Labasa Youth Activity on Friday, February 27, 2015

Rex wrote: The day started as we prepared for the youth activity.  Betty made some brownies and put them into the oven to bake.  When the timer went off, she checked them and told me to set the timer for five more minutes.  When the timer went off again, Betty checked them and said, “They don’t look any different.”  We gave them another five, and then Betty noticed the flame in the oven was out.  She asked, “Is the propane bottle empty?”  

   I told her, “I checked it a few weeks ago, and it seemed heavy.”  But I was wrong. The stove top wouldn't even light.  I unhooked the five gallon bottle, threw it into the truck, rushed to the nearest store, and got a new bottle of propane. I was back in the truck before I remembered I needed a receipt for the mission to reimburse me. I ran back in and stood in line to get a receipt.  I finally got home, hooked it up, and got the stove running again. We had no idea how long the brownies had cooked before the oven went off.  We cooked them five minutes at a time for another 15 minutes.  They had a thin crust on the outside and were slightly doughy in the middle.  What I would call perfect, kind of like a brownie cookie!  The trouble with anything like that is that it can’t be repeated.

   We went to the Church at five to see if anyone needed study help.  After a week of school and then seminary, the youth were just ready to play, not study.  So we started playing early.   

   We had a visitor from the Nakowakowa.  There are not enough saints down there to make a branch.  They are a unit. The head of the unit, Pita Vakalala, has quite a unique story.  He was raised in Figi and then moved to Los Angeles.  As a teenager, he got in with a gang, got in big trouble and was deported back to Fiji.  Once back in Fiji, he got very active in the church.  He was a beloved Young Men's president here in Labasa before he moved to Nakowakowa.  There were no members besides him.  He changed that.  He started teaching people and asked the missionaries to come and get them ready for baptism.  Before long, he had a group.  He didn't wait for Salt Lake to build a place to meet on Sunday.  He built his own.  This little unit has sent out at least eight full time missionaries.  The church has since sent two elders to work with him in Nakowakowa.  They are on fire. Last week seven more people were baptized.

   Pita was in Labasa to sell some of the produce he and his fellow church members had grown and to pay tithing.  He came to the church to see how things were going and to show his young men’s president what a real branch looks like.  He was excited to see all the youth there playing.  He said, “Looks like Labasa is doing well.”

  I took it as a compliment as to what Sister Woodward and I are doing with the youth.  He played volleyball with us for about thirty minutes.

   We had about thirty youth there again. The four neighborhood boys were back and played all night.  At the end of the evening, an older gentleman came in and was looking around.  He played a little basketball.  Betty thought he was one of the fathers.  I didn't recognize him and went and talked to him.  He asked what we were doing?  Then he saw my badge and said, “You’re a Utah church?”

   I said, “Our church has its headquarters in Utah, but it is a worldwide church.”  He asked how long we were staying in Fiji.  I told him eighteen months.  I told him we had the activity every Friday night, and he was welcome to come and play.  He stayed a while longer; and as he was leaving, I got him a brownie cookie.  His only word was “Sweet.”  The youth also loved them.  They said Betty should give cooking lessons on how to make these.  She just smiled.

   One of the mothers came up to Betty before church Sunday and said, “You and your husband are a blessing to our youth.”

   Things are going well here in Fiji.

   Love,

   Elder and Sister Woodward

   Or Rex and Betty