Here is an example of the delicate ice carving found at Ice Alaska, an
                                    International ice carving competition here in Fairbanks.

                                                                       Phone home.

                                                          Zoo animals in the childrens' area.

                                     A spotted leopard in a pavilion of ice complete with gargoyles.

                                                                 A friendly ice Eskimo.

                                                                   The tiny ballerina.

                                                   Dog sledding with the aurora overhead.

                                                 A musk ox on the UAF large animal facility.

                                                          The Alaska oil pipeline overhead.

 

                                                  A quilt showing some of the animals of Alaska.
                                        The center is a world map looking down from the North Pole.

     This week has been spring break for students at UAF so we have not had institute classes this week. On Monday we went to the ice carving festival as shown above. We went with a member of the branch presidency, a few YSA and one investigator. We all dressed warmly because spring in Alaska means temperatures around 25 degrees in the day time and around zero at night. We checked out the large Alaskan animal farm at UAF to see the musk ox above. He did not seem to care that we stood right next to him. He just kept on eating his grass. They are actually a variety of goat. There are wild herds of the musk ox that live on the northern tundra areas. Their inner "wool" is very soft and is spun into yarn and woven into sweaters, scarfs,etc. It is a very expensive material costing almost $100 per skein. It is combed out of the animals coat in the spring when they start to molt.
    On Saturday for a break JoAnn and I also took a drive north on the Dalton highway where we took the pipeline picture above. It had to be one of the worst highway driving experiences we have had so far. The roadway was hilly up and down and very icy. When we would climb a hill we would loose speed because we were loosing traction and thus momentum. We would hit the bottom of the hill at about 50 and then gradually slow down until we reached the top when we would be down to 35 or so. It was a challenge to drive. It is the ice truckers highway up to Prudhoe Bay.
     When we first arrived here in Fairbanks and went to the Institute of Religion,  I felt like we had traveled to a far corner of the earth far away from home.   However,  I felt a certain sense of being at home in the building that has become the place of our daily service.  Today in our Sacrament meeting we heard from Pres. Wappett who was the stake president when the Institute was built.  It was his privilege to dedicate the building back in 1997.  He spoke of the sacred experience he had at the dedication and of how the building was built with the sacred funds of the Church.  I  now know, at least in part, why I felt at home in the institute facility almost at once.  It is truly great to be missionaries serving in Alaska.  We feel a great responsibility to serve the students to the best of our abilities.

(Today is the first day of Spring - temperature 38 degrees!)

Jim and JoAnn  

Why did the moose decide not to cross the road?   (He didn't want to be someone's dinner.)

A view of our icy roads.

A newspaper photographer caught this image of the aurora on Thursday night.

This has been an interesting week of things to be thankful for.  The weather has been in the 20's during the day time, and it feels so warm!  The ice on the roads is sublimating and most of the roads are getting pretty clear of ice.   Especially those that are not in the shade of the trees.  The city road teams are loading the snow on the sides of the road in dump trucks and hauling it away to prevent flooding in the city once it decides to get warm enough to melt.  The icy road picture was taken today and shows what we have been driving on all winter. 

On our way to home evening group, we came upon a moose that was having a hard time deciding whether or not to cross the road.  Finally it gave up and moved back.  We have been so blessed with safety.  Fifty moose have been killed this winter in Fairbanks alone by being hit by cars.  It usually totals the cars.  At our home evening, we had a wonderful lesson by Trisha Haines on gratitude.  Trisha is a wonderful girl.  She has been investigating the church for over a year and a half.  We are blessed to have met her.

Tuesday we noticed the back tire was looking low.  We searched everywhere on the way home from the Institute to find an air pump.  None of the service stations had a working air pumps.  As soon as we got home, Jim checked the pressure and decided that we needed to go right back to Sears where we bought the tires and see what was wrong.   They found a screw in the tire and were able to fix it for free.  Another blessing.  We might have been in big trouble if we had waited until morning--especially since we had to be at the Institute for Seminary inservice at 6:00 am. 

Classes this week have been great.  We have had many comments from those in our classes that we taught them just what they had needed that day.  Another blessing.  As we left the Institute, the sky was full of the northern lights.  We had seen a faint green band several times, but this time it was swirling and moving all over the sky.  Our camera doesn't have the ability to take a long exposure, so we borrowed a picture from newsminer.com.  The newspaper had a big spread and titled it "A Night to Remember."  We drove home and went to the top of our hill to watch it for quite a while.  It was really exciting.  A long exposure camera intensifies the colors quite a bit.  We feel blessed to have seen such a wonderful display.  What a beautiful world we have been blessed to live on.

