New Year

This past week was a quiet one for Elder Mundell, except for one night.  Sister Mundell was on the mainland helping her daughter deal with the aftermath of losing her husband on Christmas Day, and many of the places we normally serve at during the week were minimally staffed during the holidays, so he spent most of his time in the apartment -- reading, marking copies of the Book of Mormon for the missionaries to hand out, and doing some family history work.  But on New Year's Eve it was anything but quiet.  It is traditional on Oahu, and probably the other islands of Hawaii as well, for families to go all out with elaborate expensive displays of fireworks for the start of the new year.  It seems fireworks are going off everywhere, and it starts several days before in late December.  The fireworks were booming and bursting with dazzling displays on New Year's Eve even before the sun went down, and continued through the night, reaching a deafening peak around midnight, and that continued for about 45 minutes into the new year. We've lived in a lot of places around the world, and most celebrate the new year with firework displays, but it is completely different and way over-the-top in Hawaii.  It is hard to describe how loud and how long the fireworks are going off, and you have to see it to believe it.  People here are used to it, it's just part of living in this island paradise, and accept the wild noisy night as a fun traditionally Hawaiian way to celebrate in a big way.

Meanwhile, Sister Mundell was serving her most important mission --as a mother.  Her daughter Keilah lost her husband last week, and she needed her mom to be with her as a source of strength and comfort for her through the dark days of grief, sorrow, and pain she was going through.  It was very difficult for Keilah to drive back home, and Cathy didn't want her to be alone in her house.  She did a lot of cleaning and housework, trying to ease the burden any way possible. Cathy also purchased a rug to help brighten the living room.

Initially we expected a funeral or memorial service for Anthony would be in early January on the 8th, but unforseen circumstances forced Keilah to delay it indefinitely because California law requires all people who passed away under age 40 to have an autopsy, and there's a 6-8 week wait due to a backlog of cases in Southern California. So it's possible both of us will be able to attend depending on how things go in the next two months.

Cathy was able to spend some time with Carol's daughters.