365th Island of Tonga

We had the opportunity of going with a group of other Senior Missionaries to see the newest island of Tonga.  It is the one that was formed from the volcano that was erupting in January.  At that time it kept our Area Representatives stranded here on Tongatapu for more that a week.  It was a beautiful day at sea and we was able to take some good pictures.  Although we ended not being able to get on the island at this time.  There was a group of officials that went to the island and did some exploring and taking samples, but we did not get to go with them.  We had to wait for 3 hours for them to finish there work - a little frustrating!  Following are some pictures of the day.

This is the boat that we went out on on our outing to the newest island.

This is Elder Murdock and Elder and Sister Wolfgram.  We are staking out our table for the trip.

This is Elder and Sister Van Den Akker and Elder Wood and Elder Berger helping to stake out our table.  We soon discovered we did not want this table as it was in front of the band that was setting up.  In Tonga they only know loud or louder!  They played the whole time of our trip, which was 3 hours to the island, a 3 hour wait for officials and another 4 hours to get back to dock.  Very long day!

Leaving Tongatapu.

Heading out to sea Elder Murdock, Elder Berger and Elder Wood.

This is one of the first sightings of the island.  The newest one is in the middle.  When it erupted it connected the other two islands with its lava flow.

Here are the officials heading to the new island.  You can see the crater that was made.  It originally was not open to the sea, but it has been eroded away with the waves.

As they, the officials, could not find a spot to get onto the island we headed around the back side of it.  We on the big boat followed to watch them.

This is the back side of the 365th island of Tonga.

This island was to the left of the back side.  If you look closely you can see where the lava connected it.

This is the other island to the left of the backside.  This one most of the vegetation was burnt due to the volcano.

If you look closely at the top you can see the officials that have climbed to the top of the island.  This tells you just how big it is.

The islands there were covered with hundreds of these birds.  They were pretty amazing to watch as we did not have much else to do other than listen to the Tongan band.

Elder and Sister Wood and Elder Berger found a good place to sit and watch everything play out.  They even rode most of the four hours back to Tongatapu until they became a little chilly, yes it does get chilly here in Tonga.

"It is my prayer that patience will be a defining characteristic of we who hold the priesthood of Almighty God; that we will courageously trust the Lord's promises and His timing; that we will act toward others with patience and compassion we seek for ourselves; and that we will continue in patience until we are perfected."   Dieter F. Uchtdorf