New Projects in January 2016

This month we were pleased to have four new projects approved, one farming and three schools.  Of course there were some very happy people once we announced to them that we can move forward with their projects.  Following is some pictures of the start of these projects.

This is a Ella's little kindergarten school that has 85 students in this small building.  They requested of us to renovate the existing building and build an additional multipurpose room where the swing set is.  

Here are a few of her students singing to us when we came to visit them.  It was delightful!

Here is Elder Murdock letting her know that her project has been approved.  She is tearfully thanking him.  This thanks went on for about 5 minutes with very much sobbing!  It was very emotional for us all!  All were in tears!

This is a group of farmers that are attached to a group called Miracle Stream.  They requested of us to help with the expense of ploughing there fields for preparation of planting.  Elder Haleck was here and announced that their project would be approved.  All were very happy!

They went to work immediately.  Here there are two tractors ploughing preparing the ground for planting.

This is the plant that they will plant.  It is just a stem from an existing plant.  It is amazing to us how just putting this in the ground and it grows!

Here is the group starting to plant their first field.

This field is planted with cassava.  Now we need the rain to come and water it!

This is a little kindergarten with Nakolo GPS.  They have ask us to help with the renovation of this little building as it leaks very bad when it rains.  The walls and the roof are very bad.

They also need two more bathrooms for this little kindergarten built next to the existing one.

Here we are meeting with the Principal, PTA President, Town Officer, and the contractor.  All are very pleased to learn the project has been approved and we can now move forward.

This is Viani GPS, they are requesting help with the renovation of this building that has 4-5 large class rooms.  It is a very big project as they will be putting in new windows as well.

As you can see they will need new doors on each classroom as well!

Once they learnt that their project was approved they went to work right away tearing down the old veranda that was in very bad shape and cutting the wholes for the new windows.  Big change in just one day!

It was amazing to us how fast they worked in getting this project started!

Here the veranda is almost done, the framing for the new windows.  Again, it is amazing what they can do in just a few days time!  What a difference it has made in the look of this building already!

Here are some of the workers doing the painting on the new veranda.

This little boy was here helping in anyway that he could.  He packed off this hoe that was twice as big as he is!

 "It is not the things we have that make us happy.  It is what we feel. ...We may well be earnestly grateful for the goodness of the Lord to us, and we may well show our gratitude by honoring him and keeping his commandments."  George Albert Smith

January 2016 Family Home Evenings

Every Monday night we have the opportunity to meet with the other Senior Missionaries for Family Home Evening.  We take turns being in charge so it is always fun to see what the others have planned for us to enjoy.  We are usually always spiritually fed as well as having fun!  Following are a few pictures of some of the evenings.

This Family Home Evening was held in the kitchen of the Temple Housing area.  Elder and Sister Wolfgramm were in charge.  They had Elder Vaenuku show us how simple it is to husk a coconut.  He made it look simple but it is not!

For Elder Vaenuku it is simple.  There we have fresh coconut to eat, very delicious!

Here Elder Wolfgramm is teaching us how to make smoothies of all the delicious fruit we have here in Tonga.  We all had a yummy taste!

Here is Elder and Sister Huni.  She is making her famous flour tortillas.  They are wonderful!  And of course she had one made for each us stuffed with her wonderful curry chicken, again yummy!

This Family Home Evening fell on Elder Murdock's birthday, so I had his special birthday cake, cherry chocolate chip with chocolate frosting.  Sister Tupolu and Sister Niutupuvaha each made a beautiful flower lei for him and we all sang "Happy Birthday" to him.

The third Monday of each month is game night due to us having Dinner with President Tupou on the Sunday before.  Elder and Sister Deakin were in charge.  Guess what we played?  You got it, SPOONS!  It was great fun!

"The love that exists between people who share religious values and experiences can be the most satisfying and unifying forces this side of the solid, happy family."     M. Russell Ballard

Dinner with President Tupou

On January 17, 2016, we had a very nice dinner with President Tupou and his family.  This is always a treat as there is usually a lot of American food!  It was a wonderful evening.  We hope that you enjoy the pictures of the evening.

