Elder Anderson in Tonga

So today is transfers but I have no idea what is going on because we don’t have a phone and our zone leader doesn’t tell us about anything 'til right when it happens! This week was really back and forth for me! haha

So Tuesday we had a district meeting! Our zone leaders have been doing them for us because we don’t have a district leader! Our zone leader kept preaching false doctrine. It was annoying.... I tried to tell him that it was wrong and explain it to him but he would not listen.... so I did what I usually do when I am mad just sit there and not do anything haha. He knew I wasn’t happy but still wouldn’t listen to what I had to say to him. It was annoying.... so that was annoying me all week cuz I couldn’t call President to talk to him or anything and we had scheduled to do a vilo or switch so I could go to my old area to teach the Peace Corps lady with another white kid and we had cleared it up with my trainer who is our zone leader.  But his companion was the one that was teaching false doctrine and he told us we weren’t allowed to do it.... so he isn’t on the best page with the missionaries in his district cuz he has been doing similar things to everyone even people in the other zone...

But anyways, we have 2 baptisms today! And then hopefully another one or two this week! The work has been good! I will do my first confirmations on Sunday!!! haha We will see how that goes.... haha but the work has been good! My companion got another angatamaki, boil, on his leg this time just as disgusting as before! I will save your stomachs and not send you another picture hahahaha!

So a family here got two wooden crates of stuff from America this past week so we went to try and help them sort out everything but they thought we just went to get shampoo and stuff out of them.... so they just sat down until we took stuff and then told us we could go..... they don’t like accepting service.... their way of serving us is feeding us or giving us stuff but I just want to serve them! Our bishop here won’t let us join the ward when they do service for the widows here... but anyways haha!

Elder Neil L. Anderson came to Tonga! We didn’t get to shake his hand cuz I am on a different island..... but we watched him by satellite haha! So the zone leaders came and picked us up at 11 yesterday and said that he was doing a meeting with just the missionaries and it would be done at 3. We told our fafanga(our meal) that we would be back around three but the zone leaders are so out of it we didn’t get back 'til 9! So no food yesterday for us! It was again, annoying..... haha but I got over it ;) Anyways we gotta go get the font ready and stuff for the baptism so I will talk to you guys next week! I love you all! :)

Elder Huntsman

Happy Valentine's Day!

This week was kinda slow... Our baptisms haven’t been falling through because the people we are working with tell us not to contact our referrals they will just do it. So we tell them when and they don’t always follow through with it... but anyways we are HOPING to get 3 baptisms this week! My last week here maybe because transfers are next week! I like this area. The people are nice! But apparently this next transfer they are putting missionaries in each of the two villages I am in so it would only be one village for me which I don’t agree with having us be in such a small area because we barely can find stuff to do when we are in two villages.... but we will see how it goes!

We are teaching a man who has been baptized multiple times (different names) but still goes to the Catholic Church. We figured he has been taught enough. We don’t need to just sit him down and do the typical lessons but instead just answer the questions he has. Three questions and we went for an hour and a half to two hours because he loves to talk haha and for everything we teach he needs a bible scripture to back it up so that has been hard since every church uses a differently translated bible.... ha but I bore my testimony on the Book of Mormon and how it has helped me and I started crying so he said he was going to go home and read the chapter that I said had helped me the most out here! I think he is beginning to understand us more so we will see!

Other than that it was just my birthday and stuff! And yes mom I did wait til Valentine’s Day to open my Valentine/present haha! Thanks for everything! It has been going good here in Ha'alaufuli and Ta'anea here in Vava'u! This island (Vava’u) really is better to the eyes than Tonga. It is beautiful haha but anyways it is POURING outside! One minute sun, next minute rain haha just like Idaho!!! Anyways all is well here in Tonga!

Sorry if I don’t email next week. It’s transfers and I don’t know what’s going on! Oh yeah so just like at home I would just start getting used to the food, it’s happening here.... There is very little variety so ya it’s the same thing all the time ha but I will live for 17 months!!! Haha love you all!!!

 Elder Huntsman

Fafanga for my B-Day! They cooked me a pig and I ate so much....... 

most I have ever eaten in my life!!!

Some of the cake and desserts people made me haha! 

I am loved here so don’t worry mom ;)

A bat our bishop shot.

Happy 19th Birthday!

So this week was decent haha. Two days we had to stay in and rest because my companion had a HUGE angatamaki (boil) on his neck!!! It was disgusting. We went to the doctor for it and he sat down for 30 seconds and the doctor just wrote a prescription for antibiotics and didn’t even look at it. But it was massive and once it was clean it was a massive hole in his neck haha! Ya I almost threw up! A lady in one of our wards did a homemade remedy with leaves that she would chew and put on his neck for the day and it was good after 3 days!

