Jan 30, 2014

   Last night we met the missionaries after dark and drove them to visit Brother Narayan. He lives high in the mountains. Good thing we hadn't washed our truck before we went up. We had a beautiful rain storm yesterday, and the unevenly spaced pot holes on the gravel road were filled with water. Rex says they were expertly designed by Chinese torture masters to give the ride maximum misery. 

   As we arrived, we could see a light in the house and the daughter hurrying to put lacy cloth coverings on all the chairs and couches to prepare for our arrival.  We used the flashlights on our phones to walk down the muddy path with make-shift steps to his home. In Fiji, every night the frogs come out. We see them everywhere on the roads or in the grass. They were especially numerous at the Narayans. They were sitting and hopping everywhere. The smart ones hopped under the house. Rex says we needed Moses to part them and let us walk through. It was, after all, one of the plagues of Egypt. I had to be careful not to step on them as I walked through the dark with my flashlight. Rex was walking in front of me. I saw him step squarely on a big frog. I looked quickly away without assessing the damage. The ground was so squishy Rex had not even noticed. He said he just planted him in the ground where two will now grow back. That's is the way it works in Fiji.

   We had a real treat as we visited with Brother Narayan. He has a soft, quiet spirit about him. Elder Read first took us to visit him. He was baptized two years ago and has been coming back to church since we got here. He is waiting for a calling from the Branch President so he can receive the Melchizedek Priesthood. We have visited his home several times. Last night we listened as the missionaries taught him. The Spirit was strong. Brother Narayan’s mother-in-law and daughter came out to listen. Even though there was an empty couch, they sat on the wooden floor to the side and didn’t say a word. We assume it is their custom.

   I saw a glimpse of why the Lord loves the high mountains. The air was fresh and clean. It was too dark to see. Yet, as I looked up, the tall palms were silhouetted against a quarter moon shining brightly in the sky. Amazingly, the sky was still blue and the clouds an incandescent white. What a magnificent sight!

Love you all! 

Jan 29, 2015

We bought a new small ball for Annie I Over. It was tiny green and yellow soccer ball. When we examined it further, it had little Brazilian Flags all over it. It made us think of Ray, Brad, and Daniel who went to Brazil on their missions.

The sisters told us one of their appointments is with one of the waitresses from the Chinese Restaurant we frequently go to. When they asked if she knew the Senior Missionary Couple, she said, “Sweet and Sour?” Crazy what it takes to get new investigators. We are praying she will accept the Gospel.

The other night the sisters asked for a ride to a dinner appointment. Lily St. John was directing us. To let you know how isolated this place was, it is in Siberia. After driving into the wrong yard once and excusing ourselves, we finally asked directions. When we thought we were in the right place, we stopped the truck at the base of a narrow lane that went up a little hill, and asked the girls if they could walk. Then we asked how they were going to get home. They just shook their heads. Instead of leaving, we sat at the base of the road, just in case it was the wrong house. The family saw us, and the head of the house came down and invited us to dinner. It seems they altered their original plan since it was at least 1 ½ hours before dinner was served. I think they delayed dinner to cook a special pan of fish just for us. We could tell we were being honored. It was also our first experience tasting bread fruit. I had heard it was terrible, but I actually quite liked it. It didn't have much flavor, but it went well with the fish. Rex was wasn't complimentary as he talked with me later, saying it just tasted like a wedge of starch. Their home is almost like a little paradise of its own. The air was clean and the view breathtaking. While we waited, we got to look at the beautiful stars. No Big Dipper and North Star here since we are on the other half of the hemisphere. At first it was cloudy, and we could only see a few; but the sky cleared, and we were able to see them in their full glory. One constellation they are proud of is shaped like a fan. I love that no matter where we are in the world, Heavenly Father’s wonders are immeasurable. I love drinking in the beauty.

Love you all!

I love to see the sunrise. This is from our front porch.

Jan 28, 2015

 YES! I got the whole branch list typed into a data base. I told the Mission President as we were eating dinner with them. He just shook his head and said, “Why? It’s already on the computer.” That burst my bubble and made me feel a little sad, but Rex made me feel better later when he reminded me that we don’t have access to the church computer or their records to play with and sort. Someday President Layton might appreciate our labors.

