Slow Week in Vava'u

Malo 'e lelei 'eku famili! Oku ou fiefia feingamalie ki tohi aho'ni! My Tongan is coming along! It isn’t fully making sense but I am getting the vocab! The sentence structure will come eventually! They seem to be understanding me somewhat so that is good! This week was slow! We cooked a lot of pigs, helping a family get ready for a welcome home of a missionary! We walk a lot back and forth from Koloa to Holeva to Koloa haha but it is nice! It gets so hot here after it rains! But when it is raining I am always cold! haha I love it here though! 

We have a baptism tomorrow for a girl named 'E____! She came to church with us yesterday, we taught her the commandments lesson, than committed her to baptism on Tuesday! Exciting cuz this time I actually understood everything that was going on haha and I am doing the baptism so hopefully this time they go down hahaha! Saturday we helped Peni collect coconuts in the bush, than move his cows then went and killed the pig and roasted it for fafanga! It was good!!! My companion, Elder Finau is funny! ha he told me this story about how one of his friends from school is a twin, their mom is a twin, dad is a twin, grandpa is a twin, and so that family is just called the twin family haha. I taught him how to play Go Fish and he seemed to really enjoy it haha. We have a lot of down time because we don’t go out in the down pour of rain so we don’t get sick so one night after fafanga it was starting to rain so we went and hurried to our house and played Go Fish for the rest of the night! Other than that it was just walking around talking and trying to get people to teach! There are areas here where either EVERYONE is LDS or only a few families are LDS, where I am at is the few families! ha This village is barely a ward and Holeva is still a branch! but i love it here! I just can’t wait til I can fully communicate with everyone!

Answers to your questions:   I got my new tupenu's…the long ones, one grey which I look good in ;) and one black one! A lot more comfortable!!!  My house is small the chapel is 3 years old so probably the nicest in Tonga! The food is getting better! I just don’t like eating cold food. My comp is very nice and a good trainer! He is 23! He is from my first area Tokomololo and if we can’t go out we study all day!!!!  My home is small but still pretty nice compared to a lot of the other ones! All the church buildings are the nicest buildings on the islands! There are stores in every village, but little tiny ones that only sell food or toiletries. The food isn’t very good in the stores in my villages ha! Someone stole the slippers (flip flops) I bought so I have been wearing Aunt Bettyann’s slippers all week so I am thankful I brought them! But they are already starting to rip a little so I need new ones but the zone leaders will never take me to buy new ones or won’t buy me them when I ask them to so once these rip, it’s barefoot til I can get some new ones!

I haven’t gotten your package or any mail even though President Tupou says it should only take a week or two to get here from the States. Whenever leaders come out or when the zone leaders go to the main island for their meeting they are supposed to come back with mail! We just had the missionary couple and the AP's here for conference and they didn’t bring anything for me so I don’t know what’s up.

I shared my testimony at a baptism the other day.  I am truly grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ! Without it I do not know where I would be today! I am grateful for the faith I have to know the things I know! I am grateful for the opportunity to repent and be forgiven of my sins and to be able to help others recognize their sins and bring them closer to Christ through repentance and baptism! I know that without baptism we cannot enter into the kingdom of our Heavenly Father! I know that if we endure to the end, continually repenting, that we will be able to live with our Father again! I love this Gospel and the opportunities it gives me!!!

Love you all! Keep the emails coming everyone! I love hearing from you! See you in 20 months!!! 

You have to cross two of these to get to my area.

Out in the 'uta collecting coconuts.

Peni moving his cow.

Catching the pig.

My comp killing the pig for fafanga.

My comp blowing up the pig lungs.

The pig head after eating the pig.

Scripture Journal.  

My companions scripture journal is FULLLLL of scriptures.  I hope I get there some day!!

I Ate Octopus!

