Flowers and Sunshine

Dear Family & Friends,

It's been another busy week on the site. They have started to form the basement walls on the new Anchorage Alaska Temple. The walls are about 14' tall set on top of the rebar reinforced foundation. They use brown metal forms, lay them down together on a flat surface in a large section, and then use an all terrain extendable forklift to move them. They turn them over and use a push broom to sweep off the dust and then spray on a release agent. Once the form is set in place, they use long arms bolted to cement blocks to hold it all upright. A crane shows up this next week and the site will be a hive of activity. The superintendent has identified a no-go and restricted access to essential personnel for the next 20 days to keep everyone safe.

We had a special treat and were invited to dinner Wednesday with Farrell's first cousin and her husband, Opal & Dale Fowler, from Eagle River AK. Farrell's mother, Florence Goodliffe, and her father, Irvin Goodliffe, are siblings. We went to Simon & Seafort's and ate in the bar side, since we didn't have reservations. The food was absolutely delicious and the view was spectacular. It was really fun to hear stories from their childhood, life experiences, and updates on their family. Most of Farrell's memories of her were from about 60-65 years ago. He remembered a lot of details. We hope to have them over for dinner to our home here before the snow flies.

Earlier that day we had our first weekly Cookie Day! It's our way of showing appreciation to the workers. While Kitty worked at the Temple Tuesday evening, Farrell put eight trays of cookies in the oven. We bought Costco chocolate chunk cookie dough balls, but it was still very time consuming. The workers really enjoyed the treats and the Conex break building smelled wonderful. We left out hard hat stickers, Book of Mormons, Family Search booklets, and glow in the dark Anchorage Alaska Temple #Think Celestial wristbands for them. Kitty designed our 3' x 6' sign.

Saturday we went on a bike riding adventure in the Far North Bicentennial Park. In the winter Anchorage grooms wide lighted trails for cross country skiing. In the summer people use the trails for walking and biking. The weather was sunny and pleasant. Some of trail was very tame and easy going. Some of it was at the edge of our comfort zone with a lot of hills. We spent a lot of time gearing up and down quickly. Most of the trails were gravel and rocky. Farrell fell off his bike twice, but rolled gracefully and bounced back up. He was embarrassed but she was just grateful he was safe. Kitty prefers paved bike trails, but did enjoy a change. We drove over several nice bridges with some impressive rivers. She was worried about bears and had bear spray. The salmon are not there yet so no visible bears - at least nothing more than several piles of black bear scat. Then after several fast mountain bikers zoomed past us we just tried to stay as far to the right as possible so we didn't have a head on collision. It wasn't crowded, but they show up without warning. Her favorite is still the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail. It is paved, mostly away from the roads, few hills, and is very scenic.

After an hour and twenty minutes and a real workout, we were glad to arrive back at our car. You would think that would be a mild effort but we were at our limits. Kitty was able to go home, take a nice long bath and then take a shower and wash her hair. Meanwhile, Farrell valiantly went back out to wash the car for Sunday and picked up some delicious Thai food. It was a real treat since food is very pricey here. Eating out is 25% more here in Anchorage than back home and easily 50% more in the outlying areas like Seward and Valdez. We usually eat at home since we are both pretty good cooks:)

Sister Athena Afualo and Sister Jodi Taylor gave uplifting talks in Sacrament Meeting today. Sister Afualo's started her talk with Talofa, or Hello in Samoan. Her beautiful family moved into our ward 3 years ago. She learned to turn to her Heavenly Father during a time of great adversity. She was told her unborn son had Down's syndrome and was encouraged to abort the pregnancy when she was 6 mo. along. She decided to continue the pregnancy and asked for a priesthood blessing the night before he was born. She has never forgotten the peace and comfort she felt. He was born perfectly healthy. 

