Cruisin' for a Bruisin'

This is a photo from our trip to the island of Ha'afeva.  You can
tell we're moving along at a pretty good clip.  Other than a big
splash or two it was a pretty smooth ride.  I gave one of the
ladies my handkerchief so she could dry off her face and never got it back

Recently I traveled to Ha’afeva a small island in the Ha’apai group in central Tonga about 42 km Southwest of Pangai, which is about 156 km North of Tongatapu.  There is a small airport in Pangai which closes the main road when airplanes take-off and land.  I was gone for two days and I installed the internet connection and a new PC which will be shared by several wards on nearby islands as well.  They come to Ha’afeva to meet about once a month and they will now be able to enter their Church financial data and send and receive email.  Becky stayed here on the main island of Tongatapu to care for the missionaries.

While we were waiting on the dock for
the boat, a fisherman fishing from the
wharf caught this needle fish.  I tried
to identify it but the closest I got was
Tylosurus crocodilus.   You are welcome
to zoom in and try to ID it yourself, it's
a very interesting fish with a long sword-
like snout.

There were three of us that made the trip to Ha’afeva.  My job as mentioned was to get the new internet connection working and install the PC.  We flew from Tongatapu to Pangai where we spent the night at an unoccupied MQ near the wharf, then we got on the boat (one of four owned by the the Church in Tonga) early the next morning for our trip to Ha'afeva.  Early is a relative term as we were told to be ready by 7:30 a.m.  The next morning we were ready to leave and down at the wharf with our luggage (I had the PC, monitor, keyboard, mouse, and wireless router in my suitcase).  We were also told to bring all of our clothes and toiletries with us just in case the water was too rough to make the return trip that day.

It was almost 9:00 a.m. before the boat arrived to take us to Ha’afeva.  We were joined by two other women and a baby and 3 crew members for our trip across the water.  It is normally about an hour ride as the boat was powered by two Yamaha 150 HP outboard motors which push it along at a pretty good clip.  The trip was not too bad just a little rough in places and we made the trip from dock to dock in about 55 minutes.  

High speed boat ride to Ha'afeva

The landing dock in Ha'afeva and our boat the Molonai.
  When we arrived it was dry.Three hours later it was
partially submerged.  You can also see the how
broken up it was.  To board we had to wade out to
near the end, then walk back along the top of the wall.

From the landing dock, we walked about 1/4 mile to the meetinghouse (which is actually serves as a small Stake Center for several wards on nearby islands.  I went to work in the Stake President’s office getting my work going and the other two gentlemen started their training meeting a few doors down.  They were training Bishops on the audit procedures. 

Elder Oldroyd and our boat the Malonai at the end of the
dock in Ha'afeva,  you can see how broken up the dock is.

My install went fairly smoothly with a minor hiccup as I was working with the ISP to bring the router online but I eventually got connected with the right person and it came online pretty quickly after that.  The Stake had also received a new copier about a month ago and they had not unboxed it and set it up yet so I did that while I was waiting for them to finish up.  Well we all finished after about 3 hours and went back to board our small craft for the return to Pangai.  The weather looked pretty good and I anticipated we would get back in about an hour with nothing worse for the wear.  It turns out I was wrong.

The trip back would be going against the current and the swells were just enough larger to make a huge difference.  Once we were clear of the reef the pounding started.  I estimated the swells to be about 5-6 feet which didn’t look that bad but in our small craft we were tossed to and fro, jostled up and down and even at our extremely reduced speed it was almost more than I could take.  Elder Oldroyd decide to try and stand (like the crew members) holding onto a railing to see if it would ease the jarring on his spine.  He almost immediately went airborne so he quickly and wisely sat back down (good thing he was holding on).  We had no choice but to endure the incessant and non-stop pounding for the rest of our return trip.  Our return trip took us 90 minutes, almost double the time it took to get there, and I have never been so happy to get off a boat in my life.  My back and neck are still aching just a bit and it has been several days now.

Same boat slower ride back.  I didn't realize my video was being shot

utilizing slow motion but you still get the idea and can see the swells

in the background.  I'm doing my best to hold the video still.

An interesting thing happened while we were crossing the rough water.  As Becky and I have been on many cruises some with much rougher water than this, I thought about how insignificant these waves would be to a large cruise ship as opposed to the small craft I was now on.  The cruise ship could navigate this water at pretty much the same speed as we were able to in our small craft without even noticing the waves that now tossed us about like rag dolls.  Both are seaworthy vessels and safe, yet I’m not sure how often I would make the trip if I had to endure the buffeting time and time again.  

I thought about how this is like the Church in our lives, many of us think we can navigate through the buffeting of society with only our own testimonies (I know I have been there before).  The answer to “Why the Church?” has become obvious to me.  Just as the large cruise ship can sail through the rough waters, the Church can provide that same protection for the buffeting of society.  If we try to do it on our own, eventually the constant barrage that is directed against us will take it’s toll and we will become less and less willing to stand up for what we believe.  I pray that we will all do our best to enjoy the ride on our "luxury liner Church” as we travel through the social upheaval that exists today.  The buffeting will not be gone but we will have a good firm base from which to exercise our Faith.

I am constantly amazed at how life can teach us lessons if we learn to apply our experiences with a focus on what the prophets and apostles teach us.  Everything around us testifies of God and the plan of salvation if we just open our hearts and minds and apply a smidgen of faith.

A few other random photos for the week.

The airplane that flies back and forth between Tongatapu and Pangai.
It holds 17 passengers and you can't walk up and down the aisle without
folding the seats down.

Lepeka in line at the main bread store in Nuku'alofa.  Bread is about $1.50 TOP
(or .72 USD) per loaf unless you but some of the dark rye or multigrain varieties.
Bread is pretty much all they sell here with the exception of a few pastries and drinks. 

The best shot to date of our one-legged chicken.  It's amazing to see how
she gets around so well.  One of these days we'll capture a short video to show you.

More chickens for Lindsay.  They pretty much roam everywhere just like the
pigs and the dogs.  We're surprised that the dogs seem to leave them alone.

President and Sister Tui'one took the senior missionary group to
Liku'alofa Beach Resort where we had a nice smorgasbord dinner
(Tongan food) and an after dinner show. 

I hope they don't have to use this in an emergency.
Fire extinguisher at Liku'alofa Beach Resort

Cute little Tonga child with his dad waiting to order.
This is one of the restaurants we frequent in Ma'ufanga.
It doesn't seem to have a name but the missionaries
call it the Mata (green) restaurant.  All of the walls in
the dining area are lime green.

Duncan is one of our Stake Technology Specialist.
He is also an event photographer and we met him
at the 50 birthday bash for the Wesleyan Church
last week.  We heard from our sister missionaries
that serve in that area that we caused quite a stir
(they said in a good way) as two old Palangi LDS
missionaries attending and enjoyed their event.
If you remember this from last week's blog, we stayed
about 3 1/2 hours and really enjoyed ourselves.