   Now the foundation is laid, it is time to start having fun with it. We met with the Relief Society President. Our meeting was not what I expected. She and her two counselors were sitting on one side of the table, and she pulled out two lists. One was a list she had typed of sisters who had attended at least once last quarter. The other was a faint list of all the RS sisters, printed out by the clerk, mostly with “unformatted address,” not even mentioning road name or mango tree. We gave our suggestion that visiting teachers should teach in their own areas so they don’t have to walk across town, but she didn’t say anything back to us. She just started going through the big list with her counselors, asking them one by one if they knew the sisters. Rex and I felt like flies on the wall. Finally we were rescued by a phone call from the sisters saying they needed a ride. We excused ourselves, left our things there, and said we would be back. We returned 35 minutes later. Without any words, the President gave us the lists. She looked totally overwhelmed, like a deer in the headlights. We asked how we could best serve her. She mentioned the lists had few addresses, and she needed to know areas so she could assign visiting teachers. We went home and went to work. Rex helped me. We did a search on our data base of only the active sisters from her list. This was harder than we thought it would be, since some sisters still go by their maiden names, and we had them listed with the same last name as their husband. Plus, they didn’t list their whole name for an easy search.  We eventually found them, made corrections, added addresses and a few cell #s, and printed them out by area. We left out a few who had moved and added a couple of actives. The next night, we gave the Relief Society President our revised list. When she saw it, her eyes lit up, she smiled, and she said, “Now we can assign visiting teachers.” We had made a positive difference.

   We made a similar list for the Young Women’s President. She also seemed pleased. The Young Men’s President is less active so we are holding off on that for now.

  The clerk printed off a list of the Young Single Adults in the ward. They haven’t replaced the printer toner yet so the list was almost illegible, but Rex forged through it, and we did a search. We worked on it part of three days, each day until we were too tired and Rex’s eyes were getting hurt. Yesterday, we were again getting tired. I was making some changes before we could go on.

Rex said, “Are you ready?”

“No, wait a minute.”

“Are you ready?”

“No, I have to change this name. Just wait.”

“Are you ready?”

“No.”  

“Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

“Ready?”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“Ready”

“Yes.”

“Ready”

A little exasperated I said, “Yes! Rex, just give me the next name.”

“I am. R E D D Y. The name is ‘Reddy.’” He broke rule #1, but we both had a good laugh over it.

     Rex especially likes the words 15 letters long with only a couple consonants. He found two names he would love to use in melodramas: Mudliar for a villain & Lotta Ham.    

   Last night we finished the list. We were working with 200 names. We left out those who we were told were married or moved. We still have 148 young single adults listed in our branch. We have been asked to get to know them and invite them to weekly activities. As we do, we need to find out who is here, who is married, who has moved, and who needs further education.

    We were asked by our family to back up and clarify this: We were at Zone Conference, and they were talking about leaving the 99 and going in search of the one. Rex turned to an Elder and said, “In our branch, we have 99 coming and 642 who are lost.” The Elder almost fell on the floor laughing, but it is so true. As we have prayed about it, we came up with a plan to present to the Ward Council. It is called “Operation Lost Sheep.” We will be asking the help of every branch member to reach out and bring the lost sheep back into the fold. With their assistance, we will verify and update the records. We will see who has moved and send their records. We will see who has died and record it. Then we will count those who are left, befriend them, and bring them back into activity. That is our goal. That is our vision.

Love you all.

Jan. 26, 2015
Rex wrote:

   In Fiji things have a strange way of getting lost. I brought to the mission eight white shirts.  Three short sleeved and five long sleeved.  I was worried about sunburn. When I got here, I found I was inside most of the time; and sunburn was not as much a problem as being cool. So I wear the three often, and the five once.

   A few weeks ago, one of the three came up missing; and the other two got dirty very quickly. We searched the flat two or three times top to bottom, and we could not find the lost shirt. We finally gave up. The Jimmy Rigged dryer died completely, and we had to hang everything up to dry. I had one shirt drying and the other wet with sweat. That’s when I broke down and wore a long sleeved shirt. We took time out to take the dryer in, and we left it at a shop to be repaired.

