Sunday, April 28th
As soon as we arrived at church today we were told that the Bishop wanted to talk to us. We knew that he was going to call us to a job in the ward. We met with him after Sunday School and he asked us to teach the Gospel Principles class. We are excited about that. It is made up of investigators and new members so we will enjoy getting to spend some time with them. Also, we are glad to have a calling that is on Sunday. That makes it so we don’t have to make another trip into town.
Our Sunday meetings were good but we are having a hard time getting to know the people in this ward. We don’t see them much, only on Sunday and there isn’t much time to visit. I am hoping to get a ward list so I can at least learn their names. They come from all over the main island and they are there one week and then they go to a Tongan speaking ward the next. It is really hit and miss. Alan says he would HATE to be the bishop of this ward, there isn’t a lot of continuity.
Our dinner with the Mission President was amazing! First of all, the food was wonderful. It is an organized pot luck and all of the senior sisters are such good cooks. I always find at least one dish that I want the recipe for. That is why I am putting a mission cook book together. I want to be able to bring all of these recipes home with me.
After dinner President Tukuafu talked to us about his experiences in Salt Lake City. He was called to be an Area Authority 70 back in December but he couldn’t tell anyone until General Conference. He said that it was the longest 4 months of his life. Then he had to sneak out of the mission and really out of the country without anyone knowing where he was going. Everyone here knew that we were getting a new Area Authority so everyone was trying to figure out who it would be. The last phone call he received before he boarded the plane was from the current Area Authority asking him if he knew who was trying to get out of the country without anyone finding out. It was pretty funny. He had to cut the conversation short so he wouldn’t miss the plane!
He and Sister Tukuafu also wanted some of their children to be there so he talked his youngest daughter into taking her younger brother to America so they could go to conference. They stayed with president’s brother there and President Tukuafu just happened to have tickets to the Saturday afternoon session. They didn’t even suspect anything was funny about that and were shocked to find their parents in SLC after that session.
He told us that the training with the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve was beyond description. He just didn’t have the words to express how spiritual and powerful it was. They train the new members of the quorums for 2 days before conference, all 400 of them! The leaders of our church are unbelievable! He said that at least 85% of the training was on missionary work. The church is flooding the earth with the gospel and it is really going to move forward at a fast pace now. What a thrill to be a part of that! I am so grateful for the gospel and that the Lord gave us this opportunity to serve another mission.
When we got home there was still plenty of time to take another walk. I love it!!!
