November 2011

Its been snowing like crazy here the past week.  We already have more than a foot now, its crazy and I am the one driving!  A family actually gave us a gingerbread house for Halloween so we have a house to eat.

Bridget is doing well, we have a lesson set up for Wednesday,  we invited her to the Elder Holland Fireside so we will ask her if she came (lots of people, we see didn't see her.)  Yeah the fireside was way awesome!  He gave a really good talk about Peter and James I think.  It was so cool, the spirit in the stake center was so strong there.

So this past week we put 2 more people on date to be baptized and and another person said they want to be baptized but he doesn't know what day he can be baptized yet!  And that guy (Blake) has a room mate and he wants to take the lessons too!  So the work is really picking up.  So news about transfers.  Elder Dellenbach and I are staying in Sand Lake and I am going to be the District Leader now.  I am excited to be a District Leader.

Elder Ashby will be leaving Wednesday morning to fly back to Salt Lake.  He is doing well though.  For Thanksgiving we are eating at a members house, the Penmens, they are an awesome family.  And for big holidays like that they have us go in to our apartments early.

I am not a Dristrict Leader any more.  Its because our dristrict was too small so they combined it with another one.   It has been snowing here a lot.  We probably have about 2 feet now.  And I have to get acostom with the idea of brushing off the car almost every morning.  Bridgets Baptism will have to be postponed because she hasn't been to church yet.



On Saturday a family from Fairbanks came down that I taught all of the new member lessons to.  The came to take out their endowments and to get sealed in the Temple!  That was my first time attending a sealing.

It was such a wonderful experience.  The spirit was so strong there and you could just feel the love there.  There are the family in the Temple picture holding the little girl.  Their name is the Cerny's.


Later that day we had a baptism for 3 People! A mother and her 2 daughters Gracy, Kelly, and Holly.  I physically baptized Holly! That was my first time actually baptising anyone.  I could feel the spirit so strongly testifying of truth.

Gracy, Kelly, and Holly

On Sunday we had a lesson with a 13 year old boy named Aaron.  He was
tracted into on a zone tract in our area.  He has a strong Christan faith.
We shared the first lesson with him and we were about to watch the
Restoration DVD with him when His mother got home along with his sister.
And they joined us for watching the movie!  Then during the movie one of
his friends came to his house and watched the movie with us!  And after we
bore our testimonies of the truth of that message.  We challenged them all
to read and pray about the Book of Mormon.  They all accepted and they all
asked for a B of M.  Aaron is on a spiritual quest right now and wants
to know.  It was a small miracle because we had already given away 3 B of M
that day and I didn't think that we had 4!  I thought we had 2 in the car.
But we found 2 more luckly haha.  I am so thankful to be able to serve a
mission.

We have one more baptismal date right now of a 9 year old boy named Demarcus Olloway.  So I am having a beaver hat made for me up here so I will look a true Alaskan!  I found a lady in another ward that will make one if you provide the beaver pelt so she is now in the process of making it :)  I will send a picture when I have it.

I am staying warm enough, Anchorage isn't too cold. The work is going good.  Last week was pretty slow because of thanksgiving and all.  Gracy and her children are doing well, she is now engaged now and is hoping to be married soon.  We haven't been doing much tracking as of late.  But we are going to be finding a lot more since out teaching pool is getting smaller.  Our next Zone Conference is December 14th so we will be looking forward to that.

October 2011

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELDER KVAVLE!

Kinda looks like they all have the same tie on.

I usually am at the door of the chapel greeting the members in the Sand Lake Ward in the Anchorage Stake.  The weather has really been cooling off first week in October.  There is snow on the mountains and we are getting frost almost every night now.  Our Zone Conference with Elder Walker, our last district, and Elder Dellenbach and I.

So I'm training of Elder Dellenbach is going well,  its kind of odd and I have asked other trainers about it but it doesn't feel like I do much for him.  But the other trainers say that's just how it it but you actually doing a lot for them.  We actually had just a few days that were jammed packed then others that were less busy.  I wrote Sadie a letter a couple of months ago but she hasn't respond.  We have had a few lessons this week and I just love teaching people and seeing the spirit touch them and see them want the spirit more and more in their lives.

Thank you for all of the presents that you have sent me mom!  My companions say that your awesome for paying for us to go out to dinner.  So yesterday we had a lesson with one of our investigators named Bridget, and we had the first lesson with her and at the end of it we asked her if she would like to be baptized and she said Yes!  It was a way cool lesson.  We set up a date for her to be baptized and we are shooting for the end of November like the 26th.

