TONGAN UPDATE March 15, 2008 Row, Row, Your Boat

Tongan Update, 15 March 2008 Row, Row, Row, Your Boat

They are finally here—the three new mission boats, and they are very interesting looking—they are made of metal and look like rockets from a Disneyland ride. Pretty fancy.

They are named after the Book of Mormon prophets Alma (Amoni), Moroni (Molonai), and Nephi (Neiafu). The three crafts were shipped up from New Zealand; then a group of men, including Elder Thompson, drove Amoni and Molonai to Ha’apai. It was about a five hour drive—like traveling from Bullfrog to Hite .

John tells me that the ocean was fairly rough, but they didn’t get any rain. They saw some flying fish and porpoises along the route. Once the boats were delivered, the men hopped on a small air craft and flew back to Tongatapu.

It is now four o’clock in the morning, and John is heading back to the airport. The same group of men is flying to Vava’u where they will catch up with the Neiafu, the third mission boat, which was shipped up on the Holovaha, a large freighter shuttle boat.

It is too far of a distance to drive the mission boat all the way to Vava’u. So once he meets up with Neiafu, John is going to have fun goofing around (aaah…unwrapping, training, inspecting, etc) with the new boat.

While Elder Thompson was out testing the boats in the harbor of Tongatapu, I was with the senior missionaries exploring the tiny island of Fafa. (It was P-day.) To get to the island, we took a forty-five minute boat ride from the wharf at Nuku’alofa. Once we arrived, a delicious lunch was served to us in a small open-aired restaurant that was located right on the beach. In fact, the gentle ocean waves lapped right up to the building. After eating we swam, snorkeled, looked for seashells, and walked the island. What a peaceful, quiet day it was.

I’m sure John will write more about these boats. A lot of planning, along with emails and phone calls were made by Elder Thompson to the people in the Area Offices of New Zealand to get these boats made and delivered here. Now the missionaries and other church members can travel safely around the islands of Tonga. The old boats had no floatation in them, no lights, no radios, no life jackets, and cracks in the fiber glass. They were downright scary. So Hallelujah! The new boats are here!

Have a great day! All is well in Tonga! ‘Ofa ‘atu, Diane and John