TONGAN UPDATE February 16 2008 TESTIMONIES OF THE PRIMARY CHILDREN

TESTIMONIES OF THE CHILDREN OF THE

NUKU’ALOFA TONGA 10^TH BRANCH

Remember to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and to forgive one another. Rika

Seek after good things. Be humble and obedient. Be kind to one another. Andrew

Don’t be angry and say bad things. Give thanks for what God has given you. Obey your parents. Alice

Be humble. Believe in Jesus and honor your parents. Buffy

Remember to pray all the time. Believe in Jesus. Stephnie

Be kind to everyone. Be humble. Seek after good things and love one another. Nelson

Today I would like to have my testimony to you about the church I go to. My church is very kind. They are kind to one another. Our church is fun. Our church has humble people, kind people, and some people are preaching the gospel. We have priestholders, and they are very good in preaching. One of our members just left on a mission there to America, but at California. Now we’ve got two new members who are preaching our gospel which they come from Utah. They are two missionaries Elder and Sister Thompson. They are kind. As I finish, remember to preach the gospel all the time. Forgive people, love them, be honest and live peace with others. Have faith, hope, and charity. As I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Joanne Mataele

Most of these sound like advice instead of testimonies. Are they OK or should we try again? Diane

TONGAN UPDATE FEB 10, 2008 Don't let the Rain Come Down

Tongan Update, 10 February 2008, Oh No, Don’t Let the Rain Come Down

You’ve sung the words to the song, “Oh no, don’t let the rain come down. My roof has a hole in it and I might drown…” Well, we pretty much drowned the other day.

It started raining about two o’clock in the afternoon. This wasn’t any light drizzle, this was sheets of water. At first we thought it was kind of fun watching this mass of rain. But when our center courtyard started to fill up, we got a little nervous. Hey no problem…it will stop soon.

No, it didn’t stop. The water ran off the grass in the courtyard and onto the sidewalks close to the doors to our apartment, the offices, the young missionary apartment, and the conferences rooms. We knew what to do! We got plastic and blankets to block the water from seeping under the doors. Our blockades leaked and we had to bail water, but they were holding.

The down-pour continued. Our neighbor’s yard flooded and the water flowed into our complex from the back.

The street flooded and the water flowed into our complex from the front. The FM (facility management) sent us some sandbags so we reinforced our blockades in front of our doors which were still holding back the water. We breathed a sigh of relief thinking all was well.

Now we built the blockade around the door so we could still enter our apartment. Feeling confident that the sandbags were stopping the water from flooding our living areas, Elder Thompson and I went into our apartment. To our amazement the bathroom, bedroom, and part of the living room was filled with water. We couldn’t believe it! Apparently the water table had risen so high, that water had come into the building through the foundation. What a mess!!! After rescuing a few things that were on the floor, WE GAVE UP!

The young missionaries had a water fight and slide around in the six inch deep water in the courtyard.

Not everyone was concerned about the rain. These girls stood under the overflowing rain gutter and took a shower. We saw people doing this all over the island. There is nothing like washing in rain water instead of the sea.

We oldie goldies decided to head to higher ground. The FM arranged for us to stay at one of the empty houses at Liahona, a village about fifteen miles away from the mission home. Driving there reminded us of cruising the main channel of Lake Powell.

We got behind a van, and it pushed the water to the sides breaking a way for us. The radio the next day said that it rained nine inches in about seven hours. Even the Tongans said this was a huge storm.

Many people besides us were dealing with flooding. In fact, when we got over to Liahona, the Temple President and his wife had also been flooded out of their home. Both of us couples stayed in “Fale 1” which is the house where the apostles stay when they come to Tonga. The house has two wings, and each of us had a wing to stay in with a joint kitchen. We ended up staying there two nights. It was nice to get to know the Shumways. They are “big wheels” down here. They talked about having the King’s brother over for dinner. They have met with the King.

They know the princess.

We talked about having the young elders over for pancakes.

You get the picture?

The next day we returned to the office. When we removed the sand and opened the door, water in the office flowed out of the room onto the courtyard. We were flooded in a big way in the office. In some places over 3 inches of water. You can see that the water flow was sufficient to wash the sand away.

This pillar shows the water depth in the center court.
Needless to say, the words "rain, rain go away" have greater meaning to us.

TONGAN UPDATE FEB 07, 2008 Cruise Ship and a Prophet Going Home

Tongan Update, 07 Feb 2008, Cruise Ship and a Prophet Going Home

This was a week of people heading home.

