Yesterday we got a great view of Mt. McKinley or Denali in the sunset across the valley.

                          The mountain is not often visible because it tends to make it's own weather
                                                          and is usually shrouded  in clouds.

                                   A closer view shows some lights of Fairbanks below in the valley.
                                      Denali is about half way between Fairbanks and Anchorage

     Today it was Fast Sunday and testimonies are shared in our sacrament meeting.  Staci Homelvig who was just baptized in December got up to bear her testimony for the first time.  She was so sincere when she expressed the happiness and joy she has felt since joining the Church.  She said that the Holy Ghost had born witness to her of the truthfulness of the Book of  Mormon through her study and prayer.  As we have watched her, we have seen the happiness that has come into her life.  What a blessing it has been for us and for her.  She is now bringing her brother to activities and to meet the missionaries.  The faith and strength of the young people here is amazing especially when we find that they have been members for less than a year.

      Last Friday evening we were invited to go to dinner at the Kennedy's home.  They have been attending our adult class on the Gospels of the New Testament, and Brother Kennedy is on the High Council of the Fairbanks Stake. The Kennedys have lived here for a number of years, and Brother Kennedy appears to be quite involved in hunting and fishing in Alaska, as are many of the men here.  He had a large rack of moose antlers, in his kitchen along with the baleen  from a 300-year-old whale and many skulls of small animals that he and harvested. We had a fine dinner of snow crab.  Brother Kennedy told us a couple of Moose hunting stories and then we  retired to the living room where we left a message and discussed the importance of the doctrine of revelation, especially as it applies to our attendance at the temple. The Kennedys then proceeded to give us two referrals for people that may have some interest in the church that live in the apartments that he manages.  All in all it was an enjoyable evening. We continue to meet more members of the wards and the stake here in Fairbanks.  We met their twin sons over Christmas break.  Now they are going to school at BYU, and Mike and Michelle met them in South Jordan.  They are good friends of the twins' cousin.  Small world indeed.
     We enjoy teaching the classes here.  It is a blessing to be able to study and share our testimonies of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others.

Jim and JoAnn

                                  University of Alaska Fairbanks mascot -- the polar bear. They have
                                  three ice sculptures of the polar bear on campus.

                                                 Friday we had an open house at the institute.  Sunday
                                                 it was a special bring a friend to church Sunday. 

                                    The colors of the sun rises are beautiful.  This is our backyard.

Each day we notice the sun is getting higher, and the skies are brighter.  It is a welcome sight.  However, we can still enjoy the late sunrises and early sunsets.  It's a bonus not to have to be up super early to see the sun rise.  A friend told me that Alaska has a lack of color in the winter.  It seems to be pretty much black and white.  Perhaps that is why we love the colors in the sky.

It's been another busy week.  Along with regular classes, we had an open house at the institute with a showing of "The Restoration" to give visitors an introduction to our beliefs.  Although we had a good group, we only had a few new friends come.  We were glad to see as many as came. 

Sunday Jim spoke in Sacrament Meeting, and we had a special fireside for the seminary teachers and their spouses in the evening.  I was able to make a DVD of the program and will make copies to send to those who were not able to attend.  President Uchtdorf gave a wonderful talk with points to help us be better teachers and examples to our students.  (It was so nice to see our dear friend Larry Tippetts offer the closing prayer.)

We are enjoying teaching both classes for adults and classes for the students here.   It has been wonderful getting to know the young people.  They are so strong in their faith in Jesus Christ.  Some of our branch members are in the military.  They are being deployed in two weeks to California and then Afghanistan.  We pray for the Lord's protection in their service to our country.  

We feel so blessed to be in Alaska serving a mission.  We truly know that Jesus is the Christ and that He lives.  May you be blessed in all you do.

Love,
JoAnn & Jim

                               This is a better picture of the house where we live in the basement entry
                               to the right. Our LDS land lord raised eight children in the house, however
                               they are all living somewhere in the lower 48 except for one boy on a mission
                               in Korea.

                                Closer view of our apartment entrance. Most of these houses in the
                                neighborhoods that surround Fairbanks are located on several acres of
                                wooded property. We have here that land costs here are about $10,000
                                per acre.

                                                      This ice sculpting is in front of a dentists office.
                                                      Maybe it represents an angel of mercy for painless
                                                      dentistry???

Above is a wood carving of an Eskimo figure in the park in Fairbanks. He appears to be throwing a harpoon.

