Timote Kau, A Story of Faith

Here's a photo of Elder Kau in his hospital isolation room.
I love how  the trees reflect freedom in the window.
Disregard the bald head in the foreground.

This weeks post is a little bit different as I relate a few short intertwined excerpts from the life of one of our missionaries who finished in December 2017.  

If you have read our blog for very long you may recognize Timote Kau since he is mentioned in several of our weekly blogs.  He was a great missionary and is a fine young man.  We became very close with him after he contracted Typhoid Fever in May-June of 2017.  He is the only missionary during our time here that has contracted Typhoid.  Through this time we spent many hours with Elder Kau and became very good friends.  During our visits we learned so much about him and heard many stories from his life.  It seemed to me that a couple of them tied together rather nicely in his wonderful story of faith.

There is supposedly only one surviving photo of Timote as a young child that one of his brothers has but we have not been able to obtain a copy of it so here (below) is a photo of him with his nieces and nephews at his home in Lakepa.

Elder Kau with his nieces and nephews in Lakepa.  They seem to idolize him.
Little Keni (front and center in green) loves to do the Mr. Tonga pose for us.

The following short story is 100% true as verified by Timote Kau and it has been written and shared with his permission.

God Will Protect Us

The year was 2001 and 9 year-old Timote or “Little Mote” (pronounced Mow-tay), as he was known to his close friends and family, peaked out from under the covers of his bed.  Where he used to see the ceiling, he now saw stars.  Tropical cyclone Waka, one of the most destructive tropical cyclones ever to hit the island of Vava'u in the Kingdom of Tonga, had taken off the roof of his family’s home there.  He watched as his father Siosefa and older brothers worked feverishly to protect the family’s belongings and shelter them all from the wind and driving rain.  Mote’s mother Heata did her best to comfort and calm little Mote as she told him to cover up and that God would protect him and his mother said, “We worked hard to be ready and this house has been blessed, we will be okay.”

Not Kau's actual weights but he says
that his looked very similar to this.

Mote was the youngest of 11 children born to Siosefa and Heata Kau.  Tongan families are usually quite large and the Kau family was no exception.  Mote grew up in this typical LDS Tongan family where he was taught the principles of the gospel at home and church.  He loved athletics and spent much of his time playing rugby, volleyball, running and exercising with his homemade weights consisting of rocks and cement.

In 2008 when Mote was 17, his father died from a heart attack.  One year later the family moved to Tonga’s main island Tongatapu where the now diminishing family made their home in a small village called Lakepa.  His older siblings had married and moved away from home, so when he turned 19 instead of serving a mission like most young Tongan men, Mote stayed home to provide and care of his mother whom he dearly loved.

 Heather Wardell and Heata Kau.    

(Timote's mother)

He continued to do the things he loved most, sports and exercising again making his own training weights from rocks and cement.  He also trained as a boxer and won the heavyweight division title for Tonga.  This was during a time when his mother was quite ill and she also told him that she would not go watch him box.  She challenged him to serve a mission and told him that if he would serve a mission she would be healed and blessed and that everything would be alright as God would watch out for her while he was serving.

His plan was now to submit his papers and then go to Papua New Guinea with his cousin and train with his uncle who had been a champion boxer the year before while he waited for his call.  However, his bishop said he would have to wait until he got back to work on his papers.  Mote did love his mother and wanted to serve a mission so he decided to stay home and work on submitting his papers instead (which can take several months).  It was difficult as he watched his cousin get on the plane and leave but he was happy because a mission was more important to him and time was running out as he was approaching the age of 25.

It was at that time in 2014, Mote’s sister who lived in America sent him some money and he used a small portion of that to go to the only gym in Tonga located about 10 km from his house just to see what it was like.  As he was lifting weights that day, he caught the eye of a couple of men who offered to sponsor him as a contestant for the Mr. Tonga contest that was about 6 months away.  They agreed to help him with his exercise, diet, and gym fees if he would commit to hard work and train as they taught him.  Mote thought this sounded good to him as he loved to work out anyway and doing it in a gym with all their fancy equipment really appealed to him.  He could do this while he completed his missionary application and waited for his call.

Mote was true to his word and worked very hard building his already powerful physique into a chiseled masterpiece.  When it came time for the contest and posing, Mote didn’t know exactly what to do but tried to mimic the other contestants.  In spite of his inexperience, he won the title of Mr. Tonga 2015.  With all of his success, Mote was becoming quite a celebrity in Tonga but he wanted to serve a mission more than anything else now.