But other than that we have been working hard! We have created what we call Vilo Hoa where we go around with either the kau talavou mamalohi (the inactive young men) or the teuteu faifekau (the ones preparing for missions). It just depends on the ward. We split up and go a'ahi (visit) the kau mamalohi (inactive members) and invite them to church so Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday we do that with each of the 4 wards. One day we taught 11 lessons and got 4 referrals! It went really good!

People always ask how old we are and when they hear that we are only 18 (now 19 for me) they are like blown away! One girl said I look like 23 which I cannot see haha but since almost everyone asks that I say "oku ta'u taha valu au ka hoku birthday i he uike kaha'u" (I am 18 but my birthday is next week). So a lot of people know it's my birthday today haha so I have already got 3 cakes and 2 plates of cinnamon rolls and it is only 12 o'clock! The people in these two villages are so nice especially since I am a papalangi (white man) haha!

I got the plunger thing mom. (I sent a MobileWasher - Hand Operated Clothes Washer.) I got the bag from the Filimoeatu's and my Christmas package so thanks for everything! We popped the lock off the bag in 5 seconds with a bobby pin. We actually had one cuz to hold our tauvala to make it look good we use those or a pin.  I still haven’t gotten the box from the ward but will probably get it next month haha. So the plunger thing I didn’t open til after doing laundry this morning.... haha I was wondering what the heck that cone thing was with a wooden stick! But it should help a lot haha! :)

We have a baptism this week depending on the girls’ parents! Here, even if they are 24 we have to make sure it is ok with their parents because if not they get mad and it’s like a battle between the churches! One guy we are teaching was baptized already but the day before the confirmation he was at the beach with his friends and his family came with the police to take him away from the LDS boys.... it’s crazy!

So one day at fafanga we ate a TON!!! And afterwards we asked if there was anything we could help him with and he said “No, I heard your prayer when you blessed the food and you blessed my family so that is all I can ask. That is all that I need from you. My family will get many blessings from the Lord by us feeding you.” I almost cried right there ha! It is amazing the members’ faith here! So we talked to a guy who is already baptized and is very welcoming to us but goes to the Catholic Church. We asked him why people are so against us teaching them. He says they will listen but right when we talk about the BOM they get scared and won’t talk because they know that once they read it they will believe it all ha! Like we brainwash them or something! So that is something that is hard for us because EVERYONE knows the faifekau Mamonga (Mormon missionaries) here because we are EVERYWHERE ha! That’s why we usually baptize kids cuz they aren’t as stubborn and will listen to us!

Anyways today is P-Day and my B-Day so I am going to go play some volleyball and eat another cake and some puaka (pig)!!! haha Love you all and I hope that everything continues to go well!! Love you all!

Much Love,

Elder Hanisimani

Our baptism.

My comp's boil.  Haha.  He said you could post the picture.
The leaf treatment is working.

After the treatment. Straight up hole in his neck!

Ha'alaufuli and Ta'anea

This week!

So it started out…Tuesday it was POURING rain walking to fafanga (dinner). Then after fafanga we were supposed to walk to my old village for a district meeting so Tu'akalau and I started walking in the pouring rain! It was nice ha but our planners and white handbooks got soaked.... Right when we were getting into the village, they called us and said it was canceled because the Zone Leaders were coming to bring them to the airport to go to Tonga.... So we walked all that way just to go right back haha. We were soooooo soaked!!! But I had a smile the whole time! Surprising I know! But we were able to baptize our Laumalie this week! Mela'ia Hoko! I did the baptism but sorry mom I can’t send pics. I don’t know where my adapter is haha. No surprise there! But this week we plan to have two more baptisms!! Friday night walking back to our house a guy stopped us and said he wants to be baptized so he can serve a mission like us! He was already baptized but not confirmed! So this week we hope to get that all done. He seems excited! We also have two others we are teaching and hope to baptize one of them! We have been working hard and I ALWAYS come home exhausted!!! So I am very happy haha. Yesterday Elder Tu'akalau confirmed Mela'ia so that was good! But my comp has a HUGE angatamaki (boil) growing on his neck (common from infected bug bites). It is pretty gross!!! Haha I can’t handle popping it... it’s gross haha but anyways other than that the week was just another week! Working hard and getting tan/dirty/sweaty/too many things haha!  I am loving it though! 6 months down, 18 to go! Now it’s like a sister missionary!!! Haha anyways they told us they were cooking a dog and some pigs for P-day so I am going to go check that out! Love you all!!!! Oh wait, Mom, so this lady in Ta'anea has a son serving a mission in Papua New Guinea so she said I can be her son this year cuz I think his birthday is in February too! She said she will make me a cake! 3 Families actually said they will make me cake so I am excited for next p day! :) haha Love you guys stay good!

