Dogs, Service, and Eartquakes... OH MY!

10/29/12

Dear Family.

I don't know if any of you heard about the Earthquake we had here, but I just want you all to know that I am fine.  SE Alaska was hit with a 7.7 quake on Saturday night and had Tsunami warnings for about 48 hours after that.  We hardly felt anything and didn't get any tsunami waves, so all is well.  It was a little scary for a while, but only because some of the other missionaries on other islands (who are my really good friends) had to be evacuated.  Everyone is fine though, so all of the prayers said in our behalf were answered.  

In other news.. this week was full of service! We helped out at Sally's for a few hours on Tuesday and volunteered at the museum for a few hours on wednesday.  While we were at the museum one of the members called us and we answered she just yelled HELP! The young women in our branch were throwing a Halloween carvical for the Primary that night and there was lots to be done.  One of the YW leaders last minute decided to go with her family to Hawaii to be sealed in the Temple, so we took on all her responsibilities.  We baked cupcakes, cut fruit and veggies, decorated, etc.. (isn't missionary work the BEST???).  The carnival was a huge succes, we were happy to help.  Plus, we had 4 investigators go! On Saturday we went to visit a potential and ended up helping her pull out her chicken wire fence and do some other random jobs.  It was a blast! The ground was completely frozen, so it was really difficult to yank out.  Sister Ashbrook said, "we need to boil some hor water to melt the groun." Then I said, " No! we need a blow dryer!" Then Kris (the potential) said, "I have a  propane blow torch.. would that work?"  So we used that! Haha! I'm a true Alaskan now! I also held a chicken AND a goose. I know, I know, I'm SO hardcore. ;)

We babysat the dog of the members we live with this weekend and that was a blast! It made me miss Cooper, haha.  Dogs are hilarious!

Other exciting news... there are going to be so many new missionaries! Our mission president went to a meeting in San Diego with a bunch of other mission presidents and they talked about how they are going to accomodate all the new income missionaries.  They said that on average the church receives about 300 mission applications per week.  The first week after conference they received 4700! The second week they got 4500! and the third week they received 2700! Can you believe it?? Anyway, our missiona president says we need to start getting really creative with how we can use missionaries.  I can't exactly say how I will probably be used in the future but let me tell you, I AM SO EXCITED! I will be able to really use my talents to bless the people of Alaska! More news to come in the future..

That's about all I have for this week, keep sending me fun emails.  I love hearing from all of you :)
Also, please pray for my sister and the other missionaries on the East Coast! Thanks!

Love always,
Sister Hatfield