Fiji Suva Mission

Fiji Suva Mission

Sunday, March 27, 2016

True Conversion (Samabula 2nd Area, Week 7)


This week flew by so fast, I can't even believe it's Monday again! Last week was definitely a big week, for me, for the area, and for everything in between.
Service this week - helping Tomasi 
wash cars at the Fiji LDS Service Center.

We had a pretty tough week, more sickness and lots of fall throughs, but a lot of breakthroughs, as well. Sisa Korologa is doing really good, he really enjoyed church last Sunday and told us that he's really been considering baptism lately. We may start teaching his cousin too, who lives with them and seems interested in taking lessons. The Lord is really directing his work here in Samabula!

I'm just going to emphasize one thing: Baptism. Sofaia Matanatabu got baptized last Saturday, and she went through so much to get there but she didn't give up once. She was talked about and made fun of and threatened, but she wouldn't let anything get in the way of her baptism. And I don't think I've ever seen a happier person at her baptism and her confirmation on Sunday. She's just the absolute best, we love her! Plus, at her baptism, there was a lot of food - all planned out by her. What I really saw from her though was true conversion - she has been changed by this experience. She doesn't just believe the gospel and the Church, she is converted to it. Sister Matanatabu told us that this time was different. She feels it. And so do we!





I love Fiji, so much. And I love serving these people. And I love serving the Lord. Maybe, before I go home, I can be as converted as Sister Matanatabu.


Elder Barnaby





Ward beach day!
(a Ward is a LDS congregation)


Monday, March 21, 2016

SamaBULA! (Samabula 2nd Area, Week 6)

It's really happening - Samabula is BULA. For all you non-Fijians out there, Bula means Life, and this area is living and breathing again. It's nothing that I've done, except for listening to my good-for-everything companion Elder Kanongata'a and let the Lord finally do His own work. This week was crazy. Absolutely crazy.

Monday, which is our preparation/sports day, I got to play FRISBEE. I was way pumped! It was so fun! Boy, it just started the week off right. Then, on Tuesday, we had Zone Conference, which was all based on conversion. During the Worldwide Missionary Broadcast in January, one of the main topics emphasized was "Baptize Converts", or in other words, we help these people to achieve something of a true, full conversion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and not just a superficial, surface conversion that won't help them to endure to the end. It was a really cool, powerful training that was emphasized again on Tuesday at our Zone Conference with the Mission President, only this time it was tailored specifically to the work of salvation here in Fiji.

Wednesday was the first big day of the week for proselyting - it was way legit! We went on splits with Brother Lord and his son, Fred, and we were able to see so many people! Probably the coolest part of the day though was helping out one of the recent converts, Gloria, to start her family history. We went to the Family History Center on the Temple compound and the consultants there helped us to get her started and get her grandparents' information into the system. The miracle was that the Relief Society in Samabula 2nd was doing baptisms for the dead in the Temple on Thursday, so https://www.lds.org/topics/baptisms-for-the-dead?lang=eng)

Gloria was able to be baptized in behalf of her grandmother, whom she was named after. (For more information on baptisms for the dead, visit

Service on Thursday was way fun, we were at Sister Kasa's house again and they had us cut down a tree with a cane knife! Boy, it was way fun. I did like no damage to the tree, but Elder Ta'a's swings were "super effective". That evening, after a lot of fall-throughs, we were invited to the Ward's Relief Society Birthday party. It was pretty girly, I have to admit, but I enjoyed getting fed, and the cake definitely made it worth it!

Friday and Saturday especially were way good days - our prayers were answered, and the Matanatabu family finally got back from Tacirua so that we could finish the lessons in time for Sister Matanatabu's baptism this coming Saturday! She's so amazing - she's loving the lessons, and so many of her long-awaited questions are being answered! Elder Kanongata'a and I taught a lot of lessons this week on the Plan of Salvation, and it's just been amazing seeing people react so excited to the wonderful doctrines of Heavenly Father's plan (see https://www.mormon.org/beliefs/plan-of-salvation).