This week wasn't much! Weeks here zoom right by! A lot of walking from village to village, trying to get referrals but the church is so small here and even though there are only two villages, there are 6 churches! 4 in one village and 2 in the other! And most people are friendly to us but they won’t listen to us teach so we have done a lot of friendshipping! If that makes sense haha

That is cool that McKay Smith is going to Ireland! That will be a fun mission! Everything here is Beautiful!!! Looking across the ocean to the other islands all green, it really is amazing! The pig isn't that good cuz they like to cook the smaller ones with barely any meat haha but I am glad that you liked that picture! My comp had just woke me up so I was super tired in the picture. 

(I asked about his tupenus/skirts.) I have two tupenu's and I have fabric to make two more so I have long ones and don't get bit by bugs because all of the ones I have are shorter and I get eaten alive haha but one is grey so I am excited to have that one made haha I just look good in grey ;) I have two tauvala's (the woven thing we wear as respect) and one kafa (the rope that holds it on) I have material for a member to hopefully make me another one though because my first one is old and this new one is a bad material and rips easily! But it is a lot more comfortable than you think! I learned the secret to not getting fat here! Wearing my kafa as tight as possible around my stomach (mostly my pooch ha- to hide that) and then you get full fast! haha I only loosen it when there is good food!

I only got to hear the last session of conference in English. That was still a great session! I love how President Monson always says at the end of conference that we are lucky to be so spiritually fed! Just thought I would point that out haha Oh the pineapples hear really are PINE apples the tops of them and the leaves in the bushes they grow on are covered in little barbs haha it hurts.... but I thought they grew on trees not in bushes so I learned something! haha they taste so good here!  Hopefully I can bring one or two home for you guys to taste! I bought an extra pair of flip flops in Tokomololo so that I would be prepared just in case so I am good haha and I have the ones that Aunt Bettyann got me so if these break I will wear those!   It gets cold here at night when it rains.  I am lucky Kaylee sent me a blanket in the mtc cuz it keeps me warm at night or else I would be freezing! I was surprised how cold it got but it also gets soooo hot! I had octopus yesterday! It was alright haha good enough that I would be fine eating it again, just not a full meal of it :)

Ok so this old man who is our Friday night fafanga his name is Kofi. He came to conference with us cuz we all just piled into the back of our ward clerks van but he was looking so hipster haha I was surprised! He had a light blue paisley tie with a matching vest, a dark blue tupenu, a big silver head watch and Turquoise ray bans on hahaha! He was looking good! I wish I had a picture! He is a great guy always has really good food for us! The Stake President fed me, my companion and the zone leaders in between conference and it was soooo good! They had lots of pineapple, lusipi (lamb cooked in taro leaves with the bones still in it) which I actually ate but I usually don't, haha ummm breadfruit which is pretty good I will get pictures sometime! and to top it all offffffff  loooottssss of chocolate cake with a chocolate sauce on top. It was sooooo good! First time I almost threw up from eating so much! I loved the cake.  I wish I had it more often! And I never really even had a thing for chocolate cake until I got here, just cuz it is cake haha I love it here!

Times sometimes get hard because there isn't that much teaching so I feel like I am not fulfilling my purpose but we are trying hard!! People will come! I am getting really good with the scriptures because my companion is a genius with that stuff and we have a lot of study time so we go back and forth with scriptures! I am making a scripture journal so I will show you that when I get home! Love you all! Thanks for everything! Oh ya and mom don't worry the list I am making of stuff to bring is simple stuff, mostly snacks like snickers and granola bars!

Love you!!

Elder Huntsman

Week 2 in Vava'u

Sorry it’s so late for you guys back at home.  We were out in the rain all day cuz the bishop was gone with the key to the church so I couldn't email!