Sister Taylor is a very eloquent speaker. She talked about the US Constitution and our covenants. We are able to worship as we do now because of the Constitution. We have been able to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to all of God's children here in the USA because of the Emancipation Proclamation. Since her husband is the Attorney General in Alaska they have been invited to attend many special events. She personally heard a leader of another country tell them, "the United States leads the world." During peacetime in another country, "if the United States is going to lead the world, then they better do it." She cried. It is humbling to be charged with that much responsibility. It is the responsibility of each of us to make this world a better place and also appreciate and share the blessings we have been given from a loving Heavenly Father. 

Josh Foote, Westland's Project Manager, and his wife, Kelsie have moved into our Temple View ward with their three children. It's so good to finally have them up here. He had been commuting from UT. They will be a great addition to the ward as he helps build the new Temple and likely the new Stake center after that.

We had a special request by Sister Esplin, the Stake president's wife, to host her family reunion group at the Visitors' Center this Sunday afternoon. They planned it 6 years ago and we heard about it before we left on our mission. It was a very large group. Luckily, many were children, so we all fit in the trailer.  Many were from UT and one family were our back door neighbors in Mapleton, Josh & Katie Phelon. It was exciting to see them so far from home. It has been a hot summer in UT in the 100's with heat advisories. It's been just beautiful here and it is still more like late spring most days. They are loving it and think they will come back next summer. 

The cottonwoods are releasing their cotton into the air, the lilacs are in full bloom, and the peonies are just budding out. It's been mostly in high 50's to mid 60's, and twice in June it reached 76 degrees. So cute, it's 10 p.m. Sunday night and two elementary school kids from different families are still outside playing. Angus is playing with his dog next door and a little girl just rode by on her bike. Even now, it's still light out:) I wonder in the summer if parents in Alaska ever say, "Be home before it gets dark."

We pray you are all having a wonderful summer enjoying the bounties of the earth and time with your families. Please keep in touch and know that we love and miss you. The only sacrifice to our service here has been missing your company. #ThinkCelestial

Love, Elder & Sister Badger

Summer Solstice

Hello Family and Friends,

After gaining nearly 14 hours of daylight since winter solstice in Anchorage, summer solstice came and went this week. Thursday was the day with the longest amount of time between sunrise and sunset this year. In Anchorage, that equates to 19 hours, 21 minutes, and 29 seconds, from when the sun rises at 4:20 a.m. to when it sets at 11:42 p.m. Now the days will start to get shorter. Even with the sun down, it never gets totally dark. It's nearly light enough to go mow the lawn day or night. To make it even better we've had clear skies most days. Last summer was very rainy, so we feel blessed that it has been mostly sunny this summer. The lilacs have just started to bloom here. We are usually dressed in jeans and long sleeves. Kitty still wears a jacket over to the trailer in the morning. We see people out all the time in short sleeves and shorts. 

After our good times with the other Senior Missionary Couples last week in Valdez we are still awed by the indescribable scenery. We have been in recovery mode. It takes a lot to have such adventures :-) Alaska is so huge ... lots of driving. To put it in perspective, driving to Valdez is about like driving from Mapleton to Boise or Las Vegas. The people here view it like driving from Mapleton to Ogden. It is good to be back in our second home.

Priesthood Meeting today started with the fishing report. One reported his friend picked up three Kings (salmon) and 75 Reds (salmon) on the Copper River last week. The rest all got skunked - meaning the run is not on at all locations. Relief Society was full today with a lot of family visiting. Many are from Utah.

We have thoroughly enjoy the visitors that stop by the Visitors' Center. We share the progress of the temple, let them look out the window to view the construction, and talk about the purpose of temples. We enjoy telling and hearing stories of the Saints in Alaska. We especially enjoy the young people who have just completed doing proxy baptisms in the temple - they just glow. Many visitors come from the lower 48 as they say here. Only a couple of international visitors. We had a tour bus show up on Friday heading to or from a cruise. 

