Fairbanks. North Pole. Delta Junction.

I'm going back to July 19th to update you on my adventures in the Fairbanks area. On Saturday Mr. Dave picked me up from Ms. Sylvia's, where I stayed the night on Friday. When he went to start the van that morning, for some reason it wouldn't start, so I steered it back, while they pushed...and we left it parked in the alley behind her house. Then we drove Ms. Sylvia's truck to the Baldwins and I followed Mr. Dave back, driving their stick shift Subaru. I was very thankful that God gave us all green lights and that I didn't have to worry about stopping at all! Ms. Sylvia lives in downtown Anchorage, so there are quite a few lights to go thru. So, we ended up driving the Subaru to Fairbanks and Mr. Dave didn't get to pick up their 4-wheeler(since we couldn't pull the trailer on the car) from Fairbanks, like he planned, but we had a very good trip on Saturday. We stopped at Wal-Mike's and saw a reindeer they had tied up and then we also stopped in at the hotel on the hill outside Healy. Later, we stopped in Nenana. It was a neat little place where we saw a fishwheel and where the Nenana Ice Classic is held. After a long trip, we finally arrived in Fairbanks around 4:30 p.m. and went to their Fred Meyer to meet Ms. Nancy and their family. We took their little 3 yr. old grandson, David Howard, to the pipeline and that was pretty interesting! That night we went to Wendy's and the movies with their two older grandson's and their parents. The Dark Knight was an awful movie though...the Joker was really creepy and the movie was too dark for me.

Then on Sunday we went to University church and then just relaxed at their son's house all afternoon on Sunday. They were watching motorcycle races and I dozed off on their couch a few times...haha!

On Monday morning we left early and drove to North Pole for the very last World Changers event of the summer. It's neat that I was able to attend every single World Changers in Alaska! We made it for their breakfast and sendoff at 7 a.m. that morning and I was also able to interview Pastor McCoy. He was in a serious hunting incident in which he was mauled by a bear. He has used his experience as a platform to share the Gospel. I couldn't even tell by his appearance that he had been attacked, which was amazing to me! After we finished up at First Baptist North Pole, we headed to Santa Claus house where I got to see the reindeer :) I was in the Christmas spirit all day long after visiting there. They had all kinds of ornaments and everything Christmas-y there! Mr. Dave took me by the North Pole post office and to the McDonald's in North Pole while we were there. Everything in the whole town is decorated for Christmas and their is a 'North Pole' that is striped and has been dropped at the geographical North Pole! I really loved seeing the town of North Pole, but we had to head back to Fairbanks for lunch. We went to Food Factory with James and Zach for lunch and then played around at their house that afternoon. I played with little David and then helped mow their lawn. That night I interviewed Mr. Howard and Mrs. Judy Zach, who are their in-laws. They lead the Chinese Church that the Baldwins worked with while they were missionaries in Fairbanks at University Church. It was wonderful hearing about how God is working through their ministry. They told me one particular story about how their were only 5 students at their meeting one Sunday, so they began praying that God would send more Chinese students their way. Before they were done with that meeting, two new Chinese students had arrived! God is using the Zach's as they serve in Fairbanks and has recently sent them about 25 new Chinese students. They teach ESL(English as a Second Language) along with many other courses and then have a service every Friday night for them.

On Tuesday I was really cold! They told me that Fairbanks would be warm, but it was even cooler than Anchorage. That morning it was 47 and I had to have some hot chocolate to warm me up! Their grand kids (wearing shorts) laughed at me when I told them I was cold, but they have never lived anywhere but Alaska. We made the trip to Delta Junction on Tuesday, which is about 3 hrs, one way. This normally wouldn't seem too long, but when you're traveling with a three year old, it does! When we arrived in Delta Junction we were getting hungry, so we stopped at the Buffalo Center Diner where I tried buffalo for the first time!! I had a burger and it was very tasty! Then we went to Camp Baldwin, which is named after Dave and Nancy Baldwin, who I've stayed with the entire summer. I enjoyed seeing the camp and meeting the summer missionaries who have served as staff their all summer. I also met Hugh Long, who's from Plant City, and is serving as an interim pastor in Tok, Alaska! What a small world! The camp was very simple, but a great place for students to get away and enjoy the outdoors. I interviewed two of the men who pastor local churches and help run Camp Baldwin. On the drive back I sat by David Howard, their 3 yr. old grandson. He fell asleep and his head was flopping down out of his car seat, so I held his head up with my hand for most of the drive. We watched 'Cheaper By the Dozen' on the drive back and then stopped at the 'Knotty Shop'. The trees here have huge knots on them and this place used the knotted wood to make all kinds of animals, such as mosquitoes and moose. I had some delicious ice cream here and then we drove the rest of the way back to Fairbanks. On our way back we stopped at Northern Power Sports, where their son, Davey Baldwin works. He sells four-wheelers, Arctic Cats and all kinds of toys for the men up here. He has had an awesome season at Tanacross, racing his motorcycle and may come out as the number one driver this season! That night I made cheesy potatoes for dinner and then we went back to the Zach's home, where we stayed the whole time while we were in Fairbanks.

