New Principal for Fiji LDS Primary School

Samabula, Suva -

Changes have been made to the leadership of the LDS Primary School this week with the departure of Vito Qaqa, the Principal who has accepted a new assignment at the LDS Church College.

Mereisi Talemaitoga who has been the Vice Principal for the past 5 years has succeeded Bro Qaqa as the school's new Principal while Gerald Nathan has been appointed the Vice Principal.

New Principal, Mereisi Talemaitoga in her new office.

Commenting on the changes Mele Yee of the Human Resources department stated "We congratulate Vito and thank him for his years of service in the primary school and for representing LDS schools well in the community as its principal."

With the appointment of the successors Mele stated "we believe that this team with the teachers support, can lead the school as an example of quality education as well as unity in Fiji.

Mereisi in an interview shared that one of her goals was to improve the academic performance of her students by first helping the teachers through training to upgrade their skills. She has given the teachers options of the courses they could undertake at the fiji National University to help achieve that.

She is excited for her new role and is looking forward to a great year with her students. Currently 380 students are enrolled at the school which officially opens its doors today, Tuesday the 20th of January, 2015.

Nausori Youths learn Missionary Work by sharing the Book of Mormon with Namena villagers

Namena, Tailevu -

78 Youths from the Nausori Stake who attended their end of the year camp at Namena village in Tailevu last month learnt to put in action lessons from their Preach My Gospel class by donating copies of the Book of Mormon to families in the village.

This village was just opened for missionary work a week before the camp and on the first night the missionaries were allowed to enter the village. This was historical as they were not allowed to do so before.

The youths were billeted at the Namena District School where they also had most of their activities. Part of the excitement of the camp was bathing in the river and writing their testimonies on copies of the Book of Mormon which they gave to the villages as they visited their homes.

Joseph Williams of Waila Ward said that he was convinced of the importance of spreading the gospel as he participated in the missionary activity at Namena Village. One of the girls was very worried about sharing her testimony in Fijian so she said a prayer before they entered their assigned home and when it was her turn to speak, whe was able to speak fluently in Fijian.

One group went to the Talatala of the Methodist Church and he asked them if it was true that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints doesn't allow kava. The youths explained that though we're given commandments the Lord has given each the gift of agency to choose whether to obey or not.

The youths agreed that they had all enjoyed their camp and looking forward to the next one.

Devoted Women Caregivers bring hope to Orphan Children

Nadi, Fiji -

Public affairs directors from the Pacific took time away from their 2 days seminar in Nadi to visit the Treasure House orphanage in Martintar, Nadi to donate some groceries to assist the running of the home.

28 children of the Nadi Treasure House owe their lives to dedicated mothers and women who look after them. For most of these children this is the only home they had ever had and these women are the only mothers they had ever known.

The youngest child is 6 months and the oldest is 17. Most of the children attend the local primary and secondary school. These children are wards of the state and this home has provided them with the safety and security they needed.

Temple Trip Flight disrupted by Volcanic ashes

Two families from Vanuatu travelling to Tonga on Monday the 12th of January to go to the temple had to return to Fiji as their flight couldn't land due to poor visibility from ashes of an erupting volcano on Hunga Ha'apai.

The Mahit and Kalanau families back in Suva after their flight failed to land in Tonga.

Public Affairs Director Sulueti Kama said that she was surprised when Lucy Mahit called her from the airport to say that their flight had to be returned just 15 minutes before landing as pilots had problems with visibility due to the volcanic ashes.

The Fiji Airways flight FJ271 was one of the the aircraft that had to turn away from Tonga because of this problem. FJ270 that was confirmed to depart on the 13th, a day after, was again cancelled in the last hour as visibility on the island had not improved.

Lucy Mahit is hoping they can travel later on in the week as she is going to be sealed to her parents. these two families were supposed to return to Vanuatu on Sunday.