Here's a short letter from Michelle I received last Monday. Sorry it took so long to post.

Daddy,

I haven't been home since 7am since our Zone went on a Hike this morning; it was wicked hard. I couldn't do it, but some of the Elders had ropes so Elder Southworth, who used to be a gymnast/male cheerleader aka he's pretty strong, tied it around his waist and then had me hold on to it and he helped me up the trail. It was really nice of him. Elder Whittington (who is from Pleasantview UTAH!) let me have some of his gatorade and he and Elder Heaton (one of my Zone Leaders) encouraged me all the way up. They were very sweet and they're my favorite Elders right now. :D lol The view where we finally stopped was beautiful (there are pictures) and totally worth the fact that I won't be able to crawl out of bed tomorrow morning. It probably won't help that I spent a couple of hours playing Dodgeball and kickball today too. Pretty much, my Zone is awesome! :D

I love you tons too! :D

Love,
'chelle

Mail Call!

Here's what our favorite missionary had to say today:

Daddy!

The weather here the past week has been reminding me lots of home. We've been kind of cloudy and overcast with some occasional showers, it's nice. Yesterday after church when we went out to the car the thermometer inside said 81....yikes! It was only in the high 60s, but the car was baking inside...my chocolate bar turned to goo...lol

Speaking of mailing things, I sent you a letter today with my notes from our meeting with Elder Nelson and a copy of my talk outline. I'll have to record the talk on my tape recorder since it's just an outline that I sent you.

I do like my new companion. Someone called us a married couple the other night at dinner, lol. It was really funny.

The work is going well here and the members are AWESOME too. They take such good care of us.

I love you bunches!

Love,
'chelle

Mail Call!

I got a short email from Michelle today. Here's the latest...

Daddy!

Oh hey! Be proud! I filled the gas tank all by myself yesterday! :D

Things with my new companion are still going great! I LOVE Sister Moeller to death, she's awesome! I'm sad that I only have 4 more weeks to serve with her.

Our meeting with Elder Nelson was AMAZING! I didn't ask any questions, but I took really good notes. I'll copy them tomorrow after District Meeting and send them to you as soon as I get some 2 cent stamps. Oh...you should send me stamps...preferably Star Wars stamps. :D

The missionary work here in Wasilla is going great. The people are awesome and we have several people with "soft" commitments to be baptized, meaning when they know it's true they'll take the plunge.

...we're emailing during lunch today since yesterday was a holiday. Well, time is short, gotta go email mom really quick!

Love ya,
'chelle

Okay... you read it. She wants Star Wars stamps!

New Feature!

Hi everyone. I've added a new feature to Michelle's Blog. Scroll down a little, and on the right sidebar notice that I have added current weather information as well as sun and moon, rise and set times.

I hope you like the new features!

Chris

P.S. No email from Michelle today, as it is a holiday and the library where she uses the computer is closed.

Mail Call!

Here's the latest from Michelle.

I did have a great time with Sister Hubbard and Sister Woodbury this past week... the only stress was packing everything on Friday. I still haven't bought a new suitcase though since I haven't been anywhere too far like Fairbanks or Ketchikan... I'll probably buy one soon though... I should've done it last transfer though since there's no tax in Anchorage... Wasilla has tax... Oh...by the way - I'm in Wasilla now! It's about an hour or so North of Anchorage.

My companion is Sister Moeller, from Utah, and I'm so excited to be with her for the next five weeks (it's a short transfer since the last one was longer). She goes home in five weeks though and I'm not excited to "kill off" another companion... I've only been with her since Saturday afternoon after our meeting with Elder Russel M. Nelson.

Speaking of Elder Nelson, [he] was AMAZING - we got to have a Q&A with him... he answered our doctrinal questions! It was so cool, I'll send you a copy of my notes later this week along with more details. WE GOT TO SHAKE HIS HAND! :D

I love you Daddy! Have an excellent week!

Love,
'chelle

New Address!

Check out the links for "Where is Michelle Now" and "Current Address". They have both changed!

News From The North

Hi Everyone. I got a phone call from Michelle on Mothers Day! It was really exciting to talk to her! We talked for about an hour. Besides Christmas, Mothers Day is the only time Michelle will call home. Michelle was able to talk to her sisters, her mom, some aunts and uncles and some grandparents. It was a great day for all of us.

Now the update. Michelle is having a wonderful time being a missionary. She told me that these past six months have been the best time she has ever had in her life. She absolutely loves what she is doing. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a true gift and she is so happy that she gets to share it with the people of Alaska.

Michelle's companion for the last month has finished her mission and went home on Monday. Well, actually, her parents came to pick her up and they are touring Alaska before she goes home. So, that leaves Michelle without a companion... Not really. She is back with Sister Hubbard, her trainer. They'll be together until they shuffle some Sister missionaries around and Michelle is reassigned. So, for now, send snail mail to the mission home. The address is on the "Current Address" link, over on the right.

That's it for now. Michelle says "Hi" to everyone on the Blog!

To Our Mothers

As someone once said: "God could not be everywhere, and so He gave us Mothers."

I want to take this opportunity to thank my Mother. She has been an inspiration and example to me. Thanks Mom! I love you.

I also want to thank the Mother of my daughters. Although we have gone our separate ways, she is still an inspiration to our daughters, who love her very much. Happy Mothers Day Kathi.

And for all Mothers out there...

Happy Mothers Day!

Mail Call!

Such that it is... Here is the whole of Michelle's email for this week. Apparently the computer at the Library, where she checks her email, was reserved, and so she didn't have much time to use it.

I ran out of time, I'll email you next week...

Love ya!
'chelle

Mail Call!

I received an email from Michelle on Monday. Below are a couple of excerpts. Other than that she says she doing great and is really enjoying the work.

....I do like getting pictures. A lot of them I put up on my wall, I'll send you pictures of my wall here pretty soon, and the rest go in my photo album or in my journal.

The past couple days here have been pretty good too. We've had partially clear skies and it's been in the mid to upper 50s during the day...but we've had some wind and clouds the past couple of days so that kinda makes it a bit chilly.

She keeps promising pictures... None yet though. I'll post 'em when I get 'em.