More North News

 Hi All,

Elder Badger (Farrell) writing this week's post. We have decided to alternate weeks to give you two perspectives.

It has been a great week – thoroughly enjoyed getting deep into the full set of temple drawings. Yes, the real action is still a few months off, but we are interacting regularly with the professionals who will pull it all off. That is the church employees, the architect, and the general contractor. They are an impressive group to work with. I have never seen such quality and level of detail. This temple will be about 30,000 sq ft – a little less than half the size of Orem but three times bigger than the current temple here. It has about the same footprint as the new Orem temple but without the second story. The general contractor is in the process of figuring out where to put the construction office trailers and our visitors center on this rather tight five-acre site which will also house a stake center. No other updates since the first public announcement – anticipated to start in the first part of 2024.

The time was about 3:50 p.m. -- notice the low sun.

The church supplied us with two laptops, an external monitor, and a camera. I spent several hours getting it set up and software installed. It will get some heavy use and is much appreciated. The biggest surprise is the camera. It is more like a GoPro. It is a Garmin VIRB360. So that means you set it on a little tripod, and it takes a 4k spherical 360 photo scan of the room. I have it running but not quite sure yet what the intended picture-taking program is. We will figure that out this week.

Sister Badger (Kitty) and I were asked by the local Bishop to take the 5^th Sunday lesson for all the youth in the ward. Apparently, the kids had asked for a lesson on Procrastination and Scheduling. That is quite a topic that we can all, no doubt, express some practiced expertise in. We had 25-30 there today. I was amazed at how attentive they were and their level of participation. Many are very busy high school students. Even the 12-year-olds got involved.

Mushrooms growing at Farmer's Market.

We have been meeting people … non-member neighbor across the street invited Sister Badger to join their regular coffee and tea chat. She will enjoy that with non-caffeine tea. We will invite all to attend the ward Harvest Dinner/Wild Game night. I’m still looking forward to the bear stew. When I get tired of that, I’ll move on to the Dall Sheep fajitas, caribou, musk ox, moose, halibut Olympia, Alaskan rockfish, smoked salmon, wild boar, wild turkey, or whatever else they come up with.

We still have a long list of people to visit. Many will provide history for our future historical book on the temple. We need to craft a list of questions, so the interviews are natural. I can’t wait to hear their recitation of some of the stories.

The days have been beautiful lately – sunny. We noticed though that the sun always shines in your eyes when driving because there is like a three-hour sunset. On cloudy days, that looks like extended hours of dusk. I always feel like eating lunch at about 2 in the afternoon and going to bed at about 7. I don’t know why, but that’s what feels natural. We get to the gym at 8:20 a.m. to exercise for an hour and then make it home between 9:40 a.m. and 10 a.m. Both of us, about a week apart, injured our backs on some machine there which took a week for each of us to recover. We had not met the mission president yet and I saw a man at the gym working out that I thought looked like his picture. It was him we learned later. He and his wife (the mission leaders) are very very busy. They spend a lot of time with missionaries and then most of the rest in the air and on the road.

The mission home is a large house with a basement that is filled with twin-sized beds on the lower level. That’s where all the incoming and outgoing missionaries assemble. It is quite an amazing operation – neat as a pin and comfortable. The upstairs was for the sisters. I noticed a schedule on the bathroom door – everyone had a 15-minute block in the morning. The counselor in the mission presidency provides dinner for all the missionaries coming in. He cooks it himself. Of course, he lets each missionary pose next to a big bear skull and their bowl of bear stew.

The pictures are of the bore tide coming in on Turnagain Arm. It comes in fast and muddy. The wave was not as big as expected but the tide change was about 30 feet covering up extensive mud flats. Several people were out surfing -- in insulated wet suits of course.

There is more but I’m at my typing limit. Sure hope all of you are well. We love you and think about you. Feel free to post a comment or send a note. #Think Celestial

Love,

Elder & Sister Badger

Snow Covered Mountains

Dear Family & Friends,

The mountains have been snow-covered since we arrived. We woke up to our first snow on Oct. 11. This area is filled with tall slender spruce and birch trees. Most of the leaves have fallen off now. We have been able to go on a few bike rides so far before the weather turns too cold for me. I have been wearing snow pants outside for two weeks and wore my warmest gloves with hand warmers on our last bike ride. We took an interesting bike ride on the Coastal Trail late Tuesday afternoon. Watching the planes take off from the airport right over our heads was intense. The colorful sunsets here seem to last a long time.

The senior missionaries have more latitude than the younger missionaries, but some rules are ironclad for both. We are not allowed to go on the mud flats. They can be deadly to animals and humans. They are very interesting to look at but unlike the beautiful beaches or lakes we are used to in Utah, Minnesota, Hawaii, or Florida. The bore tides are also very extreme. They are supposed to be Big next Thurs. & Friday, so we will try to check it out. It's only a half hour away from here. We want to see a few things in the area before the days get really short. 

Here, the bore tide has been known to reach up to 30 ft. in height and travel up to 30 miles per hour. The incoming bore tide in Alaska can see waves as large as 6 – 10 ft. in height that take up to 5 hours to travel the length of Turnagain Arm. This is the most northern bore tide in the world, and possibly the most stunning, as it is surrounded by beautiful mountains with snow-capped peaks.

