Some of the Branch learning teaching and learning how to family history indexing.

                             We have several new missionaries in Fairbanks here in a training meeting.

                                    A city Bobcat "shoveling" the sidewalks in front of the Institute.

                              Here comes a road grader to help out. Interesting equipment in Alaska.

 The weather has been warmer, and we are grateful for that!  When it gets warmer, the tractors start coming out to clear the sides of the roads and the sidewalks which are also used for bike paths.  We thought this was an interesting pair of machines working on our sidewalks. 

It's been a fun and busy week here.  There have been new missionaries to meet as well as other interesting activities.   Monday nights always mean Family Home Evening with a group from the Branch.  For an activity we made Danish woven heart baskets to put on Trisha and Cristina's Christmas tree for some Valentine decorations.  We each selected a scripture about the heart and wrote it on a slip of paper that we put inside the basket.  It was fun watching the guys make baskets they probably hadn't made since elementary school. 

Tuesday evening we had class as usual.  We broadcast our class on the Fairbanks Stake web site in hopes that we might be able to reach some of those who cannot attend.  Along with class, we had an activity for the elders quorum to learn how to do indexing.  It was a great opportunity to show the guys how to look at old records and transcribe them on their computers making them available for people to use in finding their ancestors.  We felt like we had accomplished something by the end of the evening and hopefully we will be able to help others get enthused with this great service. 

Wednesday morning we had our inservice meeting with our seminary teachers.  We were able to share some of the training that we received in Anchorage last week.  We are so grateful for our teachers' commitment and willingness to teach early morning classes.  They are wonderful.  When we have to be at the institute by about 6:00 a.m. we really appreciate those who teach early every day. 

Thursday we had classes again.  I was so pleased to have seven students attend my class.  It was an answer to my prayers and I told them so.   We have so many wonderful young people that we wish would take the opportunity to join with us in our classes.  Today we had Bro. and Sister Thomas come to the branch.  They have just been called as leaders for the stake for the single adults and have been asked to help in activating  those who are not attending.  It will be great to work together in this project.

President and Sister Beesley were here in Fairbanks for training and interviews.  They came to visit with us this evening over a bowl of soup at the institute.  We also were able to call in on the polycom to a fireside in Barrow.  Elder Tonga (who is from Tonga) told how he became a member of the Church.  He had a friend that invited him to attend church with him for a long time.  However, he didn't want to know anything about it.   One evening it was his birthday and he was having a big drinking party with his friends.  His friend next door came over and gave him a gift for his birthday.  It was a copy of the Book of Mormon.  He was so upset that he threw it out in the yard and told his friend to leave.  Later that evening he got very drunk and just trashed his house.  In the morning he saw the book in the yard and wondered how it got there.  He picked it up and opened it.  He read a few verses that really touched him.  His friend saw him out in the yard with the book and went over to see him.  Elder Tonga wondered how his friend got a broken nose.  He told him that he had hit him while he was drunk.  Elder Tonga didn't even remember.  However, he did read the book and prayed about it to know if it was true.  After turning his life around, we was baptized and is now serving a mission to help others come to know Jesus Christ and have the blessings of His gospel in their lives.  What a blessing it has been to us to get to know some of the wonderful missionaries in Alaska.  We also know that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and it will bless the lives of those who read it and pray to find out if it is true.

Happy Valentine's Day to all of our family and loved ones at home!

JoAnn and Jim 

                               This is an early morning seminary class we visited in Delta Junction

                        This is Sister Michie the teacher of the early morning class in Delta junction

                               The second all sisters conference in the mission home in Anchorage

         This is the "general authority" room where we stay whenever we stay at the mission home in Anchorage.

                          The mission home in Anchorage with there heavy snow and lots of mission cars.

 A closer look with the little Chev four wheel drive truck that the mission allowed us to use while in Anchorage.

