Rex wrote:

On Sunday, the 28th we picked up the sisters and took them to church, then got Foki from her hotel and brought her to church, and made sure that the elders would get the projector out so that she could start the education fireside before we returned from Naduna. As we turned onto the last narrow, dirt road that goes up the hill to the chapel, somebody had parked a truck in the middle of the road. We had to park at the bottom of the hill and walk up the road and ask them to move the truck and then go back and get our truck. We arrived about 10 minutes late, but we were the first ones there. The counselor in the branch presidency came out of his house next door to the chapel, and he started the meeting about 20 minutes late. He said the elders quorum president wasn't there, and he turned the time over to me to give the lesson. Since I didn't have a lesson prepared, I talked about priesthood through the ages.
For singing I didn't have my iPhone for the English words so Betty and I just sang in Fijian from their songbook. We could tell the song by the tune. It was only one syllable at a time. We sang phonetically. No piano and just 7 total there, plus the chickens, dogs, and butterflies. If we could have counted them on the roll, there would have been quite a few.
For Sunday school I had the lesson prepared, and it worked perfectly except they didn't want to answer any questions. After a brief silence Betty or I would give the answer.
For Sacrament meeting, the counselor got up and gave a talk, we had a rest song, and then he announced Betty and I would be the concluding speakers. I gave both priesthood and Sunday school lessons and then got to talk in church.
 I am preparing in case it happens again next Sunday so I'll have all the lessons ready and the talk.
Betty's addition:
Since there were only 5 of us when Priesthood started, and I was the only sister, we had it combined. It was good not to have to prepare for a talk. I usually get so anxious. This was good! I spoke on the Holy Ghost. I told the story of Lightening the Cow and the time I went off the road & almost tipped over and killed myself. The Holy Ghost warned me both times and saved my life! They seemed very impressed. The fun thing about Fijians is that they say yes by raising their eyebrows. As I told my stories,  their eyebrows were really going in agreement.

1st Counselor at Naduna

Naduna Chapel



Notice the beautiful background

 

This is another of my waterfalls as it rains here. 

This is not a downspout. It is just running off our roof.

Rex wrote this. His accounts are the best!

On the day after Christmas I decided I would try to fix Betty's little dryer. It would turn on and just hum, but it didn't spin.
I took it apart and tried to see what the problem was. Everything looked fine. With the back off, I could turn it on and give the drummer a roll and then it would work. It didn't work without a little bit of a push or help. I couldn't fix the problem so I put it back together. It still didn't work. I brainstormed three ways to make the dryer work in its present condition. Idea one was to cut a hole in the side and turn the drum from the side. Idea two was to put a pull rope on the drum and pull start it. Idea three was to fix the door so the dryer would run with the door open. I went with idea three. Now we put the clothes in, turn the power on, give the drum a push to get it started and then put a bungee cord around to the door to hold it shut. Works great!

 

 

 

Mon. Dec 22, 2014

We had to prepare for Zone Conference. We bought groceries, made chocolate chip cookies, helped the young elders as they took Elder Walker’s old pickup in to sale and brought them home to pick up Elder Walker’s new pickup they will use while theirs is getting fixed. We then picked up Brother and Sister Smith from their hotel. Sister Smith stayed with me to make Brownies while the brothers drove to the airport to pick up President and Sister Layton. Sister Layton helped cut up veggies while her husband joined the men to check into the hotel and try to fix Brother Smith’s portable hot spot. We met them at the hotel where the President & Sister Layton treated us to a delicious meal. We visited and then President Layton told us his vision of what our mission responsibilities should be. Amazingly enough, they were right down the line to what we had been working on and plotting and planning previously.

1. Work with the Young Single Adults –have activities, be their friends, and help with education
2. MLS -Get to know the branch members and fellowship recent converts. Spend time with them and socialize.
3. Help Brother and Sister Roth with Humanitarian Aid Projects in our area.
4. Prepare members for temple attendance and help those who haven’t been endowed get to the temple. Since the Suva Temple will be closed most of our mission, the members will be going to Tonga. We need to ask the Branch President to set up a Temple Prep Class.
5. Clean us Labasa branch records. Know who is here and who has moved and get their records sent off.

