It’s about 4:30am and I’ve been up since 2:30 with a mind
grinding over a call today from President Klingler. He informed us that we would very likely be
transferred soon to the northern island of Taveuni. He’s working on a problem with another senior
couple there, the Kennerlys, who have some health issues that likely will
require they come to the main island.
Things are not set yet but we will likely go in a week or two. Wow – can’t quite get our minds around that.
The young missionaries come and go frequently – every 6
weeks to 3 months and we get used to having them make a quick announcement and
be gone in a day or two. It’s been sad
to see the good ones go, and happy to see others leave. But in the midst of that, we begin to feel
like “grandma and grandpa” who never go anywhere. We were never sure if we would get a single
transfer during the mission or stay the whole time in Ba. Senior couples get sent to difficult and
struggling areas and you plan on being there for a long time in hopes of making
a difference. So being in Ba for 9
months has endeared us to so many, sunk our roots deeply into the challenges
and joys of these people, and began to feel “like home” (at least as much as
possible when you’re away from home).
Leaving Ba will be hard – never really thought we’d feel
that way, but it will be heart rending to leave behind people we’ve grown to
love so much. And we have 3 people we’ve
been preparing to go to the temple for the first time and we so looked forward
to being in Suva with them for that sacred and wonderful event in their
lives. We’re also intimately tied into
the leadership of the ward here. We’ve
been frustrated at the slow progress as leaders come to find out just what it
means to lead amidst the reality of their lack of experience, education, and a
culture that is anything but organized and effective. So we now are faced with questions of just
how effective we were at enabling them to go on without a senior couple to
guide them. No doubt, we’re gonna shed
some tears as we drive away from Ba for the last time (but they won’t be for
the floods, heat, constant ash from the sugar mill, etc. which we are
gratefully leaving behind!).
On the bright side, we get to see another part of Fiji and have
a change from some things we won’t mind leaving behind in Ba. And we are being sent to what is known as the
most beautiful of the Fijian islands – Taveuni, the “garden island.” From talking to other missionaries and
looking on the web, we find that it is a preserved island with small population
(about 13,000), 26 miles long and 7 miles wide.
Much of the island is a natural preserve and there are exotic birds,
plants, and natural beauty everywhere.
In addition, the only road goes right along the ocean and we’ll finally
be in the “Fiji everyone was envious of” when we got our mission call. Everywhere you go there are beautiful beaches
(with lots of sharks in the ocean, I might add), small villages of primarily
native Fijians and only a small number of Indians. Given its natural beauty and pristine
preservation of flora and fauna, Taveuni is a tourist destination – not sure if
that’s a good or bad thing when it comes to missionary life.
We have yet to be given permission to talk to the Kennerlys
about their assignment in Taveuni.
Initially, we understand that the Church on the island is small and
struggling. We have thought that Ba was
difficult, but perhaps we are actually going to a more challenging area, we’ll
see as things unfold. Taveuni is more
remote and we understand that shopping for necessities and food is limited and
expensive. We have been told that our
rent there will also be much more than we are paying here in Ba (and that is
worrisome since we just found out that our renters in Corvallis are moving out
and we’ll have to find someone new – bad timing). So, lots of unknowns just now and moving will
be a pain. Even though we don’t have
much as missionaries, we have stocked our apartment quite well and have lots of
flood preparation supplies. We have to fly to Taveuni on a very small plane and
will be swapping trucks with the Kinnerlys so that presents a challenge as to
what to do with our food supplies and all the wonderful gifts we’ve been given
by friends in the states to bless the lives of Fijians here. We just don’t know if we’ll give things away
more rapidly or try to box them up and ship them to Taveuni and what all that
would cost.
I’m full of mixed emotions and racing brain waves and
looking forward to getting this move behind us so we can begin to adjust to a
new area and assignment. It’s mind-boggling to think of another couple coming to Ba (if they assign one), and just
how long it’s taken us to get acquainted with people and find our way around
the incredibly complicated challenge of many, many villages spread over a large
area. With no maps, no directions, and
no physical addresses (house numbers and addresses are a luxury for countries
with a mail delivery system!), it’s taken us months to just find our way around
and locate members spread far and wide.
How will another couple do it??? Well, about the same as we will do when
we get to Taveuni – we just start over and begin to visit villages and meet
people and be told the typical directions of Fijians – “go inside and in front
by the big mango tree and you’ll see one house there; ask them where so and so
lives and they will show you – plenty long way, Elder!”
Farewell to Ba, hello to Taveuni !
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