Supporting the Branch Members and a Tradiitional Lovo

We have had a busy last few weeks and this next week is not any different. We have a Zone Conference in Tavenui starting Thanksgiving Day. The presiding authority will be Elder Cardon of the Area Presidency for the South Pacific. We leave on Thursday and come back the following Tuesday. Sister Roberts will be baking this week and while we are there to provide meals for the leadership of the District, the Mission, and President Cardon and, of course, the missionaries.

I hope this blog is easy to read and entertaining.

Makalesi is the young girl that Jackie is tutoring in English. She is now reading on a 1^st grade level. She is 13 but never did learn to read or write English. She is a sweet girl and so much fun to listen to as she reads, with her new found vocabulary. She is using RAZ Kids from Alpine School District.

Sister Rabuka (pronounced "Rambuka"). She has been a member of the church for 35 years and lost her husband to a heart attack a few years ago. She is the relief society president in the branch. She was able to attend the temple last week for the first time. We were able to teach her with the Temple Prep classes this past month. When she was there and interviewing with the mission president, she discussed being sealed to her husband when she goes to America next year. President Layton told her that would not wait and get her sealed to him after she received her own endowments. Fortunately, her daughter had done his work so she was sealed to her husband last Friday. She called us after she got out of the temple with the good news. She could not hold it in and wanted us to know of her good fortune at the temple.

This is a “Lovo”. In Hawaii it would be called a Luau. A fire is started and rocks are placed in the fire. When the rocks are sufficiently hot, maybe 3-4 hours in the fire, the men move the rocks and dampen the flames. They then put palm leaves and banana leaves on the hot stones. Other men are fixing the pig, chicken, lobster, or whatever meat you might want. They add vegetables and always casaba, a very starchy root crop. They wrap the meat and vegetables with palm branches with whatever seasoning they want, usually soy sauce. It is then wrapped with banana leaves and everything is placed on the hot rocks and covered with palm and banana leaves. Then they cover with dirt so the entire cooking pit is covered. They leave it and let the heat cook all that is in there. We waited probably 3 hours. It is then dug out and brought to the house to serve. They it with their fingers.

Most of the food is very bland and we are very particular on what we take to eat. I did try the lobster and it was quite good. There was no chicken left by the time we got to the table. (They only cooked one chicken, but two small pigs).

Finally buried with dirt to keep the heat in.

Preparing the pit

Preparing the food.

Most of the food is very bland and we are very particular on what we take to eat. I did try the lobster and it was quite good. There was no chicken left by the time we got to the table. (They only cooked one chicken, but two small pigs).

Live here is very different but the blessings and rewards we receive from the people, especially the children, keeps us going and wanting to do more for those we meet. Learning about and enjoying the culture is also part of the mission experience. The Lord blesses daily as we exercise our faith in Him and speak any promptings that we have. There have been many times when we might be heading home for the evening and one of us get a prompting to go visit one of the less active members we have been working with. It is always a rewarding experience when we follow those promptings.

Diwali (Hindu Holiday)

The Hindu religion has a holiday called Diwali. It is a celebration of one of their religious leader’s birth. I asked a store owner about it, and he is the one who gave me that information. I said that it was like the Christian holiday of Christmas. He replied, “exactly”. It is a celebration of light. The coming from the darkness to the light, leaving evil for good, etc.

It is like three holidays wrapped into one for us; Christmas, Halloween, and the 4^th of July. They decorate their houses with lights and have them lit like we do our Christmas lights. They make goodies so when friends and neighbors stop by they have some “sweets” and the light fireworks all night and even well past midnight lighting them off.

The holiday was on Sunday, October 30^th, and they celebrate all day and then because there is a National Holiday on Monday, they celebrate then too.

They are so accepting of us and others, that if you walk around and then up to a house with the lights on, they will have sweets for you. We visited two different homes last night and it was very nice to share in their holiday. The young girl who is a member was very accepting as was her mother and family who are not members. Her grandfather was in his 80’s so I was not the oldest there.

Hope you enjoy the pictures and videos. We have been to Suva for some Senior MLS missionariy training. Love you all.

Houses decorated with lights

This one is at the end of our paved road and very nice

This a house we visited. We did not know them but they invited us to sit and eat.

This lady lives below our member. Her daughters were dressed to the "nines" as do all the women for this holiday.

This is the "snacks". they were different but quite nice.

These are rice paintings. They die the rice and then put it on the floor in a pattern. This is a peacock.

