The Royal Kloberdanz's

Ryan has now personally met two members of the Royal family. Last year he had the opportunity to meet King Tupou VI (which we have all heard about many times over) and this last week we had the opportunity to meet the Crown Prince! 

One of our neighbor women came over early Sunday morning to remind us to look good for church and remember to bring our camera because the Crown Prince was coming to church. It was such a cool experience having him come to our tiny church in our tiny village!  Our congregation put on a wonderful service for him. Many members from other churches came to sing with the choir to give them a bit of added “oomph.” The choir dressed all in white and looked spectacular. Their singing was beautiful. Like opera singing, tears in your eyes beautiful. Even the Crown Prince seemed impressed!

Lolohea, Tuki’s husband and our Tongan father, delivered a powerful sermon and lead the service with gusto fit for royalty.If you recall, he was the one who arranged for Ryan to meet the King last year. The whole service was flawless. And the funniest part? 45 minutes folks. 45 minutes!!!!!!

After the Crown Prince left, everyone was giddy with excitement. They talked about the service, made us reassure them over and over the singing really was incredible, and then lined up for photo ops. We asked a few women jokingly why the service was so fast. They told me “Oh Epi, the Crown Prince can’t sit for that long. Us, we sit for 2 to 3 hours, no problem. But the Crown Prince, less than an hour.” Go figure. I am pretty much going to put this one in the books as best day of church ever.

The Crown Prince

Lolohea giving his sermon with the Crown Prince standing and a member of the nobility (far left) watching on.

Lolohea greets the Crown Prince like an old friend.

Here I am with some of the ladies, almost completely blocking out Tuki!

We had our last rehearsal for the King’s birthday. We have had a lot of questions about what this event is, so let me try to shed some light.  The current King Tupou VI’s birthday is actually in September, but he chooses to celebrate his birthday on the 4th of July to honor his father,  King Tupou IV (King Tupou V was his brother and had no children.) The King’s birthday is a national holiday for all Tongans, but the real party happens wherever the King is. This year, the King has decided to grace our little island of Vava'u for his big day. Some of you have asked us if this holiday is like Christmas. Not really. It really is like the 4th of July. The day will consist of a variety of performances. Traditional Tongan dancing and singing, a parade, and then all the elementary students on the island will “draw” the Tongan flag with their bodies. After they make the flag, we will perform a zumba number and sing happy birthday to the King.Then, his birthday presents will be presented After the performances, there will be feasting, a carnival, and a beauty pageant to select Ms. Heilala (named by the vanilla company that sponsors it). Everyone wears red to show pride in their country and support for the King. Tuki told us there will also be a “cocktail party” after the pageant, but told us this is mostly for the white people on the island, and not many Tongans will go to that. 

So, that will be our 4th this year. It will be a really special celebration. We will try to get as many pictures of the event as we can to share with you all!

Not much else is new here. With temperatures dropping to a mid boggling low of 67, Ryan and I have resurrected our flannel shirts and sweats from the creepy box under the bed. It is shocking how cold it feels to us right now. Let’s just say taking an ice cold bucket bath has come to be the part of the day I dread. I dread this more than I dread a long church service…. and that’s saying something. 

Have a great weekend everyone and enjoy that summer weather!!!

 I just had to include this picture. Lata, the pastor’s wife, made this mat below BY HERSELF! She worked on it every day for a month to finish it in time for the conference. She came to get me early one morning to ask me to take a picture of it before she took it in to give to the church. I could not believe how beautiful it was! I think it is the most beautiful mat I have seen woven here in our village to date. The patterns are grass dyed a darker color, then woven in these intricate patterns. They are not painted on. Can you imagine having the patience to do that????