Journal Stuff

Dearest Family,

Hi! It’s been awhile since I wrote, but I thought I’d just update you on what’s been going on here in Haines. We are finally getting settled in and are able to go visiting and doing things to try to further the missionary work here. Haines has been heavily tracted for years, so there is some resistance to that type of contacting. We have been trying to do service for members and others, which should help us get to know people and let them know we are normal people and are not going to try to force them into something they don’t know they want. It takes longer this way, but I think it will help in the long run.

We pretty much have our cabin set up the way we want it, and it is really quite comfortable once you get used to living in a smaller space. We are grateful that we aren’t living in a little camp trailer like they do at some of the historic sites. That would be really cozy! At least here we have a table and chairs, upholstered chairs to read and study in, and a full-size bed that we don’t have to climb into. It is a little tight around the sides, but we can live with that just fine. We also have a tub and shower that are full-size with plenty of hot water, and we are grateful for that.

Chapel	Cabin	Chapel & Cabin

This past week we visited several of the members of the branch. Most of those that attend church are older than we are, there are two families younger than us. It gives us good opportunities to do service, this week we fixed the chimney on one sister’s heating stove. She had just had it installed last fall, but they put the chimney in upside down, so when it rained or if creosote ran down, it leaked down the outside of the chimney and made smoke and ugly streaks. It should be a lot better for her now. The stoves here are usually fairly efficient, but they sure aren’t as handy as the ones we made. They don’t have automatic dampers, and burn a lot more wood that we did. Wood here is plentiful, but because of government regulations it still costs about $165/cord. Another problem here is there is not natural gas available around here, so it’s either propane or heating oil that has to be shipped in. As a result, most people are paying between $400-600/mo to heat their homes in the winter. That doesn’t include electricity, which runs about $.40/kwh compared to $.15/kwh in Idaho. Last winter in Whitehorse the people we were with were paying up to $1200/mo just for utilities! Of course in the summer that drops considerably.

We also went out to Bro. & Sis. Cox’s where I helped him change the filters on his back-hoe. He has a John Deere that is really nice, but he is 85 and can’t see or hear very well, but still runs that back-hoe. I changed the fuel, air and transmission filters for him and he was pretty impressed that it didn’t take all day and none of them leaked when we got it back together. He struggles to speak as he has a hole in his throat that he has to cover up with his thumb to speak. I guess he smoked heavily for years before he joined the church, and has had most of both lungs removed. He fought in WWII, the Korean war, and Viet Nam, and is fascinating to talk to. He was also a crab fisherman for many years, and has an awesome crab boat in his shop, but hasn’t used it for a few years because of his health. I’d imagine his son will eventually inherit it. They have bears through their place all the time. He showed me the footprint of one that had been in their garage a couple of days ago and stepped on a piece of cardboard. You couldn’t have covered the track with a dinner plate. I guess a week or so ago he was at the kitchen sink and looked up and there was a bear looking at him through the window above the sink. The window is seven feet off the ground and they were looking eye-to-eye. He said it just looked at him a while, then dropped back on all fours and ambled away. He showed me where they have a regular trail across their yard, but says they don’t bother him much. Of course they’re pretty careful about burning anything that will burn, washing their cans and bottles out well before they put them in the trash, and put their compost pile a long way from the house.

We went over to the Chilcoot inlet to watch them fish the other day. The Coho and pink salmon are both running now, and the fisherman were pulling in some big fish. We thought about going fishing, but decided to wait until the Cokanee and kings run next month. It costs $20/day for a license, or $150 for a season license, and we decided when we go we need to be able to catch enough to make it worth the cost. We’ll catch some and put them in our freezer. I hoped fish would be cheaper here, but it isn’t unless you catch it yourself. Of course I can see why. Commercial fisherman are charged $60,000 for a season license. You have to catch a lot of fish just to break even! Again, aren’t we glad we have government regulations! That doesn’t include costs of purchase and maintenance of boat, equipment or fuel. Commercial boats run in the neighborhood of $150,000+. Reminds me of the farmers in Rexburg and the cost of their equipment. It was really fun to watch the fishing. We did see three grizzlies swimming the river, and a bunch of tourists snapping pictures of them. (Including us!) Some of them had salmon that must have weighed 20 or 30 pounds. I think we’d be fine if we had just one of those! I guess when the Cokanee run up the Chilkat inlet, the Eagles come by the hundreds. Haines is supposed to have the largest bald eagle population in the world, and I can believe it. The other day I saw three circling just above the church and it was pretty impressive. They winter here, and it’s not unusual for them to have 4000-5000 in the area for the winter. It will be interesting to see.