A short time later, Mote received his mission call to serve in his home country of Tonga where he served honorably for two years.  While serving as a missionary, Mote was known for his long stride (which often left his companions almost running to keep up with him), his work ethic, and his ability to teach the gospel.

While serving in the small village of Niuatoua, he contracted Typhoid fever and had to be quarantined for several weeks as he recovered from this serious illness.  It would have been easy for him to have become discouraged and just give up as he was already nearing the end of his mission.  Instead, Elder Kau used this as an opportunity work even harder to find and teach others even teaching from his hospital room.  He taught and eventually baptized a young man he befriended while both of them were quarantined.  He recommitted to make up for lost time once he was cleared by the doctors. He finished his mission in style working harder than ever to show his gratitude to the Lord for his quick and complete recovery.

Mote or “Big Mote” as he was now called by his friends, was far from that little boy who had cowered under the covers that night as a 9 year-old in Vava’u.  He now stood a towering 6’6” and 230 lbs.  His massive shoulders told the story of the hard, physical work he had performed throughout his life.  His physique is not only a testament to hard work but also to righteous living.

It was now 2018 and tropical cyclone Gita was bearing down on Tongatapu in the Kingdom of Tonga. The main island took the brunt of this category 4 cyclone during the night on Monday, February 13th (the strongest to hit Tongatapu in over 60 years).  He had helped prepare his home as much as possible as they huddled together in the dark and waited for the storm to pass.  They soon heard the sound of breaking glass as wind-blown debris shattered a bedroom window in their home.  As he, his mom, and sister tried to fight a winless battle with the elements, he finally ushered them into the adjoining room and calmly closed and blocked the door and said, “We have worked hard to protect this house and it has been blessed now God will protect us.”

As they stepped out early the next morning to survey the massive destruction that had been brought to their small village by cyclone Gita, they noticed the extensive damage to surrounding trees and noted that many nearby homes had been completely destroyed, blown away with all of the occupants belongings.  However, the only damage to their home consisted of that one broken window and some minor water damage from the rain water that had blown in.  They immediately knelt and offered a prayer of gratitude to God.  Mote had learned the lessons from his youth well.

Timote Kau at his home in Lakepa after cyclone Gita

Note:  Timote Kau finished his mission in Nuku'alofa Tonga in December of 2017 and is currently serving as second counselor in the Young Men's presidency in his ward in Lakepa.  

I've included a few other photos of Elder Kau that are not part of this story with captions for you to enjoy!

Elder Kau posing with his nephew Keni.

The missionaries visiting Elder Kau while he was quarantined in June 2017
You can see Elder Kau in the window holding his missionary badge.

Elder Kapp, Elder Kau, and Sister Kapp

Sign on the door of the hospital isolation unit ... at least they said pliz!

Elder Kau and Lisala (the young man he taught while they were both quarantined
at the Hospital).  Elder Kau had the opportunity to baptize him later when they
 both had been discharged (with his parents permission of course).  Lisala wanted a
missionary badge so Elder Kau made him one carefully printing it by hand.

Elder Pakalani and Elder Kau ... service project cleaning up near the palace.

I had to include this post mission photo of Big Mote.

"Hole"ier Than Thou

The second month after our arrival in Tonga (March 2017) she met Elder Cox who was just arriving from American Fork, Utah.  He was so excited to be in Tonga and fresh out of the MTC ready to serve.  On his second day here we started receiving calls from him due to blisters on his feet.  We took him several different kinds of footwear over the next week but each of them cause him trouble.  In fact, he had finally decided to go barefoot to avoid the blister and pain which cause him to burn the bottoms of his feet.

He never lost his great attitude but he did affectionately earn the title of "tenderfoot" from us.  He did recover after a few grueling weeks.  His wonderful work ethic and personality quickly made him one of our "favorites" and we have seen him off an on since then.

Elder Takapu and Elder Cox
What does a missionary with a hole in one shoe call himself?
iHop!!! (this may mean more as you read on).

What brought this story to mind was, we saw him on Monday of this week (just back from 'Eua) and Lepeka noticed his footwear.  As you can see from the photo, his sandals were worn completely through.  When we asked him about them he said they were just fine and that he didn't even think about it.  We immediately gave him a new pair we had in exchange but it does illustrate the selfless attitude of the missionaries serving here.  They just keep going in spite of many personal hardships rarely thinking of themselves.