So since General Conference is in a different language here, they don't get it til next week here so that they have time to translate it all! It still is on Saturday and Sunday. I am loving it here!  Tuesday we had a District meeting and on the way to that was our fafanga, our our feed/meal. We stopped at the house and guess what they made for us...............!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! nothing... haha so they gave us a banana cake they had and we ate that as we walked to our district meeting. It was pretty good I was surprised since I don't usually eat banana bread/cake! The district meeting was good, my companion is District Leader so he taught it on Palani 'o e Fakamo'ui (Plan of Salvation) After that we went to this lady named Samoa's house and ate a little and had punch.  It was good! On the way home was fafanga again at the same house that fed us and they remembered this time, but it still wasn't much. So we walked home and we were just chilling there and my companion looks at me and asks "Makona?" which means like are you full? So I said eh si'isi'i pe or just a little haha so we went down the road and saw the ward clerk, Peni, and Elder Finau talked to him and he went and made us some food while we hung out with some members. We then walk to the house and they have fried eggs and crackers with butter and some fried fish! Oh ya mom and some LOBSTER haha It was delicious!  They were surprised I knew how to eat one! Some of them think that they are the only ones that have certain things like lobster and pineapple and watermelon haha, it’s funny! Oh ya the watermelon here is about the same as at home but the pineapple, ooooooooooooooooooo my it is soooo sweet!!!! I eat whole ones by myself they are so good!

So the next day we woke up and went straight to a nonmembers home and had an umu, the underground pit where they cook all this food! It was good ha then once we had put all that in the ground we walked across the village and helped ANOTHER family do the same! It was sad watching them kill the pig.  They just hold it down and slit its throat while it is still alive and you hear it squealing and the blood squirting out its neck, NASTY..... ha but other than that it has been another simple week! Played rugby for my first time. That was fun!  Today we were out in the rain just chilling allll day! and I had my first pair of slippers (flip flops) break! It sucked cuz I had to walk around with only one the rest of the day :( haha Oh and my feet are starting to crack! It hurts.... and playing rugby I slipped and scratched up my leg haha but still loving it here!!! Love you all!

Elder Huntsman

Alma 34:32

Mom, to find out where I am on the map go to this: 

http://www.lds.org/maps/?lang=eng#ll=-18.633489,-173.930325&z=14&m=google.road&q=tonga&x=find&find=stake:513474

 This is my stake, go down the road and you will see Holeva and then Koloa, my two areas!

Tan line already!

No sure about this, ha!

One pair down!

Off to Vava'u

So the Sunday before we came out here to Vava’u a man came up and offered to feed us after church! Turns out he is Jabari Parker’s (the crazy good LDS basketball player) uncle!!! Crazy haha!

So the Vava'u trip.... should have taken Dramamine sooner rather than after I threw up the first time haha. First one to throw up..... THIS GUY haha I was going to sit on my bed when we got into rougher waters, stupid idea haha. I didn't get sick when I was up top watching where we were going so I tried to either do that or fall asleep before it got to bad! It was nice cuz they got us business class so we all had beds!  The usual 18-20 hour trip took about 27 hours... no bueno haha. We stopped in Ha'api but I could NOT eat cuz I knew I would just end up throwing it up an hour later if I did! All of us missionaries sat as close as we could to the front and just watched the water in front of us. It kinda felt like a roller coaster at times. I enjoyed it!  Even got wet but the wind was blowing so we got dry in like 30 seconds haha. When we got to Vava'u at 12:30 at night we went and ate at a bishops house!  Mom, you probably wouldn't have thought you would hear me say this, but I love fried fish haha! I ate 7 in two meals..... crazy huh! I have been eating a lot better here!  Still wishing I had a Wendy's baconator or some Panda Express or some Café Rio or some Chili's queso dip or an Applebee's Lava cake but hey I’m surviving haha.  