Besides what the President asked, our main calling as Education Specialists is to make sure children get in school, stay in school, and that they and their families value education. Too many families pull their children out early to help on the farms. We have a survey we need to hand out and have completed by the end of January.

Rex was sad we didn’t have more to do as we arrived on our mission, but now it’s Ready, Set, GO!!!

We went early to Zone Conference, Tues. Dec. 23 to decorate, etc. The conference started off with talks on Jesus Christ from the pre-existence, as God of the Old Testament and Book of Mormon, through mortality, and developing a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Sister Layton talked about her love of  nativity scenes and what it means to be a good shepherd. It ended with President Layton’s talk on the atonement which struck me the hardest. After he described the Last Supper and the washing of the feet and how Jesus served his apostles, he said, “We will now have the sacrament.” The sacrament was blessed and President Layton by himself passed it to each and every one of us. I kind of gasped to myself as I felt the symbolism of his serving us as Christ had served his apostles. I had to wipe away a few tears during that time of total love and reverence. It is an experience I will always treasure and will never forget.

After the talks, Rex and Elder Smith picked up 10 large pizzas to eat with pop and all the veggies, pineapple, and treats we had made. They loved it.

President and Sister Layton gave each of us a Sulu with the mission logo printed on.

 

Next we had a talent show. It was the best I have ever seen with skits, and talents, and pure entertainment. What fun!

While President and Sister Layton were interviewing the elders, Rex was playing games with the rest of the missionaries. They had a great time. Again, Rex was in his element.

I helped with dinner and copied some primary song cd’s. I had waited for the cd’s Sister Layton brought from Suva. They were $5 each here.  I had just passed the cd’s out to the Elders to take to their various areas when an Elder from one of the little isolated islands came up to me and asked if I had any more of those cd’s. He said the primary children in his branch don’t have anything. They seem so neglected. I grabbed two cd’s I had in my bag I was going to use for Labasa and Naduna and also gave him a page I had typed out of monthly themes, scriptures, and when to teach the new songs. He was so excited he could hardly contain himself. It made my heart sing with joy to help them.

Dinner was incredible. The elders cooked two huge pans of pasta and the senior sisters helped them make white sauce and spaghetti sauce. Wow! That was good! The Roths had worked all afternoon making amazing food to go with it. We all ate our fill and some was even left over, which doesn’t usually happen with missionaries!

After the tables were cleared, they watched the movie “Frozen.” They loved it.

The next day, the missionaries from the outlying islands had left, but the ones here on our island stayed for their interviews. We brought pineapple, watermelon, and water for treats. Rex again joined in the fun and played games with them. He taught them a few they hadn’t seen before. While they were playing, I was typing in information from Elder Read’s address book. His time is short with us, and we need to get all the info from him we can before he goes. It was another fun morning.

It was our Christmas Eve. We had prearranged with Ray to read the Christmas Story with his family. It has been a treasured tradition for our family. It was fun reading of Christ’s birth and inserting appropriate songs. We loved it.

We also got to Skype with Becky’s family. Technology closes the gap of the miles.

We were exhausted so we went to bed early. I had just gone to sleep when I woke up with a start, and I knew I needed to check the Internet. Rose had just sent a message that she was leaving for the hospital. I stayed awake and received another email an hour later with pictures of Rose and her new baby boy. He was born 1 AM on Christmas Eve in the US, and it was still Christmas Eve in Fiji. Rose had slipped into that four hour window where we were on the same day. Since we had just read the story of Christ’s birth, it seemed especially fitting and proper that our little Andrei Rex should be born on Christmas Eve. Just as there was a new star in the sky for baby Jesus, we know he will be a new light in our lives.

We are loving our mission. Thank you for all your love and support. Thank you for all the prayers in our behalf. We know we are being blessed because of them.

We love you all!

 

Dec. 26, 2014

Merry Christmas to all our friends and family back home!

We celebrated our Christmas yesterday with the six Elders from our district here to Skype. We were happy to provide them with the Internet. They had Christmas lunch with us. It was great fun! Rex was in his element as he got to teach and play games with others; and yes, I played with them, too. Much laughing and joy. Fun to get to know the Elders in another light. There is a mission rule that the Elders and Sisters can't eat together so the sisters came later, and they had Christmas Dinner with us. They had spent their day eating and playing and celebrating Christmas with branch members.

