John and Diane Thompson: TONGAN UPDATE 01 JULY 2008 MAN'S BEST FRIEND

Tongan Update, 01 July 2008, Man’s Best Friend

Man’s best friend…we’ve missed our own little girls, Chica and Sierra,

so we’ve adopted some substitute buddies here in Tonga.

First to become “our best friend” is Robin Hood, the neighbor’s dog who stole our missionaries’ bag of sandwiches and devoured all of them. We fed him some left-over morsels the other day, and now he hangs out on the missionary complex’s driveway waiting for more.

His side-kick, Little John, has also made the scene.

He seems to enjoy our left-overs also. The other night three additional puppies showed up.

Now we are serving Robin Hood and all his merry men, NOT VISA VERSA!

Secondly, John has acquired a couple of “best friends.” They are faithful and want to follow him everywhere. They jump at Elder Thompson’s beck and call and try to obey his every command. Their names are Makai and Karratti, the new office elders.

Makai’s home town is Spanish Fork, Utah. His father, as a young man, smuggled himself onto a cargo ship cruising from Tonga to San Francisco. He was discovered while the boat was at sea so the captain made him work on board to earn his passage. Eventually he made his way to Utah, was converted to the gospel, married a nurse, became Stake President of a Tongan Stake, and now has a missionary son named Elder Makai.

Karratti’s home town is Orem, Utah. His father is originally from Hawaii, went to BYU Provo, met and married a co-ed, and now he has a missionary son named Elder Karratti.

Tonight as we came home from Family Home Evening, Robin Hood and Little John welcomed us on the driveway with wagging tails.

We opened the door to the complex, and there were Makai and Karratti welcoming us with, “The couple is home. We’ve been waiting for you!”

Man, isn’t it great to have “best friends?” The elders don’t wiggle their tails, but they certainly act like they are happy to see us! They are both great missionaries trying to do the right things for the right reasons. Good boys!

Elder Makai and Elder Karratti are teaching the gospel to a young woman.

They came bouncing into our apartment the other night full of smiles and high fives. She wants to be baptized this Saturday! They reminded us of Ammon, a great missionary from the Book of Mormon. “…my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God.” (Alma 26:11) These are Ammon’s words explaining his feelings after bringing many Lamanites “into the fold of God.” The Office Elders were feeling that same kind of happiness. They confided with us how they cried when their investigator bore her simple testimony to them, how they felt the spirit, and how it strengthened their own testimonies. (This was one of those priceless moments for us.). Elder Thompson did the baptismal interview and says she is delightful. She is really excited. Last night she and a cousin came to the mission office. We showed her and her cousin “The Testament” video. After the video we just talked. It seemed like we talked for hours. When they left they said. Sorry we stayed so late. Now you can go to bed. It was 8:30pm. They were so funny. We will participate in the baptismal service Saturday.

These Elders are fun to work with, however, Elder Thompson and I rule when it comes to the marble game,