Connor left the MTC yesterday en route to Tonga. He was able to call us from the airports as he made his way around the world. As this was our first conversation in six weeks, we had lots of questions. Here are some of the more memorable excerpts of our conversations:
Connor: (for some reason all of our children repeat our name twice in addressing us:)
"Dad, Dad! Are you by your computer?"
Kip: "Yes"
Connor: Okay, look up Tonga on Google Earth. We could do research on Tonga during our down time. Okay, once you are there, go to the bottom right corner of the main island, Tongatapu. See that line? Zoom in on it. That is the international airport of Tonga!"
Here is the link to Tongatapu, the main island of Tonga:
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Tonga&hl=en&ll=-21.164563,-175.173569&spn=0.230839,0.483913&sll=37.269174,-119.306607&sspn=25.127739,61.940918&oq=Tong&t=h&hnear=Tonga&z=13
Bennett: "Connor, what do you think it will be like in Tonga?"
Connor: "Hot and Happy!"
Mom: "Do you get to ride a bike or walk?"
Connor: "The joke is: Yes, you could ride a bike if you could find somewhere to get it up to speed!"
Jackson: "What about the food?
Connor: "They eat horse, dog, pork, fish and lamb."
Connor: "They eat with their fingers."
Bennett: "I'll send you a fork."
Connor: "I am very excited because it is the start of mango season. I am bummed because I missed pineapple season."
Mom: "What kind of housing will you have?"
Connor: "You know the huts from "The Other Side of Heaven"? Yeah, well, like that."
Connor: "The island groups of Ha'apai and Vava'u still run on gas lamps. There is very little electricity. Some of the islands have big reefs and the large boats cannot get into the harbors, so they bring you as close as they can, then you jump in and swim to the smaller boats that come out to meet you."
Mom: "What happens to your luggage?"
Connor: "It gets wet, too."
Mom: "It's a good thing I sent all those ziploc bags to keep your books and batteries dry!"
Connor: "Dad, Dad, go to the little tiny island almost all the way to Samoa. It is called Niuatoputapu Island. This is the island that Elder Groberg served on during his mission. If you zoom in on the bottom left of the island there is a dirt strip. That is the airport. If you serve here, you hope you can fly back for zone conference because the ferry from here takes 24 hours, one way!"
Here is the link to Niuatoputapu Island:
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Niuatoputapu,+Niuas,+Tonga&hl=en&sll=-21.164563,-175.173569&sspn=0.230839,0.483913&oq=Niuatoputapu+&t=h&hnear=Niuatoputapu&z=15
Mom:"What is the plan when you arrive in Nuku'alofa?
Connor:"The AP's will meet us at the airport. We will go to the mission home for dinner with the President and his wife. After that, we have rooms at the Liahona High School where we are supposed to go and sleep for the next day. After our day of sleeping we will get our new companions and be assigned to our areas." ( You can see Liahona High School on the map of Tongatapu, it is in the middle and left of the airport))
Jackson: "What will you be doing?"
Connor: "Most of the area is farming. We will have knives and be out doing service on the farms. Apparently, we will need knives to cut open coconuts and fruit."
Connor: "It's going to be an exciting time in Tonga, They are getting a new King, having a royal wedding and we are getting a new Mission President in July. So there will be lots of cool ceremonies and events!"
Letters take between 2 and 4 weeks to arrive in Tonga. Drop him a note if you can because he will most likely only be receiving snail mail. His P-day is on Monday. If he has email capability I will post his letters. If not, I will transcribe his letters as they come in the mail.
Thanks for all your prayers and support.
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