Once upon a time.......

For the last several days I have been contemplating what I would like to include in this week's blog. I thought of a few things, but nothing seemed right, so I put off posting. And then it was Saturday, our preparation day, and it was past time to post, and I STILL didn't have anything to post about.

And then......we met a family, and I knew why I had not been able to settle upon what to include in this post earlier.  The thing I needed to blog about didn't happen until Saturday morning.

 I would like to tell you the story of this family, the 'Akau'ola's. We'll start their story in 2004, for that is when their lives changed forever.

Once upon a time........there once was a handsome young man named Siope, who met and fell in love with a beautiful young woman, Liu.  They married and began a family. One Sunday morning, after having been out most of the night with friends drinking kava, Siope was returning home when he saw a young family dressed in Sunday best. They were laughing and talking and enjoying being together as they walked to church. Siope wondered what made this family so happy. The love he and his wife had first shared when they married was fading. He was spending more and more time drinking alcohol and kava with his friends into the early morning hours, and spending the days recovering from the intoxication and catching up on his missed sleep. Liu became frustrated and wondered why he seemed to want to spend more time in these destructive activities than he did with his family.

Siope decided to follow this family and see where they went. He followed them to an LDS church building, and watched as they entered. He peered through the window and watched as families sat together, sang songs of worship, happiness radiating from their faces.

He returned home and told his wife that he knew that if they wanted their family to succeed they needed to join the Mormon church. He had felt  a conviction deep in his soul that the Lord had directed him to this church for a reason, and he knew what he must do was join himself with this church. His wife was surprised and wary. They had both been raised in very religious families, and both their fathers were priests. Liu knew if they joined the Mormon church they would be disowned. But Siope was strong in his conviction that they must become members of the LDS church.

That very day he went to the Bishop's home in his village. He knocked, and when the Bishop answered the door, he looked at Siope skeptically, because he had seen him drunk on the streets, and at the kava parties. Siope was firm in his resolve, however, and boldly told the Bishop of his desire to be baptized. The Bishop paused only briefly, then invited him into their home and began at once to teach him of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Liu was still reluctant, but watched as her husband truly became a changed man. He enjoyed spending time with their children, and his love for his wife grew. Because of these changes in him, she began taking the missionary lessons, and soon they were both baptized. And, indeed, as Liu had predicted, they were both disowned by their families.

During the first year as new members of the church, they studied about the temple and had a desire to be sealed together with their children. As the one-year anniversary of their baptism came closer, they realized that the temple in Tonga would be closed for an extended period of time undergoing renovations. They kept hearing about the wonderful blessings they would receive in the temple, and could hardly contemplate them, as their lives had been so richly blessed by simply joining the church. They said to one another, “If the blessings of the temple are so much greater than those we have received from being baptized, can you imagine how wonderful those blessings must be?” But, because of the renovations to the temple, they were going to have to wait. They did not want to wait.

They approached their Bishop and talked to him about going to the temple, but with tears in his eyes, he told them they would have to wait. The young couple looked at each other, then at the Bishop, and they said, “We will go to Hawaii to the temple.” The Bishop cried as he told them that is what he wished for them, but didn't feel he could tell them of his wishes because he knew the trip would be very expensive, and he knew they did not have enough money. When the couple had married, their parents had bought them a new car. The car was still fairly new, and was in very good shape, so they decided to sell it. They made enough money on the sale of their car that they were able to go to Hawaii, and with their children were sealed for time and all eternity.

Blessings continued to come to their family.....they both received scholarships to BYU Hawaii to further their education. The received notification of the scholarships within weeks of returning home from going to the temple. They were both teachers, having received teaching certificates in Tonga, but had a desire to get teaching degrees, which they did at BYU. After getting their degrees and returning to Tonga, they both taught at Liahona High School. By this time they had three children.

While teaching at Liahona, they became aware of children who were mistreated and no longer wanted by their parents. A couple from India who had a teenage daughter and son decided to return to Fiji to live, but decided not to take their son and daughter with them. Other children were abandoned by their parents. Some were abused and left their homes to escape the abuse. Sometimes by ones, more often by two's and three's, children began knocking on Siope's and Liu's door. And Siope and Liu decided to take them into their home, turning no one away. Their small home now holds 20 people. They have five other “adopted” children who no longer live at home, who have gone on to further their own education, or to serve missions.

