Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints visited Fiji this week. He was accompanied by his wife, Sister Mary Cook; and Elder Taniela B. Wakolo of the Pacific Area Presidency, and Sister Anita Wakolo.
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Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints greets missionaries in Fiji on 22 May 2024.© 2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.After visiting the Suva Fiji Temple, Elder and Sister Cook, and Elder and Sister Wakolo met with students and staff of Church College Fiji and Fiji Primary School.
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Elder Quentin L. Cook and Sister Mary Cook (centre); Elder Taniela B. Wakolo and Sister Anita Wakolo (left); and Suva Fiji Temple President Meli U. Lesuma and Temple Matron Irene L. Lesuma (right). 22 May 2024.© 2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
Elder Cook addressed an audience of about 500 students and faculty in a special devotional held in the Church College Fiji gymnasium on Wednesday 22 May.
He encouraged students to strive to be righteous leaders and to emulate the Lord Jesus Christ by following His teachings.
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Elder Quentin L. Cook in Fiji on 22 May 2024.© 2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.Elder Cook said that worship should be centred on Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
“You should make your life as pure as it can be,” he said.
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Students participate in a devotional in Fiji on 22 May 2024.© 2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.“Strive always to be worthy to return to God the Father and Jesus Christ. The Saviour accomplished everything for us that will allow us to have a wonderful life after this one. He overcame death for all of us.”
Elder Cook referenced the dedicatory prayer of the school by Elder Jeffery R. Holland, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, stating that students reared in the school, regardless of their upbringing, have the responsibility of leading righteous lives.
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Students attend a special devotional in Fiji on 22 May 2024.© 2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.Elder Cook said, “You’re getting this fabulous education so you can be great fathers and great mothers. That’s the most important thing, raising a family in righteousness, but also so that you can be leaders, so that you can bless our Father in Heaven’s children.”
Quoting the third stanza of Edmund Vance Cooke’s poem, The Eternal Everyday, Elder Cook said the students had the potential to achieve greatness.
“The test of one’s greatness is the way one meets the eternal every day.”
“So, if great things are asked of you, do them…primarily you will bless everybody if you strive on a day-by-day basis to accomplish those things that the Lord would want you to do.”
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A student choir sings during a devotional with Elder Quentin L. Cook on 22 May 2024. Suva, Fiji.© 2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.Later in the day, Elder and Sister Cook and Elder and Sister Wakolo met with missionaries serving in the Suva Fiji Mission.
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Elder Quentin L. Cook speaks during a devotional in Suva, Fiji. 22 May 2024. © 2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.In introducing Elder Cook, Elder Wakolo said that Elder Cook—as President of the Pacific Islands Area—was at the private dedication of the Suva Fiji Temple in 2000. He returned as accompanying Apostle to President Eyring for the re-dedication of the Suva Fiji Temple in 2016.
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Missionaries in Fiji. 22 May 2024.© 2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.Elder Wakolo said that Heber C. Kimball—a missionary and member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the mid-1800s—was Elder Cook’s great-great-grandfather. Despite that lineage, his grandfather’s primary counsel to Elder Cook was to “avoid any sense of entitlement or privilege because of your faithful ancestors,” and to “focus on the Saviour and His Atonement.”
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Missionaries from the Fiji Suva Mission. 22 May 2024.© 2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.Elder Cook is the Chairman of the Missionary Executive Council of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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Missionaries from the Fiji Suva Mission. 22 May 2024.© 2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.Elder and Sister Cook will now travel to meet with members and friends of the Church in Kiribati and the Marshall Islands.