Yabba Dabba Doo!

Since I'm sure that most of the major college football coaches around the country follow my blog watching for the slightest hint of a great new recruit from Tonga, I thought I'd take just a minute to set the record straight;  First of all, your recruit (especially from Tonga) will most likely take a two year sabbatical from your program to serve a mission inviting others to come to Christ.  While serving he (or she) is required to maintain a strict daily schedule that includes a 30 minute period of exercise (so they can stay physically fit).  This 30 minutes provides them a huge advantage as you will know they are staying in tip-top shape and honing the skills of their craft.   Since I have seen first hand some of the finest equipment money can't buy, I thought you might enjoy getting a first-hand view.

Gotta love the ingenuity of some of the Elders as they look for
ways to enhance their 30 minute morning exercise sessions.
These may have been wheels from Fred Flintstones old car.

I present for you the Tongan workout.  These barbells are made from the finest concrete and pipe that can be found at your nearest demolition site.  They are fastened to the bar with some very nice dishrags which add to the actual value as well.  Dumbbells are frequently 2 gallon water jugs or anything else that is heavy with some type of handle.  They also toughen up here by avoiding hot showers (only cold water is available in many missionary quarters here).  I should probably mention the fine orthopedic footwear that they get to wear all day every day (aka flip-flops).  They also have a nice unpadded area for setup's, push-ups, and stretching called a "faliki" in Tongan (literally translated ... the floor).  They are also required to "team-up" with their companion for their outside run (who may not be athletic) so they can run together at the slower pace of the two.  This keeps them from burning out too fast and allows them to jog for a good 15-20 minutes.

Elder Talisa (Australia) one of our
many athletes serving in Tonga (Rugby).
He is totally dedicated to missionary work.

Many of the missionaries try hard to get in a good daily workout (in their 30 minutes) but there really isn't much they can do except for things like jogging, sit-ups, and push ups.  Barbells and dumbbells are improvised wherever they can find something suitable but certainly nothing sophisticated.  It can be a little bit frustrating to some who have worked so hard to develop muscles to keep in shape but they all take it in stride.  Oh also, did I mention they walk everywhere ... all day long  ... in the heat and humidity!  Okay, that's enough on the workouts as it took longer to write than they actually get to spend working out each day.

Dakota Wilson, ISU
(My grand nephew...
my sister's grandson)

Tying into the "athletic theme" I am publicly declaring that I am a big fan our all of our local teams, BYU, UTAH, UTAH STATE (where I attended), and WEBER STATE.  There are a few other spattered around the country like Clemson and Tennessee too.  My college fandom extends to the rest of the Utah colleges and even creep up into Southern Idaho where my nephew is now playing for the Bengals ...  yes Dakota, you officially have a world-wide fan base (Southern hemisphere on the other side of the world).   I'm sure there are many in South Korea that are rooting for you as well.   Please don't hate me if I didn't mention your favorite school or if I root for one you don't cheer for.

** RANT **  I understand the good natured ribbing that goes on between fans of different schools but I don't think I'll ever understand the vitriol that comes out in many directed toward a school they don't root for.  Hoping that someone else fails is a hateful action and hate is such an ugly emotion that will really drag us down.  It is interesting that the athletes I talk to here don't seem to carry that hatred for the other schools.  ** End of RANT ** ( I don't use Twitter so this is my forum).

We have had some wonderful experiences with some of our "athlete" missionaries where we see first-hand the dedication to the Lord as they serve here in Tonga.  What a powerful testimony they share through their actions of putting their lives on hold to serve the Lord and their fellowman.

Here are a few of our random experiences and photos from this week adventures.

WATCH REPAIR

We had a fun little experience as we took my watch into the only watch repair shop we have been able to find here, Mark's Watch Repair.  We didn't know exactly what to expect but even if we had the experience was worth the visit.

The second hand on my watch had fallen off (inside the crystal) and would occasionally become wedged between the side and the minute hand causing it to stop.  I had decided to just have them take it out since the second hand was bent anyway.  With my shaky hands and no tools to do the work it seemed like it would be simple enough for a jeweler to just open the watch, remove the loose second hand and then put it back together.

Mark's Watch Repair Nuku'alofa Tonga.

Inside the repair shop we found the cutest little Chinese couple, who didn't speak English and of course we don't speak any Chinese so the gestures and pointing started back-and-forth as we worked to get them to understand what we wanted.  All the head bobbing and emphasizing of certain words, and increasing volume, that seem to come in when trying to get someone who has no idea what is being said come into play.  It seemed simple enough in principle but took us a little while to get to where we thought they did at least understand that the second hand had fallen off.

Mark and his wife repairing
the watch.

Mark (I can only assume not his real name) took the watch and started to take it apart.  Once apart, he immediately lost the second hand somewhere in his working drawer, and seemed to think it was important that he find it and get it put back on (I guess we only got part of our message across successfully).  He and his wife were so cute as they used a little brush to search for the missing hand in spite of our efforts to let them know that is was not needed, but our efforts were in vain as they were on a quest.  We kept trying to let them know that it was okay but all she did was to quickly turn to us and point to a sign on the top of the display case we were leaning over that said, "Oua Falala he Sio'ata".  We quickly translated the sign  (written in Tongan) to mean basically, "Don't trust the glass" or "Don't lean on the glass", so we backed off and just let things take their natural course hoping for a good outcome.  That's when we were able to snap a few photos as they continued their quest.

