Tongan Update, 01 April 2008, April Fools Day
Happy April Fools’ Day! This can be a day of practical jokes and clever tricks. Our APs (Elder Finau and Elder Mohenoa) decided to have fun with one of our palangi (American) elders, Elder Bibber.
Now Elder Bibber is a quiet, reserved, small-framed, American missionary from Grey, Maine, USA. He is so kind that he doesn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, and he turns bright red when he’s embarrassed. Just to show you how nice and timid he is, let me tell you his experience on the island of Nomuka. The ward members were holding a dance on the church tennis court. (There is a tennis court by every chapel in every village in the kingdom of Tonga.) Elder Bibber was nonchalantly watching the dancers when an enormous Tongan gal asked our Elder to dance with her. He explained he was a missionary and therefore he couldn’t oblige her. She simply swept up Elder Bibber in a bear hug and dragged him out onto the dance floor. Keeping him in a tight grasp, she proceeded to swing him about. An older ward member came to Elder Bibber’s rescue and got him released from the bear-hug hold our large sister had on him. Can you tell that Elder Bibber is on the reserved, shy side? However, he is a great, hard-working missionary. In fact, he and his companion had a baptism last week. This leads us back to April Fools’.
Our 6 foot 5, 285 pound, Tongan AP with arms as big as my thighs, Elder Mohenoa, called Elder Bibber on his mobile (cell phone). The line had a lot of static on it which aided Elder Mohenoa’s little joke. In his best falsetto voice, Elder Mohenoa pretended to be the mother of the boy Elder Bibber and Elder_____________ had baptized. Using a woman’s voice, Elder Mohenoa said, “You had no right to baptize my son without my permission. How can you do such a thing without talking to me first? You are in big trouble! I have already called the police!”
At first Elder Bibber was concerned and worried. He certainly didn’t want the Mission President have to come and bail him out of jail. Well, the APs had a good laugh. Later Elder Bibber was in the office also snickering as he told us about the prank that was played on him.
Our new missionaries scheduled to arrive from the Provo MTC in March have had not so much as “tricks” played on them, but some huge challenges.
Elder Number 1 (Elder Shaver): Got bitten by a dog, had stitches, and has a fungus growing on his hand.
Elder Number 2 (Elder Ramos): Has Dangue Fever, temperature 105 degrees, severe body pains so he can’t even walk, headaches, and a rash. (One tiny mosquitoe can cause all of this!)
Elder Number 3: Fungus on his back, very itchy
Elder Number 4: His arrival had to be postponed for two weeks because he was passing kidney stones. We now hear he will probably serve his mission in a Tongan-speaking area in the states
This is a pretty rough start for these missionaries. Doesn’t it say somewhere that after the trials come the blessings? I hope so. These young men got knocked down before they even started, but they are still optimistic, anxious to serve the Lord, and are back fighting the good fight! You’ve got to love these guys! (The Tonga Nuku’alofa Mission is not an easy mission for palangis.).
Elder Thompson fooled the APs and Office Elders this morning. He went over to their apartment early in the morning and told them, in a sober and stern way, "the the President is in his office and want to talk to you." They weren't dressed so he told them that they needed to hurry. "Knock on the door before you enter because he may be praying", he said. Well, the elders hurried and got dressed, grabbed their scriptures and went to the office. John's office is next to the President's office. He heard them knock on the door, but he didn't open it. The elders waited and waited. I imagine that a lot of thoughts went through their minds. John just remained in his office-giggling. While they were waiting I joined John. He was just having a great time. Finally, we opened the door. "The president will see you now", John said. He kept the door partially closed. As the approached the door they tried to look in on the hinge side of the door, but John close the door a bit so they couldn't see in. They stood at the door huddled together, then John opened the door. They walked in, looked around and looked puzzled-no President. Finally, we blurted out "Happy fools Day" They just collapsed in laughter. The senior missionaries really go them. We all giggles for a long time. It really was funny. The rest of the day we worried about how they would get us back, but amazingly they didn't do anything. What will happen in the next few days?
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