Fall Begins in April?

The month of April was incredibly busy and seems to now be a blur! Had General Conference, Easter, spoke in church, taught Relief Society, hosted all the senior couples for an Easter Dinner and tried to keep up with hungry missionaries and eager English students....whew!! Our days are filled with activity and joy in the work of the Lord!

 The obligatory harbor photo for the month! 

Always a delight - every evening and morning are unique!

On our way home from the Hamilton Temple we noticed hundreds of 

pampas grass plants in full bloom. Had to stop and get a photo. So very fluffy!

 Sister Lesa Stevenson was in town with Bishop Stevenson for some DTA training. I was so happy that she thought to invite me to a brunch in her honor. Brought back so many Tokyo memories! 

Not every day do you get to visit with 4 GA wives and several DTA wives from all over the world. All were delightful to "brunch" with!

 Spent our latest Pday investigating some NZ history. 

This Historical village was very interesting. Wondering what "fencible" means...

the village was built to be defensible against foreign intruders.

This beautiful home was owned by a rather wealthy Irish farmer named McLaughlin. Most of the Irish immigrants came to New Zealand about 1850 during the Potato Famine. Most were destitute and agreed to come as ex-militia to build and offer support to the new settlers in the Auckland area.

 Thought some of you girls would enjoy seeing the nursery in this grand old house

 This old pump organ was a prominent piece in the parlor area. Very well preserved!

 Each one of the cottages displayed every day living routines and were small with a loft area for the children in the rafters. This home had a nice display of elegant clothing from the day...the handicraft work was superb!

These were hanging on the wall of the old courthouse. Very heavy to say nothing of the ball 

and chain outside the courthouse front door!

The general store looked like it had been stocked yesterday!

 Not sure what these flowers were growing outside this cottage, 

but they certainly caught my eye!

 When the immigrants arrived, they were expecting to find cottages built, but the locals had not prepared for their arrival. Many lived in these sod houses for almost a year until a wooden cottage could be constructed.

Here is an example of the two room cottage that housed a couple and their 6 children!

 The Millers place was reminiscent of the song,"Down by the Old Mill Stream" as we watched the water pour in and turn the water wheel that was used to grind the grain.

The small store that housed the children's toys was charming!

 Of course the village schoolhouse and church were visible and well attended. The chapel can be rented for weddings and the village hosted an Easter celebration recently as well. The history tour was so informative. The sky was blue and the birds were singing...what is not to love about this beautiful country and its diverse population!

Waiheke Island and Fiji - Bula Vinaka

It has been a very eventful month here in paradise! The missionaries have been doing well for the most part, but we still continue to battle Dengue Fever in the islands and of course there are the usual number of bush knife, bicycle and other accidents and illnesses. The applications continue to pour in. So many faithful young people in this area, especially the island nations!

Well, maybe you are tired of our changing view out the window, but we are not....always so beautiful day or night, rain or shine!

We finally were able to locate the Southern Cross constellation with a little help from an amateur astronomer! Certainly not on this moonlit night!

Elder Brown always justified having his own plane by saying
" You can't fly a house, but you can always live in an airplane"
Seeing this creative hot air balloon over the harbor I beg to differ! HA!

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We joined a few other couples and took the ferry to Waiheke Island for a Pday.
Was very quaint  and we enjoyed a nice lunch and a chance to look
around this well-visited island.

Elder Taylor relaxing in the shade.

Elder & Sister Broberg, Sister Brown, Sister Taylor and Elder Brown enjoying Waiheke Is.

Rather comfortable carved chair...from one tree stump!

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On to Fiji!

After getting up at 4AM and landing in Nadi (pronounced Nandi) we finally made our way up the West side of Viti Levu (the main island) and visited numerous health facilities and physician offices. No, Dorothy this is not Kansas! With the exception of a few clinics that serve the tourists, the country is very third world and some of the facilities we viewed were lacking in all but the very basics. This has given us an idea of what can and cannot be done for our missionaries in the islands. Fiji has the best medical care in the Pacific Islands, so this has given us a valuable perspective. Was a tiring 7 days, but well worth the bumpy roads and hot, sticky weather!

Lest you think we slaved away and stayed in a hut, be assured that we found decent places to stay as Sister Brown needs her sleep!!
Voli Voli Beach Resort was our first stop after a long day...but well worth the drive over 3km of rutted dirt roads!