Lepeka has an aversion to cutting the toe for ingrown toe-nails unless absolutely necessary.  Any open sore can easily become infected in the bacteria rich environment (especially below the knee).  She always has them soak their feet in a hot/warm water mixed with a 1/2 capful of Dettol (an antibacterial liquid soap) 2-3 times a day while working on the nail to free it.  She has had really good success with that treatment and the missionary is almost always back going full bore in a day or two.

On Saturday, we visited an Elder who had been told to soak his foot twice a day on the previous Thursday to see how it was doing.  When we got there, he was soaking it.  Lapeka told him what she was going to do to free up the toenail.  He wasn't very happy until she told him if she took him to the doctor to have the toenail removed, it would hurt a lot more just deadening the area.  After she was done he was very happy he got to keep his toenail.  Monday morning we went to check on him to see how he was  doing and to see if there was anything else she needed to do.  When we arrived, he said Sister Kapp, I really thought you were crazy when you told me soak my foot and use a fingernail file to release the nail.  But I did what you said and last night it freed up and I was able to cut off the part that was causing the problem and now I am pain free.  So I know, if Sister Kapp tells me to bathe in the River Jordan, I will bathe in the River Jordan.  It was one of those cute moments and we all enjoyed a good natured laugh.

Then she decided to have a frank discussion with another Elder (name withheld) about his continuing minor health issues.  He told her that he was doing everything that he was supposed to be doing and following all of the rules but that he still kept having all of these problems.  He couldn't understand why he wasn't receiving the blessings (at least health wise) that are promised in the scriptures.  She told him there is also a part about "after the trial of your faith".

They continued to talk about what he could possibly be doing that might cause some of his issues.  Finally she asked him if he knew she loved him.  He said he did.  With that she talked about the possibility of being a little bit of a hypochondriac.  He agreed that he did have that tendency.  She told him that he only has 7 weeks  until he goes home so for now, he needs to get up every morning and not focus on what is wrong but on what is right.  She said Satan knows your weaknesses and will use them to keep you from accomplishing what you have left to do on your mission.  He started laughing and said "Sister Kapp, you are going to be a prophet one day!"  Lepeka is pretty sure that isn't going to happen, but it does go to show how the Holy Ghost helps her every day knowing what to do and what to say in situations that may need more than a Tylenol or a band-aid.  We will keep a close eye on him just in case he really is sick (we never discount what they tell us) but so far he is doing much better.

On Thursday evening, we received a phone call from one of the Elders that was in town from Ha'apai for the Mission Leadership Council asking if we had plans for dinner and could possibly take 2 more.  It seems that their fafanga family had not been told that there would be extra Elders that evening.  Well for any of you that know Lepeka, she never turns anyone away so we started figuring out what we had that we could feed them.  Shortly the first call we got a second one saying that maybe the office Elders didn't have fafanga that night either and could they come.  Long story short, we ended up with 6 hungry Elders joining us for dinner that night.  We had hamburgers, chips and salsa and ice-cream for dessert.  They all seemed pretty happy about it and most had 2 burgers.  Elder Btten said, "Sister Kapp, most women would not be too happy to get this many extra mouths to feed on such short notice but you seem to be really enjoying it".  Yep, that's my Lepeka!

back row L-R, Elder Hurrell, Elder Mortensen, Elder Teutau, front row L-R, Elder Lomu, Elder Van Buren, Elder Betten

We they were finished eating, we asked them to sing a hymn for us (which we recorded and uploaded to YouTube).  It is an impromptu version of Ofa Hoku 'Otuā (Nearer My God to Thee in Tongan).   You may have already seen the video as I shared it on Facebook the night it was recorded but you can view it by clicking here (it's worth a listen).

Elder Betten wanted to add this short video clip as well.

On a lighter note, we are keeping up on current event in the U.S. (as much as time permits).  You can only imagine the elation I felt when I learned that iHop (International House of Pancakes) was now going to be called iHob (International House of Burgers).  Even though saying iHob sounds just like you have a cold I love the concept.  I do offer my condolences to all of the pancake lovers that are up in arms over this.  I am guessing that you can still have your pancakes there as well.  I did come up with one idea that might possibly appease us all ...

