March 25, 2024

 We just woke up from nap.  Before you say oh they are getting old(which we are) let me tell you that teaching seminary must be exhausting!! Part of the problem is when we have to get up early we don’t sleep well!  We taught today and our internet went out last night so we needed to go to class early. Which meant leaving just after7:30.  Neither of us slept well! Friday we taught as well and had to be there by 7:00am.  The classes actually went well for us we did a scripture learning activity on Friday.  Today was a short class but Gary introduced Holy Week and we watched the churches intro to that!  We had a little competition as a young women’s leader came to give her girls something and the cookie lady brought cookies!

A group of seniors came in the building to practice accordions between 1-3 periods.  Zone council was going on in the primary room. We. Have class in the relief society room of the Klatt building!  Anyway I did a zoom call with my friends between 1st & 3rd period. Kind of short and sweet, but always glad to visit!  We left and went across town between 3-6 for our zone council! When we got home at 3 after 6th period Gary said we need to start prep for institute tomorrow to teach! We just fell asleep!

Yesterday we had stake conference, then YSA  Maplewood group Church and then the missionaries to dinner!  We had good meetings and always enjoy getting with the saints! One of our seminary students spoke and lots sang in the choir!  In seminary today we sang Gethsemane for devotional and it was beautiful every time!

We continue to explore Anchorage as our exercise. We went for a walk on Sand Lake last week!

In the summer I don’t think there is a trail around it but they make a trail on the ice and it was a beautiful walk. Some really nice homes on waters edge!  

Our cleats on crisp snow are a little noisy.

Saturday we found a trail through pretty forest from Lake Otis road up to Elmore!

Wednesday evening Newmans were in town so we went for a burger with Kuerths and them!! That is always fun!! We need to laugh more so we do!

We continue to feed the young people last week I made Red Front rice krispy treats and a veggie tray!  I also mended our district leaders slacks! Glad to be of service! We also tied a quilt with the missionaries after institute!  They do lots of service too . Always more we can do.  I am so grateful to be serving here!  Grateful this week for service my kids do for each other!  Kidney stones may be our current plague!  We love you all and are so grateful this Easter week for our Savior and his gift to us! Let us all love each other more and make our world a better place!

March 17 2024

 Well today is St Patrick’s Day or the birthday of the Relief Society!!  I got to read the Relief Society meeting transcript cause  not feeling up to going out today! It was good but felt bad to miss the get together at the institute for the meeting and dinner! Elder Cox took the corn bread over and got the meeting started without me! Bummer!!  

View from Homer Across Cook Inlet.                              

We have had a good week!  We started with shopping for institute dinner with Sarah Powers. She taught us Tuesday night to make empanadas.  We had district council and family night!  All planned and put on by the young adults & missionaries and not us. We are generally impressed with their  great spirits!  We went to the temple with our district Tuesday morning and that was great.  We are on spring break so no class so we had a party instead and did the empanadas and chips and pico and fruit! Did ice cream sandwiches but still spent the day preparing!!  We had a great turnout!! Patti came and helped and Justin brought his family!  We had about 40 kids. Not a lot of our regulars so a good crowd.  We were there until 10. So a long day but worth it!  Felt a lot of kids connected with someone and that is the goal. If they know someone they are more likely to join us for class!

Because of spring break and Kuerths shortening their time here we decided to go south Wednesday morning.  We drove in a blizzard over the pass but Gar was okay and I was in the back seat so it was good !  We drove all the way to Homer and to Lands End!  We walked on the beach and ate at the waters edge and had fish and chips and clam chowder!!  It was really good!  About the only place open but good.   We are so comfortable with them that we laugh a lot and really enjoy visiting!  We stayed in a Vrbo in Kenai.  We found our church there and a street named Devin( after their son).  Our place was nice and we visited until after 12.  This daylight savings still messing us up!  Lynn brought snacks so we didn’t go for ice cream!!

Thursday we got a late start and went to the recommended breakfast stop!  It was good but $50 later. I try not to go into shock!! I know it is more expensive here  but really?  We went and walked the board walk on the river which was frozen solid but still beautiful!  A few places on the way we saw the beautiful blue water or frozen. We saw quite a few Eagles about !  We are anxious to see in the summer also !  We drove home and it was gorgeous blue skies! The roads were clear but it looked like they had like 18 inches over night!  We stopped in Coopers Landing and Mark treated us to an ice cream. The girl that waited on us was a member, returned missionary from BYUI. And Alabama! Darling accent!  Not participating currently but we invited her back . She knew where the churches are!  

