Bullwinkle?

Imagine coming home to this in your front yard! This pictures was taken by Sue Dickson. Sister Dickson and her husband are in the ward where Michelle is currently serving.

Surprise!

I did end up getting an email from Michelle. Here's what's going on...

Daddy,

The week has been good here as well. :D We had our second baptism on Saturday and it was so good! Tracie has been working with the missionaries since before I got to Alaska and it's been a rollercoaster ride. We were so excited to see her baptized on Saturday and then confirmed yesterday. It was wonderful! :D

Things are going very well here. We got our transfer calls on Saturday and I am staying here. Sister Hubbard is going to Rabbit Creek to be with my MTC companion, Sister Pedersen. Sister Sloan is coming from Eagle River to be my companion. I'm way excited! Sister Sloan is awesome and we get along very well! I'll miss Sister Hubbard but she's not that far away and I know that she and Sister Pedersen will get along well.

I got the Valentine's package from you and Bug! Thanks! The macadamia nuts are gone and I'll start in on those Andes Mints tonight. :D Thanks for the teddy bear too, it's very cute and TRAVEL SIZED! :D

Well, have a fabulous week!

Love,'chelle

Staying Put

I received the following email from a member of the ward where Michelle is living. Since it's a Holiday, I'm guessing that's why I didn't get an email from Michelle. They have to use the public library to email and they're closed today.

Chris,

Sister Barrett asked me to let you know she did not get transferred and will remain in her current location for another 6 weeks….yay! We are glad to keep her.

Sue Dickson

On a bumper sticker: "If you're living like there is no God, you'd better be right"

Mail Call!

Here's the latest from Michelle. Short but sweet. Just a reminder... Transfers are Monday, Feb 19th. Plan your mail and packages accordingly. She has a hunch she'll be moving.

Daddy,

I love Sundays too! :D It's amazing to get people there and see them soak everything in. We had 4 people at church yesterday, but only 3 of them are baptismal age...but still - YAY! :

I'll send my camera card soon, I promise...along with the audio tape...I completely forgot to include that in the package I sent you...Yep, Saturday is Transfer Calls. We're going to have a Zone activity. We'll play Volleyball from 7 - 11:30 and the APs and President Lewis will call us on the ZLs cell phone and then we'll all go to lunch and then go do a zone tract! Yay fun!

I love you too!

Love,'chelle

Why we do what we do

"Some Christians carry their religion on their backs. It is a packet of beliefs and practices which they must bear. At times it grows heavy and they would willingly lay it down, but that would mean a break with old traditions, so they shoulder it again. But real Christians do not carry their religion, their religion carries them. It is not weight; it is wings. It lifts them up, it sees them over hard places, it makes the universe seem friendly, life purposeful, hope real, sacrifice worth while. It sets them free from fear, futility, discouragement, and sin--the great enslavers of men's souls. You can know a real Christian, when you see him, by his buoyancy"

-Harry Emerson Fosdick

Mail Call?

Things must be busy up there. Here's the whole of her letter this week.

So, I got [your] email, but I don't have time to reply to it so I'm
just going to print it out and write you a real letter...CRAZY! love you!

Love,'chelle

So, more later...

Mail Call!

Sorry for the delay. I received an email from Michelle last Monday, but have been so busy at work, I haven't had a chance to update this.

Actually, her email was short and sweet. She's doing great! They are going through a bit of a warm spell up there. It's been above freezing a couple of times!

Just a heads up... Transfers are February 19th. Michelle will find out on the 17th if she'll be moving.

Here's a great quote that I hope you all enjoy, and in fact, is one of the reasons Michelle is serving a mission:

The Great Plan of Happiness
"To be without God in the world--in other words, to refuse to live His gospel and therefore lack the companionship of the Spirit--is to be in a state contrary to the nature of happiness. The gospel of Jesus Christ is, in fact, the--note that this is singular, meaning it is the only--'great plan of happiness' (Alma 42:8). If you opt for any other way of life or try to live only the parts of the gospel that seem convenient, such a choice will cheat you of the full, resplendent joy and happiness for which you were designed by our loving Father in Heaven and His Son."
(Marcus B. Nash, "The Great Plan of Happiness," Ensign, Nov. 2006, 49)

Mail Call!

More news from the cold front :) Here's the latest with Michelle.