International 

House Of Pancakes, Steaks, Chicken, Omletes, Tacos, Cake, & Hamburgers

Photos from around the island ...

You choose the caption:  When the school bus beaks down or ...
look at all those perfectly good young men they are throwing away.

Another bus that is easy to load and unload.  We haven't seen this one before
but it was parked out front of Liahona on Saturday morning.

Since last falls Rugby success we see all kinds of vehicles that are painted
for the team or sporting the Mate ma'a Tonga sticker (Die for Tonga).

A couple Aussie military ships that were docked for about 3 days.
We tried to find out why they were here but to no avail.  The ships
did look out of place.

Elder Lavaka and
Elder Chandler

Ready for bandaids.

Sores on the feet and ingrown toe-nails seemed to be the theme of the week.  It's important to treat and cover any open wounds especially, below the knees as the missionaries walk through all kinds of bacteria laden fields and puddles.

More pigs ... these seemed to ignore us as we drove by.  Most scamper to safety.

Some people really go all out on their cars with different lights and colorful paint
jobs.  You can see many cars with flashing leds and various colored headlights

My favorite photo this week (she was unaware that I stuck
a flower in her hair.  Sister Kapp at lunch at the Sea View Cafe

A Week of Rain

We have had a lot of rain this week.  Lepeka reminds me that she likes the sunshine so I have to be careful not to gloat over the rain too much.  I'm not sure what it is about the rain that I love so much but I always have.  I am also looking forward to a big snow storm next winter.  Being in Tonga pretty much is either rain or sun and warm or hot.  Okay, you can through in your general category 4 cyclone here and there too.

We did have one night this past week (Monday night) where we were bombarded with calls which made us miss the Senior couples Family Home Evening.  This was the night of the extreme rainstorm and by the time we got back to our home (around 10:30 pm) we were soaked to the bone from head to toe.  Lepeka had an umbrella but I chose the more fashionable handkerchief-on-the-head protection (mostly to protect my hearing aids).  In any case we were both drenched and actually cold.  It was the first time I have had hot chocolate here in Tonga.  I was glad the Lepeka had some stashed in the cabinet and had two cups before I was back to comfy warm.

Elder Langi playing and singing Ofa I 'Api (Love at Home)
to keep his mind off the treatment for his ingrown-toenail.
No cutting involved just freeing up the nail and some iodine.

The important thing here is that the missionaries are all still well.  We keep our fingers crossed that nothing major will happen to them.  We have had a couple of broken bones (nothing displaced), some ingrown toenails, and a few illnesses that worried us at the times.  We know they are being watched over and protected and priesthood blessings are given regularly.  Lepeka has a great relationship with several of the healthcare providers here and they are good to get us in quickly if needed.  She is very good but understands her limits.  She also has an area medical advisor whom she communicates regularly when needed.  We actually just got a new Area Medical Advisor who happens to be my second cousin; what are the odds of that?

Elder Vakautakakala and Elder Langi
in Kolonga.

We're getting ready to lose 17 missionaries as they are scheduled to go home in two more weeks.  We only have 7 coming in to take their places so there will obviously be some shuffling around.  President Tui'one does a good job of managing in the midst of all the change but we know there will be a few places that may not have the same coverage for a short while.  We are also losing about 23 in August but we think there will be a pretty good group coming in at that time.  I thought I'd throw in several photos of missionaries in their Missionary Quarters relaxing at the end of a hard day.

These Elders somehow talked a member into helping them with the clean-up (dishes and kitchen area) of their MQ in Fasi.  L>R, local member (I didn't get his name), Elder Kotoa, Elder Lao and Elder Akoteu.












Another photo of Elders in Fasi this time, Back L>R, Elder Akoteu, Elder Lao and front Sister Kapp and Elder Folau.

Elder Cooper and Elder Livai in Tofoa

I had to include this one to scare the BYU coaches.  Elder Livai has a football scholarship at BYU and I caught him in a Utah sweatshirt.  He assures me he is still planning on attending BYU.  He was just trying to keep warm.

Elder Taufeulangaki and Elder Clifton

Shirts, ties and shorts .... who knew?

Elder Vakamelalo and Elder Pahulu walk-in' the beat.

Lepeka was mending one of our sheets when she burst into laughter.
It seems she had sewn the sheet to her skirt.

Their is a portable lumber mill (of sorts) that is going around cutting up
any lumber from the downed Palm trees mostly for use in building and repair..
I didn't catch the  truck and workers but saw their handiwork.

