Tongan Update, November 26,2007 Tongan Thanksgiving

Tongan Update, 26 November 2007, Tongan Thanksgiving

Well, I had enough to eat! How about you? Yes indeed, Thanksgiving is a day of food. I was asked to supply the mashed potatoes for our feast. Now that should be no big deal for all you wonderful cooks out there. But for little me…uhg! I had a practice session several days before Thanksgiving. I peeled a few potatoes, boiled them, drained them, and mashed them with a little salt, milk and butter. Ahhh…perfect! I was ready for the big day except…there was going to be 35 people at our dinner. I think every American on the island of Tongatapu was coming. It was at the Pope’s (not the Catholic Pope) home. They are an American couple who live here. They have a nice place on the beach, and it is traditional for the senior couples to celebrate Thanksgiving at their home. (The Popes did invite a few other people beside the senior missionary couples!)

Back to my potatoes…We bought three bags of potatoes. The potatoes here are very small so there were about 25-30 potatoes in each bag—that’s over seventy-five potatoes. Before I was even half way through peeling those little suckers, I had a blister between my thumb and pointer finger. It also irritated my weakened elbow that I have injured during my various kayaking experiences. (Suzi, you tell them!) John came to help out!!!

We had four pans on the stove boiling up potatoes. Then mashing all those starchy white vegetables was a nightmare. It took over two hours to finally have the end product—a huge bowlful of mashed potatoes.

We put smiles on our faces and headed across the island to the Popes’ with potatoes and snorkeling gear in hand. We could smell the baking turkey as we got out of the car. The buffet was a beautiful sight—a typical American Thanksgiving dinner. Then our Tongan senior missionary couple showed up. They thought we needed a little Tongan food to make our Thanksgiving complete. Elder Afiaki pushed the American dishes aside to make room for his dead pig—head and all.

It was its eyes and its tongue sticking out that made me feel a bit queasy. He had quite a story to go with it. Apparently he had bought the pig a couple of days earlier and had asked his brother-in-law to cook it up for him. So his relative somehow killed the poor animal (I didn’t ask how), then boiled him long enough so you can scrape the hair off. Next they put the pig on a sick and roasted him over a fire. He came out looking like plastic, kind of caramelized. Some people actually ate it and said it was good.

Did I tell you I had to make the gravy too? Thank heavens one of the departing missionaries gave me two packages of turkey gravy mix. I couldn’t mess that up.

After dinner the plan was to spend time on the beach, but due to wind and rain that didn’t happen. We did go shell hunting and came back to the house wet and wind-blown carrying our treasures.

Have any of you seen Shakespear’s play “Much Ado about Nothing?” That’s what this letter is about—nothing. I feel like Seinfeld.

We hope you had a great Thanksgiving!!!

‘Ofa ‘atu, Diane and John

Tongan Update, November 21, 2007 Cicle of Life- Death and Survival

Tongan Update, 21 November 2007, Point of View

Death and survival are common events that happen daily here. It’s difficult for city-slickers like us to watch, but just another “who cares” experience for most Tongans. For example, last Sunday was my first time teaching Primary.

I walked into my classroom to see eight smiling faces and one three inch spider which was climbing up the wall. My immediate response was to gasp. One of the boys calmly took off his flip-flop and wacked the spider four or five times. We left its carcass on the floor while I taught the lesson about the Apostle Paul and his missionary work. I tried to ignore the dead little guy as I proceeded forward. (Ugh!)

Another example: I was out in our courtyard of the Mission Office Complex playing “Go Fish” with three neighboring children when one of our Office Elders ( Elder Lauaki and Elder Jones) came over and interrupted our hot game. He explained he had just accidently run over a puppy and needed a bag so he could discard the dog’s body. The three kids ran out to see the blood and gore, then came back to finish the game. (Needless to say, I waited for them in the courtyard.) As we continued on, one of the kids nonchalantly mentions, “Oh, the dead dog is ours.” Well OK! No emotion—nope, nothing. I tried to explain about our dogs in America…like people bring dinner over to us to console us when our beloved pets die. The kids looked at me like I was crazy.

On P-Day the senior missionaries (Embleys, Stimpsons, McLauglens, Kinikini) took a twenty minute boat ride to a tiny island north of Tongatapu called Atata.

It has a small resort there where you can kayak, swim, snorkel, etc.

We decided to take a walk to a fishing village not far from the resort.





A playful dog (probably about eight months old) decided to escort us. He took the lead. As we walked through “the bush” into an open field, the dog (named Snoopy) decided to terrorize the chickens which were scratching for delicacies to eat.
Snoopy raced around, all the chickens scattered except for one feisty little gal. She had four chicks and didn’t want Snoopy anywhere near them. When she didn’t flee like the rest of the chickens, Snoopy thought she wanted to play. The valiant chicken flew herself at the dog twice. The dog kept coming after her until she finally fled living her four babies behind. Hey, Snoopy had had his fun, and he trotted off up the hill.