This sound like fun... Not!
Last Wednesday was a wonderful day! :D Zone Activities are great! After emailing we're going to one, we're going to play Blood Sport. Blood Sport is EXTREME dodgeball, every man (or woman) for himself. It's scary and I rarely play...I usually watch because that's entertaining as well. I might be able to convince Elder Cope (ZL) to do Volleyball though, so we'll see.

This is regarding the Baptism of one of their investigators:
The baptism was AWESOME!!! President and Sister Lewis were there along with the APs,(Assistants to the Mission President) the ZLs, (Zone Leaders) the 3 sets of Elders in our district and the Eagle River sisters! There were so many people there from the ward too, it was great!!! :D And we had the closing prayer said in Tagalog by a brother in our ward who served his mission in the Philippines! Yesterday, Dolly was confirmed a member, it was amazing!! I have pictures from her baptism on my memory card that I'll send home soon!

Remember last week when her trainer, Sister Hubbard, told Michelle that she was a greenie because she still ironed her clothes. Well, now who’s calling the kettle black?
lol, it was so funny today! Sister Hubbard ironed her pants and I told her she was still a greenie..lol

The snow… Last week I told her that our snow was finally gone… except for a few mounds here and there which were remnants of snowpeople who gave a valiant fight, but nonetheless came to a slushy death.
Your snow melted and we got at least 6 inches of fresh snow last night. Crazy! No slushy deaths of snowmen here...not many snowmen to begin with really...sad news.

So, back to the “I eat everything I’m served” statement. Apparently there is at least one thing she still avoids…
Yep...I eat everything...although I managed not to get any shrimp in my noodles last week...that was some good maneuvering on my part. :D It's crazy how everyone in Alaska seems to put mushrooms in EVERYTHING! WHY must they torture me so...WHY?!?

Love,'chelleSister BarrettAlaska Anchorage MissionIt's the finest, greatest mission, it's the best!

So, that’s it till next time! Now go write your favorite missionary a letter!

Mail Call!

Here are a few excerpts from Michelle's latest email...

This one is why her P-day was on Wednesday this week:

Hello! :D This week, because of the holiday and our temple trip today, Pday is on Wednesday! :D Yay for starting the day off with a Zone Breakfast at Denny's and then a session at the temple. :D

This is regarding her first Baptism!

I am so excited for this baptism! It got postponed to this weekend because she was scheduled to work on Sunday at 5:30am, but they gave her this Saturday off and then she doesn't work until 3:30pm on Sunday so she'll be able to make it to church to be confirmed. I'm so excited!!!! :D

This is about the Hmong People that they work with up there.

The Hmong work is closely tied in with my ward here. The Hmong people are a nomadic people from southeast Asia, like Laos and those countries. They don't really have a country to claim as their own, but they have a language and a culture all their own. Because they are nomadic they've been pushed from place to place and re-located to many places, one of which is up here in Alaska. I'm sure you could "google" and find out more information. Anyways, I'm sending you my camera card soon and there will be pictures of the Hmong Elders in their traditional Hmong outfits at the Hmong New Year's Celebration last month.

And this is about her not being a "greenie" (new) anymore.

Yay for not being a greenie anymore...although I've heard that I'm a greenie until I stop acting like one...and my trainer said that as long as I still iron things I'll be a greenie, lol. I guess I'll be a greenie forever then...though I only iron the parts of my shirts that will show...

This will make her Grandparents (and parents) proud...

Oh man, did I tell you that I had Moose a while ago for dinner? It was pretty good, we had it as a pot roast. It pretty much tastes like beef. Earlier this week we had King Crab legs at the Terry's house. The Terry's are a Samoan family and there is always SO MUCH food at their house...oh my goodness... I didn't eat a whole lot that night though since I don't really care for crab. I always eat everything though...even the greenbeans....and the mushrooms that EVERYONE seems to put in their spaghetti...what is up with that?!

That's all for now. I'll post pictures as soon as I get them!

New Pictures...

Sort of... I've created a new album under "Mission Photos". When you click on "Mission Photos", it will take you to a listing of the photo albums. The new album I created is called "Mission Letters". It will have some letters that I've received from Michelle that I have scanned into the album. When you're looking at each letter, there is a little magnifying glass icon in the upper right corner. Click on that and it will magnify the picture so it will be easier to read. It's not the best setup for reading letters, but it will have to do for now. Let me know if you like the feature.