For the Beauty of the Earth

Dear Family & Friends,

Sunrise over current temple.

It's been another pretty quiet week. If you know me at all you know I am not a morning person. Luckily the sunrises here are not too early in the winter. This beautiful sunrise picture was taken on February 10 at 9:30 a.m. along with the moonrise below. Cameras never do it justice. On those days when I can see these amazing sights I am just grateful that the Creator of the universe cared enough to allow me the privilege of seeing it. We will often ask others if they saw the sunrise, sunset, or moon this morning or last night. It's a joy we all share.

Good news! Our Visitors' Center plumbing is fixed and we can move back over tomorrow. We are excited to get back on schedule. They reset the sewage tank on Thursday and reattached then rewired the tank on Friday so it doesn't freeze. They set a board and two huge cement blocks on it so it doesn't float away again. It's not pretty, but it's behind our trailer and out of the way. We are also looking forward to the large black trailer being moved behind us as the ironworkers finish up. Hopefully the next trailer won't obstruct our view of the temple as much. We were able to get a group picture of them before they left at the end of the day last Thursday. 

We did have a visit on Wednesday from Brother Huff from the Temple Department. It's rare in the winter to see anyone from outside Alaska. Then to our astonishment we saw our son-in-law's brother on Thursday! We had to wait until the ironworkers left the site for the day so it was safe to go inside the temple to take monthly rendering progress pictures. The inside was all taped off as they were finishing up the decking and dropping cut off metal pieces over the edges along with grinding and welding from scissor lifts. I also take a picture from the outside. The ledge on the current temple looking over to the one being built is the best perspective, but the cold granite ledge makes for a very slippery surface. Elder Badger helped me down and we were heading home in our car when there was a knock on our driver's side window. The man looked very familiar, but we have met a lot of people on site, at the Visitors' Center, at church, and serving at the temple. As soon as he mentioned Daniel, we placed him. Ben was up here for work and had stopped in to see us. We are rarely there at that time of day and it was good to see a face from back home. It made me really miss our precious daughter, her husband, and their family. It was fun to take a picture with us, show him the Visitors' Center, and temple progress. He had a flight up further north the next morning with a colleague and then was headed back to Utah.

Moonrise over Brayton Drive.

We had an enjoyable dinner Friday night with six other senior missionaries. There were two other couples and two sisters. We ate at a Thai restaurant about 20 minutes away and my pineapple curry was delicious. It was Valentine's Day and they all brought candy to share. I wish I had thought of that, but we are trying not to store candy. I started on 30 days of no added sugar this morning. Brother Huff brought a dozen assorted fresh donuts when he came for us to share and we passed them all on to the Westland trailer. They did smell heavenly, but like my dear friend Michelle used to say of Krispy Kreme donuts, "One is heaven, two will kill you." We appreciated the sentiment and generosity.

Worker appreciation Cookie Day.

We cleaned out our freezer over the last two weeks with the leftover cookies for Cookie Day. One of the sisters was sick, so we were able to bring all the frozen extras over. Chocolate chip still seems to be their favorite. The primary kids made homemade sugar cookies with notes and they were so cute. We are grateful to the Anchorage Stake for donating the cookies again this month. I think the workers really enjoy the treat. It breaks up their week anyway and gives us something to talk to them about as we invite and thank them for the work they do. We tell them often that we are praying for them and their families.

Elder & Sister Newman, a couple of our senior Alaska missionaries, gave their homecoming talks this morning in Kimberly ID. We were able to Zoom the talks as we readied to attend our own ward. We were able to make it in time for Sunday School. I loved listening to their experiences and reliving some of their adventures. It's wonderful getting to know these faithful, kind, and caring senior missionaries. They all have their own personalities and talents. We are always sad to have them leave. Soon we will be the last ones left as others take their places. Missing family, friends, and our new departing missionary friends has been the only downside of serving here. We hope to enjoy all their company in the future. Serving with other senior missionaries has been one of the unexpected joys of our mission. We have grown to love them, the comradery, and fun we have exploring this beautiful land. We share the love of our Savior and bringing others to experience His love.

We are invited to a mission wide Zoom meeting every Sunday evening. We were able to review some important lessons on criticism and gossip. We listened to a talk by Elder Jeffery R. Holland that was excellent. I'll include it here as soon as I have the exact talk. He has given so many incredible talks.

Have a wonderful week. We love you and miss you. Keep in touch! #Think Celestial

Love always, Elder & Sister Badger