   We had a fun night with the young adults. Before the activity started, I talked to the youth leader Josh Bull and told him he was in charge, but I was there to back him up. He took charge, and I helped. I showed them a game I loved as a kid, Annie I Over. We used the same little ball we found at the beach and had used there to play Annie I Over with the Elders.  We played over the roof of the branch offices and the kitchen. We played until dark, and the ball broke right on cue. We moved into the recreation hall, and played Psychiatrist, Do You Love Your Neighbor, Telepathy, and Matthew Mark Luke & John. The last went on for some time. In this game the first four people are named Matthew Mark Luke & John, and the rest are numbered one to however many people you have. We had eleven numbered people playing, plus Matthew Mark Luke and John, and four watching.

   In this game, for each round, the last player gets a clapping rhythm going and says a number or a name. That person on the next rhythm says another number or name. If you miss or are too slow, the game stops; and the player who missed moves to the back, and everyone moves up to fill that spot. They were very good. It would be a long time before someone would make a mistake. As we played, we sped it up until it was only one clap and the name. One of the funniest things that happened was one of the best players called out 18. (I think it was a trick question.) We played games from 6:30 until 9:00 when the Sisters needed to get home.  They all clapped at the end to say they had had a good time.

   When we went back to pick up the dryer, it was all fixed. It only cost $37 American. It was a little capacitor that had gone bad. The boss at the repair shop held up a white short sleeved shirt and a pair of my pants.  He said, “We found these inside the back of the dryer by the motor.  I don’t know how they got in there!”

I said nothing, but I remembered using some clothes to prop up the back of the dryer when I was tightening the belt.  My long lost white shirt was found.  I thanked the man, paid him, and brought the lost shirt home on my shoulders. (Just kidding about the shoulders.) In Fiji things also have a strange way of being found.

Love you all!

Labasa Church - View of Chapel

 Labasa Chapel- a quad of buildings

    Lawn instead of gym and hallway- our missionaries

Eneri & Heitonga

Baptismal font

View towards the kitchen, which is also the Relief Society Room. This is the roof they played Annie I Over.

Jan 24, 2015

   The sisters have to walk everywhere they go or get a bus or taxi. Since Sister Katiti left, they have asked us much more often for rides to the more remote areas of town. We are talking 20 minutes or more driving, usually on gravel, bumpy roads. I can’t imagine having to walk that far. Yesterday they asked for a ride at 8 AM. As we were driving, they told us Sister Chand’s daughter needed a blessing, and she couldn’t contact the Elders. We dropped them off and went to the home. It was a spiritual treat to start our day.

   I am grateful to be married to an amazing man who is worthy at any moment to give a priesthood blessing. I have a testimony of these blessings. They have literally saved my life several times and made my life bearable at times when anxiety or sickness ruled. They calmed me, brought peace and love, and let me put priorities back into place that I could accomplish whatever I needed to do.

   I often think back with gratitude of the time Rex blessed my father after his major stroke. Dad had fallen outside and been unconscious for some time before Mom was prompted to go out and find him. We met them in the hospital. Dad still had straw in his hair as Rex gave the blessing. It looked as if Dad would not survive that experience, but Rex was prompted to say that he would live many more years to enjoy the fruits of his posterity. Afterwards, as Rex talked to me, he was concerned that he had said those words as the prognosis did not seem positive; but the Lord has a plan, and we are just instruments in His hands to make it come to pass. Dad survived that experience, got his speech back, and lived another seven years surrounded by loved ones. Again, I love priesthood blessings!

Love you all!

Rex wrote:

On Tuesday the 20^th of  January, after district meeting and lunch, we went to the rest home.  Elder Read had left head phones and a small music player to give Roop’s sister.  She was so excited to receive her gift. She listened while we played. 

There was a lady in a wheelchair. Her one arm was withered and useless, and she had only one leg. We asked if she wanted to play. The worker at the home answered for her and said, “ She is not able to play.  She can’t play.”

Betty turned to me and said, “I think she could play! She has one good hand.” 

The next time as we went around the circle of players,  We asked her if she wanted to play. She never talked, just shook her head no. Betty still insisted to me that she should be able the play. The next time around, I took the Styrofoam tray and put it on the armrest of her wheelchair and put the cup of colored dice in front of her. She got a little smile on her face and picked up the cup with her good hand and started playing.

She had a great time. She went on a streak of 79, and her little smile started looking like that of Mona Lisa. The workers seem to be amazed at what their patients can do. It seems we are the only entertainment these people have.

We have decided to change the rules to the game for the people in the rest home. This is hard on me since I have never changed any rule to any game in the past.

