Happy Thanksgiving

Dear Family & Friends,

Thanksgiving came early this year -- or so it seems.

We had a great weekend working with the Anchorage Food Bank to provide Thanksgiving dinner supplies to 1000 families. It was a workout moving cases and cases of canned goods, pallets of apples from Yakima, and pallets of potatoes from Skagit Valley. There were countless boxes of stuffing mix, boxes of freshly baked rolls, tubs of butter with the Deseret Brand, and pallets and pallets of turkeys stored outside on the church sidewalk since it was -2°F. They even supplied foil roasting pans. The food bank had three large panel trucks moving supplies.  It was an interfaith effort where various community groups, religious organizations, Girl Scout groups, and others donated and assisted. We assembled it all in the church cultural hall on Saturday and then distributed it on Monday over a total of about eight hours. 

This is an annual event and was very well organized. Some of the volunteers showed up and had no place to park. They had all recipients come in one door, and go to a side room with 10 or more volunteers registering individuals/families on computers. Another volunteer acted as a shopping helper to help them progress through the food area to fill up a box with food. There were lots of smiles. The crowd ranged from singles and families to the elderly. I worked with one man from the community who was just wonderful. His cheerful "Happy Thanksgiving" greeting to everyone who came was worth its weight in gold. My job was to restock the distribution tables from other supplies. It kept me busy. Apparently, there were five locations in Anchorage doing the same thing. Towards evening we learned that some of the other locations had run out of food because they were drive-thru, so we started getting the overflow. Although that made a significant dent in the supply we still had more. The food bank hauls what remains back to their new facility and uses it mostly for Christmas. The interfaith interaction was great. The young missionaries (Elders and Sisters) from the Anchorage Alaska Mission handled most of the turkey distribution working outside in the cold for hours. They helped patrons with their boxes and frozen turkeys out to their cars. 

That's 10:05AM.

We didn't see any moose for the first month and a half that we were here. This past week and a half we have seen them almost every day! They are like deer back home - the locals don't get too excited about them anymore. One moose came right up to the Stake building during the Thanksgiving Blessing on Monday evening and was licking the salt off the sidewalk outside the Stake President's office:)

Kitty was invited to the Nutcracker Ballet at the Atwood Concert Hall with three other senior Sister missionaries on Wednesday evening. The scenery, costumes, and choreography were all stunning. The live orchestra made it magical. The Eugene Ballet made it look effortless. They even had packaged cookies, soft drinks, and water for everyone during intermission. It was a very enjoyable evening with wonderful company. I dropped her off and picked her up in downtown Anchorage. She was however shocked by the communal restroom and decided to use the Women's only on the floor below. The elevator was very slow and it was a very scenic walk there and back.

We invited the other "homeless" Sr. Missionaries (those with no family in the area) over for Thanksgiving dinner since we have the biggest "apartment" in the group. Each made contributions. We supplied the turkey. We had 16 present. Hearing all their stories is fascinating. Most of the couples have served more than one mission -- Indonesia, Nauvoo, Salt Lake, Germany, etc. and have a wealth of wisdom and experience. There is definitely a feeling of all of us being in this together. All have different assignments -- Institute & seminary, military relations, member/leader support, mission office staff, and then us, temple construction. Each has had to carve their own niche -- there were no blueprints on where to start or what to do. Ours is probably the most defined but the member/leader support side at the beginning of our mission here has been a challenge. This is a well-developed church area so most areas of need have some local coverage. Our role has morphed into service opportunities -- many of which Kitty finds on "Just Serve." She manages to turn those into group events.

We went for a little P-Day stroll (in the snow and ice) with Elder and Sister Cox on Saturday. They work with the YSA group teaching and finding. They are heavily involved with the Samoan community. They are from Malta, ID. Kincaid Park where we walked is at a Cold War-era military base still filled with bunkers, magazines, launch platforms, and control buildings. It has been converted to multiple soccer fields in the summer and world-class quality cross-country ski areas in the winter.

