Monthly In-Service

We didn't have most of our seminary teachers for last evening's in-service.  Friday evenings just aren't a good night.  And 6:00 p.m. is too early.  Most of those in attendance said they would like to see us use Thursday evening.  In-service is held once a month.  I feel badly for our Sitka teacher who is so committed and sweet.  She often does video shoots for a local TV station on Thursdays.  She is the 76 year old we visited last month.  She said she would try.  A few of those not in attendance wanted Thursday as well.  So it appears we will do our In-service meetings on the 3rd Thursday of the months to come. 

We discussed the prologue and the first chapter of the new manual "Gospel Teaching and Learning."  It is a wonderful manual that was given to us while we were in the MTC.  They weren't available yet, even for back orders, when we tried a couple of weeks ago.  But they did post it on the Seminary and Institute site for teachers.  So the teachers did have access to the manual. 

I hooked up the stake's polycom system and we each phoned in for a conference call. It started off a bit uncomfortably as that was my first experience with polycom. But in short order the teachers were contributing and offering insights and testimony. I felt good about it.

 Diane caught me looking at mountain goats across the canyon from the peak we were on.  That peak is called Juneau peak.  I did manage to find 5 different mountain goats.  But they were so far away, unless they actually moved, it was tough to tell.

 Part way up the hiking trail was a beautiful scenic rest stop. 

 A bit later we got another amazing view of the channel going to the northwest.  Juneau peak is on the right.  Three quarters of the way up the peak is an open spot of brown area.  If you zoom in enough, you can see the two mountain goats we saw frolicking in there before they laid down to rest.

The ferns on the mountain are plentiful and thick.  I took this shot into the sun and the next one looking away from the sun. 

There are lots of beautiful plants on the mountain.  Wild raspberries are plentiful.  There are both red and golden yellow raspberries.  And the bears love 'em.

 This is another view of Juneau peak.  The goats show up on this picture a bit better than the other one.  And if you know where they are, you can see 5.  You really have to zoom in a lot and the imagery gets hazy, but they are there.

 Often the trunks of the trees take on some weird configurations. 

Diane and I ran into some fun people to talk to on the trail.  They were from Manitoba, Ukraine, England and S. Carolina.  The cute Englishwoman said she sees young men from our church all the time.  She called them"door knockers."  She mentioned they receive a lot of abuse but that she is always kind to them even though she is a Baptist.

Coming back down the tram we could see two large cruise ships docked in the harbor.  The cruise ship on the right was taking advantage of free time to run some life boat drills.  Zoom in just a bit and you can see their life boats on the left of the ship. 

 The tram ascends 1800 feet from the base, which is at sea level.  It is very interesting to watch the tide affect the channel.  When the tide is out, the channel on the north which is more shallow, looks like a mud lake.  When the tide is in, the water rises nearly 15 feet.  In traveling on the ferries through the channels, the rising and falling tide makes the sea between the islands seem like you are actually on a river.  It even creates rapids.

 Descending Robert's Peak.

 This is Juneau itself.  We don't actually live in Juneau but about 5 miles to the NW in a little place called Mud Creek area.  I think the locals refer to it as the other side of town. 

Our return to terra firma.