Henry Unga Farewell

We had the opportunity to attend the mission farewell of Henry Unga (my cousin Becky Chai Sitake's son). It was quite an experience, in that it was held in a Tongan Ward in Orem, Utah. When we walked in, we noticed a bunch of headphones on the back table. I assumed they were for translating into Tongan so some of the older members who maybe hadn't had a chance to learn English would be able to understand the proceedings. Wrong! They were for us so we could follow the proceedings, which were largely in Tongan.

One other observation of a Tongan ward. Those people can sing! We sang from Tongan hymnbooks two hymns that I had never heard before. It appears that our LDS Tongan hymnbook allows for some variety, which I think is pretty cool. These hymns were sung very enthusiastically, with the women going one direction and the men usually catching up in a spirited way from the rear. I also noticed that the men were unconstrained by the actual notes that were written on the page. It sounds like over the years, they have discovered improvements to the notes as written and are not terribly concerned with singing "within the lines."

Henry did a great job on his talk. It was not an easy feat, especially because the power was out, so he had to speak to a packed congregation that extended well into the cultural hall without the benefit of artificial amplification. Just the right blend of humor and spirituality and volume. He'll be a fine missionary.

The night before, we went to a reception at Becky and Tom's house. Saw lots of family and friends. Plus we ate a lot of food. Had a great time.

It was nice to share this special time with the Sitake family.