The rules were that you had to stop before you got a red without a green or you lost all your points.  These people never want to stop, even if they get a red.  From now on we will let them shake until they get the red without a green. We will still have them stop, but record all their points. We will go three rounds, and the winner is the one with the most points.

After the rest home we rushed to our flat, got everything we need to scan, and helped Lily St John finish filling out her mission papers. It was fun. 

It was a full day, and we came home tired, but feeling very good about all we had done. It's all worth it! Every day when we go out in the truck, Betty yells excitedly, "Hello, Fiji!"

Love you all!

Jan. 22, 2015
We were asked to write a blurp about ourselves. Since this Blog is to record our mission, I thought I would include it just for fun.

Elder Rex and Sister Betty Lou Woodward

We both come from a family of 8 children and were raised on farms in Franklin and Preston, Idaho. We fell in love in a high school chemistry class. Rex says there was a lot of chemistry in that class! We dated for a year and a half before Rex went to the Northern States Mission in the US. He proposed at the end of our first night together when he got home. He told me that if I married him, life would never be boring, and it never has! He has a way of making everything in life fun. We were married December 27, 1973 in the Logan, Utah Temple.

We both attended BYU in Provo, Utah. I got my associates degree, and Rex graduated with his bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. Rex showed his great faith as we built a new house on the family farm in Franklin before he got his first job as a school teacher. He taught 6^th grade for 37 years, specializing in World History. His goal was to make the history come alive. Students who hated school coming into his class, learned to love it. The students’ favorite was when he dressed as Homer and told the 6^th grade version of the Illiad and the Odyssey. He was a beloved and cherished teacher. He received many recognitions and honors including the Jon Huntsman Award for Excellence in Education.

We have 6 wonderful children- 3 sons and 3 daughters; and 24, soon to be 25 grandchildren.They are the love and joy of our lives.

Rex is creative. When we had little money, he invented and built wooden toys for our kids-marble shooting tanks, balers, harvesters, etc. He even built them a milk bottle raft so they could raft the river. After our parents helped us build our home, Rex worked in construction and later helped build houses for friends and family. He never asked for money, but asked them to pass it on. He ran the family farm, and in his spare time wrote and acted in 8 community melodramas. He also wrote 3 movie scripts, one of which he directed, produced, and acted in himself.

We have both served in many callings in the LDS Church. I was a Teacher, Primary Songleader, Primary and Relief Society Secretary, Stake Cultural Arts Specialist, Scout Advancement Chairman, Cubmaster, Ward Programs, Ward History, Ward Website, and Italian Extraction 13 years. Rex was softball and basketball coach, Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, Young Men’s Counselor, Teacher’s Advisor, Young Men’s President, Ward Clerk, High Counselor, 1^st Counselor in the Bishopric, and Young Men’s President again. The youth love him because he’s like Peter Pan. He’s never grown up and loves playing games. He taught our children how to work hard, how to play hard, and how to love the Gospel. Life is a glorious adventure. We love serving our mission in Fiji!

Jan 20, 2015

Rex wrote:

Betty is working hard at a near impossible job to bring order to the chaos that is the Labasa Branch records. The addresses are too many times just the neighborhood or the road they live on if that, and the directions often include a mango tree.  She has been on it two days now. She says it will only be one moreETERNITY until she is done. While she attacks the records, I am preparing for Priesthood and Sunday School lessons, which surely will come next Sunday. I also take computer in lap and write somewhat of what is going on here.

We got to meet the new missionaries from Seaqaqa.  One is from New Zealand and the other Elder Barns from Eugene, Oregon. They look as if they will be fun to work with.

In zone training the other day, we played an interesting relay race.  Each companionship made a team. Betty even played. One member of the team was on one side of the rugby field and the other out of bounds on the other side.

It was a race.  The first teammate was given a garlic bulb.  The goal was to deliver the bulb quickly and safely to the Zone Leaders. On go each team was to get the bulb to their teammate who could not cross the line onto the field until they had the bulb. To be fast, the first teammate ran part way across the field then threw the bulb toward their mate. Even if the teammate missed the bulb, he/she could pick it up, if it went past the line, and run it back to the Zone Leaders on the opposite side of the field. Betty made a perfect throw, and of course I made an inspiring catch. This went very fast with little loss of bulbage.  The second race was with raw eggs. For some reason this relay was slower than the first. Most teammates ran carefully across the field and handed the egg to their mates, who then ran carefully back to the Zone leaders.  Only one team threw the egg any distance and with bad results. 

