1. Senior couples holiday party- Woods- 2. Caroling with candles
- 3. Haircut in cage by Hindi barber
- 4. Pool party by our apartment
- 5. Fiji Christmas tree
- 6. Mom's new hair and woven round rug
- 7. Area Pres. Elder Baxter- British-"The brethren are hoping that the new US Pres.(Obama) will open more doors"
- Lillies- Pacific Harbor
- Sunset Suva-Victoria Parade
- Pacific Harbour lilly pond
- All photos taken by Mom
Well hello from the great island of Fiji !! I must say that we are remiss, sorry and just plain lazy…the truth is I have been writing and didn’t send all of you any of my stories. To begin.... our regional rep [Pres. Wakolo] and our area rep {Pres. Baxter} have invited the Ensign editor and the area editor of the New Zealand Ensign to Fiji to interview members for stories and to do a workshop with 8 writers. [me is one of the eight !] They were looking for stories of the Pacific and were just plain desperate…just my qualifications. Dear Br. Wettstein just gave a loud cough and a very small, but audible , amen. All of the Church’s publications were covered. The New Era is for young adults and they told how to slant an article into that mag. Ants are falling off the ceiling-that is why I just can’t spell. I cannot kill those tinny buggers. They are the color of all of my 5 million freckles and seem to move around , too. Last night a small gecko fell on my head while in bed. I was so proud…I didn’t even yell or scream…just dusted that puppy off and went to sleep. Found him dead , in my green flip flops this morning. Bula.! In the curtains over our bed a huge momma gecko lives. She screeches often and I saw her again this morning- I guess looking for junior. She is as big as my entire index finger, plus her tail. She has my respect. Her mother or twin lives behind our pitiful frig. She is mouthy too…screech ..screech..etc. We had a couple from the burning west of FIJI, L AUTOKA [they burn the old sugar cane crop each year and give everyone lung problems or cancer yearly] Anyways, the Bothwells are CES..church seminaries and institute missionaries and stayed 2 weeks. In our bug trap love nest. [ha, ha, ha, still true on all counts] Br. Bothwell is a bug freak and he was totally freakified for 2 weeks. Maybe it is spawning season here in Fiji.? Br. Wettstein takes that extra wide clear tape and taped our back door closed-all around..even the floor to keep out bugs and mice. We never said the M word for fear Br. B would bolt. Still he is poor just like all of the rest of us..and I guess that he really was between a rock and a hard spot. If he would just give up that darn flash light or torch as they say here..he would just step on the ..stuff moving around. Next time I’ll steal his batteries. A note on the Lord’s qualifications for missionaries- Br. B has a doctorate from Harvard and teaches seminary teachers who live in remote villages with no power. Only have sunlight to see with. This one village needs a 4 wheel -drive [which they don’t have] to get there and huge screaming lungs to get back down. Side bar note: they take turns praying and screaming while lunging down the mountain side. And those bugs freak him out?? Sister Bothwell was left a note from the last missionaries about what to bring for all meetings : such a most important piece of knowledge passed down from the last missionaries consisted of this info…always bring chocolate cake for all lessons. No need to tell the rest of the story…you all know it already. No one came until the cake came first. Feed the soul chocolate and then feed the soul the gospel. Best combo yet. We are still on good terms with the Bothwells. Oh yea, the reason I started this story was to tell you all how wonderful for the Bothwells it was, to be able to work in the Suva Temple during their down time. They are all by themselves in the west..no other missionary couples, that is.
So I am rewriting some copy [new lingo] and have set next week for my first email. The Pacific has the Liahona, New Zealand Ensign, New Era, Friend and general church stories that can be sent into local papers to boost church recognition. The main thrust, though, is to sell more Liahonas in the Pacific. This will build unity and teach, too. If we get enough work they will add 2 pages for Fiji into the Liahona.
The temple compound here is almost finished. We will have the mission home on site , 3 missionary apts, presidents temple home, and a 2 story building that will house 70 patrons on site and all of the churches business offices needed for the island of Fiji. The entire area has been a perpetual mud pit – ever since we arrived. The first thing that our new temple pres did was to go out and buy ..muk boots! They are the Woolleys and are from Canada. Also we are getting boxing day off and sat the 27 of December as our close down for the Christmas holiday. Bula Canada, our last pres gave us only Christmas day off for the entire year! We think that President Wells felt sorta bad about the time off thing and before he left he gave the new calendar year 5 days off. All of the missionaries, including the mission office missionaries are going to see the cultural exhibit at Pacific Harbor. Fire walkers , lovo food and all of the culture you can find about folks who were still cannibals into the 1850’s. After we see the show I’ll fill you in on the mystery of fire walking and how they can heal with their hands those who have been burned. Amazing!!
