April 24, 2014 Vava`u

April 24, 2014

Today has been a long day.  We started early, 630. I know its not really early, but it was for me.  The night was kind of restless because of thinking about flying back to Tonga after being in Vava`u for 10 days.  All I could think of was washing, cleaning, packing, the little things that make traveling hard.  Except for the fact that the house that we stayed in was much bigger than our house at Liahona, things weren’t really that complicated.  I had time to spend, after the cleaning, washing and etc, to read the scriptures and the Ensign while I waited for the clothes to get dry on the line.  The one thing about the weather in the islands is that you cannot look at the sky and predict if the sun will shine or if it will rain.  It changes almost as fast as the wind in Rexburg.  The home where we have stayed this week in sits at the base of a very steep hill on the edge of the rugby field.  I can’t say what direction it is because I don’t know.  I have a problem with directions and I am definitely confused here.  I know the sun comes up in the east and goes down in the west, but that does not mean a thing when  I try to figure out which way is which.  Anyway, I just hope that when I get home, Idaho hasn’t rotated for some reason. 

The house we are currently in is surrounding by coconut and banana trees.  The lawns that surround the campus are mowed mostly by guys who use weed whackers to keep the “grass” short.  This grass is not Kentucky Blue, it kind looks like a weed.  These guys walk up these steep hills, carrying their heavy whackers, swinging them from side to side to cut the grass.  Their arms are very muscular, their legs are probably the same.  Steve and I took one of our walks up the hill to get to the rugby field and I knew that I was probably going to lose my balance and roll backwards down the hill.  The rolling hills of the campus are certainly a good cardiovascular exercise.  I keep telling myself that when we make our trek back and forth to campus.  The temperature here is about 10 degrees hotter than at Tonga, which made me a little sad because I was ready for some cool.  I hope its cool when we get back to Tonga.

 We just received word though that our flight was moved back a half hour, so now that I was ready, it has given me a little time to collect my thoughts and write some regarding our experience here.  Again we have been welcomed with open arms and thanks for our help before we have even done anything.  What we have done is visit many classes, talking with teachers and some students who are brave enough to try out their English on us, and observing what is being taught and how.  Many students and facility have a good command of English with the Tongan version added to some words.  It can be very difficult to understand them at times, but normally we can eventually figure it out when our ears and our brains start to connect.  That may be our problem not theirs. The school is beautiful, but because of the isolation there are many problems that need to be addressed by those who have some authority who are not just senior missionaries.  I say that also of the schools at Liahona.  The basic Tongan culture of just letting things happen make it very difficult for those of us from the US who are used to getting things done yesterday, setting goals and probably the most important being responsible.  Unfortunately, because Tonga is ruled by a King, I don’t think many things get done by the government in the way of leadership.  The church is the major motivator and the people are so dedicated and follow so carefully the counsel of the brethren that sometimes they don’t think out the consequences of some  of what is asked of them.  They don’t complain, they just try to take it in stride or just say what they think you want to hear, not what they can actually do.  There is still a huge problem with “borrowing”, so much so that one of the teachers here in the electronics class lab, had all of his personal tools, “borrowed”.  I am here to tell you they don’t get paid enough to be able to absorb that loss.  We have spent a lot of time with the administrators trying to come to some resolution to some of their concerns, but I’m afraid that the solutions will have to come from the area directors.

Because of Easter, we had a few days of unplanned vacation.  We were able to get a van from the high school and do some exploring on Friday and Monday.  Saturday we went to the market, which was an experience.  The market is situated down by the wharf and has a spectacular view of the ocean and surrounding islands.  This time of year, the produce was limited if you wanted anything more than Taro.  We did find some cucumbers and surprisingly, potatoes which were actually pretty good.  I think that may mean that we have been here long enough to have forgotten what a “real potato” tastes like.  It was a little difficult to shop to find what we needed for such a short time, to not buy too much stuff. We managed ok though, but eating peanut butter sandwiches every day for lunch got a little old.  I’m not complaining though, it was certainly better than eating the corned beef that everybody eats here.  They have a plentiful supply of that.  At the market, there was a group of young people from some church that were singing and dancing to entertain the market folks, like a religious revival kind of thing.  I liked the dances and some of the singing.  Since I couldn’t understand the words, I wasn’t converted.

Sunday was an experience also attending a Tongan speaking ward.  Unfortunately, there were only about 80 people there of the approximately 300 members of the ward.  Inactivity is a major problem in all the wards and the new bishop is working hard to reactivate members.  A new convert of nearly one year was just put in as the new relief society president.  We were lucky to have one of the faculty members from Saineha translate for us, she also helped me in Relief Society.  The teacher had also just been sustained as a counselor in the RS.  She was named after the school, Saineha, and is also the computer teacher who is engaged to the substitute teacher who is currently at Liahona who we know.  They are getting married June 19^th at the temple by Liahona.  We have been invited to the wedding.  Her intended is a convert who teachers the construction classes for the teacher we have been working with to get his certifications, Viliami.  Whew, that is quite a description to try to work from.

Monday, we got to more exploring of the island, saw some beautiful vista’s.  Steve also managed to get wonderful pictures.  We still can’t say the names of the villages, but we are getting better with the pronunciation of names and places with the practice we have had these last few months.