Elder & Sister Mundell

This is a special edition. Elder Mundell wanted to share some thoughts about general conference that he thinks are insightful, but is too long for our usual weekly blog post, that might benefit the casual reader.  I do not have any memory of conference growing up in southern California. Considering the LA market is so large, it's possible the Sunday morning session was shown on TV, but I don't recall. But I do have vivid memories of listening to the priesthood session after our family moved to Grants Pass, Oregon. Gilbert Mildenstein drove me to the church on Savage Street and I'd sit there with my head down listening to the audio amplified through a telephone line. I always enjoyed priesthood session the most because that was the one where all three members of the First Presidency spoke.  The first time I saw general conference live on TV was freshman year at BYU. I kept thinking to myself, "these Utah Mormons are so lucky. They get to watch every session at home, eve...

   Many people wonder why we have an angel on the spire of most of our temples, and often ask us who the angel is, and what he represents. We felt inspired to call attention to a special anniversary this week, marking 200 years since the angel Moroni visited the 17 year-old boy Joseph Smith on September 21, 1823, which set in motion events which would lead to the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ on earth again. It is the starting point from which the kingdom of God, spoken of in Daniel 2:31-45, was set up as a stone cut out the mountain without hands, to roll forth and fill the whole earth. Moroni is a symbol of that restoration, that God once again sent heavenly messengers to the earth to reveal truth from heaven and bring forth the ancient record out of the ground that is the Book of Mormon. It all started on this date 200 years ago. We feel honored to to be a part of this latter-day restoration, called to share it with the rest of the world.    ...

     For the full time missionaries in the church, they keep track of time differently than the rest of us. Their calendar is based on when new elders and sisters arrive, and those who've completed their mission depart, which is every six weeks. They call this important day in the mission a "transfer". Senior couples are asked to inspect their apartments and vehicles right before a transfer, and the mission president leads a zone conference during each six week period.       Cathy inspected apartments, and as a former maid at a hotel in Yosemite NP, she passed on some wisdom and tips how to keep their living space clean where the spirit can dwell. The bathrooms needed a lot of work, so she was able to make a real difference in their lives by correcting them as needed, but with love, doing her thankless assignment exceptionally well.       We attended our first zone conference yesterday, and it was another one of those eye openi...

      Our contact with the Hawaii Honolulu Mission after we received our mission call was not the mission president, but a counselor in the mission presidency assigned to assist the senior couples, named Dan Kitashima. We got to meet him and his lovely wife, Mervlyn, a couple of days after we arrived. They helped us understand what was expected of us, and were a great blessing to us as new missionaries. So we felt a great loss and sorrow when we heard that she had suffered a massive stroke about 2 weeks later, and then  returned back to our Heavenly Father on Wednesday. Our interaction with her was very brief, but she made quite an impression because of her strength and kindness. What was amazing to us was how many people we talked to knew and loved her, as far back as high school. She will be greatly missed, especially by the office elders and sisters. We expect her memorial service will be attended by hundreds of friends and family.     We had an opp...

      It's been just over a month for us in the mission field. The time has gone by so fast! Sometimes it feels like we aren't accomplishing very much, but in reality we are. It just takes time for the seeds we are planting to to germinate, sprout and grow, then become fully ripe and start to bear fruit. Luckily, our missionary service should not be viewed as a sprint, but more like a marathon. Our consistent, dedicated efforts day by day will reap a bountiful harvest of souls we have helped bring closer to Jesus Christ by the time we reach the finish line when our full-time mission is over.      We feel it's not really true to call what we're doing ... missionary "work". Our efforts to reach and teach people are merely an extension of our desire to share gospel principles with others as we interact with them in normal and natural conversations. We're finding it is fun and enjoyable for us to love others, share insights from our personal experiences, invit...