We had a wonderful visit from the Dewey's from Smithfield UT. We have a special connection with them that started at the beginning of our mission. On their mission as Record Preservation Specialists in Juneau during COVID, they were miraculously able to get all the Tlingit Alaskan Native census records held by Sealaska Corporation digitized and indexed. Many of the villages no longer exist. Since that is part of  Kitty's heritage it was a very special experience. Kitty's great grandmother was born in Wrangell AK and was a Tlingit Alaskan Native. Dewey's came up to attend the temple and sealing of one of their special elderly friends who joined the church while they were serving here in Alaska. They have been called on a mission to Sweden and leave in a couple of months. We really admire them.

We are not quite sure how to deal with the turnover in subcontractors. We start to get to know one crew well - enjoy their friendship, appreciate the work they do, and then the next day with little warning they are off to the next job. Some we will get to know better because the duration of their work will be longer. It reminds me of the association with young adults in YSA wards - always said you have a couple of months and then they are off to the rest of their lives. Farrell met Isaac on Friday testing concrete - same thing Farrell used to do about the time our oldest daughter, Anna, was born. He found out Isaac had served a mission in Papua New Guinea 10 years ago, but is a native Anchorage resident. Farrell told him if he found a date we would take them out to dinner sometime. Farrell doesn't think he will have any trouble doing that since he has a wonderful personality and is handsome.

We share a short devotional on Monday mornings with the leads of all the subcontractors. It is a challenge because they are so varied in age and background. What is generally common is family. Most have Christian backgrounds. We enjoy telling them that they have a Savior, that He loves them, and that they have a great future ahead. We emphasize the importance of their God given agency. Perhaps it does some good. It is mostly over Zoom, so we don't see all their faces. Kitty and I take turns.

The construction continues on a good pace. They poured another 50 cu yds of concrete into the Level 1 footings on Friday, so we are up to about 200 cu yds so far - don't know what the total will eventually be. Semi loads of rebar show up and get placed. Interesting to us that there is no rebar cutting or bending on site -- it is all prefabricated, many pieces with multiple bends. The largest so far is #8 or 1" diameter in inches. Then the pump truck shows up along with multiple concrete trucks. This process will continue on for some time. At this point the pictures for our weekly report look pretty repetitive. The contractor flies a drone on a preprogrammed pattern and those are usually the best descriptors.

https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/anchorage-alaska-temple/photographs/

Kitty walked home from the Visitors' Center Friday thru the gate in Spencer's yard and saw a mama moose and twin calves munching their way down Sue's Way. She stopped at Sister Spencer's and had a nice visit with her as they watched the moose trim her hedges. They are huge and the babies were the smallest she has seen so far. Sister Spencer said she saw some babies so young once that they were just learning to walk. Moose here are as frequent as deer back home in Utah. 

Have a great week. Enjoy your summer. Keep in touch. We miss you all. #ThinkCelestial

Love, Elder & Sister Badger

Concrete & Valdez

 Dear Family and Friends,

Worthington Glacier

We had an exciting week. On Wednesday morning a pump truck came to the site and pumped 143 yards of concrete into the basement forms for the temple. It was very exciting to watch the process. We left and came back just as they were finishing up 6 hours later. They took off the wooden forms and now there is a neat outline of the lower level with the baptismal font and utility rooms all in concrete with lots of rebar sticking out. 

Thompson Pass

Thursday morning we started our summer activity with the other Alaska senior missionaries. We headed to Valdez AK with Elder & Sister Cox. The Worthington Glacier was very beautiful. The scenery at Keystone Canyon was breathtaking. It took us about 7 hours to get there. 

Cabin in Valdez

Farrell & I took our bikes and stayed in an AirBnB in Valdez with Cox's. The accommodations were quite rustic but we had hot running water, flush toilets, electricity, a full kitchen wo. a dishwasher, queen beds, and two restrooms with clean towels. The view from the cabin was gorgeous. It was quiet and relaxing. We really enjoyed listening to the birds and visiting. We had hamburgers in town for dinner at the Old Town Diner. Everything in Valdez was very expensive. 

Thompson Pass

Elder Cox went on a halibut fishing trip Friday morning that started at 5:40 a.m. Farrell & I had a Zoom meeting with all the other senior construction missionaries around the world at 7 a.m. Afterward both Sister Cox and Kitty went back to bed. We had a nice walk down to the lake while Farrell went for a bike ride.