The lesson to be learned was how do we use our time.  Do we treat it like a garlic bulb that we don’t value much. Something to be tossed with little regard? Or do we treat time as a fragile and more valued gift to be treated carefully and wisely. The lesson could have been lost on me since my eggshell lays broken and forgotten on the grassy field. Not really. 

Our egg was returned in perfect shape. 

Betty was my teammate, and she is good.

Love you all!

It has been a whirlwind since the new year began. If you don’t hear much from us, it just means we are well and very busy!

Before transfers, our district consisted Labasa Elders Read/Brouwer; Sisters Kaititi/Heitonga; our Hindi elders Elders Raju/Palelei, who got here last transfer; and our Seaqaqa Elders Motuliki/Delfin . We knew Elder Read, our district leader, was going home. We had asked him to teach Elder Brouwer, who just got here on the last transfer, everything he could about the people of this area. When transfers came, we found that Brouwer was going as well with no one to replace them, basically a white wash. Then we found out that Sister Katiti, the one who had been here the longest and knew the people the best was leaving. Then we were totally shocked when we heard the day of transfers both our Seaqaqa Elders were leaving. Out of our district, we only have the Hindi Elders and Sister Heitonga left. Anyone who knows me knows I don’t do well with surprise. Last Tuesday I was in total shock. We have gotten so close to all these wonderful young people. I love their exuberance, their smiles and their examples. We will miss them so very much. We wish them every happiness in their lives ahead.

Tuesday Jan. 13, We said goodbye to all the Elders at the airport the same time we were picking up the new Senior Couple, the Harwards from the airport. We brought them to our flat where they picked up the Walker’s /now their truck. We led them down 1 ½ hours to Savusavu to their flat. The landlord next door said they were 2 days early so the water tank was empty –no water. They had also piled all the furniture in the hallway to resurface the floor so Rex helped arrange the front room. Then we all met the Roths at a restaurant for dinner. We ordered steak, not at all like the wonderful beef at home. We visited a while and returned at 10 PM to their flat. We shone our lights on the house and waited for them to turn the lights on, but it didn’t happen. As Brother Harward came out to get the landlord, Rex went inside and found a portable lamp. They had repainted and taken out the electricity to the lights. Earlier, the Harwards had opened one of their suitcases to get our print cartridges out. When they opened the suitcase to unpack it, a huge live cockroach was inside. In fact, upon inspection, they found cockroaches scattering everywhere, and they had gecko poop in all their cupboards and drawers. To top it off, because it was near the air conditioner and the bedroom was blazing hot, she had to sleep on the couch which had basically no cushion . Not a very good welcome.

   While they were struggling, the Roth’s treated us like royalty as we stayed overnight with them. They insisted we have their bedroom, and they had had fresh towels with a caramel on top of each one  and chilled bottled water and cups on the dresser-- just like a fancy hotel. The next morning, they treated us to a wonderful breakfast. We love those two.

   We visited for a while, until we could see they needed to get back to work. The Harwards were still unpacking and waiting for the electrician so we spent a couple hours walking and enjoying the beach below their house. It was tough duty.  Rex had brought along the portable Internet so we sat by the beach and called Rose and Kaye. (Yes, we splurged! We spent $7/month to be able to call home through Skype, mostly to visit with Kaye, but if you want a call, let us know on email& we will try to get back with you.)

   When they were finally unpacked with lights working, we went with them to meet Roths in town and have lunch with them. Then we showed them where the grocery stores and market were and went shopping with them. We found he was in the church CES and taught seminary for 35 years. They served with President Layton and his wife in Tonga 10 years ago, and Layton handpicked them to come to Fiji to have Brother Harward serve as a counselor in the Mission Presidency. They were supposed to arrive in March, but their mission was expedited to now. They live in Mountain Green, Utah. They also have 6 children, 3 boys 3 girls. 26 grandchildren. His name is Ron. Hers is Betty. R&B Harward instead of R&B Woodward. He even went to the exact same mission as Rex, Northern States, 9 years before. They are an amazing couple full of excitement and love of the Gospel. He is not afraid to open his mouth. The people of Fiji will love them.

Love you all! Take care!

January 20, 2015
  We are well and loving our time here in Fiji. Sorry we haven't written often lately. I'm trying to create a data base of our branch members. Rex says we have 99 who are coming and 643 who are lost! 

