One Percent

Sister Mundell went to the airport early Monday morning for a flight to Las Vegas, where she met her one-week old grandson Chase for the first time, and to help the new parents Keilah and Anthony adjust to life with a newborn baby. Elder Mundell stayed behind to take care of our usual missionary responsibilities, which include teaching an early morning seminary class of juniors and seniors. We are well suited to teach the students as a couple; Dan has a deep knowledge of the scriptures and a sound understanding of the doctrine and principles of the gospel, and he is talented at being able to share some of that wisdom with them, Cathy is gifted at sharing personal experiences in her own life that relate to each topic, and how the kids can apply the lessons they learn in class into their own minds and hearts. We make a excellent team - we feel like the students are getting a very balanced approach to gospel learning as we each teach in our own unique way.  We can tell they love us, even if they don't say much in class, and we truly love them. So this week Elder Mundell was flying solo, and he could really tell something was missing because his companion wasn't around to help carry some of the load. But he managed to survive somehow. As a special treat, the two seminary classes joined together on Friday for a yummy breakfast and some doctrinal mastery activities.

Sister Mundell proudly admires her new grandson, Chase Anthony Young

On Tuesday night Elder Mundell learned how to make homemade bread. The RS president in Waimanalo ward, Joy Koehler, offered to  teach anyone who was interested how to make the bread they use for sacrament meeting every Sunday. This particular bread recipe is very delicious (Sister Mundell often takes two or three large pieces during the sacrament because it's so good), and we felt it would be a good way to serve by helping provide the sacrament bread at least once a month. We love this idea -- more people have the blessing of serving others in a small but very important way. The bread turned out pretty well for a first-timer -- Dan brought a couple of loaves to the women's shelter when he did bingo there on Thursday, and they loved it! We had a bread maker at our home in Sebring, but we didn't use it very much and ended up selling it before we left on our mission. But bread is so expensive here it makes sense to learn how to make your own bread! There are so many uses -- at home for sandwiches, as sacrament bread, and best of all -- to share with others!

This is what the bread looked like. Not bad for a first try!

Yesterday it rained hard from before sunrise until early afternoon. Elder Mundell's typical morning involves walking about 7 miles every day between 5 and 7 am, so the rain disrupted his weekend plans. When the weather finally started to improve, Elder Mundell loaded up the SUV the mission provides us with thousands of cans and bottles that he'd collected during his early morning walks. Every day he returns home with a small bag of a dozen or so recyclable he picks up along the way. Each can and bottle is worth 5 cents in Hawaii. Over time, those little bags grow in size into huge trash bags that he keeps on our porch. When Sister Mundell says the pile is getting too big, it's time to take them to a recycling center near us across from the mall. That day was supposed to be yesterday, but because of the rain, Dan had to wait until the afternoon. He was the last customer of the day, and walked away with over $50 in cash. When he told the missionaries about his windfall, they said it was like a lesson they'd just learned about the one percent. It was the subject of a general conference talk by Elder Michael A. Dunn in October 2021. He said if we make a little more effort, even just one percent more, that huge positive benefits can result from that extra effort. The elders said picking up cans and bottles didn't require much additional effort, but by doing so Elder Mundell was able to reap significant financial blessings by his consistent and sustained - one percent better - effort each time he went out for a walk.

Our large pile of trash bags with cans and bottles to recycle.

One thing Elder Mundell likes to point out as we meet people and engage them in conversation, is that he literally is a member of the one percent. Whenever you look around at people, no one has a white shirt on in Hawaii, and you don't see men wearing a tie. But the elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints certainly do. We are the one percent. We stand out. People notice us. For that reason it's very important that we take our role as representatives of Jesus Christ very seriously, act with dignity and respect towards everyone, and always behave in a way that honors the Savior.