A Testimony and My Witness of the Lord’s Work in Fiji
by Maraia Sokia Weingarten
This testimony is to President Inosi Naga and the wonderful saints from Fiji who are now living in Northern California and who will be participating in the wonderful commemoration of the 50th anniversary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Fiji Islands. Tears well up in my eyes as I think back and recollect my experiences as a six year old girl in Suva when our lives as members of the Sokia family would be forever changed because of this “American” church.
Looking back now 50 years later, I know it was no coincidence; this is the work of the Lord and he knew that it was time for Fiji to receive the gospel. Around 1953, my uncle Vuki Tokailagi (now living in Nadi), was a librarian at the Suva City Library, when he picked up a book from the rubbish bin, entitled “ What’s of the Mormon” which he brought to my parents. My father, a Methodist and my mother, a Catholic, started reading the book and were fascinated about the ideas of eternal families, the degrees of glory, and the whole plan of salvation. The seed was planted. In the meantime, back in Samoa, my grandfather John Lava Roberts and my grandmother Maraia were talking to the Mormon missionaries who were preparing to come to Fiji to open the Fiji mission. It was only logical that they were given my parents’ names and address. Communication in those days was very scarce, so my parents Peni and Kini Sokia had no idea of this referral.
Back in Fiji, Kini had a dream about two white men who came to visit and which she had a hard time understanding because the British men in Fiji at that time did not look like those she saw in her dream. Needless to say, in 1954, when the two missionaries knocked on our door in Flagstaff, one can only imagine my mother’s utter surprise when she opened the door. After the missionary discussions and associations with the Cecil and Lorna Smith family, the Foiakaus, the Belchers, the Ashleys, and the Lobendahns, we began to feel some connection with this new church. It was not until 1956 when Peni Tokailagi Sokia, Joe, Mere, and Maraia were baptized in the Lami River near the Smith home.
I have memories of having meetings at the Smith home in Lami, at the Matanisiga Hall in Toorak, at an old building in Desvouex Road on the hill where the Suva chapel now stands, the Masonic Hall near Albert Park, and then eventually the Suva Chapel. I remember going to primary on Thursday afternoons at the old building in Desvouex Road where Anna Joy Smith was the Primary President and Jeannie Belcher was my Primary teacher. The first Primary children included Brian & Elliott Lobendahn, the Vuetis, Joe, Mere, and me. Eventually, Alice Ashley and Adi Loa Naufahu became Primary Presidents.
Other memories include helping the labor Mormon missionaries from Samoa who came to build the Suva chapel. Some of them were related to my grandfather Lava and we would help cook for them and do their laundry. Among the labor missionaries from the mainland
USA were the Wilson family, the Bigelows, the Walls, and the Mendenhalls. These missionary families taught us how the gospel was lived out daily.
I remember that Brother Cecil Smith worked for the City and he brought some people to plant the pretty roses in the front gardens of the chapel. The dedication of the Suva chapel was a big event when President David O. McKay came to dedicate it. Most of the church dignitaries stayed at the Grand Pacific Hotel. The view from the Suva chapel overlooking Suva Bay was spectacular and the sunsets were glorious in those days. The church was small and multicultural in nature and we felt close and were like family to each other because there were so few of us. The number of missionaries was increased to six and missionary work progressed slowly. I remember Joe going on a short–term mission to Lomaloma, Lau with Elder Gibson . The Walter Smith family had their little branch in Taveuni. Eventually, Kwong and Mereoni Yee had a group in Lautoka and the Phillip Lelo family in Vatukoula.
Membership in Suva increased and other early Saints included Willy Finau, Ruby Lavulo, Manu Tupou, Bale and Falo Keil, Letiola Blake, Mary Powell, Gideon Dolo, Tomasi Tawake from Toorak, Daud Sahim, Ashok Dutta, Avid Hussein, MaryAnn Wright, Sarote Tolo, Breckterfields, Lily Croker, Sheffets, Tiva, Koto and Ruci Cavu, Lydia & Cheetah Emberson, Yvonne Giblin, Francis Vueti and Family, Kini Vitukawalu, Olivia Bitu, the Snows, Dhir, and the Mapas.
Early missionaries included Elder Harris and his companion, Elder Singleton, Elder Markham who later returned to teach at LDS Tech., Blacker, Todd, Wacker, Grover McGees, Watkins, Lindholms, Oswalds, and many others who gave so much to the members. Early mission Presidents like the Sampsons, the Stones, the Coombs, Daltons and Grobergs paved the way for those who came after to move the work further.
In those early days, there were times when we did not have enough people to cover the many positions in the church as we were trying to get organized. I remember being in MIA and I was also the MIA President because there were not enough people to call a leader. That was the name for the Young Women’s Program back then. A highlight was when I conducted a Tuesday night meeting where Elder Howard W. Hunter and Elder Thomas S. Monson were our guest speakers for the night.
