Our Final Anchorage In-Service

Diane and I flew to Anchorage, Alaska on Thursday a week ago.  Our purpose was to attend a Friday in-service for our Church Education calling.  It was our final time to attend one of these wonderful learning opportunities.  Greg Bishop, the CES supervisor from Seattle over the Northwest, and Erik Bacon, the coordinator over Anchorage had prepared the meeting.  Also with us was Scott Beames, our coordinator, Michael Davidson and Joe Dinwoody, who are full time seminary teachers in Matanuska and Palmer. 

We received lots of guidance and instruction.  I also got lots of ideas for the in-service that I will be presenting the first Wednesday morning in November to our stake seminary teachers.

 
We arranged to spend a bit of time in Anchorage and arrived Thursday afternoon.  We had to cut our Thursday institute short by 30 minutes to catch the plane.  After picking up our vehicle from the mission office we checked into our hotel.  Then after a bite to eat we excitedly drove to the temple.  We arrived just a bit too late to take in a session but we did join a group doing sealings. 

Friday was the in-service.  The recently assigned missionary couple to the Institute building in Anchorage fixed a great lunch.  After dismissing the meeting, Diane and I went to the hotel for a 30 minute nap and then off to Village Inn for dinner.  Afterwards we attended a session in the temple. 

The following morning, Saturday, we again went to the temple for a session.  We were surprised to see the Verhagen family in the session.  They are from Fairbanks.  Mary Verhagen has accepted a call to serve in the Ohio mission and was getting ready to leave early next month.  Mary and her brothers, Josh and Elijah, attended our spring semester of institute and it was so good to see them again.  She is going to be a dynamite sister missionary.  Bro. and Sister Verhagen have been called to serve as temple workers in the Anchorage temple for one weekend each month.  They stay with friends Thursday through Sunday before the drive back to Fairbanks.  Even though we have access to a temple here in Alaska, I am so grateful to be living with ten minutes of a temple in Riverton, and can go often.

Our Institute was attended very well two and three weeks ago.  We had 16 YSA to teach.  This week we were down to 6.  I hope it isn't because of the Isaiah chapters.  I try to make them as exciting as I can.  Actually, to me they are incredible.  The fact that the Lord would show Isaiah the events of the Jews and Gentiles, and the coming of Immanuel to Isaiah, is wonderful.  That Isaiah was able to prophecy the mission of Joseph Smith 2600 years before his birth, is a testimony builder for me.  His understanding the Book of Mormon would be a spokesman from the dust of Nephi's people to us is a special message.  I especially marvel that Isaiah prophecies in the latter days any who warred with; or bothered Israel, would face God's wrath.  He specifically states that these nations will turn on themselves.  I look at Egypt, Lybia, Syria, Iraq and others in the middle east and realize these things are happening. . . now, just as Isaiah prophesied. 

Mont and Tina Williams invited us for New Mexico enchiladas Thursday evening.  We picked up Elder and Sister Brinkerhoff and took them with us.  Along with their daughter Kim, we had a wonderful evening.  Tina and Kim attend Thursday institute. 

We drove to the county records office Thursday afternoon to watch the Brinkerhoffs as they recorded the records in the archive for family search.  It looked pretty repetitive to me.  But they seem happy as can be. 

I miss being able to go out after a salmon once a week as I did while they were running.  The eagles seem to be someplace other than Juneau.  The rain and cloud cover has been extreme to us; but, as we are told, this is typical for Juneau.  We are experiencing temperatures in the high forties for the high, and the low forties for the low.  There has been snow in the upper mountain areas. 

President Josh Sakona and his wife Lovinia invited us to dinner earlier this week.  He checked his crab pots that day and had some king crab.  We had all the king crab we could eat.  Plus they had salmon cooked in coconut oil and on top of that they had steak.  There was asparagus and slices of zucchini squash and a salad.  I'm sure we ate more than we should have.  We enjoyed the meal and the visit with the family.  Jamie, Margaret and Kayleen are their children.  They are all in their twenties and single.  They attend the YSA branch.  We really love these people and enjoy being with them.

The gospel is beautiful, and true.  How grateful I am that my parents taught me the gospel. 

2 Nephi 25:26 

And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.

Isaiah

Members of the Young Single Adult branch continue to come and go, even outside of the tourist season.  We have met a wonderful young woman by the name of Corina Sandoval.  Life has been hard for Corina in Mexico.  She came to Sitka to visit friends with whom she had graduated from high school with.  She had some life altering thinking to do.  While living her life to the fullest one day, she was helping clean a boat for an upcoming fishing trip.  Not having complete control of her faculties she tumbled into the engine room and hurt herself with a concussion and some stitches.  She had an epiphany of sorts and decided she would like to clean her life up. 

