Mâlô e lelei and Aloha

I was flipping through some old photos from around the time my little niece Olivia was born, and stumbled upon some videos I'd recorded of my daddy singing with some friends of his. I am struggling to recall the details of exactly who they were, other than Tongans who came to visit him. He spent 3 years in Tonga for a mission, and then went back and worked at the church high school there for another 6. He made a lot of friends, and loves the people, and they him. I loved growing up with the influence of the Tongan culture. I have several memories of Tongan events, people coming to visit, and my daddy using his language skills on anyone who looked remotely Polynesian (sometimes turning out to be Hispanic or of Middle Eastern decent). One of my favorite sounds is to be sitting in a silent house, and all of a sudden hear him start to read out loud. He has taken to reading the Book of Mormon out loud in Tongan daily, and it is so cool. I just wish he had spoken to me more in Tongan when I was a child. I would love to be able to speak the language. Ironically enough the song they are singing in this clip is actually about Hawaii.

From Daddy Singing the Hukilau

107 days