Beach Parties and Sunsets in Tonga September 2015

Following are some fun "P Days" here in Tonga along with some beautiful sunsets.  We hope you enjoy the pictures.

Elder and Sister Wood had requested a Hot Dog Roast at President Nau's Beach.  It was a wonderful day.

More pictures of the Senior Missionaries at the Hot Dog Roast.

As we were finishing eating we had a pod of dolphins swim by and just following them we had a whale jumping out of the water.  We told Elder and Sister Wood they were here to tell them good bye!  What a wonderful day!

On another evening we decided to drive to Surfer's Beach to watch the sunset as it was a clear, beautiful day!

Elder and Sister Bearce joined us as well.

And of course Elder and Sister Wood, who could not stay out of the water!

And to our surprise a whale came to entertain us and we are sure he was telling Elder and Sister Wood goodbye.  For about 5 minutes he just kept sticking is tail in the air and slapping the water.  It was wonderful!

The sunsets are so beautiful here in Tonga.  We know the Woods will really miss this!

And the sun is gone!

What a beautiful peaceful view!

"Real friends never pull you down; they always lift."  Russell M. Nelson

New Arrivals to the Tonga Mission

We were pleased to have two new Senior couples arrive for their mission here in Tonga.  We first welcomed Elder and Sister Deakin from Tremonton, Utah.  They came in at 8:55 PM with the "deer in the headlight look"!  They are Church Auditors and will be auditing the Stakes and Wards here in Tonga.   Next we welcomed Elder and Sister Johns, from West Virginia.  They will be running the Dental Clinic at Liahona, as he is a dentist.  They will also be working with all other dentist here in Tonga bringing what expertise they have in the hope to help all dentist here in Tonga.  They arrived at 1:20 PM, again with the "deer in the head light look".  Following are some pictures of us welcoming them to Tonga!

The arrival of the Deakins on September 19, 2015.  He is the one in the white shirt and Sister Deakin is in front of him.  We were all up on the observatory deck waving and hollering at them!

Here they have just come through customs and are greeting us all!

This is President and Sister Tupou with Elder and Sister Deakin.

Here is all of us that came to greet them.  We are all very happy they came to be with us!

This is Elder and Sister Johns, the dentist, just coming from the plane on September 25, 2015.

Here they are just coming through customs.

President and Sister Tupou and Elder and Sister Johns.

This is the group that was able to come a greet them.  It was in the middle of the day so some were not able to be here.

This young Elder is coming home from his mission and this is his family greeting him.  Notice the young man with the towel on his head and in his mouth.  This happens a lot here in Tonga.

The family had all of these candy leis to put on him.  They were so happy to see him!

"Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's will never be the same again once you have celebrated them while serving a mission...The twelve or eighteen months will seem as a small moment, but the memories will last through the eternities."    Vaughan J. Featherstone

President's Dinner September 2015

On September 20, 2015, we had dinner with President and Sister Tupou.  This is always a wonderful dinner with all the Senior Missionaries.  It is also a goodbye dinner for Elder and Sister Wood and a hello dinner for Elder and Sister Deakin, and Elder and Sister Longi, they are from Tonga and will also be helping with audits of the Stakes and Wards.  Following are some pictures of the evening.

This is Elder Huni checking out the dinner table!

Here is Elder and Sister Wood visiting with Sister Deakin.

Elder and Sister Deakin giving their introduction speech.

This is Elder and Sister Longi giving their introduction speech as well.

Here is Elder and Sister Wood giving their goodbye speech.  They even had a little song to go along with it.  They have been a great missionary couple and will be greatly missed by all!

President and Sister Tupou and their boys sang a beautiful song for us.  

After dinner Sister Wood is giving everyone hugs!  These are Sister Longi, Sister Huni and Sister Va'enuku.

Sister Holbrook is giving Elder and Sister Deakin the schedule for the next few days to get them all ready for their life here in Tonga.

Elder Wood is giving some last advice to Thomas Tupou, President Tupou's son.  He loves the children!

"If you are humble and obedient and hearken to the voice of the Spirit, you will find great happiness in your service as a missionary."   Randy D. Funk

Water Project Closings for September 2015

This month we had two water projects that we were able to finish out.  It is always a very satisfying experience to have projects succeed and to provide benefits to the people here in Tonga!  They are always so very appreciative, as you will see from the pictures that we have.  We hope that you can catch the wonderful spirit of these people through our pictures of these projects.  The first pictures are of the water project with the Village of Longoteme.  The Closing Ceremony was done on September 17, 2015.

This is a group of the school children who were invited to the closing ceremony to sing for us and as usual it was beautiful!