Haines is on the peninsula between the Chilkat and the Chilcoot inlets so we have ocean on both sides of us. We are also nearly at the base of both the Rainbow and the Davis Glaciers. We drove over and looked at them the other day, and they are really impressive. We are across the inlet from them, but they are both huge, and there is a big waterfall that comes off the Rainbow glacier into the inlet. I guess there is so much runoff that it makes the sea freshwater for a couple of miles out into the ocean. It is also very silty, so it makes the water look dirty, but doesn’t seem to bother the fish much.

We went to the library last Friday evening for a presentation on the history and customs of the Tlingit Indians of the area. It was fascinating to see the influence of other tribes and traders on the tribes of this area. There is definite Asian influence because of the Bearing land bridge, as well as major influence from tribes as far South as California, Arizona and Mexico, and Eastern tribes as far away as New York and Nova Scotia. They really got around! It was put on by the University of Alaska Anthropology department and we really enjoyed it. They also had some of the local artists exhibit some of their work. It is similar to that of the Yukon, but there is definitely a difference.

Our weather has been really been cool, nights about 42F, days about 60 for the most part. It has been really rainy; they say that this is the beginning of fall. There are quite a few leaves that are starting to change, a few yellows and oranges, some brilliant red maples up the highway. I think in another month it is going to be absolutely beautiful here. I’m not excited about the coming winter, though they say it isn’t as cold here as in Whitehorse. They said it is not at all unusual to get 3-4’ of snow in a snowstorm, and that the pass back to Canada is closed most of the winter. Guess who will get to clean the walks at the church! I can hardly wait! Even though it doesn’t get down to -40 or
-50 very often, it usually runs about -15 to -20 most of the winter. After being in Whitehorse, I think we can live with that!

We are hoping to get our cell phone this week, I never could order it online because they don’t ship to post office boxes, so I had to order it and have it sent to Rexburg, then Warren is going to send it on up. I decided not to get an iPhone, although that’s what I wanted, but the monthly access cost here is $100+/mo and we can’t afford that. I don’t think I’d use the data plan enough to merit it anyway. We just got the most basic service which is 450 minutes/mo and text messaging, for only $60/mo. We also had to sign up for a two year contract, which is the only one AT&T offers, but they are the only carrier that has service in this area. We do have nights and weekends free so we might have to call you then! We do still have our land-line in our apartment. We can’t call long-distance out, but can receive calls from you anytime! It has been great to talk to Ed, Warren, Teresa and Amber a few times. Our number here is (907)766-2379. Our cell number is going to be (208)709-0377.