We got back to Anchorage after a side trip up to watch skiers at Girdwood. We had empanadas from Tuesday left so we had dinner together at our place before we took them home.  A fun couple of days!

Saturday we went for walk in Russian Jack park. Stopped to talk to a guy with a dog as big as a horse!! He asked us what ward we served in !  Obviously a member. What are the chances--we run into so many!  Wearing a badge helps.  By the time we got home from our walk I felt gross so that put me down for the night until this afternoon. I feel better tonight!  Glad cause a full week in front of us!  Sister Moleni went home Friday so another change! Love them all!  Not so much the change!

Love serving here . Grateful for the gospel in our lives!  Love those we serve and serve with !  What an honor to be in Gods army at this time!  Grateful to share some of home as Benny read to us and Hayes had Prom dinner at our house!!!!!  We sure love you all. 

March 10 2024

 

A few highlights of our week starting with daylight savings time!  So now it is light at 8:30 pm. Not nearly so traumatic for us now as when we had littles but for their sake it could go away.

Beautiful O'Malley Peak!

We have tracted this week( trying to find our YSA’s) & fed many institute kids!  

Took treats to district meeting to wish them off with love!! Had a really fun FHE at Strawberry building!  They played games and really had a good time with gym games like musical chairs etc.

Tuesday we do open building at noon on, so have time there to make treats. Did some mending for sister Pruit for members.  Visit with missionaries that drop by and do our study!  Had Institute council meeting after class too and planned an activity ( making empanadas) for this weeks spring break no class!  Feels good to have a counsel involved.

Wednesday temple is always good for me!  I get to watch the Brayton building go down too!! Very interesting!  

Also a good day cause we do a zoom with usually our girls but sometimes boys get on!!  We catch up on life!! We went that night to see the Chosen, the series movie we really enjoy!  Feel it is appropriate for us!  Really like the spirit I feel with it!!  Thursday I went with sisters to serve at the local charity . I serged for a couple of hours and finished a big project I was helping with. After had a good group at institute! Did cookie bars and fruit!  Elder Halls birthday so celebrated all!  I had done mint brownies earlier on Tuesday!  Really enjoy Patti Kincaid! A great friend!  We ran errands on Friday and asked Kuerths to do something with us . She had texted us earlier in the morning to say they are going home in May do to some complications with her heath!  It made me feel so sad I cried!! We took Mark my Iditarod hat and we were going to dinner. Kitty Badger called while we were at their house and said they were bored. So we all went to “Don Jose's” for dinner and visited and laughed for three hours!  It was great.                                                                  

 We went yesterday to go to a baptism that I guess got changed so missed that but went north on a ride and Hiked Thunderbird Falls trail and went up to Elklutna Lake and walked out on the ice.  It was cold but beautiful!  Realizing this winter will end and we have lots more stuff we want to see. 

Dad and I have been doing somewhat better on some goals!  One is to listen to a conference talk every night!  One more way to bring the spirit into our lives!! And to prepare for our upcoming conference!  We love these great teachers and are inspired by them to lean closer to our Savior!  We are grateful to be serving Him right now!  We do love our supporters at home!! Love Carolee 

Monday, March 11, 2024

Today marks our 6^th month anniversary of entering the MTC to start our mission.  We are halfway finished.  We have a lot of work to do to accomplish what we started out to do.  Hopefully we will leave in place a sustainable program that will have the Institute attendance increasing and a plan in place to continue to invite the one and make sure the lost are fellowshipped back.  And that there is a mechanism to keep the Institute Council alive, staffed and functioning.  We have a pretty good council in place now that I hope will help bring in people not coming.  The enthusiasm is there and with summer coming up, we can do a lot of activities.  We really love these young adults and pray intensely for them.  Their generation has such a different way of life and sees the world so differently that it is hard for us to relate.  But we see effort from a lot of these kids, but still so many are distracted and have wandered off.