We spent some time with the Elders Bean & Davis Friday night. They don't worry much about the environmental conditions, but they deal with some pretty rough weather. We talked about all the people we knew in the area (non-members) and the work they were doing with them. They hadn't had the chance to hear/see President Holland's talk at President Ballard's funeral so we watched that and talked. It was a sweet spiritual time. We highly recommend watching the entire funeral, it was so spiritually uplifting!

It is now daylight by about 10AM and getting dark at 4:30PM. This is one place where you can watch the sunrise and sunset at the same time. It pops above the horizon just a bit (about 8 degrees at 1PM now going for about 5 degrees 12/21) and then follows it for the day before dipping below. Kitty commented on the beautiful sunset (there are many) but then we wondered jokingly if it was the sunrise. Funny but when the sun is up it seems like it is always shining directly in your eyes -- probably a good thing.

Majestic sunrise around 10 a.m. on A-1.

View of Turnagain Arm from De Armoun Road overpass.

Beautiful afternoon sunset.

We have had some intense computer learning sessions lately -- making progress but it is slow going. Our intent is to be fully ready when the construction starts toward the end of February. We intend to put together some mini-lessons we can give on temples, families, family history, the Book of Mormon, etc. We are pulling some videos from the church website for the same purpose. We also need to put together some concise information talks for community groups. And if we are really on top of our game we will have some pre-prepared Sacrament and Youth talks ready to go. We are also assembling quotes for our weekly devotionals with the workers. Some of the Bishops have contacted us about the available artwork in the building that will be torn down. To assist we have been going through buildings and taking picture inventories of all the pictures. Hopefully, we end up with 4-5 pictures for our Visitors/Welcome Center that will invoke some discussion-leading questions when people show up. In the meantime, we are working on spreading as much goodwill as possible ...

There have been updates on President Smith's bear attack. We made it a separate blog. We saw him at church today and he looked good! The Bear Attack is located under the Blog Archive November 2023 on the right. Check it out. Have a great week. Our God is a God of miracles. We feel privileged to hear about and witness them. #ThinkCelestial

All Our Love,

Elder & Sister Badger

The Bear Attack

 

The Bear Attack

We made this a separate blog because more details have become available. 

We told you about the Tall Tales Harvest Dinner on Friday, November 10 orchestrated by President Smith. We met him our first week here. He is the first counselor in the Mission Presidency and in our Temple View ward. He was out with Brother Light, one of the Patriarch's sons on Thursday, November 16, on Hidden Creek Trail when he was attacked by a brown bear! 

Grizzlies are actually a subspecies of brown bear...Coastal brown bears have a fatty, salmon-rich diet, which is why those found along the Alaska Peninsula are the largest in the world... Brown bears on the shores of Alaska can reach massive proportions, weighing up to 1,650 pounds and standing 9 feet tall on hind feet.

https://www.nathab.com/blog/alaska-story-grizzly-bears-and-brown-bears/

He related the following again in Priesthood Meeting on November 26, 2023 (at least as close as my memory allows).

He was on a Kenai Peninsula hiking trail, known for bear activity, but thought it was late enough in the season that the bears would be hibernating. They do not go on that trail in July, August, and September because it is right by the river and the bears will go to the river for salmon and then pull them back up on the trail to eat. They spotted the sow across the river about 150 feet from their position. They were retreating when the bear disappeared over a ridge and then came out of the brush and immediately charged. He had just enough time to step behind two trees about 4" in diameter spaced less than two feet apart. He was also behind some bushes. The bear made it through that protection without slowing down. She knocked him down and started chewing on his head. He was trying to push it away with one arm. The bear broke his wrist in two places, tore ligaments, and pulled it out of the socket. Brother Light screamed and waved his arms causing the bear to look up. At which point Pres. Smith saw a yearling cub walking toward him on its hind legs in an agitated state. Adult bears will hold down prey and let the cub come in for the kill. He was able to roll over in an effort to protect his liver and stomach which is the usual target for a bear. They were apparently not aware there was a cub in the area. President Smith did not have a gun. 

