Ravens get very large here in Alaska like these two standing by the side of the road.

Some Alaskans are very creative about what they live in. Like this airplane fuselage that works for a summer home. You enter by simply driving the truck about ten feet forward then climb the stairs. This plane is far away from any airport.

           Elder Poole and his new companion Elder Merrell just after dinner at our apartment.

                         Sister Spens at the institute clean up project along with many YSA helpers.

                                    Chef Doug at the barbeque for the YSA cleanup crews lunch.

                Some of the YSA just before the lunch after the clean up service on Saturday May 5th.

 The entire Fairbanks community has a clean up day to spruce up the community just before the tourist season starts. There is quite a bit of trash on the road side because everyone carries their trash to a pick up point in the back of pickup trucks all winter and a good deal of it flies out. Everyone gets involved with the clean up and things are really looking much better. It is a great community service for the YSA. Some of the YSA also prepared our small flower beds for planting. We will have to wait until the last week in May to avoid the possibility of frost damage.

This week we have been winding up our institute classes for the Spring semester. We had our last Old Testament class this last Thursday as well as our last teachings of the living prophets. Sister Spens tried a brand new soup called Toscana soup that is from the Olive Garden restaurant and it was a great success. Test week is coming up so we take a one week break before the Summer session starts. Classes at the institute are getting larger because of the return of students from college and the influx of seasonal workers coming for the tourist season. Many of the YSA returning to work or from school are young people that we worked with last summer so the reunions are great. Also in the bottom picture is a young man Louis who was baptized Saturday night after the service event. Another girl pictured there is Annie who is moving to Anchorage to work. We certainly do have a constant turnover in the YSA population. Everyone seems to be headed somewhere.

If you check the LDS senior missionary opportunity list currently posted on the church web sight you will find a position for a couple to serve a CES mission in Fairbanks Alaska or in other words our position is now being officially advertized and things are in process to find a replacement for us. It will truly be interesting to see who will take our place and hopefully it will be soon enough that we can give some training to the new CES couple. They  are now officially called S&I (Seminary and Institute) not CES.

The trees are actually starting to turn green as ice breakup season is over and spring is finally coming. The milder temperatures are certainly appreciated. We do not have to plug in the car overnight to keep the engine warm nor do we have to let it idle for twenty minutes to warm the car before driving. The car seems to run better at warmer temperatures as well.

Our greatest joy continues to be our association with the wonderful YSA and the opportunity we have to teach them and set and example for them. We have built many strong relationships with the youth of the church here in Alaska. Our association with the young missionaries is great as well. We are kind of like grandparents to the missionaries. We have provided the institute building for them to use and it is always great to have them around for lunch or district meetings or to have them teach investigators at the institute as well. The YSA as well as the missionaries always seem to have doctrinal question as they grow in their knowledge of the gospel. These question always lead to interesting discussions.

Saturday night we were invited to a great whole pig roast farewell dinner for Sister Laura Bullen who is headed to serve a mission in Brazil.  Then we had a great baptismal service for Louis Hospe that was very well attended by many YSA. Sunday we all gathered for a special CES fireside broadcast where all senior seminary students were invited to attend. Elder Marlin K.Jensen spoke and gave a great spiritual presentation using the sacred grove as an analogy to how we grow spiritually in the church. Sister Spens provided great homemade brownies after we were all spiritually feed with the teaching of a general authority. We continue to enjoy the work of the Lord in the great Alaska mission.

Elder and Sister Spens

                                     A few of the senior missionaries in front of the Mission Office.

                                       What a beautiful day to enjoy a trip to the Kenai Peninsula.

  This is looking across the Turn Again arm of the Cook bay south of Anchorage. The forest as well as the snow come right down to sea level in this part of Alaska.                                   

                       This old Russian Orthodox Church is in old Kenai and is on the historic register.

                                         Some of the senior sisters in the mission home kitchen.

                                           An "official" photo with Pres. and Sister Beesley

                                               This Tlingit art is in the Anchorage Airport.

It has been an interesting week for us.  We made our final trip to Anchorage to our Seminary and Institute training with our area leader.  We really enjoy learning from the experienced teachers.  There are so many things to learn about being a better teacher and taking care of the program here. Those in charge of the Seminary and Institute program of the church are trying their best to turn us into official S&I teachers.  Some changes were made in the organization of our area which will allow us to have closer contact with Bro. Beames who will now be our area coordinator.  The state of Alaska was split up in two general areas.  We look forward to working closer to Bro. Beames.  He plans to come visit next month to give us more direction.  It was a hard thing to realize that we probably wouldn't see Bro. Greg Bishop again or the Schlindlers who will be leaving Juneau in July. 