     The snow is heavy in Anchorage as you can see here. The mountains in the distance are just the beginning of a vast mountain range that persists from Anchorage north for about two hundred miles and is called the Alaska range. Basically from Anchorage north is a vast wilderness of mountains including large glacier fields. We flew down to Anchorage on Wednesday afternoon. That night Sister Spens was able to attend the all sisters conference at the mission home. We found Anchorage to be blanketed with a heavy snow that made us appreciate the four wheel drive vehicle that we borrowed from the mission. That car got us safely to the mission home on Wednesday night even though the roads were heavy with snow. Sister Spens enjoyed the sisters conference and Elder Spens was assigned to stay in his room that night during the conference.
     Sister Spens helped out by making cinnamon rolls for the missionaries for breakfast. Thursday late in the afternoon we went to dinner with the other CES couple the Schindler's and then attended the Anchorage Temple that night. On Friday we had CES training at the Anchorage institute however the 20 minute commute to the institute because of the heavy snow turned into over an hours commute. The training was also shortened because of the heavy snow so as to allow all participants an early start for their commute.  Several of the missionaries were snowed in at the mission home and were not able to leave for their areas until the weather lifted and the roads were better on Saturday.  It was wonderful to be able to spend time with them and feel their enthusiasm and spirits. 
     The "general authority" room pictured above is where we always stay when we are at the mission home in Anchorage. We are told that it has that name simply because of all of the general authorities that have stayed in that particular room while visiting in Alaska. It is simply a nice room in the mission home.
     On Friday night we attended the temple again along with the Wrigley family including Mallory who will leave this Tuesday for her mission in Brazil. The first of the week we spent in Delta Junction with the Wrigley family and visited the early morning seminary class pictured above. We continue to enjoy our work here with the institute and the early morning seminary. We have made so many wonderful friends and have come to love the YSA as if they were our own children or grand children.
 
Elder Spens and Sister Spens

    Elders and Sisters preparing for a special training meeting.

                         This morning after our Sacrament meeting.  Guess who was taking the picture.

         This is a view from the end of Skyline Dr. where we live looking into the city filled with ice fog. 
                                         You can see a roof top just around the bend in the road.

                  We found this moose track with others just a few feet from the entrance to our apartment.

NEWS  FROM FAIRBANKS:  It's the fifth coldest January on record since the gold miners came to Fairbanks and started keeping records.  Today it was -51 degrees at the airport at 11:00 AM.  It's been so cold that the towing companies have been doing a great business.  One towing company reported that one of their two trucks shut down with the cold as well.  Cars don't seem to like the cold and ours is no exception.

We are grateful to have had the spare mission car this week to get to the institute and back home again.  Our car is supposed to be back in business, but we have not heard from the repair shop yet.  Perhaps tomorrow we will get it back.  The weather is supposed to get warmer tomorrow.  We do hope so.  We had planned to go to Delta Junction to visit the seminary and wish Mallory good luck on her mission to Brazil, but the weather was too cold for safe travel today.  Because of the cold we only had sacrament meeting again.  The branch had planned a carnival for last Saturday, but that was cancelled as well because of the cold weather.  The ice fog has been very thick which makes driving in the city really tricky.  Since we live on the hills, we rarely have fog this high and our temperatures are somewhat warmer.  It was interesting to see the cars lined up for pictures to be taken by the UAF temperature sign today.  It's just crazy to see students in shorts and no shirts having their pictures taken by the sign.  You can bet they don't stay out very long!

We were delighted to have a new group of people from the stake come to our class on Tuesday.  We are trying to reach out and make more classes available.  I'm afraid no one came for my class on Wednesday.  It's a challenge to have classes during the day since so many have classes.  Sometimes we have small groups of students that request a weekday class.  It was very cold on Thursday.  We are very grateful for our faithful students.  Matt walks down from campus and usually comes with ice frozen to his beard and eyelashes.  We make sure that he gets a ride home either with us or with someone else.  We always invite people to bring their friends with them.  It is hard for us to see the drop in the number of students here.  We keep working on ways to invite and encourage them to come.

We are preparing to go to Anchorage this week for training.  However, the two CES missionary couples are the ones doing the training this time and I am a bit stressed to say the least.  The young elders reminded me that who the Lord calls, He qualifies.  I'm sure I'm learning a great deal in trying to prepare for this assignment. 

Transfers are this coming week, so some of the missionaries that we have come to love are being transferred.  We feel so blessed to be able to associate with the young missionaries.  They have great enthusiasm and a love for sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with others.  Our sacrament meeting talks today were based on forgiveness and forgiving others.  I certainly hope my children will forgive me for some of the mistakes I made in trying to help them understand things that I felt were important.  It is important to learn and understand that we all have been given the agency to make choices for ourselves.  We must also remember that the Savior has promised to forgive us and welcome us home if we repent of our mistakes and forgive others.  As we strive to become more like the Savior, we will become more patient and loving. 

