"Where were we before we were born?" "Fiji!" (Matei Area, Week 3)

Elder Barnaby practices a flight pose.

**pictures and captions - thanks to Elder and Sister Vermeeren, and LDS couple serving a mission in Fiji**

This week was another wonderful miracle in my life. I was able to see the Lord's marvelous work progress in a way that I was a part of, but obviously no more than a instrument in the Master's hands. (Sorry, my English is all messed up)

Elder Carter and Elder Barnaby with investigators

On Monday, we went to see some Tabua and Amarina, but they were gone, so we decided to say hi to Phoebe, a little girl who we're teaching. She should be getting baptized this month. We walked up to her house and her family invited us in. While inside, we saw Sister Koroi - one of the Matei Unit members - and she was holding a combined Family Home Evening with Phoebe's family. She said, "Elders, we were waiting for you." We had not been invited to this activity, but it turned out great - obviously the Lord knows His children. We're also teaching Phoebe's grandmother, Pasimaca, who is a very nice lady, but she's a little slow. We were teaching her about the Plan of Salvation and asked her, "Before we came to this earth, where were we?" and she enthusiastically replied, "Fiji!" So that's my slogan for the week - I'm now convinced that we lived with our Heavenly Father before we came to Earth - in Fiji.

Elder Barnaby and Elder Carter
with President Bautarua ( Qeleni Branch)

Wednesday was a cool day - after walking forever from an appointment (usually someone picks us up, but I guess everyone was busy today), we stopped by one investigators house - the one we had planned on seeing Monday evening. Tabua and Amarina weren't home, but Amarina's mother was. We talked with her for a little bit and all of a sudden, Tabua and Amarina showed up at home in a truck full of buckets of fresh water. They have no running water, so every few days they have to collect fresh water from a spring nearby. We were able to be there to help them unload the water. They were extremely grateful and made us "panikeke" - Fijian pancakes, which are actually just fried flour, sugar, and water. They taste a little like fried dough, but less sweet. Just as tasty, though. After sharing with Tabua, he expressed that they weren't interested in changing churches. In most areas in the world, that's a red flag to missionaries that means "Oh - no hope, move on". But in Fiji, that's just a test of our faith. We asked if they'd prayed to know if the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was the true church - and they said they hadn't. I definitely don't want to give up on that family - they're way awesome. And I know that Heavenly Father can reveal to them that this is His church.

On Saturday, we got to sit down with Isei, who we were able to find last week under miraculous circumstances. He's really interested in finding the "place where the Lord can lead me home", but he's not sure if he wants to be part of a church. His parents are actually LDS, they live in Suva. He's the man, he really wants to know. I'm really excited to teach him about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Top off the week with 80 people at church, including two of our investigators. It was wonderful. I've had a great week - it wasn't easy, but it was fun. I love serving the Lord.

Elder Barnaby