Meeting Elder John L. Groberg

On May 4th we had the amazing opportunity to meet Elder Groberg.  Elder Groberg served as a missionary in Tonga from 1954-1957. His first companion, Feki, called him Kolipoki. That is what the Tongan people call him to this day.. The Tongans love and respect Elder Groberg.  Feki named him Kolipoki because the people couldn't pronounce Groberg. They don't have the letters "g"  "r" or "b"in their alphabet.

All the missionaries on Tongatapu, gathered in the Liahona Stake Center and waited for Elder Groberg. When he arrived the missionaries all filed out of the chapel, around the building and came back in where they could shake his hand. He greeted each missionary and found out where they were from and how long they had served. It was a great experience watching him interact with each missionary and see the love and respect he felt for them.

There was a missionary choir that sang "Hurray for Israel." It was beautiful, and in Tongan. Elder Groberg talked with the missionaries and spoke both in English and in Tongan. While speaking in Tongan he was very animated, and got the missionaries laughing many times. He was telling of some of his experiences as a missionary.

After the meeting we all gathered outside for a picture. I will have to get a copy of the picture of Elder Groberg with all the missionaries. But this is of some of the missionaries as they are waiting to be taken back to their areas.

That evening Elder Groberg spoke at a Fireside in the Liahona Gym.  The Elder behind him is President Makai, a counselor in the Mission Presidency.  [They live in the little house right across from ours.] 

Elder Groberg talked about putting forth effort. He said that the Lord counts our effort and He wants us to put forth more effort. We can tell we are making progress if what we are doing is difficult and if we are trying to overcome that difficulty.  He asked us if we are willing to dig in and say, "I will, I'll do it with a smile and I'll be happy."

It was a great experience to meet a man who has served the people of Tonga. He has served several missions here. He was the Mission President in Tonga for awhile. The people love him and they know that he loves them.  Love is so important as we serve our Father in Heaven.

Rain

When it rains it can really come down. The island is saturated pretty quickly and the water pools in the lower areas. The island is virtually flat, so the water has no place to go. Some pools of water last for several days.

The house on the left has no door, just the beads. Many houses have thin fabric curtains in the doorway; they leave the door open most of the time. Most of the windows have louvers so the air can pass through easily. The small house is where the missionaries live, it is located on church property - usually by the basketball/volleyball court behind the building.

The pigs and chickens don't seem to be bothered by the rain. This is an original Tongan style home. The roof has such an interesting shape.

We saw dozens of people showering in rain water coming off the roof and down the rain gutter. Men, women and children were all taking advantage of the wonderful warm rain. You can see a young woman washing her hair.

The children really seemed to enjoy the rain. We stopped and watched them play, they were having such fun.

The rain water collects really fast and forms lakes everywhere. It's always an adventure driving in the rain because the standing water hides the potholes in the road.

The last picture is of a cemetery. There are cemeteries all over the island. It seems like every village has at least one.

(P.S.   I'm so sorry about the layout, I'm still learning how to work this blog )

 

Going Away & Welcome Lunch

Going Away and Welcome Lunch

Back Row: Toni, Sepu, Tea, Maile, Elizabeth, Carol, Tevita, Tevita, Lisiate

Front Row:  Elder & Sister Palmer, Sister & Elder Oldroyd

Lea's made from fresh plants & flowers

First Day in Tonga

The lights of Tonga, our first glimpse.

After a 3 hour flight from Auckland, New Zealand, we had our first view of the Island of Tangatapu. It was about 9:30 in the evening when we landed. 

Our MTC District and our Instructors.  On left  is Sister Finau (instructor)  from Tonga; Brother and Sister Williams
from Australia - they are going to serve in the office in Thailand; Brother and Sister Palmer and
Sister Langkilde (our main instructor) from New Zealand, originally from Samoa who served her mission in Samoa. 
Sister Langkidle and Sister Finau are amazing women and great teachers.

The pictures below are all on the MTC property.  There is a hill between the MTC building and a chapel.

The story goes that the property had once belonged to the grandfather of the Mayor of Manukau City where the MTC is located. When the Mayor was a young boy he used to sit on the corner of the property and overlook the city. 
He said that he had the distinct impression that some day a spiritual light would come from that spot to brighten the city.  When the Church put a building permit in the Mayor was not there when the City Council denied it and threw it in the bin.  When the Mayor returned and saw it in the bin he told them the story and told them to let them build.  

This is the Chapel in the Church on the MTC property.  Notice anything missing?  Yup, the hymn books! There are 3 Wards that meet in the building with 3 different languages so they bring out the hymn books when they're ready to start their meeting and put them away after their meetings.

These are pictures of the view from our window. They have a great court, and a nice lawn area for the young Elders and Sisters to play on during our exercise hour.

New Zealand  Missionary Training Center

There is a large grassy hill just South of the MTC

This is our MTC Group • 5th Intake
63 missionaries from 17 countries going to 13 Missions; 11 are from Tonga
Elder & Sister Williams on far left, Presidency and then Elder & Sister Palmer
President & Sister Briggs, 1st Counselor, President & Sister Howes, President & Sister Thatcher, 2nd Counselor

We are flying over San Francisco Bay preparing to land after a 2 hour flight. On board our plane was another Missionary, Elder Saluone (pronounced S-all-oo-o-nay) from Denver, Colorado. Marlin actually visited with him while we were in the San Francisco airport waiting for our flight to New Zealand. He is half Samoan and is on his was to the same MTC that we are. He was glad to see us as much as we were glad to find another missionary. Things got even better when we noticed another young man who looked (dressed) like a missionary. It was Elder Johnson, from Glendale, Arizona, heading to the MTC in Auckland New Zealand.  Both Elder Saluone and Elder Johnson are called to serve in the Vanuatu Mission, an island country off the east coast of Australia.

We left San Francisco after a 3 hour layover (10:40 Utah time). The flight to NZ was thirteen hours, so when we arrived in Auckland, New Zealand we exhausted.  While waiting to go through customs we meet an Elder from Chile, who spoke very little English. He was really happy to find other missionaries. Our ride was waiting for us, but also waiting for others so we waited in the airport for another 2 hours looking for other missionaries.  We met another missionary couple, Kevin and Helen Williams, from a small town near Perth Australia. They are going to serve in the Mission Office in Bangkok, Thailand.  They are amazing, both are in their late 70's and heading out on a mission.