Unexpected Blessings

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 heard, seen and read about from other people who'd experienced the unique lifestyle here.  On our first day we went to Laie and the Polynesian Cultural Center.  They enjoyed each of the presentations and activities, and learned a lot about each group of islands and their culture.  Casey and Dana really loved the evening show.  Our seats were in the front row, and it gave us an up close and personal view of the young performers.  It takes a lot of practice and effort to pull the whole thing off, and even though we could tell they were hot and sweaty, the performers were full of joy with huge smiles on their faces.  Afterwards, we met a few of the students in the show and had our picture taken with them.

Elder Mundell's son Casey and his wife Dana at the "Ha Breath of Life" show.

We also took a tour around the Kualoa Ranch a few miles north of here on all-terrain vehicles, and had a wonderful time together. It's always a risk when you make reservations that it'll turn out to be a rainy, muddy mess ... but we were very lucky.  It rained a little bit the day before to keep the dust down but it was sunny and dry all day.  This gave us some excellent views of the mountains and ocean.  We encountered a scary dinosaur from "Jurassic World" but somehow managed to escape without any serious injuries. LOL

A highlight of Dana's first time in Hawaii came later that day at the beach.  More than anything else, she wanted to see a sea turtle.  As  they were splashing around in the water, to their surprise a large sea turtle swam right by them, and they got to see it up close!  That's the  way so many of the best most memorable experiences happen in our lives, totally unexpected and unplanned.  There's no better example of this type of unexpected blessing than what happened today at church.  Elder Mundell received a phone call from a total stranger in our stake back home in Florida.  The brother asked Dan where he served his mission, and if he'd been in Live Oak, Florida.  The man, Patrick Hodges, then explained the reason for the call.  His wife had tracked down the names of the two missionaries who'd baptized him and his mother in 1979, elders by the name of Taylor and Mundell.  He wanted to know if that Elder Mundell was me.  It was a surreal conversation as Brother Hodges described the impact that baptism and his brother's a couple of months later had on his family.  He served a mission in England, married in the temple, served as a bishop, on the high council and as an ordinance worker in the temple.  All of his sons served missions, and so did his brother's sons.  It is hard for me to imagine how many blessings in three plus generations are the result of two obedient missionaries knocking on their door in rural northern Florida one day.  You never know what the results will be.  The gospel of Jesus Christ changes lives and shapes the future of entire families.  I regret not staying in touch with his family after my mission, it was very different back then, it took a lot of work to maintain contact through letters and long distance phone calls.  We are anxious to meet the Hodges family when we return from our mission next year.  It is an amazing coincidence that we ended up in the same stake in Zion!

This is a picture Dana took of sunrise near Makapu'u Point.  There's beauty all around us.  There is so much to be thankful for!  Thanksgiving is a special time of year to pause and reflect on the bounty and tender mercies the Lord grants us each day.  We are so blessed!  We thank you - our family and friends - for your continued love, support and constant prayers on our behalf.