Sister Elly Rex: Anchorage Alaska Mission 2020-2022

  Not going to lie, I've been praying to see an Alaskan  bear since my first day in Alaska. This week my prayer was answered! We were driving to church and a baby black bear ran out right in front of our car!! YES!!! WE SAW OUR FIRST BABY BLACK BEAR!! I know it's bad luck if a black cat crosses the road but what if it's a black bear?! I'd count myself lucky ;)   Another answered prayer! A woman asked me and Sister Holman to find missionaries to bring to the temple to help her with her family history work. We did over 250 baptisms for the dead. I honestly thought that I'd never be able to go into the Anchorage temple on my mission because of COVID. It was a pure experience where I could feel my saviors and my Grandmother Rex's love.  Bruce asked Me and Sister Holman to come make dinner for a couple of nights this week with his mom(Angela) and son(Christian) while he was away on a business trip. So Sunday, we marinated 3 whole breasts of chicken and put it in the ...

  jk, I still haven't seen a bear... YET! I offered my free photography sessions again and a lady texted me asking to come the next day to her house to take family photos! We walked in and the mom excitedly says, "MISSIONARIES!!". Turns out that the family used to be taught by some elders a year ago and they missed seeing us around. We have no record of the family ever being taught. I'd say this was a miracle! The family was also flying out to OKC, Little Rock, and Branson, for their daughter's national pageant. She is Miss Elementary Alaska and is now running for nationals. Her face is all over billboards in times square!! Super cool. I told them to go watch the Duttons & Hughes show and to tell them I said hello:) We went to "Artic Roadrunner" for lunch with Emmy. A 10 year old boy walked by saying, "My friend thinks your cute". I also overheard the kid call geese, chickens... so I'm not sure if I trust his judgement;)  On Sunday, we ...

  My Alaska summer review..  Perfect temperatures! Super green!! Lots of moose and bears! Every 3 days of sun gives off 3 days of clouds. Mosquitoes ALL DAY, EVERY DAY.  We love to go to garage sales or markets and sneakily leave pass along cards everywhere we can. It's fun! One time, I had the idea to leave a Book of Mormon on a table. So we did! When we arrived home, I realized that in the copy we left, we hid 20$ in it that a member gave us to buy dinner. #saddays! Maybe someone will find the money, read the book, and realize that the book is the key to having a joy-filled life.  Speaking of the most important book in the whole entire world!!! Aka: The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ! Our mission had a mission tour with Elder Whiting of the seventy! He's super cool and very blunt. I learned a lot from this new spiritual giant of mine.  The biggest thing that stood out to me was about what The Book of Mormon means to each of us individually. ...

  We hiked lots this week! We hiked Little O'Malley peak with the zone on Monday, Huffman Peak with the Miners on Thursday, and the backside of Flattop on Saturday with our neighbor! I'm in heaven!!! Our ward mission leader's wife who is 35 with 4 kids, was diagnosed with colorectal cancer this week and was called into an emergency surgery Wednesday. The ward came together Tuesday night and held a ward fast during the time of her surgery! About half the ward showed up and the spirit was so strong. I had never heard of a ward fast that wasn't on the first Sunday of the month. I was amazed at the faith the members of our congregation had with the healing power of the atonement to heal this woman's body during her emergency surgery. I love the blessings that the Savior gives to us and our loved ones through applying faith into our daily lives.  German lady, Rita!! Elder Jennings invited us to come and help this VERY German lady named Rita, brush her doll hair collectio...