Saturday we did a major cleanup around the church. We picked up lots of brush and scrap lumber that was laying around from where they rebuilt a walkway that had rotted out. The people that did the work did a good job on the walkway, but just left all the garbage stacked in a pile. We had to carry it over to an open area where we could burn it, and it reminded me of the burn piles we had out in the back field. We had a pretty good fire for awhile, and after it burned down, we roasted hotdogs and made s’mores. It was a lot of fun and we got to visit with the branch president and his family. President Lehman is 77, but is really active, and we are enjoying each other. He’s my kind of guy, enjoys doing things, likes to fix things, and has a lot of experience. He used to work for the US Fisheries department as an ocean biologist doing fish tracking and studies, and even designed some fishing research vessels for the US Government. He has a 30’ sailboat that I went over and helped him pull a water jacket off the engine because he forgot to drain it, and it froze and broke. He is getting it welded, and when he gets it back we’ll put it back together and try it out. I told him if he knew someone with an acetylene torch I’d fix it for him, but he has a son that’s a welder, so he sent it up to him in Sitka, then he will drop it off in Juneau, and we’ll pick it up when we ferry over there in September for stake conference. I have been called as his counselor in the branch presidency. I am the only one, since we only have four priesthood holders in the branch that come. Bro. Berry is Branch clerk, executive secretary and High Counselor. Bro. Kanahani is Elders Quorum presidency, YM president, and SS teacher. Aren’t small branches awesome! Mom has been called as counselor in the Relief Society and RS teacher. We also maintain the church yard and do whatever else they need us to do. Yesterday we had 16 of us to meetings, one sister that hasn’t been out for awhile, so we’re going to go visit her this week if we can find out where she lives. They only use Post Office boxes here, so hardly anybody has addresses. They often say, “It’s out by mile 33 of the highway somewhere.” Or “it’s up Small Tracts Road loop, you go to the second ‘S’ curve and don’t follow the curve, but bear to the left and it’s about the third or fourth house on the right, I think.” Reminds me of Idaho when we got there and they said “You go out to the West for three or four miles to where the barn was that burned down a few years ago, and turn right and go to the road where the old Plano church used to be, then go to the driveway where you’ll see their blue pickup if they’re home. Of course it may be different now if the flood washed their house away.”

We love the work, and the country is beautiful this time of year. We did have a bear run through the parking lot Saturday after we finished burning the brush. I guess a two-year old cub got caught in an electric fence next door when it was trying to get into the chickens, and it was pretty agitated by the time it got out. They were afraid its mother might be upset, so the police came to the parking lot and sat for awhile to see if it was going to follow the cub. We didn’t see it, so it must have gone another way. We thought they came to check on our fire which was pretty much out by then, but they just told us about the bears. Keeps life interesting.

Well, I guess I’d better close for now. I hope you are all doing well, we love you!

Mom and Dad.

Life

My first week in Haines Mon. Aug. 15, 2011

Hi Everyone,

Here is mom’s take on our recent transfer to Haines. We arrive about noon and the Schindlers are here cleaning. I am so grateful for Sister Schindler’s efforts to clean the 12 inch yellow stain from the toilet area, and the three coats of soap scum remover she used in the tub/shower. We can use the bathroom. They wanted to help us move in but we decided to go to lunch and we assured them we would be ok without their help. Mostly there just wasn’t room for 4 of us in the house. The Schindlers are large people, meaning tall and big.

They pointed out the bear scat (isn’t that a nice polite way to refer to the crap) that was a few days old by the side of the house. This made me feel really safe and happy. The bear stories are beginning to be more credible. We are told to be careful going out in the evenings because that is when the bears come out. Also, we should get some bells to wear so the bears can hear us coming. One lady told Sister Schindler that she would never cook in the cabin because it would attract the bears. President Lehman, the branch president, told me not to worry and go ahead and cook. Yeah, like he is in the cabin. I have cooked and we haven’t had any bears, but when he was taking us to the dump, he did say, “Oh yes the bears do come through there. We had to get rid of our garbage dumpster because the bears came and knocked it all over for the garbage.” So now they keep the garbage in the garage. Like I hope the bears aren’t really hungry because if they want to get in anywhere, they sure as heck can. I just hope they don’t think we, the people, are garbage. We have a lovely, back door to escape from which drops down a hill side where, of course, the bears will go. Well so much for bears, I will keep you posted, but in the event you don’t hear from us for awhile, maybe we have disappeared. Oh, by the way, people disappear here and are never found. One of the branch president’s here went fishing and just disappeared and was never found. I guess when they fish if they lose their balance in the 10 mile an hour river current, their waders will fill with water and off they go. At least they think that is what happens. If bears eat you, they eat even your bones so good luck finding the body. Anyway, we are here now and safe and happy. Oh one last bear tale we plan on going to observe tonight, is the men fish for salmon, and when they get the fish, the bears show up. So the men take off to their cars and the bears come in and eat the fish, then they leave and wait for the fishermen to catch them more fish. Smart bears huh!

