June Offered Treasures

There are a few times in our lives when we are treated with a view of the happenings of mother nature that are not all that common.  Such was my privileged view on Tuesday.  I had hoped to spend a couple of hours out on the outer side of Douglas Island trying again for another feel of a King Salmon on the end of my line.  As I was casting, I noticed to my left the plumes of water and vapor that are a familiar sign when Humpback whales break the surface of the ocean to grasp another gulp of air that will go with them to their lower than surface feeding areas.  But there were many plumes appearing about 2 miles to my left.  They rather quickly made their way to the open water in front of my fruitless casts. 

The reason I mention this is because it turned into what is called bubble net feeding.  The whales in a team effort seem to circle the krill and by releasing bubbles in a controlled manner keep the krill bunched and moving toward the surface.  The whales work their way to the surface and all seem to blossom from the water together rising 10 to 15 feet out of the water.  More often than not there is one in the center that seems to be the stamen of the bubble feeding flower like formation the whales make.  It slides above the surface of the water even 20-30 feet.  The entire pod then takes a few breaths of air.  You can hear the whoosh of air as they expel it prior breathing in.  Occasionally you can hear a whale cry out.  There were a couple of tourist boats in the area and before long they were joined with ten more tourist boats anxious to see what was happening several hundred yards away from me.  This went on in front of me for over an hour.  I witnessed this great happening of nature over a dozen times before they moved out to sea further than I could easily witness it any longer.

My body was reacting to the event.  I found my heart to be racing and my breaths were a bit faster.   I was watching the seagulls as they would give away the point of the next place the whales would break the surface by flying in a group over the krill that were being driven towards the surface by the whales.  When it was finished, I rushed back home to put my media card in the computer.  I was anxious to see if I had any pictures worth saving.   I wish I had thought to turn on the movie feature. 

Our lessons this week were on the doctrines of Baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost.  What I enjoyed teaching the most was the difference between the Gift of the Light of Christ and the Gift of the Holy Ghost.  It finally came down to the roles and purposes of these two wonderful spiritual gifts.  All men are given the gift of the light of Christ when they are born.  In short we learned that this gift can be considered the gift of conscience.  The gift and purpose of the Holy Ghost is to reveal, to teach, and to comfort.  How wonderful both gifts are and they are available for our use through the principle of obedience.  The light of Christ stays with us throughout our life unless we purposefully extinguish that light because of a lack of faith or disobedience.  The Holy Ghost can come upon anyone earnest and sincere of purpose and in need.  The Gift of the Holy Ghost is given to those who exercise the principles of the gospel; faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Repentance and Baptism.  That gift is then given by one having authority by the laying on of hands.  It is ours to have throughout our life.  And once again it will be with us on the conditions of obedience. 

These principles seem simple, and they are.  And they are true.  And they provide for wonderful gospel discussions. 

The Thursday class discussion was on the third missionary journey of Paul and how men's ways are not God's ways and that God accomplishes His will through simple things.  He surely does, as things don't get much more simple than me.

Our YSA branch has the assignment of cleaning the building each Friday for the three summer months.  We cooked pancakes for all those that came this week.  We had a huge crowd.  Unfortunately it was a lot like the story of the little Red Hen.  Most visited until the work was done and then eagerly got in line for the pancakes or they played basketball and then volleyball.

The gospel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints is true.  How I enjoy telling others I know that.  And to be able to teach the principles and doctrines of the gospel from the scriptures is a blessing for me. 

 Above A. J. Collins and Justin Brinkman are cooking the pancakes.  In the middle Claressa Ullmyer and Marie Holden are enjoying the pancakes.  And on the left Marie, Ian Tracey and Bryce Shurtliff are making quick work of our 7 lbs. of Krusteaz mix. 

Friends Visit While Cruising

It may be hard for the typical Juneau resident to fathom, but we have actually experienced a bit of a drought.  The entire week was laden with sunshine and a heat wave that made the national news.  Temperatures of 84 degrees are seldom seen here and many hit the sun worship mode of tanning and swimming in the local lakes.

