Elder & Sister Mundell

We had the rare opportunity to have two of our children visiting at the same time! Chloe and Levi were here through Wednesday morning, and even visited our seminary class prior to their flight back to Utah. Dan's son Korey is here for what he calls a "nerd conference" for military technology folks, and he will leave tomorrow. He stayed at a hotel in Waikiki during the week, and with us for the weekend. We appreciate having a second bedroom and bath in our apartment, which allows our kids stay with us, it's a great blessing to our family. The last three missionary zone conferences have also been when we've had family staying with us, so it presents a bit of a dilemma for us. We're expected to support the missionaries and feed them lunch, but family takes priority. When Claudia and Alden were here we didn't attend, when Keilah and Anthony were here we went for the first hour and left early, and this time Elder Mundell was there the entire day but Sister Mund...

Little things count. The Savior said, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me". This week we were talking to a man from the Philippines that attends one of our groups at the health center. He showed us his bare feet, bemoaning the loss of his only pair of shoes the day before which had fallen apart. So Elder Mundell went home and gave him a pair of his slippers. When we saw him later that week, we noticed he was wearing the slippers and feeling much better. It was the least we could do for him! It's a challenge for young missionaries to be assigned to an area where both of them are new and don't know anyone. They have to start from scratch getting acquainted with ward leadership and those who are investigating the church. Normally one elder or sister remains in the area when the other is transferred away, but when both leave it's called "whitewashing". That was the situation we were faced with this...

We had a fairly busy week. Monday was a little out of the ordinary because one of the tires was leaking air and the SUV was due for an oil change, so we left it at the auto shop and walked to our nearby destinations in different directions -- Sis. Mundell went to the Windward Health Center to finish a 3-week project we've been doing with the patients there, making pinatas from balloons that were covered over with several layers of paper and paste, then after they dried we filled them with candy and a put on a final coat of paint. We plan to give the finished pinatas to Auntie Blanche's homeless family shelter in Waimanalo for the children to enjoy. Elder Mundell went by himself to district council with the young missionaries in our stake / zone. We go to a youth correctional facility in the afternoon, but the car wasn't done in time so we had to disappoint them this week.  Sister Mundell also helped host a baby shower for two sisters in the Olomana ward who'd recently h...

We feel blessed to be able to serve in this beautiful place among such wonderful people. We get to meet and interact with all kinds of God's children, and our experiences with these good folks have been all over the spectrum. For example, last week we were talking with a man who was trying to turn his life around after several years living on the street, and struggling to overcome his drug and alcohol additions. But what surprised us was when we asked him what he did for a living. He said he was a professional shoplifter. He'd steal food from grocery stores and sell it on the black market. We were shocked that he showed no remorse for his actions at all, especially when he told us he'd never pay for groceries again in his life! We felt sad and discouraged after our conversation with him, but immediately afterward we had one of our best experiences with people ever! Sister Mundell baked some sugar cookies and made some frosting, and we brought it to the common area of a wome...