Sister Elly Rex: Anchorage Alaska Mission 2020-2022

Nadine wants us to go hunting with her on her snow machines so bad that when we explained that we can't ride snow machines she thought she would just buy one for the church so we could go with her. She invited us over this week to help her unload a caribou she ran over with her snow mobile.  "Christ truly said unto our fathers: If ye have faith ye can do all things which are expedient unto me". (Moroni 10:23) God has faith in you! So why do we sometimes not have faith in ourselves? "Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God". We went on a stake out to catch some State Troopers at Ronee's house to see if she was okay. On thanksgiving, we...

  Hot COVID? I mean... Hot Chocolate? Sometimes I get the two mixed up! We gave out hot cocoa to people in their cars who were waiting to receive free Thanksgiving meals. We served over 1,300 families here in Wasilla. IT WAS FREEZING BUT I LOVED IT!  Called to ask Brother Wolverton if he could baptize the Drayton's and he answered the phone, "Hey sisters, I'm chopping up a caribou but what's up?" LEGENDARY. The Draytons were baptized this week! Their testimonies are so strong. I am BIG proud of them and their growth. We had to get special permission for their family to get baptized because COVID rules say that we aren't allowed in churches. Very stressful situation but they did it! They made their first covenant with their loving Heavenly Father. Nadine described baptism as a weight being lifted off her shoulders. I knew that she had felt the truest of true joys that can only come from our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Nadine texted us asking if Veggie Tales was an a...

  This week has been ABSOLUTELY CRAZY 250%!! To sum half of the week up, We were quarantined, then free from quarantine, then isolated for a day, then quarantined for half a day, then back to regular life, and now we are half in quarantine/half not in q-time... You confused? US TOO!! Service this week included hiding 17 cats from a landlord. The woman was so proud of hiding ALL of her cats IN front of the Landlord during his inspection. I will never forget the moment when she asked me to scrub cat pee from the baseboards of her apartment. #bestmomentyet  [Ronee] was baptized this week! I love her SO much! I have seen her change in every way possible and it's pretty amazing. She was 250% ready for her baptism and I know this because she was glowing with Joy and Peace. It was the first baptism for both Elder Gailey and I. Ronee is definitely a character!  The Draytons, [Matthew, Nadine, Trinity] are SO excited for their baptism this Saturday! They are counting down the days...

  To help you imagine what Alaska looks like right now, think of being inside of a 7-11 slushy machine... Megamind has been brought up so many times this week. Like 2-3 times daily! If you haven't seen the movie Megamind, I would invite you to do so.  The Vanvleetes were baptized the weekend before COVID hit. They are SO faithful!! We have been trying to contact them since COVID! They wanted personal relationships here and no one reached out to them since their baptism because of ya know... COVID. anywho! They came to church and I asked them to have a lesson. We came and now we are best friends. They had some sister missionaries come, be awkward, and be quiet. Which is why they didn't answer us. But they have SO much faith, they were beaming of Christlike light. I know it is hard right now to make new friends and relationships due to COVID. But think outside of the box! Reach out to people. Love one another. Serve one another.  Challenge of the week! Send a recent picture...

I may have dumped a gallon of water on my head in the -6 degree weather one night in Sister Chamberlains favor. No one asked me to or knew I was doing it. Sometimes you just gotta D&C 66:6. S/O to Haiden, Shia, Zakareigh, and Liz for the sweetest letters and Masks. I - - L  S/O to my wonderful Grandma Krueger for her cute package of JOY!  Sister Chamberlain  died. We had her funeral this week before she flew off back home to Utah to become Aspen. Since she died, we got a brand new sister in our apartment. The first thing Sister Payne said to me was that she hates fruit... but all is good because she doesn't dislike carrots and Justin Bieber.  We have been playing a prank for 4 days now on Sis. Payne. We hung up a flag in our room and say the pledge of allegiance every day @6:30. She thinks it's part of the must do's in the handbook for missionaries. Its hilarious to watch.  We did service for [Ronee] and 5 mins in, she was on the couch snoozing away! We...