5 April 2012:  Yesterday we woke up in Tok, the dog-sled capital of the world.  (Locals claim there are about 6 dogs for every human resident.)  We drove south to Anchorage over part of the Alaskan Highway through the most spectacular scenery!  We encountered range after range of  snow-covered mountains and got a good look at the Matanuska glacier which flows for 27 miles out of the Chugach Mountains, with an average width of two miles.  We were eager to get our first glimpses of the Anchorage Basin as we drove down out of the mountains.  We skirted the fertile Mat-Su Valley (of giant-vegetable fame), by Wasilla (Sarah Palin's hometown), through Eagle River (large LDS concentration), and into Anchorage.  Here we are getting used to a confused layout of streets; many are one-way and have names that change from block to block.  Along the roadways there are still huge banks of snow from the winter's record snowfall.  Everything is encrusted with grit and gravel; we have never seen so many DIRTY cars--and ours is one of them!  We were welcomed so warmly by the senior missionaries at the Mission Office.  They had our apartment cleaned, furnished and ready for us--even with fresh flowers and a box of Alaskan chocolates!  We have a lovely kitchen (including dishwasher), sunny dining area, ample living room, bedroom (king sized bed) and study. One drawback:  A neighbor here cautioned us to watch out for moose in the apartment parking lot.  Today we met with the director of the University of Alaska Anchorage Institute, Brother Eric Bacon, who got us excited about his program and the potential for reaching out to young single adults in the area.  Tonight we will have our first opportunity to meet with the BYUI Pathway cohort group and sit in on their Pathway and Book of Mormon classes.  We are excited to get busy here! 

Our Alaska phone number is 907-306-7969      
Our address here is 7211 Meadow Street Apt B, Anchorage, AK  99507