31 Days to Go!

Everywhere we go we run into Missionaries!

Celebrating Neelam's Birthday at Denarau

We are down to our last month here in Fiji.  Time is going quickly and we both agree that this is a fun time of our mission for us.  We have been able to think back on all of the things that we have experienced.  We laugh a lot about all the crazy phone calls we have gotten from sick missionaries and missionaries who try to explain how they wrecked their vehicles.  Of course it was never their fault!  We both agree that we will be glad to not have to deal with some of the headaches that have come with our jobs here but we also agree that we will remember this experience with fondness forever.

Last weekend we were in Nadi for Church.  At Sacrament meeting we met 2 couples traveling here from California.  We visited with them for quite a while after Church and began sharing stories from our mission.  Later that evening they looked us up at the hotel we were staying at and invited us to go to dinner with them.  We continued to share experiences with them and told them stories about our mission.  Yesterday, they came to the Temple here in Suva and we went downtown with them afterwards for lunch and to show them the city we have grown to call "HOME".  As we shared with them we realized how much this experience has become our life for the past year and a half.  All of the difficult times took a back seat in our minds and we remembered and shared many wonderful experiences.  We have realized more than ever how grateful we are for this experience.  Was it "hard"?  Yes, very hard but has it been "worth it"  most definitely.  We have learned through our lives that the things that really make us happy and that make a difference in our lives have not been "EASY".  This is one of those experiences.

We had the chance this past weekend to celebrate Neelam's Birthday with her in Nadi.  She is now working at the Jack's in Denarau.  She has been there month and is already earned the "Employee of the Month"  award.  She is a very special person.  She is waiting for her family to join her the first of December.  This journey for her has not been easy but we continue to reassure her that her Heavenly Father will guide her through her journey.  The thing we have learned through our experience of meeting her and her conversion is that things like this experience don't just happen by chance.  Heavenly Father is mindful of each of us as individuals and he gives us opportunities that we would never dream of.  We both believe strongly that Neelam is one of the reasons we came to Fiji.  There are many reasons we feel that we were guided here but we can't help but feel especially blessed to have been her link to joining the church.   As we hear of many experiences of conversion it builds upon this belief we are guided into the lives of others when we would least expect it.  It all happens with a purpose.  Our job is to recognize the opportunities and to take advantage of the opportunities as they arise.  What a blessing our experience with her has been in our lives.  It will be very difficult to say goodbye to her and her family.

As we approach this point in our mission we have become very reflective of all the things we have done, the experiences we have shared and  people we have met.  Although we are so excited to return home to our family we are also feeling very nostalgic. As we look back over the past 17 months the one word that would sum up our experience is "Gratitude."  How grateful we are for this opportunity in our lives.  We have been blessed in so many ways.  We have grown close to and have learned from people we would never have had the opportunity to know.  We have seen things we would never have had and we have had many life changing experiences. The blessings that have come to us and our family are unbelievable.

We have felt the love, support and prayers from family and friends.    We look forward to being back home with great anticipation.  (31 days to go!)