Tongan Update, 05 Nov 2008, Brother Tafuna
There was a tragic automobile accident that occurred here last Friday.
It was graduation day for the seniors of Liahona High School, our Church school. The class of about ___ students had received their diplomas, had many congratulatory leis placed around their necks, and had headed out to their individual parties to celebrate. There was a group of six happy, laughing guys, best friends, who had squeezed into a small compact car and pealed out of the parking lot heading towards their party destination. They never arrived. While traveling fast on the rain-slick roads, the driver missed the curve and crashed into a tree. Four of the young men died, one is still in critical condition in the hospital, and the sixth student was propelled through the front window and walked away from the accident.
One of the boys who passed away was the principal’s son, Francis Tafuna. We never had the opportunity to know Francis, but we are well acquainted with Brother Tafuna because he is not only the Principal of Liahona High School, he is also the first counselor to President McMurray in the Mission Presidency.
Therefore, President McMurray and Sister McMurray lead a group of senior and young missionaries over to the Tafuna home three days after the tragedy. We were there to give our love, support, and condolences to this grieving family.
The Tafunas had made a memorial for their son in their carport.
The coffin, flowers, photographs, and mementoes were inside the carport while the driveway was lined with large woven mats.
It is the tradition for the guests to sit on the mats,
and the mourning family to sit on chairs. At this gathering the seniors were asked to sit with the family on chairs.
It is also traditional for the group to have a “chief talker” for them, and Brother Iteni Henu was designated as our spokesman. After Brother Iteni gave our condolences, President McMurray gave a short speech,
we sang, and had a prayer. Then Brother Tafuna wanted to share some thoughts with us. (I’m going to write his words as best as I can remember them because I think we can all learn something from this humble, faithful man.)
“In our Church we don’t talk much about Christ’s death. We concentrate on his life and resurrection. And that’s what we want to do with Francis—remember his life because we know he continues to live just in another form. The last time I saw Francis alive, he was getting into the car with his friends. I talked with the boys and told them to be careful. Later they passed me as I was going to work on my plantation. They stopped at the side of the road, we exchanged a few words, and the driver said as they drove off, “We love ya!” Later, as I was walking back from working in the field, someone stopped me and said there had been an accident in which my son was involved. I went home and found a secret place to pray. I thanked by Heavenly Father for all the blessing that I have. I used to pray for things that I wanted. As years have gone by, I prayed for things I thought I needed. Now I have learned to pray for God’s will; and as I prayed, I felt comforted. In this case it was-- Father, do what is your will. Take my son if it is your will.
I was going to ride my bike to the hospital (his wife had their car), but the bishop stopped me. When I saw his face, I knew that Francis had died. As we drove to the hospital it was I that provided comfort to my bishop. It was I that spoke about the plan of live and the purpose of life. At the time of my son’s death, it was I that was consoling the grief of my bishop who was hurting for me.
My son was on the next step in his progression towards eternal life. It’s a time to be happy--a time to rejoice. We’ll cry because we will miss him, but we know he lives again. He is starting his missionary work today! Because of his death, he will bring family and friends who are not members of the Church together for his funeral, and I’ll bare witness to these people that God lives and His son is our Savior. I will be able to discuss with them gospel principles.
Towards the end of movie, “The Last Sumari,” the emperor says, ‘Remembering how you live is important, not how you die.’ And through repentance there is a bright hope for all of us.” I want you to remember by son, come and stand by him
and let’s take some pictures."
‘Ofa ‘atu, Elder and Sister Thompson
P.S. After the accident many drivers would pass the scene of the accident. There were many flowers at first, then only a few. Then last week the tree was cut down. No longer does the site cause people to slower down and look. These students are being remembered for their lives, not their death.
P
No comments:
Post a Comment