We get to celebrate Christmas again today as it is Christmas in the states and 2 sets of missionaries will be coming back for the last two to Skype their families one in New Zealand and one in Canada.

Hope you all enjoy this beautiful season.

Our thoughts and love are with you!

Dec. 21, 2014
     Don's wish for us before we left on our mission is that we learn humility. Being with the people of Fiji, we are indeed feeling humble. Our assignment from the district for the next few weeks is to go to another branch that is struggling. President and Sister Petero rode with us to introduce us to the Naduna branch. The branch meets up on a hill in a open shelter they rent on someone's farm.  The view was spectacular from the inside looking out over the valley, and the weather perfect, just a slight breeze to keep us cool enough. Besides the 4 of us, there were the 1st counselor in the branch presidency, the elder's quorum president, and one other man, Douglas. Near to the end of the lesson, a woman who is struggling with breast cancer and her daughter walked up the hill and joined us. 9 total, no children. Two broods of chickens and a rooster took turns walking by. Rex said it reminded him how Christ said he would gather us under his wings as a chicken gathereth her chicks. 2 dogs were also present. By the middle of sacrament meeting 1 of the dogs had left, and the other was asleep at the base of the pulpit. Rex said the one that slept was qualified to be a high priest. We had a Priesthood-Relief Society combined lesson. Rex gave the power point he had prepared for the Labasa branch. He did an excellent job. For sacrament meeting we, along with the Peteros were asked to speak and bear our testimonies. We were the whole program. We are learning, growing, and counting our many blessings! After the services, the lady with cancer asked for a blessing. Rex anointed and Pres. Petero gave a beautiful blessing. Two of the other men stood in. The blessing was in Fajian, but we could feel the strong, comforting spirit.
   Take care, everyone.
    We love you!


I took the picture from back to get the pretty purple blossoms. The view was prettier from the inside. The farmer sprayed the grass around the building to kill it so it wouldn't be too tall to walk through.  Look on the far side to see the green. The sky here is as pretty as the ocean.




I have always been impressed by the youtube video about Elder Nelson when he almost died in a plane crash. It was actually a big 2 prop airplane just like the one we flew on into Lambasa. When we were at the airport to see the Walkers off on the plane, their good friends President Petero of the District Presidency, and Sister Petero of the District Women's Auxiliaries Presidency (Relief Society, Young Women & Primary), came to visit them. After the Walkers boarded, we were standing outside, behind the rope by side of the runway, to wave goodbye as the plane took off. We had a good visit with them, and we heard another account of President Nelson's story. Brother Petero said he was flying on that same plane. When it went into a spiral, he too knew they were going to crash into the ocean. He thought better the ocean than crashing into a mountain. At least we have a heart surgeon onboard. Then he thought, no with Elder Nelson and all these church leaders onboard, we will be okay. At the same time Sister Petero was at home. She had a feeling something terrible was going to happen and started praying with all her heart. It was incredible to hear of their great faith. Two weeks later that same plane did crash into the ocean.
Men's Hearts Shall Fail Them - YouTube www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMwKxmTLaCs



Pictures of the inside of our home in Fiji:

Entry Way



Front Room



Corner of Front Room by Kitchen

 

 Kitchen Sinks. We get a bucket of hot water from the
wash room & use filtered water to rinse.



Kitchen Stove and Counter

Dining Room

 

Rex brings me in fresh flowers every day

Cupboards in Dining Room

Storage Room. Everything in here except our suitcases we store for the mission.

 

Room where we dry our permanent press clothes & our towels we use every day.

We sleep with air conditioning on and one sheet. I miss my tricot bedspread.
 

Don't you love the matching green tile on the walls & floor!



This is where we can either shower or wash our hands & feet at the same time.





I really do appreciate my utility room. Nice not to have to wash clothes in a river!



