TONGAN UPDATE- NOVEMBR 8, 2007-CulturalEvent and TempleRe-dedication

Tongan Update, 08 November 2007, Cultural Event and Temple Re-dedication

I imagine the Cultural Event and the Temple Re-dedication will be the highlights of our mission.

First, the Cultural Event. It was to take place at the Rugby Stadium in Nuku’alofa.

Even the McMurray girls participated in the program. Their light complexion and blonde hair made it easy to find them on the field.

Everyone was getting a little nervous because it had been raining off and on all week, and the field was getting soggy and mushy. The youth of the Church had been practicing their dances for months, and the weather was a big concern.


But…as Elder Nelson put it, “through the faith of the members, the skies cleared up and the field was dried, so ‘let the party begin’.” (Maybe he didn’t say it quite that way.)

At any activity that the King of Tonga is attending, the common people should arrive at least an hour earlier than the King. The noblemen and VIPs are to show up a half hour earlier. (The senior missionaries were considered VIPs at this occasion).

The church VIPs attending this cultural event were: Elder Condie of the Seventy and current Area President and his wife, Elder Fine'anponople and his wife, President McMurray and Charlene, President Shumway and his wife, the current temple president and matron, and Elder and sister Nelson, of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles. All of these people sat in a booth-like structure with the king.

After we were all seated the King came roaring in with his two motorcycles and three car brigades.

Everyone stood up while the band played the national anthem. In this case the King went to his special enclosure where Elder Condie and Elder Nelson had already been seated.

After the King and his guests arrived, they were served trays full of food and drinks. Much to our surprise we were also given fruit, tuna fish (and something else) sandwiches, fruit drinks, and bottled water. The poor little common people were ignored. They just got to watch the rest of us eat. This setting made us feel very uncomfortable. We were surprised, but grateful for the food (because the program was long), but we felt uneasy as we were given food while "the commers" were looking on.

After a welcome and a short talk by Elder Nelson, the performance began.

The story line went like this: Young parents are grieved by the recent lost of their young daughters. To bring comfort to the couple, they go on a journey to all the Pacific Islands seeking a treasure that will bring them happiness and are entertained by the people on each island. Some of the treasures they find are gifts that last for eternity: humility, gratitude, courage, and giving.

Upon returning home the couple is visited by two missionaries. These Elders tell them about the greatest treasure that anyone can have. That is: FAMILIES CAN BE TOGETHER FOREVER.

This program involved about 2,400 LDS youth. At each island (Tahiti, Maori, Hawaii, Samoa, Fiji, and Tonga) that the couple visited, groups of dancers would come out onto the field and do a dance typical of that island. The costumes were wonderful and the choreography was amazing.

What a successful and wonderful event. Here is how everyone left the stadium as outlined in the program: Order of Departures:

His Majesty, King George Tupou V

Members of the Royal Family

Other Distinguished Guest (Including us)

Members and Friends

Now the re-dedication--

Many people were disappointed that President Hinckley was unable to make the trip to Tonga, but they gave Elder Nelson a warm welcome including banners over the road leading into Liahona. Elder Nelson and his wife said they were really touched with the welcome.

The senior missionaries were blessed to be seated in one of the sealing rooms of the temple for the re-dedication. We were seated in the sealing room immediate across the hall from the Celestial Room where the dedication took place so we could see and hear what was going on as they prepared for the ceremony.

We cannot describe the feelings we had being in that Holy House with the beautiful crystal chandeliers and the large double mirrors where you look into them and see no end. We knew we were part of a special and sacred ceremony.

While we were sitting and waiting for the ceremony to begin, Elder Nelson and Elder Condie came into the room and quietly shook hands with each person in our room before the actual program began.

Before the dedicatory prayer, they had the corner stone ceremony. This is where the ceremony took place. If you didn't see the dedication on T.V. ,you should know that among those that were given opportunity to apply grout to the corner stone were President and sister McMurray and their three children. What a wonderful opportunity for them.

After the Corner Stone ceremony and the official re-dedication program (which we watched on television in the sealing room), we sang “The Spirit of God like a Fire is Burning.”It was a little confusing because some of us sang in English and others in Tongan, but the spirit of God like a fire was burning.

These activities have been like hot fudge on ice cream, but the cherry on top was actually attending our first Endowment Session in the temple.

On Monday we went on a special session with the Sister Missionaries. It was all in Tongan, and they didn’t give us head phones. I apologized to the little lady I did the endowment for because I was way lost. She was from India and was born in 1877. I hope she is understanding and realizes that I was doing my best. John said he was OK with the session because he has memorized the dialogue and could follow the Tongan version. He went through for a Hispanic person born in 1745.

On Tuesday we attended the temple again with the senior missionaries, but this session was in English. One Tongan patron wore a head set so he could heard the recoding in Tongan. That’s a switch. Oh yes, it was much, much better than our first experience where the presentation was in Tongan. Several Senior Missionaries (Flints, Laytons, Grosh, and Hafoka) who were in attendance left the following day so this was their only opportunity to attend a session in the Tongan Temple. Included in our group were Elder and Sister Flint who supervised the remodeling project for the church. So they were on an emotional high. It was a thrilling experience for us, but for them it was the cumulation of two years of work.

The Tongan members of the Church have to feel really good about how successful everything went surrounding the Temple Rededication. However, the temple president (Eric Shumway) reminded the Tongans at a Fireside after the dedication, “Now the real work begins—actually doing the work for the dead.”

Keep your eyes open, and you might see more about this on the “news” and in the “news”.

Hey, love you all,

John and Diane