I also remember when Aunty Emma Lobendahn was Relief Society President for so many years. She called me to be a Relief Society teacher at age 16 . As I look back now, I think the sisters were too shy to teach because Brother Anderson always attended the Relief Society meetings. The highlight of those evening meetings was after Relief Society when all the ladies would socialize with one another culminating in a challenge of who would like to race Sister Breckterfield down the hallway. Those were the good old days. In addition to those fun times, on Sundays I remember the young boys who would have a blast wheeling Brother Willy Finau in his wheel chair up and down the
back slopes of the chapel as a standard form of entertainment. Those were our bonding experiences back then.
As a child, I attended Annesley Methodist Girls School where an aunt was the principal. As an eighth grader, I remember being called up in front of the school during Monday morning assembly and was humiliated by her because I did not attend their bible class and because I was attending the new American church. I am sure that Joe and Mere had their share of experiences but I realized very early on that being LDS meant that I was going to be different because of what I committed to during baptism. I was accepted into the then prestigious and selective boarding school, Adi Cakobau School but turned it down because I was going to miss all my church meetings and activities if I went to Sawani. Again, the same aunt found another reason to humiliate me in front of my peers and teachers by making a spectacle of me for turning down such an opportunity. Looking back now, I absolutely do not have any regrets for the decisions I made then. The gospel taught me very early to be true to myself and that it is between the Lord and me.
The first Primary school opened at the Suva Chapel site with our Maori brother Charles Mohi as the principal. Blossom Mohi and Mom Sokia were right there helping him along with all the after hours chores and necessary activities to bring interest to the school. Sister Ram and Grace Taito were amongst the first teachers that I can remember. Membership in the church began to grow at a faster rate than the previous decade.
The Secondary School opened at the Samabula Chapel site in 1976 with a former missionary, Howard Wolfgram as the principal. Some of the teachers included Hiagi Wesley, Rejieli Mejieli , Sereima Qadriu, Ada Whippy, and me. LDSTC opened in Tamavua and another Maori, brother Gregory Tata came to help us build the music program for the school. The church took a major leap of recognition in the community. At this point when I came back home to teach, the Seminary and Institute program was in existence and helping the members to build their testimonies and gain more knowledge about the Church. Joe and Inosi Naga had done a wonderful job helping the people to understand gospel principles and the doctrines of the church with assistance from Beta as
their secretary. Another New Zealander, President Palmer was the mission president at the time.
The creation of the Fiji mission was a wonderful reminder that the Lord’s work was ever growing. Another milestone accomplishment was when an Area Conference was held in Fiji in 1976 presided over by President Spencer W. Kimball. Saints came all over Fiji and the surrounding Pacific islands in the mission. That was a powerful experience for me because I had the chance along with members of the local newspapers reporters to listen to the prophet during a special press conference, talk about the mission of the Church in Fiji. I was assigned to cover the conference events for the Ensign magazine.
The Indoor Basketball Program was another avenue that the Church gained name recognition in the community especially with all our American elders at the helm of the
program. Needless to say, we have Michael and Paul Whippy to continue a tradition that helped most of our youth stay closer together as brothers and sisters in our Fiji Zion.
Other faithful members I have not mentioned, the Maiwiriwiris, the Manuelis, the Rams, the Bukalases, the Ramas, the Vitinavulagis, Macawai, and many, many more whose names I did not mention but you know who you are, and those who are coming into the Church now, all add so much to the wonderful stalwarts who build the Church to what it is today.
I left to attend the Church College of Hawaii in 1969 and never knew how wonderful the missionaries, couples, mission presidents, genealogists, teachers, professors, and friends were who came to Fiji to build on the rich legacy of faith and love that prevailed in those beloved islands. I am so grateful for their contributions in helping build Zion in Fiji. In 1989, when I returned for my brother Simon’s funeral, I was overwhelmed to see the many Fijian faces in the congregation. It was a testimony to me and I knew this is the Lord’s work and nothing was going to stop it.
In the early days in Fiji, we drew on the experiences and strengths of the Mormon pioneers of the Church in Utah. We didn’t know much but we trusted in the Lord. There were strife and contention that threatened the work but those who were faithful sustained us. I remember that at every Fast and Testimony meeting, Sister Ashley, Sister Lobendahn, and Mom Sokia would bear their testimonies every month and pretty much said the same things over and over and over again and one of the things they mentioned repeatedly was that someday we hope to have a Mormon temple in Fiji so we can do temple work.
I was living here in Utah when the prophet Gordon B. Hinckley made the announcement to build the temple in Fiji and I remember bursting into tears because I remembered the righteous desires of those three pioneering mothers and also the prayers of those that came after them. The Lord lives and He answers our prayers if we will stay the course and be faithful to the end. This announcement did not come without a test. The adversary was mindful of how this wouldl affect the way the Fiji saints lived the gospel. There was political unrest and a series of coups even to the day of the dedication.
My beloved brothers and sisters, as in the words of Sister Sheri Dew, “God needs a powerful people. Let us be like Captain Moroni and declare whose side we are on.” The world is full of filth and sleaze. Take courage and stand up for what you know is right I pray that the Lord will bless you in your efforts as you strive to keep the commandments and be part of God’s army in moving his work of righteousness forward. I am thankful everyday for my membership in His Church. I bear witness to the truthfulness of all these things in the name of our beloved Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.