Monday, January 21, 2008
An Annoucement
My dear friends! I am pleased to announce that I have unofficially been called to serve as the FIRST EVER palangi sister in Tonga! I will be leaving in a week, and I will not be able to keep in touch with many of you, if any of you! ("I know, teeth, Keith!") Anyway, I am VERY excited, and I wanted to write you all and tell you this personally, but this will have to do since I am running out of time! I will email you when I get home, and probably do a blog post or something. I'll be gone at least six weeks, but I may do two transfers, so it might be longer. Who knows? Until then, hopefully Michelle and Danny will keep the blog going. I know this church is true, and I am so excited to go out and serve the Tongans, because I love them so much! 'Ofa lahi atu!
Friday, January 18, 2008
The Legend of the Bat
Why do bats sleep in the day? Why do they fly at night? Why do they hang upside down? Scientists claim that bats are nocturnal, but Tongans know the real answer. Bats are a big part of Tonga. They're called flying foxes, and there's a place where they hang out (literally, hang out) that's not too far from our house. So here's the legend of the Bat, as told to us by Elder Oseni (Olsen), Dad's AP:
There was a great white bat, who was the leader of all the bats. For some reason, he would get really sick at night when the Sun went down. Each morning when the Sun came back, he'd get better.
One night, he was especially sick, and he told his servants to go and find the sun. The bats flew to the Sun and begged him to come up so their king would live. The Sun refused, telling the bats that he answered to no one. The bats flew back to their king, to tell him what the Sun said. To their dismay, the king had died. The Sun hadn't come up in time to save him.
The bats were furious at the Sun. Because of him, their beloved king had died. To show their hate towards the Sun, they began to hang upside down during the day, so the Sun would only see their backsides. From then on, they also used their wings to cover their faces, and only fly at night, so they don't ever have to look at the Sun during the day.
So there's the legend of the bats. I thought it was really interesting. Danny also said that whenever a white bat is spotted, the chief of the village where it was first spotted will die when the bat dies. Obviously, since white bats are very rare, that hasn't happened very often, but it happened once.
There was a great white bat, who was the leader of all the bats. For some reason, he would get really sick at night when the Sun went down. Each morning when the Sun came back, he'd get better.
One night, he was especially sick, and he told his servants to go and find the sun. The bats flew to the Sun and begged him to come up so their king would live. The Sun refused, telling the bats that he answered to no one. The bats flew back to their king, to tell him what the Sun said. To their dismay, the king had died. The Sun hadn't come up in time to save him.
The bats were furious at the Sun. Because of him, their beloved king had died. To show their hate towards the Sun, they began to hang upside down during the day, so the Sun would only see their backsides. From then on, they also used their wings to cover their faces, and only fly at night, so they don't ever have to look at the Sun during the day.
So there's the legend of the bats. I thought it was really interesting. Danny also said that whenever a white bat is spotted, the chief of the village where it was first spotted will die when the bat dies. Obviously, since white bats are very rare, that hasn't happened very often, but it happened once.
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