Saturday and yesterday were amazing. 
     Rex wrote this paragraph: Saturday we had 2 baptisms Meli Rauluitoga and Meresalina Wait Isoa. Elder Sieverts mixed up the baptismal prayer and had to baptize Meresalina three times before he got it right. He was a little embarrassed and a little sad until I talked to him. I told him that just before I came on this mission, I was Young Men's President. One Sunday I was blessing the sacrament, and I had to do it twice. Bishop Atkinson came up to me after and thanked me. He was happy that I had made the mistake to show the young men that we all can make mistakes; but the sacrament prayer, just like the baptismal prayer, has to be exact. Then I told Sieverts that is one of the main reasons we get baptized and partake of the sacrament is to have the opportunity to fix our mistakes and do it right. He was happy again after that. 

     Sunday we went early to the Labasa chapel and met with Lorenzo Snow Baleiwasawasa to help more in completion of his mission papers. For some reason, I have a special bond with him. Oh, yes, I guess it’s that his first name is also my Father’s. He had already gotten his physical, but we found out his forms were outdated, and would not be accepted by Salt Lake. We printed out some new forms and are sending him back to the physican. We gave him a “Preach my Gospel” and a flash drive with church songs to thank him for the extra trouble.

     We shook hands with or got hugs from everyone in the chapel. After I had been around once, a sweet member named Bisun Kumari came quickly up the outside aisle to me. I told her that was so sweet of her to come all the way up to give me a hug. When I moved away, she quickly got a tithing slip off the wall. That’s what she had actually come for; but I still got my hug, and I am happy that she is paying her tithing.

     Just as I had left the chapel to leave for Naduna, Rex told me to go back in. The Vosa’s had come. Two of the daughters have been baptized. The man was taking lessons at the same time, but he wanted to wait for his wife to be baptized, and she seemed very satisfied with the church she was attending. He had backed off and quit coming to church. The Elders visited them Saturday, in the Sister’s absence, and challenged them to come to church as a family. When I walked in, the whole family was there. The missionaries were ecstatic, as were we. Someday he will be one of the church leaders here. He is that great, and she has a special light that absolutely radiates from her. We are hoping they will both be baptized soon. We will celebrate the day!

     We went to Sacrament Meeting at Naduna. They were happy to have 2 extra speakers! We talked on the temple. Rex used the same talk he had given in Labasa. It was beautiful! As I watched him speak, I know I am so blessed to be his companion for eternity!

     Next we drove to Seaqaqa. The counselor took Rex aside and said the missionaries were supposed to be the speakers, and they weren’t there. Could he please talk on “The Rescue.” Just before the sacrament, the Elders arrived. They had been attending meeting with a small group in Naduri. Rex thought he had been rescued, but the counselor announced him as the middle speaker. He talked of William Woodward and the Willie’s Handcart Company and the rescue, and he tied that into missionary work, rescuing our neighbors and bringing them to church. Then he talked of temples and doing temple work to rescue our ancestors. We are happy to be part of the rescue. It was a beautiful day in Fiji! 

One of the first things I saw here that amused me was a bird sitting on the back of a bull eating insects as the animal grazed. I have been waiting to get the perfect picture. My wish before we leave Fiji was to catch a picture of two birds on a bull's back. We have tried many times to get the shot, but pulling over here is difficult, and the few times I could convince Rex to stop, the birds flew away. Today Rex saw two birds on a young bull's back. It took him a while to slow down and pull over so we were a long ways away, and I was shooting backwards out of the window, zooming in with his iPhone. Just as I looked back, a third bird landed. I had to snap it quickly so I sacrificed part of the bull's head, but I got the shot of the birds. Rex asked me to assure you that no animals or birds were harmed in the shooting., The bull was still standing with three birds atop when we drove away.

I also have a fascination with finding crazy horns.
This is my favorite cow I see every time we drive to Siberia.

Today Rex was in perfect form as he actually did a u turn so I could get a shot of this beauty with her incredible horns.

Amazing! Don't you agree!

