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Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Fiji, a Happy Accident October, 08
Side trip to Fiji.....The way to get to Kiribati is by flying to Fiji then connecting to Kiribati. While we were in Kiribati we were asked to provide some training and assistance to the Fiji Service Center. So, we landed in Nadi, Fiji..spent the night and caught a domestic flight across the island to Suva where we were picked up by Sia, an employee of the Suva Fiji Service Center. The plan was to work Wednesday-Friday at the Service Center. After settling into the hotel I left Miriam to wander around the city alone while I went into the Service Center. We were working on better defining the HR role of the employees in the Service Center and strengthening their “service relationship” with the management of S&I. So Paul and Mele and Sia and I worked on understanding HR and our role to the customers. On Friday we met with the salary survey providers to help them better understand our organization in hopes of ensuring the salary data we use makes sense and relates to our organization. The first night in Suva we were able to have dinner with President Ostler and his wife. They are serving in Suva as the Mission President. President Ostler’s wife is Brad Jensen's (my brother in law’s )sister. We had a great visit with them and enjoyed hearing of their great experiences. Thursday afternoon we went on a tour of the new Service Center that is being built next to the temple. They are building a Service Center, Mission President’s home, patron housing & distribution center. Paul Whippy was responsible for the dedication arrangements of the temple. Right before the dedication, there was a big political coup in the country so the government was not allowing any large gatherings. Because of this the dedication was changed to 60 people only. Paul shared with us many faith promoting experiences about the purchasing, building, and dedicating of the Temple. We toured the school campuses and met many wonderful people.Thursday evening we were fortunate to do a session in the Fiji temple. It was wonderful as you can imagine. Friday night was a stake music festival and dance. The saints of Fiji love to dance and sing. Miriam and a Fijian with great rhythm were one of the first couples on the dance floor. (much to her dismay!) A good time was had by all.. I even danced.Saturday the flights were full so we HAD to stay in Fiji one more day. We woke up to torrential rain and it rained alllllll day long. However we were determined to have a fun day in Fiji. We found a place called ZIP FIJI. The same company that built the zip line in Park City has built a zip line experience through the rain forest of Fiji. They said it would even be more fun in the rain so we went for it. So, suspended about 50 feet off the ground we zipped over rivers, through the canopy of the rain forest. Our guides were young Fijian men that looked like they could be return missionaries…and they were! After doing a lap of zip lines they offered us another lap, and we couldn't refuse. The second lap was more fun than the first because you are more comfortable. Things like hanging upside down, etc. The rain was torrential. We were soaked to the bone but had a wonderful time. We had brought a change of clothes but forgot a towel. We still had a fire walking demonstration to see. We changed in the car and used the heater to dry out Miriam’s un-mentionable’s ! We were back in the bush so there were not too many people to avoid. Off to the tourist trap place to enjoy fire walking and Fijian dancing. The torrential rain made the fire walking not to impressive. That night we took Elder Ramisima out for dinner. He was a full time missionary in New Zealand and we got to know him very well. He taught many discussions in our home here. He had to take a bus and taxi to get to us in Fiji. The buses are packed with people and he described his experience of getting to us. He said the doors were broken so everyone had to exit out the back of the bus. So when one person wanted off everyone had to get out then get back in. Quite a chore! The next morning we headed for the airport, flew to Nadi on the other side of the island then off to New Zealand. Flying in to New Zealand is wonderful. It is so green and pretty. We made it safely home but loved the experience. Enjoy the pics on the Album.
Kiribati, October 2008
Version 1 of our trip to Kiribati (Kiribus) The romantic version....
We flew from Auckland New Zealand to Nadi Fiji. We spent a lovely night in a beautiful room at the Tanoa International Hotel. The next day we boarded a plane to the country of Kiribati. Kiribati is a collection of long narrow islands. We noticed on the plane that we were definitely in the minority. White man and woman, man dressed in white shirt. We were greeted by beautiful people with huge smiles saying Maouri, which means “hello”. Everywhere we went the people went out of their way to greet us. We stayed at the Otientii Hotel. At high tide the beautiful lagoon was literally just a few feet away from our balcony. We ate a classic continental breakfast in a open air restaurant each morning. There is only one road in Kiribati, it goes straight through the island to each quaint little village.
We had our management training on Friday and Monday at the Service Center. One of our participants was Brother Tune. He is the pioneer of the Church in Kiribati. He is a Stake President now but in the 1970’s he was converted to the Church in Tonga. He returned to Kiribati as the first member and now there are two Stakes, and over 10,000 members. Missionaries are there and are very busy teaching and baptizing.