Playing in the driveway

Siope and Liu knew that given love and structure, things the children were lacking in their own homes, the children would grow and blossom. And they have. Those that were not members of the church before have been baptized and have a desire to serve missions.Two sisters who had been problems at Liahona before coming to live with the Siope and Liu are now getting good grades, are happy, and no longer “problem”children.  Dipika, the young woman from India, is the first member of the church in her family. Her brother, Nikial, followed shortly after. Dipika has a desire to serve a mission to her native country after she graduates from Liahona. The five older children who no longer live at home are setting an example for those still at home -  Siu is on a mission in Texas, Toa and Leina are both attending BYU Hawaii, Milika is attending a teaching college here in Tonga, and Atu is in Salt Lake preparing to go on his mission. Siope and Liu call all of the children under their care THEIR children, and all the kids call Siope and Liu Mom and Dad.

Even with both Siope and Liu working, it is difficult to feed, cloth, and educate 18 children on a teacher's salary. But they have a desire to share what they have, both temporally and spiritually, with not only their children, but with everyone they know. To help supplement their income they make donuts. Siope was taught the recipe, which he makes each Saturday morning by hand, in their small kitchen. The children help cut out and cook them, then they take them to a local baker, or the "fae" (fair), and sell them. Their desire is to open a donut shop in town and sell donuts full time as a way to increase their income and help their children with their education and missions. Siope would run the donut shop while Liu would continue teaching.

In fact, we met this amazing family because they invited us and the Tupou's over to their home Saturday morning to sample their donuts and let them know what we thought about their plan to open up a donut shop.......the first donut shop in Tonga. The donuts were AMAZING. They had regular glazed, chocolate glazed, cinnamon glazed, a green mint glazed (which Garth dubbed Liahona donuts because Liahona's colors are white and green), and cinnamon roll donuts (they looked like cinnamon rolls, but were deep fried like donuts - YUM). Their next creation is going to be a coconut donut - can't wait!!

Siope shared with us that a few months ago, while discussing their children, they were wondering who would replace those who had already left home, and how they might go about finding said "replacements." The next day the two sisters who had been causing so much trouble for their teachers, showed up at their home asking if they could live with them, as their parents had kicked them out. Siope and Liu were amazed that the Lord had answered their prayers so quickly.

The 'Akau'ola family (names do not correspond to picture): Siope and Liu 'Akau'ola, Dipika Prasad, Nikial Prasad, Fonuamana Pifeleti, Ofeina Tupou, Sisi Tupou, Sela 'Akau'ola Matelita 'Akau'ola, Isaiah 'Akau'ola, Pakileata Aolotu, Mele Fakatou, Sepa Fakatou, Mavae Fifita, Viliheti Fifita (in the process of submitting papers for his mission), Solieti Tauataina, Ovava Toa, Heleine Vea. Children not currently living at home (and not pictured): Siu Filikitonga (serving mission in Texas), Toa Fifita (attending BYUH), Milika Laulotu (attending teaching college), Atu Tapuna (in Salt Lake preparing for his mission), Leina 'Aholelei (attending BYUH)

Meeting this family has truly been an inspiration to me. Both us and the Tupou's have a desire to help

them in their endeavors and are looking for ways to help them with small loans, etc., as they work towards opening up their donut shop. We'll certainly be helping by buying their donuts!!! Oh, goodness....there goes all my hard work, I'm afraid. But, it's all for a good cause. Are donuts bought from such a worthy enterprise calorie-less?

And making donuts is not the only way this family stays busy.  Saturdays, after making and selling their donuts, and before playing, all 18 children, along with mom and dad, do some kind of service for someone. And they go to Liu's parent's home and help "Grandma" clean the house. These children are learning to love the Savior, and to do His will, which includes being of service to others. Truly a remarkable family.