Inside of our members home

Jackie and some of the girls

They put a light on each of the spots. Not sure what or if it means anything.

Paradise Island Savusavu Carnival

We had a Savusavu Carnival a week or so ago and one of the young sisters in the branch was a queen contestant. There was four days of the carnival. Wednesday thru Friday, it was just and evening event with local and historical entertainment and, of course, the judging of the queen contestants. They problem was that they had lights on the stage but much of the Fijian entertainment was done in front of the stage and there were no lights. Saturday things began with a parade through the entire town and ending at the site of the carnival. It was hot and humid and we had to go home to cool off after the parade and then we came back for the final night of activities. Our girl did not win but she represented herself well. She had support of her family and we spent some of the time at the carnival with them.

We love being here and are learning about the people and the culture every day. The gospel is growing in Fiji and the humble saints are learning the gospel, “line upon line, precept upon precept.”

We Love you all and hope you enjoy the blog.

 Elder and Sister Roberts (Kurt and Jackie, mom and dad, grandpa and grandma)

Jackie and Makalesi, she is being tutored in English

Our contestant being carried (traditional)

Former Branch President's Family

Missionaries returning home Celebration

Just a small interim blog to show some of the activities we can be part of here in Fiji.
When missionaries are leaving, the branch holds a big party for them. The ladies spend a lot of time making a special lei for them. Food is served and the party begins. The missionaries are expected to give a farewell talk at this party. We were a bit concerned that we had not seen the Fijian people have a party or having fun. We were very happy to see that they do have fun and can party with the best of the islanders. Even the small children join in with the dancing, singing and of course the eating of the food.

Here are a few pictures to try to show the feel of the farewell and the fun spirit of the Fijian people.

Elder Lautogia

Elder Court (his lei was still being made)

All the missionaries in the District

Goals, Activation, Serving, Faith

The work here in Fiji continues. Each month the mission sets goals for number of baptisms they think they will get. The zone leaders meet with the president in the Mission Council Meeting once a month. After discussion and prayerful consideration, they set a goal for the mission of the number of baptisms. This goal is based upon feedback from the different zones. Each week of the month the districts meet to discuss progress and ways to be more effective. Each set of missionaries in the district report on those they are working with; what lesson they are on, have they attended church, have they been given a calling, have they given a baptismal challenge and what date they think the baptism will take place. The district leaders then report to zone leaders who report to the president and the mission council.

We are on the North Island of Vanua Levu. Our district is the southern portion of that island. The branches that we are responsible for are Rabi, a small island that is a 45-minute boat ride on a small 14’ fishing boat across the channel between the two islands, Tukavesi, Nabua and Savusavu. Each branch has 2-3 groups that are attached to them. A group is like a HP group in a ward, but they meet on their own except for fast Sunday, when they meet with the branch they are attached to. We try to get to all the places on different Sundays but as you can guess, it is difficult to meet with all of them on a regular basis. But the members are very humble and try very hard to live the gospel in their lives.

We found out that there are over 270 members in the Savusavu Branch. We live in a nearby “village” to Savusavu. As you can see we have plenty opportunities to work with the less actives of the branch. Our problem is that we don’t know who they are. We have requested a printout of the branch members from the clerk and the branch president. We are planning to go through the list and color code those we know, have been working with, and the members that are active. We will then ask the members for assistance to help us make contact with those that have not been to church in a long time. It is a daunting task but we know the Lord will bless us if we stay focused, be diligent, have faith and learn to listen to the spirit.

The Elders need a place to burn some old foam mattresses. We were the only one with a yard.

As you can see, they even have a lumber industry here in Fiji. They have large pine forests on our island. If you get behind one of them, you have a very hard time getting around them. I also put in a picture of one of the many bridges that we have to cross to travel to the northern town of Labasa on this island.

A big yacht at the dock.

We are entering the yachting season. Most are sailboats, but this was huge.

Narrow one-way bring on many rods of the island.

Right of Weight!

Painting a members home.

Today we had the privilege of helping a less active member paint his home. He built this home himself and needed some help with the exterior painting. We bought a tray, roller frames and covers. He already had the paint, it was Swimming Pool Blue. He had never painted anything before and was asking for our help to be the “experts”. The Elders came, so we had 4 painters and one foreman, Sister Roberts. We were able to complete all four sides of the house in about 2 ½ hours. His wife made us lunch. Not sure what it was but it was rice, potatoes and some kind of seasoning. It might have been curry but the mild kind.