February
22, 2015
Life
has a way of changing mid-stream and we aren’t quite sure now whether we are
rowing up stream or down. We thought
maybe things would slow down a little, but it has not. We now have 2 additional speaking assignments
in the next 2 weeks in addition to trying to get packed and ready to return
home .
Last
Sunday, the senior missionaries were asked to sing at the VIP premier viewing
of “Meet the Mormans” which was held in one of the government buildings, ,Fa’onelua convention center, downtown Nuku’alofa. Tickets were sent to various select people, I
don’t know how they were selected, but there were quite a few Stake Presidents,
President Tukuafu was the presiding church member. There were quite a few members of the nobel
and parliament people in attendance. The
sound in the building wasn’t great, so I wonder how many of the Tongans
understood what was said. There was the
usual reception after the meeting. I
think the movie is really an excellent tool to just show that members are just
like everyone else, but I loved the fact that many of those showcased where
from all around the world. We loved the
movie and loved the spirit that we felt, but I still wondered how much of the
English was understood. Our musical
number turned out ok, not as polished as usual because we wanted to do a
different number. The other problem we
faced was the acoustics in the room and the electronic pianos do not have a
very good sound board, the sound comes out of the front of the piano and we had
to place the piano so I could see Sandy.
Another first and another last.
Viliami
and Ana blessed their second baby girl on Sunday, March 1. Viliami had asked Steve to bless their new
little girl, but Steve had been trying to get Viliami that he needed to bless his
little one. Finally, just before church
started, Viliami told Steve, that his mother told him he needed to bless his
baby which we totally agreed with. Then
he informed Steve of the baby girl’s name which he couldn’t pronounce anyway,
Haitelenisia Afemui Meyers Aland
‘Uhila. Steve did not tell me because I
would cry again.
March
6, 2015
I
can’t believe that another week has come and gone with no thoughts written down
for our blog. Our lives seem to be in
the middle of a whirlwind and we are in the middle of ‘last experiences, hard
tear jerking experiences. When we went
to the temple on Thursday last week, I lost it in the middle of the session
thinking about that we were not going to see many of these wonderful people
again when we leave. However, the
realization of going home hasn’t really hit home until this last Monday. We didn’t think it would ever happen, but we
are less than a week away from going home.
We are so excited about that but packing isn’t much fun either. We thought we wouldn’t have much stuff, but
I’m here to tell you, we’ve really invested in lots of Tongan art pieces. We are sending home a crate with Hamblins and
Elder Berger so that we won’t have to carry much. It leaves here on the 23rd of
March and will take about a month to get to Utah. We keep giving stuff away, but for some
reason we end up with more stuff, really neat stuff. We are excited to be able to share it with
family.
We
had our last home evening Monday night.
Va’enuku’s will be leaving this Saturday, so we got to see what they
have been doing on their mission. They
are serving as MLS, Member, leader support missionaries, who will come back as
service missionaries in May to stay for another 18 months. They will spend the next 2 months visiting with family. They want to serve as long as they are
healthy and they really are needed in what they are doing. We love them a bunch, they are really hard
workers.
Monday
was a holiday here, the first Tongan to become a Cardinal was the reason for the holiday. Wouldn’t it be interesting if there was a
Holiday everytime a Mormon Tongan was called to some position or other. The Tongans would spend all of their time
having a party.
We
met with the Temple President on Wednesday to let him know about our
release. He was so funny about our
leaving, he couldn’t believe that time had flown so fast. When we left the temple after our last
session, it was hard to think that for over 18 months we had attended the
temple on nearly a weekly basis and that again, we would not be getting hugs
and good wishes from our dear friends.
We have truly been blessed with this calling.
Friday,
today has been an emotionally draining day.
We both woke up early, Steve has a 4am habit, I don’t but today I woke
up at 4:45. I couldn’t sleep anymore
because this was our big day to give talks at the Friday devotional. I worked on my talk until just after 6, then
got ready for the day. We were out of
here by 7:15 because I needed to print my talk.
We thought our first meeting was in the teachers lounge, but after we
assisted with the set up, one of the teachers reported that we needed to meet
at the gym. Sula, the cooking teacher
walked with us. She was so excited
because I had given her the hair cut equipment and she had given all the men in
her family and cousins and whoever needed a haircut, a haircut. She was so funny because one of her relatives
wanted to know if the clippers were brand new.
She told him that it had belonged to a pa’langi and they take care of
their equipment so it always stays new.
