their village.  We will look into that also.

We decided to go a different way home that would take us a little longer, but were glad we did because we came upon this beautiful waterfall right along the road.  Have you ever seen such beauty?  Fiji is an amazing, amazing place.

We arrived home safely as the sun was going down.  It had stopped raining and we were all tired, but filled with such love and gratitude for the opportunity to be serving our Heavenly Father here in this beautiful and loving country of Fiji.  We have made friends and memories that will last through all eternity.

We just returned from a wonderful, fun filled week of playing, sightseeing, laughing and just enjoying two of our children and their wives, Damon and Hailey and Jake and Cami.  It was so good to see them and feel them and so hard to say goodbye.

 Before I tell all about our week, let me tell a little about what was going on before they all got here.

Molly sent a fun Easter package full of “Sunshine” and peeps and boy, did the YSA’s ever love them.  They had never heard of peeps before.  Here are just a few pictures of the “peeps fun”.

 

Elder Peterson got his drivers license and is now legal to drive all the YSA’s, senior couples and his “not so good at driving” companion around.  Yay!!!!!!  What would we all do without him?

 

We had another cookie baking class.  This is so fun.  Leba and Laseras couldn’t believe how when you put the cookie dough on the cookie sheet in a big ball and when you cook it, it goes flat.  They sat and watched them bake for a long, long time.  I think we all had bellyaches before we were done.

The night before our kids came to visit, we had a special temple night for all the endowed YSA’s for a going away party for 6 of our missionaries.  We had around 24 there and what a wonderful sight to see them all in the temple together.  We have such strong and faithful YSA’s who love the temple.

 Afterward we went for pizza and boy can they eat.  It is fun watching them down 10 very large pizzas without any trouble.  We love doing this activity.  It will be a tradition for sure.

We had a week break because of the semester break.  This was a great time for visitors and how we loved having them here.  Here are a few details of our week together.

DAY 1

Hailey came running off the plane so fast that she dropped her phone.  We couldn’t get our arms around them fast enough.  We have never been away from our kids for 5 months so it was so good to see them.

We stopped at Edens for breakfast.  We love this place and have become friends with the owner and her staff.

 We then headed back to the flat for a little freshening up.  We tried to get them to take a little nap, but I think they were to excited to sleep.

After freshening up a little, we headed to town to show them downtown Suva for a little shopping.  Damon bought a bula shirt and Jake bought a sulu to wear to church.  Damon used one of Elder Peterson’s but he did love wearing the sulu.  Jake wasn’t quite sure……

Shopping wore them out so home we went for a little nap.  After all, we had a long night ahead of us.  We knew we had to keep them up late so they could get acclimated to the time change.  

After a little nap (we could hardly wake them up.  Their body clocks said 3:00 a.m.,) we went to dinner at Tikos Fish House.  Our wonderful friends and neighbors Elder and Sister Jackson went with us.  The food was great, the atmosphere was amazing, but it wasn't anchored very well and 3 out of the 8 of us got sea sick.  Oh well, the food tasted great for lunch the next day..  

 Don't they look good in their Sulus and Bula Shirts.  Two of our YSA's made the sulu's for Cami and Hailey.  They are so cute.  Thanks Aggie and Famoana.

Night wasn't over yet.  There was a YSA and youth dance at the Reiwanga chapel and we had to make an appearance.  Boy or boy did the kids get into it.  It was so fun for them to see what a REAL Fijian dance was all about.  These Fijians  can really dance.   We had so much fun and it was a great way to see what Elder and Peterson get to do on Friday nights.  We Love These YSA's so much. At about 10:00 (4:00am for Damon and Hailey and 5:00am for Cami and Jake) we decided to let them go home and go to bed.  It was a great day and we were so happy that they we here.

Day 2

After a good night rest, we headed off to do a session at the Fiji Temple. We love the temple so much and it has become a very big part of our mission.  What a wonderful blessing to have Damon and Hailey share it with us.  Cami and Jake found out at the airport in Texas that their recommends had expired.  We missed them but had some great photo opps after the session.

After a quick lunch consisting of turn fish sandwiches with grated carrots and caned corn mixed in (we love this combination) we changed and off to town we went again. 

Jake, Cami, Damon, Hailey and I caught the “bone crusher” bus by the temple and rode it into town.  I love the buses here.  We had to give the kids this experience.  Mark met us with the van down town.  Hailey gave out her first bracelet and candy to a little girl on the bus.  This was the first of many adorable Fijian kids receiving toys, bracelets, candy, necklaces and more candy from America.  Our kids made many little ones happy this past week. Cami made and brought darling bead necklaces and our granddaughters and their friends made "rainbow loom" bracelets to give away.