This last week has been a very busy one. Classes at the Institute have started an so we are teaching and preparing for a Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith on Monday during the day. Tuesday JoAnn teaches a class on Teachings of the Living Prophets during the day to older sisters in the stake. Then Wednesday I teach a New Testament Gospel class to older stake members in the evening. Then on Thursday night JoAnn teaches the Teachings of the Living Prophets to the young single adults and I teach a Doctrine and Covenants class as well to the young single adults. Also on Thursday afternoon we have a how to study the scriptures class then on Friday mid-day we team teach a class on celestial marriage. We also continue to attend young single adult family night on Monday and JoAnn prepares food for our munch and mingle after classes on Thursday. We will be on this class schedule for the rest of spring semester. We also have a missionary preparation class however it is taught on Sunday during our meeting block so it is being taught by returned missionaries from the branch. It is a challenge but we are doing our best. We are also starting to receive speaking assignments in the wards and branches that we are to visit. It is great to be here and be working for the Lord in his vineyard in the Fairbanks area. I didn't even mention our monthly in-service for early morning seminary teachers, our quarterly in service with other institute teachers in the Alaska area that we will be teaching part of as well. Oh also we have a weekly district meeting with the other Elders in our district. Last Sunday we were impromptu speakers at a fireside that was advertised on the wrong day.  A good group of members of the branch came and we became the speakers for the night.  We spent a nice hour talking about the blessing of the temple.

Today JoAnn spoke in sacrament meeting about the importance of scripture study and prayer.  We encourage you to read and study something in the scriptures every day.  We promise that you that your lives and your families will be blessed.  Even little ones can repeat one scripture.  It will become a wonderful habit and blessing.




                                                    

                                                                                                       

              Here we are in Barrow--America's Northernmost City.   Those are whale bones behind us.
                                   The village here is allowed 13 whales during the whaling season.

 These are the ONLY trees in Barrow.  They are at the summer camp of the Eskimo whalers.  The footprints in front of them are polar bear tracks made the night before.   We heard about the polar bear later in the day.  The palm fronds are actually whale baleen.

 Special parking, but too bad we were walking.  You can see the pilings under the building.  All buildings are built on pilings off the ground.  If a house was built on the ground it would melt the permafrost and the house would sink into the mud. 

                            The Inupiat Heritage Center.  Behind is a bowhead whale skull.  The Inupiats are
                                                    the main group of Eskimos here in Barrow.

                         A bowhead whale.  This is one of the main sources of food for the people here.

           On the beach of the Arctic Ocean.  The ocean begins at the ice chunks just a few feet behind us. 

Going to Barrow was another great adventure.  The weather was nice for us, only about -10 degrees and not much wind.  It was still pretty cold walking around.  We flew to Barrow to visit a seminary class.  It consisted of the teacher Todd Henke, and three boys. We really enjoyed the class.  We even got to present a short lesson on reading and studying the scriptures.  Todd and his wife Elaine have a little boy about 2 months old.  They invited us for caribou tacos the night we got there.  They were pretty tasty.  (The limit on caribou for the natives here is 1 per day every day of the year.  However, the caribou are not around right now.  The natives here are subsistence hunters.  Their survival is dependent on hunting and whaling.)

After seminary, we checked on Elder Peck and Elder Uele who are assigned to Barrow.  They live in the Branch building in a classroom turned into a bedroom.  It really works pretty well.  They were going to serve at the Senior Center, so we went along.  The Senior Center is a place for senior citizen or "elders" as they call them.  However anyone who wants lunch can come to eat.  I had a very interesting conversation with a very animated Eskimo lady.  We saw her later at the grocery store and took her picture.  A lady who works at the Senior Center, offered to drive us and the elders out to see Point Barrow about 9 miles away.  Everything is very flat!!!  We stopped to take a picture of the Arctic Ocean--quite frozen.  The three palm trees are pretty much a landmark here.  As you might have noticed, the sun has not come up yet in Barrow.  It will probably rise for about 15 minutes in a week or two.

The price of groceries in Barrow are crazy.  Since everything has to be flown in or brought in barges when the ocean has melted, prices are sky high.  Milk is $10 a gallon.  Apples and onions are $3.50 a pound.   I saw a gallon of bleach for $14.50.  I really didn't want to believe it.  The elders try to buy milk when it is half price because of the date and put it outside to freeze until they need it.  It works.  We visited the High School there because Todd Henke is the shop teacher and he asked if we would like to come look around.  Not a normal tourist attraction. 

We were very fortunate to be able to stay with a member, Dave Elbert, who lives right across the street from the airport.  His bed and breakfast was full, so he offered to have us stay with him.  Since he also owns a house in Fairbanks, we hope to see him and his wife this summer. 

It never ceases to amaze us the things we are seeing here in Alaska.  This is a wonderful and beautiful world that God has created for us.  We are so thankful for all the blessings we have received.  Family, friends, health, and the gospel of Jesus Christ bring us so much joy.

Qakugulu - See you later!
Jim and JoAnn

A beautiful scene along a finger of the Cook Inlet near Anchorage.

The Portage Glacier Lake.

It was so quiet we were able to hear the ice cracking on the frozen lake.

                      

 

Anchorage Temple

There is a ski resort here in Girdwood.