As always, we took the opportunity to attend the Anchorage Temple.  There were a few crocuses blooming on the temple grounds to welcome spring.  We still don't have leaves on the trees, but it looks promising.  It is a great blessing to be able to stay in the mission home.  Pres. and Sister Beesley are so kind and helpful.  All of the senior missionaries that were in the Anchorage area had a dinner on Friday evening.  It is a great opportunity to talk with the other missionary couples and share experiences and just get to know each other better.   The Parkers will be leaving next week, and others later in the summer.  Things are in constant change, but the work goes on. 

Thursday we borrowed a mission car and took a little trip out on the Kenai Peninsula.  We have been told how beautiful it was.  We really enjoyed the opportunity to see a little more of Alaska.  It is interesting to see a little history as well.  There is still a bit of Russian influence in the old towns especially on the coast. 
 
Earlier this week we had a homeless man come into the institute to see if he could "hang out with God's children."  He was very aware of how important it is to help others improve their lives.  He visited one of our classes and was at church again today.  He told us how impressed he was with our young people who not only talk of Christ, but also try to live as He did.  They really are good examples.  

Today we had our last temple preparation class with a couple that is planning to get married and with a new sister missionary who got her visa and will be flying to Brazil to begin her mission next week.  It is such a blessing for us to associate with such wonderful young adults.  I am so grateful the the blessings of the temple that allow families to be sealed for time and for eternity.  We are aware everyday of the blessing it is to have a family and how important our families are.   We pray for the Lord to watch over and bless all of you while we are here.

With love,
JoAnn and Jim

           At the home of Dale and Alisa Hardy, some wonderful members who invited us for dinner.

                                          This is a piece of artwork called the solar borealis.

                   That is the frozen Tanana river and the Nenana Classic tower sitting on the ice.

                         The clock house and connecting tower for the tower as shown above.

               A view from the Parks Highway looking south to the Alaska range with Mt. McKinley in the center. Probably 200 miles away.  (Notice the trees are still bare.  We expect everything to "green up" in a week or so.)

This is the Fairbanks zone elders and sisters on transfer day just after lunch and just before departure to Anchorage to complete all of the transfers. Four of the elders above are being transferred out and one of the sisters. They all travel to the mission office in Anchorage to accommodate the transfer process. It takes the better part of two days for all travel and completion of transfers. Everyone seems exited about the moves. Two of the elders transferring have been in the Fairbanks zone for nine months. The institute has been a hub of missionary activity since we arrived and that was not the case in the past. We have just opened up the institute building to all missionary activity. We are looking forward to meeting the new elders and the new sister in a couple of days.

The pictures of the Nenana ice classic above are an interesting yearly activity. They build the black and white tower on the frozen Tanana river in February when the ice is four feet thick. Then they wait until the break up of the river in late April or May and when the tower falls down it trips a signal that gives the exact time that the tower falls. Some times the river will break up early with several feet of ice and it is a thunderous event. Other times is is just a slow melting process where the ice finally gets so thin that the tower just falls. Since no one knows when it will fall lottery tickets are sold where you guess the exact date and time of the tower movement and the winner or winners share in prize money. It has been going on since 1917.

The solar Borealis pictured above is just outside the Fairbanks airport and is an artistic sculpting with special reflective material attached so as to reflect the colors of the rainbow and thus the name solar borealis. If you look closely you can see green to the left, pink to the right and blue on the top.  The colors change with the light.
 
The attendance at our main  institute class on Thursday has begun to climb because of returning missionaries and arriving workers for the summer tourist season. It is great to have an increase in class size as well as having non-members attending as well. The young people here are constantly inviting and bringing their friends to institute and to the YSA branch meetings. The young people are starting to go over to the stake center after institute and play volley ball as well after institute class and the food gathering. The volley ball, the food and the institute classes all combine to be great attractors for the YSA.

