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.
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| 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.),
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.
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| 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
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