Liu shared with me that both she and her husband continue to reach out to their individual families. While Siope's family is still resistant, Liu's parents now come and pick up the children on Saturdays, take them to their home where they play with them, and on Sunday's they bring lu for their lunch. They are still not ready to join the church. But, Liu and Siope are determined to be good examples to their parents. They don't preach the gospel to their them....they exemplify the Gospel by word and deed.

My life has been blessed, and I know will continue to be blessed, because of these new friends. I am thankful Heavenly Father puts such people in my path so I can be blessed by them, and learn from them.

Planes, trains and .....well, planes and boats!

It's been a very interesting week this week. We are learning about Tongan travel. When we were here in 2010 Chatham Air was the airline used for domestic travel. They left this year - not sure why. I'm not sure of all the players or all of the politics involved, but the current domestic airline company is having troubles. They can't get enough pilots. And some of the planes they purchased from China are not flyable, so the church won't allow missionaries to fly on those flights. It's all very confusing. And really hard to get anywhere.

Here's what happened this week. Elder Meurs, one of our area authorities, needed to go to Ha'apai for a district conference this weekend. Pres. and Sister Tupou were going to go with him. Their plan was to go to Vava'u earlier in the week, have a zone conference, and train the new trainers so they would be ready for their new companions we were sending to them (14 brand new missionaries straight from the MTC were waiting to go to Vava'u, but couldn't until their trainers got trained), come home, and then meet up with Elder Meurs in Ha'apai on Friday, Sept 20, have district conference, then fly home Monday Sept 23. We started working on the flights 2-1/2 weeks ago.....a chartered flight, not a regularly scheduled flight. We got word the chartered flight was a go. Then.......it all just fell apart. Looking back, the last two weeks were chaos at its very best. Every day it was something different...the charter was a go, the charter was canceled, the charter flight got moved to a different day, the times of the regularly scheduled flights changed....actually changed. By hours!!!! It was amazing. We were told there were seats available and we made reservations, only to find that we didn't have reservations after all. It was crazy!!

So....we finally had confirmed seats on a regular flight to Ha'apai leaving Friday afternoon at 2:30, Sept 20. Then we got word that arrangements for a charter flight leaving Friday morning was a go. Yeah!!!!!! That meant Pres. and Sis. Tupou, two assistants, and two new zone leaders were ALL going to be able to make it to Ha'apai. We were all so relieved. And exhausted!! No one had gone to Vava'u, however. The zone conference and trainer training were postponed by a week, because we couldn't get anyone to Vava'u. And all those 14 elders waiting to go to Vava'u were still stuck on Tongatapu, waiting until their trainers got trained. Thursday night, Sept 19, Elder Napa'a, one of the assistants, called and said he'd been checking email, and there was an email (this is Thursday night!!! The email got sent at 8:00 pm) that the they couldn't get our people to Ha'apai on the charter flight - it had been canceled. Again!!! But, there were two tickets on the 2:30 flight...for Pres. and Sister Tupou. We still weren't sure how we were going to get the assistants, and a new zone leader, to Ha'apai. We thought about it, decided there was nothing we could do late at night, so we went to bed and resolved to see if we could straighten things out Friday morning.

Friday morning there's an email letting us know that the 2:30 flight had been changed to 1:30. A little later we got an email saying it had been changed to 12:30, and there was only one seat available. It's still a little hazy as to what happened....we think the 2:30 flight got canceled, a new flight for 12:30 was created...and in that whole process, we lost our reservations, and there was only one seat available. AND......then we got word that they had rescheduled the 2:30 flight!!! We are having trouble keeping up.

And, here's how it all got resolved. Pres. Tupou took the seat on the 12:30 flight, Sister Tupou went

standby on the 2:30 flight, and luckily was able to get on. But what to do about the poor
assistants and new zone leaders. Fortunately, the mission owns three boats. One is stationed in Ha'apai and two are in Vava'u. Or the other way around. I can never remember. Anyway.....we called the boat captain, who happens to be the district president in Ha'apai, and had him come from Ha'apai to Tongatapu (it took him three hours), made arrangements for two 50-gallon barrels of fuel to be delivered to the dock in Tongatapu, got the assistants and two new zone leaders to the dock, the boat fueled up, the missionaries, captain and his deck hands fed, and they were off. This was about 3:00 in the afternoon.

