Tonga!

Monday, May 20^th

I drove into the office with Gina this morning after the devotional. Alan had to stop at the hospital and talk to Sione about the wheelchairs in preparation for our meeting with Steve Stebbings tomorrow. When he got there, Sione wasn’t there so he had to go back on the way home. That meant that I drove home with Gina too. It has been fun to get to know her a little better. She shared some cooking tips with me today on how to fix Tongan food and make it taste a little more flavorful. She will share some recipes with me and I look forward to trying them.
When I got home I started cooking for our dinner with President Hamula. I made Fire House Baked Pasta. That is probably a one time thing while we are here. I couldn’t believe how much I spent buying the ingredients. I will make a list at the end of this entry. I also baked a cake to take as well.
Our dinner was at 5:30 and it was a delightful evening. The food was wonderful, we have a lot of good cooks here. President Tukuafu came and asked us to sit at the table with Elder Hamula. What an honor. Elder and Sister Kieli and Sister Mitchell were asked too. We had a wonderful dinner conversation and he answered all of our questions as well as asking us all about ourselves. He was easy to talk to and very appreciative of our service here. When dinner was over he spoke to us about some of his experiences as the Area Authority of the South Pacific. They were amazing. I wrote them down but it is to long to include here. I will write them up separately. When he was finished he talked with each one of us individually before he left. He has a huge week ahead of him and he needed some rest. It was a very special experience.

Fire House Baked Pasta (in Tonga)

Noodles -- $5.00
Chicken -- $16.00
Ham -- $16.00
Bacon -- $8.00
Olives -- $4.50
Green onions -- $3.00
Alfredo Sauce -- $14.00
Total $66.50 = about $50.00 in US money