Fiji Update - Senior Seminar

Fiji Suva Mission Senior Missionaries

The Village

Fresh Coconut

Fijian Handicrafts

"Moce"

Lovo for Lunch

Our Captain!

All suited up and Ready to Go

Loading the boats

Things are good here in Fiji.  We just had a great weekend with all the Senior Missionaries from our mission.  All 25 of us were here in Suva, including those from the outer Islands.  It was so fun meeting everyone and getting to know each other on a different level.  We have 2 new Temple couples that have only been here 2 weeks so it was good to get to know them as well.

President and Sister Ostler in true form!

Our Seminar was a 3 day event including a special temple session with just our group,  good food, teaching presentations, more good food, games, church, more presentations, More good food and a Fireside of sharing photos and experiences from each of the various areas of our mission.  Yesterday we went on an all day excursion going up the Navuau River in Canoes to a village where we learned of the traditions and culture of the village and more good food prepared by the people of the village.  We traveled further up the river where we saw some magnificent waterfalls.  We returned in the late afternoon, exhausted and soaking wet but recharged and ready to get back to work.  Everyone left this morning for their various areas.  It was a great weekend.

The Stenlund's family arrives next week to do a little traveling to Australia and New Zealand with them.  They will then return to their home in Oregon.  Sister Erickson's kids arrive next month to travel and take her home to Idaho.  It will be hard to see them go home but we are the next after them to leave.  We can't believe how fast the time is going now.  We only have less than 5 months but we feel we still have much to do.  We pray that we can accomplish all that we need to do and stay strong as we endure to the end.  We are thrilled that we will be home in time for Chris and Tess's wedding.

Neelam is doing great.  She is still strong and we have grown to love her and her family sooooo much.  It will be very difficult to say goodbye to them.  She has a master plan with her family to move to Nadi to get them away from Billy's Muslem family as they are very opposed to her joining the church.  She feels strongly that if she can get the family away, she can get them to church with her.   She spoke in a missionary fireside a while ago and said that if she could wait 20 years to get permission to go to church then she can wait another 20 years if thats what it takes to get her family to join her.  She is a strong "little" lady.  She took me to 2 Hindu weddings a couple of weeks ago.  We got all dressed up in our Indian Sari's and went of to the festivities of the weddings.  It was a great cultural experience for me although I felt that everyone was staring at me all night.   You don't very often see "white ladies" in Sari's.  I was quite the novelty.

Getting Dressed

All Dressed and Ready to Go!

We have learned so much in this past year and it has definitely been a life changing experience.  We are so grateful for this opportunity.  It has been challenging, but well worth it.  We came here thinking it was our job to change the people here but they have changed us.  We have learned so much about faith, families, and living the gospel in its simplest way.  We have grown to love our Heavenly Father and our Saviour Jesus Christ at a much higher level.