I think ive been here 2 months!

Hey ive been here 2 months and no one has come to visit me yet!!!! whats that all about?  hahaha.  I guess when the temple closes you'll all have another reason to come.  

Conference weekend!  so exciting!  as I write this I have not watched any full sessions (its only saturday)  but I have watched the talks with all the announcements!  i'm excited to watch more - in my favourite way - conference marathon!  as soon as I get up on sunday morning I put the sat morning session on loud.  I love hearing the voices of our leaders filling my home.  and then I watch one session after another.  I like to be able to stop and rewind and reply the parts I didn't quite catch or that felt important to me.  I like to pause to go to the bathroom or get food, and not miss any.  I love it!

(update:  watched all 5 sessions and LOVED them!  I can' even tell you which were my favourites, there were so many!  
  • loved the direction to bishops to give the young women meaningful assignments!  
  • loved getting to know Pres Nelson better - 9 daughters!!!!!, 
  • there were so many references to hymns, and I had several others pop into my mind and get hummed without realising, so i wrote them down too, I will study them some more too!  
  • and I have already decided which will be my first 3 talks to re-study in the coming weeks!
  • Good inspiration is based upon good information
  • being familiar with the voice of the Holy Ghost is a matter of spiritual life and death
  • Know that God sanctifies your most difficult days
  • casualness leads to casualties)

I went snorkling last weekend with elder and sister Z who are heading home next week to Canada.  it was amazing but I topped it off with a slip on a slippery rock and give myself an impressive scrape and an egg on the top of my foot that is the size of a small chocolate egg - how apt for easter monday!  
 

 then today I went snorkling again and we saw big blue starfish!  and sea cucumbers (i prefer that name to sea slugs...) and the sea was rough and awesome!! it was like the ocean in NZ, except for it was all rock and coral under the water instead of sand.  and there were tropical fish there, haha.  I love snorkling so much!!

After the snorkling last weekend we added to the adventure by going to see Tsunami rock  and getting stuck in the mud  (I'll have to visit it another time and get some photos).  I know enough not to gun the engine and dig ourselves in deeper.  We looked (from our dry seats in the car - it was pouring!) for sticks or branches to put under the wheels, but there were none!!  we tried going backwards and forwards, right and left, but we werent getting anywhere. then we called everyone we could think of who had a 4 wheel drive, eventually getting hold of Elder and Sis T, and then gave it one last try and clearly the angels were pushing (sorry to them for the mud that must have splashed all over their white robes) because the car miraculously moved!  a tiny bit.  we went back, and forward, trying all the way right, and all the way left. and eventually got out!  we drove back to the main road through grass as high as the roof of the car, hoping there were no hidden rocks or holes!!  it was truly a miracle!!  and a biiiig adventure!  you know about me and adventures....

it has rained so much these past 2 weeks, on wednesday i wore a cardigan for the first time since I arrived!!!!!!  mostly I needed it in the aircon which people have waaaay toooo coooold! and wearing a cardigan meant I could wear a top with slightly shorter sleeves that I had not felt comfortable wearing before then.  I have 2 favourite tops that I wore at thome and felt they were more than modest but here - felt immodest.  too much like a sleeveless top - which no tongan would EVER wear.  modesty is different here.  one day after swimming we stopped at a shop but S wouldn't get out of the car because her shorts she wore swimming were not modest enough t be seen in a public place.  she wouldn't dream of being seen by anyone.

As it has been every week the biggest struggle has been in finding meaning and balance in my mission.  So it is probably a good thing that i am being given some of the Z's work now that they are going.  I will help manage the office at Ma'ufanga, and support people applying for scholarships and enrolling in Pathway, BYUI and BYUH.  I will do this for the 'up to 6 months' it could take to find another missionary couple and get them here.  Anyone considering a self reliance mission?  i know who you need to talk to!!!!  On the plus side along with the extra work, I will get a car to get me to work and home and that is a blessing.  I can stop on personal errands that are on the way, but not use it for any other extra curricular activities.  haha.

The continuing journey of figuring out how to dedicate my time has led me to 2 lovely experiences.  One came in the form of questions from Preach My Gospel that can be easily adapted to any situation you might also find yourself in.  I was so grateful to C  (and susan who passed on the info) for this meaningful step for me.  Here are the questions to ask yourself:
  • At the end of your time what do you want to say you have done (as a missionary / as a parent / in a calling / as a spouse etc)?
  • What do you want to have become?
  • At the end of your time what differences would you want others to notice in you?
and as I prayed for answers to these the spirit gave me 2 more questions:
  • What does God want me to do (as a missionary / as a parent / in a calling / as a spouse etc)?
  • What does God want me to know about my current situation?

I also had a great blessing.  As I continued to struggle with the questions about how to be a better missionary, God brought me Sis C, who was a missionary in my ward in Korea.  We talked on messenger and she was so wonderful!  She was so encouraging and positive and helpful.  I am so blessed to know her and to have been able to get in touch with her again just at the moment I needed her!  She offered to train me like a missionary trainer and teach me all she can given the distance and the unusual situation.  

When you serve a mission God is right there to help you in every way!!!  I can't even explain how differently my prayers are answered.  

Tongan facts:
  • here is a link to a 'story of resiliance' of a tongan woman.  some service here has been preparing them and emailing them out and putting them on Facebook.  My aim for sharing is to show you the very real conditions that people here live (many live no better than this even pre cyclone.  https://spark.adobe.com/page/PweL6egQupCQe/ 
  • Tongans receive public notices by text on a regular basis, and you can't block those numbers.  I am adding some for you to see.  some of the info is a bit questionable if you ask me... but I respect their efforts!  the one in tongan is a warning about Drone safety.  yes those little remote controlled mini helicopter things.  I haven't see any, but aparently they are such a concern that one of these warning texts is sent out almost weekly.  weird! 
  • They say power is expensive here.  I had reason to find out how much power I ahve been using here.  the first month when I didn't get here until the 10th i used 250TOP.  and then in March I used 450TOP... thats 300NZD for one person in a small house.  Does that sound like a lot?  Its so long since I lived in a house of my own I can't even remember what I used to pay.  And I hardly ever use my aircon, and i have very lukewarm showers.  I wash my clothes in cold.  My worst thing I guess is washing my dishes under running warm water (I hate wrinkly hands in dirty dishwater).  However some of the American missionary couples have had power bills of 700-800TOP or more, per month.  whew!  I guess I will be a bit more diligent about turning off lights and fans that I don't need on.  the Tongans have advised me to turn off my hot water cylinder when Im not using it.... I'm pretty sure thats not a wise thing to do.  actually i just asked uncle Google and it turns out its not a bad idea.  It is not well insulated and it is outside the back door.  lets see how much of a dent I can make in that bill for next month.  
  • the Tongan equivalent to a Lei is  Kahoa and they can be made of coconut fibre and shels or plants.  they are so beautiful but the living ones are just exquisite!! here are 2 given to the Z's at their farewell lunch

How is my Tongan going, I hear you ask...
Lea fakatonga faingata'a 'i ai.  'Oku ou feinga lea fakatonga.  'oku ou ako aho kotoa.  Ka 'oku ou 'ofa lau 'a e tohi 'a Molomona!  I hope no one actually knows enough to know how wrong that all is! and for once im grateful google translate doesn't do Tongan, so no one can use that either.  haha.

Have you all heard of the swedish mormons?  I LOVE their music... check these out:

quote of the week:
T told me to tell someone:  Ko e Tonga au (i'm tongan now!)

Love to all!  

Sis D

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