Sylvia Tonga said: We live on a Christian island, where we say “Merry Christmas,” instead of “Happy Holidays.” Her husband Peni and his family have been trying to “Light the World.”
Their daughter Dorothy was really looking forward to going to her first Young Adult Stake Dance. On the way to the dance, she received a phone call from a non-member friend, who asked her if she could come to her church (the Wesleyan Church) and teach Tongan Dance to a group of children. Dorothy decided to “light the world,” and so she went to her friend’s church instead of to the Stake Dance.
Peni and Sylvia make kabobs every Saturday, to sell at the street market in Nuku ‘alofa. Last Saturday, they decided to light the world, and they gave away all of their kabobs to visitors at the market.
A ward member has a beautiful flower garden, and a knack for flower arrangement. She lights the world by bringing floral arrangements to church each Sunday, and then giving them to sisters in the Relief Society.
At Church, the closing hymn in Sacrament meeting was “How Firm a Foundation,” and I thought of these humble Tongans who are lighting their part of the world “in every condition, in sickness, in health, in poverty’s vale or abounding in wealth.” They do it “at home (and) abroad; on the land and (especially upon) the (isles of) the sea.”
Someone mentioned that on the island of Tongatapu, the greatest consumer of electrical power is the Church (especially the Liahona Campus and the Temple), followed by the Vaiola Hospital in Nuku ‘alofa. This isn’t surprising, and I find it especially interesting to compare it to priesthood power.
Samisi Finnau bore his testimony and related an experience he had in Australia when he was there studying to become a biomedical engineer. He went to a Free Wesleyan Church service with a friend, and during the meeting the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was served. Samisi asked how often this ordinance was performed and he was told once a year. He asked his friend if he thought it might be important to participate more frequently in such a sacred ordinance, and his friend said he thought not. But then, Samisi asked him, what if he only studied the course curriculum for biomedical engineering one time during the year, instead of at least every week, before taking his final exams? His friend got the point.
Phil and Jan's Adventure in Tonga 