In the mornings Miriam would take nice long walks through the little thatched home villages looking for little kids on the beaches and in the trees. Every school on the island has their own uniform, including Moroni High. The kids looked very sharp in their bright uniforms walking bare foot to school each day.
On our flight was Brother Wall from SLC. His job was to continue working on the translation of the scriptures into the Kiribati language. He is a great guy. He can speak, read, and converse in over 8 languages. He was there to hire contractors to translate the Book of Mormon, D&C and Pearl of Great Price.
We met President Bleak, the Mission President and Senior Missionaries, etc. All tirelessly working to bring the gospel to the people. It can be very challenging because of communication and transportation issues between the islands. A nice Senior Couple fed us a great meal one evening.
We went to a celebration for Fiji’s independence. It was at our hotel and the President of the Country and his wife were there. We had a great conversation with the first lady. Her and the president have great respect for the Church. They have their children enrolled at Moroni High.
Miriam spent one day serving the students at the school and helped them learn how to read and understand what they were reading. We had an island tour of the WW2 relics. On the tour we walked the beaches, saw Japanese bunkers, large gun placements, visited markets, memorials, etc. The government has taken the position that they are being consumed by the sea due to global warming. Other opininions are that they are sinking due to geological plate shifting.
On Tuesday we returned to the airport to catch our plane back to Nadi Fiji. While waiting there a New Zealand sister missionary that returned to her home in Kiribati came to say goodby to Miriam.
Though poor the people of Kiribati are blessed and happy. The Church is an incredible blessing for them.
…..Now some people have accused us of being on one long vacation so we want you to now read the OTHER version of “our trip to Kiribati”. Everything contained in the description happened and is just another way for you to experience what we experienced.
The "other" version of Kiribati.
Yes we ate in our hotel restaurant ... a pig walked in and sniffed us. Not to mention the cats, dogs and birds inside the buildings.A nice missionary couple invited us over for dinner..they threw it out after all the weevil floated to the top.Miriam's nice walks to the beach? Every time she went, there was someone taking a dump. Miriam got sick for two days, still thinks she has worms. I woke up in the middle of the night with heart attack symptoms...it was just gas.The cute kids are running around naked on the island mugging for a picture. There is a tradition that if you burn a diaper it will burn the baby so EVERYWHERE there are used disposable diapers -on the beach, side of the road, in the bush, everywhere. But all the babies we saw were naked, so go figure. Out for a walk we accidently wandered into the mental hospital village. Two ladies followed us and wanted us to take them back to America. Miriam tried hard to teach in the school.. very frustrating because they can read but they don't know what they are saying.
We didn't buy any food... we packed in our food (tuna, noodles, rice). We boiled all of our water each morning. We had a extra bucket of water sitting in the shower because we were warned that the water goes out with no notice. The homes were little more that sheds, most people live in very poor conditions. You don't swim in the lagoon because it is well known that it is the sewage pond for the island.
We had a grand time.
Now you know the "other " version of Kiribati. Does that sound like a island vacation to you?
We flew from Auckland New Zealand to Nadi Fiji. We spent a lovely night in a beautiful room at the Tanoa International Hotel. The next day we boarded a plane to the country of Kiribati. Kiribati is a collection of long narrow islands. We noticed on the plane that we were definitely in the minority. White man and woman, man dressed in white shirt. We were greeted by beautiful people with huge smiles saying Maouri, which means “hello”. Everywhere we went the people went out of their way to greet us. We stayed at the Otientii Hotel. At high tide the beautiful lagoon was literally just a few feet away from our balcony. We ate a classic continental breakfast in a open air restaurant each morning. There is only one road in Kiribati, it goes straight through the island to each quaint little village.
We had our management training on Friday and Monday at the Service Center. One of our participants was Brother Tune. He is the pioneer of the Church in Kiribati. He is a Stake President now but in the 1970’s he was converted to the Church in Tonga. He returned to Kiribati as the first member and now there are two Stakes, and over 10,000 members. Missionaries are there and are very busy teaching and baptizing.
In the mornings Miriam would take nice long walks through the little thatched home villages looking for little kids on the beaches and in the trees. Every school on the island has their own uniform, including Moroni High. The kids looked very sharp in their bright uniforms walking bare foot to school each day.
