Week 13: Kataki pe

March 11, 2024

Hello again family. We had about another week of not too much going on but still a good week of working. The work has definitely slowed down and there isn't really too much that we can do right now. Most of our laumalies come from the ward members and we have walked our entire village and the next village over and over and over again, so trying to find work is a little tough. Although finding work is tough there still is work to be done (thank goodness bruh ). So currently at the moment me and my hoa are seminary teachers for the seminary class in Lavengatonga. I enjoy it, honestly, because it helps me get better with teaching, speaking Tongan, and getting comfortable with talking to more than 1 person in a single setting. There's only bout 4 kau ako (students) but even then our class is still strong. My Tongan really honestly just has its ups and downs, it's good days and bad days. On one specific day I was speaking to my barber in Tongan and I told him I was still learning and he told me, "sai aupito, ho lea fakatonga. Feinga pe." Which means, "your Tongan is very good. Just try." That conversation I had with the barber (who's name is Dave my bad lol ) was honestly the first time I had a full conversation with just me and another Tongan in the Tongan language. Usually at times I'll just sit silently and try to understand what people are saying to me and my hoa. So that was a good day with my Tongan, but like literally a couple of days later, while teaching the seminary class I was trying to say a sentence and I said the sentence so wrong and so badly the ako didn't understand and not only them but myself. I didn't even know what I was saying myself. The kids all looked at me confused and my hoa looked at me and asked in English, "What are trying to say?" And I just said, "Bruh I don't even know." We all laughed about it but in moments like those it pushes me to want to improve my Tongan. I've noticed that when I read my Book of Mormon in Tongan in the morning my Tongan that day is usually functional. Kapau kou ikai lau a e Tohi a Molomona, oku kovi aupito eku lea faka tonga a e aho ko ena (If i don't read the Book of Mormon, my tongan is bad that day). Also throughout the course of this week I have heard of, seen, or had my own encounters with "Enduring." In Tonga the word for endure is, "Kataki." Kataki also has many other meanings such as "please", and "patience". I have heard of a couple of my good friends going through their own battles at home and some with their current companions. Endure to me personally is honestly one of the hardest things to do. It's basically, "keep ya head up" but I know for me, I sometimes think, "I'm getting tired. How much longer?" or "How much longer do I/We need to endure?" Heavenly Father doesn't tell us to, "Endure for the next 5 minutes," he simply tells us, "Endure my son/daughter. I hear your cries and I am here." I see it as a moment climb. The climb is tough. It's steep, there's slippery rocks that could slip under you and cause you to fall, there's the temperature of extreme cold or even extreme heat depending on where you're at. But nonetheless you keep climbing. Soon as you reach the top of the mountain all you have to do is climb down now. The climb is so much easier from the climb up and eventually you're at the bottom and you can now say, "I have conquered this mountain!" God gives his hardest battles to his strongest soldiers. Sometimes we feel God isn't there but always remember, The teacher is present but silent during a test.

Endure my friends and family, whatever it is that you may be going thru.

“And if they endure unto the end, they shall be lifted up at the last day, and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb; and whoso shall publish peace, yea, tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be.” ~ 1Nephi 13:36

Ofa lahi atu!