Rahul, Kumar, Singh song:

Our experience with BYU Hawaii has come full circle. First we helped Rahul Prakash apply. Elder Kumar saw us helping him, and said, “I would love to go to BYU Hawaii!” and we helped him. They were both accepted, which is really hard for them here. Elder Kumar and is now released and is helping Elder Singh, serving in his area, to apply to BYU Hawaii. Singh is trying to meet the Feb 1 deadline, about a week away. When he couldn’t get into iWorks on the computer, Kumar said, “Call Elder and Sister Woodward!” We get a call from the other island from an Elder we don’t even know asking for assistance. We called admissions in Hawaii to see if iWorks was down. The secretary said, “It works great for me!” However, it wouldn’t work for us. We finally called our sweet friend Janey in admissions; and she sent paper forms for them to fill out, scan, and send back. Elder Singh’s father got involved because it needed his information and documentation from home and a letter from the home bishop. The father emailed us a few times on his progress and called us two times for assistance. We were the go between since he couldn’t talk with his son. We had him email everything directly to Janey. She is the real heroine here. Once it is in her hands, there is no worry. She is competent, and she quickly makes things happen. In the last phone call from Brother Singh in Suva, he revealed that he is Rahul Prakash’s uncle. Rahul and Elder Singh are cousins. There is also now a sweet connection with them and Kumar. In fact, Kumar had just stayed at their home the two days before while he went to an interview with the US Embassy for his Visa. He passed and will be going to BYU Hawaii the end of February. When Brother Singh heard we were serving in Labasa, he said he used to be the Labasa District President, equivalent to a Stake President, over all the LDS branches and groups of our island Vanua Levu and of Taveuni. He also said when we come to Suva, he would love to meet us. His wife cooks some amazing curry. Small world. Great to be part of it! Loving this experience!

Love you!

We have been missing our sisters. We are elated that neither was affected by transfers, and they will both be returning to Labasa, I saw a post on Facebook of the Suva Temple invitational open house. The first picture was our own Sister Elias and Sister Raga. They were honored to give the introductory video presentation to dignitaries invited to tour the Suva Temple before it opened to the public. Our Mission President, the Pacific Area Presidency, and the Fiji Prime Minister were among the guests.

Sister Elias and Sister Raga

We have been working hard with the branch and the branch clerk to clean up the records in Labasa. When we arrived, there were 742 names on our branch list. Since then, Naduna has been demoted from a branch to a group and combined with our branch with over 70 names. We also have had many baptisms, and people move in. We have finally gotten the list down to about 470. Brother Mahen printed out a new list, and I spent a full, hard day typing in all the extra names to add to our current data base. I know it seems silly to do with it already on the church computer, but we have no access to the MLS without Mahen doing all the work. What we are trying to do is too complicated, and the info on the branch list way too out of date to accommodate our efforts. We need to be able to sort and print out the names in different scenarios. It is crazy to see that in one family, the wife keeps her maiden name, and many of their own children are given all different last names. I would hate to have to do their genealogy! When we print out by last name, such as on a Relief Society List, unless we know them personally, or have a list of families to compare it with each time, we would have no clue which family they belong to. Also, many of the children are listed alone as heads of households. We have an extra category that puts the families together by numbers. The printout by area is the one that would take hours to modify on MLS before it would work. Many involve turning at the big mango tree. Since our branch area covers very many miles, and most people walk, go on bus, or get taxis, area lists are essential to help make up Home Teaching and Visiting Teaching Routes and organize missionaries and leaders to visit the members. As it is, not many members are getting visited except by the leaders and the missionaries. One of the main reasons we hear of why members have left the church is that no one comes to visit them. No one cares about them. We would like to change that and have Home and Visiting Teaching assigned by area so they can more easily visit in their own village. The timing seems right since we have a new Relief Society President I need to help.

Love this picture of Rex with the missionaries after playing ball on P Day. People are forced to retire in Fiji at 55. The other day Oliva asked Rex how old he is. He was surprised at the answer and announced that his grandfather is the same age and barely gets around. He is basically home bound. He is amazed at how in shape and active Rex is. They all love to have him play with them. Of course, Rex makes everything fun!

     Rex Wrote: Saturday the 23^rd day of January, I left my bride and went to Nakawakawa to install the new Solar System. I had asked two of the Elders to go, but all four wanted to go, and there was room since Sister Woodward stayed home. When Pita heard four Elders were coming, he said that he would get his priesthood to help with the solar. He wanted the Elders to go teach. One of his Elders had hurt his back and flown to Suva with a Labasa Elder with a bad tooth. There would be no Elders staying in Nakawakawa for at least two weeks. Missionary work was more important to Pita then solar power.

