Not Enough Candles.

We had a great time celebrating Lepeka's birthday yesterday.  She woke up early and spent most of the next 3-4 hours thanking the missionaries for her Happy birthday wishes (they either sent text messages or called and sang to her).  It is fun to see how much they genuinely care for her and freely express their gratitude for her service.  Other than that it was a pretty uneventful morning.  We went to the market and did a little bit of shopping then came home and ate lunch.  We then took the temporary dentist (for the past 2 weeks) to the airport for their flight home and picked-up the next temporary dentist (for the next 3 weeks).  Even though they are here for short periods of time it is fun to get to know them and watch them as they experience Tonga for the first time.  It reminds us of how much we have settled in and some of the things we now take for granted.

Lepeka wouldn't let me take her photo
but this is a pretty close representation.
We really know how to party!

Lepeka also picked up some chick peas today (Saturday) and made some humus.  That along with her veggie tray consisting of carrots, cucumbers and green bell peppers seemed to make her day.  She also shared it with a couple of sister missionaries who dropped in to wish her a happy birthday and they seemed to like it too.  I don't know what that means for the future of mankind but she seems pretty happy about it.  It was a wild day of visiting missionaries and traveling to and from the airport with new arrivals.  She says that her sister doesn't likes to lie about her age.  She says, "I tell them I'm 70 because I look bad for a 40 year old but great for 70".

We missed President Monson
and pray for him every day.

We really enjoyed listening to conference this week.  We missed hearing President Monson and Elder Hales speak and were saddened by the news of President Hales death.   Due to the challenges of the time differences we only caught one session live last week but have downloaded them all and have listened to them throughout the week.  We listened to several of the talks multiple times as they were so inspiring.  I think General Conferences are my favorite times of the year.  

I was in tears as I listened to Elder Hollands talk from the Saturday morning session as it hit home with how I feel.  While I always strive to be a good person and do the right things, I have often worried that others might look at my faults and judge the Church thinking, "His church can't be true since he does this and this and this.  I can assure everyone that if you judge the LDS Church by my faults it will never get a fair shake.  However, if you judge the Church by how it inspires me to be better in every facet of my life, you might get a better feel for its truthfulness.  First of all, it teaches me to Love the Lord.  Real love shown by more than just believing but by inspiring me to serve my fellowmen and exercising Faith.  It teaches me how to repent of my sins and move forward forsaking them (yes, I do have to repent of the same sins at times but I do keep getting better).  I feel so happy when I lose myself in the service of others, something again taught me throughout my life in the Church.  I am humbled to have been blessed with so much that I might be able to share with others who are in need.

I could go on and on as I strive to let the teachings of the Gospel permeate my life.  We should each look into our own lives and decide what it is that inspires us to become a better person and teaches us how and why it is important.  For me the Church is so much more than that as it also answers every question I have about where I came from; why am I here; and where am I going.  As I have progressed in my understanding of the Gospel, I am always amazed at how everything fits together so perfectly in one cosmic understanding and Eternal truth.  Some may find faults and pick apart the lives of previous and current leaders it really serves no purpose but to drag us down but in no case should that take away from the truthfulness of the Gospel.

There are so many people that could have a life changing experience if they would simply take an opportunity to prayerfully listen (or read) the messages of conference with an open heart and mind.  As mentioned before, I always love Elder Holland's talks but this one was particularly poignant to me.  I encourage my friends and family to read or listen to it.  You can access it by clicking here and either reading or listening to it.  There are so many other talks that also carried a similar theme and other inspiring messages so it is worth taking time to receive those messages as well.  

We also were able to attend the Temple this week and took advantage of the opportunity to do some initiatory work for about 12 people that Diana Hill sent to us.  This along with a few of my family names will give us plenty to do over the next couple of months.  When you don’t speak the language well enough to understand it makes you concentrate extra hard to remember everything and seems to really invite the Spirit in.

Three couples that currently serve in the office, will be leaving for home over the next 8 weeks and we will really miss them.  I'm sure we will connect with them again when we return home in 14 more months.  We have one new couple coming in but they have no computer experience and will most likely spend time shuttling missionaries around and maybe doing some MQ repair work.  The couple coming back is the Va’enukus who were here serving when we arrived and went home to the U.S. for 6 months before submitting papers for another mission with the hope of coming back to Tonga.  There is a possibility that one of the three couples going home will also be coming back in December but I guess we’ll have to wait and see how that works out.

Some of my responsibilities have changed and I will be helping out more in the Mission office as needed.  I will still spend most of my time assisting Lepeka as the missionaries and their health are our #1 priority.  Our relationships with the missionaries continue to be the highlight of our mission as well so that all works out great.  Most of them work so hard and bear powerful testimonies of the Gospel.  President and Sister Tui’one work harder than any of them and they are always on the go but they never complain.  They have their hands full but are definitely up to the task.  We hope that they feel of our love and support.  President and Sister Makai (2nd counselor in the Mission Presidency) are pretty amazing as well.  We don't see them very often as they are in Vava'u taking care of the needs of the mission in that area.

It takes forever to get computer equipment here.  We ordered some Family History computers in July that still have not arrived.  Hopefully, they will come in soon as people are getting pretty antsy to use them.  Everyone on the island has been challenged to take family names to the Temple.  It’s a struggle to improve things if you can’t even get the broken ones fixed.  I hope bringing some of the challenges to light will aid in conversations that need to take place to promote some of the changes needed here.  There are some pretty good solutions if the issues are better understood (pretty cryptic huh?).  In any case, I am feeling good about what has been done to this point and my frustrations have been lost in getting to know and love the culture and people of Tonga.

I'll conclude this week with a few photos of some to the more North American type stores that are here in Tonga.  If you select the photos you can see some of the products and prices (all prices ar in Tongan Pa'anga - about 2 to 1 for the U.S. dollar ... viz. $2.00 TOP = $1.00 USD approx).  Two different stores are represented in the photos.  Our 4 aisle Costlo, and the 2 aisle U.S.A. Store, both on the outskirts of Nuku'alofa.  Prices are for single items not bulk purchases.  We feel fortunate to have these stores here.  There are a few other stores like the U.S.A. Mini-mart and an additional U.S.A Store in Nukunuku but you get the idea from these photos of some of the products we have access to.

Costlo - Aisle #1 (front of the store)
The light from the right side is the front entrance and the cash register in
on the right (one person is in line to check-out)

Costlo - Aisle #2 (back side of isle #1)
The cold storage is in front of the person standing in the aisle.

Costlo - Aisle #3 (perpendicular to aisles #1 & #2)
No room for shopping carts only shopping baskets.

Costlo - Aisle #4 (back of isle #3)
Gotta love that Spam!

Costlo - (corner where I took the other photos from)
Cereal and chips can be pretty expensive here.

U.S.A. Store (both aisles)
I'm standing in the front doorway and Lepeka is checking out.