Dec. 17, 2014
We went to Savusavu yesterday for a Zone Training Meeting. The sisters rode with us.
Training was incredible.  I'm just including a few points that impressed me the most.
 Important concepts of what makes a good leader:
Do great things with your agency.
Always see what needs to be done and do it without having to be told by a leader.
Keep going even when you are tired.
I was impressed with the story in Alma 44 where they were fighting the Lamanites. Zarahemnah raised his sword and was about to kill Moroni when in verse 12 one of Moroni's soldiers smote Zarahemnah's sword and broke at the hilt. He then cut off Zarahemnah's scalp, causing Zarahemnah to run away and hide in the crowd. Then the soldier raised the scalp up on the tip of his sword. This young Nephite saw what needed to be done and did it. He saved Moroni's life, but his name is not even mentioned in the Book of Mormon.
They taught us the Art of Appreciation. That we must always be grateful and say "Thank you."
They talked of how they had been nurtured by their parents, but now it was time to take responsibility and ownership of their own lives.
"Decide what you want to be
 Pay the price
 And be what you want to be!"
 Be obedient.
Increase your talents
They had a basketball analogy and compared it to the parable of the talents, Before tryouts 2 players, who weren't the best, worked really hard and gave it their all, improving their talents, and made the team while the all star, who was amazing, thought he had it made and didn't even practice, made no improvement and was cut from the team.
Expect more of yourself and others.
As missionaries, how can we expect others to change if we are not willing to pay the price and sacrifice ourselves?
It's all about what the Lord wants.
Be anxiously engaged in a good cause, not compelled in all things.
After training, we went to the Captain's Table where we had gone with the Walkers. Suffice it to say, we didn't order anything we had before. Dad had a Hamburger, and I had a Chicken Burger-totally different we found from the skimpy Chicken Sandwich he ordered last time. Semantics! This was much better.

  View of ocean as we are dipping out of the mountains, heading to Savusavu

 

Sisters Heitonga and Katiti (pronounced Kasisi)

 Tiny chapel at Savusavu. One main room with 3 classrooms & Branch President's office.

The little building out front is the tiny kitchen on front & bathrooms on back.

 

 Some of the food they were preparing for the Farewell Feast for the Walkers last night.

We will drive them to the airport today.

 

 Little fish in the bay by the Captain's Table

 What a difference a sunny day makes. Look how blue!

 There were at least 20 yachts here. The rest have moved out to avoid hurricane season.

Our two new elders who speak Hindi. About 55 % of Labasa is from India..

Rex is still having trouble with the position of the blinker and the windshield wipers. They are on the opposite side than in the US. When he goes to put on his blinkers, he hits the wipers. We have the cleanest windows in Fiji. On the way home yesterday, when it started to sprinkle a little. When he turned on the wipers on a straight highway, Sister Katiti (pronounced Kasisi) said, "Are you turning?" We had a good laugh. Afterwards Rex explained, "Actually, the way you can tell which way I'm turning is that if it just wipes the window once over and back, it means I'm turning right. If it goes more than that, I'm turning left."
Love you all!

We are getting to know some of the creatures of Fiji. I was afraid this spider in our wash room would run away if we took the picture first so this is after I screamed for Rex, and he sprayed it with bug spray. When it had it's legs straight out, it was as big as this 4 inch comb.

In Fiji, they know when Christmas is getting close because the "Christmas Tree" blooms. Besides having the traditional trees they decorate, these can be seen especially along the roads. This was taken from across the road with a phone so you can't see the beautiful petals, but the overall effect is amazing!

"Christmas Trees"

Dec. 15, 2014
We kept our promise to help the Chief clear his field for planting. It had been disked with a tractor and then harrowed using the bulls. He still had huge clumps of grass with dirt attached to the roots all over his field. I have a terrible fear of bulls. I actually forgot that for a few minutes the other night as we were watching the huge animals pull the harrow. They seemed so tame and obeyed his every command. It wasn't until he took the yoke off, and they were standing on the lawn with a rope attached to each and no one on the other end of the ropes that I realized. I came in from the rear and slipped quickly up the stairs and into the chief's house. Rex was out by the Chief helping. The Chief said, "You'd better stay back. They don't know you." Later we talked about it. Rex said, "I'm really proud of you that you're going to face your fears and go out in the field and work right beside the bulls." I must admit. I didn't sleep as well that night. It rained really hard Friday, and I wasn't sad that it was too wet to help Saturday. Sunday night I had nightmares again. I woke up and told Rex my revised plan. "We can use the tarp instead of the bulls." That's what we did. The Chief was gone when we went so we worked without him. No bulls. I was so relieved! The Chief's daughter came out after awhile and helped. She is a cute twelve year old. She worked really hard right beside us. Rex did the work of the bulls and dragged the heavy tarp-loads of sod to the side of the field and dumped them. We cleared the end field in about two hours, resting a couple of times in between. I let out a little scream every time a big ugly frog unburied itself and jumped out right in front of me. The good news is that when I got bit again and again with the big ants, I had immediate mud to put on my bare feet. When we got done, I was shaking so hard I had a hard time hitting my mouth with the bottle of water. Rex said, "You're done!" He was right. We were so muddy and tired we didn't even take a picture. Nonetheless, it felt so good that we had kept our promise and helped. What we will do to show someone we care.
Love you all!

