First Week

Well my first week in Alaska is officially over. It has been a very eventful week. The first day I was there I met up with another girl from Arkansas named Paige. We decided to go out and sightsee that first day. Right across from the hotel was this out door market. It was really cool to see the different crafts from the artists around Alaska. Here are some pictures

The fresh fruit stand

Guys making balloon things

There is a saying here that if you cut Alaska in half Texas would be the third largest state....it makes me laugh

After we went to the market we just walked around and had fun. I left Paige at the hotel that night and went and stayed with a girl that is a member of the church up here. She took me and Paige to church the next morning and it was so different than anything I was used to. So that members of the church can have meetings they have church over the phone. You call in and have a phone conference. It was so weird but so Amazing to be able to know that there are people out there that are in the same situation that I am going to be in that still have strong testimonies. It was a testimony meeting where there is no set talk or sermon and people from the congregation share their feelings and what they know about their Redeemer and Savior. It was such a strength to me and I really felt that I was not alone.

The rest of the week was so fun and exciting and challenging. A whole week of training made me feel like I was back in school and my test is going to be if the students learn and pass on to the next grade. We got to go to the Alaska History Museum and eat dinner one night and it was really cool to see the things that they had there. I ate salmon that I liked so hopefully it won't be too bad in the village and I will be able to survive. Molly and I went shopping on Wednesday and got enough groceries to survive at least 3 months. Due to planning and our knowledge of how to cook we spent a third of our budget and even had the money to have the people ship it for us! We also went on a hike Wednesday. It was so beautiful but really hard, it reminded me of my hike up Mount Timpanogos...really hard but worth it in the end. 

Trees on the way

In the middle

At the beginning 

Looking down from the top

The top looking across

After Wednesday the rest of the week was the same as the first a lot of meetings and then having fun at night. Saturday morning we all got up and headed to the airport. We made our first flight but our second flight from Bethel to Marshall was delayed by quite a few hours, but we finally made it. It is so beautiful and welcoming. I know I am going to love it here!