Have a wonderful week.
Love,
JoAnn and Jim

                                                   Ice sculpture polar bear, UAF's mascot.

                                                             This speaks for itself.

Our Institute library with all the books cataloged!

       On the way to the temple in Anchorage, Jim shot this nice picture of the Alaska Range from the bus.

                            Part of our rescue crew.  Note the tow truck on the right in the background.

  It has been a great week serving as missionaries here in Alaska. As you can see from the temperature sign  with Sister Spens bundled up that winter is solidly here at thirty eight below! This sign is on the UAF campus and is a popular place for the young Elders to have their pictures taken. We have adjusted to the cold of the north to a degree. When it gets up to around zero Fahrenheit it actually feels warm to us. When it is thirty or forty below you just cannot have any exposed skin for any length of time or you are in danger of frostbite. I helped with the changing of a tire in Anchorage last Saturday and worked with a metal jack without gloves but it was only a couple degrees below zero and I felt fine without hat or gloves.
     We started Institute classes for our spring semester this last week and we are off to a great start. Our population of YSA continues to diminish and so our classes are smaller. However , the young people are faithful and strong members and are great students to work with. Sister Spens as usual prepared great food for the young people and one young man said, "if you have food they will come".
The polar bear ice sculpting is also on the UAF campus across from the institute and is the schools mascot. The ice sculpting in the area seems to pop up about this time of the year and it should last for the next four months.
     We also had the opportunity of going to the temple in Anchorage this past week with the stake on a bus. About 54 people went down for the temple trip. It was a great experience and gave us the chance to associate with the great faithful members of the stake. There were about three YSA and three youths old enough to perform baptisms at the temple. The forested mountain picture is of the Alaska range south of Denali park. It was clear and beautiful weather for the trip.
     The picture of the four people clustered in front of our car are part of the rescue team that helped us just after the fireside with Elder Packer commemorating the 100 years of seminary. This event was held at the Fairbanks stake center. After the broadcast as we were driving down the road from the stake center our car just stalled and totally quit on us. We were in the middle of the road and I turned the flashers on and then a car pulled up behind us and a family that had been at the fireside got out and helped us push the car about 500 feet down the road and off to the side. Others gathered to help and the Elders arrived to take us to the back up mission car so we could have our car towed to the repair shop. Just then a tow truck drove by and I hailed them and asked them to tow the car to the shop. They were on the way to Healy and had time to take care of us as well.  We drove away with the Elders to retrieve the extra car and as we drove home Sunday night we felt blessed that the Lord had been watching over us with our car problems and provided immediate solutions to everything. We also felt blessed that the car decided to quit in town and that the weather was only -3 degrees.  It is great to be serving her as missionaries of the Lord.

Elder and Sister Spens

                             It was so good to see the sun that I had to take a picture out our window.

               Today's newspaper talks about the low temperatures we have been having.  It was -47 when Jim and President Olsen went to pick up a returning student last night. 

  In his spare time this summer, Jim created this birch bowl similar to one we saw in the Anchorage Museum.

            Another artifact replica of a knife and box with Tlingit designs that Jim made this summer.

We started out this week with specialized training for the missionaries at the Institute with Pres. and Sister Beesley.  It is always a pleasure to have them come and feel their testimonies.  Their encouragement and direction to the missionaries is a blessing.  We appreciate the time we have to spend with them.  Their son was also with them this time sharing their mission experience.

With classes starting this week, we have been preparing lessons and schedules.  We are excited every time we see one of the students return from the holidays.  We expect others to come back this week as well that were gone for Fall semester.  I have also been working on completing the cataloging of the books in the library.  Each day I get closer to the end.  I hope it will be helpful.  We have had a lot of use of the library last semester, and I hope it will continue.

This week we stopped by a quilt store near the Institute that I had seen before.  I saw a quilt in the store that caught my eye.  It was called a 10-minute block quilt.  It looks like we may be having more weddings in the future, so I decided to give it a try and get ahead of things.  Sister Olsen has quite a collection of fabric that she had offered to build these quilts.  I was able to find some fabrics that went together quite well.  When the weather is well below -40, it is easy to spend preparation day sewing in the warm house.  It's much easier to create quilt throws than bed quilts as well.  They are not as large.

