I LOVE FIJI!!!

Well this week was a week that made me LOVE Fiji even more than I thought was possible! I can't even tell you how much LOVE I have for these people and this place. I don't think I can even express my love for them, I have too much! And this week was definitely a week when my love for them grew.

We started off the week kinda slow. But it got better and better as the week went on. I can always tell when I have been in an area for a while because people start to know my name, and I don't even know them. But then, I remember I am white. So that means everyone is going to recognize me... haha! But it was fun because me and Sister Alaga recognized a lot this week, that everyone is really recognizing us! They are calling our names, and we don't even know who they are! So that's kinda fun!(:

Sala, who was MIA last week and the week before, FINALLY came back. We were going over to see her sister in law, but instead, she was home. Me and Sister Alaga were so happy and we now have her baptism this Thursday! She is so so SO excited. And I am too! It will be so much fun to watch the last one in that family to be baptized. We are hoping that the whole family comes. Even the Inactive ones! So we are praying for that!!(:

We had a dinner with a member this week who is a widow. So she stays home by herself. But she is this cute little Indian lady. You can tell she gets lonely sometimes, and so we try and stop by when we pass her house. But she is so cute when we come over for dinner. She sits and eats with us, and talks to us about everything. but this week, since Diwali is coming up... my favorite holiday.. I asked her what she was going to do. And she said she was going to get out all her sharees and dance. Me and Sister Alaga laughed and told her how fun that would be then, she got up and went and got ALL of her Sharees and made us put them on. We sat in her living room for about an hour letting her dress us up in Sharees. And we even danced a little with her(: She is so cute!(: 

So Friday was my 2nd Fiji Day!(: It wasn't as cool as last year. But it was still fun! A lot of people ended up going to the village because it was a Friday, so they left and spent the weekend in the village. But the people who were home were having fun all weekend celebrating. It is kinda like 4th of July, but a 3 day thing. So it was fun celebrating with all the people all weekend. And what made it even better was there was Rugby 7's tournament this weekend. Which I am totally going to watch when I go  home!!!(: But, Fiji made it to the Final! They were AWESOME. An every house we went to this weekend. The game was on. We didn't even have to watch tv to know what happened. We could just walk down the street and Fiji would score and there would be cheering and yelling. It was awesome. But what made it even better was in the final they played Samoa. And since my companion is from Samoa, everyone was laughing at us and inviting us to come over. And it just so happened, we went to a less actives house during the final.. and so of course they wouldn't turn off the TV because it was the final.. SO we cheered on Fiji.. Well.. i cheered on fiji and my companion cheered on Samoa. But my companion was very humble when Samoa lost. But the Fijians were very humble when they won also. So I am officially won over, I LOVE RUGBY! haha(:

SO, this all ties in, so just bear with me.. This is one of my "courtney" stories. haha! Anyways, SO this morning when I was doing my studies, I was reading in D&C. I am trying to read all of D&C before next month. I LOVE IT.. But it is awesome. Anyways, I was reading and I thought about Rugby. Or just any sport in general. I was thinking about how when I was playing softball I knew how it felt to win. I knew how it felt to be the one who worked so hard and even though it was hard, it was all worth it. And that is what I was thinking about the saints back then and even today. We are constantly playing. Sometimes we score and sometimes, we fall back. But in the end, as we all work as a team, as we give it our all, as saints, we will win. All the hard work, all the sweat, tears, pain, everything will be worth it. The faith we have to have in ourselves and everyone that we can do this, is what helps us come out on top. Like it says in D&C 52:13 "..He that is faithful, shall be made ruler over many things" or in my words ".. He that is faithful, shall be made winner over all things". SO just like Fiji, we are going to play against the hardest team. We are going to be hit hard and its going to hurt, but if we stay faithful, if we play the way we know is right and the ways we are taught, in the end, we will be the winners and the best team EVER!(:

Anyways, there is so many things I wish I could tell you about this week, but I am runnin gout of things to say. This week was such a good one and I am sure this next one will be too! I LOVE FIJI. I LOVE being a missionary. And I LOVE this gospel. oh and I LOVE YOU guys(:

LOLOMA LEVU!
Sister Rich