Story About Tongan Saints

The saints in Tonga were very happy when a temple was built in New Zealand. The New Zealand temple was two thousand miles away from Tonga. But it was the closest temple to Tonga. Many Tongan families worked hard to earn money so they could go to the New Zealand temple. They wanted to be sealed in the temple so their families could live together forever.

One Tongan family grew vegetables and made things to sell. The family earned a lot of money, but they did not have enough money to get to the New Zealand temple and back to Tonga again. They asked Heavenly Father to help them. They wanted to be sealed in the temple so they could live together forever. They decided to sell everything they had--even their farm. The family sold everything except their clothes. Finally, they had enough money to get to New Zealand and back to Tonga again.

The trip to New Zealand took several days. The family had to sleep on the deck of the ship because they could not pay for rooms to sleep in. When they got to New Zealand, they were very happy. Finally, they could be sealed in the temple.

First, the parents were sealed to each other. Then the children were sealed to their parents. With tears in his eyes, the father said, "Before we came here, we had nothing. Now, we have each other forever."

Adapted from Marie F. Felt, "More Precious Than Rubies"