This is our little garden in a greenhouse tomatoes fruiting. Sweet million cherry type.

                             This is the zucchini that we are growing in the raised within the green house.

There are a variety of wild flowers that bloom here in Alaska here are a few yellow clusters along the roadside.

President and Sister Beesley our new mission president from Texas. (originally both were from Idaho)


     We have had another busy week here in the great Alaska mission. We are continuing to teach institute classes at the institute building here in Fairbanks as well as the class down in Delta Junction. We drive down each Wednesday and it is about 100 miles.  It is a scenic drive with lakes, rivers and forest and also the occasional moose alongside of the road. We have a small but great group of students at the Delta Branch. The Delta Junction area is one of the few areas in Alaska that can be farmed and they grow mostly grain. There are farmers that came up years ago from Idaho. It is a growing and very faithful branch.
     The weather continues to be wet and rainy as well as being cool. The summers here is supposed to be dry and hot. It is just the way the interior of Alaska is. It is also technically a desert so the moisture is another weather anomaly. The conditions do not affect our work but the outdoor activities of the Alaskans are being curtailed. The whole interiors very green and the rivers are full. Also there are no fires that are normally common this time of year.
     Our new mission president arrived here in Alaska on the 28th of June and came up to Fairbanks on Saturday the 2nd of July. Pres. and Sister Beesley are from Texas, however they were both born and raised in Idaho. Pres. Beesley worked for thirty years as a test pilot  for the U.S. Air Force. He also aspired to be and astronaut. He spoke to us on Saturday and we realized what a great leader and teacher he is. He and his wife were originally scheduled to go to St. Petersburg , Russia. He told us that the Russians believe that the L.D.S. Church mission in Russia is just a front for the C.I.A. so it would not have been a good thing for him to go there, especially with his top secret military background.
     Also our long term investigator Trisha went back to Rochester N.Y. to a cousin's wedding, I called and made arrangements for two sister missionaries to meet her at the Palmyra-Hill Cumorah area for a tour while she is in the area. She really wanted to visit the historical sight in the area and asked if she could actually go into the sacred grove. I told her she most certainly could go there. We are hoping the visit there will help with her investigation and move her closer to baptism.
     This afternoon after meetings, we went to visit Marilyn Whitehead, who is affectionately called "Grandma Marilyn."  We have been meeting at her house for some time for home evening on Mondays.  She has been coming to the singles branch for some time to help with whatever is needed.  Everyone loves her.  Today we were informed that she has an aggressive cancer.  She is so much weaker than she was a couple of weeks ago.  We wish her well as she goes to Anchorage to stay with her son and meets with doctors to discuss her needs.   Life and health are great blessings.

Happy 4th of July.  
Elder and Sister Spens

Some wildflowers growing by the side of the road.

This is a view from the University of Alaska across the valley. 

A direction sign on campus telling how far you are from wherever.

                   Siberian iris grow along the sides of the roads and in big fields.  They are a beautiful sight.

We have had another wonderful week.  For home evening, we had a barbecue at Pres. Olsen's house (also our house.)  It was well attended.  Somehow food attracts the young adults.  We had more students at out class in Delta and a wonderful group for class on Thursday evening.  Another couple announced their engagement on Sunday.  Jared was sure he was going to be single the rest of his life and then Rachel came up to drive buses this summer.  I asked her if she had any idea that she would be engaged so soon.  Things have to happen quickly here because the influx of new people only lasts for the summer.  We are excited for them.

I love watching the wildflowers bloom.  Alaska is know for the abundance of fire weed that is just beginning to bloom.  We officially had the longest day last week.  In Alaska, they enjoy summer as much as they can because it is so short.  Then winter comes again.  Our little garden is producing a nice crop of cilantro.  I made white chicken chili for Institute on Thursday night to use up some of it.  I hope we get some tomatoes before too long, at least cherry tomatoes. 

I have been working hard on the library.  With the new program and the cataloging information from the Church Library in Salt Lake, it has made it so much easier.  It's still a big project.  We just found out that the institute recarpeting project will start on July 11.  Hopefully that means that it will be finished in time for seminary in the fall. 

President and Sister Dance leave on Tuesday and President and Sister Beesley will be arriving.  It's hard to see them go.  President and Sister Dance have been such a support and strength to the mission.  We all love them dearly.  Pres. Beesley is coming to Fairbanks on Saturday to visit the missionaries here.  We are anxious to be able to meet them, too.  We had a wonderful couples meeting with Pres. & Sis. Dance last Tuesday.  It was the first time the couples in the mission had met together.   Even though most of them were in Anchorage, we were able to join them by phone conference.  It was a good experience for us to be on the other end of things.  We now know how our teachers feel when they call in from far away for inservice meetings.  There are now 9 senior couples in our mission and one more coming soon.  We all have varied responsibilities, but all are needed so much.  We feel very blessed to be able to be a part of this great work. 

