"We will never forget Fiji," say outgoing Fiji Suva Mission President and his wife, President and Sister Ostler. The couple shared some of their feelings about their three-year experience in Fiji at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' 2011 'Family Values Awards' fireside on Sunday, 26 June in Suva.
Sister Ostler said it would be hard to leave a country they had come to love, even harder than when they had to leave to come on their full-time mission as a couple.
She said she would always treasure the Fijian people and especially "the way they would open up their hearts, their smiles and their willingness to give."
Sister Ostler, who has four sons, said it was one thing to see your sons head off on a mission and then see them return, changed and grown in so many wonderful ways.
"But it is another thing to experience the change yourself."
President Ostler explained they had discussed going on a mission as a couple but there did not appear a good time from a family perspective. However, that changed when their younger son decided to get married and there were no more excuses not to go.
President Ostler said he knew that when they leave Fiji it may be the last time that they will see the Fiji members in this lifetime but certainly not the next.
The couple shared their love for the Saviour and that they were honoured to have served Him in beautiful Fiji.
They leave Fiji in a few days time.