Tonga Trip - Last day

Our last night in Tonga we went to a viewing

of a woman that some of my parents friends knew

quite well. She had a disease since birth where her

right leg kept growing and it was enormous. It

got where she was unable to walk for the last

year of her life. She was still young and had

a 1 year old and 3 year old. She also had her

first born child die very young from a heart defect.

On her last c-section she wasn't allowed any

medication, including an epidural or anything

else to numb her. She had to endure it all. I

will not complain again about getting c-sections.

These 2 women wore the full outfit because

they knew the woman well and were honored guests.

They even laid out palm leaves and tapa cloth

to sit on. They were all sitting "indian style"

and singing songs. It was beautiful to hear

them all singing.

This is the kings palace. It is like the parliament

where work is done. He lives in a separate palace.

This building was built in the 1800's.

The hospital OR

The waiting room

Random wires hanging down

This is a main hallway.

We then went to the Tongan cultural center.

It was really neat. The museum had mostly artifacts

from Captain cook. He gave the king a tortoise

as a gift on his last voyage and it lived until the

1970's. They have it preserved here.

He is holding up what the bark of the tree

looks like before and after when made into

the Tapa cloth.

They still make the tapa cloth by hand. The

women make it all. They bang it with the large

wooden mallet until it is a certain width. You can

hear the banging around the villages all day long.

Some newly planted banana trees

Weaving a mat

Showing us how to cut open a coconut.

Shaving the coconut, it was so yummy

Of course some singing and dancing.

Enjoying our refreshments afterwards. A fruit

plate with some coconut water.

Here are some random shots around town.

The minced meat sold at every little store. They

love it.

A little store by my parents house. The students

go to the Liahona school across from my parents.

More shots of the stores

This is the mission office and you can see the

temple in the distance. It is just across the street.

On the left is the mission office and the white

car is in front of my parents house.

My parents house. They have an avocado tree

in their front yard.

For my small handful of readers, I hope you

enjoyed seeing about our trip to Tonga. We had

a great time and I am glad David insisted we go.