My second area on my mission was called Qeleni (you'll probably butcher the pronunciation, so don't worry about it), on the island of Taveuni. For everyone that doesn't know Fijian geography, there is the main island (Viti Levu), then the second main island (Vanua Levu) to the North East, and Taveuni is a small island just to the South of that. It has only one road that doesn't go all the way around the island, and it is supplied almost entirely from the main island for anything that isn't fish, coconut, or taro.
As a missionary, we were having a difficult time with the work which included making most of our own food. When buying food on a small island, the prices are quite high, so we generally could afford noodles not unlike Top Ramen, chicken sausages, and tuna. This became quite tiresome after a number of months and I began to complain as most human beings would.
It was at this time that a senior couple, the Howards, visited the island. I confided in Brother Howard that I was tired of eating the same meal day after day, and that the only reason I couldn't eat something else was because it was too expensive. It was at this time that he took me aside a said, "You know, the Israelites ate manna in the wilderness for forty years, and one time they complained so much that God gave them quail until they started to complain about that." Feeling sufficiently humbled by this remark, I decide to stop complaining. It was then that Brother Howard had to leave.
I shook Brother Howard's hand and found that he had left something there. It was a fifty dollar Fijian banknote (roughly equivalent to 30 USD). I told him that I couldn't accept it and he told me that now was my time to eat quail, or chicken rather. As he drove away, he leaned out the window and yelled "Chicken!"
