The Liahona High School Mustangs

After tons of requests to hear about school, I finally decided to just make a post, so here it is.

We go to Liahona High School, which (if you can't guess by the name) is an LDS school. We go to our homeroom every morning where we have a devotional, and there are church pictures and scriptures all over the campus.

I'm finally getting used to the schedule! At first it was way confusing to have 8 classes in a 7-period day, but now I like it because it keeps the days separate from each other and less monotonous. Most Fridays are short days for sports (usually rugby), and every Wednesday we start at 9:10 instead of 8:15, and then go to Liberal Arts for last period. During Liberal Arts, we go to the gym and learn a Tongan dance that we'll perform at the dedication of the Tongan temple on November 4. (If you think April and I stand out when we're just standing around, you should see us when we try to dance! )

The classes here are pretty easy. I started in form 4 (10 grade) when we got here, but it was too easy, so I'm now in the middle of form 5 (11 grade) which means I'll start my senior year when all of my Utahn friends are in the middle of their sophmore year. :D I'm still going to stay here for the full three years though; they offer a college-prep course that I'll complete before coming home. Fun stuff.

The one thing that really surprised me though, was when my history teacher told me that I had to write a 10-page paper on the history of the LDS church in Tonga. (Where am I supposed to find 10-pages worth of information on that?!) Then I found out that it is really a 5-page paper, plus a cover page, bibliography, etc., and that it just has to be on some aspect of Tongan history. Oh, and just for the record, I'm taking History, Math, English 1, English 2, Science, Seminary, Choir, and Piano.

The only other thing that's really worth hearing about at our school is sports. We have an awesome rugby team that won nationally last season. We also have volleyball, basketball, tennis, and netball. Oh and of course soccer! April and I are on the team, surprising as it may seem. Neither of us have really played since elementary school, but we're still two of the best girls on the team. Whenever the coach has us run laps, April is always the first girl finished, and is usually only beat by a couple of the older boys. All of the Tongan girls on the team tell us that we're too fast. :P

So now you have an idea of what Tongan school is like. You should be jealous. :)

You Don't Have to Push a Handcart

I know it's late, but I love Pioneer day, so I wanted to tell you all kind of what it means here.

Every Monday we have an assembly at school. Who would have guessed you'd start assemblies with a song and a prayer!? This week, Mom and Dad were the featured guests. It was fun to hear all the old stories of Ben the Wagon Boy, Mary Benson, and others. Dad also taught the whole school "Pioneer Children Sang as They Walked." They loved that song. But Dad mentioned something that was really cool. He taught us what makes a pioneer. A Pioneer is someone who

1) Loves God
2) Makes Sacrifices for the things they believe in
3) They can sing even when it's hard

I'm really glad Dad didn't just say, "We're all pioneers." Dad, in his wonderful, wise way, taught us specific things that make us pioneers. When we have those things, we combine them with the talents we have, and we become Pioneers. It's very special to know that. I didn't expect to celebrate Pioneer day when we got here, because we're not in Utah, but was amazed to find out that the Tongans love the "Paionia" people, too. We had such a great celebration on Friday, and it was incredible to see their efforts in making the Pioneers more real to us. In our sacrament meeting, the speakers, who don't have much personal connection to the actual pioneers, spoke of themselves, and told how they too are pioneers. Tha's incredible to me.

So since you're not pushing handcarts over the mountains, you can come and be a pioneer with us in Tonga! (I promise Trek will be much easier. Michelle and I did the whole thing in flip flops!)

Oiaue!

Pronounced "oi-oh-way," with the accent sort of between the last two syllable. (If you actually knew Tongan, you'd know why) This can be your first word. You could use this word when you saw a beautiful sunset, or maybe you'd say it once you realized it was Friday the thirteenth. You can also hear it in "The Other Side of Heaven," during the funeral. Basically, it takes place of any interjection and can express any emotion. I like it a lot. In one little word, I can tell you all how I feel about Tonga. It's crazy, wonderful, different, beautiful, and all that jazz. I probably have said it to myself 30 times in the last day because I have felt like I'm in a whir of everything. So, next time you want to impress someone, like a date (or your spouse if you're married), you can use it! Oiaue!

Tongan Adventures

We spent so long getting our blog going, that I think it's silly to leave it devoid of real posts any longer, so here is a quick summary of everything that's happened to our family so far. (If you got April's email then don't worry about reading this:)

We flew from Salt Lake to San Francisco on Friday morning, where we spent a day sightseeing and then flew to Auckland, New Zealand. We got there at 5:30 am on Sunday, so we slept for a few hours and then attendended a Tongan ward. Later that night we also went to a Tongan fireside, where my dad spoke for 30 minutes in Tongan, and the rest of us tried. (I only had to read my scripture in Tongan, but believe me, it was still a mouthful!) We stayed there until Wednesday morning, the whole time being hosted by Elder Condie, the area president, and his wife. We visited a kauri rainforest of HUGE trees that can grow up to 20 feet in diameter; sheep world, where we got to feed baby lambs and watch sheep being sheared; the Mauri museum, where we watched some cool traditional dances; a cool aquarium; and we also went to some of the more scenic beaches. Everything was amazing, even in the "freezing winter" of rain and wind. :)

On Wednesday morning we flew from Auckland to Tonga!!! We have a really nice house, and our yard is full of cool plants. We have coconuts, bananas, papaya, Indian apple, sugar cane, breadfruit, and "mate loi", a plant that shrivels up when you touch it.

We go to an all-Tongan ward, but school is all in English (or at least is supposed to be--it's not really). And for all of you that think having a different schedule every other day is confusing, never move to Tonga--we have a different schedule every day. (Well we go to the same order of classes, but since we have 8 classes and a 7-period day, the classes get shifted.) There are also about 9 buildings that all look the same, and it's easy to get lost. Luckily everyone is really nice and helps the palangi* find her class. :)

Tonga itself is really pretty too; the trees are so big and beautiful, and I love the ocean. We went to a beach, and the blowholes, which are amazing to watch. The waves come up and hit the coral reefs with a ton of force, and they blow up like gysers.

This quick summary is getting rather extensive, so suffice it to say that Tonga is incredible. You should all come and see it for yourselves!

Michelle
*Tongan word of the day-- Palangi: a white person

Greetings from the Tongan Islands!

Well, the moment you've been waiting for is officially here!! (Ta-da!) Our April and Michelle blog is now up and running for your benefit! From here, you can see pictures, and stories of our adventures here in Tonga. (We know you're already jealous, but it's more fun to rub it in!) We might even throw in a few Tongan words now and again so you can learn some of that crazy language. Visit us again soon to see some real posts that will actually be worth reading, as well as cool pictures. (Yes, Tongan computers are even slower than you might imagine.) More to come soon!

April and Michelle