Temple Trip to Fiji

This is my parents postings about their temple trips with the people of Fanning and Christmas Island. I am posting it to my blog because in some very small way, we got to be part of this experience, and I want to remember these people. When we started Braydens Eagle Scout project, we thought that if we collected extra money, we would donate it to help the families go to the temple in Fiji. This trip is a very expensive trip, especially for these people who make so little. We quickly found out that we couldn't have a scout project go to support one particular religion - so we couldn't collect money for the temple. We were so disappointed. However, the Lord has a way of making miracles happen. My Aunt Lynne took up the cause, and Ira and I also continued with our cause outside of the Eagle Project. We were able to collect way more than we ever dreamed. I am so grateful for the blessings of the temple in my life - and I was so touched to see these special families, who sacrificed so much to be at the temple, get to be sealed with their families for eternity and receive their own temple blessings.

TEMPLE TRIP #1

This is our first group to go to the temple. We will bring a second group in January that is much larger than this group.

Wednesday went very smoothly and eveyone was at the airport on time with all their paperwork and luggage. You have never seen luggage like they use here, suitcases, ice chests, buckets, boxes what have you. But it all works and the airline is used to it and takes it all in stride.

Here is a picture of the group as we were waiting to board.

We arrived in Fiji about 10 pm and a van from the temple was waiting for us. After a struggle to load everything it was a long tiring ride to the temple, about 3 1/2 hours. We got to the temple about 2 am and the housing director was waiting for us, gave us a short introduction to the housing and sent us to our rooms. Our room was a typical hotel room but it was bigger than our whole house and had a QUEEN size bed!! Some of the others had private rooms like we did but most stayed in the dormatories. Between the dormatories was a big dining room with a large kitchen where they could do their own cooking and one of the stakes from Fiji brought in dinner every night.

The temple grounds are just beautiful and the view is spectacular.

Our first day was spent getting paper work and clothing and then finally in the afternoon we actually were in the temple. The staff were absolutely wonderful and made everything go so smoothly. There were many tears of joy as the people began to see their dream come true.

I want to save the best for last so I am now going to show you some of the island pictures. It is so green and so beautiful there, I just could not get enough of looking at the scenery and flowers. It was also a joy to be in a city again with stores and restaurants ect. We spent a lot of our freetime in town as did the other people. Can you imagine what it was like for those children and some of the adults who have never seen a city. The escalators scared them to death at first and they were just amazed.

Then we went shoe shopping with the extra eagle money the boys sent we bought 50 pairs of flip flops and still had more money but no more room to take them home. We will have to get some more next time. There is a shoe store owned by a member here where the quality is better than the cheap flea market ones and she gave us a discount so they only averaged about $4 a pair.

On Tuesday we finished up the ancesteral sealings at the temple and then had the afternoon to pack and clean the building and get ready to leave. The lady in the blue top in the group picture was from Christmas and her husband, Kaitiiti, is still here while her and the children are in Fiji so they can get a good education. They haven't seen each other for about 3 years. She came the first day we arrived and stayed and went through each session and her daughter helped baby sit and just in general she was the unofficial caretaker of our people the whole time. She is such a sweet lady.

I told you I would save the best for last and here it is. The whole reason for the trip.

I wish you could see the pictures I have in my head of these families being sealed together in the temple.

In the next picture is Tureta. She is a returned missionary and has been married before. Then when she divorced as in the the Kiribati custom her 4 children were taken by an uncle and adopted out to other family members so she was alone. She has been married to this man about 3 years and was so happy to be able to be sealed to him. She is 47 years old and is expecting another baby, we pray all will be well.

The two little boys are normally pretty rowdy little characters, especially the second one but when they brought them into the sealing room their black eyes were as big as saucers and they were quiet as little mice. When they were told to kneal at the alter and hold hands they could barely see over the top and barely reach but they did exactly as they were told. It was so sweet I just can't describe it.




Kaota is a single guy about 30 years old. He has had kind of a rough life but is so faithful and tries so hard. He would do anything for anyone.

This is Kamoki and family. When they signed up to go I didn't know how we could ever get him there in his condition but it all worked out. When they brought him into the first room his wife leaned over and said " He looks so handsome". It was another tender moment to see this family sealed together.

Here is a final picture of the whole group. What a great group of people they are, it was such a joy to us to be able to participate in this great experience.

