First day in Tonga

Monday, October 26, 2015

We arrived in Tonga after lunch on the smaller plane where you don’t have much legroom at all, but I just watched a movie and then the flight was over with (about 3 hours).  I felt sorry for my two seat mates (Jim and I get matching aisle seats) because both were going to funerals; both were members and Tongans and lived elsewhere, one in CA & the other in Auckland.

We got out of the airport in a reasonable amount of time and immediately saw our three hosts, E/S Murdock and Ana Ika.  Ana is a local gal who is the welfare manager there.  They were all quite fun and pleasant and we immediately enjoyed their company.  I was once again pleasantly surprised by the mildness of the weather, having just come out of winter and into their spring, it was breezy and not too hot especially if you stayed in the shade.  We did not drop our luggage or get settled, but got right into our visiting.

Ana Ika Welfare Manager in Tonga with the Murdock’s.  Their worst experience on their mission was being stuck on another island for 3 weeks while Elder Murdock got dengue fever, a very serious illness carried by mosquitoes.  Note E/Murdock is wearing the Tonga version of the lava lava.  He said that just about all the men and missionaries wear these. 

Sister Murdock had written out an ambitious schedule that we thought we would never be able to accomplish; even though we didn’t get to everything I believe we did get to almost all of them, just not in the way it was to happen.  We kept getting diverted.

All over the island they have farm projects run by whoever lives in the community.  This one is no exception, using members and non-members who cooperate in producing all kinds of crops.

*Some facts: We learned that this island has about 40+ % Mormon population, but still is not the largest religious group. 

*The island doesn’t have mountains so they don’t have springs; they can drill wells though to get water and they use pumps to get the water into tanks on towers and then out to the surrounding areas.  They also use rain catchment but have been in a drought for a couple of years now.

*Tonga is a much smaller and less prosperous island than Samoa.

*There is a king in Samoa, and he is not just a figurehead.  They think that he is okay.  Sister Murdock met the prince, asked to take a picture of the fan that he had so that she could have one made just like it.  Instead the Prince gave her his fan.  She has quite a collection of fans and seashells.

*Samoans and Tongans are so talented and they can really sing well.  During the turnover ceremony in Samoa they sang in 4-part harmony without music, perfectly on pitch, and just beautifully.

*The roads so far on both islands are mostly paved and the short dirt ones we’ve traveled have been rather smooth unlike the African ones.

*They barely pronounce the ‘G’ in Tonga because it is silent or not in their alphabet, but it is not like leaving it out altogether—I have been practicing. 

*I saw horses in Samoa and also here in Tonga and was surprised—I never thought of them as cowboys…well, actually, they eat them, along with dogs.  (Sorry I asked).

The flags were up at the garden project because they had a big celebration and the TV station was there.  As soon as we got there they fed us an incredible feast.  As usual, I was not all that hungry but gave it my ‘college try’.  The meal was cooked in the ground as all Polynesians tend to do.  We had chicken, raw and cooked fish, cassava and a bottle of water.  I thought I would not like the raw fish but took a bite and it was surprisingly good. 

Above & Below: Taking off the last layer of our meal that they cooked in the ground (they also had blankets on top of those leaves; served on a peeled off stalk of a banana tree.  They always give us way too much food!  None of us were able to finish, but it was good!

We went to visit projects; we saw a very old well, older than 70 years, that had no water in it to see if we thought it could be fixed; we saw water towers and tanks and both electric pumps that got the water up into the tanks before distribution to here and there, and ones with generators.  The projects are usually not just contributed to by LDSC but also other NGO’s and contributions by recipients both in labor, materials and monies.  It is about all that they can do here to get water.

They had a lot of metal towers that were falling down.  This is one of ours and we quite like it better out of concrete.  Others are participating in this project and all we had to do was the tower.  They will protect the ladder either with fencing or a block on the ladder itself—don’t want little kids climbing up there.  They are also going to add the Latter-Day Saint Charities logo.

We didn’t get home until dark.  Didn’t get to bed till late.  More about a very nice guest house that we are staying in later, with pictures.  It is huge with a large living room and family room, all with air conditioners.  A full kitchen and dining room.  There is another guy here tonight so we are told but never saw or heard him.  It is actually nicer than where the Murdock’s are staying, although in the same compound.  It is the Liahona Guest House.  We got to fully unpack—I love to do that more than anything when on these trips.  Well off to bed.  I slept about 4 hours last night and going to bed late tonight.  Not too brilliant of me. 

Tomorrow we are taking a boat ride, not a ferry but a smaller boat, to some island or other for a day.  Should be Interesting.