Returning from a fishing outing I saw this black bear eating grass on the side of the road.  Wouldn't you know that I left my Nikon camera at home.  I did the best I could with my phone camera.

The phone rang on Wednesday and on the other end was Steve Kammerath.  He and Karen were our next door neighbors while we lived in Sandy.  He was the bishop for 5 years.  They were in town on a cruise ship and wanted to see us.  They had just completed a helicopter tour of 5 of the local glaciers.  We picked them up at the Juneau dock and quickly got them out of the hustle and bustle of the downtown Juneau tourist atmosphere and into the real life of Juneau.  We took them to lunch at the Broiler.  We like that as well as any here.  After, we drove up to the Mendenhall glacier and walked around the boardwalks and looked at various views of the lake and glacier.  A couple from Idaho, also on a cruise, took a picture of the four of us and mentioned their daughter had just received a mission call.  Following the glacier we drove out to the St. Therese Sanctuary.  Thanks to some help from Paul, my brother, I was able to get a few shots to work that I hadn't been able to my first time there.  Too soon the time came when we delivered them to their cruise ship and said good-bye.  We cherish our friendship with them.

What a wonderful gift to be able to spend time with our good friends, Steve and Karen Kammerath.  They were on a Princess cruise ship and asked if they could spend some time with us. 

I did go out fishing again but no salmon still.  I still catch the Dolly Varden and when I let my lure get too close to the bottom I pick up double uglies.  That's the locals term for rock fish and anything that turns your stomach when you get it on the shore.  The chum salmon (dogfish) were gathering several hundred yards from the shore.  They were extremely active in jumping.  I assumed they were feeding but was told by a local that they were using the jumps to prepare for the spawn.  He said they were loosening up the eggs sacks and such, a sort of mating ritual for chum.  Hmmm.  They weren't close enough to tease onto my lure, but should be by now.  I hear the chum run has begun.

Much of St Therese Sanctuary is dedicated to the unborn because of abortion.  This was a striking memorial outside of the chapel entrance.

Our Branch President of the YSA branch informed us on Sunday he had accepted a job in Northern California.  It happened all so fast.  He and his wife were aboard a ferry on Wednesday evening late bound for Bellingham, Washington.  It really took us all by surprise.  We will miss these two good people, Loren and Jerrilyn Olsen.  They loved and looked out for these young adults like jungle cats.  After Institute we drove to the ferry terminal to say good-bye as they boarded.

There were about 14 of these memorials called the stations of the cross.  They all looked the same except the gold inlay depicted an event from the crucifixion. 

We shared a wonderful Sunday afternoon with the second councilor and his wife, Sawa.  Bob Francis called after we had finished lunch and asked us to come spend the afternoon with them.  We had a wonderful visit.  We admired their new home that he mostly built.  And then Sawa, a Japanese immigrant, fed us a wonderful Japanese dinner.  I won't even attempt to try the name of the dish, but it consisted of cold noodles, shrimp, vegetables, expensive mustards and ginger.  There were some liquid condiments we also put on the noodles.  I tried to use the chop sticks but am hopelessly hindered in my abilities there.

The outside of the chapel was made of stone.  With some help from Paul I was able to learn how to take better advantage of light and this time my pictures around the Sanctuary worked.  The setting is in a dark forest and the bright sunshine was playing havoc on my uneducated photo abilities. 

The Institute lessons I prepared for this week were on Faith, and another was on Repentance.  We had many big ships in town late and so our attendance was low.  When the ships are in, the YSA kids are working.  There were 9 in attendance I think.  I love to watch the growth of the locals from week to week.  Claressa is making such strides in rebuilding her testimony.  Her mother comes to our Thursday group.  The missionaries met with Claressa  and encouraged her to attend Institute.  She turned 19 this week.  She claimed to be a non-believer in deity.  She has only missed one lesson since and now is a regular at church.  She contributes with the discussions and helps me know we are doing some good things.  She is instrumental in getting others to attend activities as well.