We just had another lesson with our investigator Bridget.  And we invited her to a missionary fireside this Saturday and Jeffrey R. Holland is coming up and will be speaking to us and our investigators!  Bridget was found through tracking a few months ago and we just started teaching her the lessons a month ago.  She is set to be baptized the 23rd of November!  Justin and Catherin, our recent converts are doing good, we have had dinner with them since we baptized them and we are trying to meet with them again so we can teach them the new member lessons.  Elder Ashby goes home November 9th.  Training is hard,  fun but hard. The first snow up here was Sunday morning!  So that was pretty cool.


So I'm not 100% sure what Elder Kvavle is eating...if this was a Birthday treat or not.  It's some kind of weird/gross looking cooked egg of some sort.

Here are a few more pictures...

September 2011

"Yeah being out for 7 months is so crazy!  The time has really flown by.  Because I am serving the Lord I have been blessed with many great things.  With the couple that was just baptized I love seeing the change in them.  Because they are willingly following the commandments they are seeing many blessings in their lives which includes happiness.  They haven't missed a Sunday since I have been here.  I have seen my own testimony grow so much in the mast 7 months,  and I can definitely say that others peoples testimony's have influenced me."


"Last week I was in Fairbanks we went to the Artic Circle with Brother Marshall.  It was a 14 hour drive round trip. The Artic Circle was not as exciting as I thought it was gong to be, but it was still really cool and to have seen it and taken pictures.  I also tore a tendon or a ligament my shoulder and a shard of calcium built up there.  So we had Stake conference yesterday and it was a broadcast from Salt Lake and Elder Holland and President Packer spoke to all of the Stakes in Alaska and Washington, so that was way cool."


"I am loving my mission and the people here and the other missionaries.  They really make it easier up here.  Transfers are coming up and I am not sure what will happen so we will see.  I still have 2 companions for another 2 weeks because Elder Salvador is going home a week after transfers due to his Visa.  But we are having transfers on Saturday so we will see what happens with that.  Yeah I see President and Sister Beesley much more often now that I am in Anchorage.  Probably about every other week.  The mission home is also pretty close to but I haven't been to it yet."


"Our apartment is really small.  A one bedroom, with three of us sleeping in it so there isn't a lot of room, and I don't have a desk yet.  We sometimes have time to cook.  I made carmel brownies and you famous chocolate cake in Fairbanks.  Here we cook fish and rice a lot.  My new thing I like making though are smoothies with protein and oats.  I have also bought some Tang.  Since we stopped buying it after I spilled it as a kid (haha).  I am excited for general conference coming up.  We also have Zone conference this week and we have Elder Walker of the 70 coming up.  And in November Elder Holland is coming up for a Stake Conference up here!  So it is exciting."

"So we found out what was happening with transfers on Saturday.  Elder Salvador is leaving to go home on October 4th.  Elder Ashby is going to be the new District Leader and I am staying with him.  I will be training a new missionary.  So there will be three of us again.  But his is coming out on October 10th due to health problems.  I am guessing he rolled his ankle in the MTC so they kept him longer.  I am really excited to train!  And I will have Elder Ashby to help me out some too.  So Elder Ashby's guess is that once he leaves next transfer I will be the new District Leader because in our district are the Zone Leaders and 2 missionaries in Dutch Harbor, so they have to call in and one of them is an ex-assistant to the president.  So we will see.  I am excited for the October Ensign too!  I can't wait to use it.  Right now I am studying 2 Nephi 20 and I am also reading Mark.  I finished the Book of Mormon for the first time on my mission a couple of months ago so now I want to read all of  the New Testament as well.  I feel like it will help me and my investigators."



"We have a part member family that we are going to start teaching this week and they will probably get baptized, I hope!  The members sign up for missionary dinners like a month in advance, and then they forget about it and they end up canceling.  So we have a dinner by ourselves a couple times a week.  But that's ok, it just helps my cooking skills."