Solomon Gulch

Then the three of us went sightseeing. We saw the fish hatchery and checked out Old Town Valdez that was destroyed in the 1964 earthquake. We followed both roads to the end of town where there is a big END sign. The other side ends at the Alaskan Pipeline terminal. We met Elder Cox, the White's, Anderson's, and Sister Watanabe at the boat and then went out to dinner nearby. Elder Cox caught a small halibut and Sister Watanabe caught a large one. 

Valdez Harbor

The restaurant's side room was sweltering with no windows that could open. It had to be in the high 80's in there, so Kitty waited outside in the cool breezy shade for another outside table. Eventually someone located an oscillating fan and it cooled down enough to go inside with the other senior missionaries. Elder Cox joined us after his fish was filleted. 

Prince William Sound

Kitty met two other couples waiting for a table that would be going on the same Glacier cruise the next day from Minnesota. They call themselves our Catholic Friends. Then they sat at the table right next to ours. They ordered way too much food, so called Kitty over to their table and asked us to please help them eat the rest of their appetizers and share with our table - shrimp, calamari, French fries, and halibut fillets with sauces along with salmon dip and chips. Often when traveling there isn't a place to save it for the next meal. They had also each ordered entrees & desserts.

Columbia Glacier Ice

The Fat Mermaid was very busy and the waitress never came back to take our order for the additional three of us. Everyone else finished eating, so since we were nearly full from the appetizers we just left with them. We invited the other senior missionary couples to join us for ice cream at our place. One couple joined us, the other was too tired. We picked up ice cream at the local Safeway and enjoyed getting to know the Gailey's better. They just arrived and will be serving in Soldotna.

View from AirBnB

We brought our bikes with us and rode on a nice trail from the Robe River Subdivision nearly to downtown and back. Cox's dropped us off and picked us up. There was an amazing waterfall behind the US Nat'l Park Service office. Then we went back to our AirBnB so Kitty could take a quick shower. 

Columbia Glacier

Then we headed back into town for our 6 hour Columbia Glacier & Wildlife Cruise which started at 2:30. We found seats inside facing forward and settled in. Valdez is located near the head of a deep fjord on Prince William Sound. It's a mix of tidewater glaciers, rainforests, and majestic mountains, with lots of wildlife. We were so glad we dressed warm. It was a beautiful day and Kitty & Elder Cox's camera/phone batteries were dead before we arrived back in Valdez. Our new friends ate dinner with us since we had an extra four seats at our table facing backward. They had sunny seats outside, but dinner was only served inside. They served us chicken breast in white sauce over rice, with a Normandy vegetable blend, & a crispy dinner roll w. butter. It was very tasty and the company was great. Water and lemonade were served. We also brought snacks. 

Columbia Glacier

We saw lots of sea otters, harbor seals, sea lions, a mountain goat, humpback whales, a bald eagle, and a Minke Whale. We never knew Valdez could be so scenic. The Columbia Glacier was incredible. It was still light out, but we were tired, so we just went back to our cabin and finished off the rest of the ice cream with cookies and fresh fruit. 

Keystone Canyon

After church on Sunday we headed back to Anchorage, dropped off Cox's and arrived around 7 p.m. We didn't even know Valdez was on our bucket list. It was incredible to see such verdant green mountain sides mixed in with patches of snow. We hope to go there again someday. We feel so blessed to live in such a beautiful world. 

Happy Father's Day! Have a wonderful week. #Think Celestial

Love, 

Elder & Sister Badger

Tlingit Cousins

Hello Family & Friends,

Exit from Alaska Native Heritage Center

We had our first overnight visitors! Kitty's first cousin once removed, Terry, & her daughter, Melissa, came from MN and stayed with us for a couple nights. Her father and my grandmother were siblings. Terry had business with the VA in Anchorage and it was a delight to see them again. They arrived Sunday afternoon and after dinner we drove to the Flattop Overlook. The views are always stunning. We went to Kincaid park and the Tony Knowles Parkway and saw lots of moose and some bear scat. Melissa and Kitty experienced the thrill of having a 747 fly right over them near Point Woronzof. There were the most heavenly smelling flowers blooming in the trees nearby. Part of the bank had fallen into the ocean recently, but was cordoned off.

