SALT LAKE CITY — Hundreds of alumni from throughout the world gathered here this July for the annual reunion of the Church-sponsored Liahona High School.
The high school, established in the Pacific Islands of Tonga in 1952, has an annual reunion for all alumni, regardless of graduating class. The reunion is held in different cities each year.
Festivities for this year's reunion included a luncheon at a park in Bountiful, Utah; a talent night in West Valley City, Utah; and a fireside at Temple Square with speakers Elder John H. Groberg of the Presidency of the Seventy, a former missionary and mission president of Tonga; and his wife, Sister Jean Groberg.
Dancing and feasting welcomed alumni and families during each day of activities. Guests devoured daily meals of roast pig, fish, sweet potatoes and other island dishes. Many expressed their inner joy through impromptu dancing to the sounds of Polynesian music.
The mission of the reunion is two-fold, said Elder Groberg. The first is to renew testimonies and friendships and the second is to raise money to help students. All money raised during the reunion helps current students by contributing to their tuition payments and even covering some school fees, said Sione Loseli, president of the Tongan chapter of Liahona alumni. The money raised this year has been earmarked for new instruments for the Liahona High School band.