I love to see divine intervention happen.  After Kuerth’s revelation on Friday that they are going home in May, 5 months early, we invited them to go to dinner with us after we posted some posters in the church buildings.  We also wanted to go to the new Costco business center out there to see about some things that they had that we could buy in bulk for Institute.  We walked around the huge store and saw a couple of things we were looking for.  But the main thing we need is frozen cookies.  They are just cookie dough frozen and ready to bake.  We have them for emergencies at the Institute for when more people show up than we have treats for.  So Carolee bakes a couple or three dozen during class to add to the original snack.  It’s been a life saver and we are running low. Anyway, we re-traced our steps through the frozen section and found them at the very back corner of the store.  As we turned around to continue, one of our YSAs was walking up.  He works there (we knew that, but were just hoping we would see him).  His name is Logan and has been inactive in the church for a long time.  I helped him with his headlight in his car and have taken an interest in him.  What are the chances in a store that size that he would be taking a garbage run and walking right into us there?  It was good to talk to him.  Then when we got to Kuerth’s, just as we were about to leave, Sister Badger called and said they were bored.  So we went to dinner with them too…she needed a social outlet right then.  Timing was fascinating…

Saturday as we were coming home from Lake Eklunta

& Thunderbird Falls, Carolee mentioned that we were probably past the point of having snow decorating the pine trees.  I sadly concurred. Then we awoke Sunday with a fresh 3 inches, covering the brown snow on the edges of the roads and dusting the pines with a beautiful layer of snow. 

  There has been at least 3 feet of snow on the ground every day since the 3^rd of November when we were hit with a huge snow storm and there is no way its going away anytime soon.  Almost 5 months and counting.  But we realize that this is our only winter in Alaska and it is so beautiful we just want to enjoy every minute of it. 

We love serving the Lord and these YSAs here.  It is very different from my proselyting mission in South America, but we are still doing hard things and growing as we show our faith in Jesus Christ.  We miss all of you and pray for you.  The gospel is true.  We would not be here if we didn’t have that conviction.  Love you all,  Gary

March 3, 2024

 We had some major events this week.  Most significant is Kaley going through the temple yesterday for the first time!  I am so proud of her and these choices she is making !  Second the Teeple's are putting on Beauty and the Beast and we got to watch it on FaceTime last night! They looked so good!  We are proud of all of them!!  Lastly we got to volunteer at the Iditarod!  We heard of this race lots of times before!!  Now has personal meaning as we were at the end of the ceremonial start here in anchorage.  We were on the Campbell strip runway with lots of other missionaries on and lots of observers!  It was fun to see the dog sleds. All 38!  

Also saw a couple of cute families that I thought would make great members . Ended up they are members and both dentists. One saw my tag and came across the trail to say hi!  It was also -8 when we started!  A balmy 18 by the time we left!!  Went to church to day without a coat!! 20 degrees didn’t bother me!

We had really good institutes this week with big classes! We are studying pres. Nelsons talks and I really enjoy that!!  I made cinnamon bread for both classes. It was a hit!  We ate 3 big loaves both nights!  We also did family night with Cook Inlet and did baptisms with Maplewood group!  I'm enjoying working at the temple more each week as I get comfortable.  During our shift this week they started knocking down the Brayton building!! That is kind of historic too!

We have called more youth to our institute counsel.  We plan to meet this week to plan activities and welcoming the 18 year olds!  Seminary is out of the hanger and in Klatt building!  Bummer cause it is far for kids!  Justin is a good guy!  He rolls with things well!

We are doing better in our self world ! Set some goals and sticking to them better so that feels good! Still liking my companion.   (Emphasis added by her companion) 😊So glad to be serving our Father in Heaven!  This is his work and we are grateful to do our part!  Carolee

March 5, 2024

This week has been a challenge for me, for different reasons.  Kaley going to the temple for the 1st time and we are so proud of her.  Plus, Chalae’s family is putting on Beauty and the Beast in Malad and Hayes is starring as the Beast.  We are missing both of these significant family events.  We are typically really involved with Teeples as they prepare for this and we go to every performance and just able to give a lot of support.  We watched it on Face-Time the second performance and were so impressed!  Hayes was fantastic—such a rich baritone voice.  Myriam, Bentley & Dot were fun to watch as well.  The FaceTime was better than nothing, but it was not like being there.  It has made me feel a little melancholy and missing home.  Tanner came up to see it from California and we missed being with them too. 