I was walking to the post office the other day and noticed a huge cruise ship docked in our harbor.

We don’t see many of those here. I raced up to talk to a couple who had just disembarked from the ship and asked them about their journey. They were on a “round the world” cruise starting from England, and this was the fifth week of their travels, having already gone through the Panama Canal and stopping at various Pacific Islands. They inquired what there was to see on Tongatapu. “Well, most tourists like to see the blow holes,” I replied. They countered that they had seen blow holes before.

“O.K., the flying foxes are kind of interesting,” I mentioned. “Oh, we saw those in New Zealand”, they said.

“My favorite part of the island is the east side where there are the little villages, the bush,

and the pigs rooting in the receding ocean,

the ancient stone arch,

the natural arch

.” The couple thought it was too far to rent a taxi and drive over there. “So what is your favorite part of the cruise?” I asked. You can guess the answer. I did. “GOING HOME!” They still had three weeks left on their cruise, and they were already anxious to go home.

Later, while I was typing away on the computer, a young Tongan wearing a University of Utah jacket walked into the office. He was a return missionary who served, no less, in the Millcreek area. Wow, it was fun talking to him as he told us about his experiences in our own neighborhood. One of his choice experiences was meeting the prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley.

Now released “Elder” Mohetau was invited to dinner at Richard Hinckley’s home. While the two missionaries were eating with the family, President Hinckley paid a surprise visit. Imagine this young missionary’s delight in actually shaking the hand of the prophet of the Church and visiting with him. Now here’s a kid that didn’t want to come home! He loved his mission and the USA. He is still “on fire” with the spirit to do missionary work and would like to head back to Salt Lake on the next plane and continue his mission!

Thirdly, going home was our prophet. Yep, party in heaven! Happy Day!! What a great man!

TONGAN UPDATE FEB 01, 2008 Opening a Can of Worms

Tongan Update, 01 February 2008, Opening a Can of Worms

“Opening a can of worms”-- What does that even mean? When our family goes fishing at Strawberry Reservoir, we stop in Heber and buy cans of worms for bait. The boys open a can of worms, scrunch the slimy creatures onto hooks, and throw them overboard where they are slowly drowned after being dragged for hours…unless, of course, John is fishing. Then the worm dies quickly due to being chomped on by a giant fish!

Meg, our granddaughter, doesn’t think opening a can of worms is so fun. She thinks it’s kind of gross…so does her grandmother...all those squiggling things in the moist dirt! Yuck!

“Opening a can of worms?” What do you think because I think we opened a can of worms here in the Mission Office? Do you remember poor, sick Elder Sanchez? He was the one with Dengue Fever. Doctor Ana told him he had to stay IN THE OFFICE until he was feeling better. We followed the doctor’s orders, and he stayed in the office. After the first few days of fever, dizziness, aching bones, throwing up, etc., he was feeling much better. It was nice to have another American Elder around the place so we feed him well, had good talks about home and the mission, played our marble game, and soon he was well enough to go back to doing the Lord’s work.

Well, word got out! “If you’re sick, you can stay at the office!”

Oh my, we had so many sick elders (especially American elders), and they all thought they had Dengue Fever. Sister Garrett (new nurse) arrived just in the knick of time.

I didn’t know what to do with all those faking elders! She just took over like the professional that she is, taking pulses, temperatures, and asking the right questions. No one had Dengue Fever so they were all sent out of the office and back to their own little houses in the villages. So sorry guys…………. that’s opening a can of worms!

Have a great day! Missionary Work is incredible! ‘Ofa ‘atu, John and Diane

TONGAN UPDATE JAN 28 JAN 2008 Singing Sisters

Tongan Update, 28 January 2008, Singing Sisters

This has been an enjoyable week. Our mission received a Tongan Sister missionary who had been released from the Colorado Springs Mission. Her mother passed away so the Church allowed her to come home early for the funeral and then finish her mission with us. Sister Fiefia is delightful, filled with enthusiasm for missionary work and the love of the gospel. What a great asset she will be for our mission, even if it’s for only eight weeks.

Elder Thompson and I have been driving the (for lack of better words) “AP Sisters” on exchanges for the last two weeks, with one more week to go for this transfer. (Exchanges: We pick up the two AP Sisters, drive to another village, drop one AP Sister off, pick up one of the sister from that village, then drive back to where we began. We do an exchange four nights a week for three weeks each transfer. Transfers are every six weeks.) Sister Fiefia was assigned to be with the AP Sisters until the next transfer so all three sisters crowded (These sweet sisters are not small girls!) into the backseat of our Toyota Corrola to make the exchange with the sisters at Hoi, a village about a forty-five minute drive from Nuku’alofa.