But to our amazement, a huge papa pig came rampaging out of the bush.

He scoffed up those four baby chicks in quick gulps and then rumbled back into the bush.

We had felt helpless. We had tried to stop the dumb dog and that didn’t work. Then that monster pig came from nowhere. We didn’t even have time to react and help those defenseless little chicks—But the dog had fun, and the pig had a nice snack…so life goes on.

Ooooo…no more sad stories! Did I say, “sad?” I guess it’s from whose point of view!

From my point of view the funniest thing that happened on Atata was the kayaking. Now Elder Thompson and Elder Embley might have different opinions. The three of us decided to take the kayaks out into the bay. Because they were only one-man kayaks (like Eskimo kayaks), we each took our own. I slipped contently into mine and started paddling.

The kayaks were a bit small for the gentlemen. They pushed and shoved and squeezed until they finally got into them. The Elders both paddled about fifteen feet before the kayaks flipped upside down and the men had to swim to the surface of the water.

Now is that not funny? What’s your point of view?

The men did eventually round up some extra-wide windsail boards to float on, and we set sail (actually, they were given wind sail boards, you know about 24"x96:). I went in my usual circles, and the Elders did stay afloat.

Tongan Update, November 15, 2007 Seniors leaving

Tongan Update, 15 November 2007, Good-byes, Just Aren’t Fun!

Well, we had the temple rededicated. Now everyone thinks they need to go home. Oh sure…leave us here with just three other couples and the McMurrays.

Here’s the list of those who flew off this last week: the Flints (temple contractor), the Browns (temple promoters), Sister Hafoka (family history), the Harrisons (school teachers),

the Laytons (church auditors), the Ka’ilis (proselyting missionaries), Sister Grosh (nurse), the Heimulis (to Vava’u),

all the media people (Carol Mikita-KSL and Sharah Weaver-Church News, and lastly…the Christensens (office couple).

Did you notice the last name? Yes, they left us. We are alone in the office. Oh no! PANIC!! BUT…We can do it! We can do it! We are going to miss the Christensens. They were our mentors, friends, and life-line. I kept saying, “Don’t go!”, but they didn’t listen. Actually he was having severe health problems and really needed to go home. They were scheduled to leave in December.

The Christansens
Sister Christensen is a delightful person. She thought she was getting a fat stomach so she decided to stop eating…at least eat a lot less. She is now a walking toothpick and looks like a war refugee. She said she’d rather look like that than be fat. She is 74 years old and looks a little like a pixie with buck teeth. She has the cutest giggle.

Elder Christensen is at least three times, maybe four times, the weight of his wife. They both like to play “Golf” and “Jerk”. On Halloween we had a party and taught them those two card games. Sister Christensen was by far the biggest winner of the evening. Elder Christensen was having trouble with his diabetes which was causing him to have headaches and dizziness. He was using that “little” excuse for not winning.

Even our first Office Elder, Elder Holloway, was transferred last week. He was the one who wanted to know if I had a recipe for pancakes. The next week he said that the Elders didn’t have any eggs for pancakes. Then it was, “ Sister Thompson makes the best pancakes”…anything to get breakfast. He does have great missionary qualifications though. He can climb up a coconut tree faster than any Tongan. One day he came to visit us and saw a family photo which was taken at Strawberry Pinnacles last summer. He pointed to one of the girls and asked if I’d line him up when he gets home from his mission. Who do you think he was pointing to? No surprise…yes, Missy. I thought the line-up was a good idea until he mentioned some girl from New Mexico who had sent him 26 packages. I think he’s already taken.

So…it’s John and me!! Well, we do have the Elders. And we do get to drive the Sister Missionaries on their exchanges four nights a week. And there is an English Temple Session every Thursday night now, and Home Evening on Mondays, and Seniors Night Out on Fridays. If we can hold the office together, we’ll be alright! (Oh, they just put me in as First Councilor in the Primary over Sharing Time and the teacher of the 7-11 year old class. John’s the High Priest instructor and a Home Teacher.)

Actually we love being busy—the time does fly by because there is so much to do.

We did go snorkeling last Saturday. No one puts on their cute new swimming suits to go into the ocean here. You just step into the water with your regular clothes on. It’s quite a sight. Not only are you wearing goggles and flippers, you are also wearing your Capri’s, shorts, or long pants and a t-shirt. We might look hilarious, but the fish and the coral under the water are amazing. We had to laugh at President McMurray. He was in dark pants and a light colored short sleeve dress shirt. We thought he came to watch, but he was first in the water. Nothing like a fully dressed missionary going in for a swim.

