Monday, January 20th 2014
The Reynolds were at our house at 8:00 am this morning and we started our day. We took them for a quick look at the dental clinic here at Liahona. The Area Office wants to help upgrade the office here. Then we headed for the village of Tea’kiu. Mamana was starting her Hygiene Training at 9:00 and we had all of the kits she needed. When we got there she was all set up. She had tables with table cloths and flowers. (She is the Stake RS President!)
She had 9 people that she was training, 8 women and 1 man. As they introduced themselves they expressed how grateful they were to be a part of this training and how excited they were to take it back to their villages. Some of them are RS Presidents, one is a new convert of 3 months and the man is not a member. He was the last to introduce himself, after all of the women had borne their testimonies. 2 of them are from Ha’api and are so grateful for all the church is doing to help their families up there. This sweet man told us that when he saw all of those women he wanted to run away but he didn’t because he knows how important this is. He has 9 children and 8 of them are members. He, his wife and his youngest child are not members. His wife has had her leg amputated and he and the son have to carry her everywhere she goes. As soon as he said that, Mamana told him that she would come and assess her and get a wheelchair for her. He got tears in his eyes and said that he promised he, his wife and his child would all join the church. The Spirit was so strong in that room as our hygiene training turned into a missionary experience.
The Reynolds couldn’t believe what they were seeing. None of us wanted to leave, but after I talked to them about the training we had to go.
We next went to Ha’utu. It was raining buckets so we didn’t actually go in to look at the pump and engine that we are replacing, we just showed them the village and the school that use that water. The engine and pump arrived on Friday and should be installed some time this week or next.
Then we took them to see the Blow Holes. The rain let up a little bit but the wind was really blowing so the waves were high and they loved seeing the blow holes go up. It really is like watching Old Faithful go off every few seconds. They got quite a show today. It was one of the best days we’ve been there.
Our next stop was the Central Pharmacy. They knew all about this project but they had no concept how big the building was. In the project journal I had said that this had almost killed Elder Webb off and now they know why. They were so impressed with all that was done there, how well it was done and that Elder Webb survived the project. He has their profound respect now.
It was time to head back to Liahona for a conference call with the Area Presidency. We didn’t have time to stop for lunch so we ran into our house and I fixed them some sandwiches and off we went again.
We met with Elder Tulkuafu, Howard Niu and President Tupou before the call, just to make sure that we were all on the same page and we had all of the facts. Then we talked to the Area Presidency, the Director of Temporal Affairs and some of the key people in Salt Lake. (I don’t know their titles but they report to the Presiding Bishopric and the First Presidency.) My assignment is to be over the finances for this whole thing, so I had to report on how much money we have spent. They have allocated an additional $75.000 to be used for the short term needs. We will add more as we go along. I am finding that calling to be VERY STRESSFUL but with the Lord’s help, somehow I will do it.
When the meeting was over the Reynolds spent some time in the Service Center answering emails and then it was time to take them to the airport. Wow, those 4 days just flew by. We were happy to get a chance to meet them and spend some time with them. We talk to them on the phone once a month and now they are our friends. It’s amazing how the bonding is instant in the mission field. We look forward to spending some time with them in Utah when we are all home again. They live in Bountiful.
On the way to the airport we drove by Lavengatonga so that they could see the tower and tank. The leak still isn’t fixed so we felt bad about that. Sam is back from Australia now and hopefully it will be taken care of quickly. We really would like to see that project closed before we go home. We have been working on it for our whole mission!
After we got them checked in and knew the plane was flying, we said our good-byes and headed for home. I really needed to go for a walk. I haven’t had time to walk in the mornings since the cyclone hit and my back and legs bother me if I don’t walk everyday. Alan went with me. It was relaxing and there was a little breeze tonight. Last week, I don’t even remember which day, Enismore, the lady who is over housing at Liahona, had a new air conditioner installed in our house. We just love her, she has been so good to us! The one we had before just wasn’t big enough to cool off the house and we never used it much because it is so expensive to have it on and then not really do much. The one we have now is WONDERFUL! It cools the house off in about half an hour and then we can turn it off if we keep the doors closed. I love it!!! I can’t believe we suffered all these months and didn’t ask for help. She was so nice about changing it for us and said that she felt bad we had not told her sooner.
