Kenny & Becky Kapp: Goodday Sunshine!

Elder Kupa (Cooper - Pleasant View, UT)
ready to battle the environment with his
umbrella, bug-spray (w/DEET) and SPF 70+
Coopertone Ultra suntan lotion (and that's
all just for indoors)

One of our favorite activities is helping "missionary moms" get answers when they have a question or two. We know we are a little down the food chain here as there are many resources for that but occasionally we do get questions (especially as it may relate to health concerns and we do our best to provide answers and solutions.

Some of the frequent ones are in regards to sun (sunburn) and insect repellant. Let's face it, the fair skin turns out to be more of a curse down here than our "more suited to the sun brothers and sisters". They are used to it and of course, don't burn like those of us who are translucent.

The heat and humidity can really zap the energy out of you here but most just keep working hard and smiling. Every once in a while one of them will need to be reminded that it's time to get up and get going but they almost never complain and do their best to serve. Nguae ofa (service projects) in the heat can be particularly draining and we do caution them to make sure they are drinking plenty of water and recognize the symptoms of heat exhaustion. We do get the "day after" calls when they may have overdone but they seem to be pretty good at keeping good limits.

Holty's Hideaway - since 1643

We had lunch on Friday at an out of the way restaurant called Holty's Hideaway Lic Cafe (near the toe of the main island). The sign say "since 1643". Holty is an Aussie who has been here for about 8 years and only the house existed when they bought the property so I'm not sure what since 1643 means. They have since built several fales (small individual cabins), a swimming pool and the Cafe. The sign say's it's open 7 days but this was the third time we have tried to eat there and the first time it has been open. Maybe "Open 7 days" without adding the standard "a week" allows them pick which 7 days.

Holty's Hideaway

Jan Hudson and Lepeka

The place seemed friendly enough with the two signs on the entrance gate, "entry for guests only" and "beware of dog".

The Tongan Ministry of Health has started a national clean-up campaign to raise awareness in the villages of the need to pick up rubbish that creates man-made breeding grounds for bugs. This campaign will most likely last for several months. Lepeka also puts an article in the mission newsletter each month. This month's article emphasizes the "use of insect repellent with DEET (if possible)" as the best line of defense against mosquitoes and mosquito borne diseases.

As we finished up our first year we took a couple of deep breaths and said to each other, "no more firsts". I guess that is true from a calendar perspective but we did have another first (on Feb. 1) ... our prepaid internet actually rolled over smoothly! In the past it has always taken at least one more visit to our provider (and usually multiple) to get things working again. ... I may have been too hasty in my praise of Digicell as the internet hasn't worked very well for the past two days. I've had to connect to my cell phone as a hot-spot to get anything done. I guess I'll have to stop in on Monday to see what's going on.

I'll end this week with a couple of photos of the "super blood blue moon" as seen in Tonga. Tongans also witnessed the lunar eclipse in the wee hours of the morning. The clouds were fairly heavy in the evening but we did find a semi-break where the moon could peek through.