GOOD MORNING!   This is the scene most mornings in Tonga.  You see the morning mist rising from the ground as the sun rises.  Tonga is the 1st Country in the world to greet the new day.  The sun rises and sun sets are incredible!  There are a lot of the Tongans that get up bright and early around 5:00 to 6:00 AM to start work because it is nice and cool.  We have a neighbor that has a rooster that is confused at what waking time should be.  There are some mornings the rooster crows at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning.  Crazy rooster - his internal clock is broken.  :) 

Today was the 1st day of school for the Tongan kids.  They just ended their break and back at it.  It's winter time for them right now.  How would you like your winter season to be 75-80 degrees, green, and beautiful?  Here at the Liahona school, the kids wear these green uniforms.  The girls wear braids in their hair.  This is one of our friends with our girls.  Her name is Lupe.  She comes around dinner time and wants to be with our family.  We ask her if she's hungry and she says she's good, but then will sit down at the dinner table and start eating some of our food.  We think it's kind of funny.  She's a cute girl and she has been a good friend to the family.

Today, we saw a lot of kids from the schools.  Mostly junior high and high school kids.  It feels like we got a lot accomplished today.  One thing that is lacking in a big way is a hygiene program.  That is one thing that Dr. John and his wife (Sue) are really interested in and trying to implement.  We sat down tonight and talked about it and how we can help educate these kids at an early age to start a new cycle of good oral health.  We're seeing teenagers with early Periodontal Disease that is Moderate to Severe.  We are doing a lot of restorative work and a lot of extractions, but we really need to focus on PREVENTIVE DENTISTRY.   We'll be implementing and perfecting a new program starting this Thursday in this clinic that gets me excited.  I feel we are making a difference with getting people out of pain and restoring a number of teeth, but the real difference comes in EDUCATION, and teaching them proper oral hygiene, diet, and the reason it's so important.  

Here is the reception room.  We have a schedule, but people just come in (walk-ins) and they sit for hours to be seen.  They are willing to wait 3-4 hours to be seen to get a problem taken care of.  So, they are so patient and then after the appointment, they are sooooo grateful.  They really appreciate what you're doing for them.  The attitudes and humility is like no other on this planet.  Just a happy, delightful people!  

This patient was one of our last patients of the day.  He was so great!  He is from America on Church Business and had some Dental needs.  We tried to get him taken care of until he can get back to the states.  We see a lot of people that come and go from different humanitarian groups, church groups, or charity groups.  We have a group living right next to us that are helping the Tongan people who have missing limbs.  They are a group out of Utah that are helping them get prosthetics (prosthetic legs mainly) to allow mobility.  That's a huge thing for them.  A lot of great people helping make a difference.

The family hanging out after a long day of working.  The kids love oranges and apples more than they every have in Idaho.  Not sure why, but they are.  We had to give all of you an "ORANGE SMILE".  We love you all and appreciate your love and support!

Some family games out in the parking lot.  We were throwing the football around and some other kids came running to play with us.  They brought a rugby ball with them.  Rugby is huge here in Tonga.  It's their #1 sport.  We passed around the football and the rugby ball and had a great time together.  This picture is as the sun was setting.  The sun goes down around 6:30 PM.

Good night!  Sleep Tight, Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite!  Here, we say, "Don't Let the Cockroaches, Millipedes, or Geckos bite"

Fun Fact about Geckos - Most geckos cannot blink, but they often lick their eyes to keep them clean and moist.  Cool huh!