More Vaini Pictures

Vaini

Elder Tulane served in Vaini from June until the beginning of November.

June 30, 2010

We had transfer on Monday and I'm pretty happy with the results so far.  I got moved to a  town called Vaini.  It is right next to my first area Holonga and I did about 2 weeks worth of comp exchanges here while I was working in Holonga so I already know the area a little bit and some of the members. It's a lot busier and populated compared to what I've been used to the past 6 months or so.  My comp's name is Elder Vaha'l from Vava'u.  He has been out for 10 months, and is really nice.  President McMurray finished this transfer and his plane leaves today I think.  I really didn't want to see him leave, but it's okay.  I think he is going to go home and become a Seventy!

July 8, 2010

We had a new guy named Elder Thompson stay with us for a week while he waited for the boat up to Vava'u and it was awesome talking to him and getting his perspective on everything.  He reminded me so much of me when I first started and it felt so good helping him understand the culture.  I don't know if I ever wrote to you about a guy named Elder Lyon helping me a ton at the beginning of my mission, but talking with Thompson was the same thing.  Only, this time I was the polished veteran helping the new guy.

July 14, 2010

I checked my weight last week and I was 150 pounds!  Now I'm down 50 pounds from when I left the MTC.

  

July 21, 2010
(responding to an e-mail about the different summer camping trips the Tulane family had been on)
Hey sounds like you had a good camping experience.  I really miss that even though my living conditions aren't much different than camping (haha).  After a year and a half here, I think I prefer mountains and pine trees compared to beaches and palm trees.  I'm doing great.  We had a baptism this week and have started teaching another promising investigator.  I'm having a great time but am still very excited to be coming home in a few months.

Oh, I got my first boil last week on the side of my leg below my knee.  I had heard that they hurt but I was still surprised at this thing.  There was one day when I was losing feeling in my leg and couldn't walk.  It gave me more respect for the guys here that get them all the time (haha). I think it's pretty much done now.  It still  looks ugly, but it doesn't hurt anymore. 

August 11, 2010

I've had an interesting week. We had transfers on Monday and I'm staying in my same area, but I am training! I'm way nervous about it, mostly because I'm not confident with the language and am worried my comp will get fed up with me before too long.  His name is Elder Uasila'a and he is from Feletoa, Vava'u.  He is pretty cool so far, but we've only been together for one day.

August 25, 2010

We had a baptism on Saturday which is my 16th.  This means I accomplished my goal of averaging at least one every transfer so I'm feeling good about that. 

September 29, 2010

District leader isn't too bad.  Nothing else really new, sorry I can't think of much to write.  I'm doing great and am trying as hard as I can to make the most of these last couple of months.

October 13, 2010

My birthday was really just another day.  The only difference was that we went to one of my favorite members and they fed us and sang happy birthday for me.  We had interviews with president this week and mine went good.  He said he could trust me, which is good, but is scary because that's the kind of thing you tell someone right before you give them a new assignment, ya know (haha).  I also got to do my first baptismal interviews as a district leader.  Nobody had any major sins to confess so that was good (ha).

November 3, 2010

Hey, yeah, I got transferred for my last six weeks.  I am right in the middle of down town Nuku'alofa.  It seems so big and crowded to me (haha).  My companion is Elder Paipa from Texas.  He has only been out for three months and he loves to work so he will keep me from getting trunky.  Almost everyone speaks English and we get fed really well because everyone has jobs and money and there are lots of stores and restaurants.  We live in a rental house that has a fridge, stove, couch, washing machine, and hot showers.  I kind of wanted to go to a more primitive place to finish but this is cool, too.  Maybe it will prepare me a little to come home.  Love ya!

Making Dinner

Since June, Elder Tulane has been serving in a little city called Vaini.  We've got lots of pictures and e-mails to share with you from Vaini, but we thought we'd kick it all off with making a little dinner.

Talk about a spacious kitchen and a comfortable chef!

We also thought we'd share this video of these same pictures because it just sounds so awesome to hear Elder Tulane speak in Tongan!

A Little More Kolonga

We just got another picture card from Elder Tulane!  Here are the final picture installments of his experiences in Kolonga with some letters.

These pictures are of a delicious octopus dinner

Here is some video footage of a ward family home evening in Kolonga.

June 2, 2010
My companion and I went to the temple with one of our wards to do baptisms for the dead and confirmations on Saturday.  I got to read the names out loud so the guy doing the confirmations would know how to pronounce them.  It was really fun!

June 16, 2010
I went on a companion exchange this week and went and watched this guy make little tikis.  It was pretty cool!  He could make them really fast.  He made six of them in an hour, and he started with just one tree branch.

One Year Older and Wiser Too!

Today in Tonga it is Elder Tulane's birthday.  Tomorrow in America it is Elder Tulane's birthday.

We love you, Elder Tulane!!!

Nukunuku

Elder Tulane served in Nukunuku from July 2009 to October 2009.  Here are a few pictures and some highlights from his e-mails home.

 

August 12, 2009

Thanks for all of the love and support.  I love you guys.  It's been a pretty slow week.  We aren't doing a lot of work, but we are getting along well so I am grateful for that.  My area is good.  I love you.

August 28, 2009

Our mission conference was good.  Elder Hamula of the Seventy came and spoke to use.  He said the Tongan mission is known for being the best singers and he made us sing a couple songs just so his family could hear how beautiful we sound ha ha!

October 1, 2009

Yesterday morning, I was laying in bed and thought I felt a kinda weak earthquake, and then a few minutes later our Zone Leaders came over and told us about the tsunami and were going to come back in a few minutes to take us to mission head quarters.  Well, we went to a store while we were waiting for them to come back and the radio was on, so we heard about Samoa and stuff.  The warning was canceled pretty quickly.  I'm okay, so don't worry.  I love you.

Havelu Pictures

While we're looking back on some of Elder Tulane's old areas, we thought we'd share some of his pictures from Havelu and Nukunuku.  We shared his emails from Havelu before, and thought we'd give you some pictures to go with them.  Yes, Elder Tulane did catch a bat. Yes, Elder Tulane did climb a coconut tree.  Yes, there is a DJ Stan on the island.