December19 2023

 We were both going to write last night or the night before but last night we were both exhausted and Sunday was our craziest day ever so I feel like today we will finally have a catch up day!!

Last Monday we had our Institute service project!! It took all day to set up with6 quilts and pizza from Moose Tooth’s and root beer and donuts! The young missionaries came early to help so they could help teach kids as they came! It worked well ! It was Sister Young’s And Elder Magers last activity before transfer and leaving for home.  Change is hard on me I think!  Anyway we had around 50 young adults come!  They cleaned up the pizza(ten large) and pretty much did 6 quilts! I just had to bind and fix a few things.  It was a success from my eyes! We will deliver them this week!  We were at the institute 10-10 with 1 1/2 hours off for district council!  We took pumpkin brownies and said goodbye to elder Whitaker sister Seal, elder. Pine and Barleson. Transfers came that night so really didn’t know!

Tuesday we woke up dead and hoped to recover but we got an emergency call to sub in seminary at the Strawberry building!  Gary did a great job of punting!  The teach actually lost her house to a fire during the class!  Pretty awful!  Good kids to meet!  On Monday we had stopped in at great Harvest bread and ran into Isaac Kingsley and invited him to the service project. He came and brought a girl!  

So a lot of the week we ended up back at the institute to clean up and bind quilts etc. so Tuesday afternoon we did that!  

Wed was my Birthday!! We were joined by Kuerths and Badgers at the temple that morning for an endowment session then sister Currier and Pruit joined us for lunch at Moose's Tooth’s. We had a great time!  We got home intime for calls from all of the kids! Then we watched a Christmas movie!  It was a great day!! Started with a call from Dawnie! So it was complete!! Got message s from our siblings too!

The Iditarod Cafe Entrance

Friday we met the Senior missionaries for a Christmas dinner at the Iditorod Cafe on Base. Lynn and sister Neumann baled due to not feeling well but it was nice!  I really like going on base and seeing their conditions. This was set in the woods across a bridge and gorgeous setting!  We had prime rib.  We also got to meet with both stake presidencies!  It was really good to talk out our vision and see theirs!   We talked about sustainability and service missionaries and institute council!  I think it will help our situation!  I made sugar cookies for institute because I had to make 7 dozen for new missionary orientation for Friday!  Gary helped frost those Friday morning at office so we could get to our lunch .

From inside the Iditarod Cafe

Saturday we tried to stay outside during day light!  We drove down to find the tree tour for Sunday and visited Kuerths to return quilt frames and pick up stuff they had for us!  She gets hamburger at the commissary for us!  They we feel like it is the middle of the night by 4:30 cause it is dark!  On my birthday we went for a walk at Taku park at 9 pm.

 The glow in the distance us the lighted portion of the trail across the lake. 

  This is

on the trail around Taku Lake--No lights, just bright snow at night.  

It was so beautiful in the snow! Saturday we just went down our road in the street lights and it started snowing!  It is magnificent out there!

Sunday we tried to go to both young adult sacrament meetings! Which means leaving early and being late! Then ended up with an impromptu meeting with newly called YSA reps from North Stake. The Couriers!  They are going to be great to work with!!  So way late for our plans we drove down to Kinkaid park hopped a shuttle and did the walking tree tour.  It was beautiful where trees were lit in the forest on a cross country ski trail but we walked it.  We had to go fast but it was beautiful and I was glad we went! 

Then hopped back on the shuttle  changed our clothes in the car again and hustled to the Temple fireside! It was a musical readers theatre and very sweet of the. Christmas story!  Had a good visit with lots of temple workers.  Last ones out of the building!  We started a call with Chalae in the way home and chatted until 11:30pm. Good to chat but exhausted!

Monday we made muddy buddies for District council and are getting t
o know new missionaries there! It was really good then came home and made lemon bars and pumpkin bars for Cook Inlet’s Christmas party! We went and helped set up.  A good group and arranged kids to go drop off quilts to the Fisher House on Thursday!  Lots of kids home from school for the holidays!  We came home exhausted!  But good exhausted!! We are grateful to be here at this special time of year! To be a part of Gods Army is a privledge! So grateful for all we serve with and their commitment to this cause!  Especially my companion.  Love him dearly!!  His vision is amazing! These young people love him!  Always upward and onward!!!  We love Our Father in Heaven and his Son!

    

    People around Anchorage are into big trees and now at Christmas they light up a lot of them.  they are all over town and are so fun.  especially with  the 

snow  on them.   

This is Gary...I just added pictures to Carolee's post.  She said it all for the week.  When we weren't running around, i spent a lot of time in trying to figure out a lot of our strategy going forward. I spent a lot of time in the General Handbook, which gave me a lot of great insight.  We need to make the work that we do sustainable.  We could just make treats, make friends, touch some peoples lives, but then when we leave and whoever comes in just repeats the process.  The purpose of Institute and the activities etc are to elevate these YSAs, to help them grow and deepen their testimonies of Christ.  So, we met with Justin today and I think we now have the vision for what the Anchorage Institute can be.  It may be a 3-5 year plan, but if we set the course correctly and have some foundational pieces in place, I believe it can happen.  That might not make sense to you, but i think we have crossed an incredible hurdle in making things happen that can be sustainable.  Our meeting with the Stake presidencies were so critical and so amazing the they happened on the same day.   

Its been snowing all day and we are getting consistent snow all through the weeks.  I told Carolee that I was goring to tell everyone that we lived through a terrible and powerful winter in Alaska, whether it happened or not.  Well, there has been record snowfall.  The most since they started keeping records.  

And our daylight is getting shorter and shorter.  I feel like its daylight savings time every week.  This darkness just seems to mess with me physically as much as mentally.  It's actually kind of fun to watch it happen.  almost everything we do happens at night.  But Anchorage has invested heavily in street lighting, so with all the snow on the ground and the streetlights, its pretty bright out all the time.  But there are dark places, mostly in residential areas.  They have lit trails all through the city.  I  have heard that Anchorage is called the city of lights, but i think its  really the city of Street lights. 

We are looking forward to this Christmas week and participating in a lot of Activities with our new friends here in Alaska.  We are grateful to be in the service of Him whose birth we celebrate.  

Love to you all.