Hello, All! I'm sorry I haven't been in contact for the last couple weeks. The internet in this little chapel hasn't been working! Something my companion and I are delighted has been fixed.
So very much has happened in the last two weeks! The Largest of which is this....
We went to the palace to see the king!
If you know me, you know, that I have not sat down to watch a parade in July for the last six years, because I prefer to be in them! This year I was actually getting very disappointed, because I knew I wouldn't get the chance to be in a parade.... because of much greater things! Well, God is well known for his tender mercies. Last week,on Thursday, All of the Missionaries in Tonga marched in a little parade of our own, to the palace of the king of Tonga. We marched in rows of four around the palace block, and into the palace gates. We sat down inside on the palace grounds. The palace is huge! Especially compared to the rest of the buildings in Tonga. We sat in front of a doorway, and on either side of the doorway were the kings chiefs in Tonga. When the ceremony began, the two chiefs closest to the doorway started yelling something i couldn't understand back and forth to each other. Then a representative of our church stood up and started yelling at them, too. He gestured to a weird tree that was brought onto the palace grounds, and yelled at the chiefs. Then, he backed up, and he gestured at these HUGE piles of ufi (yams) that had also been brought to the palace grounds, and yelled louder at the chiefs. Then he backed up again, and Gestured to the hugest pig I've ever seen in a wood cage on the palace grounds, and practically screamed at the chiefs. Then he bowed and sat down. I have NO idea what they were saying. Someone told me after that those piles of stuff were the church's offerings to the King of Tonga. After the ceremony, all of the senior missionaries stood up and filed along the side of the palace. One by one, they got to shake hands with the king himself! (who I didn't realize was sitting in the doorway inside the house the whole time.) In order to shake hands with the king, you have to approach the doorway by crawling up to the king, and then shaking his hand.
Everybody got SO hyped about this event. They were so excited to go see the king, and be able to show our appreciation to him. But, in the back of my mind the whole time, I kept in mind, that the work we do here in Tonga, is us showing our love and appreciation to a much greater king. How blessed we are to serve him here!
About the people of Tonga:
The people here are very different culturally than any group of people I've ever met before. The Tongan people are very superstitious, and very strict on tradition. Here are some of the weird superstitions and traditions I've learned!
If a Tongan says they like something that somebody has, it is nearly required for the person to give it to them. Money included.
If people do this to missionaries, they usually deal in trades, because they know the missionaries can't really get a lot of stuff. I've traded a skirt of mine for two shirts, one for me, and one for my comp.
When missionaries deal with each other, they just take stuff. It doesn't matter what it is.
When somebody dies, if you were a descendant of that person, you have to wear a HUGE mat that covers your whole body for a week. If you're a girl descendant, you also have to have your hair cut super short.
If you sneeze, it means someone misses you. (can I sneeze more, please?)
If you eat and walk at the same time, it's rude.
If you eat with your feet out, it's rude.
You must take your shoes off before entering someone's house.
These are just a few of the really weird things that happen here! They are a very culturally driven people! Overall, they are very kind, and very loving. There are no homeless in Tonga, because everyone takes care of each other! The Tongan people, however, can also be very prideful. I've never seen a group of people so bent on helping one another, and yet so prideful at the same time!
I am the only white person I've seen here, in Navutoka. In Tonga, we're called Palangis. When I walk down the street, people stare at me. Especially children. They come up to my companion and I and hold my hands, and touch the skin on my arms and fingers. As we walk away they all say "Palangi, e?" Which basically means "Bye, white girl!" XD
Being a Palangi in Tonga is both good and bad. People have invited us into their homes simply because they are interested to know why I'm here and what I'm doing, which gives us a lot of teaching opportunities. But, I also need to be careful. People watch me and my example everywhere I go. We have to be very careful not to do anything that would betray the trust of the people. It his happened in towns before, where a missionary was bad, and the next missionaries that come are treated poorly. But this will not happen in Navutoka!
Likewise, I challenge you all to be examples wherever you go!
I'm so sorry this email was again super long, and super unorganized. I love you! Hopefully I will be able to write this next week!
Love,
Sister Wunderlich
Funny story on the thing she said above about giving people things if they tell you they like the thing...I was listening to a conversation on the Mormon Channel with (I think it was) Elder Tad Callister and he talked about that tradition as well. He said they had to be careful with that while they were serving in different areas of the world about what they told people they liked because the people would give it to them. He then said something like, "I've been trying that here at home with all my friends who have Rolexes, but they don't have that same tradition." Made me laugh! She sounds like she's doing great, hooray for her grand experiences!
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