St Paul’s Youth – Alaska 2010

The talk around Wasilla today is about the tragic plane crash that took the life of former Sen. Ted Stevens:

By BECKY BOHRER (AP) – 23 minutes ago

JUNEAU, Alaska — A plane carrying nine people crashed amid southwest Alaska’s remote mountains and lakes, killing five people on board and injuring at least three others, authorities said Tuesday. Former Sen. Ted Stevens and ex-NASA chief Sean O’Keefe were believed to be aboard.

Charlie finally got his Big Mac. I guess since we leave tomorrow, there’s really no point in banning the fast food experience. We are winding down.

It makes sense to look back at what we’ve tried to do, but frankly it’s hard to know who’s doing what for whom. Tonight, Robin came by with two sacks of Alaska ball caps. He thought we’d like a remembrance. We’ve been fed and cajoled and treated so well that it’s more than humbling.

We could see that the work we did here at St. David’s was appreciated, but it’s hard to see just how much we learned from that work. What we learned is all inside us. You’ll have to wait to see how it matures.

St. David’s Episcopalians started out somewhere else altogether, but in the ‘80s, they built the first part of this church in Wasilla. In June of this year, they had raised enough money to put in the new addition. This is where we are sleeping and bathing and eating and blogging.

The Rev. Mark Boesser was the first priest of this congregation when they used to meet in the laundry room of the apartment building where Melba Pettit lived on KGB. Nine people met for the first time there on Sunday, Nov. 6, 1977.

In February of 1978 , they’d had enough of the laundry room and  started meeting in the Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Occasionally they’d meet at the Meier Lake Center, which the diocese owned.

Once in a while the Rev. George Beacom would serve. Apparently, there are some stories about “George.”

St. David’s has had only four full-time priests. The Rev. Dyana Johnson, who is here now visiting the Rev. Ann Whitney, served from 1992 until her last Sunday on Jan. 30, 2005.  Paul Klitzke became the rector on August 7, 2005. His Aloha service was March 14, 2010, when Ann  took over as interim priest.

Ann was the archdeacon of deacons for the Alaska diocese before joining St. David’s to help Paul, who then managed to get called to Hawaii while we were in the planning stages of our mission trip, so Ann has born the brunt of the planning. And by the way, she participated in Alaska’s fly-abouts during their recent search for a bishop. (Sound familiar?)

Ann is now interim rector of this wonderfully friendly church. There are about 60 parishioners, 45 of whom are active.

Apparently, Alaskans aren’t necessarily the most enthusiastic church-goers, and St. David’s would like to work on that welcoming piece that’s often so elusive to churches these days. Our only advice was that they not forget who they are because who they are is warm, loving and wonderful.

Trappers Creek Fellowship had different problems, what with having to throw out the Methodists. Sort of. Their story reads a little like a soap opera. They first had a Methodist lay priest whom they all liked, but whom the synod took away. Another home-grown pastor came to them, but got caught up in a political firestorm when she tried to help a young girl who claimed that another pastor in Willow was stalking her.

Well, the Methodists sent someone to investigate, determining that not only was the story false, but that the Trappers Creek pastor should be moved out. Then they curiously tried to send the Willow pastor to Trappers Creek. You can imagine how that went over.

That, in a nutshell, is how the Trappers Creek Fellowship became Lutheran. Wouldn’t you? They are buying the church from the Methodists, and have done well enough on fundraising that they have only $3,000 left.

But in the process, they’ve lost most of their congregants. They estimate they have maybe 10 people who regularly attend. I think we met more than half the members of the church, then.

We like to think of them like the mustard seed. It’s not about how many people you help; it’s about where you plant the seed and how it grows.

Today, we took the day off to visit the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage. I came away with another message. I know it was for us:

“My grandmother was raised before there was any contact with the outside world. She taught me in the old traditional ways and those traditional ways are caring, sharing, and loving. Today it helps me to know who I am and where I stand.”