Because Sister Fiefia can speak great English, we could talk and visit easily with all three sisters, Sister Fieifa acting as the go-between. She asked each us about our favorite hymn, and then we proceeded to sing them. The girls knew the English words better than John and me, and they sang with harmony and LOUD. So we sang Church hymns at the top of our voices all the way home from Hoi… And we sounded pretty good, if I say so myself! It was a real Brady Bunch Setting.

Ooo...it’s raining again! While you have been shoveling snow, we’ve had rain—three weeks of rain. Then for two days there were no clouds, and it was HOT and MUGGY. But the rain is really coming down now—I can hear it.

The nurse and her husband, the Garretts, arrived Thursday from Salt Lake City. Already we put them to work, and am I ever grateful! She saw or talked to four Elders her first day here. One Elder thought he had Dengue Fever, two the flu, and one a broken leg. They called me, and I referred them all to the Nurse. Yeah!

President McMurray wanted us to show Elder and Sister Garrett around the island. So while John was having a root canal (Fun, huh? We do have an American dentist in Tonga until May.), I walked the Garretts around town. It was a sunny day, they got sunburned, and I think I pretty well wore them out. Of course, they had been on a plane for 15 hours the night before. Do you think that might have contributed to their tiredness? They also liked the walk along the ocean front—the various shades of blues in the water, the little islands that dot the horizon, the small fishing boats, and the kids diving off the wharf. Elder Thompson finally made the scene, and we took them for a mini tour of the island. We loved this assignment!

The president’s daughter, April, was called on a mini-mission this week.

She’ll be serving on one of the little islands north of Tongatapu and is really excited about the call. At this point she is only serving for six weeks, but it will give her a taste of being a Tongan missionary. Her Mom, Charlene, has been busy making her the traditional Sister Tongan missionary uniforms. April is an amazing gal, and she’ll have a great experience! (I’d worry a little about the cleanliness of the drinking water and the cold showers on Ha’afeva, but they’ll figure it out!)

Another week has gone by!! Wow!

‘Ofa ‘atu, John and Diane

TONGAN UPDATE JAN 22, 2008 Elder Sanchez and Dengue Fever

Tongan Update 22, January 2008, Another Wild Week- Elder Sanchez and Dengue Fever

We received a phone call from a member of the Church in the village of Houma. She was concerned about one of the missionaries in the area. “He doesn’t look healthy,” she said. Elder Thompson and I drove the half hour to Houma, and sure enough, Elder Sanchez looked white and had a huge boil on his foot. His flip-flop wouldn’t even fit because his foot was so swollen, and he was complaining about aching joints, dizziness, and headaches. Now, Nurse Thompson went into gear. “This could be the flu. Take a Tylenol, and if you’re not better in the morning, call me.” NO PHONE CALL, at least not from the Elder! We did receive a phone call from a different member of the ward, and she also said, “Elder Sanchez doesn’t look good.” We sent the Office Elders out to retrieve him and take him to the local doctor, Doctor Ana (I don’t know her last name). It turns out that he has Dengue Fever which is caused by a mosquito bite so he has been recuperating at the office complex the whole week…and his darn boil has been draining all over the carpet. (So much for Nurse Thompson—what does she know?) I find it a frightening thought that I’m supposed to be the medical expert for the missionaries. What do you do? My strategy is to give the Elders two of my home-made remedies, then, if that doesn’t work, I send them to Dr. Ana. A real nurse from the LDS Hospital in Salt Lake is coming to my rescue soon! That is good news for everyone!

When we went to Houma to check Elder Sanchez, a sweet member of the Church gave us not one, but three 3-foot ufi’s. These are huge sweet potatoes. I pulled out my potato peeler, but it wouldn’t make a dent in the tough covering of the ufi. (Dusty, now we need that machete of yours!) So what do we do with 3 ufi’s? We gave one to Pele, the office complex cleaner. We’re giving one to the neighbors. Don’t tell me we have to eat the last one! Maybe one of the Tongan missionaries will help us cut the thing up.