Ok, so back to the moving in. Sorry for that long tirade. I was trying to empty some of our blue tubs of things I thought we would need immediately and Dad was getting help to move our queen size bed into our teeny bedroom. I thought we should leave it in the living room, but am glad he persuaded me to try the bedroom. It did fit. We have a whole 10-12 inches on each side of the bed. I can barely move my body through the space by the bathroom facing front, but dad has to turn sideways to fit through. If you have to hurry to the bathroom, it challenging condition. We took the closet doors off so we could fit two white plastic sets of drawers along the wall at the foot of the bed. The closet is 2 feet by 3 feet. The missionaries had put up random shelves all over the cabin, (excuse me, they call it the cottage). We took most down and made a bookcase on one wall in the living room. We redid all the light fixtures with fluorescent lights so it looks more uniform and is lighter. We do have carpet in the living room and bedroom so the floors are much warmer there than they were in Whitehorse. The little ladies informed me they had cleaned the bedroom and the living room, but hadn’t got to the kitchen and bath. Obviously! I cleaned dirt and mold out of the frig and behind it, moved the stove and did the same. Oh, the stove didn’t work, but they bought a new one for the church, so dad installed that and moved the old one over here. Then I attack the bathtub. This amounted to sanding the scum off with a green scratchy and took most of one day. It looks better but could use another round of scum remover in the tub.

Dad in the meantime, cleaned out the storage shed. Wow did they have a ton of old boxes the missionaries had packed up and intended to return and get, but didn’t. Some was 5 years old. So we got permission to get rid of them. It was fun to go through the stuff. We got some reading material for the winter, but most we hauled to the dump or gave to the thrift store. Clothes get moldy and smelly here because of the humidity.

Oh, humidity is doing wonderful things for my hair! It is getting curly. I don’t know what to do with curly hair—I hate curly hair on me. Especially, since I have a terrible hair cut from my friend in Whitehorse, who left it so short I can hardly get it around the curling iron to straighten it. I have burns all over.

Back to the shop. Dad built a work bench, installed lights, fixed the weed eater, mowed the lawn and moved every little shelf, hook, nail that I wanted moved—sometimes 2-3 times. He was wonderful, patient and long suffering. So both of us were dead and I had to cook every night but one. Food here is extremely expensive, and I think you need to shop when the ship comes in because if you wait too long everything good is gone. Like avocados are $2.00 a piece, apples $4 a lb. I think we may give up veggies and fruit and take vitamins.

First nations here are more Indian like we know, while in Whitehorse, there was a stronger Asian quality. They eat more American, less rice here. I find I miss the rice. We went to dinner one night at President Lehman’s house and I felt I was eating at my Aunt Daphne’s ranch. We had “scalloped tomatoes” which were actually really good, and I haven’t eaten those since I was a kid. She apologized for not making biscuits, which was an everyday custom in my mom’s day. They cook veggies here and in Whitehorse in an interesting way. They use the pressure cooker a lot. They just put in whole, long carrots and serve them that way. In Whitehorse, they made soup with chicken legs which are just in the soup, rather than picked off the bone. You get used to it and it makes me feel very removed, like I am from another world somehow. Many don’t have TV. People appear to read a lot here. The Lehman’s play games. We learned a new game called protect your assets that dad even seemed to enjoy. We will teach it to you when we get home.

Oh one of the nice things is we have lots of scalding hot water. Problem is it comes from over at the church and you have to wait about 5 minutes for it to warm up enough to do dishes, shower, or wash your face at night. But when it gets here it is really nice. (I wonder how long it will take to warm up when it gets winter?) Oh, it is fall here. The leaves are beginning to turn colors. It is looking more like late September. They do get snow here—20 feet and it is wet, not dry like Whitehorse and Rexburg. I hope dad doesn’t have a heart attack shoveling this winter because I am sure we will inherit that job. It is also rainy this week. They say they have had a drought, but it doesn’t look dry to me.

