Elder & Sister Mundell

We have many varied experiences each week, and from time to time we like to share an example of what we're doing each day and how this mission is blessing our lives and the those we meet. This was one of those kind of weeks. We apologize in advance for how long this is.  Even though Monday was a holiday, we still went to the youth correctional facility. We gave them a Valentine's word search at the end of our visit last week, and we promised them a prize if they completed the puzzle and handed it back to us the next time. Each one of them did that, and we used it as an opportunity to talk about keeping our word when we promise to do something, and so we brought them some yummy treats to enjoy because we kept our word to them. We were faced with a difficult decision to make on Tuesday. The senior couples on Oahu were gathering at the home of the mission president and his wife for a family home evening, but it happened to be the same night the Waimanalo ward meets for a Come Fol...

Valentines Day was on Wednesday, and we tried to make it a special day. Starting the week before, we gave our seminary students quotes, activities and games to remind them about LOVE, and the love Christ has for them. Sister Mundell called it "The Seven Days of Love". We live only 20 miles from the Laie Hawaii temple, so we decided to do baptisms, confirmations, and initiatory ordinances for family members whose names we took to the temple. It was the first time we had performed baptisms in many years, and for Cathy it was the first time since she was a teenager. We also ate out at a restaurant. The only condition was it had to be someplace other than Costco hot dogs!  One of the biggest highlights for Sister Mundell on her mission is finding out she has a 7th cousin here. They had a connection even before they realized they were related. Her cousin is a beautiful soul, full of love and kindness. We also learned a little more about doing family history at a workshop for begin...

We're really enjoying our mission! Each week there are new and different things happening to us that keep the whole mission experience fun and interesting. It's not the same thing over and over each day. The whole point of doing this missionary blog is to keep our children and siblings informed about what's going on with us each week, and also as a permanent record we can refer to after our time in Hawaii is completed, helping us jog our memory a bit about the many blessings we received at the hand of the Lord. Enough people outside of our little circle of family members wanted to know what's going on with Elder and Sister Mundell that we also post the text of our blog on Facebook. This allows our experiences to be shared with a wider audience, even though that's not our intent. We have the same desires as Nephi, who wrote in the Book of Mormon,  “The fulness of mine intent is that I may persuade men to come unto the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God...

One of the blessings available to us living on Oahu is the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) in Laie. It is owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and serves a dual purpose; to preserve the culture and traditions of the Polynesian island peoples, and to provide employment, income and assistance to the students attending Brigham Young University-Hawaii. It's a truly inspired program that is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Hawaii. BYU-H students from places such as Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Tahiti, Aotearoa (New Zealand) and Hawaii give hands-on demonstrations about various unique aspects of their island culture. This used to be merely a natural extension of what they grew up with, but in today's global environment, it's a very important way for them to preserve and carry forward the traditions passed down from their ancestors through the many generations before they become lost in the modern world.  As missionaries, we have access to d...