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.