I just laughed. We picked up the
trimmers after I burned up the one that we brought from home and Steve only
gets a haircut every 3-4 weeks. It
hadn’t been used that much, but I did make sure to keep it clean and
oiled. It was so fun to see her eyes
sparkle when she told me her story.
When
we walked into the gym, we heard the piano playing and a young man
singing. It took us a few seconds before
we realized that he was singing the Star Spangled Banner. We couldn’t believe our ears, but it was
real. One of the young men that we are
acquainted with was singing the national anthem. Steve and I both burst into tears, we just
couldn’t contain it when we heard it. We
had to turn around and walk back to the front entrance to get ourselves under
control. We haven’t heard the anthem for
months and it made us so homesick. We
found out that this song was going to be a surprise to us, to be sung as the
musical number just before we talked. I
am grateful that we heard it then and not just before we talked. The Liahona students stood while the anthem
was played and unbeknownst to us, there
was a picture of the flag being projected on the wall behind us. Even when I knew what the musical number was
going to be, I still cried. It was very
difficult to get my talk started, but I finally made it. Steve and I didn’t know what each other’s
topic was going to be, but again, they blended perfectly. We hadn’t talked about them to each other at
all..
We
were seated in a place of honor and were given the traditional dry lei’s, plus
the live flower lei’s. They were
beautiful. Thankfully Garth and Sandy
Hamblin came to support us and took pictures of us for another first and last
memory. We also had a beautiful tapa
cloth that was displayed in the front that was completed by the form 7 art
students. It was beautiful. The Tonga
Temple was in the middle section, the Liahona and Saineha high schools were
above and below the temple blocks. The
outside squares or blocks were various Tongan designs typical. The students have been working in the
evenings to complete it. The tapa cloth
was given to us by Vika Kaufusi and some members of her ward. She was the one who suggested that we have
the art students work on the tapu to have a project to do. Most of the art students do not have the
money to purchase some of the supplies to do their projects and their school
fees do not cover this kind of extra expense.
Moeaki Kivalu is the art teacher who took art classes at Ricks college
from Oliver Parsons. He is married to
‘little’ Vika who is a counselor at the
school. The Vika’s are distinguished by
their ages and size, big Vika is big and full of vinegar. Little Vika is much younger and quieter, and
a very kind person. We love them both.
This
afternoon at 3, after school, we had a surprise party given by the TVET
teachers and spouses. The ladies in the
Home Ec area, not what it is really called, applied technology#1, cooked a very delicious Tongan meal for us,
complete with the roasted piglet. I
guess I’ve seen enough that this one didn’t gross me out, in fact he smelled
downright good. However, I don’t like
the golden brown skin and these piggy’s don’t have much meat on them. The Tongans love, love, love them. It
is considered a delicacy fit for kings.
Well, we were the royalty this afternoon. The food was great, the students even helped
cook. Maopa had the place spiffed up,
looked like an uptown, upscale banquet hall.
These ladies know how to display food.
Maopa, Sula, Fifita Wipi and Ana Moli who teaches seminary and is
married to the new HOD of applied tech #2 were the cooks, bottle washers,
waiters and entertainment for the afternoon.
We spent a delightful afternoon with the group, both laughing and
crying. Steve and I just could not
control our emotions and tonight we feel like we have been pulled through a
ringer. We have developed an amazing set
of friends who we will miss so much.
They sang us their Tongan goodbye song which was hauntingly beautiful with
amazing harmonies. Steve and I lost it
again, I couldn’t stop the tears. Oh my
goodness, the hugs and loves we were given, the warm fuzzies, were beyond what
words can express. We had pictures
taken, it was so much fun listening to them laugh and giggle. They love to have fun and we love being
considered one of the group. They wanted
to hear again about our call, the twists and turns that happened, but in the
end they kept telling us that the Lord knew that they needed us more than
anybody else, so that’s why we were called to Tonga. I know they are right. There isn’t anywhere else that would have
been a wonderful as this mission has been.
Now we have movie night tonight with the senior missionaries. I think I am too tired to do any more, but we
have to. So it is, we are on the go
again. Tomorrow,
we try to finalize all the running that we may need to do and finish with the
packing, distributing food items to Viliami and Ana. We hope to have a little time at the beach
tomorrow sometime, but Steve still has some pieces of wood that need to be cut
so they can be shipped home. We always
need more wood according to Mr Wood himself.