The largest bore tides usually occur around the spring and fall equinox (Sept. 22 this year), when there is a full moon or new moon. These conditions typically create the most extreme tides, which are needed to create large bore tide waves. After extreme minus tides, a large incoming tide will sweep over the mud flats of the inlet, creating large, continuous waves. -https://www.bellsalaska.com/alaska-bore-tide

We headed up north with Elder & Sister Kuerth on Wednesday and had a nice drive as we visited, then went to lunch. They are the missionaries on the military base. It is surprising how much colder it is. I did not dress warm enough. We may have to wait until spring to visit the Matanuska Glacier. It was raining when we passed by on our way to Anchorage. It is about 2.5 hrs. north of here. We have enjoyed our volunteer opportunities since we arrived. 

We went with another senior missionary couple Friday night, Elder & Sister Cox, to help at the Quyana (Thank you) Night for the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention in downtown Anchorage. We watched native dancers from villages perform their cultural dances. It was very interesting. Many put on gloves and the dances seemed to be centered around hunting and fishing. The children were especially cute. My great-grandmother, Anna Maria Chamberlin Fontaine, was born in Wrangell, AK and I am 1/8 Tlingit. My great-great-grandmother, Kitty Kodiak, was born in Howkan, AK. I am named after both of them. It has been fascinating to learn about the Alaskan Natives and our heritage.

We have been busy gearing up for our upcoming temple construction assignment. Our new camera & laptops showed up Friday evening from SLC. We are busy studying drawings, downloading programs, getting permissions, learning programs, and attending Zoom meetings. It is really nice to be involved without the pressure of decision-making or the stress of responsibility. We are like grandparents here. We get to love them and be helpful, without the day-to-day worries. We are looking forward to another busy week. 

The daughters, daughters-in-law, and granddaughters had our favorite things party last night in Utah to celebrate my birthday earlier this month. It was fun to see what they brought to share and for them to sing Happy Birthday to me. I am so grateful for Google Meet. It's like sitting right next to them on the couch and visiting. I appreciate being able to visit virtually with family and read texts & emails from friends. Realized today is my dad's 97th birthday. I hope he is having a wonderful experience in heaven. Families are Forever.

Serving with other missionary couples here has been a choice experience. We all love the Savior and our Heavenly Father and have devoted our lives to walking the Covenant Path. It is still a huge thrill to look out our back windows and see the Angel Moroni. It is even more impressive when it's lit up against the night sky. We love attending the Anchorage Temple and doing family history. We were able to do sealings this week. As usual, the pictures never do it justice. We love you all and pray you are happy and healthy. Keep in touch. #ThinkCelestial

Love always, Sister Badger

News from the North

To all friends and family,

Farrell writing this week:) It is my turn to post a little something about the latest mission doings ... We considered all the ways to keep in touch and decided that the easiest for us is a blog. We can write anything anytime and you can read it anytime. We plan on sending out the link weekly to all we have email addresses for because we know how easy it is to lose a link. Please feel free to share the link with anyone who we missed or is interested.

We will have been here for two weeks as of tomorrow (Monday). Kitty posted earlier about the ten-day drive-up. I just couldn't get over the vastness of the country even though I have seen it before and worked for several years in Canada. It just goes on and on .... Can't help but think if the Lord needs a little more room for his children, he has it. They just have to be able to get along in a little colder climate. There is plenty of water -- it's everywhere.

We have yet to meet the Mission President -- he is a very busy man. His wife did call and set up dinner for us with them and a couple of other Sr. Couples next week. In the meantime, Kitty has recovered from a bug that slowed her down for a week after we arrived.

Elder & Sister Badger, Sister & Brother Taylor

We had dinner last week with a wonderful family in the ward -- she is a property manager and he is the Alaska State Attorney General. You could look out their window across the water to the Kenai Peninsula (minus the fog). He pointed out the three active volcanos you could see -- used the acronym IRS for the first letter of each of their names - Iliamna (10,016 ft.), Redoubt (10,197 ft.), and Spurr (11,070 ft.).

The temple construction part of our mission is ramping up. Have had several meetings via video with the architect, general contractor, church project manager, church site manager, contractor superintendent, and others. The church project manager is our directing voice so we are trying to conform to his wishes. None of those are difficult, but I am finding that remembering the people involved, etc. takes a little extra work. We will have the full plans for the temple soon so will spend lots of time getting up to speed with those. We are putting together a list of supplies for our office and visitor's center. We have a long list of things to learn and do before construction begins. We get pelted by questions at church about when this is all going to happen. All we can say is when your Stake President tells you to move the ward you will know. The Church News says it will start in early 2024 with completion by the summer of 2026.

In the meantime, we are doing things like serving food at the women's shelter. They have a capacity of 70 in an open room filled with twin-size beds with a commercial kitchen right next to it. We served yogurt/blueberries, salad, turbot (fish), fries, summer squash blend, and a big piece of cake to the 53 who showed up. It looked delicious. I was impressed by our "Friends" who are of other faiths and their good, good hearts. They take turns posting scriptures and other uplifting messages. All of the food is donated and turned into amazing meals by the resident chef who does it all with no budget. Apparently one of the local Stake President's wives got the place going.

