Alaska Alaska Alaska: January 12, 2015

Well hello.

What a week it has been. Thankfully I am alive and back in Anchorage. Get ready for story time! So Wednesday morning Sister Ogden and I were dropped off at the airport to do exchanges with the sisters in Juneau and Sitka. At 2:32 we boarded the plane. Right before we were supposed to fly out they made an announcement that due to weather we may not be able to land in Juneau. They said that anyone that didn't want to go could get off the plane. Nobody even flinched, so we totally thought we would be fine. They went on to tell us that all the other flights that day had landed. So.. our first layover was in Cordova. That was happy! It was beautiful. Our next layover was in Yakutat where they proceeded to tell us that they were not going to even try to land in Juneau due to freezing rain on the runway. They told us that we were flying straight to Seattle, Washington. We started freaking out because we are not aloud to leave the mission. We called our mission president and he told us to fly to Seattle. We got there at about 9:30 and were able to re-book a flight back into Juneau the next morning at about 7:00. We figured that we would sleep in a hotel for the night, but nope. Our mission president told us to stay in the airport. We bought a Seattle t-shirt to prove we were there. The airport started dying down until there were only about 10 of us there. We decided to find a bench to sleep on. Sadly, all of the benches were a nightmare! We could not sleep at all and to make matters worse...at about 1 am they decided to do airport construction. That basically said goodbye to sleeping. Sister Ogden and I pulled an all nighter and boarded the plane back to Juneau that morning. By that time our hair was insanely greasy, we smelt bad, and we were exhausted! We then landed in Juneau at 9:45 and had to be to a meeting at 10:30. We were waiting for our bags to come off the plane and out came Sister Ogden's, but mine was not there. I had to report a missing bag and they told me that it would probably come in on the next flight. So.... we quickly ran to the sisters apartment and showered. I had to borrow everything of Sister Ogdens. We then went to the meeting with soaking wet hair. We went throughout our day... I'll talk about the day later. It was 8:30 pm and my bags still hadn't shown up. I had to board my plane to Sitka in 20 minutes. The last flight came in and my bags still were not there. The airline told me it wasn't their fault for losing them because it was due to weather and that they would not reimburse me. I was so tired and I started to cry saying "I don't even have a toothbrush!" They then told me that I could buy the bear necessities. We then boarded the plane to Sitka. We landed at about 11:30 pm. The next day was great. I'll talk about that later also. We stayed for the day and I finally got my luggage at about 12:30 pm. The next morning we flew back to Anchorage, but not without its struggles. We had to be at the airport at 3:45 am. We were standing in line at the airport about to go through security when all of the sudden my blood sugar dropped. I went pale white and immediately had to lay on the benches. The Sitka airport is super small so of course everyone is watching Sister Ogden try and shove sugar down my throat. The attack lasted for about 45 minutes. I almost missed the flight because I literally could not even stand up to walk through the x-ray thing. Oh well... at least I made it. Well, we then landed in Juneau and told us all to get off the plane. We were like what? They then told us we had a 2.5 hour layover because of the lack of flight attendants. So lame. We finally made it back to Anchorage at about 11:30. It was a crazy adventure.

Well... back to the beginning of the week. For P-day we walked out on the frozen ocean. It was super cool and fun! Wait until you see some awesome pictures.

We were able to teach K and her less active boyfriend the Restoration. The last time they were taught it was about a year ago. It was a great refresher. We challenged them to read the Book of Mormon everyday. They agreed! That was happy!

Juneau was just fantastic! I got to see several of the people I love so much. One of my favorite things was seeing R. Since I had left she had gotten baptized. I am not kidding when I say that she is completely different. The spirit just radiates from her. She is kind and so happy! It was the best thing ever to see. The day with Sister Lind was awesome. I got to see J, the one that told me that I looked like I was from under a rock.. she is dying. It was super sad to see, but I was happy to say goodbye. I got see and recommit S, an old investigator to start coming to church. That was awesome. I got to have dinner with the L's and lunch with the S's. That was great to see them! There was also a Relief Society activity I got to go to. Seeing everyone was just what I needed. I love the people of Juneau so much.

I was with Sister Guerra in Sitka. Sitka is beautiful. We got to do service at a bear habitat. Folks. I fed bears! It was the best. We were not able to see a lot people...oh... I did play the piano for old people at a retirement home. Mom... you should be proud. All of that piano practice has paid off. It was a fun day in Sitka.

Sadly, two of our investigators said they were coming to church, but decided not to come at the last second. Hopefully, they will come this next Sunday. We get transfer calls on Thursday. It should be interesting to see what happens. I only have 2 transfers left. Oh speaking of that ... I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU GOT MY FLIGHT INFO. HOW SCARY. I don't want it to end...

Love you all!

Sister Morrison