The word from the local biologist who is Pres. Smith's friend is that if the bear is within 50 ft. you have to have the gun unholstered and cocked to have any chance. They call that the kill radius. His arms were scratched up needing stitches and the bear's jaws were so big they left bite marks on both sides of his face near his ears. He also had long deep cuts (claws or teeth) in his torso.  The bear bit him one last time on his backside before leaving. He estimates that the total elapsed time was less than 15 seconds. He washed his face off with snow and managed to walk a short distance to a lake where he sat down. The thought went through his mind that he might still get a little fishing in. President Smith could tell he was going into shock and was in trouble and asked Brother Light to give him a blessing, which he did. His friend was then able to climb back up the hill in the snow which they had just descended to an area that Pres. Smith remembered might have some cell coverage. Brother Light had one bar and was able to call 911. It was reported Pres. Smith was giving his friend pointers and was disappointed they didn't catch anything during their wait.

It was two hours before emergency personnel were able to reach him. Two Alaska Wildlife Troopers arrived by snowmobile. They were thrilled to find he was alive, as most bear attacks don't have such positive outcomes. The helicopter was flying a grid pattern to find him. The troopers were able to call it into the correct location. He told others he was 15 seconds away from death. When he arrived at the hospital all the medical personnel came in to see him because he had survived a bear attack and was famous. We heard Monday from a friend of a close relative that he had been having a hard time sleeping due to PTSD. We were so grateful at Thanksgiving to hear he doesn't remember anything about the bear's smell, fur, details of the attack, etc., and is recovering physically as well as mentally. This is truly a miracle. While the experience was happening he was comforted to know he would live and he had people's lives to touch and in that instant was given their names. He was teary as he expressed deep feelings about living our covenants.

We also heard a few days after the attack he was at Costco and a woman saw him and asked about his arm, which was in a sling. He told her he had been attacked by a bear.  She exclaimed, "You're the one! The whole Kenai has been praying for you!" 

He was in the Anchorage AK Mission Office and the secretary, Sister White, said other than looking a little scruffy because he couldn't shave yet and a sling on his arm you would never know anything had happened. He was jovial as always and was so appreciative of all his blessings. They continue to check for infection from the bite marks and he will get more stitches in the deep wounds as soon as they are ready. He is anxious to go fishing again.

We saw and talked to President Smith today after Sacrament meeting and he is healing well and in good spirits. He had one small 3/4" scratch on the side of his face and was clean-shaven. His fingers were bruised, but he showed us they all worked, and he is thankful to be whole and alive.

We are grateful he is alive and received prompt medical attention, and pray he heals quickly and recovers from the trauma. Our prayers have been answered in large part already. He will have a great Tall Tale to tell next year at the Wild Game night.

https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/2023/11/16/bear-attack-on-kenai-peninsula-sends-person-to-the-hospital-troopers-say/

Tears and Laughter

Dear Family & Friends,

Elder & Sister Badger writing this week. We apologize that some of these posts are rather long. It's been quite an adventure and it hasn't become commonplace to us yet. We don't know if it ever will. 

Sister Badger - I cried Monday morning, hearing of the passing of President M. Russell Ballard. He had been an Apostle for nearly as long as I can remember. We met him and his dear wife, Barbara, on an airplane heading to Hawaii. Farrell flew for business a lot during that time, and he surprised me with first-class tickets to Oahu for my birthday. In the airport departure terminal, we noticed several General Authorities standing not too far from us. We had our Ensign magazine with us from the October General Conference and started looking them up. It was great to see them in person. To our delight, we sat between Elder & Sister Ballard to our left and Elder Hales to our right on the entire flight. Elder Hales slept most of the way and flew on to another island. Elder Ballard told us he always wore a sweater under his suit coat when he traveled as he could never tell what the temperature was going to be like on the plane.