On Wednesday Mr. Dave and I drove back to Anchorage and I washed my clothes and packed for Ms. Sylvia's. He took me to IHOP and dropped me off with Ms. Sylvia and her mom and then we went back to their place. Then on Thursday I drove to the office in the rain, in the stick shift Subaru. I was extremely proud of myself and very excited that I hadn't stalled out once! I've gotten used to driving manual and it isn't a problem at all for me anymore. I might even consider purchasing a manual vehicle one day...we'll see! Well, I worked in the office all day from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday and that night we went to Village Inn for dinner. Mrs. Rylander, Sylvia's mom, is 91 years old and they go out for dinner every single night. She is a very nice lady and pretty sharp for her age. They have their downstairs apartment for missionaries to stay in and allowed me to stay there for 3 nights. On Friday the Alaska Baptist Convention office is closed, so Ms. Sylvia took me around town! That morning we went to Ms. Judy's (just retired from the ABC office) and dug up some of her raspberry bushes, to plant in their yard. I shoveled dirt and helped plant them. Then we had lunch and headed to the University of Alaska Anchorage bookstore. I enjoyed looking around and picked up a copy of their newspaper. After that we went to the Alaska Zoo, which is located right down the road from the office! I enjoyed seeing the grizzly bears, polar bears, reindeer, caribou, dall sheep and the other native Alaskan animals. After our day around town, we went to IHOP for dinner, where we saw Mr. Dave again. He just couldn't get away from me, even on his day off, haha, well I did get to get the package my parents had sent from him. That evening, Ms. Sylvia and I 'plundered' through some old Alaska Baptist historical documents. It was so neat to see documents and newsletters from the 1950's and 1960's, when Alaska had just become a state! Ms. Sylvia and her mother have the best stories about Alaska and Anchorage since they lived through the earthquake and were here even before Alaska was a state!

On Saturday I washed my sheets and towels and packed up my things. Ms. Nancy flew back in from Fairbanks, so I moved back into my room at the Baldwins that afternoon. I ended up just relaxing all afternoon. I ran across the 'Love's Enduring Promise' movie series on the Hallmark channel and watched them ALL day! I love those movies by Janette Oke SO much! I did help make a peach cobbler and we had veggies for dinner.

Today we drove to Palmer for church. We had a nice drive and ate at 'The Noisy Goose' for lunch. It's one of the many, neat little 'Alaskana' places Mr. Dave has treated me to this summer! We didn't get back from church until around 3 p.m., but had a good afternoon. We toured the Palmer Visitor Center and even saw a moose on the drive home. Tonight I mowed the lawn and it really needed it...the grass was almost a foot tall and I'm not exaggerating!! It took me a very long time to mow it with the push, electric cord mower, and the men in the neighborhood were all laughing at me because I went in circles and wrapped the cord all the way around their tree and ended up having to turn off the mower and unwrap it all! Haha...I love just giving some amusement and entertainment for the community. I also couldn't believe that Hannah, the young neighbor girl, was outside in her two-piece swim suit while it was 60 degrees! I was freezing and they also got a kick out of it when I told them that just looking at her in her swimsuit made me cold :) After I finished the lawn, I did some painting, so now my pant legs are green and I have blue paint streaks all over my white shirt! I think it's time for me to clean up, pack and get some sleep!

Tomorrow I'm going to Alaska Native Camp to help with registration and interview some leaders there. Please pray that this week of camp goes smoothly and that the Native youth who attend will be open to the Gospel. Many of the youth coming to LaVerne Griffin Camp this week have NEVER traveled on paved road or been in a big city. They are traveling a long way from villages across the state. Ms. Nancy tells me that it is pretty routy, so please pray that I'll respond to the youth in a Christlike manner. I am beginning to be a little overwhelmed with all of the writing I have to do before I head home, so also pray that I'll be able to finish everything I need to. I will be on the plane, headed for Tampa in 12 days, so I'm going to strive to make the most of the rest of my time here in Alaska :) I hope you are doing well and look forward to seeing you soon! Sending my love.....God bless!!