The alarm rings at 4:30, and we arise, trying to be as quiet as possible to avoid disturbing Luisa and Willie, our landlords. It’s too early for breakfast. We are ready ahead of time and decide to leave for the temple which, at this hour, should be about a 20-minute drive. We tiptoe downstairs past Luisa and Willie’s bedroom, and we see a dark pile of something at the bottom of the stairs—Blackie, Willie and Luisa’s flea-tormented dog that is actually named something we never can remember. We each take a giant step over Blackie, and Kyle pulls the car out while I open the gate.
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| Nuku'alofa Tonga Temple |
When we arrive at the temple, there is one car and a truck
in the parking lot. We decide to wait in
the car until Mary remembers that we can never have too many photos of the temple. When she returns, another man has arrived,
and we walk up the sidewalk where we find two of Kyle’s young men, handsome in
their tupenus, who have been dropped off. We enter the temple and go to the
waiting room.
It seems improbable that teenagers would give up their Saturday morning sleep-in to serve in the temple at 6:00 a.m., but they arrive in many small groups until the waiting room is nearly full. When all are there, we see ten young women and sixteen young men, counting the recently-called missionary who has come to the temple with his dad, a gentle Filipino man who is having his first visit to the temple and will be baptized for the dead by his son. He and his wife plan to go through the temple and be sealed soon.
One young woman is a convert of just two years, and as we
wait, Mary asks her what she knows about baptism for the dead. She replies that she doesn’t know anything about
it. Mary takes a few minutes to help her
understand that people who lived without knowing about Jesus are waiting to be baptized
because Jesus said that we must all be baptized to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Her getting baptized is very important service to them. She smiles and nods in understanding.
It takes some time for everyone to locate their recommends
to be admitted, but we start to make our way into the baptistry. Kyle gets there with the first group, and by
the time Mary brings the last young woman in, the room is filled with the
illuminated faces of youth on the Lord’s errand. Their respect and reverence
for the temple is evident by their silence or hushed whispering.
They are magnificent--waiting quietly, smiling, and taking
their turns in the font.
We have spent the weeks before this temple trip helping the
youth create FamilySearch accounts and use Ordinances Ready to find people who
are waiting for their turn to get out of spirit prison. If there is no one in their family who is
ready, the program assigns them people in need from all over the world. The young men and women were surprised and
delighted to be given the names of people from Japan, China, South America, France,
Korea, Sweden, England, and the United States. We remember a picture of young
men crowded around a computer as one of them excitedly shares the people he has
been assigned to help.
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| Young men explore FamilySearch |
The young men who are doing the baptizing are so gentle and careful. It’s clear they want to do everything just right. One of them baptizes all the young women--that’s about fifty baptisms in a row--but he looks strong and focused as he patiently says the prayer and immerses each one.
The young women finish first, and Mary accompanies them as
they leave the temple. They are all so
beautiful with an almost un-earthly glow.
Some of the young ones are a little lively, but the older ones sit
quietly, a faraway look in their eyes. The
young woman Mary helped understand about baptism for the dead comes to her and quietly
says, “I could feel they were happy to be free.” Mary felt that too.
We make a line in front of the temple and ask one of the
other patrons to take our picture.
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| Young women of the Nuku'alofa 10th Ward |
A few minutes later the young men join us in front of the temple, and we take more photos. Some young women look at the photos and then ask if we will be sharing them, which if course we will. We think they want a memory of this day to take with them.
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| Young women and men of the Nuku'alofa 10th Ward |
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| Nana, Falesia, Pou, and Sandra |
Then it’s time to go home. We wave goodbye to everyone and make our way to the car. We are thoughtful on the way home, feeling so much love for these precious young souls. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings.” And they are beautiful. Beautiful.
