Banyans

Our main project this week was giving blank Easter cards to people so they could color them in and leave a message inside of hope and encouragement for the recipients, children who are battling cancer at a number of hospitals around the country. Sister Mundell found a non-profit organization called "Cardz for Kidz" in Chicago that distributes the cards to cancer patients, and we enlisted the help of almost every group we visited during the week to be creative and share some Aloha (love) from Hawaii. They request the cards arrive a month or so in advance of the holiday, so we were busy handing out cards, markers and crayons to both kids and adults all week, and then mailed them off on Friday. We sometimes get a thank you back for our efforts, most times not, but the only reason we do this, and encourage others to help us, is we know there will be a smile on the face of a sick child somewhere and a little more joy in the hearts of their parents. 

We had a visit this week from Cathy's sister Claudia and her husband Alden from Utah. They were supposed to land around noon on Tuesday, but their plane had mechanical problems, the flight was cancelled, and they arrived about 8 hours late. Elder Mundell was asked during pickleball in the afternoon if he could lead the Come Follow Me class discussion that night. He feels like being a missionary means you should always be prepared to share your testimony, give a talk or teach a class at a moment's notice, so he gladly accepted the invitation as an opportunity to serve his Heavenly Father. It turned out well, because he had faith and trusted in God to help him share a gospel message by relying on the Spirit.

The four of us went to the temple on Wednesday. Claudia attended BYU Hawaii as a student in 1979 and hadn't been back to Hawaii since. It was the first time Alden had ever been to the Aloha State, so we wanted to show them what Laie was like, and let them experience the peace and joy we feel serving in the Hawaii temple. We visited a special spot where a huge banyan tree graces the entrance to the baptistry. We love the banyan trees here; it symbolizes to us the importance of families, and how a small seedling can spread its roots and grow to a massive size over time, just as our families can grow and strengthen their roots and branches from the small seed, as a faithful husband and wife are sealed together in the House of the Lord. 

Banyan tree garden near to the baptistry at the Laie Hawaii temple

Alden and Claudia Beaman from Utah, visiting us for a week