Anchorage Alaska
Lunch
time was usually spent at our own apartments making whatever we could come up with.
Usually simplicity was best with lots of pasta and rice. On this occasion we had extras
over. Elders Kim and Benson on the left were the other missionaries that my companion and
I shared the "Hoyt Hole" with.
Ahh,
another beautiful sunset. This one taken while tracting in north Anchorage.
While living at the Hoyt Hole we had a mouse visitor that moved in behind the
stove. We tried everything we could think of to get rid of him, poison, smoke, finally
traps. One day My companion came home and he was hanging in a bag above the table,
complete with a suicide note which indicated he could tell he wasn't wanted and he may as
well end his life. I thought it was kind of humorous, but some of the other missionaries
weren't as amused.
Missionaries try and do about 10 hours a week of community service. One of
our common activities, especially in the summer, was helping out at local soup kitchens.
Here there is a line of missionaries creating trays of food to be handed out.
On
one of our P-Days we headed down to Portage Glacier, which is south of Anchorage. On the
way we passed some sheep up on the side of the mountain and stopped to take a picture.
This is a bit zoomed in, but the sheep were only about 10 feet off the road and up about
30 feet on the hillside.
This
stand of dead trees was formed as the saltwater inlet rose up over a field of trees. There
are many other vantage points than this, but I am often reminded of this scene when I
attend the temple. It is awfully beautiful for such a dark and dreary world.
Flat
top is on the east side of the city of Anchorage and I hiked it on more than one occasion
while serving in Anchorage wards. It is a good hike, but there is an enormous plateau at
the top, several football fields in size, that we would gather at. Here some of the
sisters are just cresting the final rise before reaching the top.
This
rock pokes out from the trail to the top of flat top. Elders Harding, Blake and myself
took this pose on the way up.
One of the poemsthat I have written was inspired by one of the hikes up flat top when we met a person coming down after using the mountain as a place of spiritual contemplation. Fortunately she was not overwhelmed by the encouragement of 20 or so missionaries.
