Hello Everyone!
Well my second week here was really good! I am growing to love this place a lot! It is so beautiful here, everything is always green and everyone is super nice.
I came up with a list of 10 things you need to know if you are going to Tonga:
1. You are going to sweat a lot! Just get used to it! Haha
2. Your feet are never going to be clean, but don’t worry,
no one’s feet are!
3. Dogs are always going to bark at you, just give them some
food to go away!
4. There is no such thing as a vegetarian in Tonga!
5. If you leave something out, someone will take it, they
call it borrowing! Haha
6. You have to wash your clothes in a bucket and wash your
dishes next to the toilet!
7. Little lizards and bugs are everywhere, there are always
mosquitos too!
8. It is very disrespectful to not eat until you are full,
even if that means the whole table!
9. It is very polite to sit on the floor even if they have a
couch, but it is very disrespectful to sit on the floor if they tell you to sit
on the couch!
10. Everyone will talk to you and everyone is related
somehow here!
This week I had my first baptism! It was super cool and
really exciting. His wife is a member and they have a little baby boy. He has
always been Catholic, but he wanted to be baptized when the missionaries
started teaching him. I got transferred here just at the right time I guess! My
companion and I planned the whole thing and the whole ward came, all six of the
families in the ward! Not a very big ward, but an amazing group of people!
We get fed every day here! Sometimes three times a day. We
will walk by a house and they will yell at us to come in and eat. Haha Everyone
eats on the floor sitting cross legged. It is hard at first, but your legs get
used to it. The family will make a dinner for the whole family, but no one gets
to eat until the missionaries are done, It is very humbling. Even if they don’t
have a lot of food or money, they will buy us expensive food or make everything
they have to feed us. It is very humbling. They like to say, "kai ke
osi" which means eat it all, but they are perfectly happy if you eat till
you are really full! The trick to eating a lot is to keep chewing and don’t
think about stopping! This week I ate raw fish and horse, pretty delicious!
The ocean is very beautiful here! I live next to a bay, so there are no waves, but a lot of fisherman in the mornings and afternoons. This place truly is the other side of heaven! The kids here are so sweet. They love to follow me around and play games with me. They all call me "Hami" or "Palangi." Haha They love games, so I will always make up new ones. Their favorite is the slap game where you put your hands on someone else’s and you have to move yours really fast when they try to slap your hands. I always let them win! Haha
I love you and miss you all! I am doing good here, the language is hard to learn, but I am still progressing every day! I love that I get to serve here and be in this beautiful place, it truly is “The Other Side of Heaven!”
Ofa Atu,
Elder "Hami"
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