Elder & Sister Mundell

It's a joy and a blessing for us to serve as missionaries in the state of Hawaii, for many reasons.  It feels like we're living in paradise -- the mountains towering over us and the vast tropical ocean we can see right from our neighborhood are so beautiful, it just never gets old.  The people we meet, and the good members of the Church that we love so much, are so kind and gracious towards us and everyone else.  We love it here!  But one of the best things about living in Hawaii is that our family and friends are eager to visit us, to see for themselves some of the things that we experience (and maybe take for granted) on a daily basis. This week Dan's son Casey and his wife Dana came to Hawaii for a vacation.  Casey had visited Oahu more than a dozen times as a youngster when the family was living in Guam, but it has been several years since we moved away.  Dana had never been to Hawaii before, and she was very excited to see some of the things she'd only...

This was a very busy week for us, a week we will never forget. Monday was Veteran's Day, and because he served his country in the US Air Force, Elder Mundell elected to suspend his usual missionary activities that day, and instead take advantage of the generosity offered by several local restaurants by enjoying a free meal for veterans.  He went to Buffalo Wild Wings for boneless chicken wings and fries before noon, stopped at Little Caesar's for four slices of pepperoni pizza and a drink in the early afternoon, and topped it off by taking the bus into Honolulu to eat chicken strips, cole slaw and fries at Dave & Busters in the early evening.  There are two days in November when Elder Mundell enjoys eating as much as he possibly can -- Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving.    A little more than a month ago, our mission president was told that Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles would be in Hawaii this weekend, and wanted to speak to our missionar...

We didn't have a lot going on this week, most of Sister Mundell's time was devoted to making preparations for a mission-wide conference for both the seniors and the younger missionaries that we will be having when Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles and his wife visit us on Friday. She was asked to do this, along with Sister Lee, to help relieve some of the burden off our mission leader Sister Andersen.  Cathy says it involves a lot of coordination, planning, and logistics.  We will report back on how everything went next week. Sister Mundell helped the relief society sisters in the Olomana ward make cute turkey candy jar centerpieces on Wednesday.  We still have several more of these jars, and she says we will be busy doing this activity at several more places this month until they're gone. Elder Mundell had the assignment to bake homemade bread for sacrament meeting in both wards this week, and the loaves turned out looking pretty well. Unfortunately ...

It was nice to be back together as a team on Tuesday - after a brief visit by Sister Mundell to the mainland. Elder Mundell hosted a Halloween party for our group at the Windward Health Center on Monday, but because our vehicle was in the repair shop for a flat tire, he had to ask someone for a ride. We gave them pizza, played a game of Halloween bingo, and handed out candy bags to everyone. We try to do a wide variety of fun activities with them each week. We attend a district council with the younger elders and sisters each week, and this one was tinged with a little sadness because one of our zone leaders, Elder Hendrickson, has reached the end of his two-year mission and would be going home this week. We always enjoy getting to know the missionaries who serve with us, and our greatest desire for them as they return home is their mission experience will be the foundation of a happy life of Christ-centered service in the church, and they will experience the joy that comes from reachi...