Standing around while refueling

This is how we refuel boats in Tonga

Phew.....a HUGE sigh of relief. There is a big rock break wall on the outside of the wharf. We caught just a glimpse of the boat over the break wall.......and then nothing. It had stopped. Oh no!!! What else could go wrong? We waited. About 10 minutes later the boat comes around the corner of the break wall, and it's going slow! Questions flew through our mind. What was wrong? Were they having trouble with the engine? Was someone hurt? And then.....behind the boat was a small (VERY small) sail boat with three people in it, and only oars for propulsion. Our fearless, kind, and thoughtful missionaries and boat captain had done their good deed for the day and had towed in this poor sail boat. The three tourists aboard the sail boat were a bit embarassed, but I'm sure they were happy to be back near dry land, and not having to row anymore. Once the row boat was freed from the Molonai (the name of our boat), the missionaries were off. Man, that boat can go!!

Eating "Kentucky Fried" and manioke before leaving

Waving good-bye

We understand that the missionaries had an adventure getting from Tongatapu to Pangai (the major town on Lifuka - one of the main islans in the Ha'apai island group). They had to stop and spend the night in Ha'afeva (an island just south of Lifuka). It took them two hours to get to Ha'afeva, and the next morning another two hours to get to Pangai on Lifuka because of strong head winds and very bumpy water. But, they all made it safely and were so excited

Off they go

to have been able to ride in the church's boat. Then they all went to Lulunga (a small island

And back again...Good Samaritans

group within the larger island group of
Ha'apai) for district conference. And I guess that was quite a ride. Poor Sister Tupou got soaked by water coming over board...and she was in the cabin!!!

I suppose everything's well that ends well, though. New counselors were called into the district presidency, everyone arrived back safely to Tongatapu. Well......it's Wednesday, and the assistants STILL aren't back. We were able to get Pres. and Sister Tupou to Vava'u today for zone meeting and trainer training, but they were only going to have a few hours in which to do the training because.....you guessed it.....the flights changed!! The poor assistants ended up catching the ferry as it stopped in Ha'apai on its way to Vava'u.

Missionaries going to Vava'u - and friends

Waiting to board the ferry

We put our 14 new elders on the ferry Monday night. The ferry was due into Ha'apai yesterday morning at 8:00, but as of 11:00 it still wasn't there. That means the missionaries were probably on the ferry for 24 hours, instead of 18. But, they're in Vava'u!!!! But, the assistants still can't get back. We have them scheduled on a flight tomorrow at noon. We're hoping they make it.

Boarding the ferry

Oh, no........Just got a call from Sister Tupou in Vava'u. The plane on which they were to return to Tongatapu has had mechanical problems. They are having to fly in a part, which is coming by a small plane which can't fly after dark, and of course.....it's not getting to Vava'u until dark! So, their one-day up and back trip has turned into an overnight trip. The joys of Tonga travel!!!

Sights of Tonga

I thought I'd post some of the pictures I've taken the last few weeks.

Banana trees growing near our house....Can't wait til they are ripe.

Cow and calf on Pres. Nau's farm

Trees planted by Elder Fletcher in 1952. They now form an arch over the road.

Rows of Chinese cabbage

A friendly cow on Pres. Nau's farm.

We went downtown one day and were greeted by about 4000 tourists from this cruise ship.

The wharf in downtown Nuku'alofa looking towards Pangaimotu, a resort island (and great snorkeling). Fish traps in the foreground.

Giant clam shell

The bell clangs, and the cows come. It's watering time.

Mama hen and baby chicks...so cute.

Pele - similar to spinach

A pandanus tree

Pres. Nau's bull, who keeps all the other cows and bulls in line

Looking toward's the island of Eua from Pres. Nau's beach

I think there are as many roosters as there are people here. You hear from them ALL night!