Elder & Sister Ballard were there with something pertaining to BYU Hawaii. I remember hearing him speak and he wore an elaborate lei. The Church news says he addressed the winter commencement at BYU-Hawaii on Dec. 12, 1998, in Laie, Hawaii. He was accompanied by his wife, Barbara. In Elder Ballard's remarks that day he explained, "When our time comes to return to our Heavenly Father to give Him an accounting of our stewardship while here on the earth, what do you suppose the Lord will be most interested in? I believe He will be pleased with all of our honorable accomplishments, but will have a special interest in the service — including sharing the gospel — that we have rendered to others along the way." I have never in my life met more Christ-like people. They were genuine, loving, calm, caring, and full of faith. I am confident he will continue to have a powerful impact for good on the other side of the veil.

My dad, Gordon A. Flikeid, and his wife, Clare, were serving a mission at the Polynesian Cultural Center in Laie, and we stayed with them in their home next to the Laie Temple. We were invited to attend a dinner as guests with the Ballard's and senior missionaries serving at the PCC. I have a picture at home with all of us. Later that evening we attended the PCC Luau show with the Ballard's and other senior missionaries. We had VIP seating next to them and were all served delicious dole whip in pineapples. Their faith and example had a great impact on me during the beautiful and turbulent years ahead.

My dad was in his element there and at his best. He was retired, healthy, happy, and vibrant. He was working on the electrical for the PCC and his wife worked in the office. He was about the same age as Farrell is now. My father passed away almost 20 years later in April 2018 at age 91.  On that vacation, our oldest son proposed to his beautiful girlfriend, Megan Killpack, in our living room back home in Mapleton while caring for younger siblings. Jared went on to marry Megan in the Manti Temple and they had two beautiful twin daughters, Lauren & Leanna. Our baby daughter, Heather Rose, was born nine months after the twins. Sadly, Jared and Megan later divorced. Nine years ago last month Jared tragically left this world. I know he is in a better place and we have heard of many special experiences others have had with him since his passing. I see his pictures on our Frameo often and still miss him greatly. I'm sure these experiences are all intertwined in my memory, thus my tears. I am so happy that Elder Ballard can now be with his eternal companion Barbara forever. There is always comfort in knowing we will be with our loved ones again because our Savior Jesus Christ overcame death. I am so grateful for His love and comfort. 

President Ballard's funeral was so inspiring. We attended it virtually on Friday morning. We highly recommend watching it if you get a chance.      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDeSctHF7So

Back in Anchorage -- We better understand the ice skaters that we saw earlier. With 2-3 feet of snowfall, the opportunity is now gone. Isn't that ice amazing? With that clarity, I don't know if I could convince myself it was solid! The link below talks about it (plus other interesting stories - one about Zions).

"Rare ‘Ice Window’ Makes For Gorgeous Skating Conditions"

November 13, 2023   

 

 A cold, dry transition to winter led to unusually beautiful skating conditions near Anchorage, Alaska. Skaters were able to see right through the ice to the bottom of Rabbit Lake, but the spectacle lasted only about a week.

https://weather.com/travel/video/rare-ice-window-makes-for-gorgeous-skating-conditions

We had our second snow day this week. A foot of snow on top of an already two feet, makes it hard to get out. We have had two neighbor cars stuck in the middle of our street -- one in front of our driveway high centered on the snow piled in the street Tuesday morning. He had to be towed. The snow plow came by at 8 p.m. that evening. Stuck cars have been a common theme throughout Anchorage. We were at the temple Thursday evening and had just finished a sealing session when the power went off. The emergency lights continued allowing the endowment session to finish and allow us to exit the temple. We had a nice visit with the temple matron. Apparently, the temple also has an emergency generator that kicks in at some point. It lasted for about three hours covering a large area. We had heard about three-day outages which would lead to pipes freezing etc. Not cold enough and not long enough for that to happen this time. We have all the comforts here and are stocking up for an emergency. We had purchased battery-operated candles and two minky-like blankets on sale at Costco just for decor. Surprisingly, they were perfect for this power outage. 