Today it was -45 degrees and there was ice fog in the valley.  That means that we only have sacrament meeting.  The cold can be dangerous if you get stuck.  We offered to stop by and pick up Trisha and Cristina on the way to church, but they said they would be fine.  Half way to church, we got a call asking us to come to their rescue.  Trisha's car would not start.  Often on cold mornings our meetings are a little slow to start in hopes that others will arrive.  This morning they were waiting for us.  We had a wonderful talk from the stake primary president on the importance of having courage.  She talked about Queen Ester in the Old Testament and how much she needed courage to go before the king.  However, she prepared herself by fasting and prayer and asked her people to do the same in her behalf.  We all have things in our lives that require a great amount of courage.  It takes courage to live the commandments and to be examples of those who love the Savior and show it by the lives we live.  We are grateful for family and friends who have shown us great examples of courage in the face of illness or life's troubles--or even when life seems relatively good.

We are so grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We love serving here in Alaska even in the cold.  Our hearts are warm with our testimonies that Jesus Christ lives and that this is His church restored to the earth for the last time.  He loves all of us and wants us to follow Him so that we can return to Him someday.

With love,
JoAnn and Jim

We live in the endless forest of the interior of Alaska and this time of year it is truly a winter wonderland of perfectly white snow on the ground, trees and roads. There is no dirty snow anywhere only whiteness.  (This is especially for you in Utah who are missing a snowy winter.  Note there is no bright sun shining on the snow.)

Sister Spens and Sister Rivera in the institute kitchen. The kitchen is a great gathering place not only for the young adults but the young missionaries as well.

This is a picture of a picture of Joe Verhagaen taken on his front steps in the town of Nenana. He is in the MTC in Utah preparing to go to what used to be the Eastern States Mission (in 1962-64) but now is many missions, and he is going to the New York City South Mission.

  

This last picture is kind of a farewell shot of Hannah and Mallory as Hannah was leaving to go to BYU Idaho and Mallory is preparing to leave for a full time mission in Brazil in a month when her visa arrives.  

The interior of Alaska is truly a beautiful place to be in the winter because it is really a wonderland of white. It would be kind of like living in the high Uinta mountains if they were flat and the snow was only one foot deep. Winter is absolutly intriguing and the extreme cold just adds to the uniqueness of the land. Where else in the world is the gospel affected by the temperature? If it is below 30 degrees early morning seminary is canceled and the Sunday block of meetings is reduced to just sacrament meeting. At 50 below all Sunday meetings are canceled. 

We saw  a moose the other day by the UAF campus. The moose herd stays in the heavily forested section of Fairbanks and so they are not seen to often, but they are there and just wander and browse on twigs all winter. Their physiology requires that they stay on the move. We have had tracks in our yard where they have crossed the property.  

Speaking of the kitchen above Sister Spens made cookies for the CES fireside at the institute tonight where Elder Jay Jensen spoke of the subject of the Holy Ghost. He gave a marvelous discourse on the significance of the Holy Ghost to us as members of the church. Having the Holy Ghost as our guide in teaching has been uppermost on our minds  in our CES teaching mission. 

The last couple of pictures just reaffirm the importance of our relationships with the young single adults while serving here. They are truly the light and life of our missionary experience whether they are young new converts or investigators or young adults preparing to serve missions or returned missionaries, they all are great people to work with. To set an example for and to teach them is a great challenge. They are truly the strength of the church for the coming years. Those family members who read this also need to know that as our children (and their spouses) and grandchildren are also the light and life of our lives. We constantly pray for the Lord to bless you and all of your families to have the Lord's spirit with you to bless and strengthen your families.

Elder and Sister Spens (or Mom and Dad) 

           Last week this is where the sun was at noon day only about two degrees above the horizon and needless to say not much heat from the sun.

                                    Sister Lolita Gridley--she loves missionaries and was born and raised in                                   Alaska and makes the "kuspuk" style aprons as modeled above.

                                 Some of the young single adults at the Verhagens' home for a party. The Verhagens' came to Alaska in the 70's to work for one year and ended up staying and raising their family in the small villages. They are a great and strong LDS family.

