Loyalty, Integrity, Courage

 

    Elder Robinson and I have been looking for a new apartment and saw this Alaska State Trooper car parked next to the apartment we were looking at. I liked seeing the qualities Loyalty, Integrity and Courage on the car, visible for everyone to see. It made me think of what qualities would I want to display and how do I connect my actions with those values. I know loyalty and faith are similar. That caused me to think more about President Nelson's talk about faith and how to increase faith (Study, Believe, Act, Ordinances and Ask). Even with a seed of faith it can grow to bless our lives if we work at it. I was reminded of a necklace my dad brought home from one of his business trips that had a tiny mustard seed in it and a little medallion with the scripture "If you have the faith of a mustard seed, you can move mountains". I got it when I was about 8 and probably didn't appreciate it as much as I do now. My dad gave me the necklace about faith but more importantly he gave me his own example of a faithful life. As we get older both Elder Robinson and I appreciate our parents for the faith and love they have shown. We are also grateful for our wonderful brothers and sisters (National Sibling Day). And to our children, I have often thought we may be good parents but our kids are the best brothers and sisters to each other! Hurray for you. Families are a great blessing! 

    Transfers are coming up this week which is always an exciting time. It is fun to be around the missionaries as they see past companions and are paired with new ones. They look forward sometimes to moving to a new area or building new relationships. For some missionaries it can be stressful. President King commented that the week after transfers he gets a lot of letters from missionaries for how hard it is. Then after a week or two they write how much they have learned and are grateful to be where they are (although not always). It is good to learn they can do hard things and adapt to change. I am so grateful to be a part of helping the missionaries. These pictures are some of the missionaries  we helped get set up in their apartments. None of them will be going home but some will be moving to other areas. We feel the growing pains of transfers too. 

    We had another earthquake this week. It was a 5.5 earthquake but was about 100 miles away so it was exciting but not scary like the earlier one. Just the rocking back and forth. It has also been very cold in the mornings(0 degrees/6 below, wind chill) but warmer in the afternoon (34 degrees). This week should be in the 40's so snow will really melt and hopefully completely disappear. Here are some pictures of the mounds of snow that have melted and left piles of gray grit. I wondered how they collect the grit. They brush it to the middle or side of the road and then load piles of dirty snow and haul it away to a big pile. Then the snow melts and just leaves the grit. I think they also sweep it up in parking lots because it is smoother now. The puddles are getting bigger too. 

     I haven't gotten as many pictures of sunrise and sunset because they come earlier and later in the day. The sister missionaries told us they love summer but there are about 2 months that they don't see sunrise and sunset because it doesn't come between 6:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m. But they love how lush and green everything is in summer. I'm excited to see it soon! Scenery is drab right now. 

    I couldn't resist some pictures of wildlife in Alaska--moose at the church and another about 25 feet away and across the street from our apartment. The moose have lost their horns and are growing them back between now and August. This first moose just had red stumps when we first saw it and a week later they had grown about a foot.

    I thought Ruthie would have liked this dog hanging out the window. He kind of looked like Sasquatch. 

    And lastly this wild rodeo truck, "No fear in the Last Frontier".  Also a Chinook helicopter at the Air Force/Army base. It is interesting to see some of the helicopter maneuvers while driving down the freeway.

    It looks like a beautiful spring in Utah. I know wherever you live you can find things of beauty and wonder if you look. Sometimes you just have to look a littler harder (like April in Alaska). We love each of you and hope you find goodness in your lives. Be good!

Love,

Elder and Sister Robinson