Bula Vinaka all you soon to be trick or treaters out there.  We had transfers last Tuesday, and Elder LeDoux one of our AP's headed up to Vuna in Taveuni.  It was his birthday so we had a little office cream cheese pie celebration and then Richard and I had LeDoux and three other elders over for dinner Monday night before he left.  I slow cooked two chickens for a cafe Rio type burrito, and lots of taco spiced hamburger  for hard corn shelled tacos, mango salsa ,  4 layer bean dip with blue corn chips and chochlate cake with ice cream for dessert. I was amazed how fast they put it  away.

We had a beautiful sunny day last week, so I had to take a picture of the temple.  Elder Updike came up to us and told us to come to the temple for a surprise.  Richard said "we come to the temple every week." The surprise was that we now have the new temple film.  I was delightfully surprised when I saw the garden of Eden setting was filmed on an island, and saw the familiar Tulip tree, orchids, and palm fans we've come to know and love.  I've been told the couple who portrayed Adam and Eve are from Arizona.  Most of the senior couples I talked with loved how the dialog was portrayed with more emotion and feeling.  The Collins home teach a Fijian couple who had the opposite reaction and didn't like it saying it was evil.  In the Fijian culture emotion or signs of affection like holding hands just isn't done.  The man who portrayed Satan did a  powerful portrayal of Satan and I think that might be what they didn't like.  Elder Collins encouraged them to continue to attend the temple and see if they feel differently as time goes by. 

Elder LeDoux heading to Taveuni and Elder Palmer and Checketts will carry on in the office

lunch for Elder Hancock, Abplanalp (he's been up north on a smaller island for 9 months so it was fun to see him) Mabunga (goes home 14 Nov)Andrew behind him, Ruben (fromFiji) Trent, Singh (we just heard that his brother who was called to serve in India will now be serving in Fiji [small problem...both have first name initials of S so we'll have to make it SS and SK Singh to distinguish which Elder Singh we're talking about!])

We headed out to Korovou to drop off a charge cord to Elder Spackman and Wilson for their phone and I was surprised to learn they are living in a flat we looked at earlier when Elder Wilson was in the tin house up the street and the landlady got word we were looking elsewhere and did the repairs we had requested.  We have since rented a new flat further up the street and these elders are the second set in this area.   

This was a fun moment in the office,it was Elder Tausinga,s birthday and Elder Ohlson and Tremea surprised him with an extendible card with recorded guitar music.  It was a recycled birthday card (they blotted out the name on,and put made up notes from his family)  Tausinga thought for a minute it really was from his family.  We didn't feel too sorry for him, because his parents are coming in December to pick him up at the end of his mission and they all will travel to Samoa where his dad was born. 

What a day this has been.  We've been having all kinds of trouble with our printer and being told by the repair man well you're doing too many copies (175,00) showed up on the counter.  Elder Whiting averaged 22,000 a month and Sister Limburg has cut down to 5,000 a month. leading me to deduce that we have been using our old printer.  We have had repairmen coming back to the office for two days for various problems.  I wrote down all the pieces of evidence and went to confront the guys in the service centre.  Both were out on sick leave.  So George who was the next in line heard my evidence and said "I think you're right, they brought the new printer downstairs to check something and someone mistakenly set it up down here in the service centre.  I was skeptical of that explaination, but today the problem with the new printer George brought up yesterday showed up, the RICOH repairmen know me by first name and cringe a little when I call them yet again, but I'm hopeful it will be an up and fully functioning printer tomorrow.

Add to that, the unusual news we got on our email about a Tongan couple who immigrated to the US leaving their married children and their families behind.  Five of the cousins are currently serving a mission and 2 of the cousins families just recieved word that their paperwork they submitted here in Fiji after a long time has come through, to immigrate to the US.  This required special permission for 2 missionaries to leave their missions (Tonga and NZ) to come and sign paperwork here in Fiji.  The families then want to leave for the US in March and the easiest thing to do would be to have their children released from their missions to go with their families and possibly be reassigned to a mission in the US.  The parents assumed they could stay in the temple hotel (patron housing) but didn't make advanced arrangements.  I called Sister Updike and of course "there's no room at the Inn."   The parents have a flight to Nadi and will take a taxi to get to this side of the island, while the church arranged for the Sister (their daughter) to fly from Nadi to Suva.  Hopefully, one of the AP's knows of a family that are Tongan and has put Tongans up for the night when we are in this situation.  Luckily One of our sets of sisters live close by and have extra mattresses to put the daughter up for the night.  Tomorrow the second Sister and her family are due to arrive (give me strength) It's just tough when we get little or no notice and are expected to take care of everything.

Well I'd better close  Take Care Love Elder and Sister Hogge