Our Thursday adult discussion group was centered around 1st and 2nd Thessalonians.  Our numbers were smaller there as well.  We had 6 in attendance.  We take what we can get. 

We fill up our empty time by doing genealogy and indexing.  Diane does the genealogy and I do the indexing.  I like to stay with one project so I can get as familiar with it as possible.  When I am sure I know what is going on, having indexed several of the batches, then I arbitrate.  When I get confused there is a wonderful missionary in SLC who answers my questions when I e-mail him. 

June 20 was the longest day of the year.  Even being low in the latitudes of Alaska, our hours of darkness are only a bit longer than four hours. 

We helped the branch members clean the church last night.  They then scattered to various summer solstice activities sponsored around town. 

Alaska In June

Following our beautiful Memorial Day weather we experienced about a week of continuous drizzle and even heavy rain.  And since it has beautiful and sunny...even too warm at night to sleep.  Diane pulled out a fan yesterday.

 

The wild lupine flowers are growing in many places up here.  There are beautiful patches of it near the roads.  Even the huge patches of dandelions are pretty spectacular until they turn to puff balls.

I did not realize the number of days I have let pass since the last post.  I get so wrapped up in preparing lessons and then teaching them I don't notice some of the little things.  Since posting last we have had Institute discussions on the Creation, the Fall, the Atonement, and Why Are We Here?

I think in my reading one of the most beautiful things I have come across is from "The Infinite Atonement" by Tad R. Callister, a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy.  He quotes Truman Madsen who gave these consoling words:  "Men have stood at pulpits and elsewhere-great men-and have testified that their knees have never buckled, that as one said of another, 'He had nothing to hide.'  We have had monumental men who did not need redemption as much as they needed power, and who never fell very far from the communing light of which I have spoken.  I cannot bear that kind of testimony.  But if there are some of you who have been tricked into the conviction that you have gone too far, that you have been weighed down with doubts on which you alone have a monopoly, that you have had the poison of sin which makes it impossible ever again to be what you could have been-then hear me.

"I bear testimony that you cannot sink farther than the light and sweeping intelligence of Jesus Christ can reach, he is there.  He did not just descend to your condition; he descended below it, 'that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth' (D&C 88:6)."  (Madsen, Christ And The Inner Life, 14)

 Saturday was a beautiful day for a walk.  We chose to return to Mendenhall glacier and this time we made the mile hike to Nugget Falls. 

That is comforting.  That is, to know that Christ has descended below any depth to which I may have sunk, in order to lift me from my weak and fallen state, and with his mercy and grace, grant me forgiveness.  I could go on and on about the Atonement.  It is the single most important event to have ever happened on the Earth.  But I will move to other aspects of our mission as well.

I have always gotten a chuckle out of this lawn ornament I pass often when driving on North Douglas. 

Last Thursday we had our largest attendance since we have begun.  I expected that with the coming of summer our numbers would go down.  Instead they have increased.  We discussed the first nine chapters of Acts.  I love Acts.  It helps me to understand even more fully the apostasy and the need for a restoration, the same restoration completed by the mission of Joseph Smith.

Our last Wednesday Institute was heavily attended as well.  The food Diane worked so hard to prepare was devoured quickly.  There was barely enough for all and not enough dessert for all.  Her desserts are getting more exotic and enticing with each week it seems.  She is really going to town on her genealogy.  I am doing a lot of indexing when not studying or fishing.

I didn't know what type of fish I tricked into taking my lure.  So I took a picture of it and looked it up on Google Search.  To the best of my ability it appears to be one of the 40 species of Rock Fish that dwell in the waters off of the coast of Alaska.  The scorpion fish was just to ugly to take a picture of.

