Resurrection Sunday

This is our first spring in the Hawaiian islands, and we didn't know if they celebrate the Easter season differently than what we're used to on the mainland, so this was an opportunity for us to observe and participate in some of their island traditions and church culture that are unique to this part of the world. It's traditional to get together on Easter Sunday for family dinner and socializing, and bigger is definitely better. The whole extended family comes from near and far to eat and drink. Unlike the rest of the US, ham isn't the main meat dish as much here, although other types of pork in many varieties usually are, along with chicken and fish. We attended two different wards today, and both took their individual own style and approach to remember the suffering, death and resurrection of Christ. The Waimanalo ward had multiple musical numbers with ukulele and guitar, in both Hawaiian and English, which was very nice. The Olomana ward had several youth speakers, including one from the primary, that spoke powerfully about the resurrection and atonement. The songs were also from the primary and youth. The bishop in each ward gave a short talk to help the congregation focus on the message of Christ. Our mission leaders asked all of the missionaries to invite as many as they knew to come out and worship with the saints this Sunday. While there were more people there than usual, to be honest we were a little disappointed the chapel wasn't completely full and overflowing on Resurrection Sunday.

We achieved one of our biggest goals yesterday, as we sponsored a successful blood drive at the Waimanalo building. Sister Mundell is passionate in her desire for this blood drive to become a reality, and worked tirelessly over the past several months with Sister Pomai Recca in the Olomana ward to encourage people to sign up for appointments. We made cookies, and the Reccas provided a meal and snacks for everyone that showed up. A director for the blood bank of Hawaii showed up, and was very impressed with what we did. He was particularly pleased because the Waimanalo area hadn't done blood donations in nearly five years prior to the pandemic. We had a great time, a total of 38 individuals donated 152 pints of blood to help save lives, and best of all, almost everyone who donated yesterday agreed to make an appointment to come for our next blood drive in September. 

Superheroes giving the gift of life, Easter weekend 2024

We left the blood drive a little early so we could attend the funeral for the mother of one of our friends in the Olomana ward. It was the first time we'd been to a funeral here, and although we had never had the privilege of getting to know bossy "Tutu", it was important for us to love and support the family members she left behind. Funerals are very sad occasions, we miss the departed so much, but it's also a time to celebrate their passing as a necessary part of God's plan, because it's the living that need to know and understand the message of hope and salvation that Jesus Christ offers us through the plan of happiness. There were some laughs and fond remembrances as her grandchildren shared with the more than 250 friends there what her life meant to them. We appreciated the opportunity to witness what a Hawaiian LDS funeral is like. 

We enjoy being creative in our approach, and finding innovative ways to teach early morning seminary. Our class learned about what it means to "feast on the words of Christ" from 2 Nephi 31:19-20, which is one of Elder Mundell's favorite scriptures that he's able to recite from memory. We had a breakfast, and all of the parents contributed food that we could feast on while the students looked up doctrinal topics and principles to share with the rest of the class. It was a memorable day, everyone that could attend was there, and it taught a valuable lesson about the importance of not just reading the Book of Mormon, but studying it and pondering what we read - to get a breadth of knowledge and depth of understanding. This is like a river that is both wide and deep, and is what it means to "feast on the words of Christ".

Every Friday we serve morning and afternoon shifts at a non-profit organization called "The Pantry, Feeding Hawaii Together". The young elders and sisters from our mission including service missionaries are there helping give out food to those who need some extra assistance feeding their families. It's a great organization, the people we work with are very friendly and supportive, and we just love serving there. This Friday they were expecting an unusually large number of food orders, so we got a text asking us to come in a little earlier than usual,  and they really appreciated our help. We were super busy all day, the good kind of busy, and when it was all through they processed a record total of 819 orders, over 30,000 lb. of food. We saw lots and lots of eggs heading out the door and into children's Easter baskets! We're especially grateful that the Lord has blessed us in so many ways to help God's children here, the good people of Oahu in the state of Hawaii.