This was Tuesday's event. Sister Punaivaha left today. We had been in a meeting for 4 hours on Monday and she sat by me. She was very restless. When missionaries are leaving, having completed their missions, they go to the mission home on Thursday afternoon and have an interview with the President, a workshop about going to college and where to get scholarships, making a resume and finding a job, a testimony meeting and dinner and then spend the night. Then early on Friday they all pile in the van and they go to Adam-ondi-Ahman and have an experience there. Then on the way back they stop at the airport and the Pres. and his wife see that they get on the plane to wherever they are going.

Well, since there is a plane to Tonga only twice a week, Sister Punaivaha stayed here until Tuesday. She came in the office at 11:30 to say goodbye and she was one subdued little gal. She has been rather quiet the past couple of weeks. She is sad to have her mission end, excited to be going home, sad to leave so many people behind who she loves and who love her, and just all the feelings and emotions departing missionaries have.

Well, this is her with Dad. She and Dad had a fun relationship. They joked a lot together and gave each other bad times, they usually did a little hand jive together or whatever it is called. You know, popping knuckles together, back and front, etc. and then at the end your hand pops open. It was cute and they loved doing it and they always laughed.

This is Dad giving her a hug. He said he could not hug her (it is a no-no for Elders to hug Sisters (unless it is their wife), but I said, she is going home, give her a hug. So he did.

This is the three of us. I will miss this girl. I just love her. She had me call Sister Vela (a senior) in SLC because they were going to meet in SLC and needed to know her arrival time. Vela lives in West Jordan and Puni had a three hour layover there. She was so scared because she had that layover and then flew to LAX and had another hour layover and then a 15 hour flight to Tonga, then a 45 minute boat ride to her island. Yes, she will arrive on Thursday. I explained to her about the SL airport and told her Sister Vela would be waiting at the bottom of the escalators. I hope it all went well. I need to call and she if she managed her first stopover!

This is the three of us together for the last time. Except now we want to go to Tonga!

Loves and hugs.