The Sisters in Sitka made contact with her shortly thereafter and quickly she understood the principles of the gospel, and she accepted the challenge to be baptized.  Within a couple of weeks she left Sitka and came to Juneau to be with an older friend who had also been in Sitka.  Her name is Hilda and she also hails from Mexico.  Hilda is now a care keeper for an 80 year old man in a very nice home.  Hilda is also a member of the church but has been inactive most of her life.  Unexpectedly they showed up at institute.  At the conclusion of the evening they were excited about the church, the lesson and the prospects of living the gospel.  Corina has attended two times since.  This past week Diane and I gave her a ride home as no other YSA lived near her.  We had a nice chat and learned that she was married and planned to return to Mexico.  Her intent is to try and work out a marriage that was not working well when she made the decision to go to Alaska.  I asked her if she would like a priesthood blessing before returning home.  She said she would like that.

She did come to church yesterday with a plan to delay her return to Mexico until Friday.   I introduced her to President Sakona and he invited me to assist him with the priesthood blessing.  We had a wonderful visit with Corina where she expressed fear at returning to a husband who is now loving another and living very differently from the teachings of the gospel.  President Sakona gave her a beautiful blessing and we taught her about the priesthood and the strength and support it can be in our lives.  She will leave this week having only been with us about 5 weeks.  But she allowed us an opportunity to serve her and teach her. 

Scott Beames setting up the 'Go To Meeting' technology.  While he was doing that I am getting the my computer into "Go To Meeting' and getting the Polycom up so the outlying branches can join us and see us.

Scott Beames, the Alaska coordinator for the CES, visited last week.  He conducted an in-service for our stake seminary teachers in preparation for the coming Book of Mormon chapters which include Isaiah.  He brought his wife Tricia.  Their children are old enough to get themselves off to school.  They live in Palmer.  We met with them, the Schlechters and Bob and Sowa Francis at our favorite Thai food place.  I'd call it a restaurant, but that might be stretching it some.  It's just a dig.

This is how our early morning In-Service looks.   Our early morning seminary teachers have made arrangements for substitute teachers while they are in training.

Elder Call of the Seventy and President John Beesley, our mission president met with us in our chapel yesterday.  The meeting was for each ward and branch council in our stake.  The theme was to help these councils be effective in hastening the work.  It took a tremendous amount of technology to connect each of our 13 units to sound and most of them to video.  Some responded to questions by texting in answers and others used the polycom and some were able to respond directly with the vidyo system used by the church. 

President Josh Sakona and his wife Lovinia

I am finding myself immersed in the chapters of the Book of Mormon that quote Isaiah.  He wrote with the intent of making the meaning of his writings understandable to a covenant people.  He knew the world would grow weary of his poetry and not seek the meaning.  But he also knew that in our day we would read it and understand it.  With the assistance of a wonderful book called 'Understanding Isaiah' and the BYU tv gospel discussion broadcasts that I watch, I believe I am understanding it more than ever before.  I am not totally comfortable teaching it, but feel better about it than I would have a year ago.  These writings help establish the credibility of the Savior and also the church, sometimes described as that on Mount Zion and the New Jerusalem.  They give great insight into the future of the house of Israel on Mount Zion and the House of Israel in Jerusalem. 

After our YSA Family Home Evening everyone went to a Tae Kwan Do studio for some self defense training.

I am trying to do as Nephi as suggested when he introduced the first of the Isaiah chapters in First Nephi.  He told us that in reading Isaiah we should liken his writings as unto ourselves. 

We met a senior couple at the ferry dock this morning at 4:00 a.m.  They are Elder and Sister Brinkerhoff from Fairview, Utah.  They will be doing records preservation while they are here.  They are without an apartment for a couple of weeks and will be staying in a motel until the apartment above us becomes available the first of November. 

Aubrey Welling, President Welling's daughter, and Dara, one of our YSA as they prepare to learn the art of self-defense.

Conference was so meaningful and uplifting.  I think the most poignant message was that we should not be doubting our religion, but doubting our doubts.  Elder Uchtdorf acknowledged the church is and has been led by men.  They are God's chosen Prophets, but they are still men.  And sometimes men make mistakes.  I'm grateful that I've been able to understand that and hold on to the faith that offers so many blessings.  In spite of the inadequacies of man, the church has been organized in its fulness once again.  We are led by a chosen Prophet, chosen by God himself.  And he spoke to us Gods will once again from the pulpit just two Sunday's ago.