Things have changed a lot this week - we had a pretty solid attendance at church, which in this ward is hard to come by, and the Stake President, President Qaqa, spoke to the Samabula 2nd ward and challenged us to fill the chapel. It was exciting for us, as we had three investigators at church - Sisa, Sister Matanatabu, and one of our newer investigators, Viliame. We have another new investigator, Sam, who works for the church's LDS Primary School, who was interested in coming to church as well. The Lord is just making miracles happen here in Samabula - that's why it's SamaBULA!

2 Nephi 2:6-9

Loloma luva mai vei au,

Elda Barnaby

Sunday, March 13, 2016

Service is Sick (and so are we) (Samabula Area, Week 5)


Joy in their eyes makes me happy!


This is Sai Toga, and that is Poseidon's trident. Or just a cassava plant stem.
Long week, to say the least. Nothing much happened, except for sickness for days on end. Elder Ta'a has some nasty boils, and I had some stomach bug. We're finally better, but it was annoying being at
home so much with so much to do. The only days we really went anywhere was on Thursday and Sunday.

Elder Kanongata'a in action! #wereweremadavalalai
Elder Kanongata'a helped me to remember the need for a weekly service project - I'd kind of put it to the side, unless someone asked us to help them. Instead of just staying home and cleaning the flat, he got us out and at members' houses, asking if there was anything we could do. And we worked - for four hours, cleaning up gardens and yards. It was so fun! I testify of the wonder and power of service to bring people together and create a special bond between them! Plus, it's just plain fun and often involves homemade lemonade (always a perk). I really felt the Spirit while we served, too - after all, service to others is service to God (Mosiah 2:17).
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Sunday, after days of being inside due to stomach bugs and such, we finally got to go to church. It was disappointing, to say the least - only a handful of people showed up to church, due to the Fiji Rugby game that was on. None of our investigators came to church - even Sister Matanatabu, though that may be because her father was in the hospital last I heard. I hope it all works out. I'm praying hard.

This is Titilia, she's hilarious
But I'm happy :) Mosiah 2:41 is so true! I trust
that as we are working hard and being obedient, the Lord will bless this area and these people. That's what really matters to me! For some missionaries, positions and statistics can blind them to their true purpose. I've finally come to the wonderful conclusion that none of that really matters in the end - what matters is the happiness and salvation of the children of God here in Fiji. Something President Henry B. Eyring said once has always stuck with me: "It will not be the offices held or the time spent that will be weighed in balance with the Lord. We will be rewarded for HOW we served." That's what I'm working on now, and I'm already seeing wonderful blessings as a result!

Love you all!


Elder Barnaby

Sunday, March 6, 2016

Come What May, and Love It (Samabula Area, Week 4)

Cool overlook of Suva Harbor from our area
Bula vinaka tale!

It's been quite a week, to say the least. Miracles are never ceasing - the work just keeps progressing here in Samabula 2nd! Elder Kanongata'a and I are doing really well together. Some people thought that this area was "dead"; I don't think that they really looked at it through God's Eyes (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/10/through-gods-eyes?lang=eng).

Eating with our investigator, Sisa (left) and the Ravosai family
Sister Ravosai is from Tavua!

This little girl goes by the nickname "Pretty"
Just really quickly, cause I have to go soon, I want to share a few experiences from this past week. One of them we had just happened after church yesterday. Bishop Sautu introduced us to a couple who had been coming to church and apparently, they're an extremely less-active family that has made a comeback to the gospel recently. Bishop asked for us to reteach them the missionary lessons, but as we talked, we learned that the wife was baptized 5 years previously but never confirmed (given the gift of the Holy Ghost). Her records were never entered into the system as a result, and now the responsibility falls to us to re-baptize her, as per church policy. Hopefully, before the month is over, she will be both baptized and properly receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, which, according to John 3:5, is an essential part of receiving our salvation in the kingdom of our Heavenly Father. The sister, Sofaia Matanatabu, has family problems related to her church attendance, but she doesn't care - she told us that she's making a stand now because she knows that the Church is true. Her faith and courage is amazing.

One big thing I learned this week was about facing trials with faith. According to Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles a few years ago, we need to let whatever happens happen and just "love it". I'm working on that right now - it's transfer week (officially) and I don't know what's going to happen. But "come what may and love it".

Love you! Loloma yani mai Viti!


Elder Barnaby

Fiji Suva Mission Picture with Official Party for Temple Dedication - 20 February 2016
 It was a day never to be forgotten