This past weekend we traveled to the small town of Anderson to visit and early morning seminary class. We went down early and attended church meetings at the Tamarack branch in Nenana. We then had a wonderful dinner at a members house along with the young elders who are teaching two young girls who will be baptized in May. We stayed over night at an old lodge just outside of Anderson. It was pretty well run down and for sale. We stayed in a 'cabin' as they called it. It was very old and run down but it sufficed for the night. The interesting thing that happened when we arrived at the cabin after dinner at the members was that the facility had no toilet paper or tissues so JoAnn went to the office to ask for some.  (It's me now.)  One of the lodge owners  started asking about what church group we were with.  I was able to explain that we were from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sometimes called the Mormons.  He asked where the church came from.  When I told him it was organized in New York, he was very surprised.  I asked if he was interested in knowing how the church came to be.  He said he was, so I proceeded to tell him about Joseph Smith and how he wanted to know which church he should join.  I told him about Joseph Smith's vision of God the Father and Jesus Christ and how he was told he would be an instrument in restoring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth.  I told him about the Book of Mormon and asked him if he would like a copy to read.  Unfortunately, we didn't have an extra copy in the car, so he asked if I would send him one. It was a privilege for me to bear my testimony to him and see his interest in what I said.  Maybe we were supposed to stay there.  We never know when we will be able to share our testimonies with others.

Have a wonderful week!
Jim and JoAnn

                                This is part of our home evening group in the Institute "living room."

                                                  More home evening group having a lesson.

                You know that spring has arrived when the birds return to Creamers Field Bird Refuge.  There are many more swans than we have seen before.

    If you look closely, you will see many swans and Canada geese that have returned to this part of Creamers Field.  We actually live just a little right of center on the hills in the background.

                                      Some of the Canada geese looking for something to eat.

                                This is a male muskox at the UAF Large Animal Research Station. 

Two muskoxen and a missionary.

                              You have to look carefully to see these signs of spring -- pussy willows.

Our drive way is almost clear with some heavy shoveling.  Now we will have a small river running down it until all the snow is melted.  Breakup is an interesting new season.

This week as been wonderful again.  We have been holding home evenings in the Institute for a few weeks now.  The foyer makes a nice living room when we bring out the comfortable chairs.  It was the day after Easter, and for an activity we hunted for Easter eggs inside.  Some of the grandchildren might be able to find a few eggs in the pictures.  Most of the eggs were found.  However, I kept finding eggs tucked in places all week. 

Our classes have been great.  We never know exactly how many to expect.  The attendance to our classes on Thursday as been increasing.  That always makes me happy.  We really enjoy the students here.  Because BYU Idaho is between sessions, we had three students from a family in Delta make the 100 mile trip to attend class as well.  It's a long trip for them.  It makes me so glad to see their determination to come to class.  

On Wednesday, we had our last early-morning inservice class for our seminary teachers for the year.  We may have one before we leave before school starts up again in the fall.  Our teachers are so committed to helping their students understand and apply the teachings of the Old Testament to their lives.  We appreciate all they are doing and the sacrifices they are making.  Three of our teachers will be leaving the area before school starts again.  Things always change.  As the school year gets close to the end, we continue to prepare for graduation and for having materials ready for next year.  

This weekend has been our Stake Conference with Elder Paul V. Johnson of the Seventy as our visiting authority.  His official assignment is the Church Education System.  We have learned much from him in our inservice meetings that have been televised from Salt Lake City since we arrived in Alaska.  Our Stake is focusing this year on building the Stake by helping us focus on the "next saving ordinance."  We had some wonderful talks in the Saturday evening session.  I am grateful for a Stake Presidency that is so aware of the needs of the Stake.  Our conference sessions are also made available on the web for those in outlying areas and to review again later.  This is the same way we broadcast our class on Thursday.  Technology is a wonderful blessing to us in Alaska where our Stake is so spread out.  

All of the missionaries met with Elder Johnson on Saturday morning for a question and answer session and some great instruction.  On Sunday, Pres. and Sister Beesley were here to speak as well.  We love to hear their council and direction.  They had just returned from a training meeting in Utah and had so much to share.  I heard a comment that Pres. Beesley is rivaling Pres. Uchtdorf in his story associations about flying.  One highlight for me was to hear a Primary children's choir sing before conference began on Sunday.  It was so fun to watch their faces as they sang with all their hearts. I do miss our association with little children.  In the afternoon there was another short fireside for all the Young Single Adults in the stake.  It focused on agency and how we give Satan part of our agency as we follow his enticings in the world.  He binds us with "flaxen" cords until they become "strong cords" and then even "chains of death."  The wonderful part is that the Savior through our repentance can help us break those cords and chains so that we can gain our agency back and choose to follow Christ.  Everything depends on the choices we make and the Atonement of the Savior.  