Yeah for battery candles.

Neighbor stuck in street.

On a lighter note: Funny enough, I have learned silk, wool, down, and chemical hand and feet warmers can keep me warm in almost any temperature we have had so far. The reason I had to leave the Farmer's Market early last Saturday was that after I took off my down coat, gloves, and wool neck gaiter I was still too warm! I had silk long johns under my cotton long-sleeve shirt. (Farrell was ready to leave way before me but waited patiently. I hope he appreciates all the practice I give him.) The danger is that sweating and then going out in the cold can make it really hard to get warm again. It was 28°. We are still learning. The temperatures for Sunday's forecast are 6° for a high, with 0° for a low, and Mostly Sunny. It will be a good test of our preparedness. Might be the best Northern Lights viewing yet. One of the other Sr. couples, Elder & Sister Cox, went out early this week in the middle of the night after a major snow and were treated to 20 minutes of spectacular lights.

We had a couple of visitors show up in our driveway this Friday morning while talking to our oldest daughter, Anna. When they were standing by the car, they looked huge. (We had to leave our car parked in the driveway overnight due to the power outage.) Looking at pictures later, I think they were a couple of young moose--no mama moose around. They were a little skittish but not like deer. We have been cautioned not to feed them. It's tempting because they act so friendly and innocent. Unfortunately, they grow into unwieldy adults that knock humans down in the parking lot to get to their groceries, ie. fresh carrots, and then have to be put down. 

 

We visited with the Stake Patriarch and his wife last Sunday, the Light's. They live about five minutes from us on Rabbit Creek. She showed us several pictures of what happens when the salmon come up the creek in the Spring -- several grizzlies fishing the stream. Her son, Brother Joe Light, who teaches our Sunday School Class says she can sit at her dining room table and see the salmon in the creek. She took the pictures of the bears from her porch. We have been invited back for a visit next spring. 😊

We saw another huge moose on our way to church this morning right on the road. We couldn't check it out or we would be late for church because it's a one-way road.

We continue to work diligently on the Temple project and visit with those involved during the week. We have been working through some computer problems and are still learning programs. In our spare time, we listen to Conference talks (that's our joint missionary study), Tabernacle Choir, and Follow Him podcasts. The last one we count toward our individual missionary study time while we exercise at the gym (if we don't have a meeting and if we can make it through the snow). Kitty - I have been doing yoga to keep limber, but it doesn't burn many calories. Thinking about buying some more snowshoes. We didn't have room in the car to bring them.

Have a wonderful week. Stay safe and keep in touch.

Love, Elder & Sister Badger

The Big Announcement

To all our friends and family,

Elder Farrell Badger writing - Well, today was the big announcement!

The last day the Stake Center will be used, where we have been meeting since our arrival, is February 16. The Temple View and Huffman wards are moving to the Strawberry building where the mission office is located. The larger Rabbit Creek ward will meet in another building. Baptisms will be in the Arctic building. 

We had a productive meeting tonight with the couple who direct the public affairs communications in Alaska. I have felt for some time that we needed to make contact with them, knew their names, etc. but had put it off. This prompting became persistent so called them Friday night. They didn't know of us and it became obvious during the discussion that our actions working with them will be critical to get important information into the hands of the community. They were most gracious and grateful for the discussion. They are a resource to the coordinating council (a group of nine Stake Presidents in Alaska) and also work with the Area President and Area Authority Seventy.

We meet weekly with the Owner/Architect/Contractor representatives and then a second meeting with the Contractor team alone. We also meet monthly with the other Temple construction missionaries around the world to continue our training, learn best practices, and hear their spiritual experiences. It is fascinating to see the internal workings of how a temple is designed and brought to completion. I can't get enough of reviewing the plans.

In the meantime, we get to enjoy this .......

On our way to the Girdwood Branch this morning where the Stake President told us we could help out.