A little rest and it was time to go to the Institute Activity night.  This was our favorite part of the week.  The night went EXACTLY as I had hoped it would.

We started off with a devotional.  Our YSA’s know how to have incredible devotionals.  We then played games and the YSA’s got aquainted with our kids.  It was an instant love affair.  I got teary eyed several times as I was so grateful to have our kids there experiencing and loving these young people who we have come to love so much.  There will be a bond there forever.

Cami won the ping pong tournament and Hailey and Veta Varo won the kramboard tournament.  Pretty awesome since they hadn’t ever played kramboard before.

After games, we called everyone into the class room for some singing.  I love how our YSA’s gather around the piano and sing together.  I had asked a few of them to put together a little program and boy, did they come through.  They sang until we had to drag them out of the institute building kicking and screaming.  Not really, but they could have stayed all night.  I was so proud of them and so grateful that they embraced our family with love and friendship.  The feeling was mutual for our kids.

Oh, did I say, we ate hot fudge sundaes and we had about 45 YSA’s there?

 We sang "God Be With You" to our 5 missionaries who would be leaving for their missions this week.  This is by far the hardest part of our mission. We love them so much and then have to say goodbye.  We Will be back and that's a promise.

DAY 3 

Sunday Morning and the guys all dressed up in their sulus and white shits.  Could they look more handsome?  I think Jake and Damon really loved wearing their new clothing.  At church we went into the primary to hand out more bracelets, suckers and necklaces.  The kids were so daring.  They sang “I am a child of God” for us and were very happy.  This was another favorite day for us.  After church and a wonderful home cooked meal, we went on a drive to a beach by Nasori.  It was fun to see the little villages along the way.  Home early to get a good night sleep.  Jet lag was starting to set in.

 DAY 4

Up early today and headed to Takalana to watch the spinning dolphins.  Another beautiful drive through little villages and handing out treats to the kids walking along the road.  Takalana is a beautiful little Eco resort.  Upon arrival, they greeted us with a little breakfast of babagao (donuts) hot peppermint water, banana bread and fruits.  The weather was absolutely perfect.  The view was spectacular and the company was wonderful.  The water was several colors of blue and the dolphins played with us and swam along and in front of the boat.  There wasn’t much spinning, but that was ok.  It was just fabulous to be out on the beautiful ocean with our kids.

We snorkeled and then went back to a great Fijian lunch.  We danced with the band and said goodbye to them until we meet again in August when Jesse and Heather come.

On the way home, we took the kids up to Corvo to see the beautiful LDS chapel on the hill.  This is the nicest chapel in all of Fiji and there is only about 30 members who attend.  There are around 100 or more members in the area, but it is so far for them to walk that the attendance is pretty low.  When we arrived at the chapel, there were several kids playing on the grounds.  As we drove in, they started to scatter.  I guess they weren’t members and probably weren’t supposed to be there.  We called after them to come back.  We again handed out “stuffs” and made many more little people happy.  At one point, Hailey just took handfuls of “stuffs” and threw them into the air.  They laughed and hollered like crazy.  It was so fun and it made Hailey’s day….. We then got back into the “White Rino” (our van) and headed home to pack up our “stuffs” so we could move on to our next adventure.  Pacific Harbor, here we come…..

 DAY 5

We stayed at the Uprising resort in Pacific Harbor for the next two nights.  Our guests finally got a place of their own and Elder Peterson and I got to get off the floor. We were really happy to give up our room for a few nights.

This resort is a fun place to stay but we weren’t here enough to get to enjoy the beautiful beach.  We got up early and headed to the Navua River.  We boarded a “long boat” and headed up this beautiful river.  It actually was the first time we had seen it so clean.  Usually it looks like a chocolate river.  The weather was again perfect.  After about 30 minutes of fun, we arrived at a little village called Rewanga Village.  Here they greet you with handsome Fijian warriors.  We tried everything we could to get them to smile at us.  We took off our shoes and went into a big Bure (Fijian House) and  watched a kava ceremony, sang, danced, and ate a wonderful lovo lunch.  These people are so friendly and wonderful.  After the lunch, we visited a little school there and again, played with the little kids and handed out goodies to them.  This is pretty touristy but a must to do.  Everyone needs to see at least one kava ceremony in their life, right?  After the village experience, we boarded our boats again for a 1 hour ride to a beautiful waterfall.  This is the same waterfall that Elder Peterson and I got caught in a huge rainstorm in.  It was fun to see it on a beautiful day and not get rushed out because of flooding.  We swam in the waterfall and had a fantastic time.  I love this excursion and we have made good friends with the guide and his family.  We will defiantly go back with the other kids. 

Me rowing us home on a "bilibili"

Day 6

Today we took the 2-hour drive to Nadi to catch the “fast catamaran” to the island of Taveuni.  This was going to be our first time on Taveuni so we were as excited as the kids. 