Maybe with us coming up on our half-way point of our mission has made me feel like time is moving too fast and we have so much to accomplish. I’m struggling with how slow things move, even though we think that things are progressing well.  Some of it is the Polynesian effect and some the Church effect.  So, I guess I’m just a mess! Missing home and angst over the work here.  Wow!  Get me a sedative…☹

But a big highlight of the week was the start of the Iditarod dog sled race. The Iditarod is a grueling, 1,000-mile race from Willow (just 40 miles north of Anchorage to Nome through some of Alaska’s toughest terrain. Since Dog sledding is Alaska’s sport, race veterans and the people here consider it their Super Bowl.  The day before the historic race officially begins on Sunday March 3rd in Willow, Saturday, the mushers and their dogs run along the easiest 11 miles they’ll see in the coming days for the Iditarod ceremonial start in downtown Anchorage.  It takes them down city streets and onto the trail system ending at the Campbell Airstrip.    

There are 38 mushers and teams in this years event, with mushers from all over the world and the states, who come to compete.  Alabama, Arizona, Utah, Preston Idaho, Minnesota…but the majority are from Alaska. 

All along the route through Anchorage thousands of fans elbow for position along the trails in celebration of the state’s sport and to cheer the mushers on.  We were able to help at the end of the ceremonial run as they came down the last stretch of the trail onto the airstrip where many hundreds more stood cheering on the teams as they came to the finish line.  These guys were like tail-gating with a tent, fire, hot dogs, lawn chairs, the works.  there were quite a few making a day of it tail-gating the Iditarod!

Many other missionaries were lined up along the 11-mile trail managing the crowds to keep the trail clear and people safe.  One of the things the race celebrates is the Alaskan Husky.  It is not a recognized breed, but is bred for dog sledding.  It is a combination of Siberian Husky, Alaskan Malemute, and other less prominent of greyhound, Pointers, and other breeds.  They have speed dogs for shorter term races and distance dogs who can run forever.  This race is 1,000 miles and they will finish in 8 days.  That is 125 miles a day!!

And there is a stretch of the trail that has no snow and they go over tundra of dirt, mud, patches of snow. Apparently, that section is thru what they call the burn.  So with no trees because of the fires, the snow just blows away. it’s really amazing what these dogs can do. 

So, the race itself started in 1973 as a celebration of Alaska, the Alaskan Husky and the way of life.     Since it ends in Nome, there is a similarity between the race and the famous Serum run in 1925 where dog sleds made a 750 mile run in blizzard conditions to get the diphtheria serum to Nome and saved hundreds of children. 
Much of the trail is the same as then, and each year they remember that event as they celebrate the race, but it is not to memorialize that run.  But that story is such a great story.  Watch the movie Togo if you want to be inspired.

So last night we had a great FHE with the YSA ward, with over 30 there and some brought their friends from work who are not members.  We have an enthusiastic new ward member named Mary who has brought new energy to the group.  We played games with a large group that we’ve never heard of or seen.  It was a riot. 

With 31 grandchildren and our 7 kids and their spouses, there are always problems, drama, heartache, joy, fun, happiness etc all at the same time.  So to zero in on one of the 46 other people considered immediate family doesn’t happen very often.  But last night and this morning, Lolee was really on my mind.  She has had some very real emotional issues over the last couple of years and it was hard for us to leave because we felt really connected with her.  But as it goes, being apart and each busy with our lives, we have not had as much contact with her as we hoped.  But this morning I pleaded with heavenly father of how I could help Lolee when I was so far away.  The answer came in just a few hours.  Lolee texted me and told me she had just re-read a back to school blessing I had given her before we left to come here.  (Chalae had taken notes of the blessing and typed them up for her.)  She said she loved having a bless that she could look back at and find the things that are coming true.  As I read that, I almost felt like I had just given her another blessing.  My prayer was answered in  a way I could not have conceived and I was able to help Lolee in the only way I really can.  Isn’t it amazing how the Lord works.  Such a testimony to me that He is looking out for us and that we are able to serve and still minister to our families we have left behind in ways we didn’t think possible.  I am so grateful…

I have the best comp, the gospel is true, the Lord loves each of us and we are so blessed and grateful to be missionaries, set-apart representatives of Jesus Christ.    Love you all  Gary

 I love being a missionary!  And I love being a missionary in Alaska!  And I love serving as a CES/YSA missionary in Alaska! And I love my companion!!  And I love that we never have to get transferred or get another companion!!!  And we are so blessed to be in Alaska. Fun to look out our window and see our neighborhood friends.

