Summertime = Wildlife

Talofa! This past week was full of stopping by a lot of potential investigators. We had a tri-zone conference/ tiwi installation. Elder Vaioa and I also have started to notice the wildlife coming out. 

The past few days Elder Vaioa and I have received a good amount of referrals. So to keep the work up to speed we've been trying to contact these potential investigators. Sadly we haven't been able to see a whole lot of success in actually having lessons with them. On the bright side we have been able to meet some new people and start some relationships with these investigators.

On Wednesday we had a tri-zone conference. All the missionaries from Anchorage South, Anchorage North, and Soldotna gathered together. It has been awesome having the mission focus on the Book of Mormon. Most of the thoughts and ideas were centered on how the BOM has strengthened our testimony of Jesus Christ and the Prophet Joseph Smith. It has been a joy to participate in the mission wide focus on the BOM.

On Wednesday we also received Tiwis which are little GPS tracking devices that go in our cars. Apparently Alaska is the last mission in the United States and Canada to receive these. The Tiwi helps the missionaries drive better and safer. It's going to be interesting seeing how the mission changes with the Tiwis. I know it has already helped me change my driving.

One of the perks of summer time in Alaska in addition to the sun coming out is that the wildlife also comes out. This past week Elder Vaioa and I walked out of a lesson and immediately saw a moose just doing his thing 20 feet away from us. We of course tried not to bother him. We've also been able to see many moose else where and we saw a black bear munching on some berries. It was funny seeing the Bear's reaction as we caught him off guard.

 Elder Ogden

Famous AVA Boyz:

This past week has been awesome as always here in the Dimond Ward. Last Monday Elder Vaioa and I tagged along with some other missionaries on their visit to Girdwood. I got to meet the famous AVA Boyz. It's the start of a new transfer so Elder vaioa and I are super excited to work hard and give it our all.

On P-Day Elder vaioa and I joined the Tikishla Park ward and Maplewood branch (Samoan and Spanish elders) on their journey out to Girdwood. It was a fun little drive. It was a drop dead gorgeous view and the weather made it even better. Girdwood is a little ski resort near Anchorage. We got to check out the shops, visit some neat places, and throw the rugby around abit.

Later that night Elder Vaioa and I had dinner with this super cool family. The best part is that their sons are music artists. The music group is called AVA Boyz. You should definitely check out some of their stuff. Apparently they're famous in Samoa. I obviously didn't know about them before the mission because I didn't listen to Samoan music. After hearing their songs I'm definitely a fan.

The other day Elder Vaioa and I were driving around visiting people and as always we get stopped at a red light right next to some homeless guy. Of course we gave him some change but we both felt like it wasn't that amazing gift of a contribution. So we came up the idea to give hand made snack bags. We put together some of our extra food from our apartment. We've been handing them out to the needy and it's been awesome seeing their countenance glow.

I'm excited to be starting this next transfer with Elder Vaioa. He's an awesome missionary. We've decided to work extra hard this next transfer. It's funny because this past week has been super hard to have lessons and visits even with us trying harder. Though we had a rough start were still going to push on. Wish us luck.

Elder Ogden

Happy Mother's Day

Talofa

This past week has been super fun. I got to visit the temple with the North Anchorage Zone. The temple was super fun. I enjoyed every second of it. It's such a blessing to have a temple in the mission and having the opportunity to visit it on a scheduled basis.

On Saturday the ward held a Mother's Day party. It was so fun. I enjoyed every second of it. The dinner and entertainment was the best. The dances performed by the young men were amazing. They were super funny. I was laughing my butt off. Haha. I'm bummed I didn't film it.

This past week Elder Vaioa and I have been trying to visit parks. We're trying to find a Samoan hot spot. Wish us luck as we continue the search for Somoan hang out spots. We received our transfer calls. Fortunately I will be staying another transfer with Elder Vaioa. I'm super excited because he's an awesome missionary and the ward is fantastic.

Mothers Day was great, I loved seeing the family. It was super awesome. That definetly was the highlight of the week.

I hope everyone had a great Mothers Day.

Elder Ogden

Dimond Ward Party:

This week went by way too fast. The Dimond ward had a ward missionary finding party. We had stake conference.

This past Friday the Dimond ward held a party with the goal of not only finding investigators but to have the ward come together in missionary work. It was super cool seeing the party. Everyone got really into it which made things awesome. We had a huge dinner with some dancing from a lot of the auxiliaries and of course just a lot of fun in general. The young men's performance was my favorite. They put in a lot of time and energy into it and it paid off.

The Anchorage North Stake held Stake Conference this week. It was really awesome being able to hear from Elder LeGrand R. Curtis Jr. of the Seventy. It was really exciting as we heard him speak of the importance of Book of Mormon studies. It's really cool because right before general conference our mission president has decided to focus on the Book of Mormon. As a mission we've been doing a lot of Book of Mormon studies, trainings, lessons, etc. it's been fun to read the Book of Mormon in English then in Samoan.

I hope all is well and everyone has a fantastic week.

Elder Ogden

Sweet Ulalei's Baptism

This past week has been awesome as there was another baptism in the Dimond ward. Unfortunately our teaching pool has decreased significantly. We had our North Anchorage zone conference. I got to go on exchanges with some Elders and see the infamous mountain view.

On Saturday we celebrated the Baptism of Ulalei. We've been teaching her for the past month. It was super amazing being able to see her grow in knowledge of the gospel. It was super awesome seeing her enter into the waters of baptism.

It was super sad for Amanda our other investigator. She was supposed to be baptized this past week. Her and her two sisters were taking the missionary lessons.  But, due to parental permission are no longer allowed to be associated with the church in any way.  It's going to be extremely hard trying to stay busy these coming weeks as those three were the people we were working with the most.

This past while the mission has been putting a huge emphasis on the Book of Mormon. It was fun being able to have zone conference centered on the BofM. It's awesome being able to see how it benefits everyone in any situation.

I got to go on exchanges this past week. It was super fun as I got to see the heights area. I got to see where they do a lot of their work. It was super interesting seeing mountain view as the neighborhood has certain roads blocked with barriers. The reason why they do this is so that there's only three entrances and exits making the cops lives easier due to the large crime rate.

 Love and miss you all