This is Elder Murdock speaking to the group about the project and what is expected for them now that it will be turned over to them.  Ana always does the translation so all will understand what he is saying.

This is Ana Ika, who is our Supervisor, the Country Welfare Manager.  We are never sure as to what she says, as it is all in Tongan, but I am sure she is restating the importance of them taking care of what the church has given them.

This is the Town Officer of the Village accepting the new water pump and engine and the responsibility of all maintenance and care of the equipment from this day forward.

After the ceremony was over we had some refreshments for all.  We had some special cream buns for the children.  They were very excited to be able to have a treat.  Usually, in Tonga, children do not eat until the guest are all done eating, then they get what is left over.  Sister Murdock has a hard time with that so we purchased cream buns just for the children.

This is the new water pump installed and ready to work thanks to Palu Development!

This is their new TR1 Lister water engine, again thanks to Palu Development it is ready to go!

And here we have the water flowing.  It is always a wonderful sight to see clean water for the Village!

This is Siose Palu from Palu Development.  He is our engineer that helps us with our water projects.  We would be so lost without him.  We have grown very found of him!

This is the group enjoying the refreshments.  You can see in the back ground one of the water stands that the water is pumped to and then is fed to the houses in the Village.  It was reported that they have had water for 24 hours without running out.  The Village is very happy about that!

On this water stand they made a little sign just for the ceremony for us.  We thought it was pretty special!

We then get to our car and find the trunk filled with wonderful fruit and vegetables.  They always want to show their appreciation and this is all they have, but we definitely enjoy them as well as all the Seniors Missionaries at Liahona!

Our next water project was with the Village of Nukuleka.  Again we hope that you enjoy the pictures we have.  Instead of having our ceremony at the water sight, it was held in the new Town Hall in the Village.  The water sight is about two miles away from the Village.  That is done so that the well water will be purer.  The Village is located right next to the shore and if they drilled their well there, they would have salt water for their water.  Instead of filling out trunk with fruit and vegetables we were treated to a Tongan Feast, which was very nice!  We are either getting use to the Tongan food or it is getting better!  We were also entertained while we ate.  The Closing Ceremony was held on September 18, 2015.

Here we are meeting at the well sight to see the new water engine and pump.  This is the water committee and Palu Development with us.

This is the new water pump and the new engine, a TR1 Lister engine.  They have rebuilt their shed and made it much nicer to house the pump and engine.

This is the operator of the water committee that has started the engine and the pump is pumping water.  Wonderful Sight!  It then is pumped to the Village that is about two miles away.

This is the new Town Hall that was donated by US Aid along with the table and chairs.  It was built so that if there is cyclone it will be a safe haven for the Village people.  It was one of the nicest ones we have been in.  Our Closing Ceremony has happened on the same day as the Grand Opening of the new Town Hall.

This was our table laid with all the food you can eat and more!

This is Elder Murdock and Ana translating, handing over the water pump and engine to the Village of Nukuleka.  It is now their responsibility to maintain and take care of the equipment!

We had a very beautiful women do a beautiful Tongan dance for us as we ate our feast.

This is Elder Murdock in front of the New Town Hall.  On the wall is a sign stating it was donated by US Aid.  This is the first sign that we have seen stating US Aid.

"Being compassionate is a great work of our Heavenly Father and a fundamental characteristic of who we are as people.  We are commanded to 'succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees' (D&C 81:5)."   Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Handover Ceremony for Folaha Primary School Library

We had a project in Folaha with the GPS school.  They had an empty room that was very run down that they were wanting to make a library for the students.  It was a very rewarding project and the whole village and all the children were very happy with the outcome.  Following are some before and after pictures of the room as well as the Handover Ceremony.  We hope that you enjoy them.

This is the room before we started on it.  There were no windows, no doors, and no ceiling.

The dog is enjoying it as it was a good place to get out of the weather for him!

The roof was in need of repair as well!  This is Ana Ika and Elder Murdock inspecting the room as to what we need to do.

Look at the difference in this room!  We thought the tile really brightened things up as well as the new book shelves and the ceiling.

These are the new bookshelves.  We purchased the materials for them to make them.

And the new roof, what difference it made as well as the new windows and doors.

This Elder Murdock speaking about the project and Ana, our Supervisor is translating while being filmed by the media.  We were informed that it is to be on television on the next Friday night.  Yes Elder Murdock is famous!

This is a member of the Stake Presidency handing over the new room to the Ministry of Education.

Here are some of the students.  They sang some beautiful songs for the ceremony!

This is Elder and Sister Murdock with Hosiki, our Champion, and his wife.

Here they are enjoying the refreshments that we brought for the ceremony.

"The what informs, but the why transforms."  Dieter F. Uchdorf