We’ve also had some spiritual experiences lately. One morning as we prayed together, Mary asked for help finding someone with whom we could share the gospel. This rather surprised her because she didn’t plan on saying it. She remembered a few years ago this happened while we were on a cruise, and we had the opportunity to join the Christian Bible group and share many of our thoughts about Jesus Christ.
She wanted to be prepared, and so she found some pass-along cards and
personalized them with our contact information.
Then all day long she looked for a chance, but it never came. She was puzzled, and then stopped thinking
about it.
About a week later we ate in a restaurant that was new to us. We noticed a young man who was bustling about
following the directions of the head waiter.
At one point he approached us and asked what we were doing in
Tonga. We responded that we are humanitarian
missionaries. Then he said, “I would
like to learn more about your Church.” We
shared a brief introduction to the Church.
The young man said that he knew about Joseph Smith and the gold Bible. We
talked a little about the Book of Mormon, and he said he would like to read
it. As I rummaged through my purse
trying to find my pass-along card that had the Church’s website on it, Kyle
handed him our Church contact card and told him to call us.
Just then, the head waiter came and told the young man that he needed
to be doing his job, and the young man scurried away--the head waiter told us
that the young man and he went to the same church.
When it came time to leave, we were surprised to see the young man
come out of a nook near the exit. We
greeted him, and he explained that he wanted to say goodbye to us. We asked him what his name was, and he said,
“Salvation.” “That’s a wonderful name,” Mary replied.
And then we were gone. We hoped
something good would come of the first encounter—and it did. About a week later
we went with all the senior missionaries to the same restaurant, and Salvation,
or “Salvo” as his friends call him, was there working. He gave us the biggest smile. We introduced him to the whole group. Kyle and I had purchased some copies of the
Book of Mormon, but we somehow didn’t remember to bring one with us.
We had a short chat just before we left and asked whether he had been
able to get a copy of the Book of Mormon.
He said that he had found one at a nearby bookstore, but he hadn’t yet gotten
it. We told him that we would go home and get a copy for him and bring it right
back.
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| Senior missionaries at The Top restaurant |
When the meal was over and we were done chatting with the other missionaries,
we drove home and got a copy, taking the time to write inside the front cover
with a brief testimony of what it means to us and how it is scripture like the Bible
is. Mary marked Moroni 10:4-5 and
slipped another of our business cards in that page with our contact
information.
He seemed genuinely glad to receive the book, calling it a “blessing.”
We promised that we would come again to
the restaurant, and we shook hands in parting.
He is such a sweet young man—his face just shines. We hope he will be able to follow his
inclination to learn more about the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.
We had another touching experience recently. Mary was given several
hygiene kits left over from the emergency response to the volcano and tsunami of
2020. Some items had expired and couldn’t
be used, but there was a toothbrush in each one, so Mary put them in a bag with
the thought of taking them to our dental clinic so they could distribute
them. It took Mary a day or so to carry
this intention out, and just before going to Liahona to dry our laundry (which
we sometimes do since we don’t have a dryer) and attend senior FHE, she grabbed
the bag that had about 10 toothbrushes in it.
When we arrived at Liahona, we began putting our clothes into the dryer
and knocked on the door of the house to let Sister Darrington, the dental hygienist,
know we were there. She came out, seeming
a little flustered. Mary asked her how she
was.
“I’m just so frustrated,” she said. “We ran out of toothbrushes to
give to the patients who come to the clinic.
I really don’t like sending them home without one.”
So I handed her the bag with the toothbrushes.
She started to cry.
This may seem like a small story, but it was big to me and to Sister
Darrington who later said that the experience had made her feel that God cared
for her.
There are no coincidences—just, as our friends the Hutchisons call
them, CO-IN-CI-DEN-CES—when the Lord guides us by making things coincide.
And finally, last Saturday Mary’s sister Rachel and her husband Jerry
Clark came for a week-long visit. What a
beautiful, joyful time!
Some highlights:
We went to the blowholes and spent more than an hour watching the
waves crash as the sun slowly sank into the western sky. Magical.
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| Sunset at the blowholes |
We drove around the east side of the island and visited the step tombs
where long-ago Tongan royalty was buried, the monument to the first LDS
missionaries in Tonga, and the Gate of Ha-amonga a Maui, an ancient arch that is
estimated to be built in about 1200 AD and reminds us of Stonehenge.
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| Ha-amonga |
On the southeast side of the island we saw the Hufangalupe land bridge where we carefully looked over the edge of the cliffs at the raucous waves that bludgeoned the shore, sending up lovely, ephemeral rainbows. The land bridge was created when the ceiling of a cave collapsed, allowing waves to crash through the opening. Ancient Tongans believed that Maui threw his spear and made this large hole in the Earth.
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| Hufangalupe rainbow |
We went on a soul-satisfying session in the Nuku’alofa Temple.
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| Nuku’alofa Temple |
One of the most memorable things we did was visit Anahulu Cave and Beach. The cave is very large and contains a fresh-water lake--Kyle was brave enough to swim in it last time we came. When we bought our tickets, we were told that we were the only people there! We took an eerie walk through the cave, and then--call it peer pressure--but all of us took an unforgettable swim in the lake. It was chilly at first, but we soon acclimated and delighted in our private cave as we saw it from a whole new perspective.
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| Swimming in Anahulu Cave |
Afterwards we went to the beach which was ours alone! We found small electric blue fish swimming fearlessly near our legs, and Kyle and Jerry walked out on the shallow reef where the perspective of the crashing waves made them look as if they were in danger. As the tide came in, we watched the waves come closer until the froth reached us, when we decided it was time to go home.
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| A natural wonder |
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| Anahulu Beach |
Then Rachel and Jerry had to leave. Sigh.
And that’s about all from here for now. You get a badge if you read all the way to the end!
