A post from our Fiji 2 Trip Leader

We have had BEAUTIFUL weather (today is the first rain we've seen this entire trip!), and as a result the work projects are progressing quite quickly. We are constructing 5 bathrooms and 6 septic tanks out of cinder blocks and wood. We've spent this week laying the blocks (LOTS of cement mixing) and today we are putting the walls up on our bathrooms and sanding them. Next week we'll construct covers for the septic tanks, paint the walls, and put on the finishing touches. Our village is full of friendly people and extremely outgoing little children -- it's getting harder and harder each day for me to get our participants to say goodbye and get on the bus in the afternoons.

The Samabula Ward is extremely welcoming and fun. We've had a great time attending a full week of activities, including a movie night at the Coconutohnecolor Cinema (constructed in the back half of the Cultural Hall) complete with "3D glasses" made out of palm fronds and a concessions stand. During our first Sunday one of our local coordinators bore a powerful testimony to the ward about the importance of HEFY's work and the great impression that the Fiji 1 trip gave of the LDS Church to the village of Nabundrau. It was really cool to hear that the work we are doing makes a difference, not just in the physical facilities we build but also in the way we carry ourselves and execute our work. It was a great motivator for our first workday the next morning.

At the request of the Samabula bishopric we put together an Independence Day celebration for the ward's youth and YSAs on Wednesday. It was pretty rockin' -- hand-drawn decorations, Americana singalongs (accompanied by Savannah on ukulele!), relay races, baseball, American football, ice cream, and, of course, fireworks at the end of The Star-Spangled Banner...supplied by 12 liters of Diet Coke and Brad's inexplicably endless supply of Mentos. Watching the participants rally together and pool their resources and creativity to put on a great party and share our culture with the youth in Fiji was a trip highlight for me -- I woke up the next morning still smiling!

Another trip highlight was our visit to the Suva temple on Thursday to do baptisms and confirmations for the dead. It was a special experience, made even more special by the inclusion of some participants' family names. There was a lovely spirit there and we are grateful that we got to share that moment with each other.

Tomorrow we are off to go net fishing at Brother Magoon's house and then to the church for Kareoke Night(!!!). The ward will be cooking lovo for us, a traditional Fijian dinner that takes all day to prepare and is cooked in an underground oven. Then another Sunday with the Samabula Ward (we could all really use a day of rest), three more days finishing up our work projects in the village, and we'll be on our way home!

 

Fiji 2 update by: Lauren Bray