Helaman 14 is a good scripture about Christ’s eternal role!

Much Love,

Elder Hanisimani

P.S.To answer your questions:  Yes Vika and Danny got the package to Tonga. They called from a missionary’s phone. But I don’t know when I will get the package from the mission home.  I still haven’t gotten the Christmas package yet.  Yes I bore my testimony today in one ward after we did the confirmation. One village is helping us a lot and the other I feel is maybe starting to trust us again cuz they see us working! I don’t know how big my village is in miles. Google map it haha! It’s all of Ha'alaufuli and Ta'anea. The Chinese store is just an import store. Everything is good here in my new house. There is a mouse in our attic here too! Electricity and everything works fine but it just feels smaller to me ha!

Transferred to Ha'alaufuli/Ta'anea

How was  your trip to Maine and the funeral?  I wish I could have been there with you.  I miss Maine.  

This week has been great! We had a zone meeting and interviews with President and I got transferred to the village over-- Ha'alaufuli/Ta'anea!! I love this area! I am working with Elder Tu'akalau! Remember, my roommate from the MTC! I am senior companion! Haha! We have our first baptism Wednesday! It feels good to actually work.

The kaingalotu (members) are starting to trust us because they see us working!!! We have our first baptism Wednesday!!! We have taught this girl every day since Saturday and hope to baptize her!!! And tonight for Family Home Evening we have had 3 families invite us over and they said they will have people/families for us to teach! It has been hard because I am Senior Companion now but we work really well because we stayed in the same room in the MTC haha! His language has progressed really well so it’s good!

I love everything here right now! So I guess in March Elder Neil L. Anderson is coming to do a mission tour in Tonga!!! Hopefully I can see him. We saw him in the MTC! Anyways I am just happy to be working so well with my companion and getting the work going here! The Fale Siana (Chinese Store) is right down the road from our house so we sit out there at night cuz so many people come there to get food for the next day! That is how we have our baptism this week is from asking people we see walk by haha I love it! Anyways I love you all! Sorry my letters are always so short. Just know that I love you all and everything is great here!

Ofa Lahi Atu Kimoutolu! <3

Elder Hanisimani

Grampy Pete Passed Away

We didn't have the mission conference this week because of everything happening on Ha'apai. There is nothing that is needed service wise here from the cyclone.  It’s just hot as heck and the mosquitos are crazy! Thirty missionaries from Tonga are going to Ha'apai to help and I heard 3 boats got sent here by the Church so there is lots of help going on!

I still haven't been to the temple here, mostly because I am on a completely different island. But I keep hearing that sometime they are going to bring us all in to go to the temple but I don't think that that will ever happen.

Sorry to hear about Grampy Pete.... Now you have some temple work to do mom! Get his stuff done so that he can have the same happiness as us! I probably won’t see the new temple video til I return so I will have to wait.

This week we taught a lot more than usual! We stayed away from our house and found new people to teach!  But our two new investigators that are progressing the best return to Tonga this week so that isn't any fun... But the Peace Corp Kate is returning this week so we will see if she read the Book of Mormon I gave her. Mom, do you remember where I guessed I’d serve If I got a call in America???? Wisconsin, the place where she is from haha! God put me here for a reason and I found it! haha I hope she decides to get baptized!

So in our lessons we teach in Tongan and my comp hasn't been letting me do anything but my testimony so that sucks... I talked to him and not much changed.... we will see how this week goes and if I get to talk to president or not!

Anyways I love you all! Hope all is well! Sorry no pictures. Nothing happens.... I never take pictures anymore!  Tell Karissa to write me! Once every 4 months is good ;) Love you all talk next week!

Elder Huntsman

Cyclone Ian's Destruction in Ha'apai

The Ha'apai Island Group is just south of Kamden's Vava'u Islands.  Amazingly there were few injuries or deaths reported.  We're so grateful that Kamden was kept out of harm's way.  I spent the day in prayer and temple worship and felt at peace.  Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Tonga now.  These photos were taken by Digicel Tonga employees.  As always, click on photo to enlarge. ~Stephanie

Major destruction!

Roofs torn off!

Homes and other buildings flattened!

Belongings scattered.

Still smiling!

This courthouse was lifted right off its foundation and set back down.
Notice where the steps to the door are!

Families and pets displaced!

Get to work, Elders!