One missionary couple who are serving in Soldotna for a 6-month mission came up with a recent convert yesterday to go to the temple with him. He has been a member for six weeks and was doing a baptism for his mother. We invited them and two other missionary couples over for lunch (we live a two-minute walk from the front door of the temple). One of the couples is doing CES/Institute like our friends, the Baers. Another is doing Member Leader Support (the ones who accompanied the new 70-year-old convert), and the other couple doing Military Relations at the large (85,000 acres) military base here Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER for short).

Most have not had much interaction with other couples so made the most of the time together -- talked for three hours sharing ideas, experiences, etc. We thoroughly enjoyed it and decided we would make it a tradition every month with other couples joining in when in the area. They told us about one couple who were sent to Barrow and had no communication (broken sea cable) for two months. It was a very rough duty. They are back down here now recovering.

Current Anchorage Alaska Temple

We went to the temple on Thurs. evening. It is small .... You go in the front door and remove your shoes (like they do everywhere here) in a small side room, then after the recommend desk you pass the baptismal font on the right behind glass doors. The locker rooms are next on both sides of the hall. I went into what I thought was the chapel but it turned out to be the endowment room. I sat on the wrong side and got a little chuckle about the new arrivals' ignorance.

Just a little local culture ... the ward has a Harvest Dinner coming up on Nov. 3. They serve wild game accompanied by open mike hunting/fishing stories. The main entree is bear stew. They are still looking for some musk ox to serve. Moose, elk, salmon, halibut, caribou, etc. are standard items. We wouldn't miss it for the world. We are inviting the rest of our neighbors on the street :-).

Enough for now. #ThinkCelestial

Love, Elder & Sister Badger

Getting Settled in Anchorage

Dear Family & Friends,

Kitty writing this week:) We are getting settled in our home in Anchorage, Alaska. I picked up a cold in the MTC and then a stomach bug on the road. Spent the entire week since we arrived recovering. I am over the stomach bug, and almost over the cold. Rolled over three times last night severely dizzy. Praying to get better soon as I want to serve. The mission president has been traveling but has indicated he will set up something with us tomorrow. That is important because we need to see if he has an assignment for our Member Leader Support role. We have unpacked, organized ourselves, and have been doing some shopping, deep cleaning, replacing light bulbs, setting up the computers, washing the car, etc. We already found Costco, Walmart, and Carr's (Safeway). We went for a long walk yesterday and found a gym, which we went to this morning. It feels great to exercise again and I love listening to Follow Him. We mostly sat in the MTC as we studied for two weeks, moved out of our house, packed up the car, and then drove from Mapleton UT to Anchorage AK in ten days. It was a beautiful drive and I will post pics as I have time. We have loved listening to General Conference talks. They feel like a hug from home.

The sunsets here are spectacular. We feel so blessed to be in a beautiful home, right next to the Anchorage AK Temple. The best part is we get to look at the Angel Moroni every time we look out our back windows. The statue is literally right out our kitchen window! We have all of the conveniences of home with even a few things I have always wanted - a third rack on the dishwasher, a real fireplace (they don't want us to use it except in an emergency), living right next to a temple, and scraped hardwood floors. We even found two extra curtains in the laundry room so we have a little privacy at night. Since this was an Airbnb it is very functional, but a little sterile, so I bought some on-sale fall decor at JoAnn's. It's feeling homier already. We have been eating good meals since we arrived, except for the soups from Costco. Will not buy them again, homemade is so much better. Farrell made a great dinner last night for my birthday. We had waited since I wasn't feeling well and our arrival was on my birthday. We made homemade chicken enchiladas with pressure-cooked pinto beans tonight. Most food is more expensive here, at least 15%, but there is no tax on food, and Costco rotisserie chicken is still $4.99.

I am enjoying this wonderful opportunity to serve the Lord with my eternal sweetheart. I am so grateful that we have free long-distance and can use video calls. Farrell still keeps busy and we are working out how the yard work is going to be handled, mainly the lawn mowing, leaf raking, and snow removal. Weather-wise, they are about 3 weeks ahead of UT. Most of the leaves are off the trees with frequent rain and fog. It's been a little too quiet since we arrived, so looking forward to going to church tomorrow, meeting more people, and renewing acquaintances. Dear Elder & Sister Cox, whom we met at the MTC, dropped off homemade sweet rolls yesterday. Unfortunately, we were not here but it was much appreciated. 

I know that Heavenly Father loves us and we are his children. Our Savior Jesus Christ lives, and families can be together forever. #ThinkCelestial

Love to all, Elder & Sister Badger

Celebrating Sister Badger's birthday in Tok, Alaska

My birthday on Monday, October 2, started out with a delicious breakfast made by Farrell and snow! We left Utah at the beginning of fall, so this feels premature. We stayed in a nice cabin in Tok, AK. Grateful to be on the Lord's errand:) Today we are headed to Anchorage AK to begin our mission. We are excited for this adventure.