This is Fehei Fafita, the Liahona High School Principal. She is an amazing woman and she does such a great job with these kids. In Tonga it is the women who really lead out. She is determined to help these kids succeed in life.

Thursday was a busy day at the office. It is the end of the month and I had to do the finances. I hate that!! It is so stressful for me. It took me most of the morning but I got it done. The only problem is, Ana is moving back to our old office and she took our printer with her. Now I don’t have a way to print out my report. We will be setting up an office back at Malfunga tomorrow. We want to do most of our work here at Liahona but we need to be where Ana and the equipment is, at least part of the time. Ana was planning to move in October but for some reason she started yesterday while we were gone and she will be totally out by tomorrow. We love this office and want to hold on to it as long as we possibly can.
Lots of missionary couples at the temple tonight. It is wonderful to have so many here with us. They are amazing people and it is a privilege to serve with them.

On Wednesday the 25th, Alan and I were invited to attend a meeting for the Social Protection of the Vulnerable in the South Pacific. It was another meeting where many very important people were gathered. The Ambassador of Japan was the honored guest. Japan is the main donor for the project. The Ministers of Health, Finance, Education and Internal Affairs were in attendance. We have met with them twice in the last week. Now they know who we are and they come right over to us, shake our hands and express appreciation for our attending these meetings. We may not contribute a lot at the meeting, but we are representing the Church and hopefully giving these government leaders a positive impression of the work the Church does in Tonga. Sonny Kaufusi, a member of our ward, was the head facilitator for the workshop. He is over the Social Services in Tonga. This meeting was to draft a policy for the protection of the Vulnerable in Tonga, mainly the handicapped and the elderly.

Most of the meeting was done in Tongan, so it was a little boring, but we were able to help draft the policy and they used all of our ideas. (They think Palangis are very knowledgeable, wheather we are or not.) The minister of the Wesleyan Church was there and he did the opening and closing prayers. Sonny asked Alan to bless the food for lunch. The Minister was in our group when we were working on the policy and we had a good discussion with him. The people in Tonga feel very strongly about family, so it gave us common ground to build on. We were able to develop a good relationship with him and in the closing prayer he specifically blessed the “missionary and his wife.”

There was a dance at the church by our house tonight. The music was LOUD! They usually end at 11:00 but this one went until 12:00. (We found out later it was for a wedding.) I didn’t get much sleep. I can’t imagine how the families that live in that village survive, we live 3 or 4 blocks away. 

On Tuesday morning we had 3 emails about our Ha’utu water project. Salt Lake had fixed the problem and Elder Reynolds sent it back so we could fix the budget. Elder Colson had also written to all the powers that be and said that it was his idea to put the extra money in the budger -- not ours. He said, “Lets just take that money out and pass the project.”

We redid the budget and resubmitted the project by 8:30 AM. We had 2 more approvals on Tuesday but we still need 3 more before it goes to the Area Presidencyt on Wednesday. We are afraid it won’t get done before the Area Presidency leaves for SLC.

We met with Mele, our Champion for the Pacific Pharmacy Painting Project. We should have all of the information we need by the end of this week. We hate to submitt 2 projects in the same week, but we have to get these projecys moving.

I went to Enrichment meeting at my old ward at Liahona tonight. The sisters in the ward made poolitahas, the traditional Tongan dress and they were having a fashion show tonight. We started this project before we switched wards and I wanted to see the result. It was a fun night. I loved being with those sisters again. We love our new ward but those sisters will always hold a very special place in my heart.

These are the ladies that made Poolitahas. This is the traditional Tongan dress. They are very comfortable and I want one!!

Via, the Relief Society President, made these with flowers from her yard, while we were watching the fashion show.

These sisters made these decorations out of pineapple leaves.