December 4, 2013

It's Wednesday already and I haven't even started my journal entry yet and I'm not sure where to start because I don't remember what's happened.  I hope I'm not having more alzheimer's moments and that it means I've lost the battle, heaven forbid.  So, I think I may start with Sunday, then from there, who knows where I will end up. 

The mission president has asked that we start attending stake conferences, so that the people are getting the message that the senior missionaries are actually here to help them also, not just be involved with Liahona.  We wear our traditional Tongan clothing out of respect for the people and the culture.  Sunday, when we got close to the chapel and even before that, we were escorted to the front of the chapel.  There was an amazing choir singing, which involved people from the Stake and from members of the Church of Tonga, who are not members.  The music was absolutely beautiful, we were in awe.  I know I say that all the time, but we have never heard this kind of music before.  It is heartfelt beyond measure.  We were also blessed to have a young woman behind us who translated the messages to us.  The theme was definitely about missionary work, people who had been converted, reactivated or involved in the work in any way, young and old, departing missionaries, those who had just returned.  As I write about it, I can remember the feeling that I had and the love again that I feel for these special people.  It's much too hard to write about how big your heart feels for Tongans and for the love that pours out on us, to us from them.  We could see that the Stake President was having a hard time, keeping his feelings in check.  It was his 42nd birthday on Sunday, he had been the Stake President since he was 35.

We were also invited to a meal after the conference which is also very hard to describe.  I'll try but again words don't do justice.  We walked into a cultural hall that was filled witih tables and at one end, on a stand, there were tables set up in a semicircle, piled with food.  It looked like from where we were standing that it was the serving table.  It wasn't.  It was where we were to sit as the guests of honor.  I did not want to be there because I don't feel like we should be honored so much.  I wanted to sit with the common folks, but that was not to be.  When we were seated, it was difficult to even find our plates.  There was at least 8 different single servings of food put into  clear plastic containers, some identifiable, some not, ocotpus which was obvious,suction cups, etc.  In addition, there were 4 piglets on the tables, plus about 4 great big fish that had been cooked, Tongan style, lobster, crab, pineapple, apples, pears, watermelon, huge fruit baskets for take away, Kumala, taro, eel, raw fish marinated in coconut milk, onions, peppers and a drink with individual water bottles.  As I sat down, all I could think was, how in the world had they prepared all of that and who was going to eat all of it.  Needless to say, I was overwhelmed and a bit nauseated before we even got started.  Then when told me what the eel was, I lost it, no more appetite for me.  The eel is called the pig of the sea, which it had almost the same kind of fat around it that the pig had.  The gentlemen at the table across from me just dug into the pig with his fingers, skin and all and started to eat with the fat dripping down his arms.  These 2 men must have been representatives from the government because they were dressed in black.  They were certainly hungry, I was not.  I ate bites of many things, but my eyes and stomach collided, I just couldn't eat much.  During the meal, several people got up and talked, but since they didn' speak English, we don't know what they said.  President Tupou later told us that the Stake President was so emotional partly because of the senior missionaries being there.  In all the time as Stake President, he had not seen any senior missionaries and he was so honored that we came and wore their traditional clothing.  He wanted to know if the President had asked us to dress that way, but was told we wore the clothing because we loved the Tongan people and wanted to honor them.  It was a pretty emotional day. If we had taken our music, we would have been part of the program. We were getting pretty nervous when President Tupou started talking about our music. Another one of those, you'd better be prepared for anything modes.  Whew!  I went home afterward and took a nap.  Ended the evening at the mission home with our music group practiced, then had a sit down visit with the president as he told us about his vision of Tonga and what he wanted for us and for the mission.  It was a long, emotional day, we went home tired, spiritually high.

Music lessons are going well.  Our first group will have 2 more lessons before Christmas, then a break, then 2 weeks, then a recital.  This group is comprised of young people from about 5-6 yrs of age to the oldest which just graduated from high school.  We teach a group of 15-20 from Vaine (Vinee) who are young single adults, high school, to I think, a couple of returned missionaries.  That group was so fun, and we were able to go much faster.  The rhythm band was a hit, even though we had to use spoons, pans, lids, shaker cans with beans inside.  Sister Aland, has had college music classes, so she brings in fun stuff to do.  We are a good team, because I can add a few high jinks with the class that keeps them entertained.  We need music people here.  There are too many churchs with no one who can play music.  The people can sing, but they can't play.  Many chapels don't even have a keyboard, but we have accessed the Harmon grant and have 8 keyboards ordered which have been shipped.  We just don't know when they will arrive.  Another problem, we may be released before they get here.  That's a joke, though, it just takes about 2 months to get things from the states, just depends on whether the items go into a container when it is empty or full.  So we are praying and crossing our fingers that they get here quickly.

We had a conference call with the other TVET couples and an area director this week.  Went sort of well, other than the video didn't work.  We got the feeling from the other missionaries, that they were also somewhat frustrated with what is happening  with the modules that are being developed for the TVET teachers in the South Pacific.  We are  supposed to be building capacity, but we are feeling like we are on the wrong boat.  We are seeing a little different vision that we need to raise the bar for the students so that they can be employed anywhere, not just in Tonga.    Anyway, we have a bunch of work that needs to be done in getting the courses ready for school to start.  In case anybody thinks we are now in summer vacation, that is wrong.  We have tons to do and today we were asked to help some in the mission office with some more projects.  Humm, we are seeing what some of the other missionaries are saying about too much to do, too little time.  So on goes the roller skates for our daytime work plus the music, plus whatever else happens to come along.  The days are still flying by as fast as the Rexburg wind.

We have another musical fireside on Thursday and still need to record the last songs for the radio/TV this week.  I'm not sure when we are going to work in another practice, but somehow it will get worked in.  That becomes difficult when there are 6 different entities with that many different schedules.  It's amazing that we can even pull it together, but so far we have managed to make the schedule.  The mission president had to put off one assignment to Friday, so that's what we do.  We had 23 more missionaries come in yesterday and we went to the mission home to help with feeding breakfast this am.  I looked at those young elders and all I could think of is wow, you have so much to learn.  God bless you to see the vision.  I'm glad we finally have a little insight into what is needed and we are past that first deer in the headlights feeling.  We are now just sinking with the weight and responsibility of all that we need to do.  We aren't really sinking, just trying to keep our heads above water.  Whew, we need more missionaries.  The work is hastening, but we love it, ups and downs.  Everybody needs to get prepared now to join us as missionaries.  It is wonderful.  Time to go, love to everyone.