This week has been busy and fun.  We had inservice meetings in Anchorage to teach us more about our responsibilities with the Institute and the seminaries.  We took a short flight to Anchorage and planned for extra time to allow us to go to the temple there.  We arrived late Wednesday afternoon and were met by a missionary from the mission office with a car that we were able to use there.  We visited the mission office and met the other couple missionaries that work there.  It was great put faces to voices that we have heard on the phone.  Anchorage is surrounded by beautiful mountains. 

Thursday it was a beautiful sunny day.  We couldn't believe how much higher the sun was in the sky.  We took a drive to see the Portage Glacier and drove through the longest combined highway/railroad tunnel in North America.  It takes 6.5 minutes to drive through it.  The tunnel ends in Whittier at the mouth of Prince William Sound.  It was a beautiful drive.  That evening we met with President and Sister Dance (our mission president) and had dinner with them.  They are wonderful people and we have grown to truly appreciate their council and direction.  After dinner we went to the Anchorage Temple.  It was a good thing that we found it earlier in the day.  We missed it completely the first time around.

Friday was filled with meetings and directions on how to better help seminary teachers and to accomplish what we are expected to do with the Institute program.  That evening we were able to attend the temple again.

Saturday we had a few hours before our flight and spent time driving around Anchorage in the fog.  Even though we were very close to the ocean, the fog was too heavy to see anything.  We decided to look into some gift shops to keep warm and to see some fine Alaskan artwork.  I was very excited to find an Alaskan Igloo Nativity set to bring home as a remembrance of Alaska.

Each day we are reminded of the importance of  family and friends.  Our lives have been enriched by each one of you.

With love,
Elder and Sister Spens                                                                                                                                                                       

                                           Here we are in the forests of Alaska where heavy stands of birch
                                           trees are common. We actually live in the forest.

                                          The birch is a hard wood that people like to burn if they can
                                          get it. The Alaska black spruce is more common and is
                                          used for firewood more often. Lots of people burn wood
                                          here, and for many it is their only source of heat.

                                          On our walk we ran into fresh moose tracks in the snow.

We have been warned that if we come into contact with moose while out walking that we should just wait and give the moose the right of way. The moose may defend  their right to use the trail most aggressively.

On the other hand our car still seems to be resisting the cold temperatures here. On Monday one of our power steering hoses blew off.  Fortunately  it occurred right in our own driveway and not out on one of our trips to visit early morning seminaries. The Mission keeps an extra car here in Fairbanks that we able to use while ours was being repaired.  We are back on the road again. On Thursday, we went to the DMV to take our Alaska driving test and get our licenses.  Our studying paid off, and we passed every question. 

A Chinook moved in and it warmed up to 40 degrees on Sunday. It was 20 degrees when we arrived at church and it felt by comparison quite comfortable.  We understand that our cold weather has been transferred to Utah.  One of the blessings of being here in the mission field is the time we have to study the gospel. We are both enjoying this opportunity especially as we prepare to teach the many classes at the institute this coming spring semester.  Seminary starts again this week, but Institute classes begin when the University starts again on Jan. 20.

As we begin this new year, we encourage our family and friends to find the blessings that come from regular family prayer, family home evening, family scripture study, and family meals together.  We have been promised blessings that will strengthen our families as we do these things.   We love you all so very much.

Jim and JoAnn

                        Getting close to the total eclipse of the moon with my point and shoot camera.
                                              Sorry it was snowing in Utah and you missed it.

                                                      Noon on the shortest day of the year. 

                                                          Winter solstice at our apartment.
                                      That's the sun showing through in the lower part of the bushes.

                                                  A sneaky raven waiting for something to eat.
                                              Ravens get very big and fat here and are all over.

With the solstice, the days in Alaska will be getting longer.  It has not really been bad and now it will getting brighter every day.  Life in Alaska is always interesting.  This past week we were not allowed in the building because the sewer lines were frozen out in the parking lot.  It took close to 48 hours to get the pipes defrosted and functioning.  That gave us an extra preparation day to get ready for Christmas Eve.  We had a wonderful time with the Elders and Sisters in Fairbanks and North Pole.  We fed 12 plus a guest at the Institute on Christmas Eve.  It seemed to be a treat for them to have some enchiladas for a change. 

Christmas Day was a new experience for us.  We have pretty much missed the rush of shopping, parties, and the stress the holidays can bring.  On Christmas morning we went the the Catholic church to help out.  They fed about 200 people althought they expected more.  Those that came were mostly native Indians that needed help or were homeless.  It was my opportunity to help Saint Nicholas give gifts to the children and adults.  Each of the adults received a package with a pair of warm socks and other useful things.  The children received a toy.  There were wonderful people from so many different churches helping out and all working together to ease the suffering of those around them.  One man had bandages on his hands from frost bite that he got that night.  It is very cold to be outside for very long.

It was so much fun to talk to grandkids and children and parents on Christmas Day.  We are so blessed.  May you all be blessed with a wonderful, healthy and happy new year.

Love,
JoAnn and Jim