Saturday evening we had Elder Smith and Elder Gledhill for dinner.  It's always a blessing to share time with the elders.  They always leave a wonderful message.  Today Sister Olsen (the Branch Presidents wife and also our landlord) and I were invited to attend Priesthood Meeting.  We were on a panel along with our husbands for open questions about life, etc.  It turned out to be very enlightening to all of us.  Our testimonies of the blessings of the Lord in our lives have helped us grow and learn and hopefully teach our family of the importance of our Savior Jesus Christ.  We are so grateful for our knowledge that we can be forgiven of our sins and mistakes and someday return to live with our Father in Heaven and with Jesus Christ and with our families forever if we remain faithful.  So many blessings!!

Love to all of you,
JoAnn and Jim

 

 

Sister Spens, Elder Spens, Elder Wadsworth & Elder Smith.

A small herd of caribou near Denali

Mt. McKinley with snow blowing off the top.

 

     Elder Wadsworth above has returned to his home town of Hiko, Nevada which is about 100 miles south of Ely. He is now working on his fathers cattle ranch or in other words he is back in the saddle again.  We took this picture after we had them for dinner the night before he returned home.
     One thing we notice with the missionaries and the young single branch members is that there is a constant flow both in and out. New converts come into the branch and attend institute classes and then missionaries as well as young adults either move away to work or school or they get married. It is a state of constant change. However, we were asked by some young people that as missionaries are we going to be transferred? Our reply was that it is a possibility but is probably unlikely. We should spend our entire mission here at the institute and the YSA branch.
     We have eaten caribou but the small herd pictured above is our first chance to see them on the move and not on our plate. The caribou is really quite good with no game flavors at all. It is much like beef. Alaskan caribou hunters are allowed to harvest 5 or 7 of the animals during the hunt but only one per day. The Yukon  moose hunts allow a person to harvest one per year.
     The lower picture above is of Mt. McKinley from the park highway on our return from the Anchorage Temple. This area is on the outside of the Denali Park. The view is of the 20,000' peak with snow blowing from its summit. The view is probably 30 miles away. The lower mountains in the foreground would be the 9,000' and 10,000' peaks leading up to Denali. Though not visible from this perspective the canyons leading down from Denali are filled with large glaciers. Alaska is truly a vast wilderness.
     The church continues to grow her in Alaska. A new ward was created in the Fairbanks stake last weekend. The area of Delta Junction south of us about two hours has a branch that will soon become a ward. The missionaries in the Delta Junction area are saying that the missionary work could best be described as an explosion of activity as they are working with 9 investigators.  The Lord's kingdom continues to grow here in Alaska. It's great to be a part of the missionary efforts and to be missionaries here.
     We truly enjoyed the opportunity of being in the Anchorage Temple again, and especially being there when Melanie Johnson received her endowments in preparation for her marriage to Travis Payton in the Logan Utah Temple this coming Saturday.  They are a wonderful couple. 
     We are so grateful to our family for taking care of Tina and her family after her unfortunate skiing injury and surgery a week ago.  Thanks for all your help.  We continually pray for all of you. 

Love to all of you,
Mom and Dad (JoAnn & Jim)

                                 Cleaning the car off with a snow shovel.  Crazy weather this week.

                                                         Making a pathway around the car.                                                      

                                                                  It's pretty deep today.

                                                A mountain of snow from plowing the parking lot. 
                                                          It would make a great snow cave.

                                        Last night the snowplow made a walkway to the Institute.

This week was a week of crazy weather.  Last Sunday night it snowed and snowed.  By morning, there was about 16 inches of snow in the parking lot to plow through to get inside.  Then, to top it off, the wind started to blow.  Many people here couldn't remember when Fairbanks had had such a big snowstorm.  Then, they couldn't remember it ever blowing like it did or maybe it was 11 years ago or longer.  Because the snow is powder, the wind creates a "white out" condition.  You can't see very far in front of you.  If that wasn't enough, it did a repeat performance on Thursday night but not quite as much snow.   Tuesday when we arrived, the doors were frozen shut.  Luckily we had a key to the back door and the wind had blown all the snow away from that door.  The doors froze again on Friday.  Alaska is always interesting.

Attendance for classes was on the light side because of the weather, but the young people can't be stopped.  We had a great night Thursday.  On Thursday, Hannah and Mallory (holding the quilt we tied for Melanie and Travis who are getting married) came to learn to cook and help me with refreshments.  We baked Almond Torte and 60 biscuits and made 6 quarts of sausage & gravy.  I am just learning about biscuits and gravy but it turned out very well.  It was definitely a big hit the the young adults here. 