Sis Tupou and Sis Nau watching the cows get watered on the Nau's farm

The temple and sunset

Sunset on Pres. Nau's beach

Sunset on Pres. Nau's beach

Taro

The temple at night

Yes, that's corn. And it's almost ready to eat!!1

New missionaries galore

Wow. Two weeks have passed. The time seems to be flying by. We have now been in Tonga three weeks. Pres. Nau, who was just released a few months ago as a stake president here in Tonga, said we should count days instead of weeks.....it makes it sound like we've been here longer. So.....we've been here 23 days. We've been so busy I have to stop and think about what we did the last two weeks. Let's see....

Thomas and Jesse

We did get to play a little bit. Two weeks ago we went to a lovely beach, one that I had never been to before. The land is owned by Pres. Nau. Pres. Nau served as a missionary here in Tonga when Pres. Groberg was the mission president. His father served as a counselor to Pres. Groberg at the same time. How would you like to have your dad in the mission presidency while you were a missionary? Pres. Nau is a lovely man. The beach is three miles of beautiful sand. There's lots of coral in the water, so it looks like a great snorkeling beach, too. And the break is far enough out so the water close in to shore is very calm. We went with the Tupou's. Thomas and Jesse played in the water the entire time, while Garth and Pres. Tupou visited about something....I don't know what, becuase I wasn't paying attention. Lori and I were busy looking for shells. We found some pretty sea glass, as well. I need to get Garth out snorkeling to see what large shells he can find under water. We found some fragments of shells that look like they come from beautiful larger shells.
 

Pres Nau's beach

Pres. Nau, Pres. Tupou, Garth, discussing "things"

 Then a couple of days later we went back to the same beach and met Pres. Nau there. He and Pres. Tupou and Garth talked about some plans Pres. Nau has for the beach. We learned that King Taufa'Ahau Tupou IV owned the property (there is still a royal residence just up the hill from the beach) but gave it to Pres. Nau. Pres. Nau is a cousin to King Taufa'Ahau Tupou IV. We also learned that Elder Nelson visited the beach and played a little bit during the time he was here for the rededication of the Tongan temple in 2007. The beach has been the site of baptisms, as well.


We also went back to the beach this past Saturday, Sept 14, early in the morning because the tide was out and we wanted to go out to the break and gather a shell called an 'elili. It's a snail. The tide recedes all the way back to the break. There are only little tide pools left. It was great fun walking all the way to the break and watching the waves crash against the break, but be safe and dry.




The interesting thing about this snail is that it makes a little door that it closes when threatened. As the snail gets bigger, it discards the "door" and builds a new one. We'd found these "doors" on the beach, but wanted to see what they looked like in the shell. You can also eat them. So, we were at the beach by 7:30 a.m. Saturday. We did find some of the snails. I love their little doors. We didn't eat any of the snails, yet. I brought a couple of home with the

turbin sea snail surrounced by calcareous operculum (little door)

intention of cooking them, but we had to go shopping before we got home, and they were in a jar of water in the back of the car, and it was an extremely hot day (27 degrees C., which is only 80 degrees - but we were assured this was an extremely hot day. It sure felt hot to us). Needless to say, the poor critters were pretty much boiled by the time we got home. So, next time we go we'll collect some and cook them right away. I heard they're very good. We'll see.........



Saturday is P-Day and both Sept 7 and the 14th we went downtown to the market and the bakery, and then went to the "fea" (fair). There are two fairs, one on the way into Nuku'alofa, and one on the wharf. We, of course, chose the one on the wharf. It's a bit like a swap meet. There were people selling new things from New Zealand and the US (lots of dish soap, shampoo, perfume and electronic appliances), a few with Tongan T-shirts, and lots with used clothing and shoes. And there were a few selling food. The shave ice looked tempting, but not knowing the water source, we stayed away from that. But, one place did have a large popcorn maker, and being a popcorn lover, Garth had to buy a bag for one pa'anga (That's about 60 cents). I also bought a crock pot that is powered for 220...Yeah!!!

The "fea"

We had a late lunch this past Saturday (14th) and went to a Chinese place recommended to us by Elder Riddle, who is teaching discussions in Chinese. We went with Elder and Sister Stephen and Bonnie Meyers (cousin to Evan Meyers, and also from Sugar City). The food was delicious. I had chicken in ginger and green onion sauce (SOOOO good), Garth had beef curry (also excellent), Sister Meyers had chicken curry (delicious), and Elder Meyers had sweet and sour chicken (the chicken was deep fried tempura style - so delicate and delicious - I might get that next time). And yes, there will absolutely be a next time. The food was amazing.

