Alaska Alaska Alaska: January 9, 2015

Hello friends and family.

Can you believe it is Valentine's Day coming up this weekend? Man time has flown by.

So this week has been super cold. One of the down sides of having a truck is that it has no thermometer so we never know how cold it is, but a member has taught me a really helpful trick. You ready for it? It will probably cause you to laugh pretty hard. Depending how cold it is outside the snow as a certain squeaky pitch when you walk on it. So... in other words. The colder the snow the squeakier it is. Sister Strong had fun this week trying to decipher how cold it was based on the squeakiness of the snow. I think the weather resided at about -5 this whole week with lots of wind. I think the wind chill probably made it feel about -20.

We did some fun service this week. We were able to help out at a Nature Center in Eagle River. There was going to be a big bike race this week, and part of the trails snow needed to be packed down that the snow machines could not get to. So... they asked us missionaries to go and snow shoe the trail to pack down the snow. How could we say no? We got to go snow shoe for about three miles for free and not even on a P-day. Could service get any better? It was pretty cold, but being out in the mountains made it all worth it.

This week we had a the opportunity to go out to lunch with President and Sister Robinson right before our Zone Meeting. That was a treat. They took Sister Strong and I out to Subway. I just love them so much. They are amazing. We were able to talk to them a lot about our ward and the unique challenges that it presents. By the end of the lunch President told Sister Strong that we could also help worth with the Arctic Valley Ward. Right now there are senior missionaries in that ward. They are getting ready to go home and are trying to wrap things up. They need some help working with people that they don't have time for. We happily accepted. Looks like when you pray really hard for more work the Lord really does provide.

This week we were able to meet with our investigator A and her husband J. It was a great lesson. We talked about the love that our Heavenly Father has for us. The spirit was very strong and the room was filled with tears. Their is a great power that comes from the Holy Ghost as we teach about each persons divine nature. We invited them to come church, but sadly they couldn't because J is getting out the military today and had to do a whole bunch of stuff yesterday for that. They said they would come this week though :)

We had an awesome FHE with a family that has all non-member children. We decided to keep it real basic. So I had this idea.... we popped a bag of popcorn and gave each kid like 30 popped pieces of popcorn. We then asked them to find two that were identical. They couldn't find two of the same. We then talked about how we are all different. Each person has different talents and abilities. but we emphasized the importance of being God's children. The lesson went pretty good. Hopefully the kids will start investigating the church soon.

We were also able to have a lesson with a lady that was previously a do not contact, but let us in because apparently we have a nice ora about us. Pretty funny right?

So something very interesting happened at church on Sunday. We only had one hour of church. Can anyone guess why? The pipes leading up to the church froze up. Therefore nothing could move through the sewer or water lines. Only in Alaska would this happen. As we were sitting in ward council the Stake President called our Bishop and said to only have one hour of church and to call everyone on the ward list to use the bathroom before they came. At the beginning of Sacrament meeting they made the same announcement but added that if you had to leave sacrament early to use the facilities that would be okay. It was kind of weird only having one hour.

Well, I hope all is well. Things are going good here. I have recently been studying what it means to have a mighty change of heart. I have learned more about the Atonement than I ever thought I could. God answers prayers and has provided a Savior that is right there for us when we need him most. Remember that he waiting there to lift and carry you through some of your most difficult and trying times in your life.

Keep the faith, serve others and look for daily miracles.

I love you!!!

Sister Morrison