     I had promised I would read the directions and follow them. I was anxious to see how to put the unit together. First thing we did when we got to the chapel was to unload the crate and open it to find the directions. There were absolutely no directions, not even a picture of how it was to look, so we really did have to wing it.

     There was a beautiful metal frame the size of one of the two solar panels, two long aluminum angle iron things, some lag screws, and clamps. It took about a half hour to try to figure out how the angle iron things clamped to the frame and how the frame bolted to the roof. No matter how we tried, it didn’t work. Then it hit me! The frame was just a fancy shipping crate, an extra part like they always send with things I put together.  We got it put together in two hours. One and a half if you deduct the time trying to use the crate.

     The four Elders then split up and taught seven lessons in the village with Pita. In just three hours time, they were able to get people ready for baptismal interviews for baptism next Saturday and commit others to get ready for baptism. Two more villages are ready to be opened up soon, and Nakawakawa is growing!

     While the Elders were teaching, I was watching the new system. It charged for a while. There was a huge battery that come with a connection cable, but it was not compatible to hook to anything. That is a mystery yet to be solved.

     There were also parts for a dolly for the electrical generator so it could be moved around. I have no idea why you would want to move it around. There were six young boys, ten to twelve years old, who came to the chapel as the elders left. They looked bored. I gave them the box of dolly parts, and they had a blast snapping it together. (They had directions for the dolly and a picture.) Then I showed them Risk on my iPhone. I taught them too well. They beat me!

     When the unit was charged, we tried the lights in the chapel and in the missionary apartment. They worked! We plugged in their laptop and started charging it without running their little gas generator! I was excited! I sent a message to President Layton, President Harward, and Elder Aldredge in the mission office, “There is power in Nakawakawa!”

     President Layton texted back: “Just when we thought Nakawakawa could not get any better, we find out it has power. Thank you for your great efforts in putting this together.”

      I had 7 hours of good stories and good bonding time with the Elders during the drive there and back. This trip will be a mission highlight for all of us!

     Betty sent down two big cookie sheets of brownies. They were devoured. That made her happy.

     It is crazy how much I missed my sweetheart while I was gone! She got a lot done at the flat to surprise me. It was great to come home safely and give her the amazing report! I earned my pillow again!

This plug from the battery doesn't fit anywhere!

Our very pretty extra part, nice packing material!

Pita has light in the chapel.

They used one of the packing boxes for a Primary cupboard.

Everyone is excited!

The puzzle begins!

A good way to entertain boys!

It works!

    Today Rex is giving a talk on temple marriage. It is the thing I love the most about the Gospel, the knowledge that if we are sealed in the temple, and live worthily, we can be together as a family forever! It is the crowning glory of everything we live for. Nothing is more important than families!

     I testify that our Heavenly Father loves us, and that Jesus Christ is our Savior and our Redeemer, that it is through His Atonement that we may live with them again and have Eternal Life. 

Rex wrote: Yesterday was to be a day to catch up. Before 8 AM, Betty had clothes in the washer and a business lesson prepared. I got a call that the solar unit for Nakawakawa was at the church, ready to be unloaded. I left Betty home to write emails and call home. There were two big crates, and both wouldn’t fit in the truck. It would take two trips. I called Pita to let him know it had come. He said they were in Labasa town just ready to catch a bus and head back home. I told him I would meet him there. I raced home and told Betty to get ready like now! We were going to Nakawakawa.

We had a delightful trip to Nakawakawa visiting with Pita. He likes all of my stories, and I always like listening to him. He talked a lot about the branch and asked a lot of questions. We gave him lots of ideas, many dealing with Home Teaching, Visiting Teaching, and delegating. The 3 ½ hour trip went quickly!

Pita recruited one of his neighbors to help lift the heavy box off the truck. We found out later that he is a nonmember. Pita is confident that will soon change. Pita's counselor met us at the chapel. After visiting a few minutes, we turned around and drove back home to Labasa. Betty was done, but I had to go to the church to take the volleyball and basketball for a youth activity and to load and tie in the other big box. The plan is to leave Betty home tomorrow and take the young elders with me to help install the solar unit. None of us know how to do it, and we might have to wing it. As all of you know winging it is new to me! It should be a party!