-Dolly Komakhuk of the Inupiaq

Kathy

Hi my name is Charles I am a chaperone and I am blogging for the first time out of  nine days, I am not blogging by will but by force of the most craziest girl I have met in my entire life! That’s right you know her name, JANE!

So today I seen some stuff, and bought me a pair of balls which the Eskimo people like to call women catchers, it is a device that is used like a yoyo and brings tons of enjoyment to the female women; They are used by the guys to impress and find their mates for the rest of their lives. I also got to witness some native dances of the area, its different than any other tribe I have seen in the western states; therefore the whole native experience was quite eye catching!

Yesterday we went on the glacier which was quite an experience. First tom and I decided to take a short cut to the glacier and I had gotten stuck in some muddy stuff that was like quick sand. I thought I was going to die because it kept getting deeper and deeper, I finally got up to my knees and I couldn’t move while Tom and Chandler was sitting on the side of a hill laughing at me and taking photos! Finally I have escaped the madness and we went on our journey to the ice.

Oh yeah by the way, one of our chaperones wasn’t able to find their husband so far on the trip? Hmmn I guess its like what George Straight said, “I am looking for love in all the wrong places” Love that song!

Charles Denny

I must comment on our awesome leader, Kathy Biele.  She has spent hundreds of hours putting this trip together, and not only time but much of her very self into making this dream of hers and Jennifer’s and the youth group’s come to fruition.  It is so obvious that she loves every one of these beautiful kids, (and even we adults, which is sometimes difficult, what with all our quirks and foibles.)

Kathy never really loses her temper, and has an amazing way of being positive in all her communications.  She takes her responsibilities extremely seriously.  And she is indeed where the buck stops.  We are all ultimately her responsibility.

I’ve actually known her since she was a little kid, and I was one of the “big kids” at Sunday School and Girl’s Friendly Society camp.  Also, her mother and mine were very good friends at St. Paul’s.  So it has been a great pleasure for me to get to know her pretty well on this trip, especially when driving to and from places together.  HonestIy, I’m quite a good navigator when the map is right side up!  But I do love the turning around part, and having Georgianna right on our tail makes it even more exciting, like having to drive up on the curb because I couldn’t back up.  And that’s okay, as I’m learning of Georgianna’s quirks myself.

We are heading into Anchorage this morning for a day of sightseeing and shopping for souvenirs, so I’m signing off now.

Sheila

All right, this is the morning of Monday, and I am having a nice warm cup of coffee. Before it slips my mind, dad, I am SO sorry that our conversation was cut short. I was using Kathy’s i-phone and it was low on “juice”. So, yes, hopefully we’ll talk more about people falling down crevices’ to their DOOOOOOMMM. o.O.

Mom, Kathy, told me that you called this morning telling her that you were so proud of  meeee! ^_^

*HEARTS* XD

I’m really looking forward to coming home, but I’m also really PISSED OFF for leaving this place! It’s just so pretty. T_T

Oh, and also wanted to tell you, while we were at Palmer, I saw a little monument of Balto!! It talked about him being the lead dog on his team and the hero of  delivering  the diphtheria serum! WOOT! GO BALTO!! And just for peoples information, Balto was either, a Siberian husky, or an Alaskan malamute. Not a wolf like you see in the animated picture of Balto.

I remember one day, maybe about a month ago, I had a sudden longing to see the movie Balto. Don’t ask me why, I just wanted to see it. DON’T MAKE FUN OF ME DAD, IT’S PART OF MY CHILDHOOD!! I LOVED THAT MOVIE WHEN I WAS LITTLE!! Except the second one. That movie just plain SUCKED!!!  >:(

We’re all going to Anchorage today to visit the museum of Native American art and how they lived.  I’m really excited. Yayaya!!! X0

Tomorrow, we’re going to finish the wood pile and the drive way, then we’re going to get ready to go (make sure we don’t forget anything) and catch our plane! We will be sleeping in the plane since we’re leaving in the evening. So I’ll probably be home really early in the morning. Sorry dad, sorry Sarah. I haven’t seen a bear this whole trip, I only saw one moose, and that was just a glimpse while we were in the car. At first I thought it was one of the animal statues that you see on the side of the road, until it moved it’s head! It was huge!! And it was the cutest snout too. Gotta go!

