By Staff Writer
Stranded travellers who landed back in Apia in a special repatriation flight from Fiji, will have even bigger smiles when released from 14 days of isolation this week to rejoin families.
Among them are three returning LDS Missionaries, Annalisi Tauti, Roseta Fa’afetai and Savelina Tamotu, who made up the 37 passengers who flew in on Fiji Airways.
The threesome landed back home a week ago last Friday after 18 months of missionary work for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Fiji.
Fiji Sun newspaper carried a story on the three young women who were described as ‘ecstatic’ at finally heading back to Samoa.
Fa’afetai spoke on their behalf and told the Fiji print media that they were grateful to serve the people of Fiji and looked forward to returning home.
“We love the people of Fiji and they have a beautiful heart. We visited many places here in Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. We not only share the teaching of Jesus Christ, but we also learn from the Fijian people, their language and their way of life,” she told the Fiji S.
“We thank the airline for providing us this flight. We are excited to go back home, but at the same time we miss Fiji.”
LDS Suva Mission President John Higgins, who was with his wife, Naomi Higgins, to farewell the missionaries, said the trio had shown their dedication to their service in Fiji.
“We are so excited for them that they need to go home and see their families. They were supposed to go home about a month ago but they locked down. We were with them the whole time they were here and we are going to miss them,” Mr Higgins said.
“They came as volunteers to serve the people here in Fiji. They share about the teaching of Jesus Christ and we are so grateful for their dedication.”
A similar repatriation of LDS Missionaries who served in Samoa from New Zealand and Australia was also organised last May at the start of repatriation flights by Air New Zealand between Auckland and Apia.
The LDS church missionaries serving in Samoa are made up of 70 per cent coming from the United States, 20 per cent from Australia and New Zealand and 10 per cent locally.
LDS church president in Samoa, Francis Ho Ching, said at the time that Missionaries from Samoa who are serving overseas have to remain where they are assigned to wait out the re-opening of border travels before they can return home.
The LDS Church spokesman confirmed as well that 245 Samoan missionaries serving outside the country were safe and well.
Young men on missionary services for the church are under 2 year assignments with 18 months for the young women missionaries.