We pray for the Lord's blessings to be with all of our family and friends.  Helping the work along here  has been a great blessing for us.  We love you all.

JoAnn & Jim

                                              June 16, 2011 - Welcome Isabelle Emily Spens

                                                          Happy Fathers Day, Patrick.

                                It's the land of the midnight sun.  This was taken about 11:30 pm.

                                   This little lake is on our way to the institute on the UAF campus.

                                          The flag of Alaska was designed by a 13 year-old boy.

        Dandelions are in full bloom all over Fairbanks.  These long-stemmed dandelions are in our yard.  Many  areas are covered with them.  They are so colorful after a long winter that no one seems to care if they grow. There are also other wildflowers along the roadsides in colors of purple, blues, white and yellow.

     This week has been exciting with the birth of a new granddaughter Isabelle to join with Emily and Patrick's family and with our continued teaching of the Pearl of Great Price summer curriculum at the institute. Also now that we are teaching another class in Delta Junction we get to drive down and back each Wednesday and it is just a beautiful and scenic drive. Rivers in the area are now full and have boat traffic as well as derbies floating along . It is also great to meet with the YSA and teach them and of course JoAnn provides home made cookies and milk or something for their treats. We also continue to have investigators attend our institute classes to see what the church is about. They are usually brought by some of the YSA kids who know them.
     There have been some big thunderstorms here.  There was one while we were away and so much water surrounded the house that some came into our basement apartment. It is the second time that we have had water inside so we just mop it up and dry it out and life goes on. There are some things that could be done to the house to stop the entry of water, but at this point I am not sure our landlord is going to do anything.
     It is the summer solstice celebration season here in Fairbanks and so there are all "night" (there is no night in terms of darkness) activities like baseball games and 10K runs etc. Some people stay up all night to celebrate, however JoAnn and I just went down to the Pioneer Park and the UAF arboretum late on Saturday to see what was going on but did not stay up all night. The picture and history of the Alaska flag above was taken at the pioneer park museum. Pioneer park is filled with old but restored log and frame buildings from the Fairbanks area dating back to the late 1800's. They have entertainment , food rides and gift shops and it is mainly open during the summer tourist season.
     Summer is truly a great time to be here in Alaska. It is like living in the high mountains of Utah surrounded by forests (and animals). Wild flowers are blooming. The Tanana valley (that we live in ) is totally green and the moose are grazing on the long grasses by the roadside. Temperatures are mild and there  is lots of sunshine. It is truly wonderful to be here.


Happy Fathers Day to all you dads.
Love,
Jim and JoAnn

                                 We found about 100 butterflies gathered on the edge of a stream.

                                   Roger Holyoak a co-worker at Eisenhower Jr. High and father
                                   of our Branch Elders Quorum President here for a visit.

                                     Institute students working on a project during class this week.

                                          President and Sister Dance with our Institute t-shirts. 

               Our final Fairbanks Zone conference with Pres. and Sister Dance before they return home.

This week has been eventful to say the least.  On Tuesday for our anniversary, we did some exploring to find a site that might be a good place to take Trisha Haines and her family when they come visit next month.  Her brothers want to go gold panning.  We did find two old Alaskan guys that demonstrated how it is done.  We brought home some buckets of mud from a couple of rivers to see what we might find.  I think we will be lucky to find a tiny speck, but it's out there.  The country is beautiful and green now. 

Wednesday we started another class in Delta Junction.  There were five wonderful young adults there, and we expect more this week.  Delta Junction is 100 miles away.  Although we have to travel close to 2 hours to get there, it's worth it.  Coming home isn't a problem, because it doesn't get dark anymore.  Sunset today is at 12:37 am and sunrise at 3:05 am.  That's about 2 1/2 hours of "night?" 

Gary Holyoak brought his family to the Institute for lunch on Wednesday.  His dad worked with Jim at Eisenhower Jr. High several years ago.  It was fun for them to see each other again.  His parents and brother and sister came to see Alaska.  Gary served a mission here and came back to work and go to school.  On Saturday night we were able to attend a concert in Pioneer Park.  Gary sings with a barber-shop quartet as well as a larger group.  They are really good.  Gary is the "token young person" and the others are "old sourdoughs."  We had a fun time.

Thursday we had a wonderful group of students come for Institute class.  They often come early to play games or help out with anything.  I was grateful to have their help husking corn for the Zone Conference the next day.  Our Branch continues to grow.  Every week we have more young people that have come to work.  Today we had two missionaries speak that just returned home this week.  Their families have really been looking forward to having them back at least for a time. 

