Tonga!

Monday, August 19th is MIKE’S BIRTHDAY!! How grateful we are to have that young man in our family! He is amazing. He has made Kimi so happy and we are touched each time we see or hear him interact with Grace. It is easy to see how much he loves those two. A great husband and daddy, Yes! Kimi did good!!!

This was another hard day for mom and dad in Tonga. Bryan was sustained as the 1st Councilor in his Bishopric today in Farmington. It is just so hard not to be there to support him and for Alan not to be able to stand in the circle to set him apart. Those are such choice moments in a parents lives and it takes my breath away each time we miss one. I know the Lord understands the feelings of our hearts and we are grateful for the peace we feel as we continue our important work here. We know that Bryan will be a great blessing to his ward. He is so capable and the members will love him as they get to see a little more of his true personality. He is a lot like his dad in that way, he doesn’t like to be in the lime light and people are surprised when they see how funny he really is. Bryan is also very thoughtful and caring, this will give him many opportunities to reach out and help others. He will be a great example for the youth of that ward. We know this calling will be a great blessing in his life and it will bring many blessings into his family. We are so thankful that our children are faithful and worthy to accept new church responsibilities. Once again, I am counting my blessings!!

Things have gotten interesting lately in Tonga. On Friday we watched a news cast that said that the two smaller planes in Tonga, the ones that we are still allowed to fly on, have been grounded. There is a crack in the body of the big one and the smaller one has something wrong with it’s wing. They are out of commission until further notice. We talked to Howard Niu about it at our devotional this morning and he told us there is a lot of politics going on here. The airline is trying to force everyone to take the new plane, to ptove that it is safe. Well, the church will not be forced, so they are chartering a plane from Fiji or Saoma to fly the church leaders up to Vava’u for their Stake Conferences. If the two smaller planes are out of commission and the church doesn’t fly on the big one, Real Tonga Airlines will be in financial trouble in the very near future. The church probably provides half of the airline’s business, flying church leaders and missionaries from island to island. The missionaries will be stuck on the boat, the poor things, and the church will make other arrangements for the leaders. This could get interesting.

These new restrictions have already affected out work. It has effectively cancelled our Dental project until something is worked out and it will severely effect our Vava’u Hospital project. Our hands are tied until a safe plane is available in Tonga.