Mr. C's Space

After two years being in our home in North Carolina, after returning from China, we decided that being quietly retired was not very fulfilling, and that we could use our time better in service to others. Consequently, we applied to the missionary department of our church and were subsequently called to serve for 18 months in the Island Kingdom of Tonga.

 

Tonga is a poor but proud nation of good and honorable people, located in the South Pacific ocean, east of Australia. There are 169 islands in the Kingdom, of which only about 36 are inhabited. There is little industry here -- most people are farmers, and some run shops, banks, and other businesses to serve them. Life here is "laid-back", meaning that it runs at a slower pace that our life in America. The people are kind and loving. They speak their own Tongan language, but English is the second language of the country, and many people speak it.

 

Tonga is of course an island, so much of its culture revolves around the sea. There is beautiful, crystal-clear water and lovely beaches. There are coconut trees everywhere, and mangoes, bread fruit, taro, tapioca, and many other kinds of vegatables. Seafood is plentiful and good. It has not been hard to adjust to life here.

 

We were assigned to a nice apartment in one half of a duplex. It has one bedroom, one athroom, a kitchen and a sitting room. The windows are all made of glass louvers that can be easily opened and closed. It often rains, but usually only for a while, then the sun returns. The windows help cool the place, as temperatures are generally around 84F, and humidity is usually near 65%.

 

We have an office in the church service center, where there is a desk and a computer for each of us. We usually arrive at work at 8am, and leave at 4:30pm. Our "commute" to work could easily be said to be the best we have ever had, as our house is about a 45 second walk from the office. Our job is to help ensure that the financial procedures of the church are followed, so we do training and periodic audits of the financial records.

 

Because Tonga is a series of islands covering a space of many hundreds of miles, we sometimes are required to travel to the other islands to do our work. We had such a trip last week, where we flew to a series of islands to the north of the kingdom. They use small airplanes for travel, or boats if necessary. Some of the islands are so remote that an airplane only goes to them perhaps once a week. Everything is green, bacause of the rain and humidity.

 

We are happy and busy here, serving our Tongan friends. I'm sure the time will go quickly, and soon we will be home again, remembering all of our good experiences here.

 

Hope you enjoy the photos I posted in the photo section.

This year was a milestone for Mrs. Clayton and me. On August 23rd, we marked the 40th anniversary of being very happily married. Forty years is many, especially when we feel still young, and still very happy as a married couple. We decided that it deserved some sort of unusual celebration, so we went on a cruise to the Caribbean sea.

 

The ship was large -- one of the biggest of the cruise ships. It held over 3,000 passengers. It was very much like a small city, with several restaurants, three swimming pools, a theater, an ice skating rink, a miniture gold course, many small shops and much more. The cabins for the guests were much like being in a large hotel. Every morning a steward would come and make-up the room. At night he would prepare the bed, and make small animals out of towels, just for fun.

 

We are in a large dining room, and became acquainted with people from many different countries. Near the end of the cruise, we happened to meet a Chinese fellow in one of the restaurants named Zhu. He graduated from Shandong Normal University with a degree in Economics, and is now working on the cruise ship. I have posted his photo -- perhaps some of my students from Shandong Normal will recognize him.

 

There was some concern about the weather. The Caribbean area is famous for hurricanes and tropical storms, especially in September, and this year was no exception. We were a little concerned as the date for our cruise neared, as three major storms formed in the Atlantic and started toward Cuba and the US. We were blessed, however, that our cruise date took us between storms, and they disrupred our trip very little. At one port, the dock was too small for a large cruise ship, so it was intended that we would go ashore on small boats called "tenders". But by the time we arrived, the dock had been closed by the authorities, because the water was a little too rough, and it would not have been safe to use the little boats. As you can see from my photos, the weather was excellent in general, and whatever small disturbance there was in the sea was easily managed by the large ship.

 

It will be a busy time for us from now until the end of the year. We now have 24 grand-children, and numbers 25 and 26 will be born in the next few months. Mrs. Clayton will travel out west to assist with the new babies. In the meantime, we are waiting for a call from our church, advising us where we will be given the opportunity to serve for the next two years as service missionaries. It could be anywhere in the world. We are working on the house, preparing everything for a departure in January. If all works out as planned, our 4th son Ben and his family will live in and take care of the house while we are gone.

 

Thanks to all of you who are such good friends. We love you, and wish you the best in all of your activities.

For the past three weeks I have spent most of my free time building a sewing Center, a place where Mrs. C. can keep her sewing materials. The cabenet keeps the machines and supplies clean and tidy when not in use, then provides a working area when it is opened.