Every Monday we have Family Home Evening with the other senior missionaries. We usually have lessons from out of the book “Preach My Gospel”. This Monday the couple (Embleys) in charge of the evening decided to show a video. It turns out that there have been quite a few videos left on the island as senior missionaries return home and do not want to take the movies with them. We watched “Joseph and His Brothers”. I can guarantee that none of you have seen it. It was filmed in Italy in about 1945. The English had been dubbed in. What surprised me is that we sat through the entire movie, and the actors didn’t sing a single song!

Elder Thompson is excited. He learned today that the three new mission boats have been manufactured and should be delivered within thirty days! Yahoo! He has been asked to train the drivers so we will be flying to Ha’apai. We’ll schedule missionary housing inspections at the same time so we will travel to the surrounding islands in the new boat. John is anxious to see if my stomach is stronger than those people who went with him last time. You know, they all got sick while he stood in the front of the boat singing, “Yo ho, Yo ho, a pirate’s life for me!” Great?!?

Hope your week was a fun one too! We love the Lord, and the gospel is true!

‘Ofa ‘atu, John and Diane

TONGAN UPDATE JAN 13, 2008 Market Pants and Robe

Tongan Update, 13 January 2008, To Market

Our friends, the Stimpsons, invited us to go shopping at the Market yesterday. The Market consists of about 90 booths where the Tongans sell items their relatives from overseas have sent them, and they no longer want or can use them.

The fun of going to the Market is that you never know what treasures you might find there.There is also a market in town where you can purchase food items and craft items.

I’ve been looking for a robe. The Elders drop by at all hours of the night with some problem or another, and I need a robe. (You can’t have “Sister Thompson” traipsing around in her pajamas!) I’ve been keeping my eyes open for a robe for several weeks, and to my surprise, there was a kind of cute robe hanging up among the shirts at the Market—and…it was brand new, never worn. HALLALUJA! Only one small problem…it was a SIZE 18 (six times too large), but I bought it anyway. It ’ll work!

John had been looking for work pants because his old pair has a hole in the knee. Low and behold, he found just what he needed. The small problem with his …eight inches too long, and they still had the mud on them from the previous owner. We’ll wash them up, cut them off, and they’ll work! ONLY IN TONGA! (I’m laughing as I am writing this!)

The other day we drove President and Sister McMurray to the airport. They were heading to Vava’u for conferences. The flight was cancelled dues to high winds and tropical storm. (The airlines notifies people about the status of flights over the Tongan radio. We don’t listen to the radio, but I did call the airlines a couple of hours before the flight, they said it was all a go. Anyway, the plane didn’t depart.) So the President invited us to lunch to discuss our feelings about the first six months of our mission. He wanted to know the highlights. That was easy…the temple rededication and all the events leading up to it. John told about the feeling of satisfaction he received by knowing that the mission was getting three new, safe boats.

I told President McMurray about an experience I had with one of the Tongan Elders, Elder Fine’isalio. In this picture Fine' is on the left. Elder Luaki, one of the Office Elders, is on the right.

He was the AP when we first arrived in Tonga. Whenever I served pancakes in the courtyard for the Elders, Fine’ (nickname for Elder Fine’isalio) would not come. I guess we overwhelmed him with our American ways. He tried to stay away from us, talking to us only if there was a need. I know that some of the issues were communication. Slowly he started to warm up to us. He even came Trick-or-Treating at our home last October.

In December, two days before he was being transferred to Vava’u, he came into the office and sat down. He started talking…for about thirty minutes he talked, and he told me his life story. When he was six years old, his father was killed in an automobile accident. His dad was in a car with three other men, but Fine’s father was the only one who died. The driver of his car was intoxicated and hit another car. As Fine’ got older, he also started drinking. His mother would go hunting for him at night, and drag him home from his drinking parties. When he turned 19, he half-heartedly decided to go on a mission. His mother is not a member of the Church, but was glad of this decision just so she wouldn’t have to take anymore abuse from him. Today we have this Elder who is going home from an honorable mission in two months, a changed young man. Elder Fine’isalio loves the Lord and the gospel. When he goes home he wants to apologize to his mom for being such a mean little twerp, and teach her the “Preach My Gospel” lessons. He wants to show her how much the gospel has changed his life, and that she can be proud of him.

Having him share his life and goals with me was nice-- one of the perks of working in the missionary office, I guess. He is an example of one of those “little rascal guys” who has turned into a terrific missionary, leader, and person.