Here we are getting ready for our wonderful dinner.  In the center is Elder and Sister Deakin, Church Auditor Missionaries.

Here is the table of food.  There is even a Chocolate brownie pecan pie!

This was my salad, black berry jello pretzel salad.  Yes I found pretzels in Tonga!  And yes I found frozen black berries!

This is President Tupou, Sister Tupou, their son, Thomas, and the family of the the little boy that lost his leg in the hit and run car accident.  We finally was able to find some crutches for him and get him out of his wheel chair.  He is doing very well.  Such a strong young man!  This family is investigating the church at this moment.  We are praying for them!

"A true friend makes it easier for us to live the gospel by being around him."  Robert D. Hales

New Chapel for Tonga

On January 15, 2016 we were honoured to go to a ground breaking ceremony for the new Fangaloto Chapel. These people have been attending church in a large house for nine years.  They all were so very happy for this day.  Elder Haleck, first councilor in the South Pacific Area Presidency, and Elder Tukuafu, the Area Seventy, were at this ceremony.  We had a special meeting with Elder Haleck after the ceremony concerning a new project.  This was a new experience for us to witness and was very interesting.  We hope that you enjoy the pictures of the day.

Here we have the dignitaries seated waiting for the ceremony to start.  They had a large tent set up and decorated very nice.

This is Garric Parr, the Service Center manager for Liahona.  He is from New Zealand and has only been here for a few weeks.  Standing next to him is Elder Tautua'a, he is translating for him.

This is Elder Haleck, with Elder Tautua'a translating for him.  He spoke to them as to what is required for them to have this building and that it was a witness of their hard work!

Here are all the dignitaries ready to dig the first shovel full of dirt!

One, two, three, dig!!

This is Elder Tukuafu waiting for Elder Haleck as he is being interviewed by the media.

Following the shovel ceremony we had some beautiful young ladies dance for us!

Elder Murdock fell in love with the little girl in the pink.  She was a cutie!

Elder and Sister Murdock in front of the design of the new Fangaloto Meeting House!

"Don't give up. Don't you quit. You keep walking.  You keep trying.  There is help and happiness ahead... You keep your chin up.  It will be all right in the end.  Trust God and believe in good things to come."   Jeffrey R. Holland

Peanut Farm Handover Ceremony

On January 4, 2016 we had the handover Ceremony where we closed this project.  We feel it was a success even though we had a few drop out.  The ones that worked hard are reaping the benefits of their work and are looking for ward to continuing with their little peanut farm.  Following are some pictures of the day.

Here we are getting ready to start the Handover Ceremony.  Ana is passing out the Agenda for the program and we are waiting for the rest of the families to get here.  This is a typical Town Hall meeting place for the Village.  They just bring matts to sit on.  There is not usually any chairs but they did bring some for us to sit on!

This is Elder Murdock instructing, with Ana translating.  He told them that we hoped that they would keep going now that they had the funds to take care of their families.  They can now be self-reliant and stand on their own!

Here is one young man enjoying a cupcake that we brought for refreshments!

Following the ceremony we had some refreshments for them.  They all seemed to enjoy what we had brought for them.

This is Elder Huni, the Champion in this project.  He is always looking for ways to help the people to become more self-reliant.  He is loading into our care bags of peanuts that each of the families donated to us for helping them.  As you can see the peanuts are big and very good!