What you see people wearing is what they swam in.

That’s about it for now. Love you all!

‘Ofa ‘atu,

Diane and John

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

Tongan Update, November 1, 2007-VAVA'U ISLAND GROUP

Tongan Update 01 November 2007, Islands of Vava’u

President McMurray and his wife invited us to go with them to the islands of Vava’u. These islands lie 163 miles north of Tongatapu and are considered to be the “Jewels of Tonga.” President McMurray compares Tongatapu and Vava’u to Murray, Utah and Park City. Cruise ships port in Vava’u. There are many sailboats in the harbor. There are hills and valleys covered with palm trees and all kinds of foliage. It’s a postcard kind of place.

This picture is one of the few pine trees on the island, and it stands alone. Similarly, the church stands out as being the only true church of God with full priesthood authority and responsibility to work in His name with His blessing.

Have you ever seen a coconut tree (or any tree) grow out of a truck?

or a tree with a trunk that is 20-25' in diameter and with branches that provides shade for 20 or more cars? The tree is huge and looks ancient with all the twisting bark and branches.

The McMurrays were going to Vava’u to speak at a graduation ceremony, attend Zone Conference, and interview the missionaries. We were going to inspect the missionary houses. The President arranged our flights and accommodations. He had us booked to stay at one of the nicest resort areas on the main island. It is right on the ocean front with a view of the bay, and we even had one of the “deluxe “rooms.

On the morning of our departure, we packed our bags and headed across Tongatapu to pick up the President and Charlene. Low and behold when we reached their home, the McMurrays informed us that our “confirmed” flights were not leaving until 3:00…it was now 9:30a.m. We debated what to do. It was decided that only the President would go, and the rest of us would go another day. (His flight finally left at 5:00 that night.)

The next controversy was who should now go to Vava’u? Should it be Elder Thompson and Sister Thompson OR Elder Thompson and Elder Heimuli OR Elder and Sister Thompson and Elder and Sister Heimuli OR whatever? Anyway, we went, but no “deluxe room.”

We flew in a 50 seat plane which the airline people had brought in from Fiji for travel between the main island of Tongatapu and Vavu'a. They said they were going to try using it for 6 months, but since our trip we haven't seen it.

Our travel to Vava'u was much more comfortable in the bigger plane, than the 16 seater which is normally used. The small plane is cramped and really noisy. John takes his hearing aids out when riding in the small plane because it is so loud. He sits in a quiet environment while others listen to the deafening sound of the props.

From the air you seat beautiful island groups surrounded with coral. You also see farm lands in an organized pattern of ownership. This pictures shows the farm lands (uta) near the airport. The entire island is green with grasses and leafy root crops.

This is Nuku'alofa as the plane turned north to head towards Vava'u. You can see where we live. It's the small white dot. (ha ha). We knew what to look for and could actually see the area where we are now living.

This is an island which is part of the Ha'apai island group that John wrote about earlier. It's the island of O'tua which has only one village. John and President McMurray were carried from the boat to the dock here. You can see the coral surrounding the island that makes it hard to get into.

The next picture is the island of Ha'afeva. This is where district meetings and zone meetings are held. It is the only island (of a small group of islands) that has a dock. Therefore, it is the only island in this area that the larger passenger and freighter boats go to. Again you can see the coral that makes navigation more than a casual exercise. This is where the people danced in the rain for hours after a district fireside that John spoke about in another posting (Ha'apai trip).

This is the small airport of Vava'u. Each airport has its unique personality taking you back in time.

As you leave the airport, you pass under this row of tree that makes you feel like you are going through a tunnel. The trees are old, but have a look to them that makes you wonder how they came to be.

This welcome sign was put up by one of the wards to welcome leaders to a forum(Pacific Island) retreat in Vava'u. It created major controversy because it welcomed a leader that is known for civil right violations. Some island people protested. Some forum leaders refused to go to the Vava'u retreat. These types of welcome arches and welcome banners can be seen throughout the islands. On Tongatapu, each village made their own banner and arch over the roads. This is the only one that was sponsored by members of the Church. The trumpeting angel Moroni was very distinctive.

We stayed in an apartment that was once used by some senior missionaries who had left for home. And that was OK until 2:30 in the morning. John and I were sound asleep when a cleaning crew of Tongans came to… as they described it, “Clean the bathroom, the toilet, and the chicken.” The “chicken” turned out to be the kitchen. I don’t know…but does it seem a bit early to come cleaning? They were convinced to come back later. So at 6:00 a.m. they were back. When we finally woke up enough to kind of think straight, we made some phone calls and figured things out. We still had two more nights to stay, and we didn’t want anymore midnight visitors! (Why do you think Tongans like to clean in the middle of the night? I don’t get it!)

