Church on Sunday the 24th was fun. I was “glowing“!! I told them that this is what you look like when you are on fire with the Gospel. One of the men in our Sunday School class talked in Sacrament Meeting. He quoted the scripture in Eather12:27, “I give unto men weakness that they may be humble.” Then he told about how this scripture has changed his life and how overcoming his weaknesses has brought him closer to Christ. It was amazing, first that the people here are so open with sharing what has happened in their lives and second how far he has come and how strong his testimony is because of the journey. Every week I love these people more. Which is hard because one of them is moving out of the ward. Paulae, the man that translates for us when people do speak in Tongan, is moving across the island and will be attending a ward out there. He is a stalwart in this ward. He comes to everything and he is always on time to church. He holds a Stake calling. He will really be missed, especially by us!
I heard another fun pig story today. One of the ladies in our ward went to the outer islands with the King and Queen this last week. It was in honor of “Agricultural Days” for the islands. The King visited all the islands and attended produce fairs. On one island there are very few cars. Everything that was available was used to transport the King, Queen, Prime Minister and their party to the port to catch the ferry to the next island. It was a LONG ways away and the only way for Ana and the others to get there was to walk. Suddenly a large truck came along the road and stopped to offer help. It was transporting the “Royal Pigs”, two huge pigs that were being given to the King and Queen. The driver offered Ana and the Nobles and Chiefs that were walking with her, a ride to the dock. They climbed in the bed of the truck with the pigs and off they went. She said it made her think about how the Lord is no respecter of persons. There were common villagers, Nobles and Chiefs all in the back of that truck with the King's pigs. She related that to how when we go to the Temple, no one knows if the person sitting next to them is common or important. We are all doing the same work and your station in life, how much money you have or what you look like doesn’t matter to the Lord. He loves us all unconditionally. I am grateful that I know that.