We were all a little nervous about the small plane we were flying on.  When the Co-Pilot is also the flight attendant, you know it is a small plane.  He couldn’t even stand up straight.  We sat so close to the cockpit that we could hear and see everything that was going on.  It really wasn’t as scary as we thought it would be and we had a great 1-hour flight to Taveuni and the scenery was amazing.  Because of the coral reefs here in Fiji, the water has many different shades of blue.  On a blue-sky day, it is the most amazing sight you will ever see.  God really did his best work when he created Fiji.  We love it.

When we got to the very small airport in Taveuni, we were met by a driver named Baboo.  He wasn’t what I had expected and the van we were going in wasn’t what I expected, but it added to the great adventure we were about to have.  The drive was about 1-½ hours on a windy, bumpy dirt road going like a “bat out of ---- if you know what I mean.  The whole way there I kept saying to Mark “I think we are in trouble with this resort.  If it’s anything like this ride, we are in trouble”.

Well, were we ever pleasantly surprised?  The Paradise Resort couldn’t have been any more beautiful.  The setting was on a cliff looking out at the beautiful blue water.  We stayed in Ocean Front Bures that were adorable.  The food was amazing and the staff  quickly became our best friends. 

Upon arriving at the Paradise, they greeted us with a lei and drink and then while we were registering, foot massages were given to all of us.  Now if that isn’t a “Fijian Welcome”.  Jake wasn’t sure about it because of his tender feet, but I think he secretly enjoyed it.

The first night was “Fijian Night” where we had a lovo dinner and some of the kids of the staff members sang and danced for us.  They were so beautiful and talented.  We fell in love with them and they fell in love with HAILEY especially.  While the other guests were having a Kava ceremony (I hate these), we asked the kids to sing to us.  We all pulled chairs on the lawn, one of the girls went and got her uncles guitars and they sang for more than an hour.  It was the best night ever.  They promised to come back again and play soccer with Damon and Hailey.  And they kept their promise.

The next day we just hung around the Resort and enjoyed us some down time.  We snorkeled, kayaked, lay out by the pool, had massages and just rested from our very busy week.  Mark and I worked on our lessons for the upcoming week.  Missionary work never stops even on a vacation. 

That night, the resort set up a table for our family down on a little deck right over the ocean.  We  watched a beautiful sunset and enjoyed some great conversation.  We had a wonderful day.

Friday, Jake, Cami, Mark and I headed out early for some snorkeling and maybe a little scuba diving.  We saw some of the most beautiful coral reefs in the world.  Again, I can’t get over the beautiful water here.  The guide dropped us off at the dock and a driver picked us up to go to the waterfalls, the rockslides and the International Date Line.  We had a great day and then back to the Paradise on the “not so wonderful” bumpy road. 

 "Baboo"

 Crazy ride to the Paradise Resort

We made it

 This is where we had dinner the second night.  It was magical!

Day 7

Well, today is a sad day.  Saying goodbye is never easy.  Cute Joe came to the Paradise to say Goodbye to us.  He wouldn’t let go of Hailey.  She really stole his heart.  We had our last breakfast together and off we went to the airport to catch our fun plane ride back. 

We spent the last day in Nadi doing some last minute shopping.  We went back to the Sheraton where Elder Peterson and I would spend the night.  We had a little rest and some dinner and thinking that we had enough time to get the kids to the airport we left around 8:15p.m. for their 9:45 flight.  We got there and there were no lines so we thought we were so smart.  Well come to find out, everyone was already checked in and there were no seats for the kids.  WHAY THER HECK!  They had overbooked and gave the seats first come first serve.  .  After a few tears and asking to see the manager, the airline was able to find seats available.  Our very courageous daughter in laws took off running to the gate. The boys were pretty sad, but they were thinking it would be ok to have one more day in Fiji, $500 in their pockets, and flying back 1^st class the next day.  Not a bad deal.  Oh, I forgot to tell you that Jake was coming down with what we think was dangi fever.  A mosquito carried virus that is very dangerous and very painful.  What a souvenir  to take back home with him right?  Anyway, they found one more seat and Damon insisted he take it so he could get home to recover.  Damon was feeling pretty settled about staying and just as he finished the paperwork for his $500, they found one more seat.  I think he was a bit bumbed, but off he went with his “Bucket of Bisquits” for Riley.  We didn’t even have time to be sad or cry but we miss them already so much and we had a wonderful and I think a life changing week.

The man at the airport laughed because he had never seen someone take home a bucket of biscuits.  They will last for m;any weeks to come.

Moce Mada to our first and not last guests. We can't wait to see the rest of you and have an adventure of a life time.