Some Things Are Different–Some Are The Same! June 20, 2013

It’s funny how quickly you can acclimate to a new area after you have lived in other similar areas.  For example there are a lot of things like we encountered in England such as driving on the left side, putting your “rubbish” in the “bin”, and other very English things that the Fijians have picked up from their English friends. 

And of course there are a lot of very Asia things here as well, for example they love Chinese food and there are Chinese restaurants all over, and they have a huge market down in the center of Suva that is just like Hong Kong, and you see smaller neighborhood markets along the streets as well.  But then something happens that makes you remember that you are not in Kansas anymore.

Tonight we stopped at a super market to pick up a few things and of course Dew wandered around and got lost.  And as I continued to browse around one of the employees came up and said, “your husband is lost and looking for you.”  And I thought, “and how do you know it’s my husband?” And my next thought was, “of course she knows which one is my husband we really stand out in a crowd.”

Yesterday as we visited the big market we came to a small round about and there in the middle were about 5 or 6 men, sitting in their wheelbarrows and just watching the traffic go by.  As we (Fokie and I) went about the market looking for the items we wanted, Dew was wandering around taking pictures.  When we were ready to leave we couldn’t find him and as we walked outside the men in the roundabout pointed the way he had gone.  And he said they did the same thing for him and pointed the way that we had gone  Now how do you think they knew we were together…we stand out in a crowd. And as we watched him come up the aisle from far across the market we both laughed and said, “wow, is he easy to spot or what with that white hair and that white shirt!”

But the prize winner had to be tonight when we were standing in line at the super market to pay for our groceries.  As I paused to wait our turn something caught my attention  It was the Muzak music that you hear playing in the background.  But it was the song – Mary Did You Know?  A Christmas song and it was sung by Alex Boye!  No kidding, it really was and now I am officially in the “Christmas” mood.  Who knew?

The Resting Roundabout

 

Fijian Information Center

Market

 

Our First Sunday at the Suva Samabula Ward–June 16, 2013

Today was our first day to attend church.  We are now members of the Samabula Ward and meet in the chapel next to the Primary School and behind our office.

It has the perfect time to begin – 10am – there are advantages to being in a small area.

In just the few days we have been here we have discovered that music is very important to the people of Fiji.  They are wonderful singers.  Today at church three young returned missionaries sang the prelude music for sacrament meeting and were wonderful, then they sang with two sisters and again were great.  And then we sang “God Be With You Til We Meet Again” to the Jacksons and I was so impressed with the men’s voices, beautiful.

And the house next door had a religious meeting during the week and it was cool to listen to them singing.  They do it well.

Today we met the same group of humanitarian students that Sam went with last year.  They are here in Fiji to play a little and to build toilets as a service project, just as Sam did last year.  It was fun to talk with them and for us to remember what an impression this trip made on Sam last year.

So, Sam, these pictures are for you!

 Young Men from the Humanitarian Group (notice the girls in the bus window)

A Tender Mercy–June 15, 2013

Our first week has been extremely challenging.  There is soooo much to learn and just one interruption after another.  Our power went out in our flat and the electrician had to be dispatched.  The interesting thing is they come out on the first visit to fix the problem, but when they get here they realize they can’t fix it, so it takes a second visit.  Our flat is in a secured complex with an electric gate, so the electrician needed to have someone here to let him in and out.  So it is three to four hours over two or three days to get a simple job taken care of that should have been done the first day. 

We are so concerned because all of the challenges with this new assignment and wanted to get as much training as possible before the Jackson’s leave.  But each time we sit down to get some training the young single adults just keep coming in to pay on their loan, or to apply for a loan or to just hangout and talk. 

By Friday we felt underwhelmed with the infield training we got and our trainers are leaving soon.  We had made it a matter of prayer all week that we might get the training that we needed.

Friday, Shirley was over to the flat with the electricians and I was visiting with the financial department and I received a phone call from Foki Vuetibue – she is a volunteer at the employment center.  She introduced herself and told me she wanted to meet with us.  As we talked we found out she knows PEF extremely well and wanted to know if we wanted her to come and give us additional training.  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.  She was an answer to our prayers. 

This young lady works all week as a volunteer for the church.  She said her pay is simply blessings from our Father in Heaven.  I invited her over to our flat to have lunch with us.  It was so nice to not be interrupted and have her be willing to help us.

Foki, Shirl and Dew – having lunch

First Week in Fiji–June 12, 2013

It has been a busy week.  Today I thought I would take my duct tape wallet with the built in coin purse to the office for a little fun.  They couldn’t believe the wallet was made out of “duct tape”, because most of them had never seen duct tape before, let alone camo patterned duct tape.  (Aubrey could make a fortune over here with her wallets!)

Dew with Duct Tape Wallet – the Office Loved it

Fijian $5 Bill

We got to the office a little early.  The Seminary and Institute building is behind the LDS Primary School.  You have never seen such enthusiastic children.  We were looking in the class room and several of the boys were running around on the tables and they take the rubbish out and climb on the dumpster and jump off.  They all wear a combination green uniform, and other schools wear different colors.  They look very nice.  The principle or head master came out and talked with us.  The Fijian people are very friendly.  I wanted to go into a class room to show Julie that class rooms in Fiji are just like the class rooms in Vancouver.  Included are a few pictures.

Crossing Guards at Entrance to School

They Are Children of God – and Proud

School Uniforms

Class Room Studies

Artistic Art Work – Julie Would be Pleased

Today we had a feast to welcome Shirley and I and to bid farewell to our trainers the “Jacksons” from California.  The sisters had a sisters luncheon just prior to the service center lunch so Shirley wasn’t very hungry by the time she got to the second lunch.  The feast include raw fish marinated in lime marinade (sevechae).  They had  Indian food and a parrot fish and curry and a whole lot of other things.  All in all it was very good.

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.

PEF Training – June 3, 2013

We attended training in Salt Lake specifically for PEF.  It was very basic training and lasted just one day.  The more intense training will begin when we arrive in Fiji. 

Our visa has not yet arrived, we will just have to be patient until it comes.  And then the unplanned happened – a dreaded root canal that took two days.  Now the visa can come – the tooth is taken care of.

L/R Brother Willis, Elder and Sister Jarvis, and us

We took a tour of the Church Office building and took a few pictures from the 27th floor, as well as the temple.

Provo MTC – May 27–31, 2013

We attended the Provo MTC from May 27 – 31, 2013. It was a good experience. There were 30 couples and 5 sisters from all parts of the United States.

We were grouped by Districts as they would do in the mission field.  Included in District #9 were the Jacksons assigned to Fiji Suva Mission, Herrs assigned to the Australia Perth Mission, the Moyes assigned to the California Anaheim and the Schallers who are assigned to South Carolina Columbia Mission.

Our instructors were mostly young returned missionaries.  We had two young ladies assigned to our district, Sisters Reese and Russon.

Shirley pointing out Fiji on World Map

Our Trainers – Sister Reese and Russon

District #9 – L/R Sister Reese, the Moyes, Herrs, Schallers Jacksons and Sister Russon