They eventually found the second hand (or another one that worked) put it back on the watch, then start trying to put it all back together.  After pressing and tapping, and filing and hitting, then getting out the pliers (which made me shudder) ... the watch seemed to be back together again. The total bill for this work was $20. TOP (about $10 USD).  After payment and some more head-bobbing (and thank you's in English, Tongan, Chinese and whatever other languages may have been brought into the mix, we left and climbed into the car.  It was pretty comical watching and listening to them go back and forth as they both crowded into their small work area to fix the watch.  It was all we could do to keep from laughing right there in the shop however, we did have a good laugh once we left the shop.  In any case, it seems to be working great two days later so far so good.  I hope the second hand doesn't come off again but if it does, we know a good little watch repair shop now.  

LUNCH WITH TWO OF OUR FRIENDS

Monti (near side), Sione (far side) and Lepeka.  If you see a
larger version of the photo you can see something that looks
like nets staked out in the ocean at low tide.  It is actually the
bark they make tapa cloth out of.  They use the sun and salt
water to bleach it out.

Lunch with Monti Lino and Sione Heimuli.  Both of these two young men have incredible life stories to this point in their young lives.  We have written a little about each of them and we are so glad we have been able to get to know them.  Monti is the young man that had a stroke a few years ago and Sione is the new convert who had his arm wound cared for by Lepeka.  Sione wanted to join us to see if he could help Monti see the value of working hard on physical therapy.

Sione in his new suit

They both had a Hawaiian burger and chips and seemed to enjoy themselves as we ate our lunch at a cement bench and table near the wharf.  Lepeka had a sheet in the back of the car we quickly turned into a table cloth.

After we dropped Monti off, Sione said, "I wish I had a car so I could come help him everyday."  I think they both had a good time and we will try to take them to a beach somewhere this week for a picnic.

Sione also stopped by last Sunday showing off his new suit after church. He is a really likable young man.  He is now working hard to be able to submit papers to serve a mission as soon as possible (maybe before we go home next year).

BREAKFAST FOR ONE

Lepeka still eats her bird feed and nuts and berries every day for breakfast.  She claims it's health food, and it may be, but I just can't see how that qualifies as a meal.  For me, seeds are something that just happen to be on the bun of a Big Mac, not something to center a meal around.   Two fried eggs on toast is one of my favorite breakfasts here and I fix it almost every morning (since I can't find a breakfast hamburger).  All of the eggs here are organic but we have found the brown eggs have a very dark orange color and an overpowering yolk so we buy the smaller "fua'i moa hinehina" (white eggs) which are a little closer to what we are used to.  The eggs do stick to the spatula and I break the yolk on purpose (so don't judge my egg cooking ability too harshly) .

Charlie Brown Bread (toasted).  The small
loafs are perfect for an egg sandwich or two.

I have officially named the  Tongan bread I use, "Charlie Brown" bread (you can see it in the photo on the left).  It is baked in round bread pans with a top and a bottom.  Some bread oozes out on the sides giving it "ears".  There are two different sizes, the one shown here is the small size just about perfect for one egg.   Can you figure out where I came up with the name?

All Tongan bread is very good and is definitely one of the main food staples here.  We have found some dark rye bread at Cowley's Bakery in town that we like a lot and we use that for our lunch sandwiches (lots of tuna, cheese, and peanut-butter).  It is a light textured bread, very similar  the dark bread at Outback Steak house but in a regular sized loaf.  We get a couple of loaves each Friday or Saturday  and  we generally get through most of both loaves by the end of the next week.  We do keep it in the fridge to help it stay fresh longer.

We continue to enjoy our mission experience and know that each day will present its unique challenges and opportunities.  We pray for all of our family and friends wherever you may be and hope you feel of our love for you.  It is not easy being away from the ones we love so much (except we do enjoy not hearing all the social and political upheaval daily).  I think we are definitely developing a greater appreciation for all that we have been blessed with.  Our missionaries are the best in the world and they treat us so well.  We always hope they feel of our genuine love and concern for them and their well being.  It is difficult to see them when they are feeling depressed or not feeling well but we are glad we get to serve them.

Sister Saulala (New Zealand) and Sister Sylvester (Utah)
Picnic at the blow-holes in Houma on P-Day.

More waves crashing on the beach.  I find it very relaxing to watch the waves
as they break against the rocks.  It's not always the biggest waves that produce
the biggest splash, timing is everything.

Some of the interesting tree configurations at the beach.

One more shot of some interesting trees.

This is a photo of the Apple Repair Shop owner.  He is from the Netherlands
and has been here for about 38 years.  He has many different dresses and rides
his bike everywhere.  He also has large ear hoops (no judgement here just a
description).  I took this photo through the front windshield while Lepeka was
shopping at the market.  We don't see a lot of bikes here but there are a few.