Robinson Alaska Mission

  The big news this week is that we passed our drivers license exam and are now licensed Alaska drivers. I was able to get my license in about 45 min. They gave Elder Robinson both the Drivers test and Motorcycle test since he had a motorcycle endorsement on his UT license. He hadn't studied but he passed both tests, it just took a little longer. Ironically as we were driving home we saw a moose in the road which is one of the questions on the test, "What do you do if you see a moose in the road?" You brake to a stop and do not swerve. We have seen this moose wandering around the mission office.  The next interesting thing was the Northern Lights were very active around Fairbanks this past week. We didn't see them in Anchorage but there is a website that shows nightly pictures of the sky at Poker Flats by Fairbanks. I would check off an on through the night and see the time lapse video. It isn't the same but I think getting to see the Northern Lights is like tryin...

We have been in Alaska one month! I'm so glad we were able to leave in September instead of October. We were able to see so many things and enjoy some nice fall weather before it snowed. Like Today!! We were so surprised to wake up to a light snowfall and icy roads. We will get studded snow tires tomorrow. I think the icy roads are more of a concern than just the snow. We also are scheduled to take our drivers license test this Wednesday. Just the written part. Sure hope we pass. This was a very busy week. We had 4 zone conferences. The one with Juneau was a zoom meeting. Since we have to fly there we may not go until springtime. We had 2 meetings in Anchorage and then drove down the Kenai peninsula to Soldotna. I enjoy driving in Alaska because there is always something interesting to see. We saw sled dogs again pulling an ATV by the side of the road. I thought I took a video but when I pushed the button to stop I realized I hadn't actually started the video so all I got was ...

I have enjoyed so much hearing from you and how you are doing. It looks like fall is especially beautiful everywhere this year. The pictures I have seen from Utah and Indiana (Kate) look so pretty. Thank you for sharing them with me. I think lovely thoughts of fall will help carry us through winter. It is starting to get colder and darker. It was interesting when we got our flu shots we asked the pharmacist how cold the winter would be. She said she came from Wisconsin a few years ago and Alaska winters were much better than the cold Wisconsin winters! So I guess it could be worse (Poor Wes in Wisconsin).  We have been trying to go to all 9 Zone conferences this month to introduce ourselves and let them know what we can do to help them. We went to Palmer about an hour north of Anchorage and Fairbanks, about 360 miles NE (a 6 hr drive). Palmer was where we went to the fall festival the first week we were here but I hadn't met the missionaries there. A few hours before we were g...

I have enjoyed seeing pictures from home. The fall colors look really beautiful at home too. Except you have nice warm temperatures too. It feels like mid November here with wind blowing leaves down the street and crisp cool air. I am glad we get 4 seasons here though even if they are shorter than winter. The picture of the pretty leaves on the tree are inside the apartment complex. The picture with leaves in the street are outside the complex.  I also sent a picture of my Alaska boots on a drip pan. They are rubber ankle boots with warm fur inside and you can slip them off very easily as soon as you walk in the door and put them on the rubber pan for wet shoes. They are a great idea! Since everyone wears them I feel in style wearing them too.   The other unique thing I have noticed in Alaska is that when you build somewhere that doesn't have a street name, you get to pick the name of the road. So there are streets named Our Road, My Road, and Alaskas...