"I learned more at the Temple today then I think I ever have before.  The Temple really is a house of learning. Conference was so amazing this last weekend!  I only have 2 more conferences left!  We watched it at our Stake center.  But we didn't have any investigators come though.  When Elder Walker of the 70 was here for Zone Conference he told us a lot of cool stories about President Monson.  So on Monday Elder Dellenbach (my new missionary) got to the mission field early.  So I took Elder Dellenbach on his greeny tract and we hit 3 doors in 1 1/2 hours!  And we got 2 return appointments.  And one of them is like a solid potential investigator.  We were with him for for like an hour and we were able to resolve some of his concerns by the power of the spirit,  the Lord spoke through us so were were able to witness the spirit toughing his heart.  It was a way good tract.  So all of us ( E. Salvador, Ashby, and me) went into the mission home to spend the night with Elder Dellenbach.  Elder Salvador Left to fly back home to the Philippines on Tuesday morning.  So there is still 3 of us missionaries."

Elder Dellenbach and Elder Kvavle

"I am learning more and more while I am out here that working hard brings happiness.  I am trying my hardest to do that so that the Lord will bless my life and the lives of my investigators and the lives of all of you.  I am reading this months Ensign and its about the Book of Mormon and it is explained so simply.  It really strengthens your testimony of it.  There is one store about someone investigating the church and when the missionaries introduce the Book of Mormon he gets up and goes and washes his hands.  He did that because the missionaries explained that it was a sacred book.  That really stood out to me because I often times take the Book of Mormon for granted." 


"Yeah my birthday is coming up soon and I am going to be 20!   That is such a crazy thought.  I will be entering my 20's, what a strange thought."

Here's a cool picture of the clouds taken by Elder Kvavle

August Transfer 2011

"My time in Alaska thus far has taught me many things.  And I can see now that having food and water storage is so important and I would encourage you and Mom to try and get that year supply if you are able and next year to have a good garden."


"We have an investigator who is progressing and is taking steps toward baptism.  He has committed himself to live every aspect of the gospel and we haven't had to ask him to do any of it!  Which is way cool.  The members here are way cool and are so welcoming and inviting which is way cool and makes it feel like home more."


"So this week I have been learning about work.  I always had this negative view about work, like I would rather just do nothing and relax, but I know now what a blessing work is in any form.  You can learn more, are more productive, and you can enjoy yourself more.  Its all about the mind set you have about work.  And work can make you happy which is a strange new thought.  So I decided that I am going to start some projects when I get home that I have always wanted to but I always just thought it was too much work."

I'm guessing these pictures are from Elder Kvavle's flight down to Anchorage.

 "I am getting transferred to South Anchorage in the Sand Lake ward.  I am going to have 2 companions, Elder Salvador and Elder Ashby.  I replaced Elder Ashby up here in Fairbanks.  I leave on Tuesday morning to drive down with some other Elders.  I am ready for the change but I will still miss Fairbanks a lot and the members as well.  The other missionaries say that the first transfer is the hardest one, then after that its easy as pie.  This week we have helped Brother Marshall a lot.  We tore out some carpet and put some new stuff in, we have cut up some fish and vacuum sealed it, and moved a lot of furniture.  My health is doing better this week, I am almost at 100%.  I gave a priesthood blessing on Sunday to a baby who was pretty sick. "


"So I have pretty much taken over as senior cuz they "don't know what to say" and I do all of the planning haha oh well its good for me :)  So Elder Salvador is from the Phillipines and Elder Ashby is from Utah.  Elder salvador goes home at the end of this transfer and Elder Ashby goes home at the end of the next transfer.  So I will probably kill them both off.  We live in an apartment that a member owns.  There is a lot of work to be done here.  We are having a baptism on Sunday of a couple who is getting married on Friday.  We still have to go over the lessons with them though.  They were taught the lessons in Kodiak."

July 2011

"I read 3 Nephi 28 through 4 Nephi today and I really enjoyed chapter 28,  it helps me realize how much responsibility me as a missionary has.  But this last week we picked up a new investigator.  I cut my own hair (which is a first time for me).  And the Marshall's took us to a place called the Turtle Club, they had really good prime rib.  The new investigator came from one of our other investigators named John, he has been talking to her about the church and the experiences he has had and after the lesson we had with both of them she asked when church starts, which shocked all of us including John.  So that we way cool.  So transfers are coming up on July 11th, which isn't too far away.  I don't know what will happen to me,  I could see myself leaving and staying so I don't know.  I am loving the work and am excited that people want to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ."


"I am not getting transferred, I am staying in Fairbanks for another 5 weeks.  Elder Lowe is also staying and I am excited because John is going to get baptized, maybe not this week because his job just picked up so we can't meet with him as often as we would like.  But we are having a baptism on Friday of an 11 year old."