If we were in Florida or West Virginia or Chicago, I think I would say the same thing about wherever & whatever we were doing, because I know the Lord knew where we should be.   I was meeting with our Institute Director, Justin Reeder this week and showing him some of the things on our Master Plan that we had been working on and finishing.  About ¾ of the way through our discussion, he stopped, turned and looked at me and said as he pointed to the things we were discussing “This is why you were sent to Alaska!  What you and Sister Cox are doing is exactly what we have been needing!” Covid took a major toll on the YSAs in Anchorage, in many ways.  So many of them have not returned and we need to find them.  But as I’ve said before, we need to implement the organization the Church has set up, get it going, use local members, to make a sustainable organization that will continue to grow after we go home.  It’s taking a huge amount of effort and working with people to get the ball rolling.  But we feel like we are getting some momentum and pray it continues.  It’s been a lot like setting up a new business, but harder when I’m not the boss, and its church, not work.  But my experience in setting up new businesses and re-organizing new wards 4 times in 5 years is working to our advantage in what we are doing.  Big difference is I don’t have the final say—so to speak.

We had a combined 3 Zone conference this week.  There were about 70 missionaries so a good size group.  That included for the first time the service missionaries and their leader.  Although we do not get involved in the proselyting practices, lessons, presentations and breakout groups, in zone conferences, we decided to meet during the breakout sessions with the service missionaries, and had some good discussions. One was:

·       “begin with the end in mind”. That has to do with the big picture & daily picture as well.

·       In the big group, we talked about accountability to God for our goals and what we want to accomplish. In order to be accountable, we should set daily attainable goals, and begin the day committed to each other & to God to accomplish, what we decide to do.

So, these two principals were what they were teaching to the young missionaries. I was thinking, good grief, how many times in my life have I heard that?!!  So instead of tuning it out, I tuned in and thought how can we use these principals in our companionship? 

Now, the one of the biggest obstacles that I am facing here on the mission is the morning time. It is so hard for me to get to clear my head and get my body moving.  I am not like my companion who wakes up, gets out of bed and by the time she is to the closet, she is in her workout clothes and chomping at the bit to get going—or do whatever we’re going to do.  I am still struggling to sit up in bed, let alone be ready to leave and go walk at the mall or outside.  It usually takes me a least a half hour and then wash my face with ice cold water to finally start to come alive.  Then I’d have to get dressed yada, yada, yada.

Although I’ve been sleeping much better it doesn’t seem to improve those first shining moments of the day!  It may be/might have a tiny bit to do with my advancing years, because I know I’m not the only senior missionary battling this.  It has made our mornings really out of sync and we just can’t seem to get on the same morning page.  The morning is our study time, prep time, planning time, etc.   Carolee and I talked after the conference about these principals and how we could implement them into our missionary work.  So after much conversation, we have decided to have our planning meeting at noon every day. Since we effectively work the swing shift our nights don’t get over till around 9:30 PM.  From noon to 9:30 is a pretty long day being at it.  And it worked great this week!  I can’t believe that it took 5 months into our mission to be able to figure out our mornings!  In that planning meeting, we will then be able to begin with the end in mind—decide what we want to accomplish that day and make sure that what we are doing fits into our long-term goals. This helps us prioritize what we do each day, then be accountable to ourselves, to each other, and to God each day. At the end of the day, we report how we did. If we did not do so good, we can repent and try to get better the next day. We are not perfect, but we need to be trying our best. 

That’s what my comp keeps telling me.  And she is a really, really good comp!!!

 We had some fun activities this week that Carolee covered in her entry.  I have an additional picture of the outhouse races that was pretty creative.  A group entered as the Bob Ross Pine trees.  You’ll see they all had wigs like his hair and a pine tree attached to the back of the outhouse.  Can’t you still just see Bob Ross painting a pine tree and talking in his low monotone voice?

Think Groundhog Day...                                                                                                        

This Fur Rondy celebration as they call it here is short for Fur Rendezvous.  We were able to see the Open World Championship Sled Dog Race from a trailhead right by the Institute.  The teams ran a 26 mile course on Fri, Sat & Sunday and then added their times to see the winner.

The trail was freshly groomed then had 3 new inches of snow, so it was beautiful.  I imagine that some of those teams will be in the Iditarod which starts this weekend. We will be able to volunteer  for that, so that is coming next week. 