 

It is almost finished, but I thought you might be interested in the progress so far. Please check out the photos that I posted in the photo section.

 

Mr. C.

 

So many people today are focused completely on making money, as if it would make them happy. It is not true. Keep your eye on what is really important in life, and you will realize one important fact:

"The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they
just make the best of everything they have."

Use whatever talents you have in the service of others and never worry about what you do not have. I promise you that your life will be more happy and full of joy.

Eight children is many, so we are thenkful that finally our youngest son, Daniel, was married last Saturday, July 28th. He met his bride at university, where they dated and gradually fell in love. They are young - Dan is 22, Katy is 19. They have two more years to go to finish their bachelor's programs. But American schools are setup to accomodate married students. They will be living in married student housing, and will help each other with their school work as they grow together in marriage.

 

Dan ad Katy were married in a large church building called a temple. It is our belief that such a marriage can bind together a man and woman forever, and allow them to be together forever with their children, if they live good and honorable lives.

 

Daniel and Katy will have a very strong marriage because they share common goals, and saved themselves for each other as they were growing up. Their virtue allowed them to place high value on their marriage, and it has allowed them to begin a pure and honorable family into which children will be invited and raised with strong spiritual values. Roberta and I are very proud of Dan and Katy, and we ish them the very best as they begin their life together. 

 

 

One of my students recently asked me "what do you do everyday". I wrote her a reply, which I then thought others might be interested in, and I am writing it here as well. Hope it does not bore you to death.

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Dear Friend,
  I enjoyed very much our conversation yesterday. We talked about importand and interesting things. Too often people talk about nothing - they use time, but when they are finished, their lives are the same as when they started. What we did was significant, because we have learned and grown closer.

 

  I am happy to shar with you my daily life - perhaps it will be boring to you. Not very exciting from the view of the world, I suppose. Now that I am retired, I don't have to go to an office every day anymore, like I did for 33 years at IBM. I do have a small part-time job though, that I do whenever I feel like working. I think I may have told you about "mystery shopping", where we take a hidden video of a salesman giving a sales presentation, which is then used to improve his sales techniques. It is a nice job because it only takes a day or so a week, and I can do it with Mrs. C., which is nice.

 

  I also lead two discussion groups each week, on Wednesday evening and Saturday morning. They last about an hour and a half each. It is part of a program sponsored by my church, and is called the "Addiction Recovery Program". It is intended to be a support to people who are experiencing addictions or compulsions, as they struggle to put their lives back in order. Addictions may be to anything -- some people are addicted to drugs, others to smoking or pornography. Some may even have addictions to eating, or other behavior that interferes with leading a normal happy life. There is a twelve-step program designed to help the people first recognize that there is a problem, then change their behavior. We discuss one of the 12 steps each week, and when the 12 weeks are over, we start at number one again.

 

  I also teach a church class for 12 year old kids. It is taught on Sunday, as part of the weekly church meetings. Usually a very active time, as there are usually about 11 kids who come, but I enjoy it.

 

  On Monday mornings each week, Mrs. Clayton and I go to one of our local church buildings and  help clean it. It is a good opportunity to give service, and it saves the church from having to pay someone to come and do the work. It is very satisfying to give service in this way, as our efforts benefit many people. I suppose that some would say that it is not very glamourous to go each week and clean, but to me, the most important things we can do in life are to learn to help and serve others.

 

  Those are my responsibilities outside of the home. All the rest of the time I spend doing things with Mrs. C. or working on my own house or out in the workshop I am building in the garage. Sometimes I go to classes to improve my skills in woodworking or in other areas. We visit our kids who are still loving in this area. Once a week, on Friday night, we have "date night", where we go out to dinner and maybe watch a video. It is very important to cultivate a marriage, just as you would a flower. With a flower, you pull the weeds, add water and fertilizer, make sure it gets sunlight. With a marriage, you work together to strengthen love and friendship. Going out at least once a week on a date keeps us strong together, and helps us remember that courtship never ends -- we should treat each other with love and respect after we are married, just as we did before we were married. Later this year we may go on a cruise or something, to be together. It works - we have been happily married for almost 39 years now, and we grow stronger each year because we make the effort to help each other and do things together. We will be married and be best friends forever.

 

  Well, that is my life. To me, it is very exciting, interesting and satisfying. Many of the things I do today I had to wait for many, many years to do, because it was more important to strengthen my marriage first, and to raise the kids first. My personal interests had to wait, because the priority had to be on the family. But now there is time for me, and it feels good, because the important things in my life have been done.