Taveuni

We had a chance to travel to Taveuni, "The Garden Island of Fiji", and took the time to see a few of the sights.  Our good friends and fellow missionaries, Elder and Sister Sunderlage, picked us up at the airport, and took very good care of us.  They showed us around the island.  We saw lots of interesting sights along the way. 

Bouma Falls (the 1st of 3)

The International Dateline runs through the island of Taveuni.  You can have 1 foot in Friday and another foot in Saturday.


A Fiji weather station.  Notice the rock on the right side hanging by the rope. We visited several of the houses that the Church rebuilt on Taveuni that were destroyed by Cyclone Thomas in May 2011. 

This cute boy had gathered sea urchin shells, left over from lunch, so we gave him a sucker "lolly" as they call it in Fiji.  The people said they boil the urchins and then eat the eggs inside.

Many of the women wash their clothes and dishes in the river.
Cherie does not appreciate how well I have taken care of her.

Mike and Jean and Jack Sunderlage

4 warriors sharpening their cane knives and a lady

Fishing.  He said he will use these small fish as bait later in the day.
He was freezing the air was 75 and the water was 80.

The coastal walk, which is a trail about 2 miles long, which leads up to another waterfall.

                A suspension bride along the coastal walk.  Indiana Tait crossing the bridge.





Many of the trees were covered with these huge tree ferns.

We met these kids in the bush about a mile from the village.  The oldest was 5-6.  Imagine letting kids do that in California.  

They loved getting their picture taken.

Find the Papa

Walking home across the stream.

A natural rock waterslide that the kids love to slide down.  We got there later in the day, and there weren't many people there.  We didn't try it, but watched a young man slide down. 

Baptism in the Ocean

Walking from the church to the beach.

Getting ready for the baptism.

 It was a special experience to attend the baptism of this good Brother his sweet wife.

The sunset from our hotel.

Every room has an outdoor hot tub.

The fruit bats called the "flying fox"  They "hang out" in the trees by the hotel.  They are about the size of a seagull.

Making Roti and Other Happenings

The members of our Effective Pedagogy class at the LDS Primary School.

(left to right) Brother Kumar, Sister Singh, Sister Rabuka, Sister Bunimasi

Joseph Ruben, he washes our car, and us at a fundraiser for his mission.  He is just a great guy and a hard worker.  He washes all the missionaries cars and will do just about any job to earn money for his mission.

Sister Hussain, the Bishop's wife in our ward, and her daughter, came over to teach me how to make roti.  Roti is the Indian version of the tortilla.  The recipe is a little different than tortillas. The main difference is with roti they use ghee (a type of butter).  Since Fiji is about 50% Indian, the Fijians eat a lot of Indian food.  

The roti was soo yummy hot off the griddle. 

Rolling out the roti.  Hopefully I will be able to do this on my own now.

Primary Interhouse Track Meet

The Primary Schools in Fiji have a track meet during the year just as the High Schools.  We went over for a few hours and watched a few races.  It was a cloudy day with temperatures in the high 60's, probably 68, with a cool breeze.  I had on a light sweater for a while.  Of course many of the Fijians were very cold and looked like they were ready for the Winter Olympics. 

Some of the teachers: Sister Tekabua, Sister Nathan, and Sister Rokobuludrau

The students were divided into 4 teams or "houses", and each team had their own color.  This is the Nephite house in red.  They had a really good cheering section.

Sister Rabuka (I love her!) another teacher, ready to keep the records. 



The Jaredite House dressed in yellow.

The Mulekite House had a good cheering section also.  Someone brought some blue face paint to share as you can see.

The Lehite House was dressed in green.  They had a hard time getting their group in one place.  But they were having a good time.

These boys have the spirit of the games!

Family Home Evening With Saints From Vanuatu, Kiribati, and Tonga

When the Fiji Temple has a large group of saints come in from other islands, the people usually stay for a week or more.  A few weeks ago there was a large group from Vanuatu, a group from Kiribiti, and some Tongan missionaries who were in Suva to get their visas to come to the U.S..  Most of the islanders have to come to Suva to get a U.S. Visa because Fiji has the only U.S. Embassy in this part of the South Pacific.  That Saturday the Temple did a record number of ordinances. 