Our weather has been so warm.  We really enjoy being able feel the warmth of the sun.  Early in the week we stopped to see if there were any birds at Creamers Field and found lots of snow.  By the end of the week there were many geese and swans that had returned.  The geese will be there until they leave in the fall once again.  You can always tell when the birds return because there are so many people there to watch them and take pictures.  We also stopped to check out the muskoxen.  They keep the males and females separate most of the time.  You can still see who is dominant as they butt heads to take over in the at the feeding spot.  The musk ox has a very fine and warm fur under the outer hair that is very expensive.  When it starts to be shed in the spring, they take the muskox to a small pen and brush out the Qiviat wool.  A scarf sells for $250.00 to $350.00.  It is the softest and warmest wool in the world.  

We love being in Alaska and serving the Lord.  We pray for the Lord's blessings to be with our family and friends at home.

With love,

JoAnn and Jim

 

This is a modern replica of the winter bear proof winter food cashes used in early Alaskan homesteads. 

 The two major conifers of the taiga or interior forest of Alaska. The even one in the middle is the white spruce and the other very uneven ones are the black spruce. This forest basically covers the interior of Alaska.

Sister Spens in her office at the institute preparing Easter eggs for a special Easter lesson for our family night.

Elder Spens at his favorite study place in our apartment kitchen study area. Notice the bowl of chocolate Easter eggs on the table.

Many of the fine young adults end up leaving the branch and going off to school or getting married or going on missions or many other reasons they just seem to always be on the move. This is our last week with David H. who is one of the great returned missionaries who is now off to attend BYU Idaho.

     We are finally beginning o see the end of the winter here in Alaska. The days are warming up into the 40's and the snow is really starting to melt away. They call it the "break up season" because of the breaking of the ice in the rivers and the opening of the rivers to navigation. What it really means is that all of the sub-zero weather is past for the year and the greening of the forest is coming within weeks. Even those who are totally accustom to the very cold winters here are always exited to to see the weather change and spring come to the north. We now no longer need to plug our car in to heat it up in the morning before starting and we no longer need to let it run for twenty minutes to warm up the engine and trans at those 30 to 40 degree below temperature.

     We are getting into the Isaiah chapters in our institute class and the students seem to be excited to study this wonderful prophetic work of the Old Testament. We will also be presenting our last seminary teacher inservice lesson this week. The early morning seminary will end by the middle of May and suddenly the year will be over. Where did the time go? This mission and all that we are doing seems to be moving very fast to a conclusion. We are however discussing the curriculum for the summer institute program as it will begin in the first part of June.

     It has been a wonderful Easter day here.  The branch choir sang "He Is Risen" and JoAnn got to accompany them.  East Sunday as we teach the Temple Preparation class, we realize what a great blessing it is to know that families can be forever through temple sealings.  As we learn of those we love who are close to returning to our Father in Heaven due to illness, we recognize how wonderful it is to know that we will see them again.  Christ truly did rise that we might all live again! 

Love to all,
Jim and JoAnn

                       The new district leaders assigned to the Branch, Elder Poole and Elder Hinkley

                                             Calan, how do you like this funny ice cream shop? 

                                          The famous Fairbanks Ice Bridge over the Chena River.

The highlight of the week was definitely watching the sessions of General Conference.  We are always anxious to hear the words of the Prophet Thomas S. Monson and the other Church leaders as they give us counsel and encouragement.  One of the top themes was the importance of the family.  Families are one of the greatest blessing we have in this life.  We are so thankful for our own family as well as our extended family.  Of course, several talks taught of the great atoning sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ.  His sacrifice gives us the opportunity to repent of our sins and mistakes so that we can return to him again.  What a wonderful blessing to consider as Easter approaches.  We invite all who read our blog to view the new videos on the life of Christ that the Church has made available.  You can see them at:  http://www.lds.org/bible-videos?lang=eng.
Based on the Bible verses, these videos are a wonderful way to strengthen your faith in Jesus Christ this Easter.

