Bethel

Hey Family,

Thanks for giving me an update on the NY trip! That sounded like so much fun! I can't believe you didn't take any of the guys with you... pretty mean.  So while you guys were at Broadway were they also playing the Book of Mormon Musical? One of the recent converts I was working with in Kenai Josie Jones (I think you mentioned her?) was in NY with her twin sister Ali and they went to see it and they ended up both getting converted! You hear of stories like that all the time so I think its pretty funny how they made it to make fun of Mormons but a lot of people have actually accepted the gospel because of it! Michael McCann was telling me that they station missionaries outside of it after with Book of Mormons and Pamphlets so that they can teach people more about it if they're interested.

So this past week has been pretty laid back. Elder Wingard and I drove up to Anchorage Tuesday for transfer meetings where I met my new companion elder Nielson! He's such an awesome guy and I'm so excited to serve with him! (thanks mom :)  )  He's from Nephi Utah and has been out about a year. He love hunting and played a lot of sports so we have a lot in common and get along really well. Well we were told that our flight didn't leave until late Thursday night so we hung out at the mission home for a few days and worked with missionaries in Anchorage until then. Like I said before everything in Bethel has to be flow in so food is SOOOO expensive up here! But Elder Nielson brought down three suitcases and we went to Walmart and bought a bunch of food that will hopefully make it last until we fly back into Anchorage in 5 weeks. We got to the airport and found out that out flight actually was the day before but they were able to switch it over really easily because no one really flies out here... Bethel is pretty crazy... its definitely a lot different than anyone else in the U.S. We cover a pretty big area including  a lot of villages within about 100 miles of here. About 80% of the population is native and 10% is Asian and the other 10% is white. It's a pretty 3rd worldish place. Its flithy. Luckily we live in the church and it's so nice! I have a basketball court right out my door when I wake up and a flushing toliet! We don't have running water but have to have it delivered to us twice a week to fill up our 600 gallon water tank. That seems like a lot of water but for the whole church you can use that in about 2 or 3 days so we have to be really careful of how we use it! The water here's really dirty... so we have to use filters and boil so that we don't get sick. I know it's still nothing like what Kate's going through but it's a pretty cool thing to experience!

Bethel is just a branch and that's a completely different feel than a ward! But I like it. Everyone is so close knit and really welcoming. So Saturday night when Elder Nielson and I were coming back in for the night, we got a call from Brother Kendall asking us if we would talk for 15 minutes tomorrow morning... i was pretty stressed out to say the least! Since I had literally no time to prepare I just decided that I would go up there and see what the spirit directed me to say. I was pretty nervous but it went great! The people up here are crazy.. its a definite culture shock. There's so much crime up. They had to make Bethel a "Dry Zone" meaning that no alcohol can be sold in the area because of how bad it gets up here. But of course they have bootleggers smuggling it in so they still get it anyways. I've never been around so many drunks in my life.  At night, haha no actually all day they're literally all wandering around the streets like zombies. Its really sad. These people definitely need the gospel! I know with the Lord's help we can help make its a better place! But really I'm SO excited to be up here! The members are so great.

Hope everyones doing great and stayin out of trouble!!

Love you guys!