fun drive to Rakiraki

We have had a pretty quiet week this week which isn't all bad!

Marica finally got off on her mission this week.  She has been waiting for 2 months for her visa to be approved.  She is one amazing girl and we will miss her terribly, but Canada is one lucky place to get her.  Good luck and God Be With You Till We Meet Again.

After a very rainy week, I could hardly stand being inside any longer.  We were so happy to wake up on Friday to SUNSHINE.  We hopped into the "Old White Rhino" and headed for a drive.  We packed our swim gear just in case we came across a beach (we are in Fiji you know).

We decided to head East since we haven't traveled very far on that side of the Island.  Rakiraki was our destination.  We stopped at a little waterfall, went through a darling village where the kids were having recess at the school.  They waved at us like we were their long lost friends.  I don't think they get many big white vans with LDS written on the side coming through their villages very often.

As were were driving Elder Peterson spotted an LDS church sign so he stepped on the brakes and we pulled into the church parking lot.
It really wasn't a church parking lot, but a driveway to a little house that was attached to the church.  There were pandanus leaves drying in the driveway so we had to be very careful not to drive over them.  Pandanus leaves are the leaves used to make the beautiful mats here in Fij.


As we pulled in, a darling lady and a little boy ran out to greet us.  President and Sister Koro and their grandson Antoni take care of the church there.  President Koro has been branch president  for the past 10 years but has just been released because of a bad accident.  He is finally getting around, and he showed us his huge scare from a surgery on his broken hip after he fell of a bridge.

They invited us in to see the chapel.  It was small but very humble. The structure could use a little work, but it was clean and well taken care of.  As we sat in this little chapel, Antoni sang God be With You in Fijian and it was adorable.  After that, they took us outside and retrieved a coconut from a tree with a bamboo poll and opened it for us to have a fresh drink before we left.

We gave them some fresh bread that we had just bought. We hugged and said our Moce's and we were off again.  The whole day was complete with this wonderful visit.  The beautiful people here make us feel so loved and so welcome.  There can't be a more friendly people in all the world.

Last night we had activity night at the institute.  Our council planned a Minute-to-win-it night and it was a huge success.  We laughed till we cried and everyone had a great time.  We had around 50 YSA's there and I think it was a record.  We are so grateful that the YSA's love being at the Institute.  It is a place of love, peace (well sometimes) and safety for them.  We love them so much.