Run in with a molekau!

11-4-2018

malo e lelei famili!

first week of tranfer TWO, just busy doing Gods work mostly, its great. we are trying to work with so many people there isnt ever enough time to get everything done.

saw a bit more of the islands on tuesday drove out to talihau after district meeting to grab some stuff with elder liu, naeata, and kinikini. vava'u is so cool its just a ton of little islands, so sick. transfers were pretty busy so we were hanging with them a lot, plus they use our church for studies and net, and they give us rides to district meeting and pday, and they do their laundry with our neighbors machine so actually we see the zones quite a bit lol.

 kinikini hung out with us a bit before he left for ha'apai. we had a couple tongan elders stay over the night because of transfers. which thats fun. the culture here is basically you share everything. share like nothing is yours anymore. so yeah also if they think somethings cool they steal it.depends on the person but yeah i lost a couple of ties while i was asleep but i hid all my good stuff so i think its fine.

wednesday met the new zone elder breshears when they dropped off our cash. him and elder liu are super cool i like them alot. Liu was one of the first missionaries i met here hes way cool hes from oakland. we were at a falekai with a member so they chilled with us, ate some horse, so good. after our member was like here take 12 pineapples haha, so we gave half to the zones, 2 to a part member fam and made otai with the rest. 

with tapuaki right now just tryna get her prepped for baptism. should work out sometime in the next couple weeks im excited. teaching famili o seifana, even though most of them are inactive members, we have got them reading the Book of Mormon and they ask lots of questions i like that. taught maka the rest of the restoration i hardcore felt the spirit when i told the first vision, felt like lighting in my soul my heart skipped a beat ive never felt it like that, just testified hard to me like bam this is truth. now he just needs to read the Book of Mormon.  he lives at a inactive fams house and we got 3 of them, sia monica and asita to come to church not maka though hes just working all the time. but as long as he does some reading im happy. in the Book of Mormon are the words of Jesus and if you have faith in Him, it will lead to the truth thats all.

ahh what else oh we had fafanga at paeas again saturday i like that, his famili are homies, plus taki is a true chef he should open a restaraunt bro we had some dang good bbq.

 yoooo on sunday we taught a chinese dude who cant read and only knows chinese. palisiteni uisla'a set it up at his house him and bro shoemaker helped us out. his brother sifa is a member and one of the first chinese to set up a shop here. but yeah he translates but understands english and tongan mixed. and we gave him papers in chinese of the whole first lesson. but yeah he cant read. also got him a chinese BoM idk why we had that but that was good. he has come to church the last 3 weeks and he will come more and we taught him how to pray! we got it set up we will teach him every sunday untill hes ready for papitaiso. we will know miracles are possible when that day comes haha

had a run in with a molekau which is a giant centipede its fast and mean and really really poisonous. but yeah im fine they are just scary as.

today is a holiday here so we played rugby again this morning it was us, the zones came, filea our stake pres, a couple bishopric and a couple boys from kolo. fun time. man yall are lucky i have this alpha smart or else youd be getting like 5 sentance emails.

 ight thats all i got here this week in the beautiful kingdom of tonga, i dont apologize for the lack of pictures we get busy ima try to do better though. peace afa lahi atu kimoutolo

First Transfer

10-28-19

yo whats up fam,

hows it goiing. it has been rainy all week and i love it. its cool and we dont get all sweaty and gross so thats nice. 

we got to go out to uta this week, which thats just like in the bush and farms and stuff. we went out there for fafanga one day it was lit. they roasted a pig and had tons of pineapple and bananas and coconuts and talo and manioke, man it was so good. they have this banana called pata its way good. the pineapple in vava'u is the best pineapple in the world i think. anyways yeah that was dope we dont get to go out to uta that often.

been teaching good stuff this week. baptism didnt go through with tapuaki cuz she was busy this week so that blows but i think its fine we'll get it done. we are teaching this old lady nau shes cool. yo we got to teach maka too and taught him most of the first lesson. he hasnt been here very long, fresh deported out of the states so its fun to talk with him cuz hes really ready to recieve the gospel of Christ you know. also got an inactive fam to come to church heck yeah! 

 one day we were just walking around and an appointment canceled so we just chilled and talked to this guy ale under a mango tree while it was raining. hes already baptized but currently weslyan hes really cool though. we were talking though and he asked us, you guys had everything in america, whats the reason why you would leave that to live here. that just kind of hit me. i told him because i have felt God's love for me. and its not able for me to forget that. i said a lot other stuff too but we just had a really good convo. plus he speaks 6 languages so he gave me some language study advice. but yeah like i still dont know what im doing but i know why im here and its good.

ight what else. i was sick on saturday that sucked. i just curled up under my tupenos and suffered all day. but im healed now therefor the work must go on right.

