This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2004, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
From his suite at Little America Hotel, King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV is hardly aware of the excitement he is causing.
In the hotel lobby, men and women scanned the area and whispered as they saw members of his entourage go by.
"Is that the king?" they asked.
They have heard the king of Tonga is in town. He is here to participate in today's dedication ceremony for the newly built Tongan United Methodist Church in West Valley City.
His majesty remained largely secluded Friday, resting between visits from prominent Utahns and Tongans living in Salt Lake City. They all have dropped by to pray with him, to bring him gifts or just to pay respect.
On Friday, Salt Lake area Methodist families who hail from the Kingdom of Tonga, an island nation in the western South Pacific, cooked food from the old country to share with the king. Children practiced their dancing. Everyone got their best clothes out for the 10 a.m. church dedication where he will be present.
"We're all excited," said Pafusi Ma'ama, 17, who was with friends Tupou Kefu and Latu Mone at Tongan United Methodist Church preparing for the king's visit.
"We have to take our American ways and turn them around to the Tongan ways while the king is here," she said. "Everything, our customs will go back to the way our parents lived."
That means that women and girls will wear a puletaha, a dress with a slip and a kie kie, a belt that shows respect, she said. Men will wear a kilt, called a tupenu, with a leaf mat over it. You have to be dressed respectfully to be in the presence of the king, Ma'ama said.
It's a lesson that would have come in handy to a group of Salt Lake journalists who were turned away from a visit with the king at his suite because they weren't "properly dressed" to see him.
"You have stay at least six feet away from him, crawl to him, bow to him, kiss his feet, do whatever to show respect," Ma'ama said.
The five-day visit came about when the church extended an invitation to the monarch, who is a Methodist, in January, said the Rev. Filimone H. Mone of Tongan United Methodist. Wesleyan, or Methodism, is one of the chief religions practiced in Tonga.
"It's a dream to have a new church and a great blessing to have him here," Mone said. "He is a king and a real Christian."
His advisers worried that the overseas trip would be too much strain for the monarch, who is 86. But the king said he wanted to visit Utah - with 6,600 Tongans, it is the second-largest Tongan population in the United States.
"He was willing to take the risk," Mone said.
Church members even built a room in the church for him, where he will be able to take a rest from activities today. It will be decorated with blankets and tapestries made by Salt Lake families in honor of his visit. No one else will enter the room, even after he leaves.
West Valley's Mele Fonua said many of the 500 members of the church have been cooking, sewing blankets and preparing presents for the visit of the monarch.
The church was nonstop motion Friday with people putting grass in place, planting trees, finishing up the ceiling of the main room. The dedication ceremony had to be moved up to accommodate the king's schedule.
He will be asked to cut the ribbon and then he'll drink some tea before the feast begins, Mone said.
"He is beloved by the people," Mone said. "And we are excited and happy because of his willingness to be with us."