   We just got a new Relief Society President after not having one for over a month. Our old one just moved out of town one day without warning. When we arrived at church, we were told she was gone so someone else filled in and had everyone help read the lesson. Our new president is excited and ready to create visiting teaching lists. Just to give a picture of how massive this is 742 members on the list, and only 8 coming to primary. Most heads of households are single or with just a spouse listed, 40 pages to type from with names I can't even pronounce, let alone spell such as Emali Qomate Naikatabua Ritova To further the challenge, it is in tiny type so I have to wear reading glasses, but they only work for up to a foot away so I have to prop the papers up close to me to read, and then the computer screen further away is blurry.It's almost comical the shuffling I have to do. I already had the active families typed in so now, as I look at the list, I have to see which I already have and what I need to insert, and the church list is not exactly in alphabetical order. For me to do this without short term memory is absolutely insane. 

   I have it half done. We have a full day of other responsibilities today, including district meeting, visiting Roop and his sister at the Rest Home, and helping a young girl type all her mission papers online and scan everything in for her to submit.

    I need to finish ithis project before my appointment wth the Relief Society President tomorrow night.The goal is to show her two lists, one sorted by last name and the other by area. She will help me work on the lists further, telling me if she knows of any others who have moved and giving me any extra contact information. Then back to the drawing board. We need similar help from the other auxilliary leaders. When this is done, they will assign visiting and home teachers to go out and find who is still here and who has moved so we can clean up these records and take better care of our little flock still here.

     Ok, back to work. Here I go...Don't hold me back!

     We are thankful for all your prayers! As you can tell, I need them! 

     We love you!

Jan. 6, 2015

     The missionaries hiked to the top of a mountain called the Three Sisters. We were going to stay home since I couldn't make the hike, but we got a call from the Sisters that they needed a ride. I thought we would just drop them off, come home, and go get them when they called. We  took our phone, and Rex grabbed his HP tablet-- no water, food, or computers to work on. We drove forever on bumpy dirt roads until we were pretty high up. While they hiked, we sat in the truck for a while, but it got too hot so in seeking shade, we climbed the hill a ways and found some huge lava rocks and a nice tree to sit under. It was just the right temperature and beautiful. We visited and played.

District before their hike to the top of the mountain called the 3 Sisters.
Little did we know then that transfers would take all but 3 of this group.

During their hike, it poured down rain, turning their trail to mud. Afterwards, clouds almost hid the big mountair

      After over an hour, a man came up behind us making no sound. It almost scared me to death when he started talking. He is the owner of the land. He stayed and visited with us the whole rest of the time they were hiking. He is Muslim, a good man. The tree protected us from the light rain, but when it started raining hard, he took us under the protection of the big rocks and kept us enthralled with his stories.

     The missionaries finally came down, totally soaked, tired, and muddy We drove the girls home and waited in the truck while they showered and changed and drove them back to town to the Internet Café where they write letters home. We were gone almost six hours. 

     Even though I hadn't hiked, I was exhausted. Rex made me a delicious chicken dinner including fresh long green beans. He did a great job for it being his first time here cooking chicken. It is the only meat we really eat here, and it's expensive, but we splurge and enjoy it.

Notice how long these are, and they are young and tender!

   We've started on lessons for Sunday. They don't ask. They just expect us to have them ready and turn the time over to us. Last Sunday we had a total of 11 in attendance, and a yellow cat joined the group.

     Love you!

This post is for Camden and all those who love trains:

                                                                         Train crossing ahead

These little train cars haul sugar cane.

Is this Casey's train?

All aboard!!!

Catching up:  
   Dec. 31, 2014 Rex wrote: We finally received some training for Education & the Perpetual Education Fund. The church sent Foki, a marvelous woman who has volunteered at the Suva Self Reliance Center for nine years. We picked her up from the Labasa airport on Saturday Dec 27. From then until Tuesday, we tended her while she trained us. Most of the time we were together, we were asking questions, and she was giving answers. First thing, we took her to her hotel and went grocery shopping while she checked in and settled in for about an hour. Then brought her back to our flat where she gave us two hours of training. We took her out to lunch at the Chinese restaurant and then back to her hotel where she met with members by appointment.
   We drove her to attend church in Labasa on Sunday while we went to Naduna. She gave a fireside right after church. We were able to catch the tail end of the fireside and listened to her talk individually with some of the branch members. We brought her home and gave her an Idaho chicken and potato and gravy dinner with strawberry Jell-O and bananas, fresh green beans, and no-bake chocolate cookies for dessert. She had a couple big helpings of everything and asked for recipes. That made Betty happy.
   On Monday we took her to the church where she met with four individuals who wanted to apply for perpetual education funds. We were there to watch and learn. We set up a time to start teaching them the Self Reliance Workshop since they have to complete the workshop before they can receive any funds.

