Elder & Sister Mundell

We had several "out of the ordinary" things happen this week, which is nice because while we enjoy doing our usual activities, a change of pace once in a while keeps things interesting and enjoyable.   On Sunday we were asked by the stake presidency to speak in other wards in support of the seminary program.  Sister Mundell spoke in Kaneohe First Ward at 8 am, and Elder Mundell spoke at the Keolu Ward in the Kailua area at 11 am.  We expressed our love and appreciation for our seminary students, and talked about the many benefits participation in early morning seminary has for them, both in their immediate future as they make important decisions about the direction their lives will take, and their long-term happiness remaining faithful to Heavenly Father and staying active in the Church.  Our goal was to encourage high school students and their parents to make attending seminary a priority in their busy lives.  We had a very early start to our day...

It's been spring break for the schools this week, so we didn't have to teach early morning seminary.  But we still stayed very busy.  Our missionary zone was in charge of hosting a zone conference for the elders and sisters in Mililani and Kaneohe.  It had been more than 5 months since the last time we had this opportunity, and we wanted everyone to meet in the newly renovated stake center.  It was a huge thing for us because it's less than a mile from our apartment and we have keys to the building, so we did all of the setup and meal preparation the night before - taking most of the stress and anxiety about getting everything ready off our our shoulders so we could relax and listen to the instruction and counsel from our mission leaders.  Us with President Dean Andersen and Sister Colleen Andersen Table decorations at Zone Conference We have been having group sessions with patients at the Windward Health Center on Mondays and Tuesdays for a year and a half....

What better way to celebrate than a toast of colonoscopy drinks! We celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary this week.  We love to tell people the unusual tale about how we met and married six years ago, and it makes us laugh when we see their reaction.  We love that our marriage has allowed us to serve a mission together in such a wonderful island paradise as Hawaii.  We continue trying to do the best we can with the talents and gifts the Lord has blessed us with, and we rely on the Holy Spirit to guide us and help us along our missionary journey.  We feel so blessed to be serving God at this point in our lives, and we hope we are making a difference in the lives of others - the saints who live here, the young elders and sisters, and those we serve in the community.  We celebrated their anniversary by taking a cruise of the Hawaiian Islands All of the senior couples who were here when we arrived have already returned home, and so for the next three months we hav...

It was a difficult weekend for us.  Our son-in-law Anthony Young Jr. passed away suddenly on Christmas Day at age 32, and we wanted to support Keilah and the rest of Cathy's family by attending his funeral in Inglewood California.  It was the first time Elder Mundell had left Hawaii since we arrived 19 months ago.  It took several weeks after Anthony's passing for Los Angeles county to release his body to his widow and the funeral director, so Keilah had to wait until March 1st to have a memorial service.  Sister Mundell called a couple of bishops in the LA area and one of them was gracious enough to allow us to use the stake center, which was a huge blessing for us.  In addition to the grief and pain she was feeling, some of Anthony's family members were putting pressure on her to do things a certain way to honor him, and she had to make many difficult decisions to try to please everyone but ultimately she did it the way she felt was best even if there were obj...