This is Gary's favorite thing!  I want it to keep snowing and snowing.  I know, I'm weird. There is snow everywhere, piles are deep on streets, main roads are mostly clear but with a center strip  of ice on each lane.  All subdivision roads are snow packed. And the front loaders and dump trucks never stop hauling snow away and putting it in huge piles that are 3 or 4 stories tall.  Bulldozers just keep plowing it up higher and higher.  Some are saying that the piles may not melt this summer.😕  

Carolee mentioned in one of her posts about being grateful for not having headaches anymore.  My sister Diane asked about her headaches, so I felt it deserves an entry since it is a major miracle in our lives. 

Carolee’s Miracle.

For almost her whole life, Carolee wakes up with a major headache.  Not migraines, but most days it takes 2 Excedrin & 45min of intense exercise to get rid of them.

We are always on the lookout for something to help. She has always had bad posture and in the last 20+ years standing in front of her quilting position like she’s looking at a phone did not help the issue.  We’ve looked into exercise routines, stretches, PT, diet, sugar and everything else we could think of. To no avail.  Excedrin has been a way of life for many years. 

So sometime in January, I got an ad on Instagram, that talked about this wheel thingy that is 4 inches in diameter and the claim is that it places your neck at the correct angle which helps stretch the muscles and corrects the curvature of the neck. When used for 10-20 minutes a day, it claims will eliminate a neck hump and relieve neck pain and headaches. It has a channel for your spine to keep it straight. It is called a Chirp Wheel for 29 bucks on Amazon.   Sometimes she doesn’t like my Amazon solutions.  So, I bought it without telling her (you did what??) and while it was on its way, she had a conversation with some other sister missionaries about some of the health and neck challenges they were having.  Since I hadn’t told her about my purchase, that conversation facilitated her listening to me and she was more willing to give it a try.   

She has been using it now for almost 4 weeks and it has totally eliminated her headaches!

She lays on it before she goes to bed, it stretches her neck out and Wala the miracle happens!! No headache in the morning.  I don’t even ask her anymore; she has moved the extra Strength Excedrin into the medicine cabinet instead of her night stand!  It is a life changing miracle for her and us.  One we have been praying for for a long time.

Snow sculptures at                                                                             Fur Roundy.

This is what the roundabouts can look like, but its also what every cul de sac looks like.  It is crazy awesome!! 😄

 Gary has had a miracle too.

My struggle sleeping at night because of neuropathy is old news and well documented, I think.  I take Lyrica twice a day to be able to stay sane.  However, laying down and having my feet up triggers pain that I have a hard time dealing with.  So, I take Lyrica and a Tylenol PM at night.  Sometimes I can fall asleep before the reaction to lying down hits and sometimes I can’t.  Most of the time I can sleep about 1-3 hours without waking up from the pain. The Tylenol PM is supposed to help me go back to sleep.  But not so helpful...so some nights I am up for hours.  I am usually so drowsy from the meds that I can’t read, so I resorted to playing mindless games on my phone and finding any comfort food I could place my hands on or invent.  Needless to say, the quality of sleep has been pretty poor and the affect on my waistline pretty profound!   

So next is how things came together in my mind that resulted in a paradigm shift for me.

We have become fans of the series The Chosen.  I will not defend nor advocate our position, so just hear me out.  In the 1^st season, and in sporadic spots throughout the next season, I noticed that when it shows Christ or any of the Apostles go to bed, as they lay down, blow out the candle, they say a prayer. The prayer is usually a recitation from the Law of Moses that goes something like: Blessed art Thou Oh God, the king of the universe, the creator of all things, etc. etc. and then Bless my eyelids to sleep and body to rest—something like that.

Then, in Come Follow Me we talked about the condescension of God, and how far he condescended from his throne next to Elohim, the Highest of the High, to the lowest station of human life in order to sink below all to know how to succor his people. That reminded me of how great He truly is!

And made me question, how often do I recognize His greatness? Or praise Him on a consistent high enough level?  So I decided to start doing that as I went to bed.  At first it was a bit awkward trying to insert it into a typical prayer, but I realized that in our culture of praising him, and acknowledging his greatness is usually expressed as hymns.  So now as I go to sleep, I am reciting the words to hymns that praise Him.  How Great Thou Art, I Stand All Amazed, Praise to the Lord, the Almighty the King of Creation, Praise Ye the Lord, etc.   

