Kenny & Becky Kapp: Hufangalupe

Hufangalupe or "Pigeons Gate" on the Southeastern
shore. Natural land bridge formed by the collapsed
roof of a sea cave.

Over that past seven months (that's right, we've been out seven months now), we have collected several photos as we've traveled various places in Tonga that we have not posted. This week we'll feature two of these places. We visited them both on the same day a few weeks ago. One is called Hufangalupe or "Pigeons Gate". It is a natural land bridge on the Southeastern shore of the island formed by the roof of a sea cave collapsing. Lepeka was able to creep close to the edge and get a few photos as I guarded the nearby road. The waves crash here in dramatic fashion and we were lucky enough to be there on a day when they came in with gusto.

Secluded Southeastern beach. It may
be secluded because it's hard to get to.

There is also a very secluded beach nearby of the same name but we haven't explored enough to find a way to reach it yet. It is protected but the reef and a row of rock formations which can be seen in the photo. It is at the foot of some pretty high cliffs and we were at the top so I didn't really search in earnest as the dirt road we took to arrive at here was pretty sketchy. We would love to get to this beach but not if it involves ropes or a cliff-side trail. We'll study the map a little more to see if there is a reasonable way down before looking again.

Video taken from Camp Makeke look-out area. It is at the top of the

waterfront cliffs that are approximately 125 ft above the water level.

Elder and Sister Killary - Managers at
Camp Makeke. You can see a Pavillion
and a few small bunk houses in the
background. The rugby field is to the
left (we just caught the end of it before
the goal posts were put up).

Later that day as we stopped in to visit some senior missionaries (Elder and Sister Killary) that are managing the soon-to-open Camp Makeke (South-central shoreline on Tongatapu). It will be used for Stake, Ward and family activities. It has big open fields for activities like rugby and soccer, a couple of volleyball areas, two large pavilions complete with kitchens, and several small bunkhouses for overnight stays. We were able to find another wonderful location onsite where we could again view the waves crashing into the rocks along the shoreline with spray exploding some 150-200 feet into the air. We captured a few short videos from our perspective at the cliff-tops near waters edge where we were approximately 125-150 feet above the sea below.

Mission Leadership Council - I won't try to list all their
names but yes, we know (and love) them all!

We also had Mission Leadership Council (MLC) this week at the Navu Stake Center. We continue to focus on health, cleanliness, and safety with a special focus on the responsibilities of leaders. We passed our a small bag of Famous Amos cookies to each companionship where both had worked to follow the guidelines set forth in our last meeting which were: 1. Drinking 6 glasses of water daily (1.5 L). 2. Personal cleanliness including using an antibacterial soap daily. 3. MQ cleanliness daily including hanging up or folding clothes at the end of the day so they stay neat and clean.. 4. Leftover food not left out to attract bugs or grow stuff (and not being fed to the dogs which attracts bugs too). At the end only two sets of companions were left standing and got the cookies. We know it is hard for them to do all of these things daily but they really are pretty simple and important to maintaining good health overall. One of the two standing companionships at the end was the mission president and his wife (yes they participated too).

The youth in our ward had a Ngaue 'ofa night where they came around to the senior missionary home to do service (Ngaue 'ofa literally translated - work of love). It was kind of a scavenger hunt where different activities were defined for them with points given out for each task completed. We had them wash our car and sing a song for us. They also convinced Lepeka that they needed to sweep our back porch and clean our already-just-cleaned bathroom (for points I guess).

You can also find two new short stories that have been added to the Stories of Faith section this week. They can be accessed by selecting "Stories of Faith" from the menu near the top of the page (or by clicking here). One of these stories is about a humbling experience I had as a young father (story # 5). The other is a story from my youth and a lesson I learned from it some 40 years later (story #6). They are both experiences that have had an impact on the person I am today (sometimes I learn life lessons much slower than I should).

Photo from Holland courtesy
Steven Kapp Perry

In that same section, I have also added my Aunt Jani's personal account of her trip to Holland this past month to visit the land of our Kapp ancestors (shared with her permission). I loved reading about her daily experiences as it made me feel more connected to my ancestors. I am so grateful she shared not only her experience but her emotions as well. I felt like I was able to share her feelings and emotions as a blessing for serving here in Tonga since I would not be able to make the trip with so many of the "Kapp" descendents. I hope it will awaken the feelings for your ancestors as you read it and relate it to your own family. I have come to love my ancestors deeply, many whom I never met or knew in this Earthly life.

Just because I know you are wondering ... it's 12:50 A.M. Sunday here and the dang rooster in our back yard is crowing! KFC is sounding really good about now.

To all you professional photographers, please remember that we are just using our iPhones and just taking shots of what we see ... not necessarily trying to do anything more than just capture our memories. Some photos are even taken through car windows as we do our best to capture our experiences in Tonga. I have a dash-cam and maybe one of these next few posts will include the harrowing driving experience that is also Tonga. We hope you enjoy our pics, videos and test as we document our mission.

This is a video of a popular Eastern beach. It was taken

the same day as the earlier video but the waves to the East

were nowhere near what we saw to the South.

Elder and Sister Johns. They have been serving in the Dental clinic.
They're headed to NZ for a short vacation before going to their new home
in Texas. We'll definitely miss them. Their replacement does not arrive for
about 2 months so there is a short term dentist here now to fill the gap.

This photo was taken on a popular East beach. We took our lunch with us
so we could eat here after we visited some sick missionaries nearby.
It was during the day when school was in so it was very vacant and beautiful.

Lepeka near the edge of Hufangalupe (mentioned above).
Taking this photo was as close as I got to the edge.

Thayne Andersen's brother (my dad's sister's husbands brother) who we met in
front of the Temple on Thursday night. They were looking for direction to a restaurant
when we discovered the relationship. He is here working on a Saints in Tonga article.
It is so much fun to run into people and make connection to our loved ones back home.
They are coming over for dinner on Sunday.