Patience and Miracles

Dear Family & Friends,

The days are getting longer! Winter solstice on December 21 was the shortest day of the year. We had just 5 hours and 28 minutes of daylight. The sun rose at 10:13 a.m. and set at 3:41 p.m. The days were very short and the evenings were very long. We now have 6 hours and 29 minutes of daylight, from 9:55 a.m. to 4:23 p.m. It's been increasing by an incredible 23 minutes a week!

As I have been recovering from a multisymptom cold, life has slowed down to a crawl. I finally felt well enough to attend our Zoom meetings, take 360° pictures of the old Stake Center, attend church on Sunday, and Zone council yesterday. Seniors don't bounce back as quickly as we once did. We have also continued to listen to conference talks. I am still working on Spanish Embark, and listening to Follow Him podcasts which are so uplifting and interesting. The Preach My Gospel book has been a little hard for me lately, but as soon as my headache and congestion subside completely I will take that up again. I have already started to think about what I want to continue doing for the rest of my life when we go back home. Definitely, along with reading scriptures, I want to listen to Conference talks and uplifting podcasts daily and continue to attend the temple weekly. I really miss walking & biking with girlfriends and yoga. We do walk at the gym & the mall. I also do yoga online, but I can tell I am getting stiffer, especially in my back. Need to incorporate that back into my schedule. We have really enjoyed serving others. We will continue to look for more opportunities. 

Seeing the Angel Moroni on the Anchorage AK Temple always lifts my spirits. This picture was taken from our bedroom window. We talked to Sister Kromar at the temple in December. She is a senior missionary and a temple worker. I thought that sounded wonderful. I have always wanted to be a temple worker and we will never live closer to a temple! Sister Cox went a few weeks ago and President Metcalf, the Temple President, heard she wanted to be called as a temple worker again. After getting permission from the mission president and locating her husband, President Metcalf set her apart that evening. President Larsen told him he was welcome to approve any senior missionaries here to be called as temple workers. I have been hoping to get better so I can have a chat with him. We attend every Thursday and I have had to cancel for the last two weeks.

I started on January 2 to cut out refined sugar and ultra-processed foods from my diet. I had hoped for dramatic results, but even without that, I feel good about eating healthier. I have avoided eating ice cream, cookies, and candy which my roommate consumes. It feels like an episode from The Biggest Loser;) I can't avoid the temptations around me, so I need to focus on myself. I'm hoping to get rid of arthritis in my left thumb joint and gradually lose the weight I picked up over the first month of my mission. Nothing like being sick to make you long for health to do what you want to do. Like they say, If you have your health, you have everything. We have a list of a lot people to visit gathering a history of the area, but many are elderly and I need to be healthy to visit them in their homes. 

On January 5 Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 took off from the Portland International Airport headed for Ontario, California. There were 171 passengers and six crew members on board. While flying at 16,000 feet, it lost a door. No one was sitting in the two closest seats to the door and miraculously no one was seriously injured. A teenager's shirt was sucked off and his mom held onto him for dear life. It was super loud, oxygen masks were deployed, and the mother & son were able to change seats for the descent. Lots of flights were canceled as a result. There was an investigation and on Jan. 6 Alaska Airlines removed 65 planes from service pending the completion of full maintenance and safety inspections. Nearly 700 flights were canceled nationwide on Sunday.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/timeline-incident-involving-missing-door-plug-boeing-737/story?id=106191494

We did hear about a wonderful miracle this week. President Metcalf, our dear Anchorage AK Temple President was in LA for a church meeting last week. In this rare instance, his sweet wife did not accompany him. Flights were canceled to AK, due to the recent issue above, so he flew to UT to be with family. The next flight back to AK was also canceled. While playing a card game Thursday evening with his children and grandchildren in St. George he went into cardiac arrest and was unresponsive. Two male members of the family immediately started CPR until paramedics arrived. Had he been nearly anywhere else he would not have survived. He is in pain with a few broken ribs and water on his lungs but is recovering. This is an abbreviated version of the story, but we are all so touched that another of our dear church leaders has been miraculously spared. We are all praying for a speedy and complete recovery. We never know when we will be called home. Heavenly Father loves us and is in the details of our lives. Stay safe and have a wonderful week. #ThinkCelestial

Love always, Sister & Elder Badger