Usually they will have a Family Home Evening (FHE) with the group and invite all the senior missionaries to join them  A few weeks ago we had a lovely FHE with them.  The people are so humble and kind.   They just love everyone.  It is just a priviledge and a blessing just to be with these good people.  The group from Vanuatu prepared a nice lesson, and then the saints from Kiribati sang a few songs for us and the Tongan missionaries also sang a song. 



President Wooley, the Temple President (standing on the far right)

The Saints from Kiribati (Kid-e-bus)singing.

Mike and President Soken (He was a missionary in Fiji when our nephew, Devon, was serving as a missionary in Fiji)  Now he is in the District Presidency for Vanuatu.  Vanuatu is a country west of Fiji.

Sorry I forgot this young man's name.  He is a Tongan missionary and his is going to the Riverside California mission.  We told him maybe we would see him when we got home - if he ever came to Corona.

This was just a really sweet family from Kiribati.  We met them at church on Sunday.  Their son on the left with the missionary tag just returned from his mission and met his family in Suva to be sealed in the Temple.  His brother next to him is getting ready to leave on his mission in a few months.

The Tongan missinaries.  The man on the far right isn't a missionary, but he is a Tongan.

Primary Songs

The students at the church schools are just such a great group of kids.  We were in a meeting with the teachers and Vice Principal at the middle school and it ran overtime.  The bell rang and the students began to file into the classrooms.  A few minutes later, we heard beautiful singing coming from one of the other rooms.  The students went into the room and began singing primary songs until the teachers finished their meeting.  Their singing brought tears to my eyes as I listened to them and thought about what most students would do in that same situtation.  What a blessing it is to serve here in the church schools. 

Various Happenings

The last few weeks, we have been doing lots of teacher observations at both schools with the principals and it has been fun to go into all the various classrooms.  We have seen lots of different things.  Today we observed a teacher teaching metal shop and another in the computer lab.

We have also been spending more time at the Primary School.  We have been working with the teachers and principal to select a new math book for the school and we are doing math training in preparation for the new books. 

 Below are just some various pictures from the school.

 These boys are collecting the rubbish (as they call it) at the school.

A "STICKY WICKET"

A wicket is, of course, the playing surface used in cricket. This phrase is a direct allusion to the difficulty of playing on a wet and sticky pitch. Friday afternoons is sports day at the Primary School.  The boys were playing cricket and Mike wanted to give it a try.  The bat is flat, sort of like a long paddle.

Mike is protecting the wooden spindle (bail) on top of the center stake (stumps).  If the bail gets knocked off the stumps then you are a rabbit or bunny (extremely poor batter).  This is what happened.  The bowler (chucker) got the cherry and tried to bang-it-in with a beamer, but it was a daisy cutter.  I figured the dibbly dobbly would try a corker or flipper but it was a googly or mullygrubber (I get confused).  Finally a yorker (also called a popper) set up a slog (cow shot).   I'm definately no stoger! 

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Cameron, a 6th grader at the Primary School received a 2 year scholarship to go to a private school in England to play soccer and rugby.  The Fiji Rugby Association helped him get the scholarship.  It is a big honor for Cameron and it was in the newspaper and on the local television news.

Front: A gentleman from the Fiji Rugby Association, Cameron, Brother Tagicakibau (teacher)

Back: Elder Tait, Brother Qaqa (principal)



Career Day

Both of the church schools had a Career Day this past week.  The Counsellor at the Church College did a fabulous job of organizing the event there.  There were about 20 participating companies and/or organizations.  There were students from many high schools in the Suva area that came to the event along with the students at the church college and middle school. 

The Fiji military display.  Quite a few of the students were interested in the military as a career.

These students were interested in welding as a career

Sister Davis, another missionary, and students from the church college

PRIMARY SCHOOL CAREER DAY

At the Primary School, each classroom had a theme and they decorated their room for that career.  Then people from the community and parents came and presented information about that career.  Some of the children dressed up in the career of their choice.  It was a great day for the children.

I think the nurse with the stethoscope gave me clearance to participate in sports. 

The nurses

The chefs and bakers 

 

Sister Vitinavulagi's (Vee -tee- nau-vu-long-ee)  class made a city for the architects.

Future Soldiers

 Pilots at the Nadi International Airport

 The Firemen

 These Bankers are ready to use the ATM