Internet and Instacare

Dear Family and Friends,

Anchorage Alaska Temple Wednesday evening.

Kitty writing this week. It seems like the weeks are just flying by. Mondays bring our 9 a.m. meeting with Westland and the various heads of the different trades. We take turns giving short weekly devotionals. We take pictures of the happenings on site, then head back to our office in the Visitors' Center. I label the pictures while Farrell starts on our weekly report. He fills in all the progress on the site from the previous week along with the weather and all the trades on site. I then add in all the labeled pictures and a missionary moment. I often stay late and if we have a lot of visitors we may have to finish the report on Tuesday morning.

Tuesday morning we had a GCI service call as our internet went out in the neighborhood. We really depend on it as the days are getting shorter and it's our link to the outside world. I enjoy listening to Follow Him on YouTube while I exercise in front of the computer. I've been off a little lately due to my sore throat, muffled ears, and being tired. I called the mission nurse, Sister Joseph, and she suggested I go to the local Instacare since it can take so long to get into an appointment. We have an Owner, Architect, and Contractor meeting at 12:30 over Zoom. We usually attend these meetings from our office. All the interesting developments, decisions, and progress are discussed. We appreciate the professionalism and the spirit that accompanies these meetings. Both the Monday and Tuesday meetings begin with prayer. Oftentimes we will have visitors, so I welcome them while Farrell attends the OAC meeting. We left the VC early, I readied for the temple then we headed to Instacare. The doctor thinks I have allergies and suggested a number of things to help. On Tuesday evenings I am an ordinance worker at the existing Anchorage AK Temple. I barely make it to the temple on time for our 6 p.m. preparation meeting. This week I was also given the opportunity to attend the 7:30 p.m. endowment session, so Farrell came over and went with me. We sat by the Cards in our ward. They are so friendly and inclusive. Attending the temple is one of the highlights of my week. Since it is a small temple we get the chance to help out all over, except in the office.

The Eagle River stake also drops off cookies at the visitors center on their way to the temple around 6 p.m. Tuesday. Wednesdays are Cookie Day/Worker Appreciation Day. We like to set up around 9:30 a.m. We put up our Cookie Day sign, set out the cookies, water, cups, napkins, and literature about the temples, family history, and Book of Mormons in both English and Spanish. We go back and take it down around 4 p.m. The workers love Cookie Day and we leave any leftovers there for them to take home. There are rarely any leftovers;) 

This week we had two youth groups come to the VC Wednesday evening. The Rabbit Creek YW came at 7 p.m. and the Temple View ward youth came over after they did proxy baptisms at the temple at 7:45 p.m. They are delightful and really enjoyed all the show and tell items Farrell has been picking up from the construction site. We have some uplifting videos to show them and gave them Article of Faith cards and commemorative *Anchorage Alaska Temple* Think Celestial* glow-in-the-dark wristbands when they leave. The leaders usually have treats for them which they eat outside before getting in their cars:)

Anchorage Alaska Mission

Thursday was thankfully quiet. Every weekday we don our hard hats, high vis vests, boots and camera and go out onsite to take pictures of the ongoing construction and greet the workers. Right now they are putting in chilled water lines for A/C along the west side of the temple. The north gate is locked so no one accidentally drives into the trenches. We have had quite a few visitors and several trucks with deliveries wanting to know where to go. We give them the correct phone number and invite them to come to the open house when the temple is finished. We pray for the workers and their families, that they will be safe and feel the Spirit as they build this House of the Lord.

Friday morning was so cold I put on my snow pants for the first time this fall to walk over the the VC. It had been 18 degrees, but was 22 degrees by the time I left. The days are getting shorter and is dark when we get up in the morning. It was also our dear granddaughters birthday Friday. She turned eight and will be baptized soon. We had three sweet grandchildren born really close to each other eight years ago. One grandson was baptized in UT a week ago which we attended by Zoom. Our granddaughter lives in TX and we hope to see them next year. Another grandson's birthday was today and he will be baptized in November in UT. Such an exciting time! 

Cute family making themselves at home at the Visitors' Center

Friday afternoon a mom wanted to attend the temple with her stake, but her babysitter cancelled, then their furnace went out. She brought her three children to the VC and they saw our show and tell objects, watched movies, colored, and enjoyed themselves. They were so cute. They were getting ready to leave when the power went off and then back on. The electrician came by and told us he needed to shut down the power and it would be off for about an hour. It was already 3, so I decided to go home. I turned off all the lights before the power went off, but one of the little boys started playing with the switches. Another family stopped by as we were locking up so we invited them in. They had a great view of the temple from the window and it was still warm inside and the sun was shining. When they left we headed to Costco to get gas and pick up a few things. 

I slept in Saturday morning, we cleaned a little, relaxed, and enjoyed a fun evening eating finger food and playing Phase 10 at the Swenson's. I should clarify, Farrell does not play games. I enjoyed playing and we enjoyed eating and visiting. Brother Swenson invented the card game AlaskaAlaska. We don't always play the same games every month. We love getting together with friends up here and listening to their stories. Many involve travels, hunting, fishing, family, and interesting life experiences. Brother Swenson and President Smith are very witty.

We enjoyed our Sunday meetings today. Sister Mishler spoke about President Russell M. Nelson's talk about the Second Coming of the Savior. That was one of the most inspiring talks I have every heard. It was the last talk given at General Conference earlier this month. The entire talk gave me chills listening to him tell us repeatedly to get ready for the Savior's return. Here is the link, if you would like to listen to it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV0uA3a_eIU

After church we called our precious grandson, rested for a while, and made a nice green salad. We were invited to dinner at the Anderson's. We know them from the temple and mutual friends. They have a beautiful home about 10 minutes from here. We enjoyed visiting with them along with a few of their friends and neighbors. Brother Anderson in an endodontist and an avid fisherman. He showed us pictures of fish we had never seen before. Two sets of young missionaries came over, had dinner, and gave us a short lesson. Anderson's gave us a bag of fish when we left which was so kind. As soon as we were in the car we tuned into our 8:30 Alaska mission wide Zoom call. It's always great to connect with all the other missionaries. The work they are doing is so inspiring. Then, yeah, the overhead light in the VC was on all weekend and we only noticed it tonight on our way home. We stopped and turned it off:) Time to get to bed. Another week has zipped by.

Have a great week. We miss you. Keep in touch. We really enjoy hearing from you. #Think Celestial

Love, Elder & Sister Badger