Elder Finau, my trainer, always tries to get me to eat everything so I think that has helped me with the food! and the language! He went to Liahona but still isn't FLUENT in the English so he just speaks Tongan unless I don't understand than he starts throwing in some English words. My district is pretty cool! But my area is pretty dead.... very small ward, only a few families are members, and the others in the village are pretty strong in their faith! We should have some investigators this week though! We have just been talking to a few members every day, studying a TON!!!! I never have any energy haha. This heat is DRAINING!!!  I’m just drinking water as much as I can haha. Elder Finau knows soooo much about the gospel!!! He has pages full of good scriptures for each doctrine we teach! I need a book to do something like that with. We went to a baptism cuz the kid being baptized asked Finau to do it so 6 so far ;) 

So this one family has a shark’s jaw just hanging from a tree!  It’s pretty cool! I am RIGHT next to the ocean.  It’s awesome!  I can’t wait til we help people fish!!! We had our first little pig roast. It was ok haha. They like to eat the little pigs so not much meat! It was just weird watching them prepare it all! Yesterday, holy crap there was a lot of food! So when they have Ward Conferences they go ALLLLL out with a MASSIVE FEAST afterwards!  There were about two hundred people there (not my ward) and there was not one spot on any table that didn't have food on it!  It was insane! I brought home a massive cake haha!

So there is an awesome story about that lady I (tried) baptizing last week!  She was super strong in the Methodist faith, her husband being a very high up person in their church, so she would NEVER listen to the missionaries. She had gotten a tumor in her brain that sent her to the hospital a few times. She was walking down the road one day when she fell and was struggling getting back up. The missionaries saw her and went to help her walking her to her house. She started just inviting them over (not for lessons) to talk because they were so nice. One time she was in the hospital, verrrrry sick with the tumor and her daughter held her head and said "God, please don't take my mom, please!"  The missionaries then came over to give her a blessing and the next day she felt fine, the tumor pretty much gone!  From then on she started talking lessons and set her own date to be baptized! And from the tumor she just gets headaches sometimes!  Crazy how it all works! She was just ready and God put the missionaries in the right places at the right times!

Love you all! Hope all is well back at home!  Ofa lahi 'atu!!!!

Elder Huntsman

The Ferry that carried us 27 hours to Vava'u!

All the Elders that went to Vava'u with me plus the Mission President.

Loading the ferry.

The ocean view!

A bracelet a sister got me from town.

Week 2 in Tonga

Alrighty so this week was a lot better! I just told myself to eat and I will get over it all so I ate decent this week! Still not a lot but that’s how it was at home, just a bunch of little meals so it is nothing different other than the fact that we only get 1-2 meals a day haha but I am living :) I still love it here! Nothing really to complain about! It’s amazing here! I wish I had American food but ya... I go to Vava'u tomorrow. It’s an all day boat trip and my Dramamine is in my other suitcase.... so we will see how it goes hahaha. Again I am writing today cuz I will be on a boat tomorrow! haha so I have to write now or I wouldn’t be able to til next week! The language…I still have no clue what they are saying half the time... so it is hard especially with this 12 week training program where I am supposed to talk leads on the 1st lesson... and I have no idea what to say.... so that’s annoyingggggg but I gotta deal with it!

So this week we had another baptism! 3 actually! A mother and two of her daughters! I baptized Taufa, the one in the middle and the mother Ofa. Actually..... funny story I tried 3 times to baptize Ofa but she wouldn’t go under haha so the ward mission leader came in and shoved her under haha! I can’t just shove an older lady under water!!! On p-day we started off just doing some simple service for our neighbor then went and played volleyball at the church! We are supposed to all be meeting here in Liahona tomorrow for P-day but I will be on a boat to Vava'u... bummmmmerrrr haha but guess what I still got 4 baptisms in my first two weeks so I am happy haha.  On Wednesday we had a Zone meeting and guess what... all in Tongan so I didn’t understand it at all... after though I went over and talked to some of the missionaries that came in with me it was nice seeing familiar faces! 12 of us are going to Vava'u tomorrow so that should be decent. So I went on splits this past week with Elder's Tauvaka and Makasini and the guy we taught is pretty difficult. He doesn’t believe God would send Jesus to the Earth and than have the gospel taken away... I want to go back and talk more with him cuz I feel like I have good answers for his questions! He just thinks too hard and studies too many different religions. On the way back from that lesson it started POURING and I mean POURING!!! First Tongan rainstorm.  It was nice haha. It wasn’t even that cold! And it is getting into the Hot season but it is already soooo hot! I am going to be so scuzzy when i get home.  I am already apologizing for it hahaha.