today was my first transfer im just staying gonna chill in my area for a while with Winterton so thats nice, kameli is tight. just been hanging out with Elder Liu, Kinikini, and Naeata all day. those guys are fun. kini is leaving to ha'apai, sad, but he has fam there so its cool. we made a bucket of melon otai today. got some coconuts from paeas house and squeezed the juice out of them. oh yeah by the way coconut water stains hardcore just so you kknow and it doesnt come out.

ight peace fam ofa atu hope you all have a good week in america!

mate ma'a tonga

10-21-2018

yo mom hows it goin this is alex, im here in tonga. whats up. this week has been good im feeling good mostly all the time. getting work done. chilling with my companion. most everyday this week we had dinner dropped off at our house we eat so much fried chicken. thursday night someone gave us fafanga and it was basically panda express twas pretty good. one day we had 4 eatings, 1 at home, one at the weslyan missionaries house, 1 at a falekai and one at amembers house right after that. just got back from getting a haircut in town, town is legit i like it i wish it was my area cuz thats where all the good stuff is. it is partly cloudy, a slight breeze, nice and cool currently, how the weather there? sorry i dont get much good pictures, what should i take more pics of, i never have my camera out when there is a good photo opportunity my bad.

yo fefe hake fam,

doing good. not homesick really, at this point im chill with living in Tonga. started the week, some members cooked us up a dog for pday. sounds bad but bro it was pretty good. i dont feel bad either most of the dogs here are mean as. when im wearing my sandals i just stay out of their way but when im wearing my shoes ill drop kick them if they get close enough

weather has been nice this week, cloudy, windy, rainy, and cool. blessed. we got hungry and soaked in the rain last night so we stopped by paeas and his boys chilled with us and we ate a bunch of bananas and papaya. good time

 we are trying to prep this girl tapuaki for baptism. they are catholic though and she needs permission from her dad, but shes ready to be baptized next saturday hopefully things will turn out. pray for it. we are working with so many people right now. we are teaching this fam from sweden in english, theyre a bunch of weirdos.  tryna teach maka, hes a g hes from oakland, really wants to learn more but hes always working or out drinking kava its hard to get a good time to talk. ha thats the same with everyone though. the main thing though is people just need fellowshippers and people to support them. oh and Book of Mormons, we have been out for a while and the mission office hasnt gotten us anymore so we really need those.

got an indian apple from one of the boys in kameli, its a big spiky green fruit and its pretty good. made some indian apple otai with my trainer friday night.

yo this week was wild. very happy time in tonga. this is my first time being here when mate ma'a tonga (tongas rugby team) has had a game. they had a match against the australia, the world champs, this saturday and it was big. all week everybody getting ready for mate ma'a tonga. they put flags and streamers and stuff all over their houses, cars, fences. the hospital had like 90 flags up. everybody wears red, some dye their hair, paint their faces red. guys drive around all day in their vans blasting mate ma'a tonga songs from speakers mounted on the top. they do floats and parades with cars and kids on bikes carrying flags sceaming mate ma'a tonga all friday and saturday, its pretty fun. the whole country gets hyped. tongans have very big heart. one of the guys at rugby on sat morning told us if they lose, nobodys going to go to church, but if they win... still nobodys going to church because theyll be out in the streets celebrating all day ha. couple guys invited us over to watch the game but the zones told everybody to be in by 630, when the game started, gotta be obedient. that morning i went hard at rugby and we started a fast so i was pretty tired by 630. i tried to study and accidently passed out from 7 to 7 the next morning, woke up a few times to people cheering loud as. they ended up losing. it happens. still die 4 tonga though

this sunday was both wards primary programs haha twas the best. brings back good memories. they sing all the primary songs in english and they sing so freaking loud even when they forget the words. their message is true. and dont ever forget, God is always there for you. whether you choose to acknowledge it or not. pray, he is there, he is listening. 

ive been waiting all week to hear how pv did at state xc... im so happy right now, shout out to my bro Julien the state champ, and David Holt congrats on the state title boys. thats what i like to hear

just got back from town, we went and got some haircuts and bought me a dictionary. no district pday today just gonna do whateva. peace

General Conference and Otai

10-14-18

yo famili,

it is still a good time here, Tonga is so fun. i dont want to mislead you to think its always good. sometimes it sucks. very blessed this week to be able to listen to the Prophet and Apostles of Jesus speak. also very blessed every day. this week we walked around everday from appoinment to appointment, everything cancels so that blows. its so hot and humid. 

elder van beuren and elder save showed up on friday from houma for general conference, they were going to leave today but their boat doesnt come till tomorrow so theyre coming to pday with us. its nice being 4 elders. they went around with us on friday and saturday and sunday. earlier in the week we were walking home from a canceled teaching and this weslyan fam we are trying to teach picked us up gave us a ride, and also a watermelon, 2 pineapples and a ton of bananas. love those guys theyre way cool. walked too much that day, taught nobody, it was wet and rainy and i got some bad blisters. we stopped by palisiteni pongis gas station because van beuren heard they had mnt dew. they gave us mnt dew, doritos, and mnms. blessed. american stuff is so good. 

