Week in Fiji

Suva, Fiji Temple was dedicated in 1990

On Monday July 9th we flew to Fiji for a doctors appointment.  We were supposed to be met in Nadi by some missionaries because there was a 6 hour lay over.  We missed connections so we spend our time in the airport trying to entertain ourselves.  We finally boarded a smaller commercial airliner and took a 22 minute flight from Nadi to Suva.  We were met at the airport by Elder Whiting (the mission nurse for Fiji).  He drove us to the Fiji temple where we were housed for the week.  The accommodations were very nice and reasonable ($10.00 per person per night).

It was good to get to the temple, we were able to attend 4 sessions during our stay there.  It is a beautiful temple and most of the sessions were in English.  We did attend one session in Fijian and used ear phones, we also were able to participate in a sealing session while there.  

The temple president is Eb Davis who was the mission president of Fiji in the early 1980's.  He brought the first 6 Kiribati missionaries to serve beginning in 1985.  From that humble beginning, there are now over 14,000 LDS in Kiribati of its 100,000 residents.  I gave Pres. Davis my wiki site: www.Kiribati-lds-pioneers.wikispaces.com/ and asked if he would write his history working in Kiribati, when he found some time.  He will be at our stake conference in August along with Elder Pearson of the 70 and President Shaw.  They are going to fly all the missionaries from the outer islands including Christmas Island to come to the conference.

View of Fiji from the airplane as we approached Nadi

Another view of Fiji from the airplane

Fiji has small mountains unlike Tarawa where the
highest point if 3 meters

Medical Update:

Our medical adventure began at the Tarawa Hospital where I went with Brother and Sister Bonnemort for ultrasound which was then send to the doctors in Salt Lake City. 

The first photo below shows Elder Bonnemort and in the waiting room, which is benches outside under a patio, you can see the water supply tank in the background.   Foreigners are supposed to pay $35.00 for the ultrasound but there was no one at the hospital who knew how to take our money, so it ended up being free.  I have never had that type of problem at a U.S. hospital or doctors office.

The ultrasound equipment was quite old so it didn't show the blood flow, which made it necessary to go to Fiji for another ultrasound and a doctors checkup.  The photos taken were sent by Sister Bonnemort to Salt Lake and ultimately those taken in Fiji both concurred with the same diagnosis, which was comforting

When we arrived in Fiji, Elder Whiting informed us that the doctor appointment was canceled, because the doctor was ill.  He was able to make an appointment with another doctor at the Suva Private Hospital and ultrasound was also taken. The doctor reviewed the photos and gave his opinion that there was no rupture but a weak area was allowing fluid to drain when I stood too long.  That was what was causing the pain and swelling.  He said I should see another surgeon.

Elder Whiting was able to get me an appointment with a urologist, who after reviewing the ultrasound determined that surgery would not be necessary at this time.  Both doctors gave prescriptions for pain pills.  He also took a blood panel and had the results back to me the next day.  It was good news, which allowed us to return to Kiribati to complete our mission.

Perhaps the most important appointment was for Janis to go to a beautician to have her hair cut (for some reason, she won't let me cut her hair - go figure).  The first trip to a beauty shop in about a year, certainly brightened her day.  Also going grocery shopping at large supermarkets was a fun experience for her -- as was going to a local butcher and having them slice ham for sandwiches.  There were several department stores that had American goods, which was also fun to see, even though we didn't buy anything.  But. be it ever so humble, there is no place like home -- in Kiribati.  It was still good to return to our flat.  All that good food and merchandize in Fiji would have spoiled us if we had stayed much longer.

Week in Suva

We were invited to Elder and Sister Whiteheads for supper on Monday.  The Whiteheads are the new ITEP couple from Ontario, Canada.  After visiting for a while, it appears that Janis is related to Elder Whitehead back several generations.  The Whitings also joined us for a pot roast dinner (the first in about a year for us).  After attending the temple on Tuesday evening we went to supper with the the Whitings, Whiteheads, and another couple from Bountiful.

Elder and Sister Whiting, the mission nurse, were our hosts and took very good care of us on our visit to Fiji. Elder Whiting worked for IHC as a supervisor of outpatient nurses.  They live in the Heber valley area near Wanship dam.

On Wednesday we again had supper to celebrate Elder and Sister Jackson's wedding anniversary, as well as our own, which we were unable to do anything because we were packing for Fiji.  It was a nice restaurant on the ocean with a nice atmosphere.  We ate out two other times at different restaurants, which was a change from the Chinese ones in Tarawa.  On Saturday, we took in a movie at a large screen theater and watched the "Amazing Spiderman", which I enjoyed more than Janis.  (I think she liked it but wouldn't admit it).

On Sunday we attended Church at the Primary School near the temple.  It was in English and we enjoyed meeting many of the Fijian saints there.  After church we were invited to lunch at the mission presidents home.  Which was a very nice home on the temple grounds next to the temple presidents home.  The homes are only about 2 years old and are very lovely and spacious.  Bro and Sister Jarman along with the Whitings also joined us for lunch.  The Jarman's are an older couple who are missionaries working at the Suva Temple and are from Bountiful.

Bishop Balencagi and his family brought some items for us to deliver to their daughter who is a missionary in Tarawa.  Elder and Sister Whiting are also in the picture.

Later Sunday after noon the family of Sister Balenacagi,  a Fijian missionary in Kiribati, brought us some clothes and dried fruit to take back to her.  We also bought back some chocolate for the sister missionaries, which really brightens up their day.  Sister Barlow and Sister Balenacagi came to our flat on the Monday afternoon and we gave them the items from her family.  She was excited, and kept saying this is just like Christmas.  She needed an English Book of Mormon, and when I went to the distribution center to buy it, one of her best friends was working there so I had her write a short note in the cover.  It was really fun to see the joy in Sister Balenacagi face as she opened each package including dried apples her family gave her.  She and Sister Barlow immediately opened the chocolate to have a taste.

View of Tarawa on our return trip

It was an enjoyable week in Fiji and most important was receiving the clearance to complete our mission here.  We were afraid if we had to go to Hawaii or the States for surgery, we may not have been able to return to Kiribati, which we love.  Time is flying by fast, we will have been out for one year in a few weeks.