"Save for time of need.  You must not spend all you make.  Money must be put aside for missions and for schooling for your children. ... It may mean that the parents of today will go without many things that they would like, but tomorrow will come the harvest."   Spencer W. Kimball

Partying in the New Year 2016

We are lucky enough to be here in Tonga with 18 Senior Couples, which makes for some fun times.  News Years Eve we started off with a talent show that Elder and Sister Deakin were in charge of.  They asked Elder Murdock to sing an Elvis song to open the party.  The theme of the party was Nuka Las Vegas, therefore Elder Murdock wanted to sing Viva Las Vegas, but the the lyrics were not appropriate for missionaries.  Therefore we changed the lyrics to match our mission here in Tonga to Nuka Las Vegas, such as Roosters a crowin', big waves a crashin', pigs a flashin'. It  turned out quite well with all the other festivities for the night and for the next day, New Years Day 2016.  Following are some photos of our fun times together.

Here is Elder Murdock starting the evening off with Nuka Las Vegas.

Elder Va'enuku entertains us with some Tongan music and his guitar.  He is very good!

Sister Va'enuku's talent is her wonderful heart to know what people need.  She tells of a lady who was in great need.  She did not even have a pillow or a blanket for her bed that was just a board.  She is a wonderful lady!

This Elder Bearce, who has a great talent to fix anything and rebuilds anything.  Elder Murdock likes to talk with him about the vintage cars that he has rebuilt!

This is our District Leader, Elder Holbrook, a retired full bird colonel from Army Reserves as a Chaplain.  He is wonderful with his great leadership qualities!

This is Sister Van Den Akker who is a beautiful artist and can make anything, beautiful beads out of paper as well as oil paintings.  She has painted a picture of the Blow Holes that is beautiful, such talent!

This is Elder Clarkson who stood and thanked everyone for all that we have done for he and his wife since they have arrived.  He also let us know that a friend from his home sent 40 Pound (London) for him to use where needed.  After Sister Va'enuku's talk he now knows where it is going to go!

This is our closing number, Sister Deakin is singing, Sister Radmacher, a beautiful pianist, and Elder Deakin, a master on the guitar.  He has played since he was 4 years old!

If you can see, the white board depicts the old year passing into the New Year with a coconut to determine the time.  Who needs the ball in New York, anyway we are the first in the world to welcome in the New Year 2016!

After the talent show we move into "Fort Hall Casino" (the teachers lounge) for some wonderful snacks and visiting time!

A group of us even got together and played the dice game, one that Elder and Sister Murdock are anxious to teach their family when they get home!  Great Times!

While we were playing games and enjoying the wonderful refreshments and waiting for the coconut to drop we were entertained with wonderful piano and guitar music by Sister Radmacher and Elder Deakin.  Elder Va'enuku and Elder Radmacher are looking over their shoulders!

It wasn't long before Elder Radmacher relieved Sister Radmacher from playing the piano and Elder Va'enuku sang along with them.  We learnt that Elder Radmacher is an avid song writer and we were able to hear one of his songs that has been produced and recorded, "Hotel Holiday".  He really gets hoppin' when he plays his music, so very talented!

And we even had some bubbly to toast the New Year in.  Sister Clarkson is getting an early sip!

Here is Elder Johns helping the coconut along at the count down!  HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016!

We had some with a few little (strange) hats!  Brother and Sister Walker, who has adopted our group,  is checking out Elder Clarkson.  They just moved to Tonga and he is head of Air New Zealand, fun couple!

Here is Elder and Sister Murdock toasting in the New Year.  Can you tell it is past their bedtime? Following our toasting in the New Year, we all headed outside for a wonderful firework display.  The committee for this activity definitely out did themselves.  What a great night!

On January 1, 2016, we all gathered together at 5 PM for a Mexican Pot luck.  When this group gets together, there is always tons of wonderful food, even fried ice cream for dessert.  You can't beat that!

We all had a wonderful dinner and after the clean up we all gathered together for Movie Night.  This night we watched the "Ultimate Gift", what a great movie to start out the New Year.  Wonderful goals that we could set for ourselves in showing love, kindness and many other areas!  It was a wonderful evening and a great way to start out the New Year!

"Everyone needs good friends.  Your circle of friends will greatly influence your thinking and behavior, just as you will theirs.  When you share common values with your friends, you can strengthen and encourage each other."    Thomas S. Monson