The impact has been huge for me! I have fallen asleep so quickly, even with my toes, feeling like they were going to burn a hole through the mattress, even with my feet feeling swollen, prickling and numb, it did not matter—I went to sleep. And even though, I awake during the night, if I will go back to bed soon, and repeat the same process I go back to sleep quickly, with fewer times awake till morning.

I keep track of my sleep with my Fitbit. It has been amazing to watch my sleep scores go up. I still do have some bad nights, but this is a miracle for me to be able to get the sleep I need. Last night I slept for 8 1/2 hours and got the highest sleep score ever. My stake president blessed me in my setting apart, that I would get enough sleep to carry out my labors. It took me a while, it took watching the Chosen and remembering in the Book of Mormon, where it tells us to pray, as we lay down to sleep.  But this has been like Alma & his people being strengthened to bear the burdens placed upon them. The burden is not gone, but for now I am able to bear the burden I am carrying. 

Both of these “miracles” are a testimony to me that my Heavenly Father is aware of me & Carolee.  We have not asked why we have had to carry these burdens, but we have faith in the Lord that He will take care of us.  I am so happy that he has relieved Carolee of her burden and that I’m able to get better sleep.

When you look for them, little miracles or divine interventions are happening all the time.  We can identify them almost daily.

The gospel is true; Jesus loves us; we love you all and pray for you always.  Gary

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

February 19, 2024

 

 I haven’t recorded for a few weeks because it has been pretty event filled and crazy. 

I just read Carolee’s entry and she covers most of the stuff I’m writing about, but as you know she only used about 4 lines, maybe 5 and only about 30 words.  So, sit down if you want to read mine.  I just don’t know how to do it another way.  I’ve tried, but the fingers just don’t work like hers,  and that’s a good thing.

Two weeks ago on Monday night late, we got a call from JUSTIN REEDER, who asked us to teach for him the next day because he was so sick. He told us lesson was at 7:30 in the morning. So, I work into the night trying to prepare lesson, I was not able to utilize technology by  i.e. PowerPoint,  (time & ability restraint) so I just decided to have a discussion with the chapter they were talking about in the Book of Mormon.

So I taught the class at 7:30 and that was the only seminary class, but he was pretty sick and so I started and spent the rest the day to prepared the Institute lesson for that night. He kept saying that he was going to try to make it made it so I wasn’t so serious in my preparation, but by 5:30 I knew he was not going to be able to teach.  So I taught the class, Carolee prepared the refreshments and we did the whole thing, so that was a long day from seven in the morning till 9:30 at night before we got home. During the day, I also made some adjustments to the seminary class because I still needed to teach two more classes the next day on Wednesday. So those two days were very exhausting. Carolee is a very good at helping me prepare. She is a good sounding board and offers excellent suggestions for presentation. So even though she’s not in front, a lot, she is in on the preparation, so I can call her at any time for help in class, and if I faint or have a medical emergency during class, she can just push me out of the way on the floor and go on with the lesson, because she knows what’s going on and helped me prepare.😂😂 yeah, well that happened once except for the floor part, so we’ve learned our lesson. 😩 When she says we taught seminary or Institute, it is very valid because of her valuable input to the lesson and willing support. 

So, after teaching 4 lessons in two days and the prep work, it is very exhausting and takes a lot out of you. Teaching teenagers and adults is strenuous work both physically & emotionally, trying to connect various stages of life and experience.

That means that Thursday is kind of a wipe out day hard to accomplish anything because of how drained we are.

That was the second time in three weeks, but he had come down sick, the previous time when he had a case of the shingles. Well, on Saturday, he texted and asked if we would cover his Tuesday and Wednesday classes because he was going to be out of town for a session in Washington with CES.  So, this time we had more time to prepare, and I guess more stress because we knew in advance. Sometimes I feel like my dad when I prepare lessons because I way over-prepare. I remember my dad giving talk at church where he would go to the pulpit with like seven books plus his scriptures. I mean when Brother Cox spoke he was loaded for bear and talked for a long time. It was pretty boring from the kids perspective.  I don’t do that in the same outwardly show with books and stuff but I do overthink things., get lost in the weeds, And end up using about 10% of what I brought prepared to discuss. The bigger emphasis now is on how to get the class involved and asking correct questions that will initiate pondering as they answer the questions. Asking good questions is hard.