This is from the first night we were there. It was drizzling rain as we took the picture, and the Chief was covered from chest down with mud. The clumps of grass on top of his little harrow are what we were clearing off the field on Monday.

   December 14, 2014
   We went to our branch Christmas Party last night. We are still not quite used to Fijian time. The party was scheduled to begin at 6:30 PM. There were members there, and others trickling in, but it didn't officially begin until 7:30 PM when they had an opening song and prayer, and then they asked Brother Woodward to give the message for the evening. He did a great job talking of Christ and the real reason for Christmas. Then everyone sat around and visited and waited for the rest of the people to get there so they could start the entertainment. Once it started, it was amazing! A trio sang "O Holy Night." They sounded like angels," Primary kids sang "Feliz Navidad," the men were passed out sheet music and all sang "Joy to the World," young men performed a comedy dance routine, and all the youth performed a Fijian dance. I couldn't believe all the talent and effort that went into the entertainment for one evening. It was amazing! 
   The following is just a taste of the Fijian dance they did. It gets a bit pixely in full screen.

     When the entertainment was over at about 8:30, we started to eat the dinner. It was potluck, but the main dishes  provided were special Indian dishes they make for celebrations such as weddings, prepared and brought in pots bigger than I had ever seen before. I bet the one must have held about 20 gallons and the other was almost as big. They scooped out the seasoned rice dish using a plate and almost filled the eating plate. Then they piled it with lots of other food. A piece of dalo was placed on top. We all ate with our hands. It was delicious. I had already eaten some, including the chicken wing before we thought to take this picture of my plate. The angle doesn't do it justice. Many of the plates were piled over 4 inches high in the middle before the dalo.

     Just after we took the picture, the sisters came and asked Brother Woodward to give Sister Heitonga a blessing.She hadn't been able to sleep much for the last two weeks. Part of her problem was homesickness. We understand. It's hard being away from family this time of year, and they don't have Skype and Facetime as we do. We left early and drove them home, and gave the blessing in their apartment. The spirit was strong.
     We found out at church today that the branch presidency had wrapped and given cute, simple presents to each of the children. The kids were so excited it made the parents cry with joy.
     Love you all!

Dec 12, 2014
Last night when we got home, I saw a huge cockroach on its back kicking. Rex had just flushed that when he discovered a 6 inch poisonous centipede in our kitchen sink.

This morning in our travels we visited with Brother Bull. He is a fisherman & showed us some of his catch.

 He sells the lobsters for $60 each and in the restaurants of the 5 star hotels they charge $500 for a dish they prepare with one of these beauties.

Sorry we cut off the tail.

Rex says these look like carp, but they live in salt water.

 

This is a view of the Chief's property.

When we went to visit the Chief of a village tonight, he was driving his bulls as he cleared and leveled his field. Afterwards he asked to watch "Money Making Morons" wth us. He laughed all the way through and said, "Bula Vinaka, it is a very good movie." It was a way to introduce ourselves and show our home and where we lived. He liked Cache Valley very much!

Roxi had her baby boy today, Dec 9 United States time

Titus Maverick Patten

Born December 9, 2014

7 pounds 6 ounces, 20 1/2 inches long 

Roxi & baby are doing well.

Roxi took this adorable picture of her family. Daniel was her doctor.

Daniels' parents are there taking care of them. I'm so grateful for that.

(For those who are wondering, the baby's middle name is after Daniel who was nicknamed Maverick when he was doing residency. He wasn't afraid to jump in and do what he saw needed to be done, and he was very good at everything he did! Plus, it's a cute name. The TV western Maverick is one of our very favorite shows to watch.) 