We’re loving the work! ‘Ofa atu, John and Diane

TONGAN UPDATE 05 JANUARY 2008 Year-end Thoughts

Tongan Update, 05 Jan 2008, Year End Closure

It’s year end, and we thought you might like to know the ending results on a few matters:

1. Who did all the stealing? A couple of the neighborhood children confessed that their friend, Toma, took the missing items. When Toma came to visit us, he innocently said he didn’t know anything!! But the other day as I was walking to town, the first two kids were playing marbles in their front yard. I suspect that they are the guilty ones!

2. What happened to the two kittens in the attic? Simply, the neighbor’s puppies got them. They didn’t last long once the mother cat took them out of the protection of our attic and into the neighbor’s yard.

3. Did James get baptized? He was the young man from the Phillipines who we invited to dinner the first week we were in Tonga. James has been given the lessons several times by the missionaries and has never been able to commit to baptism. He is now on vacation in Australia for two months. I think he likes the attention and friendship of the missionaries more than he likes the gospel, but we’ll see what happens when he gets back to Tongatapu.

4. Our mission is down from about 188 missionaries to 153. The Mission president feels there were too many missionaries for such a small area. So hopefully fewer are better.

5. The number of conversions are way down from the previous president’s administration which is great. Many of our missionaries would just grab kids and baptize them so they would have the numbers. The other day two Elders said they had a girl who wanted to be baptized. She didn’t want to be taught the lessons—she just wanted to be baptized. The Elders explained to her that it doesn’t work that way. Apparently she wants to go to the church school, and you have to be a member of the Church…so just get baptized. This mentality is the same that John saw on his mission with the Indian Placement Program. "If I get baptized I can participate in the program even if I don’t believe in the principles."

6. President McMurray has been the mission president for six months now. He has been teaching, training, and working with the missionaries especially on this island. During this last transfer, the president sent trained missionaries out to the smaller islands and brought to Tongatapu all the rascals from the outer islands…and I mean rascals! Many of these elders have little desire to obey the mission rules. As soon as the boat landed with our wayward missionaries, trouble began. They left their assigned zones and congregated in Nuku’alofa. They were breaking three rules right there—don’t leave your area, you’re not allowed in town, and don’t leave your companion. On Christmas Day some of these charming Elders broke into the home of one of the American Elders and stole his Christmas goodies from home.

President McMurray decided to hit the problem head on. He had a conference with all the missionaries on the island. He told them he loved them and that because he did, he had some things to talk to them about. He didn’t hold back on anything. He reviewed with them all the rules they were breaking from phoning friends and families to stealing. In a sense he called them to repentance and rebuked their behavior. It is one of the few meetings we have been in where we knew that the person was speaking under the influence of the spirit. His mantle of Presidency was shinning. He spoke with clarity, power, and with authority. After the meeting, he interviewed each missionary. Each missionary had to sign a contract that listed, in detail, all the rules that he/she has to obey. If the missionary had no desire to follow these rules, they could pack their bags and go home. There were six who really struggled with the decision to sign or not, but eventually they all did sign. The President at least feels that he has explained the rules, and the missionaries have signed that they know them. If there are problems in the future, consequences will follow. It’s been quiet for a few days now. Do you think it is the calm before the storm OR do you think all those little rascals are repentant and ready to do the work?

We have our ups and downs here... not everything is rosie, but…we love the work, the senior couples are great, the office elders and APs are doing a great job and we have come to love them. We work with many people and enjoy our relationships with them. The people we work with are fun to be with. We are busy in the mission office and with our assignments in the ward. We teach. We testify. We serve. We are happy.

7. We are trying to teach principles of leadership, stewardship, and concepts of “magnifying your calling.” We are being challenged because many don’t understand these concepts. It seems like leaders simply looked the other way in the past. It was easier to ride-the-tide rather than insist on obedience to rules and procedures or to teach leadership skills. We do not look the other way. We refuse to let them blame others or find excuses for their behavior. During a conversation with John, the president said “there are many roses in our work, but you have been called to deal with the thorns. You may not see the roses very often in your assignments, but the roses are there.” For the most part, that is our work at the present time. We are pruning the thorns. Fortunately, because we get around in our calling and church assignments, we see enough roses to keep us excited about our work. We are making progress. There is beauty. There are wonderful things going on. The gospel is true and many know it and strive to do their best.

8. There is a principle that needs to be stated here. When you act pursuant to correct principles, then you can have peace in your mind and heart, even when the tide is against you because truth and correct principles will always prevail. We see disappointing things, but we have peace of mind because we know we are doing the right thing. We know that our work, our effort, our direction is pleasing to our Father in Heaven.