Week 5 - First Days in Fiji

These past couple of days have been crazy!!!! We got off the plane and took a bus 5 hours to Suva, the main city. Then we had dinner with the Mission President, President Layton. He is way cool. We had some orientation then we split up and went and taught. I ended up going with the AP’s to go and teach one of their recent converts. He was a 13 year old kid and he was awesome!! He had kept hearing from his friends that the angel Moroni was a devil and all things bad about the church. But we helped answer his questions and told him the truth.

That night I stayed at the AP’s flat. The next day we went shopping and got all of our sulu’s and got our area calls. We had one of our elders go straight into the Hindi program. He will be the first elder to be trained in Hindi. We were all scared to be that elder. But I am in the Vuna area in the Taveuni Zone. To get to Taveuni it was a plane ride back to Nadi (Nandi) then to Labasa (pronounced Lambasa) then a car to a flat in Savusavu on the island of Vanua Levu. We then woke up and took a boat to Taveuni. I didn’t get any pictures on the ferry because I was sea sick! Then the Vermeeren’s, a senior missionary couple, drove us to Vuna and around to all the villages. They do that once a week.

There are three companionship’s along with the senior couples on Taveuni. I’m on a little island to the side of the two big islands. My flat has running water but it has no pressure so its just a trickle of water. I shower with a bucket and we have rats running all around in our flat. I have to brush the droppings off my sheets before I go to bed each night.

Yesterday at church, I blessed the sacrament Elder Noble passed. Then we were handed the Sunday School manual and taught that. Then we were handed the priesthood manual and taught that. There is no structure here. For the lessons, I just introduced myself then Elder Noble explains that I’m new and they understand. I just listen and write down words I don’t know, then when we are walking I ask Elder Noble what they mean. They understand English but it is way respectful to speak Fijian, they listen more and like you. 

We can’t buy anything in Vuna. There are 0 shops. On P-Day, which is today, I wash my clothes by throwing everything into a bag and ride the bus with my companion to Somosomo where we use the washer in the elders flat. The elders that are on the north side of Taveuni do the same thing. We all come to Somosomo for P-day and stay overnight then go back to Vuna tomorrow. We have never eaten breakfast and we normally eat one meal a day that is provided by different members. I have eaten eggplant, curry, cassava, lemon leaf tea, and rice with eggs and chicken and onions. I love it all!

To get to all the villages we walk. The closest village that we go to is 30 minutes away so as we are walking me and my comp Elder Noble and I talk a lot, mostly it is him teaching me Fijian. Elder Noble is from Mesa, AZ and has been out for 10 months. I am his first trainee. We are teaching about 15 people right now. My Fijian is getting better, but most of everything goes right over my head. The people here are great. There is one family that I love already. They are the Alafi family. They are really funny and Bro. Alafi is the Branch President in Vuna. We are working hard and earning our pillows!!! I love and miss all of you guys!!!!

Moce,
Elder Brown 

View outside our flat

Outside of the mission home in my new sulu!!