Dear People I Love,
I am here, sitting in some island in the
middle of the Pacific Ocean, lots of people, smells, and green plants.
Actually, psych; I’m in a nice air-conditioned office typing my life away in an
email to you wonderful people. Kinda the same surroundings, not. But the
exciting part is I get part of both worlds because if I take 10 steps to the
door of my office I will be confronted with the sweaty, humid heat, the sweet
perfume of burning trash and smoke, and the sounds of cars slowly driving down
the roads of Tonga. In about 20 minutes Fafanga will come, which means I will
eat some nice chicken, probably fried, but maybe if I’m lucky it will have
coconut milk and onions and be wrapped in taro leaves and cooked in an
underground oven called an Umu. Very delicious. If the people bringing my meal
are feeling especially generous, it will have a thing called Ufi, which is also
called yam, but it's nothing at all like the yams we have at home. It’s a
starchy white root, usually about the length of your arm and about 2-5 inches
thick. I love Ufi, but it's very expensive due to how long it takes to grow and
how difficult it is to plant and harvest.
Today I received a little slice of home
when I was able to watch the first two sessions of General Conference here in
Tonga. In about and hour and a half I will go to watch the Priesthood session
of conference and hopefully continue to learn. Today has been an exceptional
day; I never truly realized, nor appreciated, how spiritual conference is and
how wonderful the speakers are and how much you can learn and grow from conference.
This will be a highlight in my life from now on. (I never gave it too much
attention before my mission, a mistake I regret)
This week we have had a very slow week
for missionary work. Every investigator has cancelled on us; every appointment
we have set up didn't work out. Just one of those weeks you know? I am doing
fine, not depressed or anything. I wish I had more to report but I accept that
life isn't perfect. It's giving me a lot of time to figure out why I’m here on
a mission and it made me realize something deep down. The thing I realized is
that I want a family. That's my big goal in life. Everything I’ve done, wanted
to do and learn and become, has slowly started to point to being a dad and
having a family. I want to have an awesome family where we all love each other
and we can stick together even during hard times. I want to be like my family
back home (wink, wink) I don't know how this applies to my missionary work, but
its what I was thinking about today. Good goals to become. As a missionary I
can help other people have happy families that can live together forever so it
gives me a little more purpose. Also, as a missionary, I can learn to receive
revelation and become a good leader and get a long better with other people,
everything that will help me become a good father.
I guess I can share some stories of the
stuff the happened this week. First off, I got my Tongan license. President
wanted us to give a senior missionary a ride to and from work everyday; he is a
really humble guy and had been walking back and forth from his house to work everyday
since his wife went to America. So I got the opportunity to get my license and
now I can drive the mission truck when I have permission. It's a stick shift,
which is great, very fun! Second, I drive of the left side of the road, which
is weird! It’s a total shift and kind of messes with my head, but after a bit
of driving I think I’ve got my head around it. Also, the steering wheel is on
the right side of the vehicle, the gear stick is on my left and I shift with my
left and everything is a little weird, but I like it. I didn't have to do any
tests or anything to get it, just pay 60 bucks. They assume I can figure out
how to drive I guess.
The other exciting part of this week was
I got a ukulele. I have been learning to play it; everyone who lives in Tonga
basically knows how to play it. It’s a natural instinct I guess. It’s really
fun and easy to learn. I got a crappy plastic one, but it was still way
expensive. Luckily, plastic doesn't go bad and I am stealing an idea from
another missionary and having everyone I like sign my ukulele so I can have my
Misiona Tonga ukulele, with signatures from all my favorite missionaries. An
interesting item to take home, but I’m excited.
Transfers are next
week! Maybe, just maybe I’ll be leaving, but maybe not. There are benefits to
staying and leaving. If I stay I will be able to Skype home really easily,
enjoy the air conditioning, speak English, learn the ukulele, and eat good
food. If I leave, I will get to spend more time learning Tongan culture,
learning the language, talking to people, new companions, no office stress, no
teaching people how to use computers (I don't even know how to use them) so
that's my life. Listen to me if ya want.
Elder Sitaki
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