Mothers

It's always a special day when we remember and honor our dear mothers. We helped several of the older single sisters attend a Mother's Day social in the Waimanalo ward that was really nice and a lot of fun, and we made dozens of chocolate chip cookies yesterday that were handed out to the sisters in both wards today as a way of showing how much we love and appreciate them. One thing all of us have in common is a mother! One of the sweetest things we can do for them is make Mother's Day a special day.

We were honored to be recognized by the staff and patients at the Windward Mental Health facility this week for service we gave there for more than 18 months.  We made several good friends along the way, and we hope that our efforts made a difference in their lives.

One of the many posters we helped the clients at Windward Health create as therapy.

We try to attend the temple every week, usually on Wednesday morning. We feel so blessed to have a House of God so close we can worship there more often than we did in Florida. We tend to see the same ordinance workers there each time we go, so an extra blessing for us has been to meet and associate with so many wonderful people from all over the island. 

The celestial room of the Laie Hawaii Temple.

Occasionally revelation and inspiration comes into our hearts and minds as we are in the temple. That happened this week for Elder Mundell.  We were sitting in the celestial room, and he noticed how much of the beauty in that sacred place is from glass - a chandelier, the table, a vase, the windows, stained glass, etc.  Then he remembered that glass is made from silica, the primary component of sand, and it is fired to extremely high temperatures into molten form before it can be shaped and molded into beautiful shapes and works of art.  So it is with all of us.  We are no more than "the dust of the earth", but through the refining fire of the trials and difficulties we face and overcome in our life, God - the master craftsman - can mold us into something much more beautiful and wondrous than we ever thought possible ... if we choose to follow Christ by submitting our own will and natural desires to the will of the Father.