The next day we visited all the missionary houses that we could drive to in a car. A senior couple ( the Harrisons from Brigham City, Utah) and the Zone leaders were our guides. Now how hard can it be to spend all day driving around a beautiful island? Answer: not hard at all!

Some of the houses are up to church standards like this one.

Others, like the pictures below, are not. We instructed the elders to move out of this place of living immediately. Since returning to the office, we just finished plans to build a new house in this area for the missionaries. Lucky for them. It will definitely be an improvement.

You may be asking yourself, "why are we showing you these pictures that are not pleasant to see?"

Well, everything in Tonga is not beautiful. We have been, and still are, dealing with things that have been ignored for years. We believe that "raising the bar" is more than preparing for a mission. We believe that missionary behavior, living quarters, treatment of mission vehicles, use of time, etc. all need to be raised.

We raised the bar in boat standards. We are getting new boats in three months. We are raising the bar on living quarters (we will build 7 new houses in the coming months). We are getting missionaries to clean their "Houses of Worship" better. It is a challenge, but we know that a clean and orderly house will invite the spirit of the lord to be with them. They are improving. We are see a difference and to us it is refreshing to see the difference.

Because of limited time, we continued our inspections late into the night and used the lights from the van to help us see the outside condition of the homes. At this house we discovered that the elders were gone and that the door was unlocked. As we walked in and walked from room to room we found, on the floor of the bedroom, a male adult was sleeping on the floor next to the bed. Even though John turned on the lights and we talked over him, he didn't move. (He must have been a sound sleeper or a good faker.) Having non-missionaries in the house is against mission rules. We talked to the Elders later that night and had them move the sleepy guy out. It's a conflict that we deal with. Some Elders think that they can allow non missionaries to stay in their houses even though Mission Rules prohibit it. Some missionaries don't understand that the rules are designed to protect the property and to avoid situations where improper things occur.


The following day we went by boat to three of the smaller islands. Most of these smaller islands have only one village on them.

This boat is one of the mission boats and will be replaced. None of the electronic equipment (lights, horn, radio) work. It is also cracking. How can people ignore the problems on these boats?

We saw beautiful sights along the way.

This is a coral reef we traveled through. The water was only a couple of feet deep. To the side of us, the water was breaking against the coral so our travel through the coral was in a narrow passageway (a coral trench). Missionaries sat on the bow of the boat pointing out coral formations that we needed to go around. Needless to say, we repair and replace props often because of the coral. Every trip is different due to the tide.

This is a narrow passageway we came through after navigating around the coral breaks above. Had we not been able to go through this passageway, our ride would have been much longer because we would have had to go around additional coral reefs to another passage way into a bay for this island.

We stopped at this intriguing water cave. The driver drove the boat inside of it.

Names were written on the walls of the cave and on the ceiling. There were names in places that we could not figure out how they could get there.
As the boat turned around, this was our view looking out of the cave.

My, my! a day in paradise!

These little villages are unique. Most of them do not have automobiles on them. They get power from generators and drink rain water collected from the roofs of their homes. Their animals run free.

A lot of the missionary houses are in need of repair. From the outside, this rented house looks good.

But the inside? Well, there is work to be done.

It was fun to traipse around the little villages, visiting with the people, watching the pigs, and collecting shells.

This church building is located on the shore, with the missionary house and tennis court located in the back of the church. On the shore are boats that members use to come to Church and to use for fishing.

The chapels are simple with tiled floors, but they reflect a reverence that is truly noticeable. You feel a spirit that is sweet, because you know that people partake of the sacrament in these little rooms and are teaching one another things of God. As you look upon these simple room, you also know that special things occur here. The Sacrament is blessed, testimonies are borne, and messages are given that remind members to be more Christ-like.

As you leave many of the chapels the view is inspiring--makes you want to just sit on the steps of the church, look out, and appreciate the things the Lord has created. The views inspire you to be thankful.

Can you imagine how they must feel when they leave church and see a view like this?

We had to kind of smile at the missionary district leaders who reside on one of the islands. They had cleaned their house perfectly. Then they gave both of us flower leis to wear. They went overboard to impress us.

Here, Elder Kairi sits proudly and smiles with his pleasure of presenting to us a clean house.

If we could just get other missionaries to make their homes places of paradise! It would be wonderful.

Here the missionaires have to sleep in one of the classrooms of the church.

Then you have some other Elders who need to get to work and clean their living quarters. You see them all!

With our inspections done, we were going to hike up a small mountain that overlooks the whole island, but it rained…and rained…and rained. We didn’t think our plane would take off because of the rain. But it did.

Oh by the way, we did go to the post office. There were two mail slots for mailing things, but we learned that everything really goes by boat.

What a lovely three days!!

LIFE IS GOOD IN TONGA!!!