Melissa, Terry, Kitty, & Farrell at Flattop Overlook in Anchorage AK

Terry & Kitty by Tlingit totem pole

An Alaskan Native Game

A gorgeous fur-lined Alaskan parka

On Monday we went to the Alaska Native Heritage Center. Melissa stayed home as she was feeling nauseous. Because Terry & Kitty are members of Sealaska there was no charge for them. It was very interesting. The architecture, dress of the various tribes, and sports were so unique. We learned so much. The "Watch out for bears" signs were a little unnerving. We will go again anytime family shows up. 

Front entrance

It was pretty much a one man show starting Monday evening as Kitty checked out with a different bug and spent most of the week in bed. She thinks it was the flu -- a bit late in the year for that but all the symptoms. By some small miracle I didn't end up with it -- that would not have been fun. Back as a team this morning catching up. There was lots of time last week enjoying the visitor flow through the Visitors' Center. We live in a nice house while the owners are in Hawaii on a military assignment. The sister of the man of that couple dropped in along with a good friend. We discovered that we lived in the same ward in Springville with that friend when she was 5 yrs old -- about 30 years ago. She rapidly put the pieces together. We knew her parents quite well, the Hullingers. At the same time, the woman of that couple is visiting her parents here (our landlord) and we were able to visit with her about the house and the yard.

Back flower bed

 As a horticultural person, I was interested in the plants in the yard she could identify. Good luck so far. I haven't eradicated any of the cultured species. The bane of a gardener in Utah is field bindweed. There are two weeds here you don't want to see. One is Devil's Club -- looks like rhubarb but has wicked thorns like super sharp silica spikes all over it. It grows in large patches and makes crossing impenetrable. The other undesirable is Wood Sorrell. It has a feathery fern like structure you would think would be welcomed. But ... it reproduces via spores and runners making it almost impossible to eradicate. I know these things because after 8 PM when we are done with missionary activities and the sun won't go down for hours I find I need something to do that isn't mind intensive. Working in the yard is my mental relaxation and balm.

Farrell taking a little rest in the late evening.

Of course, when done with that there is time to relax. This picture of me soaking up the sun on our back deck is at 10:40 PM. The sun was very bright -- enough to get a suntan. Sunset is at 11:32 PM. Who knows when it gets dark. And that's not all the good news. We are still wearing sweatshirts/jacket but we hit 70 F on Saturday after experiencing the 3rd coldest May on record in Anchorage. It was the hottest day so far this year. Typical daytime temperatures have been mid 50's. I had to finally plant the flat of pansies for her:)

Bedtime?

With Kitty's absence, I kept very busy between tasks. Progress on the temple site is quite exciting. Concrete forms are going in along with lots of wood and rebar. I was joking with one of the workers about how it looked like more wood than concrete. They are working on the third "bunk" of 2x12s - very intricate. Some of the footings are three feet thick and loaded with double matts of #8 rebar (1" steel) on an 8" square pattern. Then there are the upright pieces for the pony walls. You get the idea. We can no longer go down to walk across the forms due to the congestion. Now it is a wait for concrete this week. When I get some time I will estimate how much. In my devotional to the subcontractors this morning, I told them how much they were appreciated and quoting Elder Anderson from last General Conference that "the talented workers will see their gifts magnified" ... because of the prayers of the faithful.

By the way, Kitty has recovered enough to be fully engaged today and out on the site. I think she still needs to pick up some more energy. Good to have her back.

We love you and wish you all the best. #Think Celestial

Love, Elder & Sister Badger

Lots of Visitors

Dear Friends & Family,

Since summer is almost here in Alaska it has been making us think back over the last year or so.