on saturday we went to conference at our stake center watched a session, went and ate at pisope langaois and then came back for the next session. lots of the other elders and sisters watch at our stake center too its nice getting to see people. the saturday sessions were beast. we went to some teachings that didnt work out. but after that we went home. made a couple gallons of otai out of the watermelon and pineapples. otai is wayy good, drank a ton with the boys, gave some to our neighbors, played cards, twas a good night.

sunday conference was great. many great talks. love to hear the Apostles. after the first session went to a eating. watched the next session and hung out with the other missionaries until they all left. went from there to fafanga at palisiteni manufetoas. we ate and then we talked to them about conference. sunday was the second time ive heard a prophet seer and revelator speak about the importance of the name of the church. The Church of Jesus Christ is the Church of Jesus Christ. the name is a testament of where it came from and who established it. I was sharing to them that this is His church, and we are the people of Jesus Christ. they are a big family and while i did they were all paying attention and understanding my Tongan and my heart just burned with pride in God and Jesus. There are many things I felt during conference but mostly i felt the truth. Pres Nelson is a prophet of God. The Church of Jesus Christ is Jesus's restored church on the earth today.

shoutout to my boys and my sister for getting it done at region xc so proud yall are beast.

ight bouta go kill a dog and take it to pday for lunch in vaipua. i wish i was joking but im not. ok ofa lahi atu kimoutolu, bye

Zone Conference and Massive Centipedes

10-7-18

yo pdays mondays from now on.

started the week with my first zone conference. twas fun. elder van beuren and save stayed over at my and elder wintertons mq because they had to come in from motu for zc. its pretty fun with 4 elders, we had a big dinner that night at the paea's house. zone conference was legit. so fun to see some of the homies. also pres tuione spoke to us some very good spiritual encouragement. told me keep trying at the language, best advice ive ever got tbh

this week has been good for the work. God is blessing us. this lady, kitiola, shes way smart in the Bible on another level. shes weslyan and her big thing is that she will only believe in the Bible, we were trying to testify about the Book of Mormon without getting in an argument and out of nowhere her heart just chilled and she said yeah i will read this and pray about it. met with a guy, Tonga, he was high as fuss trippin balls but we had a good conversation with him. his son is in the Church, and served a mission (i think) so he just saw us walking around and wanted to tell us he loves and respects the missionaries so much. he also said dont try to convert him though cuz him and his brother are just having a good time. haha that guy was so funny. after that taught a family the restoration. nailed it. placed some book of mormons. on the way to fafanga that night talk with a guy on the street. we talked with him and man the spirit was so strong. hes not a member or anything but he just started tearing up because idek why, but the people just see, we are representatives of Jesus, and they know we are doing His work.  went around with the ward 3 leaders to some less actives. taught guy named maka, hes cool, lived in oakland, knows good english. he wanted to know about the book of mormon, i was able to feel the spirit, find scrips withought using my english, and testify hard. and i know he felt it. i know God really has prepared the people here to recieve the truth.

saturday played some malimali again in the morning. still suck though im working on it. one of the counselors in the 5th ward, brother shoe maker, hes awesome i love that guy because he talks english to me hes a g. hes half samoan, played football for dixie state and his fam owns honolulu grill in stg what do you know. he married into a tongan family though thats why he lives here.

had another fafanga at paea's house down the street. they feed us so good. i need to take some pics, their house overlooks the ocean and a little bay its dope. his wife teaches seminary, his kids all know english really good, and they just always have loved having the missionaries around and we love them.

i couldnt focus in sunday school there was a massive centipede like 4 feet from me i didnt take my eyes off it the whole time. heard general conference was dope that they changed the church service to only 2 hours starting next year. best news ive heard in my life.

missionary work is hard. only thing i can lean on really though is on God and Jesus and that is enough. the people here are the biggest blessing. sometimes a member will see us walking and give us a ride. they give us everything we need. this is God's work and he provides a way for it to be done. just tryna get some ocean baptisms. ight peace bye 

Cutting up some kava

9-30-18

malei toks

pday is switched to monday this week because of zone conference is tomorrow i think.

pdays are fun we mostly just get the stuff done we need, do some laundry, and then get a ride with the zones to pday and go play volleyball with the district. tongans love to spike and they are way good at it. also i recieved a tupeno from my boy elder kinikini. he ran track for hurricane so thats cool hes in my district.

we met a weslyian missionary his name is monti, and talked with him a little and then he invited us in for some food. we met his family and talked for a while. hes been a missionary for 15 years, grew up in vava'u, really nice guy. it was surprising he invited us in though that was pretty uncommon i dont think lds missionaries have ever been able to talk with them.

