The LDS Church College of Fiji

Elder Jacobsen and I had the privilege to visit the LDS Church College of Fiji last week (April 2-5). It was our first opportunity to observe Elder and Sister Whitehead (the ITEP missionary couple)   provide Professional Development for the teachers at the Church College (High School and Middle School level) and the Primary school. Upon arrival we were welcomed with the usual island hospitality that we have come to treasure from the people in the South Pacific. Just by chance we were on the inaugural flight of Fiji Airways Airbus 300 airplane and enjoyed the 2 hour and 40 minute flight from Auckland with a hot meal and our own personal video screens. The company's CEO was on the plane and we all received a  warm welcome because of the special flight. As we disembarked we all received shell leis and a warm "Bula" while being serenaded with Fijian music. 

The view from the Novotel Hotel

The LDS Church College of Fiji

 Mereoni Vuibreketi - Counselor 

 Our first day in Fiji was spent at the Church College. I was able to meet Mereoni for the first time, although we have talked and Skyped long-distance a number of times. Mereoni  has been a counselor for two years and is doing a great job implementing Comprehensive Counseling and Guidance at the college. Other schools in Fiji do not have school counselors so Mereoni is pioneering Comprehensive Counseling and Guidance in her country.

 Elder Jacobsen couldn't resist stopping to visit with some students waiting to go into the library. Although many students also speak Fijian or Hindi, the official language of Fiji is English. The students are very welcoming and are interested in talking with us when we tour around the school.

Elder and Sister Whitehead - ITEP Missionaries

The Whiteheads picked us up from the airport upon our arrival in Fiji Tuesday evening and were our excellent hosts throughout our visit. The first day we spent time touring the Church College (the secondary school) and attending a meeting with the administration and HODS (Heads of Department). That evening we had a wonderful dinner at the Whiteheads apartment with Elder and Sister Osborne, another missionary couple working in the schools on the Technical Vocational and Educational Training (TVET) programs.

The LDS Church College of Fiji Campus

 Lunch at McDonald's with a Fiji "Hello"!

The Presidential Palace

Doing the Work on an ITEP Mission

I thought you might like to know what we have been doing to keep busy on our mission. What exactly do ITEP Coordinators do? ITEP stands for International Teacher Education Program. Elder Jacobsen and I are involved in coordinating, and in some cases providing, professional development for teachers, counselors and administrators in the 15 Church Schools in the South Pacific (in Tonga, Samoa, Kiribati, and Fiji). As ITEP coordinators we collaborate with the College of Human Development and Dean John Bailey at BYU Hawaii. Courses taught by ITEP missionaries are the same courses provided on campus from the School of Education. All ITEP couples are considered adjunct faculty at BYUH. The past two months Elder Jacobsen and I have been busy preparing for the Principals/ITEP conference held in Auckland in March. I start this blog post with a picture of the entire group of us at the conference, which took place at the Pacific Area Office for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

The Pacific Area Church Schools 

Principals/ITEP Conference - March 4-8, 2013

Front Row: Elders Johnson, Osborne, Szoka. Jacobsen, Spencer, Whitehead, Budgett, Rasmussen

Second Row: Sisters Johnson, Osborne, Szoka, Jacobsen, Scott Wilde, Wayne Maurer, Sisters Spencer, Whitehead, Budgett, Rasmussen

Third Row: Jarod Hester, Debbie Brunton, Ora Ngakuru, LaveniaTaufalele, Harvalene Sekona, Etta Taumalolo, Fahi Fifita, Aloine Havea, Luti Fusikaunanga, Lita Iabeta, Sinua Fotu , Steve Mauigoa

Fourth Row: Michael Carthew, Mika Lolo, Tipo Solomone, Ngatai Smith, Vito QaQa, Folau Kioa, Bruce Yerman, Brent Chowen, Jack Taleni, Leo Leauanae, John Bailey

A New Year in New Zealand

It has been over a month since my last post. Elder Jacobsen and I have been busy working in the Pacific Area office and preparing for the start of the school year. I have been preparing for the monthly counselor meetings that will be held using the miracles of technology connecting Auckland, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, and Kiribati using the phone and the Polycom system. Using the same technology, I will also be teaching a BYUH class, Introduction to School Counseling, to teachers in the church schools who would like to get their ITEP Counseling Certificate. Elder Jacobsen has also been busy  coordinating with the 9 ITEP couples at the schools as they prepare to provide many BYUH courses for teacher development. 