Friday was zone conference.  Our Branch was in charge of feeding the Elders at lunch, so I volunteered to help out since I would be there anyway.  The Relief Society President purchased all the food and brought it to me.  I was glad that I had time on Thursday to start some of the cooking.  I was so grateful for the members of the branch that were able to come help along with some of their mothers.  The lunch was a success and the missionaries stomachs were filled.  Thursday evening it was decided that zone conference would be at the Institute instead of the Stake Center because of construction.  We were so glad to have all the missionaries together with us.  President and Sister Dance will be leaving in a couple of weeks to return home.  Their guidance and direction and love have really made an impact on all of us.  We will truly miss them.   Our conference lasted all day and ended with a wonderful testimony meeting.  What a blessing it is to be able to share the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ with others.  We are so fortunate to know that the Church of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth and invite all to come to know the Savior and receive the blessings  His gospel brings. 

May the Lord bless you!
JoAnn and Jim

                              JoAnn and Tammy Duval celebrate being survivors at the Relay for Life.
                              Tammy is also a breast cancer survivor and is the Stake President's wife.

                                    The tomato plant is loving the greenhouse in the backyard.

                                  We are now officially green.  This is our driveway up to our house.

                                          These wild roses grow along many of the roads here.

                             Tiny Forget Me Nots, the Alaska state flower, growing in our backyard.

     As you can see above Alaska has fully turned into summer. The interior has turned warm and we are experiencing wildfires that burn fiercely through the heavy black spruce forests. There is a large fire to the north of Fairbanks and another to the south. Some days have been smokey in the large Tanana valley of which we are part but other days are clear and beautiful. There are 47 forest fires burning in Alaska.  The tourists have started to arrive in Fairbanks in large numbers as well as the young people who are working in the tourist industry.  Our Elders quorum is now the largest in the stake and that will continue through September. This is the Alaska that everyone wants to see and experience, and it is beautiful and pleasant here. It is like living in the midst of a forest. We are told to enjoy summer while it is here because fall ends in September and winter starts in October.
     Also above is our little garden. Most vegetable gardening in done in greenhouses because the soil is very cold and does not promote growth of tomatoes and zucchini etc. There are areas of Fairbanks that have permafrost as well. Our garden will be an experiment to see what we can produce. Apparently the long hours of sunshine compensate for the cool days and cool soil so we will see how it goes. It has been nice to have a landlord who is a member and is very willing to share and help to make our stay here peasant. Randy and Jerri Olsen have become good friends not just our landlord. We have a lot in common with them and enjoy their company.
     After the Relay for Life (we walked a few laps) we were taken out to dinner by the stake president and his wife. We had a great time and got to know them better. Interestingly enough the stake president Shane Duvall was a fifth grade student attending Marsac Elementary School in Park City in 1967-68 while I was teaching at Park City High School just across town. Also President Duvall's mother is from  Lund just west of Ely Nevada!  
     We are expanding our institute program as well this summer semester. We have the class with the Pearl of Great Price at the institute building here in Fairbanks on Thursday night and then a class in Denali for all of the YSA employees working there. We have a couple called to teach that class since it is two hours away.  We will be starting a new PofGP class in the town of Delta Junction  about an hour and one half away) that we will teach on Wednesday evening. Its nice to have at least a small increase in the number of classes taught. 
     Our fast and testimony meeting today was very active with large numbers of YSA wanting to bear their testimonies. They just all are very enthusiastic about the gospel even those who have been in the church for only a short time. Our large elders quorum is filled with returned missionaries. One of the young men who we meet in our neighborhood the other day was carrying his sales material in a folder on one side and on the other side he had copies of the Book of Mormon and tracts so if he could not sell an alarm system he could talk to the people about the gospel. He said he had one referral that day to give to the local elders.
     We are doing well and enjoying our work here in the Alaska mission.We are continually blessed to be able to work with the young single adults in Fairbanks. We also have two anniversaries coming up this week. Our 44th wedding anniversary and every time a 4th of the month rolls around we add another month to our service here and this month will be number 8.

Jim and JoAnn

                                       A view of the valley and mountains in Denali National Park.

                                   A couple of caribou we saw trying to find something green to eat.

                                         Can you find the Ptarmigan - the real state bird of Alaska?

                             We saw this grizzly bear making it's way across the snow a long ways away.

                                               Two Dahl sheep posing by the side of the road.

                                    Our local wildlife.  This mosquito flew into our apartment today.

