Fun at the Fair and a Surprise Visitor

 

    We were so excited to go the the Alaska State Fair yesterday. It is held in Palmer, about 50 minutes north of Anchorage, from August 20- Sept 6. It has been raining most of the week so we were especially happy to have a sunny day on Saturday, our P-day (day off), to enjoy being outside. We left early so we could get there when it opened, along with multiple thousands of Alaskans who had the same idea.  It was about a five-mile traffic jam to get there and took twice as long but it was worth it! I was a little worried for how we would find our car afterwards but we found landmarks and didn't get lost. There were a lot of carnival rides with long lines so we were glad we were there just to eat food, see the animal and garden exhibits and watch others on the rides. People are very friendly and it was nice to see families having a good time.  Interesting sights included a ride that was like a chair with two people bungee jumping but it would flip around and spin. Yikes! Who does that? Another "Who does that" was an 18 year-old and his sister who did a motorcycle stunt show in a metal sphere. It was fun to see the little kids racing in their electric cars. It looked like Mario Cart. 

We really liked seeing the 4-H animals, especially the cows. They were so well-mannered and their coats looked like velvet, so soft, smooth and shiny. Unlike any regular cow. There was a wide variety of goats, sheep and chickens too. I liked seeing all of the varieties of dahlias since I tried to grow some last year. I felt like some of mine would have made good entries at the fair. Alaska has a wide variety of mushrooms and the entrants wrote about the different ones in their display. A lot of them were hallucinogenic. I hadn't seen that before. 

The food was really good. We liked the Crab Shack a lot. The Crab Bisque in a Bread Bowl had a big piece of crab meat called the merus (the most sweet and tender piece of crab). It was really delicious. It was $29 and when we ordered several workers shouted "Merus!" It was really good. We also got regular and coconut crab cakes that were good but not as good as the merus. Another treat was Dutch pancakes, poffertjes. They are like Scandinavian ebelskivers and were delicious. We also bought fresh turnips, potatoes and carrots for Sunday dinner. 

After the fair we went for a short drive to Hatcher Pass. Most of the missionaries have gone hiking there. We weren't sure what to expect. Hatcher Pass was an old gold mining operation from 1936-1942. When they stopped mining they just left the buildings and now it is like a ghost town. We thought of Grandpa Henrie and how different gold mining is now. There were beautiful open fields that a few weeks ago would have been full of flowers but now things are starting to change to fall colors. It was pretty cold at the alpine zone elevation. I didn't think they could live there year round, but they did. There were lots of little streams that feed into the Susitna River lower in the valley. The river is big, fast and rugged. There is kayaking on the river but it looks really cold and scary. It was a full day but a lot of fun exploring. 

The best part of the week was having a surprise visit from our friend and neighbor in Provo, John Tanner. He had been visiting Alaska with 2 of Susan's brothers and stopped by the mission office for a short visit. It was a wonderful surprise! He served as a mission president in Brazil and his brother-in-law had served a mission in Alaska so we enjoyed sharing mission stories. It felt good to have an unexpected reminder of home. 

Spiritual Thought: One of the things I have really appreciated is wearing the name tag that identifies us as missionaries. Sometimes you can tell people feel a little uncomfortable knowing you are missionaries and other times you are warmly greeted. When I mentioned this to John Tanner he commented how hard it was for some missionaries to take off the tag when their mission was completed because it was such a good reminder to represent Christ as you wore the badge. He shared the scripture in 2 Corinthians 3:2-3 that teaches we need to have Christ written in our hearts so that our actions, more than a written tag, show we are followers of Christ. I have been thinking of what I do each day that would show (without a tag) that I believe in Christ. I hope the words I say, taking time to notice others, finding ways to serve, smiling, being patient, and even having courage to be different will remind me to be more like Jesus, especially in my heart. I am grateful for our mission experience and to feel a change of heart. I hope this week you will have a chance to  feel a change of heart too as you think of how you can be more like a disciple of Jesus. (It is that nice warm feeling.)

This week will be birthdays for Ryann (living at BYU) and Emmy H. Also Collynn and Joe have an anniversary and are celebrating moving into the home they bought from Wes. So happy for all of them. We love you all and pray for good things for you.

Love,

Elder and Sister Robinson

Halibut Sunday was the best yet. We used a Cedar Plank (in the oven since we do not have a grill) that helped keep it moist and gave it a mild cedar flavor. We served it on sauteed carrots, shallots and peppers with a citrus cream sauce. We had fresh turnips that were really good too. Key Lime tarts from LeAnn's easy recipe. It's fun trying new local food on our mission.

Some miscellaneous pictures. The pony ride reminded me of Annie.