Longolongo

Hey everybody,

This week has been a good one. It's sure a lot different here than Fatumu. To be honest I've had a little culture shocked in this area, haha. A ton of things have happened in this last week so I think I'll go with the bullets.

- Companion.  Elder Woods from Tennessee. Oh yeah! He's been out 8 months and has been in this area one transfer before me. Super tight guy.  At the end of this transfer I'll know everything about Tennessee football, haha. 

- Kolipoki.  (Elder Groberg from the Other side of Heaven, was in the quorum of seventy, one of the, if not the biggest, legends in Tonga) came to Tonga this last week. We got to have a conference with him and all the missionaries in Tonga. He and his wife are now really old, but he was amazing.  He started out in English then mid-sentence switched to Tongan and did his whole talk in Tongan. His Tongan was still crazy good for being 83 years of age. He told some cool story's about following the spirit and the priesthood. My favorite line was when he said that we should have no fear of anything. We have the power of God with us. The only thing we should be afraid of is being fakapikopiko (lazy) or not living  right. It was a really good conference and the spirit was strong.

- My area, Longolongo. My old area was probably a little bigger in size, but this place is like a town. There are people here. Comparisons between my old and new area: In my old area there were a total of three 2-story houses. Here the 2-story houses are almost every other house.  In Fatumu I would walk out of my house looked down the street and see nobody there. In Longolongo people are out walking and driving and actually going places. Fatumu had 2 shops, Longolongo has 6-7 walk-in shops, an ice cream shop and COSTLO 

Costlo is the Tongan version of Costco and all the products are the same but it's really small.  I walked in and saw ice cream sandwiches and root beer, my jaw dropped, walked down the tiny isle saw the bacon, started to tear up, turned around and saw the captain Crunch, started to bawl. I definitely dropped 30 pa'anga for a 3 pack of Captain Crunch.  I have been eating Captain Crunch everyday this week, maaaaan it's so good, (sorry Mom). 

-We cover 2 wards which are really big. At Church my last week in  Lavengatonga there was about 20 people. Here there are about 150 or so in each ward. 

- One thing about last transfer was that I spoke Tongan all day everyday. With a Tongan comp in a small area where most people work in Uta (the bush),  I didn't speak a lot of English. Here EVERYBODY speaks English. It's insane. There are a lot of people who have English as their first language. All the meetings and stuff are in Tongan but if anybody says anything in English it's alright. It's been hard because my comp and I are the two whitest guys in the mission. A red head from Tennessee and a Blond (now almost white) kid from Oregon means everybody speaks to us in English which is way annoying.  

- Two downsides of the area:

1. An insane amount of dogs. We walk down the streets in our area and are always having to fend off dogs.

2. Everybody goes to work during the day. My question is what do you do during the day when everybody is gone to work? In my old area people just worked in the bush and worked whenever they wanted. People here actually have 9-5 jobs, but the nights are way good and we get a lot done after 6.

- We have two investigators with baptismal dates on the 28th. They are both youth and both have really good fellowshipers. Nisi is super smart. We kind of have to draw out answers of Leatu'u but he's great too.

- I'm only 176! I've been losing weight.

Life has been great. I testify the church is true and that the gospel of Jesus Christ is how we find peace in our lives. 

Ofa Atu,

Elder Wilson

Hey family,

Sorry, I don't have a lot of time. After 6 months of of being in the small but amazing town of Fatumu I am finally leaving. Man I love that place too much. But I'm going to LONGOLONGO. My new companion is Elder Woods from Tennessee, my first Palangi companion, and  he is already so awesome. 

Longolongo is right next to town and there are a lot of people here. I'm finally going to see people walking on the street. I already love it here. My mission quarters is a part of the Church and I'm right next to the basketball court so life is good. But, I got sick this week and my comp got bit by a Molokau so we were very unproductive.  I'm ready to get to work in this new area. My comp told me we have 2-3 new investigators already and baptisms set up. 

I'm gonna miss Fatumu and the people. It's been my favorite area and I almost cried saying goodbye to my Bishop and his brother. That's the first place I'll go to when I come back to Tonga some day. 

Love you all. Life is great from this side of Heaven. 

Ofa Atu,

Elder Wilson

P.S. Pictures below are of the baptisms last week in Fatumu.

Papi

Hi everybody! 

This week was a pretty crazy week including a lot of fasting, getting sick again, and seeing a lot of miracles. At the start of the week we had three investigators with potential to get baptized on Saturday, but all of them were so TA'EPAU (unsure). One didn't show up to her baptismal interview on Friday and we learned that she was in town with her family and it was unclear when she was coming back. We fasted and prayed that she would be able to come back to do the interview and then be baptized. As we were walking to her house the next morning she pulled up in her family's car. We had the interview, and she was baptized. She then proceeded to give the absolute BOMB testimony at the baptism and later at church. I know that she is going to be a strong member.

What we needed to know about E and her son was their true feelings about the church. They've been taught on and off by 7-8 missionaries. We went over to her house on Thursday and she said she wanted to be baptized. I was a little skeptical and wanted to know if she understood everything that she's been taught. We asked her the baptism questions and I was blown away by her answers. I felt really good that she could be baptized with her son. She also gave a really great testimony at the baptism which went really well. My comp Elder Loto'aniu did all the baptisms. I'll make sure to send pictures next week. 

One thing I learned a lot about this week, and on my mission, is fasting. When we fast we need to have a purpose. If we fast without one it's fiekaia no ia (no eating without a purpose). But if we make a real sacrifice to God he will bless us. 