Home and happy. Roxi says he's such a good baby!
 



Titus 4 days old. Isn't he cute!

     Dec. 9, 2014 - We saw a sign today that said it is "International Fight Corruption Day" Who knew?

     This is Betty. Today was a busy day. We kept our appointment with the Ministry of Education here in Labasa. He gave us many much-needed answers. Members had told us that if a child didn't pass the 10th grade test, he had to pay $200 to take the year over again. We learned today that education is free through 12th grade. If students fail, they have to take the year over, but it is still free. I hope that gets students back to school. Rex also has just finished a power point presentation on education we will share with the branch.

     We got money at the ATM & then groceries. Driving down Labasa main street and parking are about the most stressful thing we have to do. It's quite an adventure! Besides driving on the wrong side of the road, people are crossing the street anywhere and everywhere they want, and taxis are darting in and out of parking spots. It's interesting to me that the whole main street is filled with pedestrians, but very few buy anything. If they do, they are in tiny bags. I think they just like to walk, visit, and window shop.
     We had our district meeting with the young missionaries. It is always an honor to learn from them. We got 2 new elders in that speak Hindi to go along with the 3 sets of young elders and 1 set of sisters who speak English and Fijian. Great young people, great examples. We gave the ones in Labasa maps of the area we had printed out and asked them to mark on them to help us know where branch members live so we can go visiting more. We also asked the missionaries to get all their contact info together to share with us. After training, we all went to my favorite Chinese restaurant. The sweet and sour chicken is heavenly served with a whole big plate of rice. I can't believe I ate the whole thing. Going back to the truck, we passed an electronics store, and Rex bought a mouse for his MacBook Pro. He's one happy camper!
     After that, we went to the nursing home where Roop (pronounced like loop) lives (in a wheelchair) as well as his handicapped sister who just sits on the bare wood floor and laughs at us. She seems really proud of her brother, and we can tell the love is strong between them. Last week we played a dice game. This week, so he could stay by his sister, we played golf with number cards. We had to leave it simple so we played without trying to get to 21. Just as we were finishing our 8th round, Roop's mother, sister, and brother came. We quickly excused ourselves so they could visit. We will try to visit them once a week.
     It was raining as we picked up the last few groceries at the outdoor market. My opinion is that it is totally not worth risking our lives with the parking! It's insane!

     After we got home and got the groceries put away, we went outside to do some much-needed yard work. The people who lived here before had piled dead branches, grass, leaves, and junk in the corner behind and around the banana trees. Not acceptable. It was still raining, but I knew the truck would be coming today to pick it up, and we needed to get at least some of it done. The Lord spoils me, and I love it. As soon as I started working, the rain stopped, and it was the most perfect weather to work. Not too hot, and a light breeze to cool my sweat. We worked for about and hour and made a good mark. The pile Rex made on the side of the road was huge! It was a very good workout. We came inside and ate some watermelon to celebrate. Soon after that the truck came and took it all away. Rex thinks I'm funny when I compare their taking the trash away to repentance, but I love working with a clean slate. 

     Take care everyone! We love you!

I have had a request to show some pictures of where we live. These are some outside shots.

This shot is taken from the road looking at our huge retaining wall, past our banana trees to the house on top of the hill.

We live in a gated community!
 (Okay, as close as we're going to get) Locked gate out front and bars on the windows.
This driveway is steeper than it looks! 4 wheel drive & low gets us up there!

.

 Home sweet home,, but oh, how I miss our home in Idaho. Funny how homesick I got when we watched "Money Making Morons" with a family here since our home and beautiful Cache Valley were used to film the movie.

Our east porch with the big sugar cane pole we cut from the back yard.

North porch that looks far out over the valley.
From our high vantage point, we can see across the valley to the far mountains.

We put one of these pretty flowers on our table, and it lasted over 2 weeks. I was amazed. When we checked it closer, roots were growing on its stem. We planted it to see if it will grow. I love all the beautiful flowers here.

Our little sugar cane patch in the back yard.
 

 Our own papaya tree.

This Aloe Vera growing outside our home is bigger than anything I've seen inside.

Rex planted these two pineapples. 

 Not real roses, but I say hi to my neighbor's roses every time we pass.

This beautiful home with its lavish flowers tells us when to turn onto Kia Street.