Earthquake

     So I thought it was a pretty routine week until yesterday when we had an earthquake. Elder Robinson was driving with the missionaries to help with a move while I was at home, cleaning the house on our     P-day. I heard a rumbling that got louder and louder and then the house started to groan, creak, snap and pop loudly. I heard dishes in the cupboard rattling but it wasn't shaking as much as I would have thought. The scary part was feeling the rattling getting more intense and wondering how long it would go on or how much worse would it get. I went to stand under a door jamb but then it was over. It lasted probably less than a minute but it seemed a long time. After the house stopped shaking, I felt shaky! Elder Robinson didn't feel anything while driving. 

There had been a 7.1 earthquake in Nov 2018 in the same area as this one. It turned out it was a 5.3 aftershock of the previous earthquake. There have been 13,000 aftershocks from that original earthquake. This one was the strongest. I looked for information online and they have a citizen scientist survey that people participate in reporting what they felt and the amount of damage. It ranked as a light to mild earthquake with little damage. The only damage I found was the bar in the kitchen had separated from the wall about 1/2 inch. 

Afterwards it made me think about how prepared I would be if it had been a more disastrous event. I was glad I could get in touch with Elder Robinson right away. That was my first concern. We were pretty well prepared with food, water and supplies. Most Alaskans noticed the earthquake but were not concerned with a 5.3 quake. There were 55,000 seismic event in 2019 and 49,250 in 2020. The world's largest earthquake in 2020 was in Alaska on one of the islands in the chain in the Bering Sea. It was 7.8. Most earthquakes are in the 2-4 range. A lot of the older apartments for the missionaries have some form of earthquake damage. There is one apartment that the kitchen floor is quite slanted from previous quakes. Whenever they bake something in the oven it comes out very uneven even though they have leveled the stove as much as possible. 

Other than that it was a quiet week. There are 35 minutes more light each week and 23 inches of snow on the ground. It feels like snow is melting more between storms. The missionaries were getting cars that have been parked unused over the winter back in shape. They were scraping the snow off and jumpstarting the batteries. With more missionaries leaving for original assignments we have extra cars. 

I felt really grateful that one of the sister missionaries preparing to go to Korea was able to get her Covid test completed in time to leave. The church has most of the missionaries fly home to take a Covid test while staying with family and then leave from there for their new mission. This sister was leaving directly from Alaska so they had her take a saliva test, mail it overnight with FedEx and hopefully have results in 24 hrs so she could leave the next day. When she dropped the package off at FedEx they said because of weather delays in the lower 48 they couldn't guarantee delivery. I had her get a test in Alaska right away and hoped she would get her result in time. She had the result within 18 hours and was able to leave as planned. Whew! We found out FedEx delivered the package 3 days later. Mail has been really slow!

We saw a truck selling seafood by the side of the road and decided to see if we could get some spotted prawns because they are sooo good! We bought some prawns and also some 4/7 Colossal Alaskan King Crab legs. They are about 2 feet long and weigh about 1.5 pounds each. (4-7 legs in 10 lbs). Whenever I see crab I think of Zack and Jack.

It is transfer week this coming week. We will miss the missionaries going home but know their families will be so excited to see them. It is great to see how much they have grown in this experience. We have been here 6 months and I realize that a year from now we will be going home. I hope I will have made similar changes in my life that I have seen in these young missionaries. They are able to do hard things with optimism and hope. I admire the light in their lives as they work, serve and share their love for those around them. President King shared a thought about working with missionaries or anyone for that matter. He used the acronym PIE for Praise, Instruct, Encourage. PIE is good and produces results in a positive way.  I like remembering how positive Pres Hinckley was and also the optimism and energy Pres. Nelson has as he speaks about the future. I think that positive feeling is part of why a mission feels like the best 18-24 months of your life. It is a happy time.

These last 3 pictures are my happy pictures. I love looking at my solar flower waving at me from the window on a sunny day. I send one for each of your birthdays so it reminds me of you too and brings a smile to my face. I like these pictures and valentines on our work board to think of family. And lastly I saw this lady on the news with this hat that Annie also has. It's so cute on Annie. 

We love and think about each of you every day. You are valuable and of great worth (D&C 18:10) to family, friends and God. Not just in a general way but individually for your unique qualities, personality and spirit. Thank you for the richness you bring to our lives.

Love,

Elder and Sister Robinson