February 25 2024

 We have had a great week being Alaskans!!  Today after our two YSA sacrament meetings we were invited by friends to a brass quintet concert at the Lutheran church down town!  It was really great to not only get great music but also see the church and fellow good people!! Enjoyed it a lot!!    

Yesterday was the Fur Rondy festival! Which is a big deal we find out!! We  five couples of our senior missionaries met at the institute and walked down to a trail close by and we watched the sled dogs go by!

 It was pretty cool! 15 different teams went by  with only a couple of minutes between! This was a precursor for the Ididorod! After we went back and had a pancake lunch.

Bacon eggs juice and all!!  After we went down town to figure out what was happening and we found the outhouse races.  They had to build outhouses and put them on skis and race two at a time on a course!  Many teams from churches to businesses to military!

 We watched until we got too cold and two of our couples left for home!  Either the army or Air Force won for sure!  Four pushers and one sitter. Our military were the only ones in shape!!  After we went to the snow sculpting in progress and that was pretty cool!  Big blocks of compressed snow that artists create things!  A carnival was going on and fireworks and lots of other Alaskan type stuff!! It was fun!  We ran into our young adults , the young missionaries from our zone other members etc., some of our seminary students.  We are glad to thrive here with our thermals and cleats, and warm paraphernalia.

Our institutes were great this week they seem to be growing! The Thursday night one particularly with a promise of volleyball after! I panicked cause I planned food for twenty and thirty showed.  Thank heavens I have frozen cookie dough as a back up always.  We had zone conference so we went there and I got excused from my temple shift but we did go that night!!  We helped with the luncheon. That the stake pres. Wife always does. Sister Esplin.  She does it up nice always! It’s nice to see all the missionaries in the 3 anchorage zones.  Love you   Carolee