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!

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.

The Joys of Procrastination

If you're wondering why we always take so long to update the blog, it's because the task of creating such a detailed blog is very daunting...and they get kind of long. On the other hand, if we don't make it detailed then it's boring. It's kind of a lose-lose situation. But now you have a very lengthy blog AND pictures!!! Enjoy! :)

Juicy Temple Details

We're really sorry that we're such losers at keeping this updated, but we just want to post things a month after they happen.....NOT! Anyway, this post is on the details of the temple rededication, with an emphasis on the cultural event the night before. If you want to hear more details in an area we don't go into, just ask, or email...both are good. PS in advance, this is a really long post, so if you don't want to read anything, feel free to skip down to the pictures.

1) Everything started with the open house. For three weeks, the sisters came to our house for breakfast, and then they headed over to the chapel, where they conducted tours and such. It was fun to hear them singing each morning while I got ready for school. We celebrated the commencement of the open house with a big ceremony, and even the king showed up! He gave a speech, which was mainly interesting because of his cool accent and his silver suit. Michelle and April even got to present a huge bouquet to the Mother Queen Mata'aho! Then we got to go on an official tour of the temple, led by none other than the Mission President! We got to take more tours with school groups throughout the three weeks. The temple is gorgeous!!

2) Some of the little details: We all got to go to the Time Capsule ceremony, which was cool. April put in a packet of pictures of the old temple, and Michelle put in some Article of Faith cards with a picture of the Tongan temple on the back. There was a big sign across the street from the temple that said "Families are Forever". It was cool. We wanted to get a picture of it, but we never did. Then there were two really cool signs that went above the road. We really, really wish we had gotten a picture of this, because it goes to show how Tongans decorate. (But there is one picture of it in the November 10 Church News.) The first one was by the school, and it said on one side, "Welcome Home, Elder and Sister Nelson", with a picture of the Angel Moroni. (They had come for Stake Conference and, left to visit Samoa and Fiji, and then came back again for the dedication events.) The other side of it said, "Give our Regards to President Hinckley". The Tongans really wanted him to come, and yet, they were understanding and cheerful--not angry or upset--when he couldn't make it. The second sign was down the street, by our house, and on one side it said, "Let's Rededicate Ourselves". That was particularly special to April, because that was the school theme of 2007, a school year that means a little more to her than other years, if you can imagine why. We're not sure, but we think the last one said, "Welcome to Tonga". But they all had woven palm fronds covering the ugly poles and such, and then covered with balloons and flowers. It was definitely a sight to see.

3) Then there was the cultural event. Think Day of Celebration, only Tongan style. That means that over 2,400 youth on Tongatapu spent the last six months practicing different dances. Each stake did a different polynesian dance. The youth gave so much for that event, and it was so special! The sky was stormy all week long, and we even practiced many mornings in the rain, but on the night of the performance, despite the big storm clouds, the ground was dry. The dances told a story called "A Treasure That Lasts", about a young couple that had lost their only daughter, and in hopes of finding comfort, they traveled around Polynesia. The couple got gifts from each place they visited--something tangible, as well as a lesson to be learned. (that's when each group danced.) When they got back from their trip, they met the missionaries. The missionaries enjoyed seeing all their treasures, and then said they had a treasure to share with the couple as well, only it was something that would last. At that point, the missionaries came and stood all around the stadium. It was SO cool! Then, at the end, the couple's little daughter came out in white, as the narrator talked about the treasure of the temple. It was incredible. Anyway, the pictures below will show you some of the costumes so you can kind of get an idea.

4) The next morning, which was Sunday the 4th of November (which also happened be our four month anniversary in Tonga), we walked over to the temple. We got to be in the celestial room for it. Elder Nelson was so nice to us, he let us go and be part of the corner stone laying, too. There were two choirs that sang, and they sounded so beautiful! The best part by far (and that means the best part of this whole experience), was at the end. Elder Nelson invited everyone to sing The Spirit of God, in their native language. The reason this was so cool is because Tongans love to sing, and they love to sing loud. They also have slightly different tunes and harmonies in some of the hymns. So between the Tongans and the Palangis, we practically had an eight-part harmony. We were all singing just about as loud as we possibly could, and could barely hear ourselves. There really must have been angels singing with us. It was so incredible.

Well, I think I got the main points, so here are some pictures (You can see more pictures at planet-tonga.com, although this is basically the best):

Mom, Dad, Sister and Elder Nelson. All four are remarkable people, as I'm sure you'll agree.

President Condie and the Nelsons meeting Princess Pilolevu, just before the cultural event.

The first dance was Tahiti. Too bad there were no action shots, because Tahitians are the ones who "get really crazy with the hips!"

Next comes the Maori, from the land of the long white cloud, complete with poi balls, those weird sticks, and face paint!

This is Hawaii. They began with a really cool fire dance, performed by our two friends, Tu'itakau and Manase. (We wish we could give a better description, because it really was amazing, but it probably would just confuse you:)

That little girl was adorable! And it's a good shot of the costumes.

This is Samoa. Apparently it was a really cool dance, but sadly we were always in a lousy position for watching this one. The guy in the yellow is our multi-talented friend, Nela.

This is Fiji. The girls move around quite a bit on this one, and my friend explained it's because Fijian women actually do hard work. Who knows?

The Fijian boys were also really cool. Really, all of the dances were amazing, but this one got April's vote as the coolest. The one above is a better shot of their costumes.

Here's the couple meeting the missionaries, just before Tonga comes on the scene!