Actually this was the best part of the dirt road. In some areas it was gullied and nearly washed away from the rains!!

Woke up the next morning and this was the view off of our deck!

Voli Voli is a diving Resort, but we just enjoyed the view for a few hours over breakfast, then back on the road!

Everywhere we went our dear Sister Limburg (island nurse) had arranged for the missionaries to meet us and show us the facilities in each area. As you can see Elders Abplanalp and Peterson are in traditional sulus and sandals. They are both taller than anyone else we had seen on the island...great young missionaries!!

The houses in the countryside are mostly tin roofs with simple board structure. Many are on stilts to help with water drainage and to keep things cooler. Very few people in the villages have running water, electricity or indoor plumbing of any kind. Many still cook over open fires and wash by hand. The one thing that almost all the village houses did have- brightly colored curtains blowing in the breeze!

Found this little gem out in the countryside. This hut is a more an old traditional building
and is made from woven bark with a thatched roof. Very few of these left to be seen.

By comparison the city of Suva (capital) is quite modern and sports numerous 8-10 story buildings. There are buses and taxis galore as most cannot afford a car when the minimum wage is 2 dollars and hour! Mostly western dress in the city and many Indians here. Apparently when a British colony, the Indians were brought in to do much of the labor. The Fijians, like most islanders, are pretty laid back!

 In this waiting room of a doctors office you can see many Indian and Fijian faces. The Fijians all have tight curly hair and resemble Africans while the India folks are finer featured and have straight hair. Lovely people! The Fijians are so friendly! They all want to shake your hand and every one of them has a big smile and a quick "Bula" for a greeting! Loved them!!

After seeing much of Viti Levu, we took a plane to the north island of Vanua Levu. Tiny airport, they did not even care what flight we were on! HA! Drank my water right through "security". Too funny! The baggage was unloaded from the plane and brought into the airport on the baggage cart...everyone dug around to find their bags!

This photo was taken from our little plane. This is for you Autumn...the 80 mile reef
makes for world class diving!!!

On the south shore of Vanua Levu we were able to see the medical facilities in the town of Savusavu. Not far from here are all the resorts that you see in the travel brochures. Sad to say they were all fenced, so you had to pay to enjoy the view. We thought the view from our little hotel was certainly breathtaking with the early morning mist in the air!

Looking out to the harbor island, we were told that there is a new resort going in there.
Very charming harbor area with that gorgeous light turquoise water!

Made it back to Suva to spend one more night with President and Sister Klingler. Stellar people and so very kind and careful with their amazing missionaries! We love them!!

We were able to address the zone leaders at their conference and were thrilled with the spirit we felt! Some of them came in barefoot and in Sulus, and this picture was priceless!

Before we left we had the opportunity to attend the Fiji Temple. It is the same floor plan as the Spokane Temple. Was delightful to be there with the three young ladies from Kiribati who were getting their endowments before embarking on their missionary service!

Went out to dinner with Sister Limburg and Sister Newsom. They are great gals and Sister Limburg has been instrumental in keeping all those missionaries going in Fiji....I am sure she will be an expert on Dengue Fever along with many other things! We SO appreciate her!!

Enjoyed the dinner on this floating restaurant!

Our drive back to the other side of the island (Nadi) was punctuated with the usual resorts and interesting ocean views like the one above. I call it dolphin point!! There is only one paved road on the island and it circles all the way around...Kings Rd on the south and Queens Rd on the north. Everything else is gravel and dirt!

Besides encountering potholes to lose a VW in, we nearly missed goats, horses and cows that wander all over the roads. Although the most dangerous are the people who walk in the road and at night, they are dark, their clothes can be dark and they are slow to move off the highway...these goats had the good sense to move!

This mountain can be seen from many places around the island and is called "The Thumb"
Makes sense! Fascinating landscape...was odd to see Palms and Pines in the same place!

Coming into Nadi we saw the Sri Subramaniya Temple. Many Hindus living on the islands. Also saw numerous mosques, temples and churches.

Have to admit, it was an amazing trip! Very exhausting, but full of beauty and my, did we learn a lot!! Back to the office to attack our assignments with renewed vigor! 

Oh the joys of serving the Lord!