This week took us to Healy, near Denali National Park to set up the institute class there.  Things are never what you expect them to be here in Alaska.  We found out that they had already had the class early due to a Relief Society meeting and graduation scheduled on Wednesday.   However, all was not in vain.  We were finally able to meet Roben Shreeve, one of our seminary teachers, and her husband Weston who is the branch president.  We left some materials for Tallon Shreeve, the institute teacher, to use in the class.  The tourist season is in full swing near Denali and the Shreeve family is very involved.  We also met an investigator that is preparing to be baptized before long.   The Lord blesses us in unusual ways.  We only were able to meet the Shreeves because we were looking for Katrina Miller, one of our branch who is working in the gift shop this summer.  Roben happens to be her boss. 

We had previously arranged to take the tour bus into Denali.  It was a 6 hour trip and was very enjoyable.  We were very fortunate to see all of the major wildlife in the park, the moose, the caribou, two grizzly bears, one wolf, and the Dahl sheep.  I'm grateful that we had our binoculars with us to make animal watching a lot more fun.  Denali Park will not be green for another couple of weeks. 

Our institute class here in Fairbanks started on Thursday.  We are studying the Pearl of Great Price.  We were delighted that there were several new people that attended class.  We never know how things will go with the work schedules of our students.  The cinnamon rolls and milk were a hit as well.  We are so blessed to be able to work with the students here.  They are remarkable.

Today we had a wonderful sacrament meeting.  The speakers were assigned to talk about how prayer had helped them in their lives.  It was very inspirational.  Afterwards during Priesthood and Relief Society, President Olsen spoke to the whole group about the song "Keep the Commandments."  He told us how those three words were the advise given to the press by President Howard W. Hunter on the passing of Pres. Joseph Fielding Smith.  He committed all of us "Keep the Commandments" by studying the scriptures every day, having a kneeling prayer at least two times every day, and by doing some service to someone every day.  He promised that the Lord would help and protect us if we did those things.  We, too, know that the Lord will bless us every day as we keep His commandments and serve others.  May the Lord continue to bless and be with our family and friends.

With love,
JoAnn and Jim

                                                  A beautiful sunset last week about midnight. 
                                                 This week all the leaves are out on the trees.

                                    At the Anchorage Temple with Stephen and Kendra Tibbs and
                                 Melanie and Travis Payton - two of our temple preparation couples.

            At the zoo with Shalae, Gavin, Soren, Daniel, Maren, and Savannah Lund.

                                                          The grey wolf of Alaska.

                                                            The Dahl sheep.

                                                     A brown or grizzly bear.

                                                       A black bear.

                              The end of the Matanuska glacier.

                                      The Matanuska glacier begins in the canyons at the far left.

     We were in Anchorage this week for the temple sealing of Kendra and Stephen as shown above. We had the opportunity to teach Kendra in the temple preparation class, and both of them were also in our eternal marriage class. As a married couple they will not be attending the YSA branch any longer.  Kendra asked if they could still attend institute class, and of course we told her they surely could. Spring has finally arrived here in Alaska, and Anchorage as well as Fairbanks have now greened up nicely and the forest has taken on an entirely new look. Both JoAnn and I have observed how it feels like a totally different place from the frozen winter conditions. We drove back from Anchorage via the Glenn highway which is a scenic by way (as if all of Alaska were not that way). The highway works it's way through spectacular snow capped and glaciated mountains of the Alaska Range. It was a very pleasant drive.
     In Anchorage we stayed with a member family by the name of Lund. Sister Lund is a cousin of one of the young single adults working in Fairbanks who made the connections for us to stay with the family. The Lunds have five great children, and we just acted as surrogate grandparents to them. We went to the Anchorage zoo with sister Lund and the kids for a couple of hours and had a great time. The pictures of the animals above were all taken at the zoo, not in our back yard.  We stopped at Chillis restaurant in Anchorage to check with the girl that was interested in the church we gave her more information on the local missionaries and encouraged her to contact them. We will give her some time to see if she does before our next follow-up.
     We had a YSA fireside tonight where Pres. and sister Wood spoke of their mission to Africa and their pending assignment as mission President in South Africa. They talked about the explosive growth of the church in Africa and of the faithfulness and missionary zeal of the new members there. They said the YSA branch in southern Africa had 30 baptisms during the year they were there compared to the 12 or so per year that our YSA branch in Fairbanks has averaged. Pres. Wood said he was sure a lot of the difference has to do with the distractions of prosperity we have in the USA. We continue to have young people return from college and others coming to work for the summer in Alaska so the branch continues to grow. We are going to have to learn a whole new batch of names for the summer institute that resumes this week.
     Being with the Lund family makes us  more aware of how much we love and miss our grandchildren.

Love,
Jim and JoAnn