Apparently, you can show up at the building (Catholic-owned) and take your pick of which service you would like to attend :-) Unfortunately, no one was there at the appointed 10 a.m. hour. After several phone calls with no definitive answer, we left and headed back to Anchorage. We ran into the Stake President at church and learned that the Branch was not operational today because the Branch President (and family) were out of town. We'll call ahead next time.

Studded tires on a bike? It is a thing around here. Apparently about the same cost as studded car tires.

As you can see from the pictures we got a little snow...understatement of the week. In the picture below, I am standing in the church parking lot behind our house. They have to put all that excess snow somewhere. There were two storms back to back that dropped about 30". The mayor declared an emergency and the national news picked it up. Snow removal on the roads lags by about three days. During that time it packs into ice that turns into ruts and blocks. Making it through an intersection is one bumpy ride. Then the road graders come along and throw chunks of ice everywhere including at parked cars and bystanders. Ginormous snow blowers clear entire waist-high lanes and blow it even further over to the side of the road. 

If you look closely at the picture on the right you will see the Angel Moroni wrapped in a snow blanket. That picture is out our kitchen window. We have another foot of snow coming tonight according to the forecast. All this snow stays on the ground through Spring, which I understand is sometime in May. We are down to 7 1/2 hours of daylight -- headed to 5 1/2 hours by December 21st. I enjoy shaving every morning in front of my exceedingly bright "Happy Light". Don't know if it does any good, but it feels like morning. We follow up by going to the local gym to get some exercise. The sun now rises at about 9:00 since the recent time change. It is always low on the horizon -- shines directly into your eyes when driving no matter what time of day (or at least it seems that way).

The Temple View ward had a Neighborhood Harvest Dinner Friday evening. The twist was it was all wild game. We had everything from Caribou to Dall sheep. My favorite was Moose meatloaf. Sister Badger (Kitty) and I had visited and invited all the close neighbors a few days earlier. Three families showed up and we really enjoyed the experience including the Alaskan stories told by the young and old. The story of the grizzly charge told by President Smith (Counselor in the Mission Presidency, avid hunter, and fisherman) seemed to be the fan favorite.

We walked to Bell's Farmer's Market on Saturday morning and back. There is a footbridge going up and over the freeway. It's fun to see all the interesting people and just window-shop. We picked up some frozen shrimp and visited with a few neighbors on our street. It was a brisk walk and we really enjoyed getting out and seeing the sights. We are just awed by how beautiful it is here. We feel very blessed to be serving our Heavenly Father in Alaska. Everyone has been so friendly.

    

Take care. #Think Celestial

We love you all,

Elder & Sister Badger

And So It Begins

Dear Family & Friends,

Sister Badger is writing this week's post.

We met our first Anchorage Temple construction visitor this week. He came up with his wife to look where our Temple Visitor's Center trailer is going to be located. Then he marked with orange tape which trees needed to be taken out to accommodate construction parking and another trailer. He has just finished the St. George Temple and was looking forward to resuming retirement. It was fun to see them at church today, although they found out they aren't in our ward. They leave again tomorrow and will move back up here in Dec. He told us he prayed mightily about being asked to work on the Anchorage AK Temple and knows this is where the Lord wants him.

The current Anchorage Temple and meeting house are on a one-way street. From our house, it's one minute away by car or .3 miles. The good news is that when the project begins, we can park on a parcel donated by members years ago, so we don't have to drive ALL the way back home, which is a 4-5 min. drive. The bad news is we will likely not have a restroom in the trailer as hoped. Of course, that means that I will not need to clean the restroom daily for visitors. One of my least favorite jobs. Praying, as this is the Lord's work and he knows our needs, it will all work out.

Saturday afternoon. Marked trees. One-way street on the left.

Orange paint on the ground.

Our new home is beautiful, but because it was an Airbnb and was cleaned by housecleaners, there are a few things we needed like a real broom and dustpan. Locally we could find brooms, but no dustpans. Lowes didn't have it in their store but offered free shipping. The picture below shows how it arrived in the mail. It's quite entertaining to guess what's come in the mail or by UPS that week. 

