Tonga!

Thursday, April 3rd

This morning when I got on the computer, I had an email with a list of questions Elder Reynolds wants answered about the Niua project. It took me most of the morning to do the research and get them all answered. Once he received the answers, I was able to go into CHAS and change what needed to be changed and add what needed to be added to that project and get it ready to submit. Elder Reynolds sent a copy of the email he sent me to the Mission President and to Elder Hamblin too. The funniest thing happened. He said that he needed a letter from the Mission President in support of the project. I have been telling the president that for a month. Elder Reynolds mentioned it this morning and I had the letter by noon! REALLY????? Sometimes I feel like we are so unimportant in the eyes of some people. When the big boys chime in, they jump! OK, that wasn’t very nice. I’m just grateful that we finally got it. Now we can move forward with the project.

Salisi, the Talking Chief from the village of Hofoa came to see us today. We have been helping him get some surplus desks for the primary school out there. He said that they have the desks all set up in the classrooms and he wants us to come in the morning and take some pictures with the students and the teachers. We will be happy to do that!! While he was here we were talking about his job as a Talking Chief. He is a very important man here. There are only 8 Talking Chiefs in Tonga. They meet with the King and then with other government officials to tell them what the King said. They have to know a different level of Tongan to talk to the King. You don’t speak to him in the same terms that you would use with commoners. It was really interesting.

Alan has turned into his dad. While Salisi was in our office, Alan asked him if he could arrange a tour of the Palace for us. You can’t get on the Palace grounds unless you are invited by the King. No one lives in the Palace now, it is just used for special occasions. Kings, Queens, Presidents, people like that are invited there, not missionaries. Salisi said that he would be meeting with the King tomorrow. He will ask if we can go. The guard over the Palace grounds is from the village of Ha’utu, where we did a water project. He knows us. Who knows, we might just get to do it. We’ll see. I couldn’t believe that Alan would ask him, but then I remembered Ken and that is definitely something he would have done. Like father, like son.

When we got home I fixed a big spaghetti dinner to take to a family in our ward. Siosi just had a baby girl and Sister Mitchell and I took dinner to her tonight. We didn’t know where they lived until tonight. We only see them at church. She used to be the Relief Society President in the ward and her husband is in the bishopric. Their home is very humble, not even as big as our living room. There is a bed just inside the door. Lots of people here do that because it is cool there at night. There were mats on the floor where they sit and a table where they eat. They have a piece of material hanging down for a door that lets the air circulate and that is pretty much it. They have 4 little boys and now a baby girl. What a sweet, precious family.
Tonight was temple night. It felt so good to be back in the temple after missing a couple of weeks.