The Lyman Family

This last weekend I went down with my friend Brita to Suva. It was a great weekend-we experienced a little bit more of modern Fiji. It was the 10 year anniversary for the LDS Temple in Suva, so we went for the celebrations that went with it.

Our trip started with a 5 hour bus ride, which may have been the scariest experience of my life. The road is a small, one lane dirt road that winds up and down the mountain sides. Normally, this wouldn’t be too bad. However, after raining all day, the road was extremely muddy. I kept waiting for the moment when the bus got stuck and we were all told to get off and start pushing. Even worse, I was also expecting the possibility of the bus sliding right off the road and over the edge. Luckily neither happened and we avoided all collisions with other vehicles a couple of times by a margin of only a foot. Truthfully, I was glad to make it to Suva.

We spent Friday evening at a 3 hour cultural night where wards and various groups performed cultural dances from all of the different South Pacific areas, including Fiji, Tonga, New Zealand, Samoa, and Hawaii. It was very entertaining and fun to watch.

Saturday morning we had the opportunity to do baptisms in the Suva Temple. It is a small temple and sits majestically at the top of the hill. We awoke to a beautiful sunrise behind it. I have some great pictures, but those will have to wait. The internet here is so incredibly slow that it takes 10 minutes to upload one photo-if you’re lucky. I’ll post a whole bunch when I make it home.

The rest of the day in Suva was spent shopping and enjoying the city. We spent a long time at a handicraft market bartering and arguing over prices-which I tend to enjoy of I have the time. I spent way too much money, but have gotten all my souvenir shopping taken care of. We then spent some time looking in the more modern shops, which was also fun.

From there we hit a movie-it costs only $3 American to see a new release here, so we took advantage of the opportunity and went to see Karate Kid. It was so fun to be in the theater. The Fijians get really into the movie-oohing, awing, and laughing loudly throughout the entire movie. It was really quite fun to listen to them-an experience in and of itself.

Sunday we went to church at a chapel near Suva. Elder Callister was there to speak and we had a chance to talk to him and his wife for a little bit after the meeting.

We eventually made our way home from the Suva that afternoon, and the bus ride was a lot better. I wasn’t waiting for an early death…..

Everything else in Fiji is going well. I have spent a lot of time working with the fitness classes. I never thought I would be up leading fitness classes, so that has been kinda exciting. It has been really good though. The Fijian women love the classes-which is good. They have no concept of aerobic exercise here. They are all so strong, but in really bad shape. There are a lot of problems with diabetes and high blood pressure, so we are just trying to teach them that exercise can help prevent and manage these diseases.

I have also helped out a little with business classes. It is basic information on how to get resources, manage books, and to make some money. A lot of people are interested in these, especially since they already run some kind of basic business in order to bring in a little bit of extra money.

My favorite people in Fiji might be the old women. They are so cute and fun to be around. They don’t always speak the best English, but they sure know how to laugh. They will giggle and laugh all day long-you can tell that they really enjoy life. Really all the people here enjoy life. They are happy and content with what they have. They have enough food and tend not to seek much else. They can do what they want, when they want and don’t have to worry about the confines of a job. Their standard of living is extremely poor, but most are not actively seeking to change that because they are so happy with their lives. I think it is a lesson that many Americans have not learned and one that they should…