The style of the lined drapes in the master bedroom is to puddle them up on the floor. One of the two windows is close to the bed, and I didn't want to break something slipping on the extra fabric at night. They are both located over heat registers and are dust catchers. These drapes don't belong to us and if I had permission would be time-consuming to alter, even if I could borrow a sewing machine. I instead received inspiration to use clips to make them all the right length without damaging or permanently altering them. The clips were inexpensive on Amazon and I am really pleased with how they turned out. Keeping everyone safe has always been important to me, especially now that we are getting older. 

I volunteered Thursday afternoon for Days for Girls through Just Serve.org. Had a good time visiting with other Sister missionaries and new friends as we learned their "Gold Standard" way to fold washcloths, underwear, and serge using a freeway entrance. Basically, the serged inserts must be the exact size with no cut-off serger threads or excessive loops. I thought I knew how to use a serger, but this stretched my skills. They only meet once a month, but I am looking forward to spending more time there next time. One friend we met purposefully looks for the most beautiful material for the shields and pads. It was fun to match the colors and fold the combinations into cute squares. 

Along with all the incoming young missionaries, we met Friday at the ward building that houses the Mission Office for orientation and lunch. We learned about the rules, safety issues, and interesting facts about Alaska. President Larsen talked about introduction to a mission, issues they may encounter, motivation, and best practices. It was well done and so wise to address the issues they will inevitably run into up-front. His wife, Sister Mindy Larsen, talked about adjusting to missionary life and balance. His counselor, President Smith taught us to be careful of Moose, Bears, Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Mud Flats, Bore Tides, and being stupid. Cow Parsnip sap causes blisters when exposed to the sun. Who knew! Some of the stories were tragic and some were kind of funny. Some elders boiled water and threw it in the air to watch it freeze. Unfortunately, they didn't check the wind direction first and were doused in scalding water. The young missionaries are allowed to go fishing six times on their mission from shore with approval. 

The clocks were turned back last night and we woke up this morning to 4-6 inches of snow and it is still coming down. I wore my snow boots to church for the first time. It was Fast and Testimony meeting today. It was tender to hear all the sweet testimonies that were borne. Some were from new members. One expressed deep gratitude after a year in the church for acceptance and being surrounded by Christ-like people. I especially felt uplifted being reminded that the Lord gave us weaknesses to make us humble, and if we humble ourselves before God and have faith in Him our weaknesses can become our strengths. It has been humbling to still be working on weaknesses while on a mission, but I have faith He can use me even with all my faults to accomplish His work and perfect me in the process.

Ether 12:27

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their ^aweakness. I ^bgive unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my ^cgrace is sufficient for all men that ^dhumble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make ^eweak things become 

strong unto them.

We have experienced so many tender mercies while we have been here. This week there was a need for drone pictures for the new Anchorage AK Temple by the staff in SLC. Elder Badger contacted our Bishop who put us in touch with Fred Rhoades, who owns a drone. He showed up yesterday at four with a set of great drone shots he had just taken. They were much appreciated. Since we woke up to snow the next morning, the timing was perfect. 

View from our bedroom window this Sunday morning.

On our way out of church today a young man in our Temple View ward, Evan Clift, was putting on his skate skis. He looked like a young Olympian as he left the church parking lot to skate-ski home from church.

Backyard view at 4 p.m. today

Time to go. We were invited to dinner by the Card family tonight, so I'll finish up. Elder Badger is spending a lot of time reviewing the approximately 1000 pages of temple drawings and appears to be thoroughly enjoying it. We are getting busier as the weeks go by. We taught the 5th Sunday lesson to the youth last Sunday. The topic was Procrastination and Solutions. I gave a PowerPoint presentation. Wish I was doing everything we taught them. We did say it was a life-long process as things are always changing. Take care. We love you. We are so grateful to be serving the Lord here in Anchorage. Keep in touch. #Think Celestial

Love, Elder & Sister Badger