The other day during a temple session I finally figured out that we have only 7 months or so left to finish our mission!!!!! I have been telling everyone that we had 9 months left…wrong honey, wrong.Br. W and I have been so blessed here in Fiji. Byron was able to pull up New Family Search here in Fiji and we have been able to do the temple work for his family into the late 1500’s. His family has some Jewish background and is from Switzerland. His great grandfather joined the church at the turn of the century, 1900, [he was 12] and eventually all of the family came to the west coast and all had joined the church in Switzerland. In doing their baptisms and family work I have come to know that they didn’t know that they were Jewish until after their deaths, now here in Fiji, are all united in the gospel. These Jewish women had a perfect knowledge of the temple and all of its power. It was a touching and memorable event in our lives to be here in Fiji with them! The spirit is so profound and powerful with them. We had to have our regional authority baptize Br. W for these ancestors because the temple men here are tiny fellows and Br. W just couldn’t get dunked properly. [President Wakolo is about the same height but outweighs him by 50 lbs]. I was baptized too, and had forgotten how hard it is to get up each time. When the Wettsteins left Switzerland they brought much of their genealogy back to the 1500’s…wow. The first clue however was the simple name of Solomon Wettstein . ews . Another little note on Br. W family. His mother’s name is Cahoon and is a direct line from Reynolds Cahoon and Thirza Stiles. Reynolds Cahoon was in the D&C and it was his new baby boy that the Prophet Joseph named Mahonri Moriancumr Cahoon! [the name of the brother of Jared] They called him Honni. Thirza Stiles Cahoon had a Jewish background herself and was a Christian. Both read the Book of Mormon and then went to meet the Prophet Joseph. They joined the church when it was 6 months old. Sold their business and moved with the saints as they traveled toward the west. Work has been done on that line, but our friend will look at them as American Jews and that could bring us a different look into their past, until today. Sounds very interesting. I had forgotten how much I have missed writing and just talking with all of you.
We just had the Annual Christmas broadcast yesterday and it was so grand! I am sure some of you are a week late like us too. It was so…Christmassy… We needed that since it is so hot here and that doesn’t feel very cool and like Christmas. At home in Houston it is 82 degrees now and just last week there were a few snow flurries in College Station [aggieland] and April made a 2 foot snow man!!! He was mostly [new word] all snow and they have sent us a photo. It reminds of the first time little Amber made her first tiny snow man in Houston when she was tiny and weighed only 19 lbs and was 2 !!!. . Back to the broadcast. We loved it like “Gone with the Wind” love, boy did we need that. Here Christmas is a day of reflection about the Savior. Few gifts, if at all are given. A note from our dear friends the Bothwells. While here they found some extra coins and bought 2 tiny packs of crayons and 2 simple childrens coloring books and took them back to Lautoka for a new members kids. These little girls had been praying for colors for 2 years, somethings we just can’t understand. When theses girls received their gifts they just stood and cried. The parents have been over whelmed with all of the Lords blessings they have received. They had been taught how the Spirit works, but were not prepared… to receive blessings. The family [is Fijian] has tribal family land land and lives in a metal house.[and yes the walls are that corrugated metal that is used on the roof] We as a couple have been buying pencils by the box to give the LDS Primary School before we go home.. [our goal is 1,000 pencils…have 360 so far] Also our greater extended family has decided to forgo gifts and we are saving up to paint the village school of Navutulevu [nauvoo 2 lay voo] along Queens highway. This is the village of our almost school teacher Joeli from the Singatoka branch. I will tell his story and we have photos, too. The village sits along the coral coast and the Queens highway.
I have sent this email all over the world to our dearest friends who also serve in temples. Our best wishes and eternal love to all. We do miss our families and that missing part of us is filled with their love and their gratitude because we represent their families and their same devotion to our Lord. One day it will be their turn and their families will wait for them, too with love and pride. Love Elder and Sister Wettstein , Temple Missionaries in the Suva, Fiji Temple
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