On our flight was Brother Wall from SLC. His job was to continue working on the translation of the scriptures into the Kiribati language. He is a great guy. He can speak, read, and converse in over 8 languages. He was there to hire contractors to translate the Book of Mormon, D&C and Pearl of Great Price.
We met President Bleak, the Mission President and Senior Missionaries, etc. All tirelessly working to bring the gospel to the people. It can be very challenging because of communication and transportation issues between the islands. A nice Senior Couple fed us a great meal one evening.
We went to a celebration for Fiji’s independence. It was at our hotel and the President of the Country and his wife were there. We had a great conversation with the first lady. Her and the president have great respect for the Church. They have their children enrolled at Moroni High.
Miriam spent one day serving the students at the school and helped them learn how to read and understand what they were reading. We had an island tour of the WW2 relics. On the tour we walked the beaches, saw Japanese bunkers, large gun placements, visited markets, memorials, etc. The government has taken the position that they are being consumed by the sea due to global warming. Other opininions are that they are sinking due to geological plate shifting.
On Tuesday we returned to the airport to catch our plane back to Nadi Fiji. While waiting there a New Zealand sister missionary that returned to her home in Kiribati came to say goodby to Miriam.
Though poor the people of Kiribati are blessed and happy. The Church is an incredible blessing for them.
…..Now some people have accused us of being on one long vacation so we want you to now read the OTHER version of “our trip to Kiribati”. Everything contained in the description happened and is just another way for you to experience what we experienced.
The "other" version of Kiribati.
Yes we ate in our hotel restaurant ... a pig walked in and sniffed us. Not to mention the cats, dogs and birds inside the buildings.A nice missionary couple invited us over for dinner..they threw it out after all the weevil floated to the top.Miriam's nice walks to the beach? Every time she went, there was someone taking a dump. Miriam got sick for two days, still thinks she has worms. I woke up in the middle of the night with heart attack symptoms...it was just gas.The cute kids are running around naked on the island mugging for a picture. There is a tradition that if you burn a diaper it will burn the baby so EVERYWHERE there are used disposable diapers -on the beach, side of the road, in the bush, everywhere. But all the babies we saw were naked, so go figure. Out for a walk we accidently wandered into the mental hospital village. Two ladies followed us and wanted us to take them back to America. Miriam tried hard to teach in the school.. very frustrating because they can read but they don't know what they are saying.
We didn't buy any food... we packed in our food (tuna, noodles, rice). We boiled all of our water each morning. We had a extra bucket of water sitting in the shower because we were warned that the water goes out with no notice. The homes were little more that sheds, most people live in very poor conditions. You don't swim in the lagoon because it is well known that it is the sewage pond for the island.
We had a grand time.
Now you know the "other " version of Kiribati. Does that sound like a island vacation to you?
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Coast to Coast Walk-Oct. 4, 2008
We took a bus ride into Auckland and got off on the east side at the harbour. This is the Pacific Ocean. That was our starting point for our 16 Km. 10 mile walk to the Tasman Sea on the south west side. With map in hand we walked down busy city streets, quiet neighborhoods, through parks, rainforests, up and down volcanoes and finally to our destination which was the west coast. Our friend Mark Pugh picked us up. It surprised us all how close we were to the route we take to the airport. Along the way we visited visitor centers, enjoyed high action lawn bowling , croquet and swinging from a long tree swing. We found large groups of Hindus dressed in their beautiful tradional clothing having a grand day in the park. We need to mention the sheep. Many, many, many sheep in the green, lovely parks around the volcanos. Enjoy the pictorial tour on the album page on the picture link at the right. p.s. The first 55 pictures are not the walk. We need to get rid of them. We will do it at a later date. It is late and we are going to Kiribati tomorrow. You will want to google that one.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Easton Davis Langford makes a grand entrance!
Easton Davis Langford became our 9th grandchild on September 25th. Even though the little bugger joined the human race some 60 days before he was supposed to, he is doing very well. He has graduated from the oxygen and the lights and his nurses are trying to fatten him up. He is gaining about 10 grams a day and we hope and pray he continues to gain and grow and develop. We are so sad that we cannot be in Utah to hug him and love him. Our congratulations go out to Scott and Teisha for being wonderful parents. Little Easton gets to stay in the NICU hotel for about 6 weeks. We hope Teisha enjoys the rest and maybe she can ask the nurses to try and have him trained to sleep through the night by time he gets home! Go to Scott and
Teisha's blog on the right to see many more pics.
Teisha's blog on the right to see many more pics.
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