Saturday night (Sept 7) and Sunday (Sept 8) were stake conference in our stake. Elder Peter Meurs of the Seventy was our visiting authority. It was a wonderful conference. The choir was amazing!! They sang both Saturday evening and Sunday morning. I tried to inconspicuously record them Sunday, because they were so wonderful, and because the session was not being held in a chapel. The Sunday session was not in the stake center, but was held instead in the gym at Liahona high school because the stake center would not hold all the people in attendance. There were 1500 people at the Sunday morning session. There are 2000 members in the entire stake. That's a 75% attendance. The stake president has great goals for his stake. He wants each member of the stake to work two hours a week doing family history work, and two hours a week attending the temple. His goal is to have every young man serve a mission, every couple and family sealed in the temple, and every man be ordained to the Melchizadek Priesthood. With the numbers attending stake conference, I would not be surprised if the Liahona stake achieves this goal. It was a great stake conference.

Then after conference we were invited to eat with Elder Meurs, the stake presidency, and several invited guests. We had a traditional Tongan meal - lupulu (YUM) which is corned beef and onions wrapped in "lu" (big green leaves that get all soft when they're cooked) and then coconut milk (fresh - just like they make it at the Polynesian Culture Center) poured over top, the leaves wrapped and tied, then the whole thing wrapped in foil and baked in the umu (underground oven). One of my favorite things to eat. There was also faikekai, which is little bread dumplings cooked in a coconut brown sugar mixture (also yummy). There was baked chicken, pieces of chicken breaded and deep fried, and in a delicious sort of sweet and sour sauce, turkey and dressing (yes, really), pork skin (of course - which I don't really appreciate like I probably should - so I didn't eat any of that) cooked fish, raw fish mixed with onions, tomatoes and coconut milk (I forget what it's called, but it's really good),  fresh fruit, coconut cake, banana cake, and I'm forgetting a whole bunch of other stuff. It was delicious. I could hardly move afterwards. We even took a little bit home for dinner Monday night.

Our departing missionaries

Monday, Sep 9, we said good-bye to 11 missionaries - six who live here in Tonga, and five who live in the states. It was sad. Elder Toki, who we got to know well because he was an assistant to Pres. Tupou, went home. It was a sad day for all of us. But, on Tuesday, Sep 10, we said hello to  22 missionaries from the states, and 10 from the Pacific Islands (7 of those are visa waiters who will eventually go to their assigned missions in Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, and Australia). That's a lot of

Meeting 22 missionaries from the US. Look at all those missionaries!

Some of the arriving missionaries from New Zealand MTC.

Arriving missionaries and their companions at orientation

missionaries!!! About 10 of the new missionaries will start their mission out by going to some very small islands in the Vava'u group. They call it the "Groberg experience." They'll have quite an experience, I know.

Missionaries going to Vava'u

Wednesday, Sep 11 was training for the new missionaries. So, that was another busy day. After orientation the new missionaries went with their zone leaders to purchase their "Tongan missionary uniform." Tonga, I believe, is the only mission where the missionaries wear what has become known as a traditional native missionary uniform. The elders wear a white shirt and tie, a tupenu (lavalava) and the ta'ovala (the waist mat) held on by the kafa (a rope wrapped around the waist a couple of times to hold the ta'ovala on). AND they get to wear sandals!!! The sisters wear a combination of a tupeno and a pule taha. A pule taha is a long skirt and blouse, but the top and bottom match. The sisters wear a colored top, but a ankle-length tupenu along with the waist mat. They are easily recognized walking down the streets of Tonga.

Our container - on the back of Lupeni's truck. Now empty except for Jesse and Thomas :)

AND.....our container arrived!! It was like Christmas. We now have some food storage things so we don't need to go to the store as often (except the bakery, because I LOVE the bakery here). The best thing to arrive, however, was our pillows. Ahhhhh...... I missed my pillow. Now I can truly be happy :)


Still loving Tonga!!!