CES Instruction In Anchorage

This is Allison Holtkamp.  We met her at the Sandpiper for her lunch time and treated her to lunch and delivered to her a gift from her mother.  We were both very happy to see each other.

On our flight to Anchorage it was very cloudy.  However we came across an open space and there in that open space was a glacier.  You can see the long finger looking figure near the center on the left.

This is Elder and Sister Campbell.  They are from Northern Utah and do a lot of the office work in the Anchorage Alaska Mission Office.

Elder and Sister Ferrin are from Mesa, AZ.  This is their second mission to Anchorage.  Ten years ago they actually were in the same apartment building that we are now in.  They wanted to come back but this time in the office.  They will be replacing the Campbells who will be going home in December.  The Herrin's are learning the office ropes.

The Palmers are from Mesa AZ and helped us a great deal while we were in Anchorage.  Bro. Palmer manages the mission fleet of Subarus and Malibus the missionaries use.  He brought a Subaru Legacy to us at the airport for us to use while we were in Anchorage.  Sister Palmer keeps the housing up and helps with the logistics of transfers and a tremendous amount of other things.

Bro. Eric Bacon organized the instruction for our Friday in-service session.  He was very interesting and full of enthusiasm.   I think you can see that on his face.

I have been looking forward to meeting Scott Beames since July.  He invited us to participate in the In-Service sessions he conducted then.  We did so in our casuals and sitting in lounge chairs.  Now we are not so casual and we sit on Samsonite church chairs.  Bro. Beames is our coordinator.  He lives and teaches in Palmer, Alaska just outside of Anchorage about 30 miles. 

You can see a channel of water below us.  It is part of the Inland Passage and Juneau is down there to the right a bit. 

We traveled to Anchorage, Alaska for a CES coordinator’s In-Service meeting that was held in the University of Alaska Institute.  It ended up being a trip of bloopers. 

The missionaries over the mission vehicles met us at the airport and gave us the keys to a Subaru Legacy.  We followed them to the Mission Office, which was still quite a ways from the mission home.  They drew a map for us and after a small Carl Jr.’s burger, we made our way to the mission home.  We were able to sit in on the meeting with President and Sister Beesley and his assistants, and the mission home help, as they went over the transfers for the mission.  That happens about every 6 weeks.  We were sad to hear that each of our three sets of missionaries are losing one to this transfer.

We met the Palmer’s.  They take care of the vehicle fleet and the housing for the missionaries, the Campbells who assist in the mission office with lots of things.  And we met the Ferrins who will replace the Campbells in a few months. 

After the transfer meeting we had a nice dinner with the Assistants to the Pres., President and Sister Beesley and each of we senior couples.  Elder Campbell told me to activate my voice mail.  He said dial 611 and follow the directions.  I did and somehow the SIM card gave out on me.  I was beginning to panic at having to find where we needed to be without the use of my phone’s GPS Navigator.

We stayed the night in the mission home.  The bed was small and it may be the worst night’s sleep I have had in years.  I was anxious not having my navigation application from the phone.  We managed to lock ourselves out of the mission home when we left.  We didn’t realize we had to unlock the door when we went out.  After about 10 minutes we finally got Sister Beesley’s attention and she let us back in to get the rest of our things. 

We found an AT & T store on our way to the Institute Building.  They replaced the SIM card and got us on our way.  We arrived 5 minutes late to our meeting. 

The meeting was wonderful.  Several of the CES employees presented some teaching methodologies and pedagogies.  I enjoyed the 5 hours with them very much.  Our supervisor, Scott Beames is very mindful of us and offers lots of positive reinforcement.  The area coordinator from Seattle, Greg Bishop met with us and taught us as well.  He had met us in our hotel in Seattle when we were traveling to Alaska.  He just wanted to meet us and get to know us that day.

We made our way back to the mission home with the help of our GPS on the phone.  We called to make arrangements with the other senior couples to eat out near the airport and then they took us to our flight.  The assured us we only needed to arrive 30-40 minutes early.  Well we arrived at the check in desk with 35 minutes before the flight left, and they refused to check on our luggage.  So here we are in a hotel and we will be flying out at 8:00 am in the morning.  I guess we’ll have to read about that session of General Conference.  The plus is, I am watching the second half of the Utah State vs BYU game here in the hotel.

We did stay at a very nice hotel, the Crown Plaza.  We didn’t really get to enjoy it as when our heads hit the pillow we were out like a light.  I didn’t wake up until 5:00 a.m. when we received our wake-up call.  We did arrive in plenty of time for us to check in our luggage this time.

The weather was terrible and so our 8:00 a.m. scheduled flight was delayed for an hour.  We just sat in the cabin and read while the pilot would periodically check on the weather and let us know our projected status.  Finally at 9:00 a.m. we started on our way.  We just got part way down the tarmac and he hits the brakes enough to cause us to skid.  An announcement came on the speakers that they needed a doctor as there was a medical emergency on board.  I never did hear what the emergency was but we did see them remove an Indian man on a medical evac wheel chair. 

We had to wait for clearance from Seattle where they re-did the paper work for a flight with one less on it.  At a quarter to 10:00 we finally got off.  It was nice to finally be in our own apartment with our own familiar surroundings.