Living the Dream

Dear Family & Friends,

Existing Anchorage Alaska Temple with new snow last Monday.

It's hard to believe another week has passed. We arrived in Anchorage 16 months ago today! We had another windy rainstorm last weekend creating a small lake behind the Visitors' Center trailer. The flooding caused our sewage tank, that had just been emptied, to float out of the ground because it was so buoyant. They pumped out the water, and electrician was able to disconnect the heating wires. Then the excavation contractor filled in the hole. Now the tank is sitting behind the trailer unusable until the weather warms back up. The ground is frozen making digging a new hole and installing a culvert to divert the water nearly impossible. So, we attend meetings, talk to the workers, take pictures on site, and spend time in the trailer with visitors, but are mostly working from home again. We have a note on the Visitors' Center door to call and we can meet visitors there in a few minutes. There are porta-potties on site, but I don't plan on walking a block and baring it all at -5° or even 20°. Yeah, I know, I would have made a lousy pioneer:)

Backyard last Sunday.
10' of snow here
last winter.

The wind (70+ mph) also caused the sheltering plastic to be blown off of the Utility Building. They replaced it and have been busy inside with electrical and plumbing. It is one of our places to get warm when we are out on site because it is sheltered and has two very big forced air construction heaters. We meet in the Westland trailer (General Contractor) for our Monday morning meetings and Tuesday afternoon OAC (owner, architect, contractor) meetings, if we don't attend via Teams. Another warm place which they nicknamed, The Dog House (we call it the Conex building), is where we have Cookie Day for the workers every Wednesday. The workers look at plans there, store some equipment and tools, and eat their lunches. It is a structure built between two nice metal Conex containers set on the old parking lot complete with roof, sheetrock, electricity, and heat. I am surprised the wind hasn't damaged it because it has no foundation or anchoring system. They are also busy in the basement of the temple measuring for walls, working on electricity, and plumbing. It's quite cozy down there--completely enclosed with big construction heaters. Then sometimes we pop in the guard shack to say hi to Marilyn, the wife of the superintendent for Westland who also acts as the entry guard. She is from St. George and always has the heat at the max. She is very nice and always welcoming. I can't stay anywhere inside where it's warm for too long, or I start sweating. Switching from -5° to 70° is tricky. I often feel like a six-year-old with long johns, snow pants, boots, coat, balaclava, hat, gloves, etc. But lucky me, I also get to wear a high vis vest and hard hat:) We like to call the outdoors "brisk" and we love the clean air up here. When it is cold that usually means the cloud cover is off and the sun is shining (at least for a few hours). When it does shine it is very bright.

Sunset at Costco last Monday.

The good news is we are getting out to exercise more. We alternate between Planet Fitness and the Dimond mall.  After going to the gym I like to go back home first and take a shower. If we walk at the mall we can go straight to the site. We mostly shop at Costco but avoid Saturdays as it's so crowded. It's hard to tell if cars are coming or going because so many people have remote starts to warm up their cars before they come out. If we were here permanently, we would add it to our car. Our C-Max in Utah has it, but I rarely used it. They say taking a cold shower is good for longevity, so I think those living in cold climates must be getting some extra benefits. I am so thankful for the heated seats in our present cars. How did we ever survive without those?

With the recent disruptions, attending the existing Anchorage Alaska Temple every week has been a huge blessing. I love serving Tuesday evenings. It is a small temple, and we get a chance to learn nearly every position there is to serve. It's challenging, but I am getting better at it. Farrell and I go on Thursday evenings. We had a short appointment at 6:30 to serve as patrons. When I arrived, they were shorthanded and asked me to step in as an ordinance worker. It was fun and great to be needed. It's such a blessing to be working with people doing their best and even when things don't go smoothly, we smile have faith, and it all works out. I know we all love serving in the House of the Lord. There is also a special gentleness, kindness, and camaraderie among those serving. There is an abundance of the Spirit there and it feels like a little bit of Heaven.

The days are getting noticeably longer now. I need to remind myself that we are living the dream. It's beautiful here, the people are wonderful, and we love our mission. I am grateful we live close enough to keep an eye on things over at the temple site. The only thing missing is our family and friends from back home. Have a fantastic week. Keep in touch. We miss you all. #Think Celestial

Love always, Elder & Sister Badger