Too much for one trip!

Tied in with my strong braided rope.

Safely delivered.

They will be happy to have electricity in their chapel.

Big box of  solar panels for trip number two.

Hopefully it makes the bumpy ride. We tied it in as best we could.

This is one of the favorite activities the YSA was playing. Fiji flavor!

Some days are unusually busy and a bit dizzying. Yesterday was one of them. We woke up at 6 AM and made two trips to the airport to get all the sisters there.

We came home, Facetimed, rested and wrote emails.

At 11:30 AM we attended a fantastic district meeting on “Love is the Motive.” Our district is a combination of missionaries who serve in Labasa, Seaqaqa, and Nakawakawa. To show unity, instead of the Seaqaqa district, we call ourselves.  Nabaqa. We even have a little cheer we do that ends in the sign “1” that mean “I love you forever.” They trained us in having a positive attitude and in showing love and charity. The spirit was so strong in that little room, and we felt so much love there. We do have the best district ever!

When we first came here, the numbers were really low. Our district usually had a monthly goal of 1 or 2 baptisms or returning members and had trouble making it. This month our district goal was 10. The Zone Leaders questioned them and asked them to reconsider the number, but they stayed at 10 will hit that by this weekend with a possible 14 for the month, which is the goal for the whole zone. That is insane! It is not that we have made the difference, but our missionaries have been amazing! They are dedicated, hardworking, and exactly obedient. We are taking a leap of faith and saying our goal for February is again 10. It will be a little harder with the sisters gone in February for 1 ½ weeks and the rest of us gone to Suva for 4 days to see the Suva temple celebration and rededication, but these missionaries are on fire! President Layton promised that they would see miracles during the time of the Suva Temple rededication, and these missionaries are holding to that promise.

Speaking of promises, Rex had promised that if they hit the goal of 10 this month, he would treat them all to lunch at the Chinese Restaurant. They loved it! Afterwards we took Elder Sieberts and Elder Hariprasad to the old folks home to play. They were so adorable with the people there. In fact, they got two ladies to play who had never played before. One had always said, “No” and the other has Down Syndrome, and I didn’t think her attention span was long enough to do it so I had never invited her. I am so glad they did! There was a lot of laughter and one man got up and danced when he did well. On the way home, Rex bought a stronger lock for the front gate. We got a call from the mission office that we need to start looking for a new apartment to rent for the Elders. The current landlord has been demanding, complaining, and difficult, and they need to move soon. We will have to work on that.

I taught Oliva his second piano lesson while Rex visited with a few youth coming in. At 6 PM Rex met with the branch clerk, Mahen, to send a few more records away. Six Young Single Adults came for a family home evening and stood around for quite a while waiting for their leaders. I finished up piano with Oliva, and took Rex’s place with Mahen so he could play volleyball with the YSA. When it got dark and the leaders still weren’t there, Rex called President Bull and found out they were in Suva. They had sent word to cancel to as many as they could, but these six hadn’t gotten word; and some of them were less active so something really fun needed to happen. Rex asked Elder Luatua and Elder Foeva to help them play indoor party games. Brother Mahen helped me get a new branch list printed out for us. Lorenzo Snow Baleiwasawasa, one of the YSA, had brought all his documents with him and asked me to help him apply online for his mission. When we got as much of his application as we could done, we joined in the games with the youth. We had the closing prayer at 9 PM, dropped the Elders off, and came home. It had been a long, productive day. As they say in our mission, “We earned our pillow.”