Farrell taking a short rest on bike ride

We received our mission call 14 months ago, went into the MTC almost 9 months ago, and have been here in Anchorage for exactly 8 months. That puts us nearly 25% of the way through our mission. We spent last Spring and Summer in multiple training sessions and months getting our home in Mapleton ready for our absence and the move-in of the Barons. The packing part was the most taxing. The 10 day drive up on the ALCAN highway was the best and most relaxing.

Tony Knowles Coastal Trail

Our time here has been full of a whole range of experiences. The highlight is all the wonderful people we have met. We love entertaining and being invited to dinner. We love their company and enjoy sumptuous meals. They are usually potluck. We love the way the Alaskans do this. We show up at someone's house and have no idea if we are the only extras or if 20-30 other people were also invited. These people usually come from all walks of life. Some are members of our church while others are not. Multiple ethnic backgrounds are the norm. We find Family History is common ground. Many have kids coming and going between here and BYU-Idaho or Provo. Medical professionals are abundant -- most from Utah. They moved here because they can do better financially. They come for a few years and stay for a lifetime.

Perennials blooming

Early on we were involved in many service opportunities. Many of which we had to come up with on our own--no one gave us any specific instructions in that realm. Thanks to Kitty they worked out. We have had some involvement with the younger missionaries but not a lot. We have had a lot of involvement with the other Sr. missionaries and have made life-long friends. Everything changed in February when the temple construction project started officially, first with demolition of a Stake Center and then site work.

We are now deep into the construction of the new temple and enjoying it all. Associating with the workers is great. Documenting all of it is challenging. Kitty takes 100s of pictures weekly, deletes some, resizes some, and labels them with date, exact location, perspective directions, etc. We send some into SLC in our weekly report and the rest we turn in at the end of the construction 

Angel Moroni

The visitor count continues to rise. We just happened to be in our little visitors' center Saturday evening. We were getting an early start on our report since we had extended family arriving Sunday. Visitors kept coming and coming. That seems to be the norm -- we get ready to leave and the visitors come:) We have been fine tuning our informal conversations with them and are hopefully getting much better. Most visitors are members of our church. They come from all over the US. Many are on vacation, heading on a cruise, visiting family, or starting a new job.

The deep trenching for the temple utilities is deep -- 10-12' down. The basement (baptismal font) area has been dug for footings including step footings coming up to the main level. Those step footings are just a structural element but remind us of ancient South American or Mayan pyramids. They are not, but have a resemblance. We just saw a picture of Mayan ruins at Costco advertising travel and had to laugh. They look very similar! It was a big deal to have concrete forms going in this week. Everything is put in place with lasers and GPS. We don't think we have seen one tape measure or string. 

One young moose in middle of picture left of tree

We chalked up another bike ride on the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail on Memorial Day. It is an easy, well groomed trail running along where the Turnagain Arm, Knik Inlet and Cook Inlet all come together. Turnagain Arm is a waterway into the northwestern part of the Gulf of Alaska. It is one of two narrow branches at the north end of Cook Inlet, the other being Knik Arm. Turnagain is subject to climate extremes and large tide ranges. Wikipedia

It's so lush and beautiful. It crosses Earthquake Park where an entire bluff slid into the ocean during the 9.2 magnitude 1964 earthquake. We saw three moose -- a cow and two last year's calves along the trail so made a decision to retreat. Four legged moose at 35 mph are faster than ebikes at 20 mph. However, they seemed very content munching away on fresh vegetation and usually just ignore us.

Dipnets Anchorage Costco

If you are an Alaska resident, you can pick up one of the 5' dipnets sold at the local Costco and go salmon fishing. They have a 16' detachable handle. Who knew Costco sold these?

We have house guests for a few days. Kitty's first cousin once removed, Terry Egan, and her daughter, Melissa arrived this afternoon. They are here on business and for fun. We are enjoying their company. Both are from Minneapolis which is a direct 5.5 hour flight. We have a busy day planned with them tomorrow. More next week. #Think Celestial

Love to All,

Elder & Sister Badger