Tonga!

Friday, April 25th

Today is another holiday in Tonga. It is Anzac Day, the day that they honor all of their military men and women. There was a lot going on down town, but we saw it last year so we decided to stay home and get a few things done. We got all of our luggage out and took it outside to air out. We are really in the rainy season now, so the mold and mildew are back with a vengeance. We had sprayed them with Lysol the last time we aired them out, so they weren’t to bad. Alan wiped them off and we sprayed them again. We also got his suit out and hung it out. It looked good. Putting it in a plastic suit bag has made a lot of difference.

We also started weighing the things that we plan to ship home. We thought they would be a lot heavier than they actually are. If we can figure out how to pack them all together in a suitcase size box, we can take them as an extra piece of luggage a lot cheaper than trying to ship them home. We are hoping we can work that out.

We called David for his birthday today. I can’t believe that my baby is 30!!! For this year, all of our kids will be in their 30’s. WOW, WHERE HAVE THE YEARS GONE??? I feel a little bit old, but not as old as I will feel when they are all in their 50’s!
We went into town this afternoon to see the wood carvings that President Fahoko did for the Anglican Church. We went to his shop first, to look at them and take pictures, and then we went to the church and watched them being delivered and put into place. It was amazing to see the work he had done and then really fun to see the looks on the faces of the people at the church when they arrived. They were so thrilled and rightly so, he is incredible. I will post the pictures. He did all of these carvings in 60 days. They just told him what they would use the pieces for and he designed them all. Sister Fahoko’s father used to be a minister in this church and her mother is still a member there. President Fahoko wanted this to be his tribute to them.

President Fahoko told us a little about his life today. He was born into the church and grew up as a member. Then he got a little rebellious and dropped out of the church and joined the 7th Day Adventist church. One day he got really sick, so sick that he thought he was going to die. He called the Mormon elders to come and give him a blessing. He immediately started to get well. He came back into the church and has been a strong member ever since. He has served as a Stake President here and now he is serving for the second time as a councilor in the Mission Presidency. He is a master carver in Tonga and his work is known all over the world. He is a wonderful man. He made a carving for President Utchdorf when he was in Tonga and when he came to the Fahoko home to see some of his work, President Utchdorf blessed his home. He has very tender feelings for and memories of President Utchdorf and President Monson.