Tongans travel sea to the temple
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Two hundred miles lie between recommend holders on Tonga's northernmost island of Vava'u and the Nuku'alofa Tonga Temple. Nevertheless, members of the Neifau Vava'u Tonga Stake perform an average of 5,000 endowments a year.
Traveling by boat - usually on rough seas - for 24 hours one way, members participate in two temple excursions each year, one in May and the other in August. When the temple was dedicated in 1983, the stake president Samisoni Usaila'a, organized the excursions, which usually include 90 recommend holders plus 40 children to be sealed to parents."Most families have an average income of $1,000," said Pres. Uasila'a. "The round-trip boat fare is $60 for each adult and $30 for each child."
The group stays at a Church-owned motel near the temple for their two-to-three-week stay, during which time they attend as many sessions as possible each day the temple is open. Until 1987, they brought enough food to last them during the time they were at the temple, but since then their food has been donated by stakes in the Nuku'alofa area.
The members' average total endowments per year is about 5,000, but in 1986 they did 6,000 endowments. Every recommend holder is challenged to accomplish 48 endowments per year.
Realizing the difficulty that individual members and families would have in getting to the temple, Pres. Usaila'a and other stake leaders organized the excursions to make travel more simple and spiritual. Stake leaders report that temple attendance helps members in several ways: They become more dedicated in their callings, are better family members, are more obedient to the commandments, become role models for others to attend the temple and have gained stronger testimonies.