Yes I have been fishing.  I can't believe my luck.  On my very first cast I hooked a King Salmon.  I did not have my drag set well and quickly lost it after a few acrobatic leaps.  Three casts later I connected again.  This time I had a tremendous fight on my hands.  But I didn't have a net.  I had no idea what I was in for casting from the shore.  I did get it into the shore.  But there was just no place I could get that big thing out of the water.  When I tried to put my hands around it, it took off out into the ocean again.  I was able to fight it for well over ten minutes before I lost it too.  It was definitely beginners luck, and an Alaskan tease.  I did not get another bite.  A second morning of fishing I had to return home without so much as a nibble.  My third morning, Saturday, I caught all sorts of stuff.  I caught Dolly Varden and Rock Fish and even a Scorpion fish.  They are really ugly and with porcupine like spikes along their fins and spine.  And their mouth is big like a large mouth bass.  But I still haven't seen the elusive King Salmon again.  I'll try again this week some time.

Over the phone I have been helping Ketchikan and Skagway organize their summer Institute programs.  Ketchikan is going strong but I have yet to hear from Skagway.  We do have a new seminary teacher in Sitka.  We will be making arrangements to visit with her in the next week or so.

We finally made the visit to St. Therese's Sanctuary out the road.  That made for a beautiful walk and visit.

There were a mother Humpback whale and her calf off to my right playing lazily in the water.  They were very close to the shore. 

I took lots of pictures in and around the Shrines at St. Therese's Sanctuary.  I'm still learning how to use this point and shoot camera, and the brilliant light behind the shadows of the forest were giving me fits.  I ended up having to throw most of the pictures away.

 

Good-Bye Sunshine!

As easily as we had 5 or 6 days in a row with beautiful bright sunshine, we have had 5 or 6 days in a row of typical Juneau rain and mist.  It is still beautiful in spite of the lack of rays.

We have survived our first week of the summer without getting up at 5:00 a.m. to prepare for seminary.  I'm usually out of bed by 6:30 a.m. but I really splurged one day and slept until 7:45 a.m.

Before driving the rest of the way to my fishing rock, I stopped to look back and take a picture of the four ships in the Juneau Harbor.

The two Doctrines of the Gospel lessons that I prepared for Institute this week were, The Creation, and The Fall.  We didn't have a very big class this week.  The cruise ships are coming in at the rate of 4 and 5 each day.  When each one brings 2000 tourists that need to be entertained while they are in Juneau, anywhere from 6 to 11 hours, our bus driver YSA members end up working late.  They are busily helping to shuffle each of these tourists to the many tourist attractions that are here.  The ones that came were very involved in the discussion, and that makes for a good lesson. 

The Adult Gospel Discussion Group was centered on the first 8 Chapters of Acts.  What a great lesson that turned out to be.  Peter takes hold of the reigns and leads the church.  Jews and Gentiles join the newly organized Christian church literally by the thousands.  The Quorum of the Seventy is organized and Stephen becomes a martyr for the cause.  Peter and John perform miracles in the streets which causes great concern to flow through the halls of the Sanhedrin.  They are given stripes to discourage them from creating further disturbances in Jerusalem.  I have suspected that as the summer season came, we would probably not have anyone come.  But they are still coming and our numbers are holding steady at 10 to 12 each week.

This is Downtown Juneau, Alaska on a partly cloudy day.  The shot is across the Gastineau Channel and looking back to the East.

The Missionary Prep class was held again this Sunday.  We had two young ladies attend.  Our oldest of the two just returned from her second year of school at BYU Provo.  Her application is filled out and she is excited to get that Stake President's interview.  The younger of the two has just graduated.  Emilyanne will be spending the next 3 weeks touring the Eastern United States with her younger brother and a Russian foreign exchange student that has stayed in their home during the school year.  Emilyanne is young to look at, but mature in her understanding of the gospel.  She says she will start the paper work for her mission when she returns from the East Coast.  Our twins, Josh and Villi are having a hard time working Missionary Prep into their schedules.  The church had a nice article about them and their football in the Era recently.

