Rex and Betty Fiji Mission

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!