Emma

“Faith is the assurance of things hoped, for, the conviction of things not seen.”

This was the message from Hebrews today, and it seemed to reflect our mission trip. From the beginning, I’ve called on my faith to move us toward our goal, and I’ve had hope that this trip would shape the souls of those who participated. I can already see that happening.

Most of us knew each other fleetingly at best before this trip. Now, we are family in the most profound sense.

This is what I’ve learned of our team.

Emma is a quiet and thoughtful lady, with humor that lies within her stillness. Shineya is surprisingly funny and bright. Duke is an intellectual who doesn’t know it. (I told him I’ve had a vision that he’ll become a priest.) Dakota is alternately talkative and quiet, but is always thinking of others. Joe is immediately perceptive and can make everyone smile at the absurdities of life. Anne could probably make the world vegan by her persuasive and studied tone. Chandler, who says he’s hyper because he’s “scrawny” makes people smile at his energy. Tom is always trying to figure out the world around him, and often does.

The chaperones have been awesome. Jane and Charlie are our peacemakers. It’s amazing to watch how they meld with the kids, but maintain a respect that comes from love. Georgianna is a go-getter, always interested in the work and the place, and if puzzled by the kids at times, nonetheless a guiding light for them. Sheila has proved an invaluable rock, and who knew she was as funny as she is? Well, I guess Duke did.

Whatever our differences in style and culture, we’ve come together in profound ways. We’ve found that working for other’s needs fulfills our own. We’ve found that we can cut and stack cords of wood, prime and paint a church, and create hope in communities that were hurting.

Now, if we could just see the Northern Lights.

— Kathy

Today we hiked up a glacier and, It was very cool and huge. It was blue and white and had these streams and pools that had the cleanest bluest water I had ever seen. The glacier was like a massive monument of nature. I am almost adjusted to the light. It gets dark around 10 and light around 4 , but a local was saying that in the winter the sun rises at 9 am and sets at 3 pm. I still think I could live with it.  I am thinking I could go to college here. There is a university of Alaska Anchorage  that I think would be awesome. On a work note we have made a difference here in Alaska and I am glad we came.

_ the word of Tom

Emma is back. Today, I climbed a glacier! XD.

And the awesome thing was, I was wearing a tank top! It was brisk and felt splendid. There were huge hills made entirely out of ice and mud. It was so amazing. One of the group members got his feet stuck in the mud. It was so funny seeing his feet caked in it! X>

I got my dear, beloved family some souvenirs. Aren’t I sweet?!

I’m such good, loving daughter.  But, yeah, I hope that they like them, because I poured my heart and soul into them. >:<

So Kjell, YOU BETTER LIKE WHAT I GOT YOU!!!!! I also got you something that’s also a gift for dad. So, it has to do with the whole “father and son relationship” thing. Yesterday, we went to the awesome town, Palmer! There, we walked around a bit, taking in all of the cute shops. There was an awesome bookstore! I wanted to stay in there forever. T_T

I got a few things while I was there. Oh, and a lot of the books were used ones that were donated to the store. Isn’t that great?! =D

I must admit, the books looked really good. Hm-hm.

Oh dad, have you heard of the movie and the book “The Road”? I’m just wondering.

-Emma

Alaska….. It’s been extremely beautiful trees so think that they look like a really plush green carpet on the mountains.  Still would like to see McKinley I was told that the tall mountains we have seen are about 6,000 feet high and that McKinley is over 21,000 feet high!  So that would make it very impressive!  We have been treated so special here that it is really like visiting relatives… Ann, Ralph, Lonnie, and Audrey are regulars! But there are also whole bunches of other people that have been cooking behind the scenes.

