Arriving in Fiji–June 10, 2013:

We left the Salt Lake International Airport at 5:10pm and arrive in Los Angeles at 6:02pm. It was really nice that our bags were transferred through to Suva (3 legs of the flight) so we didn’t have to deal with them until we got to Nadi.

Our departure from Los Angeles wasn’t until 11:30pm, so we had dinner, and Haagen-Daas ice cream. The wait at the departure gate was prime people watching. There were two flights going out of the same area, one the the Philippines and one to Suva.  There were lots of students from Canada heading for Fiji.  The chairs filled up quickly and there were people sitting on the floors everywhere.

We finally got boarded and it was really hot on the plane. One of the AC units went out, so we waited over an hour in the plane so it could be repaired, and it got hotter and hotter. We were supposed to depart at 11:30pm, but we didn’t take off until 12:30pm. Air Pacific is a rather low budget airline with tight seats and sack meals. We arrived in Nadi, Fiji at 5:10am Fiji time.  It took us 13 hours from LA to Nadi.  We both slept a bit, but it was a long 22 hours with little sleep.

We landed in Nadi which is on the west side of the island and had to wait for our flight to take us over the mountains to Suva. When we went through the international terminal gate, we were greeted by two young missionaries Elder Gadd from Utah County and Elder Spackman from Bear River. They escorted us to the Nadi Domestic terminal where we needed to board a small jet to get to Suva. We bought them breakfast and got to know each of them. Elder Spackman said his uncle was a stake president in Syracuse. They were both dressed in skirts and sandals and were a sight for sore eyes.

Elders Gadd and Spackman

Most of our first day was spent unloading our bags and meeting different staff members. Shirley and the other Sister Jackson went grocery shopping and then we spent an hour talking with our Mission President – President Klingler, a very nice man from Arizona. They invited us over for dinner tonight.

Our New Flat

Fiji Temple

It will be nice to get to bed and try to catch up on our sleep.