Life in Tonga is pretty much back to normal.  I suppose that the new normal is a bit different from a landscape perspective but the animals and food chain seem to be going strong again.  We're seeing local fruits and vegetables like tomatoes and bananas.  Pigs, dogs and chickens have free roam.

We have a new friend we just met at Friends Cafe.

And now for an educational moment ... A large group of older pigs is called
a sounder of swine or a passel of hogs.  A group of young pigs is called a drift.
The entire group would be called a herd of pigs.

Atata Island Outing

It's hard not to highlight this sunset photo taken in Vava'u
by Elder Hudson while he was visiting.  Hopefully, you
don't get too tired of the spectacular sunsets.

We have kept in touch with several of the senior couples we attended the MTC with in January 2017. We have noticed that the ones who opted for 18 months are now planning their trips home see their family and friends.  It does make us a bit melancholy but we are excited for the wonderful reunions they will be having with their families and helps us get a better perspective of how rapidly the time really is passing.  It does make November seem much closer now as well.

Beautiful double rainbow over Liahona campus on Thursday morning at 7:45 a.m.

 We had the mission tour by the newest counselor who replaced Gifford Nielson in the Pacific Area Presidency on Wednesday.  President and Sister Arden spent the last week in Tonga visiting several islands and attending Missionary meetings and Stake conferences.  The missionaries were able to hear him speak and meet him as well.  They all seemed to be pretty excited and ready to get back to work.

Just sit right back and we'll
tell this tale ... a tale of a
fateful trip ...  Our boat was the
small one in the front.  (L>R,
Randy Gardner, Elder Hudson,
Lepeka and Sister Hudson.

We took the opportunity on Thursday last week (a holiday for the opening of parliament) to go to 'Atatā island with the Hudsons and Randy Gardner.  Overall we did have a fun day with the usual Tongan flair.  It is a beautiful island with lots of sandy beaches that is about a 7K boat ride from Tongatapu.

We started out on the white boat and
had a mid course transfer to the blue
boat.  The smaller boat was for the
snorkeling expedition.

The steering had to be done by manually
moving the motor because the steering
wheel was inoperative.  That should have
been our 1st clue that something was amiss.

We started out on Saturday morning about 9:15 headed to the wharf for our 10:00 a.m. departure.  As we took our normal route into town we found we were blocked by some of the bands that were going to be marching in the parade.  We did a U-turn and headed to the route we thought would be the best to get through we found traffic to be stopped dead in its tracks as well.  Just as we were about to turn around (and discussing cancelling) they opened up the barrier and started letting some of the cars through.  Just as we got to the front of the line it looked like they were going to stop us but instead the policeman who was conducting traffic let us through and stopped the car right behind us.  We were able to get to the pier just a couple of minutes early.

 We had to transfer boats mid trip since they could not get going fast enough.  Our trip out took just under 1 1/2 hours (coming back was about half of that).  As we transferred from one boat to the other the step I was standing on slipped and I sprained my knee.  It was pretty sore for a couple of days but it is doing much better today.

The main beach of 'Atatā island.

Seaview Lodge, Deck & Restaurant

My favorite entree cooked med-rare.

Last night we went to the Seaview Lodge (Deck & Restaurant).  This is my favorite restaurant in Tonga.  It has a western fare and highlights its NewZealand beef (which is wonderful).  I always have one of their two steaks which are actually the same steak cut with different sauce.  I always take my Heinz 57 with me even though Lepeka finds it a little bit embarrassing.

This is the view from our table at the Seaview.

I'm a little late posting this week due to a busy couple of days.  Here are a few more photos from around the island. 

Randy Gardner, volunteer dentist just finishing up his 6 weeks.

Our favorite ice-cream store on the main drag.

One of two motorcycles for sale at the ice-cream store.

Skate Park Sign

You may have to blow this up to see
the skate park but it is back there.

The following three pictures are from Liahona campus and show how much damage the trees sustained during cyclone Gita.  It has been four months now and I doubt some of these trees will ever make it back.

Recovering pine tree????

A few more recovering pine trees along the main drive in Liahona

Starting to fill in at least a little bit

This used to be the henhouse for the main egg store that the seniors used.  It doesn't look like they're going to even try
to recover or rebuild.  We heard that not only did the barn blow away but that none of the chickens were anywhere to be
found as well.