And here's Nela again, doing some serious jamming on the drums. I just wish this picture could show you how wild he really got.

Here's Michelle, the Vahenga, doing the Ma'ulu'ulu! (The Vahenga is the most important person, usually filled by a noble. Since there were no nobles, the next in line was Michelle.) Below is just a nice shot of the boys uniform, although not much unlike what the girls wore.

Extra points to whoever can guess which of us this is. Seriously, even we had a hard time telling.

Boys again. What's new?

Go Missionaries!

This is just a cool shot at the end of the show, where everyone came in together.

Families are Forever!!

Wow! It actually worked!!!

See below for my fantastic post....complete with PICTURES!!!!

Class of 2007!!!

Joey, the answer is, yes. I'm a graduate! I hope these pictures work so that you can see all the fun, too! Basically, I graduated on October 26th, from Liahona High School, Nuku'alofa Tonga. My class was 195-ish people big, The week before included Seminary Graduation followed by a stake dance, Graduation dance, and practices all week for the marching and singing. It was fun to hang around with all my friends before they all left. There were a few parties here and there, including a real kai me'akai for my friend Nata! I went by myself and enjoyed a genuine Tongan feast! It was my first one, and it was cool! Tongans can eat probably 4 times as much as any palangi I know!

I think the highlight for me about graduation was graduating with people I could really call friends. The idea of moving to a tropical island and leaving my friends behind didn't really worry me, because I knew I'd make more here. But at first I was a little worried because I still felt so much like a stranger, even after three months! I didn't feel like I belonged with my graduating class, but it's amazing what four months will do that three months won't. I was so, so happy on that night, because I could look back on all of my HS experience, and I was happy with all of it, but especially happy with the past four months. I still don't know half my classes' names, but that's ak, because I love them anyway. :) They're all my friends. Ok! That's all I can think of, so here are the pictures!!

This is Nesi, me, and Suka, a Fijian, on the night of Seminary graduation. They are two of my best friends.At the Graduation dance, there was a special swing number, and this is some of the group. The colors are hard to see, but the matching colors indicate partners. (My partner is not featured in this picture...)This is my best friend here, Nesi Latu. Her nice Grandma was the one who made that beautiful kahoa (lei) I'm wearing, and it was the first one I ever had that was made especially for me! (this picture even made it into the graduation DVD as the background for all the selections!) The green balloon says it all: LHS 2007! One of the funniest things about Tongans is that where the camera is, they will be. This picture group probably started with three people trying to get a picture together, and ended up with someone jumping in every second or two. But this is a good picture of lots of my friends and it captures the moment pretty well. This is mom, with her two Spanish students. When they were Saineha HS in Vava'u, she taught the very first missionaries departing for Spanish speaking missions. These are two, Brother Kupu (right) and Brother Kulu (left), and their wives. Here's my class at Graduation, with the straight A students wearing yellow at the front. All I can say is, I'm glad I came here, because I never would have been included in that elite group at Skyline!

Well, I can't get this one to rotate, but this is me, seconds from receiving my diploma! (I also included this one because I think I look like Load Runner.)

This is all of us, after the ceremony, and right before things got hectic! Man, I love graduation in Tonga! Everyone was packed in the gym because of the rain, and everyone was giving candy and flower kahoas to everyone! Apart from the fact you could hardly breath, it was very fun, and my cheeks have never been so sore from smiling. Sorry, again, it won't rotate. (oh, wait! No, I was just laying on my side for this one! ....Jk) This kahoa was so special because I didn't think I'd really get one from the family, because no one actually knows how to make them, but Sneeky Mom and Sneeky Lani planned/made this for me, and it was gorgeous! It was easily the prettiest one I've ever had.

Mom, me and Dad. Man, if you think that was a lot of kahoas, that was nothing! I eventually got so many they were falling off my shoulders! (Luckily, Tongans are as gracious receivers as they are givers, so as soon as the younger students made it into the gym--hence, adding to the confusion--it was easy to get rid of a few.)

Yeah, I would say this is the best picture if you want to see how many kahoas they were giving out,although it's still not as many as I got that night. This is me and my friend, Tiane. (That's short for Kalistiane, or Christian)Meet the President! This is Pasimi Mesuli, SB President of Liahona High! (He's obviously emotionally moved by the intensity of the night...)Nancy, Shelia, and Me. Shelia was the Valedictorian, and Nancy was first runner up. Nancy was my marching partner. (Well, and she's my friend, too.)This is Nesi, Michelle and me....with a bunch of dorm boys. After graduation, Mom said I could invite a few people over and have lemon bars. (Sometimes she doens't realize how much Tongans eat...) Anyway, no one was around except for the dorm boys, so they all came over for a while...Unfortunately, Nesi told them we were having a feast, so I think some of them were a little dissappointed when they got a small rectangle of lemon merangue. Oh well, I had fun!

So there you have it. Graduation at Liahona. That's a lot of pictures, but I think it will make up for the fact that pictures haven't worked until now. (I think it may have something to do with the fact that I switched to gmail.) Love you all! O4A2!

I am a Conformist

Well, everyone seems to be getting new email accounts, so I thought I'd join in the fun. I finally created a gmail account so that I can re-enter the world of technology. Please, send me something so that I get your email addresses! My new address: epe.lhs07 at gmail. (It stands for epeleli, Liahona High School, class of 07! (And my lucky number...)) You can still send stuff to my hotmail, but who knows when I'll get it. PS, dear skyliners, will you pass the word on? O4A2!!