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Bentonville Bids Mundos Farewell

On the Sabbath of July 23, 2022, the Bentonville, Arkansas, congregation hosted a farewell tribute for Ariel and Astrid Mundo and their family.

The Mundos came to be a part of our Bentonville family in August of 2017. They moved to Arkansas from Guatemala when Ariel accepted a Fulbright Scholarship at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville to pursue his doctorate in biomedical engineering.

Ariel, Astrid and their daughter Ema (now 7) soon became active in our congregation. About a year later, their son Dario (now 4) was born in Arkansas. Ema and Dario have grown up among us and developed many friendships, both young and old. It has been a delight to watch them blossom.

Astrid, who had been an accomplished chef in her home country of Chile, shared her culinary skills with us on most Sabbaths. She always had something special prepared for our church snacks and our monthly potlucks. Anyone who had the pleasure of being a guest at their table never went away hungry, and Astrid always prepared at least one sweet treat. This writer and many others particularly enjoyed Astrid’s delightful meringues.

Ariel also served our congregation—giving sermonettes,

Knoxville Foi Service Project

The Knoxville, Tennessee, congregation participated in an FOI service project after services and sunset on Feb. 11, 2023.

Following a sandwich smorgasbordthemed “pot-blessing” meal, the congregation tagged bears for the Care Bear Patrol Program, organized by Peter Holmes, an elder in the congregation. In less than an hour, participants tagged 330 stuffed toy bears that will be donated to emergency responders. The emergency responders will use the bears to help comfort children who are involved in car accidents and domestic violence situations.

Amberly Groves

leading hymns and playing special music on his guitar. On their last Sabbath we had the pleasure of a memorable guitar duet that Ariel performed with Nathan Froedge.

In May 2022 Ariel finished his final semester and received his doctorate in biomedical engineering, biostatistics.

The family is now in Montreal, Québec, where Ariel has a fellowship from the Center of Research in Mathematics at the University of Montreal. His postdoctoral fellowship is at the School of Public Health.

The Bentonville congregation greatly misses the Mundo family! We wish them well as they make their new home in Canada. Not au revoir, but à plus tard!

Vicki