BULA VINAKA!! 

It's been a crazy week here in Fiji with tons of fun experiences and new things. I think I'm finally used to the swing of things. I love my companion! Her name is Sister Maile or Miles (depending on if you Fijian or Tongan) and we get along great. We are always joking around and having fun. 

The members are all over the place. We have some really solid families who are at church every week, some partial member families, inactive, and there are a few that come to all the church activities and sacrament each week but aren't members! We've been trying to sort everyone out and see what we have to work on. 

Our area is so huge!!  Tons of hills and the neighborhoods are really far apart. On the plus side, I'm gonna have super buff legs when i get back! :D  We walked so much in the past week trying to get used to the area that when we woke up on Saturday we could barely get up!  We had to hobble around the flat like old ladies till our legs stretched out hahaha!!  Speaking of which, our flat is pretty much the nicest in the zone.  It used to be for the senior couples so we have tile and wood floors, leather couches and a working ac!! (I'm always hot, and sister Maile gets cold with the ac, so we're trying to balance it out).  There's a small flower garden out back that I'm sure Lauren would be jealous of.  All of these tropical flowers that are hard to get, are everywhere here. There's orchids just growing off trees on the side of the road!!  I took some pictures for her, maybe she can tell me what some of them are lol! 

We live in the compound with one other family from Australia. they live above us.  The other day Sis. Maile dared me to go and ask to use their guitar (we hadn't met them yet) and of course i had to.  It was super awkward. We were in our pjs and I'm sure we looked super gross after a day of walking.  We knocked on the door, introduced ourselves and gave the daughter some candy.  They invited us in and I awkwardly commented on their guitar until they offered to let me play it lol!!  Pretty sure they think we're crazy. hahah!!  So that's a fun story . . .. . 

Oh!  We went to the big market in town this morning!  The relief society president has been helping us so much and she offered to show us around today.  It was so fun!!  I didn't have time for pictures this time, but I'm sure we'll be back. 

Other things about Fiji. . . . the buses are so fun!  They're open air and when it rains they roll tarps over the sides to stay dry lol!  The taxis are kinda crazy, some are really nice and safe but a few have been pretty crazy drivers. I think everyone is Fiji just follows their own rules when it comes to driving, especially the taxis.

Another fun story.  We were going to visit a family way out in Savutalele,  past where the buses stop and turn around.  We had no idea where they lived and the mom said to walk for a half mile or so past the bust stop and she would send her son to get us.  Turns out it was alot closer.  We totally passed the settlement and ended up walking out into the middle of nowhere by the forest reserve lol!   After turning around and trying a few other villages we finally found the right spot.  Their house is really cool!  It's at the top of a huge hill and the back is open and hangs over the edge of a cliff.  You can see all their farmland going up the next hillside.  I'll try and take pictures next time. 

Anyway, this has been a super long email and I have to send some pics so I'll get going. 

Love and miss you all!!  Hope you're doing well and having fun. 

Sister Pyne.