TONGAN UPDATE, 16 May 2008, ELDER BAXTER’S MISSION TOUR
ALL HANDS ON DECK…ALL HANDS ON DECK.
THE BAXTERS HAVE ARRIVED…THE BAXTERS HAVE ARRIVED!
Finally Elder Baxter, a member of the Area Presidency, and his wife arrived in Tonga. We had been planning and preparing for this event for weeks. Their time schedule was for them to be in the Kingdom of Tonga for six days—six very busy days. His theme for this visit was: “understanding your purpose for being a missionary.”
The six days were busy for all of us. There were five missionary conferences,
three investigator firesides, a dinner/fireside with the senior missionaries, three assemblies with students, a temple session, and several other meetings. Elder Thompson and I escorted the Baxters several times and provided follow-up on assignments to insure that things at each meeting were prepared.
The highlight of the Baxter’s trip for us was the opportunity to have Elder and Sister Baxter to our little apartment for dinner on Tuesday night…yep, just John, me and the Baxters. Now that was a scary thing! Preparing food was one issue, but what do you say to a general authority and his wife? That posed a far greater concern. We went with a simple menu—toss salad, baked potatoes, fried tuna tenderloin, and pineapple pie provided by our neighbor, Sita. The Baxters were delightful, and they seemed to survive the dinner ok. Feeeuuu…
The week had the typical flare of unexpected changes and challenges. The airlines changed their flight schedule the night before the McMurrays and Baxters were to leave for Ha’apai. The change reduced their time in Ha’apai by three hours, so tour plans for the island had to be modified.
After we hosted the Baxter’s for dinner, they went to a fireside for investigators. During the fireside the electrical power went off. So for a while, a single battery- operated security light provided the only light for the chapel. The meeting continued in the dark and without a sound system. Finally, just before Elder Baxter spoke the power came back on.
Wednesday evening we had dinner with the senior couples and other invited guests. It went off without a hitch except for Elder Baxter, who was to be our guest speaker, had to be excused because of illness. (Hey, it wasn’t my cooking!) Brother and Sister Higginson (Dr. Higginson and his family of five small children have been here for 5 month doing dental work.) and Sister Baxter delivered spiritual thoughts and their testimonies. Sister Baxter did a fine job covering for her ailing husband.
Eighty-six year old Elder Fiefia sang “There is Sunshine in My Soul Today.” As he sang, he did a Tongan dance telling the story with his hand and foot movements.
It was touching to watch him express his happiness of being a missionary through dance. He and his dear wife will be released in July and will return home to Salt Lake City after their mission. They are the couple who are on their 7th or 8th mission and were featured in the Church News a few months ago.
Thursday and Friday the “Baxter Tour” led them to Vava’u. Again flight schedules were changed and plans in Vava’u were modified. Elder Baxter said the most heart-warming experience was visiting the children at the middle school. Here he told them his conversion story. He grew up in a one-room shanty in Ireland. As the years went by, his mother had four different husbands—one was abusive, one drank, one deserted the family, and she is still married to the fourth. Elder Baxter, as a child, declared to himself that he would not be a “bad man” as all those “fathers” were to him. When the missionaries came to their house, the Baxter’s lives really changed. The gospel provided light and hope to them. They totally embraced it, and eventually Elder Baxter became an apostle.
Sister Baxter’s conversion experience is somewhat similar to her husband’s. Her older twin sisters died shortly after birth. Her mother was heart-broken and went to her Catholic priest for some consoling. The priest told her that her babies were in limbo and would be there forever. She went to her husband’s minister, and this religious man had no idea what would happen to these lost children. Sister’s Baxter’s mother did not attend church for many years because she couldn’t believe that God would allow this fate for her children. Then one rainy night she invited the missionaries to come into her home, just to get out of the cold. (This is England.) The Elders told her that her twin children would inherit the Celestial Kingdom and would be exalted in the arms of a loving Heavenly Father. These truths opened her mom’s heart and gave her peace, happiness, and faith. Sister’s Baxter’s entire family eventually joined the Church and is now very strong in the gospel.
Elder Baxter said the funniest experience they had in Vava’u was going into the hotel restaurant and having the waitress act like, “What are you doing here?” They ordered two different dinners off of the menu. After several discussions with the cook, the waitress informed them those particular items were not available. They settled on steaks with baked potatoes. Again, after some discussion with the cook, the waitress said they only had French fries. Later she walzed back to their dining table and said, “Oh sorry, we only have baked potatoes.” (That was what the Baxters wanted in the first place.) But when the dinners arrived, yes, French fries! As the Baxters were telling this story, we all started laughing. It’s just so typical Tonga!
As we drove the Baxters to the airport for their return flight to New Zealand, Elder Baxter expressed some of his thoughts about the Nuku’alofa Mission. He thinks that President McMurray is doing a great job. The President is helping missionaries develop stronger testimonies, improving study habits, and improving techniques in approaching investigators. Overall, he could see significant improvement in missionary attitudes.
MISSIONARIES …DISMISSED!
ELDER BAXTER MISSION TOUR …COMPLETED!
‘Ofa ‘atu, Diane and John