                      One side of a battle of nerf bullets blown through pvc tubes at the Verhagen home.

                                A grizzly bear display at the Museum of the North on UAF campus.

                                        Line dancing any one?  Happy New Year's Eve party.

                   Our little Christmas tree.  (That's not a ufo--just a reflection of a light in the window.) The suburban's little resting spot beyond our apartment. The car actually gets cleaner as the winter progresses because the snow is so clean since everything is permanently frozen. No dirty roads in the winter here.

How blessed we are to be able to contact our family on Christmas Day and later at the family party through the miracles of cell phones and computers.  It was especially fun for us to meet Shellie, my brother Jack's wife.  We look forward to meeting her in person later this year.  We are so grateful for all of our family and extended families.  We pray for continued health and strength for Mom and Dad.  It was fun to be able to "see" them on the computer for a few minutes and talk to them.

Although the institute was closed for Christmas, we were able to keep busy.  It was nice to have some quiet time to relax and get refreshed.  We have met several new people at the Branch and have invited them to attend institute classes when then start up again.  In the mean time, I have been working hard on the library and Jim has been studying for upcoming classes.  It's been so fun to see our friends that have come home for the holidays.

Every day it gets a little lighter during the day if it's not cloudy.  Today we had exactly 4 hours of sunlight!  I will admit, it's hard to get used to the darkness.  However, the cheerful faces of our friends here add sunshine to our souls.  One of those kind people is Sister Gridley.  When we were at her home for dinner a couple of weeks ago, I saw some "kuspuks" or summer Eskimo dresses that she makes to sell.  She offered to let me copy some of her patterns.  She also makes "kuspuk" style aprons.  I asked her if  I could have a copy of that pattern and she gave me an apron already made!   Feeding the missionaries every other week is one of her great joys.

Friday we drove to Nenana to share some time with the Verhagens before the start for Juneau for the legislative session again.  The boys invited us to their party and we took Randi and Karlie Ellingson and Joslyn Feddern with us.  The kids had a great time playing games and having a war of nerf blow darts while we enjoyed talking to Paul and Merrily (the parents) and learning more about them.  Paul told us that the natives play a lot of mind games during the winter hours to keep their minds sharp.  We will miss the boys while they are in Juneau, but Elder and Sister Schindler are anxious to add them to their classes.

Saturday we decided to brave the cold and go to the fireworks on campus.  The museum opens for one hour before the fireworks with no admission fee.  There were a lot of families with small children there enjoying the displays and staying warm for a while.  It was -27 degrees outside for the fireworks.  I was quite warm with my real Alaska mittens and my warm coat, but with a dress on, my legs got a bit cold!  It was a delightful display of fireworks that lasted about 15 minutes.  I don't think we could have handled much more.  Afterwards, we went to the Institute for the Branch New Year's Eve dance and party.  They were having a good time and we only stayed about an hour.  We were home when the new year arrived.  Today because of the cold temperatures, we only had Sacrament Meeting.  The theme of the meeting was repentance, or making resolutions to live better lives which repentance is all about.  How blessed we are to know that Jesus Christ has made it possible for us to return to live with Him and our Father in Heaven if we will repent and keep His commandments.  Those commandments are to help us become more like Him.

I was very impressed with an article in the Ensign, Dec. 2011, titled "Take a Gratitude Challenge," by John Hilton III and Anthony Sweat.  I'd like to share it with you.


"Let's not just talk about counting our blessings--let's do it!  Write a list of 100 things you are thankful for.  If that sounds like it is too many, try this:
   1.  Write 10 physical abilites you are grateful for.
   2.  Write 10 material possessions you are grateful for.
   3.  Write 10 living people you are grateful for.
   4.  Write 10 deceased people you are grateful for.
   5.  Write 10 things about nature you are grateful for.
   6.  Write 10 things about today you are grateful for.
   7.  Write 10 places on earth you are grateful for.
   8.  Write 10 modern inventions you are grateful for.
   9.  Write 10 foods you are grateful for.
  10.  Write 10 things about the gospel you are grateful for.

"When we make a list like this, we discover that a list of 100 doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of all the things God has given us."

As we begin this new year, let us be more aware of the blessings of the Lord and of the kindness of those around us.  May you be blessed with a happy new year filled with gratitude and love.

Love,
JoAnn & Jim