Getting here the Airlines fed the little kids in front of us, then went to the back of the plane and started serving food from their Gourmet Menu.  They got back to our row much later and sold the last food to the people behind us…. And then they were rude!!!  A five-hour flight with no food…what were they thinking?  Then we picked up three rental cars and co-coordinated picking up everyone and following Ann Whitney to Wasilla.  While in the process of getting the rental cars and getting out of the lot Kathy managed to miss a rather obscure turn.  However, she went in the “DO NOT ENTER”   “Employees only” area which was so clearly marked ‘above’ and on the ‘pavement’ in VERY BOLD Lettering!  What makes this even more intriguing is Lonnie loaned her his truck later even though he knew that she did this and almost backed into me a couple of days later!  When we were talking with Lonnie, Kathy said  “ I was on the phone”

AND I’ve got the reputation as being the ‘scary driver’ because I got LOST!   I am so use to the square blocks in SLC that I think the streets are parallel and some are parallel and many fan out from central locations.   Jane, however, has an uncanny sense of direction and can go every which way and ends up home at the Church.

The first few days we were here we worked really, really, really, hard.  We were on teams that split wood and stacked it, cut down trees and plants less than 3 inches – clearing the sides of the road up to the Church, and putting up fences around the Garden (which has some very small plants) so the Moose and Rabbits won’t get the crops.  And we rotated the teams so that everyone got to do more than one thing.

Some jobs were more rigorous than others the clipping of the trees and clearing the sides of the road wore me out really fast.  I don’t know if it was more rigorous or just that I split wood and stacked wood first! I was obviously out of shape and hadn’t used those muscles lately!  I think that was true of others too.  Sheila was working with the clippers first and that night she slept crooked on her neck and couldn’t move her neck in the morning.  She would occasionally let out a shreek at odd times and one time she scared the hell out of me when I asked her about the Church being vacuumed.  She responded, “ No we will have to AHHHHH still do that.”   I was just going to step into the Church and stopped immediately!  But it was just a response to a turn of her head.  When she was sleeping, in addition the snoring, she would let out little “OH’s” and “AH’s”!  Fortunately when we went to Trapper Creek there was a Kathy that massaged her neck and fixed it.

I also discovered that I snore – mostly when falling asleep!

I think it was towards the end of the 2^nd day here that we went to Hatcher’s Pass and did a hike.   It was really so beautiful up there.   Also, kind’a treacherous in my Mary Janes!  It was never a really steep road up but when there it looked like we went a long way up the mountain.    There was one little patch of snow and we were above the timberline.  Everything is sooooooo immense.  I was trying to catch up to some of the hikers and when I saw them turn around and start down I started down.  Some were down before me, and some about the same time, but we never crossed paths!

After a few days of hard work we packed up and headed to Trapper’s Creek, some of us saw a moose on the way!  In Trapper’s Creek we met some more really great people!  Everyone is taking such good care of us!  When we first arrived John and George met us and George had brought a bunch of Deli sandwiches….  Just what I wanted!!  When went immediately to work and almost finished primering the building before we quit that day.

Then we went to Bill Hall’s Iditarod Dog Place and heard all about the race and the dogs from a three plus times winner. In the heat of the they all had their tongues hanging out as they pulled up. We watched from a bus as they pulled a ATV that was in gear for their workout.  Two of the dogs had a pushing contest for the left side swing position…. Turns out they were both left handed. day As you can tell by the use of ‘Swing Position”  we learned a lot.

That doesn’t half cover it all but it is 12:36 am, it might be dark and it is time to go to bed!

— Georgianna

Today was rather laid back and somewhat easy going, although off to an edgy start.  We ended up cutting a little more wood, and covering a dirt ramp with gravel.  Finally, off to Palmer for some sightseeing and yummy pizza.  We only had to turn around twice!  Joe found a book titled “Two Old Ladies” that he said reminded him of our trip.  Kathy and I have had more than a few missed turns in our driving, and it has become a source of great laughter and comment among us all.