Yesterday we spent our whole morning helping the church facilities director, Brother Tilley, set up a computer system connected with the church website for the live showing of the Suva Temple Celebration and rededication. Nothing was working. The computer was so old that no one knew the Administrator's password. Finally he said, "It would be easy if we had a laptop!" We said, "We have a laptop the mission gave us to do Self Reliance. We drove home and got it. It worked like a charm. We took him out to dinner at the Chinese Restaurant. It was his first time eating there. He was impressed, and says he knows where to eat when he returns to Labasa. Rex returned later to help him dismantle everything. It will have a few trial runs getting it all back together before the real thing. In the process of all that, a part of Rex's key chain broke with all his temporary keys including the specialized church keys. He realized it when he saw a key lying in his lap. He found all of them except the key to our gate. It was lost somewhere between our flat and town. We looked but we couldn't find it. Rex bought a new padlock, and had Brother Naidu come help get the lock off. He got it off with four whacks of a hammer. That made us feel safe that it could be removed that easily, but at least we were able to get back into our flat. Afterwards, Rex told me he had a feeling earlier that day that he should move the key to the gate onto the main key chain, but he was in too big of a hurry to do it right then. Experiences like this act as a reminder that we should always listen and act immediately when we get a prompting and are told to do something good. We felt like it was a tender mercy that the specialty keys to the church were not lost even though they were the first in line to fall off.
 Our district, plus all the Sisters from our Zone met for an afternoon of playing and celebrating before the Sisters leave to help with the temple open house. We had a special dinner with entrees of my barbecued beef and also chicken simmered in a special soup and mango nectar sauce cooked by Elder Luatua. It was heavenly. Afterwards we had cake and ice cream and played party games. It will be the last time we will be together with some of these missionaries. We get a little relief by saying, "We'll see you at the temple!" since we will all be going there for the Suva Temple celebration and rededication. I have taught them all my high sign so they can listen for my call.

We were also celebrating Sister Hogland's birthday. We had balloons and everything!

We got up early this morning and drove all the Sisters from our zone to the airport. They will be flying to Suva for 3 weeks to help with the Suva Temple Open House. Transfers will happen while they are gone. We fear our sweet Sister Elias, the short one, will not return. We have loved every minute serving closely with her.

I saw this game, and I thought it was adorable for those of you who like to do games with dice and like to have fun drawing:

      We had three glorious baptisms today:

     Karuna Wati Singh by Elder Talamai

     Moreen Prasad by Elder Luatua

         Jessica Prasad by Elder Hariprasad

      After the meeting, as the missionaries were shaking their hands, Sister Singh broke into tears of joy. She was so happy! As Rex shook her hand, she grabbed him and gave him a hug.

During some great refreshments, our two prospective sister missionaries from Naduna met us to help them fill out their applications and print out their medical and dental forms. It went well. To let you picture it a little better, I was helping them understand the questions, and Rex was in the background cracking jokes and telling them nonsensical things to put down. They didn’t put anything he suggested, but they did break down laughing quite a few times in the middle of something that is usually pretty serious. He said he thought he was helping! We had a good time. Is it any wonder that everyone loves to be around him? When missionaries transfer here, his reputation has preceded him; and they love him before they even meet him. They have been told about all his great stories and jokes and how he plays with the missionaries and the members.  I have the best companion ever!

 

A few more pictures Sister Vermeeren took during our Taveuni trip:

This mare reminded me of Cindy Lou. Not sure she wanted a stranger petting her.

Our dear friends, Brother & Sister Roth from Switzerland

They take work trucks seriously here. The whole crew fits in front & supplies in back.
Rex calls it the Family Sand and Gravel truck.

English mixed with Fijian gives an amusing combination.
The i has a long e sound. C is a th sound. I loved this.

Sister Vermeeren in Taveuni is an amazing photographer. I am including the first batch of classic pictures she took of classic Fiji:

 

So proud of their horses. This is a champion.

A new way of baby sitting.
The mother wanted to make sure her son was cared for
and not making a big mess while she took a shower!

Yesterday we completed a challenge we had set for ourselves. Brother Chetty had shown us a Christmas Card with a picture of Brother and Sister Brown who had baptized his family, and he asked us if we knew them. After all, they are from the States living in Utah. We had no clue, but said we would try to find them. We checked dexknows and asked relatives and friends all to no avail. Finally I jumped the gun and signed up early for Returned Missionaries from the Fiji Suva Mission on Facebook. A few had served at the same time, but no one knew where they were or had any contact information. Finally, after two months, the man who served as their mission president messaged me on Facebook. I don't know how he even saw my post after that much time. He gave me their email address that was current in 2013. I wrote, and they replied. It was them. They are well and sound amazing. Not only did we connect the Chettys with them, but also the Prasads whom they had baptized. She made me my favorite dish to tell me “Thank You!” The Chettys, Prasads, and other members who knew them got to Skype with them on Sunday after church. We are ecstatic that we were able to help get them connected again.

