Mate Ma'a Tonga

Mate Ma'a Tonga roughly translates to Die for Tonga!

Mate Ma'a Tonga roughly translates to Die for Tonga and it captures the sentiment of the nation of Tonga for the past month.  They are extremely proud of their heritage and culture (I don't blame them).

I'm sure that many of you are tired of hearing about Tonga and/or rugby but it's difficult to talk about anything else as Tonga won again last night, this time in it's quarter-finals matchup with the national team from Lebanon to advance to the semi-finals of the Rugby League World Cup tournament.  

Spirits were high as Tonga
led through the match.

The past several weeks, Tonga has been buzzing with excitement as the pride of this small country towards it national pastime builds as victory after victory after victory pile up to bring it to a fever pitch.  The air on the island is simply electric as this tiny island in the Pacific puts down some of the Rugby giants of the world to advance!  

To put this in perspective, the total population of Tonga from all of it's islands (107K) is less than the population of Provo City Utah (116K).   It would be kind of like a Junior College football team beating some of the best NCAA Division 1 football teams in consecutive weeks (like Miami Fl and Ohio State).  If you are one of my Tongan friends, please don't let this comparison upset you I'm just trying to find a way for my friends in the U.S. to relate to these epic victories.

Red was the color of the day, young
and old, even at the airport.

People everywhere are decked out in red and white (even at Church), their cars are decorated with balloons, slogans, and posters ... again in red and white and even some houses have been repainted in ... you guessed it RED and WHITE!

We went to dinner at a restaurant on the wharf and right next to us was a large group on a boat that was docked with the big screen TV tuned to the match.  They were loud and proud and showed their enthusiasm with each positive turn in the match, especially as it started to get close to the end of the game.  Then even the smallest advantageous play brought a boisterous response ... and yes, the boat just happened to be RED and WHITE!

Tonga party boat watching the rugby match near our restaurant on the wharf last night.
The group on the boat was loud and proud and the ship was rockin' even though it was docked!

As we drove home from dinner we had to navigate the back streets to avoid all of the traffic and crowds as they again celebrated the big win.  As we drove through these back streets, we did notice throngs of people headed for the downtown area (walking) to join in the festivities and celebrate I'm sure until the wee hours of the morning.

Scene from downtown last night
as we wended our way home after
dinner.

Horns were blaring, flags were
waving, and people were cheering
at the top of their lungs.

I had a good vantage point to capture their arrival
but at the last second people started passing in
front of me so I had to reach up high for the shot
and it turned out a little bit blurry with someone's
head in the way but it will have to suffice.

We had a new senior couple (the Coombs) arrive yesterday and we all welcomed them at the airport.  They are from England (originally) via Australia (moved there in 1972) via Marshall Islands (first 5 months of their mission).  They had been serving for about 5 months as an office couple in the Marshall Islands when they got notice that their assignment had been changed to serve as a dentist in Tonga (as luck would have it he just happened to be a dentist).  They were quite shocked but we hope they feel needed and loved here.  They are also good friends with Craig and Nancy Preston, our friends currently serving in the Marshall Islands.

We first heard they might be coming about a month ago so we were excited at that possibility.  Our new dentist who has been here for about a month is really happy to have help.  Elder Coombs is an oral surgeon and Sister Coombs is a nurse.  Lepeka is also glad to have someone else to bounce things off of.  Elder and Sister Coombs are 79 and 80 years old (respectively) but still going strong.

New Costlow superstore in Pea

Guess what else is happening here in Tonga that is a first.  Shortly after we moved to Bountiful, they started construction on a brand new Costco store.  Lepeka's brother Sam asked her, "Just exactly how much do you have to spend at Costco to get them to put in a store just for you?"  Well I guess he wasn't kidding as now there is a new "Costlow Superstore" (the first in Tonga) going in

We caught this photo just after they
finished installing the name.

about 2 miles from us.  Maybe their stock has gone down since we left Bountiful in January.  Costlow is actually just a knock-off of Costco but it sell Kirkland products.  We think it may actually open this week as their old small store had a half price sale on Saturday to deplete their inventory so it wouldn't have to be moved.  It will be interesting to see what impact this has on some of the smaller local stores.

Young girl at the hospital
who snuggled right up to
me while waiting for tests.

While we were waiting for a doctor to arrive (for over 2 hours), this young girl seemed to take a liking to me.  Maybe it was the camera as she took about 40 selfies but in any case she snuggled right up to me and was actually very well behaved.

Getting ready for church on Sunday morning, now where's my RED tie??

Feeling the spirit of Tonga!
I found my red tie to go with my white shirt.

Photos from around the island during the past week in Tonga

Anybody who doesn't just love fresh tropical pineapple ...

well, I just don't even want to know.

The Missionary Quarters in Lakepa all decked out and ready
for Christmas.  L>R, Elder Savou (Tonga) Elder Leka (Tonga)

Our best count was 8 kids in the back of this truck headed home on Saturday.

Stump and root removal done by hand.

Zone conference.  This photo shows the missionaries on Tongatapu
and Eua as they joined for a zone conference where Elder and Sister
Cardon spoke along with President and Sister Tui'one.  I didn't count
them but there should be around 110 missionaries.

L>R, Elder Chandler (Utah), Elder Mafi (Washington St) and Sister Kapp
Typical Tongan folded arm pose without the somber face.

Six missionaries having lunch at our home while waiting for the dental
clinic to open back up at 1:00 pm.  Lepeka scrambles to feed them and
they all seemed to find something they liked.