We spoke in church yesterday and there were 13 of us there. Three priesthood. I’m feeling young. One lady is 50 with a 10 year old son she adopted. Lucy is 87 and has a schooner license, broke her neck at 75 , but had it fixed and she is very alert and spiffy. I like her. She weighs everyday and if the scale goes over 130 is get it right off! I didn’t enjoy that conversation. There is a grandmother in her 80’s, a daughter in her 70’s, and a daughter-in-law in late 70’s, and a granddaughter probably 40’s. This family is the Wild’s and they are sharp. There is Lemme, who is taking temple preparation lessons from us and is 72 and looking for another man. Her husband died 2 years ago. She is interesting and a little strange. She is into connecting with the universe and nature. She is trying to build some kind of cistern so the water can circulate through her house. I don’t quite understand it and am a bit reluctant to go look because I don’t think dad should start helping there with that project. There is one lady in her 50’s, Patty Perkins who is sharp and teaches gospel doctrine. I don’t dare complain about any aches and pains because they are all so hardy and independent. There are lots of inactive, and part member people here. We were told to take things really slow here. I guess the people haven’t related well to have the missionaries move in and out every six weeks. We understand the Baptist minister dislikes Mormons and comes out in force once he knows you are here. We have been met with friendliness though we haven’t been out and around much.

Well that is about all for now. Besides you probably won’t read all of this anyway. Pray the bears don’t eat us.

Love ya tons,

Mom

Biblical Far Side

Haines

Dearest Family,

We made it OK from Whitehorse to Haines! We really enjoyed the drive, the fire weed was beautiful, as was the drive itself. By the time we reached Haines Junction the sun had come out, so we really enjoyed the breath-taking scenery of the mountains, lakes, forests and glaciers! We didn't see any wildlife other than a few hundred squirrels, but we were good with that, too! The cabin we are in is really small, but we are fine with it. We got all of our stuff moved into it yesterday afternoon, but still need to find places to put everything. It is really small, we put the queen bed they had into the bedroom, and I have six inches on my side to get into bed, and there is about a foot on Mom's side that we squeeze down to get to the bathroom. But hey, the bed is nice and comfortable. The "living" room has one chair about the size of one of our blue chairs in the living room, plus a folding chair like they have at the church. There is a table about 3' across in one corner with two wooden kitchen chairs. The kitchen is small, one set of drawers, two overhead cabinets, a really small fridge, a stove that the oven doesn't work on, and about enough counter space to set the toaster on over the knife & for drawer. They do have a different stove that I'm going to put in tomorrow that they have used in the church. It hasn't been used much, but is pretty old. Hey, it's a stove! There is a little space along one wall in the living room where we can put up a small computer table. I'll send you pictures when I get some taken. Mom doesn't want to take any until she has stuff put where she wants it.

We don't have any Internet over there, but the church is only about 50' away, so we can come over here and use the one in the Family History center any time we want. They gave us keys to everything, so we are good! There is also a small shed close to our cabin that is about 16' square, but it doesn't have too much junk in it, so I'm going to clean it out and put in a small bench that I can work on and put my tools on. I checked with the counselor in the branch presidency today and he said that should be OK. I do wish I had my pickup here, I think it would be very useful, but will make do with the van. I'm sure when we get to know people someone will have one that we can use for hauling trash and stuff. Looks like we will be responsible for keeping the building clean and mowing the lawns, but that will give me something to do part of the time.

We enjoyed church this morning, the branch is pretty small, we had a visiting family today, a sister and her five kids, and they comprised most of the primary they don't have. Also a young couple from Skagway that came here just for fun before they go back to the US. There were about thirty here including them, only Bro. Berry, Bro. Cox and myself priesthood wise. It was good to be able to bless the Sacrament today, the first time in a lot of years. Seemed kind of strange to bless both the bread and water, Bro. Cox passed it. He is 85 and in not very good health, but a very fine and humble spirit. He is a veteran of WWII, Korean, and Viet Nam wars. Everybody bore their testimonies, and it still left us 10 minutes short, but they closed the meeting anyway, and we had more time in Sunday School and Priesthood/Relief Society. Mom taught Relief Society and they only had three sisters there. There were two of us for Priesthood, plus two younger boys that aren't members, so we just talked and got to know each other. There is definitely work to do here!