I want to say how impressed I am with our crew.  There are kids working harder than I ever imagined they could or would.  When we were at Trapper Creek they worked to exhaustion, yet still were bright and alert and entirely enjoyable.  I would take them anywhere, any time.

I will remember this trip, and cherish every memory, for a very long time.

— Sheila

Emma here. This is my first blog that I am doing on this trip. Chan-chan’s birthday is on Valentines Day! ;D. Alaska is the most amazing place that I have ever seen. The mountains are absolutely outstanding. The first thing that popped into my mind was The Misty Mountains from The Lord of the Rings. X>

Yesterday, we had dinner with a couple that raises sled dogs. The food was so good! Yum! X>

The man’s wife made salmon chowder, with smoked salmon, moose sausage, garlic bread, and lemonade. Mom, got any ideas?

After dinner, we got to play with his Siberian huskies! The were so adorable! XD

So far my favorites were Tally, Trump, O.J. (a.k.a. Orangejello), D’Luna, Grisom, Yukon , and I believe that is all. We also got to feed them. Their fur coats were so clean and beautiful. Their teeth were VERY well taken care of. They always tried to lick your face when ever they got the chance. Alas, When it was time to go, we’re all waiting near the cars, when howls just exploded out the kennel area. The man told us that the huskies were saying “thank you” to us. He gave me a website to look up that tells you all about Siberian huskies and the Iditarod race. Now I definitely want a husky. I’m moving away from scum-bag Utah, and I’m either moving to Alaska or Canada, getting a decent sized house with a nice big yard. I will be in heavan.

That’s it for now. I have to go back to work. I’ll come back later.

-Emma Meryl Rife

Blog Dos or eh two? Dos! Anyway, Shinaynay here! Hmmm, Since the last time I blogged weve done a bit more, we went to paint a church saw two Iditarod Dog sled teams and war painted myself up like a kitteh =D Right now everyones working so I gotta go out there in a second, Anyway, Back to painting the church (On the way to Trapper Creek Emma developed an obsession with braiding and brushiny my hair)  we actually got that done a bit faster then I expected, which was nice, after the first day of painting the church we went to some peoples house, yes, that’s what we did,  We ate food they made sloppy joes which I couldn’t eat (Vegetarian) So the nice lady made me texas toast and spaghetti squash it was actually pretty good, im not really a squash person, the next day we finished painting and came back after putting all of our stuff away went to the other peoples house (I’m bad at remembering names) and ate more food I had Salad =D Anyway, Then we went and talked to the dogs wait I said talked? I meant visited (Teehee) I visited with Orangello (Juice O.J)  or     whatever hah and Tony those were the ones I remember but there was also Grisom I liked him too he was nice there were also two others I got in the cage with hah they were fun and then there was Butterscotch….hes old…. He layed there, Except around dinner time when I fed him, he was up and moving. O.J didn’t want to see me at first =o But after a while and a little help I got to pet him and sit next to him =D He was really cute now I really want an Alaskan Husky Or Siberian husky or anything else of that nature. Well…………………. Cake.

–ShiNayNay@! Lol Shineya.

Hi Dakota here first time blogging . the hole time I was here I never blog so we got back yester day from painting a church. then we went and ate at a complete strangers house the persons name was will or something like that he was a owner of Alaskan huskies .they were cool they were fluffy some names were like trump one was tony .and spirit butterscotch it was to much fun. the people here in Alaska are nice I finally met some Alaskan natives wich was cool for me we also ate at a mans name john. his wife was nice she made sloppy jose. for desert we had Sundays me and joe had a ice cream eating contest. I won and got five doller$ wich was cool now I onley need to servive this last work day.and if I have to ride with gorgeana ill hope I will live one or tow or rides. with the scary direver but if I am lucky .ill ride with some won els besides the scary one ill be ok. That’s it I have to go back to work see you later.

— Dakota