So anyway 7:30 in the morning came and we taught the first hour which is a difficult hour since the kids are all asleep and not in a frame of mind to have a good conversation.   So it was a disaster from my perspective, but Carolee said it was OK. That night was Institute & I felt better about that lesson. Then on Wednesday morning. I taught the class when Carolee was in the temple so she wasn’t there. During that class, the Sr. Sister missionaries were videoing me teaching for a video they are making for the mission to describe what senior missionaries do so we can share with those entertaining serving a mission. In the middle of the class there was a bang on the door, and a man appeared there who said he was a code enforcement officer for the city of Anchorage. He proceeded to tell us that we were not supposed to be in there, because there was no occupancy permit for that building. No one was supposed to be in the building at all until that was taken care of. I kindly ask him to talk to the owner of the building he said that he had, and he was very rude and demanding, that we should not be there. He left not very happy but we continued with the lesson after I settled the class down. 

After discussions with JUSTIN and the owner of the building, it was decided that we should not meet there in the afternoon until the situation resolved and so the owner offered for us to do the class in his house. The house is right there on the property. So we went over to this gigantic mansion, three-story family room with all glass facing the beautiful forest and we watched a moose walked across the property in front of us. It was a spectacular scene.  So I sat on the fireplace hearth and the kids sofas and chairs on the floor and we had a 35 minute class where we just talked about the chapter and I let them out early and Carolee gave them a valentine cookie. 

Once again, we were so exhausted that it was hard to do anything. And that’s OK, we can’t run faster and we have strength to run and believe me we were out of gas. I am so grateful we are not teachers out here as part of our mission—teaching seminary class or Institute class full-time. 

Our schedule is pretty difficult as it is because we usually start our day around noon and finish most days at 9:30 or 10 PM. There are no senior missionaries in our mission that are doing those kind of hours. But we are glad to do it, and hopefully what we are building here will be sustainable with the young single adults, and will be able to touch lives for years to come. That is the goal. So this last week was our five nighter of nightly activities because we had a luau on Friday night. So Saturday we went to the Chosen movie at the theater and out to dinner with Kincaids. 

So the last two weeks have been kind of brutal physically and mentally, but at the same time very rewarding, spiritually. I learn so much more when I’m studying to teach than when I’m studying to learn. That is a really crazy thing and it really should be the other way around.

We’ve gotten posters up in buildings, new invitations printed and ready to go, so we’ve been very engaged in a lot of moving parts. 

This week’s schedule seems less demanding so far, so it should give us more time to go out inviting! 

Our miracle with Carolee’s headaches is ongoing and we are so grateful!!  

 I think I am experiencing a miracle too with my feet.  Although they hurt more than ever, I have been sleeping through the pain and I just don’t know how.  I am aware of the pain and within minutes of going to bed, I’m on the verge of rolling out and going through my nighttime walking routine when I just suddenly go to sleep.  I also seem to be sleeping in longer stretches which enhances the quality of the sleep too.  But I do get woken up several times a night by the pain and have to get up to relieve it by walking around and standing to change the pressure on the feet. However, there is a BIG problem here in our apartment and that is that when I get up I am only 3 steps (literally) from the refrigerator door and 4 steps from the pantry.  And that is not good on so many levels.  Carolee has gotten to the point, with my resentful approval, where the chocolate chips and potato chips are stored under her night stand!  What a sad example of my self-control.  But, in my defense, who has self-control at two o’clock in the morning and in physical and emotional pain???? I need comfort food in the worst way.  You would not believe some of the things I’ve come up with to eat.  And the hardest part is with the bedroom being so close, I have to do everything in silence so as not to wake up the queen or I would be in real trouble and not get anything at all to eat!! 

Wa Wa Wa.  Call the Wambulance.  First world problem!

Nevertheless, we are loving our mission, loving the young people here and feeling like we are starting to make a difference for now and for the future.  We are truly praying hard for these young people here.  They have many challenges and trials and they need so much help.  There are many who are trying so hard to do the right thing and many more who have just given in.  this world is really a different animal that the one that I grew up in.  so many more challenges, but the kids have so many more tools.  Now they just need to use them. 

 

Love you all,  gary

All of my favorite people in the entire world, all in the same picture. 

We got a heart attack from the sister Missionaries on Valentines night.  We love working with these young sisters and elders. 

One of our favorite hoar frost pictures at -15 degrees