Search, Ponder & the Pacific: The Friendly Islands of Tonga

Elder Jacobsen and I were able to return to Tongatapu, Tonga in November, 2013 to visit three ITEP Missionary Couples assigned to Liahona High School and Middle Schools and meet with administrators and counselors. The ITEP Missionary couples provide professional development to the teachers, administrators, and counselors in the church schools offered in conjunction with BYUH. Tonga has eight church schools, Liahona High School being the largest in the Pacific with around 1200 students.There are also five middle schools in Tonga. One of the couples works with all five middle schools (two of which are on different islands from Tongatapu). We had a great trip and below are a few of the pictures.

Sister and Elder Aland are preparing for the BYUH classes they will teach at Liahona High School in Tonga.

The school counselors at Liahona High School welcomed us with fresh flower lei's as we arrived. It has been a joy to work with these lovely people. From left; Sila Fonua, Elder Jacobsen, Vika Kafusi, Sister Jacobsen, and Vika Kivalu.

Elder and Sister Meyers are the newest ITEP missionaries focusing on the vocational programs at Liahona and Saineha High School. Sister Meyers has a nursing background and Elder Meyers is a former National Teacher of the Year. They have a great influence on the teachers of all the vocational programs.

This sticker was found in one of the shops at Liahona High School.

Sister Johnson and Sister Aland take us on a quick tour through the market. It is much busier on Saturdays with even more vendors selling their goods.

This is the Tonga domestic airport where we waited for our 10 minute flight to Eua, where Eua Middle School is located. The interesting part of this experience is having to get on the scales and be weighed. Guess they don't know the taboo on asking a woman to divulge her weight. :)

Our plane is the little one. :) It brought me back to my childhood when my Dad would fly our family to places in even smaller planes.

Our pilot greeted us and went through the safety check.There were 10 seats on the airplane. The pilot is from Kiribati, where another of our church schools is located, so he recognized our name badges and knows all about the schools and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Flying over Tongatapu.

The Eua airport.

The ground crew unloads the baggage upon our arrival in Eua.

This is the beach in front of our hotel in Eua. There is one flight a day to Eua so a visit there requires an overnight stay. We spent some time walking on the beach before dinner.

My footprints in the sand. :)

What a sunset!

This beautiful breakfast awaited us the next morning arranged by Folau Kioa, Assistant Manager of Church Schools, who accompanied us to Eua. Folau is well-loved in Tonga and we were treated like royalty while we visited because we were with him and because that is how Tongans treat their guests.

We arrived at Eua Middle School to be greeted by this large welcome sign, the three top students and the principal, Aloine.We were also given fresh flower lei's.

Although school had finished for the year the week before we visited most of the Grade 9 students came back to present to us. Elder Jacobsen and I were the only guests in the audience, along with Folau, the principal and her husband (who was our excellent tour guide).

Each term the students present an assembly on the things they have learned in each of their classes.They presented their fourth term assembly to us. It was impressive. The four teachers at the school were also there through the assembly. The whole presentation lasted three hours, which included remarks from Folau and us to the students at the end and the giving of the student's hand-made gifts to us.

Making Tapa cloth from the bark of the Mulberry tree is an important cultural practice in Tonga. The tapa cloth is used for paintings and other arts and crafts. The student is demonstrating step one of the 10 step process to make the tapa cloth (they showed us all 10 steps). One of the gifts the students gave us at the end was tapa cloth they had made and painted. We will treasure their gifts to us.

There is always dancing. The Tongan people love to dance and sing and they are really good at it.

This beautiful young lady was the Dux, the term used for the top student in the class. Next year she will attend Liahona High School on the island of Tongatapu and live in the dorms. Most of these Grade 9 students will do the same. There is a government high school on the island of Eua so a few students may choose to remain in Eua for high school.

Folau, on the left, is joined by three of the teachers and Aloine, the principal, in blue. To the right of Elder Jacobsen is Aloine's husband who is the Stake President on the island and was a wonderful host to us. He drove us to see a few sights on the island and joined us for lunch before we went to the airport for our afternoon flight back to Tongatapu.

The fresh flower leis are, in and of themselves, works or art. They are carefully designed and stitched together. In addition to being beautiful they are very fragrant.

This sign is located at the Eua airport and gives a good idea of the beauty of the tiny island. Eua is where the giant ovava tree can be found which was used as the model for the trees in the movie Avatar. We were able to see the tree but the pictures I took do not capture the majesty of the tree.

There is a great cultural show and dinner place right on the beach in Tongatapu called Oholai. Upon returning from Eua in the evening we went directly there with the three ITEP couples. There was entertainment while we ate our feast of roast pig and more dancing and singing after in a cave right next to where we ate dinner.

Of course we were given lei's as we arrived at Oholei's. Here are Elder and Sister Johnson and Elder and Sister Aland enjoying their dinner.

We sat with Elder and Sister Meyers while we enjoyed our dinner.

There was great dancing entertainment after dinner in "the cave".

The next day the counselors gave us more beautiful lei's as we started the morning with a devotional and breakfast before our meetings began. Vika Kaufusi presents the lei to me and Vika Kivalu presents the lei to Elder Jacobsen.

Sila prepared us a delicious breakfast.

Moana Kupu, counselor for the Middle Schools, also presented us with lei's before our meetings. The generous nature of the Tongan people is overwhelming. They are a wonderful!

Fehi Fifita is the principal of Liahona High School. She just completed her first year and had a major impact on the school. She is wise and gentle and yet commands great respect among those she leads and the students. What a pleasure to work with her and learn from her.

After our last meeting of the day we took a quick tour to sites around the island. Elder and Sister Johnson showed us one of their favorite places, a place that is called "the cliffs".

Elder and Sister Aland

The Johnsons and the Alands pose for a picture with Elder Jacobsen in front of the Temple, which is located right next to the high school and the housing where the senior missionary couples live on the Liahona High School grounds. We were able to attend the one English session at the temple on Thursday evening.

Our last day in Tonga started with the presentation of another lei from the counselors before we started our morning of training.

Sister Meyers looked great in her self-made Tongan dress and apron (purchased from the market).

Our trip to Tonga coincided with the visit of Elder and Sister Hallstrom. Elder Hallstrom is a General Authority of the church who sits on the Board of Education for the Church. Although he grew up in Hawaii and didn't wear shoes until he entered first grade, he had not been to Tonga before or to a church school. We were able to observe his meeting with some students from the high school. During the interview the students expressed their gratitude to be able to come to Liahona to learn. Two of the students are from Papua, New Guinea.

The ITEP missionaries serve many roles in their calling. In their positions as missionaries they are accorded great respect and are often asked to present awards to the students or help out with other important ceremonial events.In this picture they are waiting to present certificates to the students at the end of year awards ceremony.

The only "two headed" palm tree in Tonga. Have you ever seen one? I haven't!

These bats are referred to as Flying Foxes. They are very large!

The three ITEP Senior Missionary couples have a great positive effect on the schools in Tongatapu by continually helping teachers and administrators learn and grow in their abilities as educators. The ITEP program is truly inspired and Elder Jacobsen and I are grateful for these couples and the sacrifices they have made to spend 18 months away from their families and give everything to improve the lives of a people who live a half a world away.