We went from the lesson to help with a YSA activity with the sister missionaries and those guys were CRAZY you have no idea. I couldn’t hear a THING! Afterwards they had PLATES full of food for every single person there. It was insane!  J We went on vilo hoa or companion exchanges for the day on Friday and Saturday so me and Elder Ika were with Elder Tauvaka! He is funny and he is from Australia so his accent just adds to it haha we went and checked to see if a guy was baptized and something weird happened... he is a member with a membership number and all but no baptism, so we have no idea what to really do haha they will figure something out I guess since I will be gone anyways! Sister Maile made me my first Tongan Name tag so I am now Elder Hanisimani! Strange haha so we aren’t supposed to really go out tracting and we have no active investigators so we really just go around to members houses and talk to them! One of the families we go to is Elder Ika's uncle and they always make me keke (scones made of just water, flour and sugar and than fried) I played cricket with his little cousins and their friends but I just had them throw it like a baseball haha. I would just keep hitting it and they would go and get it and pitch it to me again and laugh if I missed haha. That went on for like a half hour. I like playing games like that with the kids. it's always fun! So somewhat of a Funny story! We were walking to Liahona to switch back to our normal companionships and we stopped a van and they gave us a ride! The van had a full on system in it and everything, BLASTING Thrift Shop by Macklemore (unedited) ha it was crazy.... turns out he is the first counselor in a bishopric here in Liahona! hahaha made me laugh! That’s basically my week! Hope all is well there! Love you all! Write again soon! I guess email isn't the best in my area so sorry if there are weeks after weeks you don't get anything!  If I don't get email I will write a letter and have the office send it off! Love you!

My new name.

Playing cricket.

After walking all day!  Scuzzy!

After a good scrub!  Still kinds scuzzy!

Arrived in Tonga!

Week one in Tonga was pretty good. It went pretty fast. I was surprised! The night before we flew out it was Elder Swan's birthday so we had pumpkin bars with candles on them, confetti poppers and fake mustaches and celebrated his birthday. it was fun! The next day was Sunday, the day we left. It was hard. I was crying a lot ha but I got over it once we were out of the MTC. haha.

We sat in the Salt Lake airport for 4 hours cuz the plane had problems. We all loaded and they kicked us off the plane so they could fix the door that almost came off! So we just all sat around, some of us on pay phones and some of us were on phones and stuff, just waiting for the plane. About 6 of us went to Café Rio and a lady bought all of our food! It was awesome!  Afterwards I was sitting around waiting to use the pay phones when a lady sat next to me and we started talking! I gave her a Book of Mormon card and it turned out that her grandma was a member so she had her old Book of Mormon! I told her to try and read it or to go to Mormon.org to find out more. it was cool! The whole trip I handed out 3 cards it was nice haha.

Once we finally got onto the plane it was all good from there, smooth landing in LA where Elder Ulukivaiola's parents and family members met us to give us food. it was alright (He had a migraine and couldn’t eat.)  Me and Elder Grant then went to call people and were there for a couple hours, when they all left us! We didn't know where they went so we had to go and figure out where they had all gone, which was to the gate. On the plane they had free pillows, blankets, toothbrush and toothpaste, the whole thing. it was awesome! other than the whole sitting on a plane for 10 hours between the two biggest missionaries that came with us, Elder Jones and Elder Lavaka.... haha

Once in Fiji we sat around for another 8 hours it was soooooo boring! I slept a little, had two ice cream filled crepes, a sandwich with fries and some pop, than emailed a little cuz there was absolutely nothing to do! We then went to Tonga! Only an hour and 15 minute flight so that was nice! I can barely tell any difference in humidity! It’s just always HOT... no rain yet! But anyways once we got to the airport we walked through, got our bags and everything and then went to the Mission President’s house and ate and met some of the senior missionary couples! Afterwards they took us to where we would stay the first night, across the street at Liahona (a church owned school)! I slept in the living room where they had some extra mattresses laid out.  It was me Elder Bunting and Elder Harris in there. Elder Bunting is my favorite. We have the exact same personality haha.

