Fall Is In The Air

Dear Family and Friends,

View from Maisey's neighborhood.

Kitty writing this week:) It's been a quiet week for us but a busy week again on the Temple construction site. The ICFs continue up the walls with another concrete pour. They also poured the foundation at the front entrance and started the rest of the outside foundation wall around the South West side. Both are small milestones for us. They moved most of the dirt behind our trailer to backfill around the walls, so we have excellent views of all the action for now. 

Our visitors love seeing the Temple being built right before their eyes. Often there are four or five trades working simultaneously. GMC is digging dirt and IMS is putting up the ICFs and filling them with concrete using a 'stinger' to vibrate the concrete so there aren't any air pockets. APC is forming walls and then removing the forms the day after a concrete pour. Rain Proof Roofing is damp proofing and waterproofing the walls that will be below ground level - it looks like painting, but it's using a black tar substance. Then they cover it with a special membrane and put 4" of styrofoam over that. Sheet Metal Inc. is installing plumbing drains in the basement floor and there are inspectors coming in and out as needed. It's like a busy beehive. We pray for their safety and that they will feel the Lord's guiding hand as they do their work. They love Cookie Day/Worker Appreciation Day every Wednesday. We leave the leftovers there for them and they luckily disappear. We are so grateful to the Eagle River Stake for providing the homemade cookies for our workers. They have arranged to drop them off at the trailer right before Tuesday Temple night.

Sunset from our back deck.

We have a steady stream of visitors which we love. Many are converts with faith filled experiences like the two friends who met in Okinawa 45 years ago and influenced each other to be faithful throughout the years. Both are Airforce military and through all that time have been stationed close to each other. Many have felt the trials of life. Our newly acquired dear friends who members of our Temple View ward lost a son while serving a mission. They are known for their love and service toward others. He has a job coming up that is going to take them to the Marshall Islands for a short time. 

We had our first international visitor, Silvia, from Switzerland. Her 18 month Family History mission turned into an eight year mission which she continues to this day after returning home. She was tasked with reading the early transcriptions of Thomas Bullock, who was a scribe and secretary to Joseph Smith. Only problem, he used shorthand of his own design. She has it all figured out (took 11 months to decipher) and has a documented key. She expressed how much help she received from the original author from the other side. She also expressed how when one General Authority would walk by her desk, he would pause and express how much he could feel those around her helping. She even mentioned that the scribe would stand by her left elbow and prompt her when needed. Of the many 100's of visitors, they are either from Alaska or the "lower 48" or the "outside" as the Alaskans refer to them. Newcomers to Alaska (those who haven't experienced an Alaskan winter) are cheechako, or tenderfoots. Those who have been here a long time are "sourdoughs".

View from Maisey's neighborhood.

Last Sunday we spent the evening with the crowd at Maisey's. We have a standing dinner invitation at their home every third Sunday. I made a strawberry spinach, almond, gorgonzola, poppy seed dressing salad. I thought it was very tasty and fit right in. It's a fun assortment of family and friends. We love hearing what everyone is up to. They even have ties to Mapleton UT. We love how welcoming they are and catching up on the news. The view from their neighborhood is amazing. 

We enjoyed a wonderful German dinner with our dear neighbors, the Spencer's, on Thursday evening (the home we live in belongs to their daughter who is currently in Hawaii with her husband on military assignment). She is German, but through missions and other experiences they both speak German. They have lived here for many years and also have a home in SLC which they occupy for short periods every year. They shared wonderful stories about their missions (Frankfurt, Freiberg, SLC and others), how they met, etc. We feel so blessed to be surrounded by such devoted, generous people. They are such devoted Temple patrons. So many people here attend multiple times a week. It's a blessing to live so close to a Temple.

Friday we invited our dear friends, Elder & Sister Cox, over for dinner. Farrell smoked pork ribs with three different rubs. Sister Cox brought homemade rolls with raspberry jam. She picked the raspberries from a wild patch by the side of the road. What a treat! She even brought us a loaf of banana bread:) We have a little freezer well stocked with salmon, halibut ready for winter. Farrell is looking forward to smoking some of the fish. We had a nice visit and hope to see them a few more times before they head back home to Idaho. They leave in a couple of weeks and we will miss them.

We have found a new store that Farrell really likes - Cabela's. It's just like Cabela's everywhere. He loves the shirts we bought last week to start gearing up for winter. This week we went for a grill spatula, socks, and a warm jacket. He also has ice cleats coming. Kudos to whoever was the designer for that store. It's really a very fun place to shop. We may wander over there this winter just for a break.

Sunset from our back deck.

We enjoyed a quiet Sunday. Church is at noon. We love seeing ward members. Sister Foote's mother came for a visit. Brother Foote is the Project Manager at Westland; they are the General Contractor for the Temple. Sis. Foote's mother is from Australia and lives in Utah. She is very spunky and has a fun Australian accent. Following an after dinner walk we listened to Larson's Lessons where our Mission President has a mission wide Zoom call with all the missionaries for a half hour. It's always fun to feel the Spirit and energy of the missionaries. Most are young - in their late teens or early twenties. Then there are the senior missionaries. Some are quite young and many are in their sixties or older. Tonight they found scriptures expounding on the peace the Savior can bring to people. One of the best ones we have had.

Fireweed on Brayton Dr.

In Anchorage the days are getting shorter. Today we had 14 hours and 50 minutes of daylight. The sun set at 9:26 tonight. Most evenings the sunsets are glorious. It's like a little message from God reminding us of his love for us. It's also getting cooler. We have had a week that mostly been in the high 50's and low 60's with rain about half the week. There have only been a few days that Farrell didn't feel like wearing a sweatshirt. It is a maritime climate minus a few degrees. We still have wildflowers blooming everywhere. Some of the deciduous trees have leaves that are just starting to turn yellow and fall. I am holding out until September 1st to change to my fall decorations. We have been picking raspberries from a small patch the the left of our back porch. It's a little reminder of home. The fireweed blooming at the top means winter is four weeks away, or so we have heard.

Have a great week. We love you and miss you. We pray you and your families will find the peace and joy the gospel brings. God be with you till we meet again. #ThinkCelestial.

Love, Elder & Sister Badger