After the missionary prep class we went into the cultural hall to have our Break the Fast meal.  It's a pot luck where everyone contributes to make it a success.  We had a great variety of cookies and salads, casseroles and soups.  Bro. Richard Welling spent the night mixing up fruit smoothies with berries, ice and yogurt.  That was a hit.  After everyone had their fill a lot of the summer workers quickly exited opting not to stay for the small fireside we had prepared.  We did have about 18 stay and participate in a great discussion.  I read a talk by Elder Marvin J. Ashton from the April 1981 General Conference of the Church.  It is titled "We Serve That Which We Love."  After that wonderfully written talk I got the YSA going on the talks relevance in their lives today.  It is fun to have these wonderful insights by all of these returned missionaries.

The tide was low when I arrived to try my hand at some shore fishing.  The rocks were covered in barnacles and mussels. 

We have had a bit of free time to fill in since seminary has taken the summer hiatus.  I have been doing some things on Ancestry.com and checking with Family Search.  Diane actually gets in and does a little research.  She's good and she is patient with it.  When I get a bit discouraged with PAF family lines not looking like those from my pedigree lines on Family Search, I close it down and open up the Indexing Site and I will do a batch or two each day. 

Today the sun almost came out.  It was partly cloudy and in the low 50s so I pulled out my missionary fishing starter kit  and drove out to the far side of Douglas Island.  I walked through a most beautiful boggy area which had sturdy, well structured planks laid out by the forest service for easy walking.  I was so anxious to cast my carefully selected lures out into the ocean from the shore my heart was just racing in anticipation.  I cautiously walked to the edge of the water and climbed up on some protruding rocks that were covered in mussels and other shelled sea life.  I cast that silver spoon with the pinkish orange oval in the center out as far as I could; that was about 110-125 feet and I excitedly reeled it back towards me.  I had it half way back home and BAM.  I could not believe it.  I had a fish on.  I had attracted a fish on my very first cast.  I instantly realized that I didn't have the drag set at all and the line was sailing off of my reel.  I finally got it screwed down a bit and I had a fight on my hands for about 30 seconds before I lost it.  I did get to see it though.  It was nothing like a strike in the Rocky Mountains.  This thing hit like it was made of steel and was in the neighborhood of about 20 inches I'm guessing. I did actually get to see it break the surface a couple of times.  (So if you would like to, and if it will make you feel better, you may subtract any number of inches off of my estimate you would care to.)  I quickly realized that I hadn't let it wear itself out at all and I had it at my knees way too soon.  So I lost it.

This was the area to the right of where I was fishing.  The shot is looking to the north.

My heart was thumping.  This is the greatest thing for a fisherman, to feel power like that on the end of a casting rod.  I threw the spoon out the same distance three more times.  While reeling the lure back home I saw this fish off to my right. It was about 60 feet out, and had jump out on the surface of the water.  In my mind I was thinking that the next cast would be in that direction.  I didn't even have to wait for the next cast.  I saw that thing glide like a torpedo towards my lure and suddenly it was hooked.  I played him back and forth, in and out for 10-13 minutes.  I even got it very close to my boots.  But I had no way to get this fish over the edge and into my hands.  I was kicking myself for not having brought a net.  As I gave this king salmon my best imitation of getting a trout out of the water, he found new life and was back out to sea for a few more minutes of frolic and thrashing on the surface.  I did lose him as well.  I never had another hit the two hours I was out there.  It came too easy, and too fast.  However, I was thrilled to have had the experience of a King Salmon to fight with for the amount of time we did tug at each other.  I don't know how long, or how heavy he was.  I do know he was over two feet long and maybe as much as 30 inches.  I just know I can't wait to get out there again.  (Again, please feel free to insert the number of inches you feel probably should be in that position.)

Driving back from the area I fished, I noticed how beautiful the view across the bay was.  There was Mendenhall Glacier.  I don't know how many times Mendenhall Glacier has asked me to take its picture.

Now my purpose in relating this adventure was to get my boys excited about coming up to try their hand at some Alaskan fishing.  I still can't say I've caught an Alaskan salmon, but the experience was priceless. 

We did have a couple of adult brown bears wander by the Relief Society windows during Relief Society on Sunday last.  There was a time out while the ladies grabbed for their phones and took pictures of them. 

I just love Alaska.