We invited the new Branch missionaries to have dinner with us on Monday and go to Home Evening with us later.  They are quickly getting to know the members of the branch.  We appreciate having them here in Fairbanks.  On Friday, we were invited to have dinner with Sister Lolita Gridley and her son Ethan along with several of the missionaries in Fairbanks.  She loves to feed the missionaries and is a wonderful cook as well.

Classes are always a highlight of our week.  We enjoy teaching and being a part of the lives of the young people here.  It is so fun to watch them interact with each other.  We had another missionary return home to Fairbanks this week and attend institute class.  However, by next week he will be on his way to Idaho to school.  The young people come and go so quickly.  (We were excited to see Sister Mallory Wrigley in the MTC choir that sang in the Saturday afternoon session of Conference.)  She is almost on her way to Brazil.

 The sunshine is such a welcome sight.  The temperatures have even been above freezing and the snow is beginning to melt.  Hopefully spring is on its way.  We wanted to take a picture of the Ice Bridge during winter.  Right now, they have made a snow dam so that you can't drive out onto the river.  We have not felt like it was a good idea to try it even when the ice is thick over the Chena River.  It is melting now and is definitely not safe besides it is mission policy to not drive out onto frozen rivers and lakes. There are such interesting things here in Fairbanks. 

We are looking forward to Easter.  The choir is preparing to sing "He is Risen" and the director asked me to accompany them.  I've been practicing all week.  It's good that I have another week to polish it.  We are so blessed to know that the Savior lives!  Happy Easter to all of our family and friends.

JoAnn & Jim

Alaska World Ice Art Championships

                                                            Ice sculpting of an Indian

                                    This train ice sculpting is huge like fifteen feet tall and twenty feet long!

                                             This multiple piece was called "Garden Party".

                  At night the colored light give a different look to the pieces like this viking ship.

                                      This is a Chinese themed work with all kinds of animals. 

               This is a large leopard after a porcupine.  It was one of our favorites. It took first place in the contest for the multi-block carvings.

This final piece is one that some of our young people had been working on during the day we visited the international ice sculpting contest. It was the first time that they had done any ice sculpting. It was a pair of wings still waiting for details on the rest of the ice block. President Olsen and Elder Spens both worked on the ice with a wood working chisel to just get the feel of what it was like to carve in ice and it was very unique. We had a sizable group of young single adults attending an activity at the ice festival. There are people that come from all over the world to work on the carving competition. Some work on single blocks of ice like five by eight and two feet thick and others work on multiple blocks and get some of the works up fifteen or twenty feet into the air. There is a small lake next to the festival area where they cut the block of ice. It is amazingly clear with few bubbles and is free of any derbies that would discolor the ice. It is clear as glass even though it is two feet thick.

President Olsen is the branch president of t the YSA branch and even though he is our land lord and we live in his basement we have become very good friends with him and his wife. We actually have a lot in common with them including the raising of five boys and three girls. He has interests in wood and metal working and she is a quilter. We have come to know many of the LDS families that live here in the Fairbanks stake and we would include them now as our friends. Since we have never been transferred while serving here in Fairbanks and probably will not be transferred any where else our circle of friends from here continues to grow. Of course our main circle of friends are the YSA group and that group continues to add to our list of friends as well. Although the YSA group is in a state of constant change with all of their coming and going.  We also have a set of missionaries assigned to the YSA branch, and we have just received a new set of young men to work at the branch. We do work closely with them and do all we can to support and encourage their missionary activities. We continue to have investigators come to institute class that have been invited by the YSA's.

We are beginning to see some definite signs of the approaching spring here in Alaska. The sun is now high enough in the sky during the day to feel heat and the sun is warming the air, trees and the ground. We are actually seeing some beginnings of melting!  They call it the break up season rather than spring because of the many rivers that thread through the country. When the ice gets thin enough and the rivers start to flow enough the break up occurs and the rivers become navigable once again. They still use the large rivers to access the many villages along their shores.

We are looking forward to general conference this weekend and we always set up the institute for the viewing of all of the sessions along with breakfast goodies on Saturday and a pancake breakfast between sessions on Sunday. President Olsen challenged all of us at our family night to watch conference with the idea of having either questions on our mind to be answered or to simply listen to see what President Monson and the other general authorities will be teaching us to do. We are continuing to enjoy our calling as CES missionaries in the great Anchorage Alaska Mission.

 Elder and Sister Spens