Family,
I have been trying to find time this whole week to write this letter - haha. It has been pretty intense moving from an area where I have been for 6 months and moving from Tonga to Ha'apai. Also, going from a missionary with no responsibility to a district leader. I guess this is a good letter for me to describe to you Ha'apai and what life is like on this island and about the whole experience getting here.
So, on Tuesday I was taken to the airport by President Tupou. When we got there, we met up with Elder Burger (he is like our grandpa in the mission). So, I stayed there with him. He was supposed to have come with my luggage, but he forgot it. So, he decided to send me to Ha'apai by myself withoutt my luggage! While I was waiting to get on the plane, a plane came back from Vava'u. It has Elder Lotulelei on it! It was so so fun seeing him and catching up for a short minute. Then, I was able to have a really tender experience.Another missionary walked off the plane. I looked at his face, and it was identical to Foi Kuliha'apai's face (my dad in the mission that passed away). It was his son. He had been on a mission and had been serving in Vava'u when Foi passed away. I was able to send his family's love to him and share everything about the funeral that he had missed. It was very cool for me and for him!
So, I finally got on the plane. It was a jet plane. I thing my first one I have ever been on. It was super fast! I have never seen so much of Tonga as when we flew away. It is smaller than I thought! As we started getting close to Ha'apai, I started seeing all the gorgeous islands. It is cool! I have seen them from a boat view, and now from an aerial view! Once I landed, I got off the plan, and nobody was there to pick me up... So, I just sat and waited. I eventually just got a ride with a member family to my missionary quarters. Along the way, we saw the Zone Leaders. So, we waved them down and they pulled over and I finally got with my companion! AS we drove back our missionary quarters (MQ), it did not take long for me to realize that all of Ha'apai is completely destroyed. Everyone is still living in tents. It's the saddest thing. The only buildings that didn't get touched were our churches! It has been a really really humbling coming to this place, especially as it becomes my new home! I would love to hear about the senior couple that is coming out here because they are right by my house when they get here!
Oh, so Ha'apai's beaches definitely did not disappoint. They are the most beaches thing! I am living in paradise! I have never seen more beautiful beaches in pictures! It is like our own private beach and literally untouched. Nobody goes to the beach and when they do, they just go play at the boat dock in the front of the island!
Berry and Free arrived on Thursday and they brought my suitcase, FINALLY - HAHA!!! We sent them to their small island on Friday evening! We actually had a really cool experience with Berry this weekend! He got a call from his biological mother that lives on Ha'apai. She wanted to meet him, so we went out and we met her at the boat. It was cool to be part of a big moment in his life! To be able to see her love for her son. I can't imagine having enough courage to give away your son to a family in America so that he can have a better life and not struggle on the little island where he was born. She knew that she could not raise him with the amount of food and the things that she had, so she loved him so much that she gave him away. It was tender to see them reunite.
SO! Ha'apai is going to be an experience that will change my life forever. I can already feel it. Things are a lot slower and a lot harder, but I know I have been sent out here for a reason and now it's time to start figuring out what those reasons are.
Oh, just some facts . . .
1) We have one ward.
2) We cover one village.
3) We have only 4 missionaries in my district right now that can actually come to meetings.
4) You can see one side of the island to the other when you stand in the middle and the is no hill.
5) My place is called Pongai.
6) There is a volcano in the ocean in front of Ha'apai and I guess it is really active.
7) Most beautiful sunsets happen here!
8) We have the most beautiful beaches in the world!:)
Sorry the letter was more like a journal entry than a letter, but I hoped it made you understand a little bit about where I am! Oh, by the way, I have ELECTRICITY and my ROOF DOES NOT LEAK!!! :)
I love you all so much. I am excited to write to you on Monday and let you know what is going on here on the islands of Ha'apai!
Elder Harmon
Your Son/Brother
But always remember we are and Eternal FAMILY
Ofa lahi ato
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