Thanksgiving

The thanksgiving holiday has always been such a special weekend for us to spend time with family, friends and loved ones. In Florida, we would invite neighbors and single ward members who would otherwise be spending the holiday alone to share our thanksgiving dinner. But as missionaries, this year we wanted to find ways to serve others and help make their thanksgiving a little nicer and happier for them. So we volunteered at Ko'olau Clubhouse, which is affiliated with Clubhouse International, and helps people with mental illness lead productive, happy lives. We played several games of thanksgiving bingo with them, which was a lot of fun, and spent most of our time just sitting with individuals, talking with them, and letting them share some of their life story with us. We also did some singing and shared a traditional thanksgiving meal with them. In the afternoon we volunteered at Hui Mahi'ai Aina, which is a homeless camp in Waimanalo, to help cook and serve thanksgiving dinner to over 150 people. They cooked the turkeys and ham in an underground pit called an imu for several hours. The imu has hardwood and lava rocks to keep the meat at the right temperature then covered in ti leaves and palm branches to keep the heat in. When it's done, the meat is flavorful and falls off the bone. We helped feed the families at the homeless camp and also prepared dozens of box lunches to give to the people living in tents at Waimanalo Beach. It was hard, but also very satisfying work for us, and we felt like we were doing what God wanted us to do on Thanksgiving Day as a sign of our gratitude to Him. 

The day after thanksgiving we got together with most of the other senior couples in our mission that are on the island of Oahu. There was a lot of pie and socializing that afternoon. We enjoyed having the opportunity get to know many of the couples that we'd never even met before. We all have a common bond even though our assignments and backgrounds may be very different, and we need social activities like this from time to time to help strengthen that bond, especially during the holidays when we are so far away from our children, grandchildren and loved ones in our wards and neighborhoods. We will be having a senior conference in early December for all the senior missionaries including those on the neighbor islands of Hawaii. 

At our stake conference a month ago, the stake president said that there was an urgent need for seminary teachers. Sister Mundell felt inspired to speak with him afterward and volunteered to teach early morning seminary in the Kaneohe stake. We got approval from the mission presidency, and so the two of us were called as seminary teachers last Sunday. We will receive training and start teaching classes when the new semester begins in January. Neither of us has ever had this calling before. We look at it as an opportunity to grow spiritually by getting out of our comfort zone, but more importantly, a way to inspire and motivate the high school students to gain their own testimonies, have a desire to serve full-time missions and to be sealed together in the temple.