Hope you are all enjoying the New Year! It’s a good one!

Love you! 

Just catching up:

The day before Christmas Labasa city was really busy. Just before the bridge was a dirt lot where farmers brought their goats, chickens, ducks, etc. to sale. I had to stop and take a few shots:

They brought their prized livestock in pickups.

Animals here are staked out and taught to lead from birth.

This farmer has his ducks all in a row worth at least $20 US dollars each!
The one turned backwards must be a Woodward!

We usually see these chicken and ducks running loose all over people's yards

We found the original Billy Goat Gruff. Look at that beard!
He would sell for at least $250 US dollars.

These are prize goats. The two in front are cuddled together. 

A new restaurant just opened. Our friends had eaten there; and, being impressed with the food, were excited to take a group of us there.

We were in the mood for chicken, and the picture looked good.
As they served all the others first, the dishes looked delectable,
and our friends were pleased with their choices.

These are 7 of our 8 pieces of chicken. Notice the size compared to the tablespoon. 3 pieces were parts of backs. Hopefully we were the first customers who had ordered chicken pieces.

There was one chicken breast for me.

I must admit, I might not have put my best foot forward as a missionary. When they brought the plate out, my first words were, "You're kidding me, right?" When the manager came back later and asked if everything was okay, I said that what they had brought us looked nothing like the picture. I told her that in the future, they needed to give their customers the whole chicken pieces as shown in the picture, not chopped chicken bits. She came out later and apologized and said the cook was cooking us a little more chicken. I told her twice that they didn't have to do that, but she insisted. They brought us two chicken legs. They were tiny, but they were whole. I went in after and told them "Thank you!" I hope they take my advice on the portion size, or they might get in really bad trouble with future customers. 

Our friends didn't say anything out loud, but I could tell by their body language that they were embarrassed and thought I was rude and not becoming a missionary. I was just trying to help keep the restaurant out of trouble.

     Saturday morning we made another big cookie sheet of brownies as requested by Alvin. He and his older sister were baptized. The missionaries had almost called it off as Cyclone Ula was still threatening, but it was a most glorious day! I love baptisms. I love the spirit there, and I love to see how proud the parents are to watch, even though they aren’t members themselves.

     Just before the service started, Alvin asked me, “Did you bring enough brownies?” I assured him I had. What a sweetheart!

     Near the end of the treats, we noticed Oscar, a nonmember next door to the church, was taking apart his huge portable carport that got blown over in the storm on New Year’s Eve. Rex went and helped him take it apart. He seemed happy for the help.

     Rex decided we should be more prepared in case the cyclone struck. The Elders helped him put plywood on the windows at the landlord’s request; we bought a new propane tank for cooking; we filled water bottles and filled the truck with diesel; and we shopped for groceries. While we were in town, we ate at the Chinese Restaurant. I wish we could bring that place home with us!

     In the last store, we noticed a white lady shopping. She seemed intent on what she was doing so we went past without speaking to her. Later I went back over by her to pick up an item. She saw my name tag and quickly approached me. Lois Smith had been praying that she could find the missionaries to give her daughter-in-law a blessing in the hospital. They are from New Zealand. Her son and Jade had come to Savusavu to attend a wedding, but Jade had gotten deathly ill, and they had raced her to Labasa in an ambulance and done surgery. She had a tube on each side draining fluid off her lungs, and she was in extreme pain when we arrived with the Elders. He son is less active, but was very kind to us. The mother was relieved to see us there, but still very concerned. Rex gave Jade a beautiful blessing.  Lois came to Labasa Fast and Testimony meeting today and sat by us. The insurance is talking of having a doctor from New Zealand fly up to treat her, and then take her back to New Zealand. Lois felt it was a tender mercy that she had found us. She was right. We don’t usually shop at that store. 

Alvin and Bernadette Erasito got baptized January 2, 2016

Their mother came. They all loved the day and the treats.

Rex helping Oscar

Our Missionaries  (with one boy extra)- a fun group

Elder Sieberts helping cover the windows. Gotta love him!

The Elders made short work of covering the windows with plywood.
They are always willing to serve.

We love you!