7/29/2019 Service in Fiji - Sept. 24 Transcript Article

1/2

TOOELETRANSCRIPT-BULLETIN

Unless otherwise requested, community news items such asweddings, missionaries, birthdays, babies and The Bulletin

Board must be submitted by 3 p.m. the day prior to the desired

publication date. To place a community news item or for moreinformation contact the Community News Editor at 882-0050 or

rbriggs@tooeletranscript.com. Items more than one month old willnot be considered for publication.

Hometown

B1TUESDAY September 24, 2013

Missionary

Classifieds and Public Notices

Sierra Allen and the group packs cement into cinder blocks for the base ofthe restroom and septic tank. Sierra Allen works in the beginning stages ofthe restroom and septic tank they were assigned to build in Sabeto, Fiji.

Sierra Allen and the group members stand in the hole they dug at the startof building the restroom and septic tank. Sierra Allen went to Fiji as part of a

humanitarian group to help build restrooms and septic tanks for the locals.

Service in FijiSTORYRICHARD BRIGGS | PHOTOSCOURTESY OF SIERRA ALLEN

Grantsvilles Sierra Allenknows a thing or two aboutadventure.

The Grantsville High Schoolsenior embarked on a humanitar-ian trip to Fiji during the summer,helping the locals build restrooms

in their homes. But that was onlypart of the experience, as shemade new friends and gainedperspective that she hopes willhelp shape her for the future.

The service-oriented trip wasa function of HumanitarianExperiences for Youth, whichis put on by members of TheChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, although its not achurch-sponsored program.Allen said she found the progra mon the Internet, but she doesnt

remember what she typed intoGoogle to find it. Once she foundHEFY, as its called by members ofthe program, she decided that itwas what she wanted to do.

Allen wanted to do a hum ani-tarian trip after speaking with a

girl with whom she had a sum-mer art class.She went to Costa Rica, and

I thought that would be kind ofcool, Allen said. So I startedlooking for programs, but most ofthe programs were pretty expen-sive or just didnt feel quite right.

Allen found the program shewanted and started saving hermoney. Her parents were sup-portive of her going on a humani-

Sierra Allen spent her summeraway from the comforts of

Grantsville to help people in Fiji

SEE FIJI PAGE B8

7/29/2019 Service in Fiji - Sept. 24 Transcript Article

2/2

TUESDAY September 24, 2013B8

tarian trip and felt it would be agood experience for her.

She and the rest of her grouparrived in Nadi, Fiji, at theend of July and stayed for afew weeks until the middle ofAugust just before schoolstarted. She and the othersstayed in Nadi through theduration of their trip, but theirservice project took place inSabeto, about a half hour away.Thats where they helped thelocals build restrooms and sep-tic tanks.

They were separated intosmaller groups and assigneda family to help. Allen said thefamily she was assigned had afun dynamic.

There was this old guy whosaid I know how to do it waybetter than a 17-year-old girl,so get out of the way, Allensaid. So you really had to sayNo, its OK. I can do it. Thenwe had a couple of middle-aged guys who were reallyfatherly and making sure wewere OK and wore our gloves.And then we had a c ouple ofteenage guys who were alwayshanging around and just beingdumb. They had these littlemusic players that were kind oflike iPods but just a cheap rip-off of one. They were alwaysplaying those, but they onlyhad, like, seven songs on them,so they just listened to those allday.

Allen said the young children

would come and watch th e ser-vice project in progress.

Wed be digging the hole,and they would just come sitor lift a rock out one at a time,she said. They were alwaystaking our gloves, so they werealways running around withthese huge gloves with tinyhands. Whenever you didnthave a shovel in your hands,they would always try and getyou to play with them or justtackling you.

Allen said she could feel thelove and happiness from thepeople in Fiji.

They loved so willingly,she said. You never felt likeyou were being judged. Youcould wave to anyone, andthey would wave back. They

were super, super happy.Going there, I expected to seepoverty is equal to [sadness],but theyre super ha ppy. Itjust made me realize tha t the

material things dont make youhappy. Its family, friends and

relationships that bring happi-ness.Allen learned a few new

things while in Fiji, includ-ing rugby, which shes still notsure if she likes or not. Oneof her rugby experiences onthe trip included a time whenshe played in the middle ofthe scrum. She didnt like thatpart with the heads bashingtogether. But she did enjoy get-tingaway from the rugby to gosnorkeling and swimming.

The food had its ups anddowns. She said there wasa big feast at the end of thetrip where she got to eat newthings, but for the most partthe trip consisted of a carbo-hydrate overload. She said theyate mostly bread and othercarb-loaded foods while inSabeto that didnt make her feelwell.

Her favorite experience waswhen the group visited a hos-pital one Sunday after churchand were able to sing LDSchurch hymns to the patients.

Our group was really intosinging. Wed sing all the time,Allen said. So we got to goaround to the different hospitalrooms and sing to the patients.It was just really super peace-ful and quiet. Obviously thepatients there are hurting, soto be able to go in there, sing tothem and help lift them up itwas pretty awesome.

Allens perspective changedslightly when she returnedhome. Shes involved in a few

extra-curricular activities atGHS, including the soccer team

and the yearbook staff, and hertime in Fiji helped her see thebig picture.

The great thing about thegroup I was with was that noone was everyone was so cen-tered around service that noone was judging each other,she said. They could see youat your absolute worst likewhen your hair was a mess andyou were all sweaty, but no onejudged you at all. So just c om-ing back here and people are socaught up in that and worriedabout what other people think,and its sad because it doesntreally matter.

Allen said she feels moreconfident since her return andthat shes able to go with theflow.

Im in a couple of differentleadership things at school likeyearbook, and when somethingdoesnt go r ight everyone g oeshaywire, she said. But I sayJust calm down. Well straight-en this out, and itll be fine.

She said she also learnedhow to work in a team. Shewants to serve a mission f orthe LDS church, and the Fijiexperience also helped withthat goal.

There are a lot of differ-ent types of personalities,she said, and I realized youdont need to be all of themto be the perfect person. Youcan be yourself and contributebecause they need that person-ality. So just be yourself.rbriggs@tooeletranscript.com

Fijicontinued from page B1

COURTESY OF SIERRA ALLEN

The local children were fascinated by the project and those who came to help build.

COURTESY OF SIERRA ALLEN

The children in the village of Sabeto always wanted to play with and tackle theservice workers.

TOOELE TRANSCRIPT-BULLETIN

Reach Every Home in the Tooele Valley

Your Business Can

Total Market CoverageCall Today 882-0050

TRANSCRIPTBULLETIN

TOOELE