Unlike life in the Northern Hemisphere, the Christmas/New Year's holiday is right in the middle of summer break. Many people in the Pacific Area Office take some time off to be with their families during this time. We were able to spend a few days up north in the Bay of Islands starting on New Year's Day.

Before we left we spent New Year's Eve with the other senior missionaries at a gathering at the home of the mission doctor and his wife. 

New Years Eve in New Zealand. We are looking at Takapuna (where we live) from Milford, another suburb of Auckland. The three tall buildings in the middle of the picture are a couple of blocks away from our apartment.

Elder and Sister Anderson are the senior missionaries who hosted the New Year's Eve party. Elder Anderson is the Pacific Area doctor who serves as the medical advisor for all missionaries in the South Pacific. 

Ready to greet the New Year!

Looking towards Auckland as we watched the sunset on New Year's Eve.

Happy New Year

On New Year's Day we headed north for the Bay of Islands. We drove up the western coastline and stopped to see the Kauri Museum in Matakohe.

This is the oldest Kauri tree in New Zealand found in the Waipoua Forest. It is called "Tane Mahuta" and has been determined to be nearly 2,000 years old, just beginning to grow around the time of Christ's birth. Standing by these magnificent trees there is a feeling of reverence for something so old and increasingly rare. New Zealand used to be covered with Kauri trees but they were cleared from the land for the wood and to make room for cattle,  sheep, and crops. The Kauri trees are related to the Redwood trees in California, but the trees in California are larger than those remaining in New Zealand.

 I am officially a tree-hugger now! I love these big, beautiful Kauri trees.

Hokianga - We drove around a bend and this beautiful site opened up to us. It was a picture that had to be taken! 

Looking out on the Bay of Islands from Paihia. It is a great seaside town that caters to all sorts of recreational activities including "tramping" (what they call hiking in NZ), skiing, parasailing, fishing, and sightseeing. The next few pictures show more views of Paihia.

The Pier in Paihia. We took a half-day boat tour of the Bay of Islands from this pier.

Paihia

The dock where fishing charters embark as well as the ferry to Russell (just across the bay).

Views from the boat tour we took around the Bay of Islands one afternoon. 

The Hole in the Rock is actually big enough for the boat to go through, which we did. Sometimes the wind and currents make it unsafe to do so. 

Russell was once a wild village frequented by sailors when their ships arrived in New Zealand. Now it is just a quiet tourist town with restaurants and a relaxed atmosphere. 

This is the oldest wooden church in New Zealand located in Russell. 

We took a one-day tour along 90 Mile Beach up to the northernmost point of New Zealand, Cape Reinga. The day we went on the tour it rained all day. Our bus driver did a great job navigating on the beach, where it was almost high tide. We had to go in to the water to get around the outcropping of rocks.  

A quick stop on the beach gave us a chance to get our feet wet. 

Elder Jacobsen got a little more than wet feet when a big wave crashed up behind him when I was trying to take his picture. No more pictures posing on the beach. :)

Just before it started to pour some people went sand boarding. We watched! 

Cape Reinga the most northern point in New Zealand and is where the Pacific Ocean meets the Tasman Sea. On the point is a lighthouse and this is a famous tourist photograph. When we arrived it was very foggy and we thought we might not be able to get a good picture. But in the 30 minutes we were there the clouds lifted just enough to get a picture or two. 

This is the point where the Mauri believe the spirits of their loved ones come after they die. They leave from here to go back to their ancestral homeland, Hawaiki.

The meeting of the two oceans. The Pacific on the right and the Tasman on the left.

The Treaty of Waitangi was signed between the Maori chiefs and the British in Paihia (at the base of the flagpoles in this picture). The treaty unified the various Maori tribes and is considered the founding date of the country of New Zealand.

Inside the Marae, where the Maori meet together in their villages. This Marae is located on the Waitangi Treaty grounds and is beautifully decorated with the carvings and weavings of the Maori people.

The Norfolk Pine tree is seen growing everywhere in New Zealand. It has become my favorite tree. They can grow so  tall that they tower above most of the other trees in the forest. 

Haruru Falls in Paihia

Fishing for snapper one morning we saw some dolphins swimming in the wake of another boat.

We had four yummy fish dinners from our catch. The fish are Snapper and Trevally.

I have never been to a famous bathroom before, but the toilets (that's what they are called in NZ) behind me in this picture are just that. Designed by Austrian born artist and part-time resident Frederick Hundertwasser, an internationally renowned artist. They were built in 1998 just two years before Hundertwasser died and have brought world-wide interest to the town of Kawakawa, giving a needed boost to the economy.

Love and Prayers Until Our Next Post!