Time Marches On

Now that's one special
bottle of water!

We officially have 365 days left as of yesterday (Dec 9th on this side of the International Dateline).  This isn't our countdown but rather just a mile marker along the road.  We were set-apart as full time missionaries and entered the Mission Training Center in Provo, Utah on January 9th 2017.  Our call was to serve for 23 months (700 days).  I think they do the 23 months here to avoid the possibility of having to pay extra to extend a visa just in case something we to get delayed (like travel).  They do that with all of the young missionaries as well.

Our Tongan Visa is good for 24 months.  We applied for them as soon as we arrived in Tonga as you are not allowed to apply until you are actually here.  For some reason my Visa expires in January 2019 and Lepeka's expires in February 2019 even though they were submitted together.  I guess they figured she is more trustworthy than I am.  In any case we are scheduled to come home on (or around) December 9, 2018.  I say on or around since release dates tend to shift a day or two depending on several factors so a firm date doesn't get set until we get within about six weeks of coming home.  

Yes, they each get their own and it is
rare that there is any left-overs.

We often take missionaries to one of a few physician clinics around the island and the ones we use don't open until 5:00 p.m.  It is not unusual to wait for quite a while even if you have an appointment.  Frequently this causes the missionaries to miss their fafanga (meal) for the evening.  If their evening meal can't be adjusted, we always make sure they are fed before we take them back to their MQ's (missionary quarters).

Elder Faleao (yours truly) and Elder Noa
I joined in just so they wouldn't feel bad.

We find that most of them crave pizza.  The pizza here is not exactly Papa Murphy's but it is still pretty good pizza and they can get their own individual sized pizza (usually a large one for each of the Elders).  Of course, you always have to get the obligatory ice-cream after the pizza to calm down the tummy.  Ice cream is one of the things we get here that is just like what we are used to.  It is typically New Zealand ice-cream.  I dared Elder Faleao to go for the triple scoop but he said one-and-a-half large pizzas and 2 scoops of ice-cream was his limit.  (I still think he could have done it easily).

You may have to click on the photo
to get a size large enough to see the
fence-posts.

We have mentioned in past blogs that when the plant a field of manioke they simply cut sticks from an existing plant and stick them in the ground and they grow.  As we were driving by one of the fields the other day Lepeka noticed that the fence-posts (not manioke) were also growing.  I'm not sure what kind of plants these are but you can clearly see they are growing if you look at the tops of the fence-posts.

Light normalized around the field so
you can see the players better.

The latest success experienced by the Tongan rugby team at the World Cup Tournament seems to have prompted an increase in the rugby activities around the island.  Maybe is has to do with school being out for the summer as well but you can see groups of young men and boys on the various fields all around Tonga.  Here are two shots taken at the same time.  One with the light source focused on the field and the other more natural lighting so you can see it was taken at dusk.

Natural lighting.  We love the sunsets here in Tonga!  The air is always so fresh and clean.

Time measurements on our mission:

1. Hours and minutes are replaced with visits to missionaries and the time we spend with them is one of the true gems of our mission.
2. Instead of days we have meetings and an occasional social event (Monday is Family Home Evening, Tuesday is District conferences, Wednesday is missionary P-Day, etc.)
3. Weekends are pretty much nonexistent as Saturday is just like the Monday - Friday for us.  Sunday is the exception as it our most peaceful day.  This is one of the things we really cherish about Tonga.  All and I do mean all of the stores and business shut down and Sundays are dedicated to the family and the Lord.  We still have our missionaries to take care of but everything seems to be calmer and more peaceful.
4. Weeks are measured now with my commitment to our blog and Family and Friends communications.  I am glad that I am documenting our mission but it is definitely more work than I thought it would be.  I do my best to find the most interesting things that happened during the week and share a few photos and stories.  Some weeks the blogs are easy and almost write themselves and others take more commitment.  Some of you may wish that I would space them out a little bit more but weekly is a commitment I made to myself before we left so I do it even when it seems like I don't have  anything very interesting to report.
5. Months pretty much just add confusion to the mix as nothing is the same (seasons and many holidays are different).  They kind of become replace with transfers which happen every six weeks.  This is one of the reasons I think the time passes so quickly in the mission field.  There are 8 transfers in a year.
6. Seasons don't change much here so I use the toothbrush as our quarterly measurement (we change them out every 3 months).  It is now the blue season for me and green for Lepeka.
7. Some of the larger times get measured in terms of empty pills bottles.  We brought all of our personal meds in sufficient quantities to last throughout our mission (even vitamins and supplements).
8. We also have the 100 day increments, our 23 month mission was shown at 700 days (we are now down to 365 left).  Christmas day will actually be our half-way mark when we will have 350 days out and 350 days left.  This may seem like a strange one but we don't actually calculate it, it is shown on the bottom left corner of our blog as a count-down.  We look at it occasionally and are amazed at how fast 100 days can go.

Photos from around the island

Amalani Fukofuka shucking a coconut.  I think this

is his job for the day.  He always walks us back to

the Sister missionaries MQ in Halaleva (to protect

us from the dogs).

Still photo of Amalani Fukofuka smiling for the camera.

These kids were watching TV and were oblivious to anything else going
on around them.  Sister Kapp forgot to smile (see car mirror).

The white-ish pipe is supposed to be a waterproof electrical
conduit.  It is broken in several places and I think it probably
collects water nicely now.

Community Center in Ha'akame.

Typical Tsunami evacuation sign.  Liahona is one of the highest points
on the island (around 200 ft above sea level - I think). 

Solar energy farm somewhere near mid island.

The rest of these photos show many of the road-side shops ... they are everywhere.  It appears that anone can sell anything at any time by setting up shop along the street.  We see this on some of the busiest streets where people will just stop without pulling off the road.  Everyone has to find their way around them.  Some have more room than others that can be within a few feet of the road.

Clothing and shoes.

More clothing rarely new).

Food and shoes.  At least the shoes are in the shade.

This is a new awning that was being used for the first time.

Baby strollers and misc baby stuff.

Even a bunch of lovely coconuts

Sometimes it's the kids that mind the store.

Hope you enjoyed some of the sights from around the island.