 "We had our baptism on Friday night and we took pictures which i will send.  Our P-day didn't change.  We just had a holiday and then transfers so now we are back on Monday p-days.  Lessons now are pretty good, I can explain everything pretty well.  I just need to now more scriptures to use, which I am working on.  I am glad that the wedding went well.  Wish I could have been there, but I am needed here.  We had interviews wit President Beesley on Saturday which was nice.  He is a good mission President.  So Sister Beesley reminded us all that Harry Potter came out which I didn't need haha but oh well.  President and Sister Beesley came to the baptism of Michael Ferndandes on Friday which was cool.  The whole thing went over very smoothly, but the only bad thing was that it was super hot in the room." 


"I am loving my mission experience and wouldn't trade it for anything.  Yeah mission life does travel a little quicker than normal life does.  Its crazy that 6 months out is coming up soon.  Heavenly Father is blessing me so I don't think about home a whole lot which makes it easier to not get home sick, which is nice."

New Address for Writing Letters

This is a monument to the first guy who discovered gold in Alaska.

The mission home in Anchorage has moved so there is a new address:

Elder Scott Kvavle
Alaska Anchorage Mission
P.O. Box 221649
Anchorage, AK  99515


"We had Zone Conference and Leadership Training this last week.  It was so good and I learned so much and I feel as though I have grown a lot spiritually.  And That was our last time to see President and Sister Dance.  But they gave me some good parting advice and gave me a few predictions about my future mission life.  We taught quite a few lessons this week, mostly less active and recent converts.  But we taught and investigator this week."

"Our new mission President gets to Alaska the first of July.  We will get to see President and Sister Dance at zone conference on Friday which is good.  I have been reading the conference talks and they are great.  Elder Lowe is a good missionary and likes Fairbanks.  This transfer will be a 7 week one so President Clerk will have a week to settle in before transfers."

"We are getting a different Mission President that we thought.  President Clerk is going to Russia and the Mission President that was going to Russia is now coming here.  I think its will be President Beasliey, and I probably spelled that name wrong but oh well.  But we have been following more of the rules as a companionship since we had Zone Conference which is a very good thing."


"About 2 weeks ago Brother Marshall gave Elder Lowe and I each a beaver fur which was way nice of him, I even refused the first time because those things aren't cheap.  So I have one now."

Mother's Day Call

There is going to be a new Mission President, President Clarke and his wife are coming up from Utah (he was previously a Elementary School President).  Alittle more information about the Fairbanks area; there about 90,000 people and Elder Kvavle's mission zone has about 5,000 people in it with a total of 14 Missions int eh Fairbanks area.  Interesting note, the boundaries for Mission area, you could drive for 5 hours and still be within the boundaries.  The road that takes you up to see the norhtern lights is also in there mission area.  It's sunny most of the time there it looks like dusk when the Elder's go to bed and still light when they get up in the morning.  Elder Kvavle's current Mission area goes all the way up by the Artic Circle.  The members that live up by the Artic Circle actually conference call in to hear sacrament on Sundays (which is pretty cool).

100 members or so that are less active in Elder Kvavle's ward and there doing alot of less active work.  Teaching 3 families now that were less active but now are considered active.  One guy hadn't been to church in 40 years and now he is considered active again (he's on the Ice Road Truckers show).  2 current investigators...one from tracking...one from a referral from a few years ago. 

Elder Kvavle said the best part of the mission so far...alot of great things:

1. Set routine of things

2. Studying scriptures

3. Meeting with people that have fragle grasp on the gospel and teaching them makes it worth it

" I am so very thankful for the chance I have to serve a mission for the Lord.  I love being able to look back and see the Lords hand in my life so much.  I makes me want to do better so I will be worthy to have the Lord help me more in my life and in the work. My favorite part of my mission thus far is the people I am able to help, whether it be through the gospel or through service."

The Bishop in the ward is really pushing that everyone has their own garden this year.  "The teaching of people is going well, Sunday was invite a non member to church day and we had 3 investigators show up!  Which is great. Elder Espi has told me some stories about some of the bad areas and bad companions he has had in the past, so I am grateful for the area and for him because he is a great companion.  We also have a great district and zone.  I am able to learn and grow a lot in this area.  Yeah the temperature here doesn't bother me now.  I think I am a little more acclimated now that things are warmer.  This last transfer has gone by so fast, its crazy.  This Sunday a member is taking us up to central which will be cool.  We are going to have a mini sacrament meeting with the members up there.  Its about 5 hours away so it will be a good drive."

Elder Kvavle & Mom