Our First Self Reliance Class Students

Foki had planned on staying until Tuesday afternoon, but she received a call from the airport that her flight had been changed to 8:30 AM. She learned her aunt had died. Her family hadn’t wanted to disturb her during training, but changed the flight so she could be there for the funeral. As soon as we arrived at the airport early Tuesday, she said we could leave; she would be fine; but for some reason, we just stayed.
   When she checked in her luggage, she had a small box as well. They asked, “What's in the box?” When she reported it was frozen fish, they informed her that she could not take frozen fish unless it was in a Styrofoam container. She would have to wait a half hour until the little Cantina opened, and she could buy one there. Again, she said we could go. She would be just fine. Again we stayed. We had bonded, and it didn’t seem right to just leave her there.



Rex & Foki

   When the store opened, she found it cost $30 for a Styrofoam container. That was way too much; she had already paid $30 for the fish. Betty mentioned that we had a Styrofoam container stored in our back room that the Walkers had left. We didn’t even hesitate. Foki’s plane was leaving in just 45 minutes, and it was 15 minutes each way back to the flat. We rushed back to our flat; I grabbed the Styrofoam container, some tape, scissors, and a sharpie marker; and we raced back to the airport. We made it just in time for me to stuff the already-packed box with the fish into the Styrofoam container, tape it, mark it, and send it out with the luggage so Foki could catch the plane! She left excited to have her fish.

Jan. 2, 2015
As part of the Sunday School lesson introducing the New Testament study for 2015, we made a little 2 minute movie of pictures of Christ to show with "He Sent His Son" playing in the background. Nothing seems more impressive than pictures to music. It always touches my soul. My father taught me the beautiful stories of the Four Gospels by quoting them word for word. I love to see pictures that remind me of them and of him. I love him with all my heart, and I love the scriptures he shared with me. It is our job now to share them with others.

    Jan. 2, 2015
   Tuesday we had our district meeting after which we always go out and eat with the missionaries at a restaurant. It is crazy, but it is cheaper to eat at my favorite Chinese restaurant than it is to buy groceries. It costs us $3.50-$4.50 each US dollars for a huge meal.

   We also inspected all the missionary flats and took inventory of repairs or supplies needed. We have been asked by Elder Terry to buy and deliver them.

     I love celebrating every day twice! We had our New Year's Eve two days ago. The highlight was visiting Roop and his sister at the rest home. The workers feed and house them there, but we have never seen any activities. We took the Toss Up dice game. The people recognize us when we come, and we have about 6 people who join in. The others sitting around hear the laughter and cheering, and it seems to brighten their day, too. This time we decided to include Roop's sister. She is very handicapped and basically pulls herself around on the wooden floor with her one good hand. She doesn't talk, but she seems to know what's going on, and she laughs with joy. Since many are in wheelchairs, we have the lid of a Styrofoam box we play on so we can pass it around without a table. Each time it was Roop's sister turn, Rex put the lid on the floor and then placed the ten dice into her crippled hand so she could shake them. She was having the time of her life. Her contagious laugh made us all laugh. Roop's eyes were sparkling. He was happy that she was able to play and was having so much fun. We played two games. She won them both! She was so very happy.

     We had a Happy New Year's Day yesterday. We had our first activity with the youth of the ward and the missionaries. While the boys played soccer, I taught the sisters how to play Golf with number cards, and also Toss Up which they enjoyed.

     Afterwards we all played party games. At the end, a big family from another branch here on the island saw the church lights on and joined in the fun. Since they had small children, we played "Pussie Wants a Corner" and "Do You Love Your Neighbor?" - a new game the missionaries taught us. There was lots of smiling and laughing! It was a good night. We will try to meet and play with the youth once a week.

    We need help in compiling a list of all the party games we can play.

     Enjoy your day!