Weather Change

Each day as we look outside of our apartment, we notice the snow is creeping down the mountainside.  Little by little it is closer to where we will be taking our steps.  And it is noticeably colder.  The lows are in the low 30's and the highs are in the high 30's.  This is the mountain just to the North of us.

This is the same mountain directly behind our apartment looking west.

We fed the elders last night at 5:00 p.m.  Elder Springer is on the left.  He is from Utah and came to Juneau from the MTC about a month before we did.  His new companion is Elder Knudsen from Kansas.  He has been in Alaska for 10 months.  He has a wonderful voice. 

 

After our meal of jambalaya and some other good stuff, Elder Knudsen left us a message from Isaiah. 



 

I had not quite finished washing the dishes when Landon came.  He has been taking the Temple Preparation lessons from Diane.  She gave him the final lesson.  He will be going to San Diego with many of our other YSA members for a Temple trip and experience next week. 

 

A mission is not about a place.  It is about the people we serve.  We wake up in the morning and the mountain to the side of us is still there.  It may have taken on a different color, but it is still there.  But some mornings we wake up and the people we have been enjoying being with are not there. 

 

Sean is a 19 year old Tongan who grew up in the gang circles of Los Angeles.  He literally feared for his life, and who he was 4 years ago, and so he fled to Juneau.  He has some relatives living here.  Through some great friend shipping and missionary work, Sean joined the church two years ago.  His personality is happy and fun to be with.   He is a good leader for the other Tongans.  He wanted to attend our missionary prep classes, and has done so for the past three weeks.  But he missed on Tuesday.  Nia told us that circumstances were such that he had to go back to Los Angeles.  He will be with his mother.  Last night the missionaries told us he has found the YSA branch and one of the members is a friend of Elder Knudsen's.  He had called them to let them know he would be alright.  This member had been in the MTC with Elder Knudsen and he recently had to return home because of some allergies he had picked up in South Carolina.  But this missionary has latched on to Sean.  I know the Lord works his tender mercies to bless those who believe in him and follow his teachings.  When the connection was made, the missionary who had been in S. Carolina said to Sean, "Hey tell Elder Knudsen I still think he's ugly."  I guess that's the way good friends let each other know they still care for one another.