The next day we woke up for breakfast then went to the church down the road and had an orientation, where they told us our companion and where we would serve.  I am going to Vava'u but I am here for two weeks until the boat leaves! I am in a village called Koloa I think!   I guess the girls there are crazy and always trying to flirt with the missionaries haha but after that we went and took pictures with the president and stuff.  It was cool! Elder Steele who went to Eagle High School gave me a Tupenu and a tauvala, (I still can’t spell in Tongan, don't judge) and some other Elder gave me a Kafa, the rope that holds it on. The next day I went to town and got my own Tupenu!

The first day after picture we had a baptism! Elder Grant did it in Tongan it was cool! I have my first one tomorrow!!!! Exciting I know I know haha the first night me and Elder Grant went with the AP's since our house is just down the road from the Mission Office, and they took us and got sandwiches and stuff than drove around and saw some of the other elders and how they were settling in! it was nice haha the rest of the week we each (me and Elder Grant) taught some simple messages and stuff it was cool! Our Tongan sucks though haha ya nothing much else has really happened other than I have been sick and had no appetite the whole time here.... But I love it here! Already getting eaten alive by bugs, 11 bites on my right foot but other than always being covered in dirt, sweat and bugs it is amazing! Those things don't even bother me that much surprisingly I have just dealt with them.  It’s just the food.... haha but all is well!!! Love you all! 'Ofa lahi 'atu!!!

Elder Hunisimani

With the Mission President and his wife.

New elders arriving in Tonga this week.

Elders who will be serving in Vava'u.

Money from Fiji.  Way cool.

Temple in Tonga.

My new clothes!  :)

Last week in the MTC

This week was FILLED with trips off campus! My companion was awake and up throwing water balloons in the bathroom at the Fijian elders who are way cool! He was running out the bathroom when Fiji threw one at the ground in front of him, he slipped and went full force into the tile covered wall, knee first! So that was Saturday night, he got a blessing ten minutes after cuz he couldn't walk on it, Sunday used crutches, Monday through Wednesday was full of doctors visits, off campus shuttle rides, and missing meals.... and it turns out he is perfectly fine! went yesterday to get it drained but the doctor said he was fine and so we sat for over an hour waiting for the shuttle! So ya travel plans for Sunday. (all times local for that airport) So we go from Salt Lake to LAX at 3:40 p.m. til 4:30. Than we sit at LAX for 7 hours! Phone calls will be then! So then at 11:30 p.m. we head to Fiji, arriving at 5:30! Then at Fiji we have another 8 hour layover..... Then from 1:30 to about 3:30 we fly from Fiji to Tonga! Altogether it is about 16 hours of flying with 15 hours of layovers.....Chilling in a suit.... not being able to do anything.... exciting I know haha so idk what else really happened this week! i missed lots of class time cuz I was sitting in Doctors office waiting rooms all week pretty much! A few days there wer huge down pours but nothing too bad :) I love the rain now :) Anyways talk to you guys on Sunday! Expect a call around 5:30 :) Love you all!

Elder Huntsman

Proverbs 3:5-6  Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

 O ya! so the big rain storm last week that we had to walk back from the Marriott Center in ruined my temple recommend so i had to get a new one so it was fun going and talking with one of the members of the MTC presidency!

Also-- would it be possible for Kayleigh to send some more Nike socks? i lost one of my elites in the dryer and the Nike dri fit socks (not elites but one step better than normal Nikes) are amazing so if Kayleigh could send some of those it would be great! umm i am sending a package home hopefully Saturday! ha Love you all!   Kayleigh might know how to use the burner phone..... it’s just so i wouldn’t have to sit at a pay phone for so long...... but phone cards are ok! Thank you!!

I found this video of the boys singing in Tongan!

Watch for Kamden!