TEMPLE TRIP #2

The temple was another wonderful experience, it was extremely nerve wracking when the airline canceled half our tickets 2 days before our flight and we had to hurry and re schedule half of the people for the following week. Kent and I went with the first group and then stayed for the second group so we were there two weeks. It would have been heavenly if we hadn’t gotten sick.

We had to take the group from Fanning the first week as there was hope they would get back in time to catch a boat home and not have to wait until March for the next ship.

This is a family from Fanning. They are the Maiaa family. He was raised by parents who were strong in the church and he is keeping that tradition. His wife is a convert, they are so sweet.

This is the Tabanna Iotua Tebukei family with there twin boys. They have three older children who were taken away by family when she was pregnant with the twins. They tried to get at least one of them back, (who had not been legally adopted) to take to the temple but they did not succeed. When he first went to open the temple doors and saw all the people in white he thought they were angels. What a humble great couple.

The other family that went on this first trip are Meeri and Tebukie Teannaki from Banana. Their two oldest girls go to school on Tarawa at Moroni so they met us at the temple. What darling girls they are! The youngest girl just passed the test to go to Moroni too so she left right after they got home. So now they only have the little boy at home.

It is a great honor to get chosen to go to Moroni and a far superior education so families make great sacrifices for their kids to get a good education. I don’t think I could let mine leave home at 12 or 13 and be gone the rest of their school years except for a short visit during the year end break.

This is Teorabati Tiinga and family, they have one more son who is married and couldn’t come with them. The mother thought she was seven months pregnant but she gave birth the very day they got back on Christmas Island!! Then she was on the boat two days later and back home. Their oldest daughter Mere stayed with us the second week and then flew to Tarawa with another girl to go to Moroni High School. They are just a wonderful family.

These people probably made the greatest sacrifice as they have been away from their homes for about two months. Three weeks of that time is spent on those boats going from island to island loading and unloading cargo. I am such a baby I couldn’t stand that for two days let alone three weeks but it was the only way to get here and they wanted to come so bad.

When they left home they thought it might be three to four months before they would get back. These couples represent the first people ever from Fanning Island to go to the temple. What a great day!! Even the temple workers said there was something special about this group and we felt it too.

The Fanning branch president sacrificed and stayed home to watch over the branch so all these other leaders could come. He and his family will be on the boat this weekend and we will get to send them off before we leave.

TEMPLE TRIP #3

It is interesting how each group has been so different and yet all so special in their own way. This next set of pictures is the group that got bumped last week and came last. As one of them said,

“the first shall be last and the last shall be first.”

This man is Teen Langley with his wife and boys. They have both been married before and have other children but these two are theirs together. Teen has a lot of German blood as well as Kiribati and he did many generations of family history to turn in for temple work. He was the man we put in charge of getting this group to the airport and on the bus to the temple. We knew he could do it and he did. The big surprise was at the end of the week he told us they were going to stay in Fiji permanently!! He wants to work in the temple and he is retired so I guess he can do that. So we said goodbye to them when we headed back to Christmas. While we were at the temple he and his wife brought us a big breakfast every morning besides buying us a bag of groceries!

The Akamatang family are dear people. They were baptized just about the time we got here. He is so humble and she is so dedicated. They have just blossomed in the church.

Their previous church has tried very very hard to get them back and it is easy to see why, they are great. They left their oldest two children in Fiji with Teen Langley so they can go to school there. Another of those sacrifices! This is the family that left their home and went out into the bush for three months and cut copra to earn the money to go to the temple.

This lady is Teen Atabi. She is a widow and had planned to bring 4 of her six children to the temple but her husbands parents, who have the three teenagers on another island, refused to let them come. Her older two daughters are not members of the church. So she was sealed to her husband, this daughter, two deceased children and her parents.

This is another family that are dear to our hearts. Tawea and Tarema Teauae.

We got to know them soon after they were transferred to Christmas Island. We went with the sister missionaries to give these two young boys the missionary lessons and then see them baptized. When they were transferred here they left their three teenagers at Moroni

So this is the final group and the end of a great experience. I’m sure it will stay with me as the highlight of my mission.

Many thanks to all of you who helped make this possible, I know you will be blessed for your goodness.

We won’t get to take a picture of President Teituki and his family at the temple, as we can’t go with them. Luckily Teen Langley will be there to greet them and watch out for them while they are there so they won’t be alone. This is a picture of them at the airport as they were leaving to go. This is the Fanning Branch President who stayed behind so that the rest of his branch leadership could go. Now it is his and his families turn to experience the joys of the temple.

UPDATE: This is President Teituki's family at the temple.