May Sights and Events in Tongatapu

This month was a very busy and eventful month.  We had outings with other Senior Missionaries, missionaries coming and going, pictures of special people, and some donations that we did from the surplus of Liahona School.  We hope that you enjoy the following photos.

Elder and Sister Murdock at Ha'amonga 'a Maui.  The legend is that no one knows how these rocks got here or where they came from.  But according to Elder Wolfgram, who is Tongan, they were brought from another island and set up to tell the best time to plant their crops.

Elder and Sister Wood and Elder Murdock trying to find a beach.  Not a good one here!

The waves were amazing this day.

This Navy ship from another country came in to help train the Royal Tongan Navy.

This was a beautiful day after sacrament meeting.  This scene was across the road from the little chapel that we went to.  In this village of Nukuleka we are doing a water project.  Our Champion was here at church and was speaking.  He praised us in his talk.  It was good to be there and to meet some of the people that we will be helping with this project.

This is another member of the Nukuleka Ward.  Her and her husband are siding their little home that they are very happy to have.

This was another scene not far from the Nukuleka Ward.  It is a homemade boat carved from a tree.

On May 13th, Elder and Sister Maile are heading home.  They will be missed.

We thought this to be a strange sight, a backhoe in the ocean.  It has been going out to a old abandoned ship and is tearing it apart to get ready to push it off into the sea.

These are some surplus cushions that Liahona School had that we were able to give to this little chapel in Puke.

Another chapel in Puke that we were able to give some surplus cushions to.

This man is Bishop of his ward.  He has six little children of his own and has now taken in the three older teenagers to help them.  He does carving for a living.  He is very talented and such a good man.

This is the start of the parade celebrating the opening of Parliament Day.  This is the King in the dark van.  We could hardly see him as the windows were dark.

This is part of the Senior Missionaries watching the parade until Liahona School comes by and then we will jump in and walk with them on to the Palace.

This is one of the many schools in the parade.  All schools participate in this parade.  

More schools coming as well as the children along the sides of the street will step in when it is their turn to be in the parade.

A lot of the schools had marching bands that were very good and dressed very classy.

This is the boys of this school.

And here are the girls.  All students wear uniforms in Tonga.

This is His Majesty's Royal Army.  It was interesting to see how they march compared to the US Military!

This little boy must have been a mascot of this school.  He was so cute we had to take his picture.

Another School!  We were amazed at how many students there are on this island of Tongatapu.

This is the start of the LDS Schools.  In these schools alone there are 2300 students and there are schools that are bigger than they are.

This is the start of the Liahona Students.  As you can see they go way down the road.

This is the Liahona High School Marching Band.  They were very classy looking and were very good!  This is where we jumped into march in the parade.

This is where we ended up, marching in front of the Palace where the Royal Family was sitting on the veranda watching the parade.  When we were directly in front of the Palace, we stopped and bowed to the Royal Family.  Sister Murdock got in trouble for snapping pictures of the Royal Family!

This is the current King and Queen.  There will be a coronation on July 4th to crown him King of Tonga.  The celebration will last for about 2-3 weeks.  There is much preparation going on now preparing for this event.

There was a cruise ship in this day and of course Elder and Sister Murdock wanted to get on and go with them!

This is President and Sister Tupou and Elder and Sister Vanuku who has returned for another mission here in Tonga.  They left to go home about two months ago, but they could not stay away!

This little critter was in our house.  When Sister Murdock saw it she grabbed the can of Moritene and sprayed half a can on it to kill it.  It is a Molokai and is one of the only poisonous bugs on the island.  They are very fast and aggressive.  They raise their head like a snake.  They are terrible things to have in your house.  Sister Murdock made Elder Murdock get the spray out and spray the whole house!

This little guy was on his way to church at Bishop Huni's Ward.  He looked so cute in his little outfit!

"When you take time to see the hand of the Lord in your life, to "count your blessings one by one," it might just "surprise you what the Lord has done.""    John Bytheway