Sunday, April 2, 2017

Marshall Dillon! Marshall Dillon!

Chester is on the far right.  He stands
with one leg raised and walks just
like Chester from Gunsmoke.
As we make or visits around the island to the various MQ's we start to recognize many of the animals especially a few of them.  We have Chester the chicken.  He has a severe limp from some injury.  I suppose it might have been a dog, or a car or maybe a deformity but he stands on one leg and when he walks it reminds us of the old Gunsmoke character Chester Goode played by Dennis Weaver in the early episodes of Gunsmoke.  For those of you who may not remember you can see the first episode on youtube by clicking here (fun trip down memory lane).

Chester the pig (one of several).
We also have Chester the pig (I guess I'm not very creative).  He limps on his front left.  You can't tell much from a still photo but it is almost comical to see them walk around limping.  You may be able to tell he just emerged from the mud puddle you can see at the top of the photo.

These are the hexes Lepeka is making.  The fabric is local and
very colorful.  She's not sure how she will lay them out in the
finished product but I'm sure we'll take a photo and post once
it's done.  Thanks Sister Kathleen Watts for sharing her talents.
It's now world-wide!
We have been working to get the internet connection more reliable as well as solve some printing issues in the Malapo ward of the Vaini Stake.  The issues have been ongoing since about November of last year.  While I was working through some of the technical issues, Becky often was sewing hexes for a quilt while she was waiting.  On one occasion the Bishop's wife was there to let us in the clerks office and and saw what Becky was making.  She later asked Becky if she would teach what she was doing to their Relief Society.  So, Becky bought some material, needles and thread and went to their R/S meeting last Thursday.  You should have seen their faces light up as they each participated and learned how to sew the hexes.  This was one of the things that Sister Watts taught the young women when Becky was YW president.

Elder and Sister Radmacher at the airport headed for home.  We will miss them
They are so loved by the people and gave so much of themselves in everything
they did.  I'm sure their family is proud of them and they will be missed here.


Elder and Sister Funaki.  He has served on the faculty of BYU
Hawaii since the early 1970's.  This is their second mission to
Tonga.  They are currently serving as self-reliance missionaries
 in Mu'a.  We really enjoyed getting to know them better.  What
great people!
We have a Senior Missionary Couple pot-luck dinner every fast Sunday and this week we came in and sat by this couple.  As we started talking to them we discovered that he is the brother of Sepi Ngatuvai.  We told them a little bit about our immersion week experience at BYU just prior to our mission.  Sister Funaki asked Lepeka to repeat the first name again and turned to Elder Funaki and they started to chuckle.  He said, "She's my sister".  What a small world.  We immediately became good friends because of our common acquaintance.  We so appreciate those that gave so much of their time freely to teach us the Tongan language and culture.  Theirs is a gift that keeps on giving to us.
Zone conference focused on 1 Nephi 18
(the vision of the Tree of Life)

Combined Zone Conferences this week with the focus of the conference on 1 Nephi 18 (the vision of the tree of life). (Picture below) The talks were almost all given by the young Elders and Sisters as they taught each other Gospel principles and shared their testimonies.  What powerful these young men and women are.  I hope that I can serve in my calling as well as they do in theirs.  They are absolutely amazing.  If any of you have a chance to have the Elders or Sisters in you home you will know what I mean.

It does seem a little bit weird that Saturday General conference starts here at 5:00 A.M. Sunday morning.  The sessions are recorded to be replayed next Saturday and Sunday.  We have already downloaded the Women's Conference talks and have listened to several of the talks today but I will have to download them between midnight and 6:00 A.M. (that's when I have unlimited downloads). I'm sure we'll watch them all over the next few days.  How great it is to have modern day prophets to help us understand the important issues facing us and know they speak the Lord's will to us.


View from one of our favorite restaurants in Nuku'alofa.  You may be able to
see the ocean if you click on the photo to see a larger view as it is located right
on the coast about the middle of the island to the North (Waves is the name).

R-L, Elder and Sister Kapp with Sister and Elder Funaki at the Senior Missionary
couples dinner April 2nd 2017.

Sign on the main door of PT at the Hospital.  Now that's
how to hang a sign!
Zone P-day activity prior to their conference, L-R, Elder Manu (West Bountiful,
Elder Cox (new missionary from American Fork), Elder Winward (Franklin, Idaho),
Elder Wilson (Pleasant Grove).  This is a fun group of Elders, great testimonies,
great personalities.  Elder Cox is just trying to toughen up his feet (note the smile though).

Object lesson on the Tree of Life and following the direction even when you
can't see.  L-R, Elder Takapu and Elder Sopu.
Ien, the IT manager.  It's Saturday so he's casual.  We're
trying to contact the Bishop as Ien locked his keys in his
office and we didn't realize it until we were onsite to install
the firewall.  This is at the MQ where we tried to get the
contact info for the Bishop.  We did eventually get in and
completed the work.

8 comments:

  1. Love the hexes How about an internet class for us at home. love you mom

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    1. You can go here to see how they are done. You may need to cut and paste. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHYkV55T5hc Then iron, rinse and repeat. Whip stitch them together to make the flowers then arrange them how you like.

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  2. Dear Elder and Sister Kapp, I very much enjoy reading your blog and how the gospel has influenced not only your lives, both those whom you meet in the mission field. I'm trying to convince my husband that we should submit our papers to serve in Tonga as well. Can you tell me how the Book of Mormon is accepted by the Tongans? Do they feel grateful to know of their heritage?

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    1. Tonga is a wonderful Christian nation. Everything shuts down on Sunday for worship. The majority of Tongans are LDS. I think the Church lists membership at around 66,000 with at total population of around 120,000. There are lots of baptisms by the missionaries each month. I don't know the actual numbers but I have only found one person that was kind of anti-LDS and they were actually a palangi from Texas. They are all so friendly and respectful especially to the senior missionaries. If you want to send me an email with your phone number I'd be glad to give you a call and answer any questions. kappkj@gmail.com

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  3. Can I tell you how much I loved Beauty and the Beast. It was so well done, the costuming was magnificent, the actors were well cast, and the music!!! I could see it again and again!!!

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    1. Very nice. You do know that your mom and I live that story right?

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  4. Oh yeah, I loved your blog. I loved, loved, loved my mission, I'm glad you're loving yours. I still talk about it.

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    1. It was great to talk to you and your family today. We are loving our mission and the opportunity to serve full time. I think we have a better understanding of what we should be doing all of the time now.

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