Feb. 20, 2015 Rex wrote: For our youth activities this week, Betty made chocolate chip cookies. She had mixed the dough and was taking out the first batch when the power went out. She said, “The power’s off. We can’t bake cookies.” 

   I said, “Yes, we can. It’s a gas stove. We’ve got gas; we’ve got spark; we’re ready to go.” We were able to finish making the cookies, but the house got so hot that without air conditioning or even a fan, it seemed we had died and gone the wrong way.

   For the Friday evening activity at Labasa, the youth trickled in a few at a time, but by 7 PM we had a good crowd. I joined in the basketball game for the first while. Josephine was on my team. She can outshoot any of the boys.

   The branch president had gone to great lengths to make sure the broken outdoor light was fixed so we could have the full court lit up to play volleyball. Something like that usually takes months here in Fiji, but he expedited it because he knew how much it meant to the youth.

   Josh Bull came early, but he was limping from a fight.  He works in a bar. A drunk has tried to hit him with a beer bottle. He was able to avoid the hit, kick the leg of the drunk to get him off balance, and then finish the fight with a right hook. (Balance and drunk are seldom used in the same sentence.)  Josh’s leg was his only injury.

   Daniel Bull came at dusk with the keys, but the key to turn on the lights was missing. It had been taken off the chain to give to the man who fixed the lights.  It looked like no night volleyball.  They called their dad, the first counselor in the branch presidency.  He drove to the church, picked up Daniel and took him home, gave him the key, and brought him back. I do not know why he didn’t just bring the key to the church, but in Fiji I have learned to watch and smile.

   When they were ready to turn the key, I said, “Let there be light.” The lights came on, and they were great. The volleyball game hadn’t missed a beat. They had kept playing even after dark. I could hear it before, but now I could see it.

   After a while Betty and her group, who love to play the card game golf, came and joined us. I sat by her, and we watched the fun. There were enough youth for three teams with some playing basketball on one end, and a few watching.  Then tragedy struck.  The ball went over the fence into a private yard.  The fence is fifteen feet high to prevent this, but it happened anyway.  They call this neighbor Oscar, because he is a grouch. The laughter and happy sounds of youth having fun are like noise to him.  Once in the past, he even called the police.  The police came, looked over the situation, and told him since it was not after eleven at night, he had no grounds, just deal with it.  At this party, when the ball went over the fence, Oscar came out of his house and picked up the ball.  He told them he wasn’t going to give it back, but finally after about ten minutes of sweet groveling, he threw the ball back over the fence with a warning that if it came over his fence again, it would be his ball, and he would not give it back.

   The games resumed.  I thought it time to hand out cookies and gave the cookies to the team that lost, and then to the team that won, and then to everyone.  As I did, I noticed five young men in the shadows.  As I approached them, they ran into the dark, probably around the church buildings and out the gate.  I asked the girls watching the game if they knew them.  They were boys from the area, not members, who had heard the fun and had come to see what was going on.  I watched, and in a little while, they were back. Without moving towards them, I asked if they wanted a cookie.  Then I walked towards them slowly.  Only one of them ran away this time, and I gave the rest a cookie. I invited them to join in on the fun, and the four did.  The one came back later, and I was able to give him a cookie as well, but he didn’t join the fun. He stayed in the shadows and watched the rest of the night from there.

   About 8:50 when I was about to tell everyone it was time to clean up, shut down, and go home, the youth quit playing and gathered around me.  I thought this was strange, since they don’t usually stop on their own.   Then they told me that the ball had gone over the fence again.  They were not going to ask for it back that night.  We finished off the cookies, cleaned up, and went home.

Love you all!