It's great to be able to study and prepare lessons.  We are always learning and enjoying our classes.  The teacher always learns more than the student.  Another couple in the branch announced their engagement and requested a temple preparation class, so we will be adding a class for them and anyone else that wants to come. 

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."  Proverbs 3: 5-6

JoAnn and Jim

                                

                               A part of the group that we traveled with to the Anchorage Temple.

                                            Elder Spens                        Pres. Robert Hull
                                                        Mallory            Jung               Hannah
                                                       The caribou soup was delicious.

                                  

                                                           Some of the young adults from the branch on the bus.

The Anchorage Temple is 350 miles away from Fairbanks and in the winter the road is ice packed most of the way. Temple attendance during the winter requires a long and  difficult journey. However, before the Anchorage temple the temple in Seattle was the closest and required a trip by airplane or ferry of over 100 miles. Laura Bruger, a member of our Wed. night class, invited us to ride the bus with her ward.  As it became closer, more seats were available for members of our Young Adult Branch to ride as well.  The cost of the bus as well as the hotel room was provided by some very generous members of the 2nd Ward.

On the bus ride we had excellent views of the twenty thousand foot high Mt. McKinley  from the parks highway.  Even though the weather was clear,  clouds surrounded the summit of the highest mountain in North American. They say it is so tall it makes its own weather. We also had a grand view of the northern lights on our return trip late Saturday night.

Jung, a recent convert to the church who was raised in the farming and military community of Delta Junction attended the temple for the first time, and her enthusiasm for that event was overwhelming. She did not think she could sleep at the hotel the night before we went to the temple. Then in the morning when the bus approached the temple and she saw the angel Moroni statue on top of the temple she felt the spirit so strongly she cried at the sight. She performed baptisms for the dead and after I told her that she had just barely scratched the surface in terms of the blessings that the temple had in store for her. She said she could hardly wait until she could return.

Besides the temple trip we are already starting to think about the summer semester and what courses to offer at the institute, and also how we are going to set things up. We also need to set up an extension class at Denali park for the summer to accommodate all of the BYU students that come up to work at the park. Apparently the park service and concessionaires recruit at the BYU campus in the spring. All in all it has been a great week.

We are so blessed to have so many temples available to us.  Please take advantage of attending the temple.  We also want to encourage our grandchildren who are old enough to go to the temple and do baptisms.  Life comes into clearer perspective when we are serving others who have died without a knowledge of the gospel.  You will be blessed every time you go. 

Jim and JoAnn

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

                                             The Branch choir practicing before meeting today.

                                 Melanie Johnson and Travis Payton are getting married on Mar. 12
                                                           in the Logan, Utah Temple.

                                   More friendly ravens playing with some garbage in the parking lot.
                                   We were reminded today that the prophet Elijah was fed by ravens.

Today was an unusual day for us.  Because the temperature was -41 degrees, we only had Sacrament Meeting today.  When the weather gets too cold, it is hard for cars to start after three hours, so they have cold weather rules for church meetings.  Even though we only had one meeting, there was a great spirit there.  Travis and Melanie talked about preparing to receive temple blessings.  They have been taking our Temple Preparation class and gave wonderful talks.  It is so fun for us to see them prepare for this most important decision.  They are two great examples of the young adults here.  Melanie has been teaching the genealogy class and is so enthused about linking families together.  Her father died when she was eight years old, and she has a strong testimony of temple marriage sealing families together for eternity.  I love to listen to her talk about it.  We are so blessed to know that families are forever, and we can be with our loved ones after death.

It's a lot of fun singing in the Branch choir.  These kids love to sing the hymns.  You find them singing around the piano before or after classes and on Sunday.  They have great favorites and gain great strength from singing together.  The girls in Relief Society are practicing some special numbers to sing at Stake Conference along with the Relief Society sisters in all the wards here.  It's a special "Singing Mothers" choir to remember the "Relief Society Singing Mothers" who used to sing when I was young a long time ago.  We have some beautiful songs to learn.  I think these songs may be used this year throughout the church in Relief Society choirs. 

I am fascinated with the ravens here.  They are really big birds and are everywhere.  I often think of the nursery rhyme "four and twenty black birds baked in a pie."  It's amazing how they can stay warm in the cold weather.  Ravens are an important part of the Eskimo legends. 

Happy Valentine's Day!  We have been studying Pres. Thomas S. Monson's talk from last conference on "The Divine Gift of Gratitude."  I am so grateful for my Mom and Dad and for all they have done for us.  Families are the greatest blessing of all.  We love all of you and thank you for your love and support.  Find something you can do for someone you love and appreciate this week. 

Love,
JoAnn and Jim

                  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