one of the nights hung out with some of the priesthood right down our street at taki's house and helped to prepare some kava. cutting up roots and piling them up under a flood light in his yard. hes got a way nice view of the ocean too im jealous. i learned those guys names, selu, tuimoana, christian, and etu and his dad paea. tuimoana is a beast hes planning on serving a mission,used to be the rugby at saineha, weve ate at his house a few times. christian is from hawaii so he knows pretty good english and helped me to practice alot. that was good to actually get to know some of the members and young men, ate some bananas, practiced tongan, helped out when they needed.

actually most of the kids here do pretty good english and some of the adults but not the old people. because alot of the schools here are english emersion schools. saineha high, lds church school is where most of the kids i know go to. its close to our chapel. some of the guys play touch rugby there every saturday morning, we went and i learned a little how to play, twas pretty fun.

we are teaching a quite a few people, it is hard to tell who is progressing and what people need especially because i dont understand most of the time. church is basically 5 hours of listening to people speak tongan. sometimes i try hard to listen and othertimes I space out hard. but it is good, i can see myself progressing and i know God will bless me in my efforts.

im pretty sure general conference is this week so i invite you all to watch and listen. i dont think i ever appreciated conference as much as i shouldve, but it is a great opportunity to hear the Apostles of Jesus speak. 

lifes good out here in the pacific. eating alot, meeting alot of new people, tons of studying, and preaching some Gospel of Christ. coming closer to Him. i like it. bouta drop some cash on a decent tauvala. aight peace, ofa lahi atu kimoutolu, bye.

uike uluaki i TONGA

9-25-18
yo whats up family!

wow this last week has been crazy so ill try to just hit the highlights. internet blows out here so i might not always be able to email.

first off shoutout to all my toks from the mtc. love you all. you are all my brothers for real. good luck to everyone whos out in the field rn. also love to hoku faiakos i he mtc, sister lotulelei, pinnock, and hoku toko schaap. best teachers there are. also shoutout to gladys from the cafeteria for always giving us full plates.

made it to tonga!! my area is in kameli, vava'u, about a 45 minute plane ride from the main island. it is wild being here i love it though. my area pretty much right outside of town close to the ocean. its dope. 

left on last tuesday from the mtc. the last few days were really chill. said goodbye to a few homies then to slc to san fran to new zealand to tonga. we all made it through the flights pretty much (lost sister lotulelei in salt lake but joined back in new zealand) but we all made it to Tonga so thats beast. the islands are beautiful.when we arrived the tuiones (mission president) and the aps were waiting at the airport and we all got in a bus and drove to the mission office. president tuione is great. so is pres makai hes cool.

tongatapu was pretty legit, most everybody say motu is better though, more chill on the other islands. we stayed by the mission office that night, right across from the temple and also liahona high, church school. went to the temple. after that went to a chapel and all the trainers read out their callings. me, fiso, hansen, van moose, ikafanga, and jacobson all got called to motu off of tongatapu so we flew out the next day (except for hansen took a boat to eua). got some ice cream that night with president tuione, how dope.

friday we flew out of tongatapu around 10 arrived at vava'u, the zls picked us up from the airport and took us to our areas. got to see a little of the islands, great views to be honest.as soon as i got settled in we went to work. my trainer is very diligent and obedient so im lucky to have him. we cover two wards, its a pretty big area i havent even been to all of it yet but we walk around a ton, pretty hot, a little sweaty. it rains alot and when its not im getting sunburned but its fine. our mq is in makave. the towns we go around to are kameli, masilamea, makave and faam.

 the food here is great the members feed us every night, they believe the more we eat the more they will be blessed so thats nice. they eat a ton of meat. chicken, pigs, cows, horse, dog. i had some luhoosi (horse) its pretty good. some houses are pretty nice and some others are very poor. there are animals all over the places, tons of dogs and pigs and chickens, our neighbors puppies are cute as im trying not to get attached though. i still havent got a tupeno yet ill probably get it soon.

 the members and people here are awesome. they love the missionaries and they love Christ and they believe that anything that they can do to help us God will bless them for it. and theyre not wrong. they are very easy going nice people i like it. the kids are wild and friendly and all over the place. i talk to the kids alot because my tongan is basically child level rn. they are way cute too, american kids are ugly. in my short time here so far  ive really been able to see how much God loves all His children. the Tongan people have great faith. His gospel truly does bless all people over the world.

its been a crazy week but good. its hard not being able speak the language and communicate but im sure everthing will be fine. press forward in faith and know that God will always be with you. oiaue i miss stg

ofa lahi atu! Elder Mo'unga

President and Sister Tuione and Elder Hill

Arrival at Vava'u (1st area)