Two Tickets To Paradise for Peela & Papa

Oct. 12,2014

Spiritual experiences, Funeral, More Weddings and Temple Closing

It's been a while since we have updated our blog. We can't let this happen because it gets to hard to catch up.

We have had a fairly busy month with YSA activities, cooking, lessons and temple work and more lesson and cooking!!!!!! IF YOU FEED THEM, THEY WILL COME!

Our Activities have included Glow in the Dark Bowling, Speaker (Elder Johannson of the Area Presidency), Sports day, FHE making packages and writing letters to the missionaries, movies night, temple baptisms and lunch, and Endowed YSA session and dinner. We are still teaching 3 classes a week (anyway, Elder Peterson and Brother Stanford are). Sister Peterson is working her little fanny off cooking, cooking and more cooking and planning activities.

We have had some pretty incredible experiences as well. Let us share one in particular.

On Friday Sept. 11, after just getting over very bad colds that put us down for a few days, we were planning on a pretty quit P-Day.

Elder Peterson colored my hair (yes he still does that) and just as I was straightening it, our phone rang. It was the police telling us that Mosese needed our assistance. Remember Mosese is the cute man that lives in the Nakavika village we love so much and took school supplies to when Heather and Jesse were here. Anyway, we called him back. His cute wife Alavina was hemorrhaging really bad and needed to be brought down to the hospital. He said he had called every ambulance service, in the providence and every other service he could think of to help him, but their policy was not to go to the villages clear up in the mountains. He was desperate. This is when he though of us.

Elder Peterson told him he would call him right back. We talked about our concerns about going to pick her up. We were worried about what if she died while on the way down. We worried about not making it back to the wedding we had committed to attending. We were just plain scared of what we would find when we got to their house. With all these concerns, we didn’t even hesitate. We told Heavenly Father, “We are going so if we shouldn’t, please let us know”. We packed up some food, blankets and water and off we went.

It was a pretty quiet drive for us. I think we were both doing a lot of praying. When we arrived after a 2 hour drive, Mosese was waiting for us. We went to their home. It was pretty much what we had worried about. She looked terrible. She had about 10 or more of her family (ladies) sitting around her. They were obviously very worried about her. She could hardly get up with much assistance.

We finally got her in the van, but she wouldn’t lie on the seat. She sat on the floor resting her head in her arms on the seat. It broke my heart. Everyone gathered around the van to say goodbye. We were trying to assure them that we would take good care of her and get her to the hospital to get help. Mosese and Alavina’s son Mark and little daughter Waganu were really scared. I hugged them and told them everything was going to be ok. Just before we got in the car, I had a thought that we needed to say a prayer. I looked over at Elder Peterson and he agreed. He came around to my side of the car where everyone was. I asked if we could kneel. As Mark and I knelt, everyone followed. It was a very tender moment as Mark offered a beautiful prayer of hope, peace, love and safety for Alavina and the whole village. When we opened our eyes, everyone was crying, including us.

The trip down was just as we had worried about. Bumpy and painful for her. She was a trooper though. She kept thanking us for coming to help her. She hung onto Mosese with every bit of strength she had. We had to stop a few times to grab a drink and sit up but them off we went again. Again, it was a very quiet drive. More prayers were being said in our minds and hearts.

We got to Navua to the hospital, got her inside and settled and then hurried to see if we could make it back to the wedding. Believe it or not, we made it right in time. Good thing for Fiji Time.

As I sat in the temple watching these beautiful YSA’s being sealed for time and all eternity and for the love they had for each other and the fun new life they were starting, I couldn’t help think of Mosese and Alavina. They also loved each other and the experiences they had experienced through their not so new marriage were forever binding, but they didn’t have the eternity ending.

During the reception, we got another call from Mosese. Alavina had lost too much blood and needed a transfusion so they transported her to Suva. She needed a blanket and a cup. You wouldn’t believe this hospital. I won’t even go into that subject. We took them to her and couldn’t believe what we saw when we got there.

She looked 100% better. She looked like our cute Alavina again.

Mosese went home to Lami to stay with a relative, so we had a great chat with her. She told us a pretty amazing story.

The Village is pretty much all Catholic. The chief has never let any other religious practices go on in the village. Alavina’s brother is the schoolmaster and is the person we gave all the school supplies to when we were there last time. He was a very appreciative man and has been taking care of Alavina since she has been sick. He came to see her the morning before we got there and she told him all about the story of no ambulances coming to get her. He said, “So what are you going to do?” She told him that the people from the LDS church who brought the school supplies were coming to take her down. He was amazed and told her this was a miracle. He said that we really were family and that he hoped we would come visit again any time we wanted.

Also, the Chief was one of the people there at the van when we all knelt down to pray before we started down the mountain, and he knelt down as well. Alavina said this was a miracle. She feels like he will now be more willing to let other religions into the village. We really feel that through the Holy Ghost, and a small act of service and listening and acting to kneel and pray, may be the beginning of the Lord’s work in Nakavika Village.

How grateful I am for prayer, and for the understanding that when we get over ourselves and serve others, we are also serving our Heavenly Father. I am grateful for the Holy Ghost and his sometimes very small and quiet whisperings or impressions that bring about small miracles.

The next Sunday, Moses and Alavina came to church with us. They had their first appointment with the missionaries. We gave then each a Fijian Book of Mormon. The only problem is they live so far up in the highlands, that the missionaries cannot get up there. I am not sure what will happen, but maybe we have planted a seed and maybe someday the gospel will be taken to the village.

Last month our Stake President's wife passed away. I guess she has been pretty sick for a while but no one knew. We canceled the Mission Prep class to go to her funeral. Wow, funerals here are quite a process.

The family of the deceased builds a funeral pyre (like a covered patio), which is attached to their home. For around 3-7 days, family, friends and others come to pay their respects. You are given a time to come because all the family come from their villages and they try to keep order. First, you sit outside the Pyre, and then they motion you to come in. Then you sit there until it is time for you to go into the home to talk to the family. Someone in your group represents the whole group by giving a tribute and an envelope of money or flowers. Then you go outside and they feed you. I am not talking about a cookie or something. I am talking about a huge Fijian Feast. They must go through 8-10 pigs. This goes on every night until the funeral and most of the time for days after. I don’t know how they afford this or keep up the cooking for so long. We could never do it. I do know that the responsibility falls on the many close relatives who are around. It is an amazing thing to watch.

For the Funeral, they carry the body in a simple coffin. The coffin has a small clear plastic window where you can look in and see the persons face.

They also carry the casket into the church instead of rolling it in. It was pretty neat to see the tapas and the mats draped over her casket though. We have really grown to love the mats and the tapas here.

getting the casket ready for Sister Suru

Waiting to pick up her body from the Hospital

Viewing at the home

going in the Chapel for the funeral

Beautiful tapas and mats to pout the casket on

saying goodbye before the funeral

Final resting place for Sister Suru
On Saturday Oct. 11, 2014 the Fiji Temple closed. The temple has been such a huge part of our mission and a huge part of the YSA's lives. We had one final Temple Tuesday and one final YSA Endowment session. It was emotional and wonderful at the same time. We had a great turn out.

Thank you Elder and SisterTennis for starting this Temple Tuesday. We will all miss it terribly.

Last Temple Tuesday we had around 34-35 there

We will miss Elder and Sister Christiansen. They were in charge of the Baptistry. We love them.

Last night we attended our first Indian Wedding. It was lovely. This Groom was a missionary in the Fiji Mission. He also lives in Fiji. What a fine young man he is. We know him by Elder Singh. We don't know his bride, but she is beautiful. There were beautiful ladies in their Indian dress and

they were stunning.