Seeing Red

During this time of the year, we are seeing lots of RED -- red lights, red bulbs, red tinsel and red decorated Christmas shirts.  We love seeing all of the things in red which reminds us of our Savior Jesus Christ and how he died for us.  With this red--we just got approval to head up a Stake Blood Drive in Waimanalo.  We will be doing one in March of 2024 and September of 2024.  Their is a real need for blood donations in Hawaii. Every 3 seconds, someone in the state needs blood. Moreover, the state is shy 200 pints of blood each day. We are just excited that we can help bring this cause to our Ward Building.

We had the opportunity to see more RED this week as the Senior Missionaries gathered for a Christmas Conference on Monday, attended the temple with the other senior couples on Tuesday, and participated in a Christmas zone conference for Oahu and Kauai on Thursday. The best thing about it was being able to meet the other senior couples and exchange personal experiences we've had serving in Hawaii. Our mission leaders had a chance to tell us some "war stories" about their experiences dealing with the young elders and sisters in this mission. The common theme was that they change so much in such a short period of time, from the mission president asking himself how could a bishop or stake president send someone like this out on a mission, into a mighty elder full of faith and testimony just a few months later. Most Elders and Sisters reach a spiritual peak on their mission, and it sets the tone that will sustain them for the rest of their lives, so in addition to our stated purpose to "invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end", another purpose is to build a foundation that will keep member missionaries progressing toward exaltation long after their full time mission is completed.

Elder and Sister Mundell with President and Sister Sloat

We also had a family home evening at the mission home with President and Sister Sloat. The highlight of the entire day for us was listening to the heartfelt testimonies of three couples who would be returning home in a couple of days. Sister Mundell felt like she saw a glimpse of what it must be like in the celestial kingdom as we mingled with our fellow senior couple missionaries this week. There was such a sweet spirit we felt in the celestial room after doing ordinances there. It is inspiring to us that these faithful brothers and sisters put the rest of their lives and opportunities to spend their "golden years" with family on hold for a while to be where the Lord wants them to be, serving and blessing His children in so many ways. We feel very blessed to be a part of such a wonderful, devoted group of saints.

We also had a lot of fun helping dozens of children and a few adults decorate sugar cookies for Christmas. We went to a homeless shelter and a halfway house in Honolulu and the Hui Mahi'ai Aina shelter in Waimanalo. We were surprised to learn that only a couple of the children had ever decorated cookies before. One boy came up to us and said it was "the happiest day in his life" because he had never decorated a sugar cookie before. It is moments like this that make our hearts swell, and we get choked up as we try to hold back tears because they are so special to us. We love serving adults and especially their little children who appreciate everything we are trying to do for them.

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