Random things:

- I have officially gone to war with the mosquitoes in our house

- Now we back at square 1, nobody to teach

- Ate fried oreos. 

Ofa Atu,

 

Elder Wilson

Hey family and friends,

This week has been a very good week. Our investigator Palu has been progressing super well. Our Bishop and his wife went to her house and talked to her parents and looked likes the baptism is going to go through this Saturday. To be honest it is kind of a miracle to have the opportunity to teach Palu. The work has been so slow in this area and having the opportunity to even teach is rare, and to find somebody to baptize is even rarer.  She is super awesome and has already been taught by missionaries before, and I can see that she already has a super strong testimony of the church. 

  

Our other two investigators, Epenisa and her son are doing iffy jiffy. We are just trying to make sure she actually has a true heart to join the church. We have a baptismal date with her on Saturday as well. We'll hope for a miracle and will work hard and see what happens.

Elder Loto'aniu and I gave talks in Fatumu yesterday and it actually went pretty well. He spoke about the Book of Mormon and I spoke about missionary work and how we need to work together with the missionaries. Maybe its because there was only 30-35 people in church, but I feel like I've been getting a lot better at giving talks in church. 

We had a ward activity night on Friday. We invited every family in the ward (5) to come to it with an activity and to invite a nonmember family to come. We started at 7... nobody was there. Fast forward 40 minutes of us feeling bad and then everybody showed up. haha. It went alright, a couple of non- member and a lot of less actives showed up. 

Besides that work has been going well, Hoping everything goes well for the baptism this Saturday. 

Ofa Atu ,

Elder Wilson

Malo e leiei,

It was super good to talk to everyone last week and the house is looking insanely nice.

  

This week was honestly a pretty long week that tested my patience. I think I had to kick youth out of our house 4 times after repeatedly telling them not to come in. Then I also got the fever and chills on Thursday and still haven't completely recovered from it. But last week is gone and this week is going to be a good one. 

The work has been going OK. We had the opportunity to teach our investigator, Palu, 3 times the past week. It's been a long time since I've actually got to teach an investigator who has a baptismal date and it's really fun. We are still waiting to know the true intent of her Dad to see if she can be baptized or not. Our other investigators have kind of gone hola (fled). We have gone to their house a bunch of times and nobody's there and we see them drive by and keep going. So we'll see about them. 

Last week randomly some less active youth came to church and told Bishop he wanted to come back to church. We have been with him a lot trying to help him stop smoking. I finally was able to make a map with all the houses, names and the church they belong to just to help out the future missionaries who are going to work in Fatumu.

One recent cool thing was a satellite conference yesterday with everybody on the islands of Tonga, Samoa, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tahiti, and Marshall Islands. It was a great conference and Elder Renlund, Elder Pearson, Stephen Owens, and Sister McConkie all spoke. A lot was spoken on faith and how the family is the first defense against Satan. 

I testify that God knows us all personally and that he can help us and that he overcame everything big and small, so that we can conquer all of our problems big and small. I love you all. READ THE BOOK OF MORMON.

--

Elder Wilson

Hey Everyone,

This week has been fun and interesting. To start off, I'm training and my companion is Elder Loto'aniu from Tonga and he's amazing. He comes from town and lived right next to a missionary house so he is super excited and wants to work hard. We are going to have a lot of fun in this area.

Speaking Tongan full time really hasn't been a hard adjustment, but I'm going to try and take advantage of the fact that I have a Tongan companion to learn a lot. He also really wants to learn English. 

This week was really fun because I got to go stay with the zone leaders until my comp came from the MTC in New Zealand on Thursday. So I got to chill with my comp in the office, Elder Gardner, for a couple days.

In terms of the work it's started to pick up a little bit. We have 3 investigators right now which is a miracle in and of itself. Hopefully we can see them progressing in the next couple of weeks and find new people to teach. 

I've been thinking a lot about how much the Church of Jesus Christ and His Gospel has blessed me. Even though times can get hard, God is always there, the Plan of Salvation is always there, and Jesus is reaching out to us. 

Love you all! Sorry I didn't get a chance to respond to all your emails. I'm SUPER excited for Mothers day next week. READ THE SCRIPTURES.

Elder Wilson

P.S.  Huge shout out to Peter Wilson and his letter, guy's a legend.

Hello Family and Friends,

It has been another good week in Fatumu. This week was transfers and we got the news that Elder Manu is going to Vava'u (a different island group) and I'm staying and training. Because of that I don't yet know who my new comp is but will find out on Wednesday.  It's kind of crazy to think that I'm going to be staying here for another 6-12 weeks in these tiny towns with little really to do. But I know that if I continue to work hard then my comp. and I will be able to see blessings.

This week was a pretty cool in terms of some things that we did. Last P-day we went to a cave in our district which was really interesting.  Then we got to go to the one resort in our area, and on this side of Tonga. It's famous for being one of the best places to eat in Tonga. Elder Manu and I went on Friday and ate some Feke (octupus) and some super good pig.  Out last day together we also had the chance to Tunu puaka( roast pig over a fire) which is so amazingly good.

Another experience from last week is that I was in Fuamotu, a little more advanced area in my district, and THE JAZZ/CLIPPER game came on the screen while we were talking to the dad of the home. The picture below shows how much self-mastery I have gained on my mission. 

I love you all, and I invite you all to take the Prophet's challenge at conference and read the Book of Mormon. Kinda crazy to think that I'm training. It's gonna be fun. 

OFA ATU

--

Elder Wilson