May 30, 2014

May 30, 2014

I have just finished writing the mission newsletter, which is a new assignment from the president.  So before starting a cooking assignment for a piano recital tonight that I couldn’t start because I ran out of flour due to other cooking assignments this week, I decided to take a little time to read the Book of Mormon.  I was reading in the book of Mosiah where King Mosiah is talking about the disadvantages of having a king.  I had underlined a few passages, when my ears picked up the sound of the high school band, playing and marching in rehearsal for the opening of Parliament this week and the parade that all high schools are participating in next Thursday.  By the kings decree,  all schools participate, so therefore all residents of the island are also, I’m not sure of dictated is the right word, but people are expected to come watch the grand procession of the king and parliament.  Because most islanders are not of the same caste system, all commoners should wear white or off white in deference to the king.  It is a really big deal here and the Liahona High School band is superb.  I haven’t heard the other schools, but our band is really good.  Today, as they walked past, playing their hearts out, I couldn’t help but think about what influence kings have, either for good or for bad.  I’m not sure what kind of influence  it is here, other than some of the things that come down through the ranks for the education system are certainly not in the best interests of the students or the teachers.  The government schools are very run down.  They have much less than what Liahona has in the way of education, and even less supplies, equipment and you have heard me cry about the system here.  I think the thing that stood out so much from my scripture reading was the fact, that Mosiah wanted his land to be a land of liberty and the burden of liberty should be upon all the people, that every man might bear his part.  He also talked about casting votes, making me think about our elections and the apathy of many people.  So unless we speak up against the wrongs that are committed by government, then we choose to follow whatever.   The kingdom of Tonga has little choice, I think.  Verse 26 Mosiah says” Now it is not common that the voice of the people desireth anything contrary to that which is right; but it is common for the lesser part of the people to desire that which is not right; therefore this shall ye observe and make it your law- to do your business by the voice of the people.”  It is interesting that I should be reading this passage about kings when the band is just passing by in preparation for the upcoming kings holiday and opening day of parliament.

We were able to participate in the piano recital of the group of students that we first started with last night.  We were late because I took a double batch of brownies to the fireside and it took much longer than I expected to cook, so we were late.  I was surprised that we had so many missionaries present since we had several events that night and had to pick and choose which ones to participate in.  As usual, we were treated to a feast prepared by the Tuisoa’s and some of the parents of the piano students.  The food was good, sister Tuiasoa really knows how to treat palangi’s and cooked some delicious American food, fried chicken, potato salad .  Of course there was the traditional Tongan fish both fried and served raw with the coconut milk, onions, peppers and tomatoes.  Normally, I try this if I can see that the fish is white which means that it has cooked chemically, but I could see that the fish was still pink, so I passed up on it.  Taro was also cooked, but they like it dry like bread, so I passed on that also. 

The piano students, of which there was 6, performed hymns they had learned .  They were so scared, hands shaking, one student Eliza, got very pale.  She has palangi blood though so she could get a little whiter than the rest of them.  I was certainly amazed at how well they performed.  Brother Tuiasoa also played the piano and added some extra chords to his piece.  He also plays the guitar and sings with his wife.  We were treated to a group of men who played and sang some Tongan songs,  then Brother Tuiasoa and his wife performed, with her dancing one number then singing a duet with her husband.  It’s amazing how graceful sister Tuiasoa was with her dancing.  Apparently they performed for about 10 years at the Polynesian cultural center when they were younger, still attending school.  Another one of our missionaries, brother Va`enuku who is serving in Tonga now, also sang and played the ukulele.  It was such a pleasant evening.  I also got convinced that I want to teach a second round of music lessons to these 6 girls.  I think we’ve got the keyboards lined up so that it will be possible.

We then joined the missionaries to watch the second episode of the Hobbit at the mission office which has more room for all the missionaries.  That was pretty interesting 2^ndepisode.  We have seen the first one which was also interesting.  I suppose I need to read the books now to understand the story.  I must say though the special effects were pretty dramatic and hair raising.  When we got to the end, there was a collective sigh of, what???, you can’t stop there.  Even the most disinterested in seeing the movie were involved in watching the movie.  Sister Dassler is just like a little kid, talking out loud during the movie with “ oh yuck, why did they do that?, oh no, hurry!”  We got pretty amused at how involved she got with the movie.  We did find out that part three is supposed to be available in December, but we won’t know how fast it can get sent here.  Elder Hamblin has his ways, so we will just have to wait to see the 3^rd episode.  I think one of the interesting information that we have about the movie is that the movie is filmed in New Zealand where there is an actual Hobbitville.  We have thought about going to see it when we leave the mission field.  We’ll see what happens at that point in our lives.

This has been an extra busy week at the school.  We have been finalizing budget requests for the teachers, still trying to understand the convoluted process they have to go through to get supplies.  Someone would think we are living on a remote South Pacific island.  We  have had to be very creative in getting things from the states.  The Tongans just laugh at us and say, ‘ you’ve finally figured out the Tongan way” when we tell them about what we are doing.

Elder and Sister Webb are leaving Monday having completed a very successful mission involving humanitarian projects.  As we watch them with their packing, all I can think is ‘good grief, will we have that much stuff’?  I’m afraid we will unless we can get some things shipped home before we leave, which is a ways away still. Sister Webb is super organized and has pretty much all of her stuff either given away or packed.  They have been planning ahead for several weeks now checking on the various methods of getting stuff home.  They have been given some really nice stuff in appreciation for the humanitarian projects they have completed since they have been here.  Elder Webb served here as a young missionary so it has been really fun for him to get to come back.  He’s tired though and ready to ‘sit in his rocker and rock’ which I don’t think will happen.  Both of them are super involved in many things and just keep on working hard.  Unfortunately when they leave, no one has been called to take their place,  which is a shame.  There are so many needs.  Wish we could clone them.  We are making plans to meet when we get home but it will still be hard to see them go. We will be the senior missionaries that have served the longest in our mission at Liahona when Sister Mitchell leaves in July.