Adventure is my middle name

And 2 marriage set-ups... so far.  Wonder if it will continue on at this rate.  Looks like all of you who said the "maybe you'll meet someone in tonga" might have been right.  Lol.  Thursday's one was from an old sister who is a counsellor (and I use the term very loosely) at the school.  Apparently she has a part time calling as a matchmaker and said I was an 'angel sent  from  heaven' for a man she has in mind in her village.  She didn't know anything about me except I'm single!  So at church last week they warned of the country having a famine in about a month or so, as all the current crops will be finished and those crops that would be harvested after that will have been damaged or obliterated.  they said they were bringing a few refrigerated containers onto the campus so people could bring their crops, so they would last a bit longer.  and they said the church farms would be planting kumara, a fast growing crop with o...

hello from Tonga! So many are worried about my safety, thank you for your love and concern.  here is my first view of the aftermath: We, here at Liahona (that is the name of the church high school for any who do not know, and I live in a house on the campus) which is right next door to the temple, have generators and so have not been without power or water for more than a few hours.  in the days following the cyclone lots of people including the dorm boys all got out and helped with the clean up and within like 3 days the place looks spotless (even mowed lawns!), from the outside at least.  well as long as you don't look at the 6 or 8 places where the roof has been blown off of course. Driving around the island is eye opening though.  many roofs are half blown off or gone completely and most people have all their clothes, mats and furniture out in the sun drying off.  The power seems to be getting put back on along the main lines faster than expec...

Ok, I'm exaggerating.... The eye will not hit for about 3 more hours. So here I am minding my own business, planning to be taken out to sort out banking, get a license, get a SIM card and WiFi for my house, and do a bit of shopping and then BAM the cyclone ruins all my plans.  but lets back up ab it... When I arrived at the airport there was a huge group there to meet me - about 20 people!, including the mission pres and his wife!!  Even though my flight was 30 mins late!  I was blown away!  I got Kahoa (lei's),  hugs and photos! And when i got to my new home there was a huge assortment of food and fresh fruit there for me!   My house is probably twice the size of my apartment in Korea, and is much more than I need.  We'll see tomorrow if it is still more than I need!  And if any of my stuff is left.  The wind is sounding  really strong out there!   here are some pics of my house and the welcome pack of...

well my MTC experience just got better and better as the days passed.  we had some amazing videos of trainings and devotionals by members of the 12 (I could have had 4 times as many of those!) and a visiting general authority, Elder Carden and his wife.  The MTC as a whole wasn't what I was expecting at all.  but i really didn't know what to expect.  however I am so grateful to have been able to be here!  I have become good friends with the M's from England (going to PNG) and the absolute highlight is being with these amazing young people.  I could talk all day about how wonderful and inspiring they are.  The world is such a better place because of them.  Just the fact that they exist - morally clean, determined, devoted to Christ, willing to serve and so postiive about all of it every step of the way.  this is a testimony to me of the truth of this gospel.  there is no way they could exist without it. I finally started get...