You Asked, Here Are The Answers

Sorry this has taken so long; I tried to post this just after you asked all of your questions, but the internet has been kind of temperamental again lately. Anyway, here's a quick answer to all of your questions. We'll try to post more detailed responses as the questions trickle in and we feel so inclined, but for now, here they are:

Peter: Tongans do celebrate Halloween, but not quite like they do in America. The kids in our ward came trick-or-treating, but the costumes were not quite as extravagant as most of the costumes that you probably saw.
-The school year is over, and so are all of the exams, which means the dorm kids have all gone home, and the kids who come down and stay with family have gone back to their islands, too. It's getting kind of boring; there aren't nearly as many people, and not as much to do. We're taking our "Mission Tour" of the islands in December, though, and I'm excited to go see all of my friends, and to see where they live. April and I are also flying to New Zealand to stay with the Mission President and his daughter for a week in January. I don't know what the other Tongans do during the summer, but we're turning into quite the travellers!
-Speaking of communication.... Our old hotmail accounts don't work still, but I set up a gmail account, which is mcmurray05@ gmail.com so you can all email me! I'll try to keep in touch better. But even if we don't, remember that we still love you!

Joey: Tongan is slowly but surely coming. Sometimes I can carry a basic conversation, and other times I think that I’m speaking an entirely different version of Tongan than these people. They’re all really nice about trying to help us learn, though, and I know we’ll get it eventually!
-What do we miss most from the U.S.? Well it’s kind of hard to pick something like that, because we have all of the necessities, and learn to live with whatever we don’t have. But I would have to say that I miss friends and family the most. Oh, and I really miss the mountains. Our island is totally and absolutely flat. I love the palm trees and the ocean, but I wish I could have mountains and snow, too…
-April has indeed graduated, but I'll let her tell you more about that, because that's her story!

Heidi: (I never told any boys I had a lip disease, so can I skip that part? Just kidding! :) Small items I wish I had… Well I can’t think of any specifics right of the top of my head, but I wish things were more conveniently located. There are little stores (falekoloas) close to our house that are pretty well-stocked with basic food and such, but if you want anything else, you have to go downtown and find a store that carries it. Mom misses Costco.
-Food craves: I love the fruit! I especially love the fresh pineapple. They’re so sweet, and you can even eat the core. It’s less sweet, but it’s still good. I love papaya, coconut, and bananas, too!
-April and I are both playing the piano in church. We play with another girl named Selai, so all of us play one song every week. We both took piano class in school, but April’s keeping it up a little more than I am.

Abe: Biggest differences between Americans and Tongans? That’s a really broad question, and it kind of defeats the purpose of this Q&A…you were supposed to ask questions that would not make us try to analyze such complex ideas… But in answer to your other questions, I think my favorite thing about the Tongans is how loving and sharing they are, even if they don’t have very much. My least favorite thing is probably how often you hear things blamed on “the Tongan way”. They don’t seem to understand that you can change if you think something should be different. And the boys are a little….overwhelming….

Matt: The beaches down here are mostly coral, which are fun, but not in the same way as sandy beaches. There are a lot of fun coral formations to climb on, and the blowholes are amazing, but they are different from the sandy beaches you might be envisioning. There are some fun sand beaches too, but they’re mainly coral.

Brad: We have tons of fruit trees in our yard. We have coconuts, bananas, papaya, Indian apple, breadfruit, and a mango tree (whether or not that actually gives fruit we have yet to discover). We also have sugar cane, and a tangerine tree hangs over the fence.
-We haven’t exactly acquired any pets of our own, but our neighbors chickens are in our yard so much that it sometimes feels like they’re ours. There are almost always new chicks, and it’s so fun to watch them get bigger. Our other neighbor has a rooster, and for those of you that are under the impression that roosters only crow at the crack of dawn, let me straighten you out. They crow ALL the time!