We do have an address! There is no mail delivery here, so our address is: P.0. box 622, Haynes, AK. 99827. We share the phone with the one in the church foyer, and that number is 907-766-2379. When we get our computer set up, we can use our Magic Jack again, and talk for free! Our physical address is 415 Mud Bay Drive. I guess if something had to be sent UPS it would be addressed to that but I'm sure it would cost a mint to send it because it has to come by boat. It is good to be back in the US. We were really worried that they might stop us at the border and make us unpack all our stuff, but they were really nice, and didn't. We had the van packed to the gills again, only this time with a car-top carrier that had all our bedding in it, plus the spare tire tied on top. We are going to go try to get a cell phone tomorrow, will let you know what the number is when we get it. The only carrier that works here is AT&T, so guess we'll go with that. At least it ought to have better service than we had in Whitehorse!

Haynes is a beautiful town, about 2500 people here, fishing is the main industry. The town is located right on the bay, the forest is all around us, like living in Island Park! There are two rivers that come in and the salmon are already running. We went over to the Chilkoot River last night, and there were lots of fishermen. One Native (they don't like to be called Indians or 1st Nation here--will have to get used to that) was using a net and brougt in one about 10 lbs while we were watching. Several others had them on fishing poles. We'll have to get to know some with equipment so we can try it! Of course the bears like it too! I guess after we left they came out. One of the kids at church said he was there last night and they counted 17 bears on their way home. Everything has to be shipped in, so stuff costs more than Whitehorse, except gas. Gas here is only $4.85 a gallon, but we won't be driving nearly as much, so that will save some. Bananas are $1.50/lb, milk is $5.69/gal. Other stuff is about the same amount more, but hey, we can get it! If we need large stuff we will go to Juneau on the ferry, but it costs $100 and takes 4 1/2 hours each way so we probably won't do that often. It would be faster and cheaper to go to Whitehorse because we can drive there, but if we buy anything we have to pay duty on it to bring it from Canada, so probably won't do that either. We'll go to town again tomorrow and see what we can find here. We'd like to get another chair that's nice to sit on. We also want to get some nice fluorescent lights for the cabin, as it's really dark wood so it's pretty gloomy in there.

Mom's a little worried about the bears. We haven't seen one yet, but there is a lot of bear scat on the lawn all around our cabin and yard. They lock the garbage in the shed because if they don't the bears get into it. They used to have a dumpster here, but had to get rid of it because the bears kept pushing it off and destroying it trying to get inside. They said not to put anything smelly into the garbage, and haul it often. They also said not to cook anything smelly in the cabin, like fish or sausage or bacon, or the bears would probably come visit us. And the doors on the cabin aren't substantial! In fact some idiot made the whole back wall of the living room a set of patio doors that go out onto a tiny porch about 3' by 4' with stairs going down. Dumb! Wonder if they'd mind if I enclosed it, took out the doors, and doubled the size of our living room?

Well, I guess I'd better get back over to the cabin or Mom will wonder where I got lost to! It was hard to leave Whitehorse, It was about like leaving home again! But we will make some great friends here, too, I'm sure. We definitely have lots to do to keep us busy! Be sure to let us know how you are all doing!

Love, Dad and Mom.

Incentive

Just thought I'd forward a little incentive for your trip next summer.  This picture was taken Friday night just outside of Haines.  Josh threw his hook in and picked up the one on the left in about 10 seconds.  Took him about 30 minutes to get it into the boat.  Then Chad threw his hook in and got the one on the right.  Got a hit within 30 seconds. Took him about 45 minutes to get it in.  Then Mark, the guy in the middle hooked his.  (Mark is 6' tall, and the fish tail is folded over on the ground.)  Took him about an hour to get it in.  They brought home fillets from four fish (all they are allowed to bring home to Canada), about 400 lbs of fillets, plus about 10 salmon, averaging 20 lbs apiece.

We went out and helped them sample it last night.  Best halibut I ever ate.  Sure makes a difference to get it fresh!  We ate some baked in lemon seasoning, some in a loaf, and some diced and breaded.  I thought I was going to burst!  White, flaky tender meat, no bones, excellent flavor!  Guess they brought home over $4000 worth of fish!  Would sure go good in a freezer!  They are giving a bunch of it to their friends, want to give us a couple of good sized packages, then they will go out again for the king salmon run the end of September or first of October when they are running.  What a rough life! 

Love ya.  Dad.