Commemorative Service

This one is hard to believe.  On Wednesday evening we received a phone call from a member of the Returned Soldiers & Ex-Servicemen' Association mentioning that there would be a remembrance ceremony the next morning and that we were invited to attend.  We expected a small gathering.  Imagine our amazement when we arrived to find that it was a huge event and, because of our missionary name tags, we were seated on the front row and escorted to the V.I.P. tent afterwards!

After a program which included the Hymn "O God Our Help In Ages Past", the Lord's Prayer recited by all in Fijian,  and the Fijian National Anthem sung by all, wreaths were laid one by one at the monument by family representatives, High Commissioners from Kiribati, Nauru, Tuvalu, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, South Africa, Ambassadors from Micronesia, France, Britain, United States, People's Republic of China, Japan, Korea, a United Nations Representative, a European Union representative, The President of Fiji, the Acting Prime Minister of Fiji, Commander of the Fiji Military Forces, Police Commissioner, Commissioner of Corrections, a representative of the British Legion and President of the Returned Soldiers & Ex-Servicemen Organization.

At the end of the event, we found ourselves in the V.I.P. tent, inviting the President of the Republic of Fiji , His Excellency Sir Ratu Epeli Nailatikau; CF, KStJ, LVI, OBE(Mil), CSM, MSD, to the Suva Fiji Temple Open House in Jannuary!  Knock me over with a feather!