Elder Larsen just got transferred!!!

He's saying goodbye to Anchorage........

This nice lady called me today and he was sitting right by her. She informed me that he is getting transferred to............

Juneau!!!

We are beyond excited for him.  Can't wait to hear from him and see the photos.....

Images from the [almost] Frozen North

Finally, after many months (due to a broken camera and lost memory card) we've received photos from the Elder Bubba D! I tried to download a video of his one-year shirt-burning, but after an inordinate amount of time waiting to download, I gave up, so we'll have to settle for a few snapshots of his life captured in seconds.
His artwork.......

Where on earth is he?

Well, of course, near Fort Richardson.  He was here to pay tribute to our fallen heroes. One of them who passed recently, a member of the Church.

Well, for heaven's sake-there's a Wally World!

Hmmm, does that mean they can drive 54 miles per hour?

Assorted wildlife.  He took a video of this baby moose and I heard him say, "wonder where the mama is?"  Good question Elder, watch out for that mama!

And that's about it. Mostly videos, of which Blogger will not upload.
At least I can picture where he is.
And we heard his voice!

We Interrupt this Vacation Narrative to Share a Photo of Elder D!

Out berry pickin' in Sitka Alaska.

Sent by his favorite convert, Paula.

(she's my favorite too cuz she watches over him, feeds him and sends me photos of him!)

Exciting Visitor from the North!

Yesterday I was able to meet one of Elder Larsen's converts! She was in Mesa and we met up at the temple visitor's center. It was great to hug someone who had been with my boy just five days earlier! She threw him a birthday party and showed me the photos.

Thanks for taking good care of my boy, Paula!

Day #28-Photo from Alaska!

Just got a batch of new photos from Elder Bubba D!

Photos from the Frozen North

Here's a few of the 300+ photos that I received last week from my Alaskan missionary. I'll try to narrate them the best I can:

Looks like the Northern Lights to me. (Fairbanks)

Blurry footwear used in Alaska.

I guess they don't tract much in Alaska.

Umm, I have nothing to say about this one. (Fairbanks)

He did mention that people have lots of guns. (see previous photo)

Proof positive....Yes, Virginia, there really is a North Pole.

Wow!

The famous Alaska pipeline......(still in Fairbanks)

I believe this was Christmas Dinner.....

Welcome to Nome.....

Mode of transportation in Nome. (crazy!)

Mode of dress in Nome.

What they drink in Nome.

 What they eat in Nome. (he said it was a musk ox)

Now we have been transferred to Sitka.

Remember the movie "The Proposal?"

Sitka is an island...

Looks like he is doing great.

(and gained a little weight!)

I have enough of these to last the rest of the month....
But I won't....

Messages from the Frozen North

We got a memory card yesterday from our Alaska Boy! Whoo-hoo! So here in a nutshell are a few tidbits of his life for the last 1 1/2 months:

Provo MTC:

On the way to Fairbanks....I THINK this is Mt. McKinley from the airplane (highest point in North America):His trainer.....Cold pictures:It looks like he has enough clothing....

And finally for your viewing pleasure....(if you can stand it).... a video. Two minutes of snow. Which, if you are from the desert, is a great novelty.

So Where in the World is Bubba D??

So, this is a little late, and is old news for some people.

I got a call last Sunday night from Daniel's mission president's wife. She said he arrived safely. She told me how wonderful he is. (I loved that) Then she told me where he is. I gasped.

It's 120 miles south of the Artic Circle.

It's about 200 miles northeast of the tallest mountain in the Northern Hemisphere.

It has the widest range of temperatures in the world. It can go down to -66 degrees in the winter, and up to 99 degrees in the summer.

It's the second largest city in Alaska.

It's Fairbanks, Alaska!

She said he is thrilled!

I told her he doesn't have very much clothing-it's a little hard to find in the desert Southwest.

She says he'll be fine. He can get everything he needs there.

He says they drive trucks to get around. I'm sure he's loving that.

He says it gets so cold sometimes that tires will freeze and break.

He says people live in giant houses or little shacks the size of our family room with a heated wood stove.

Can you see him there? Way in the back left with his arms raised up?

I can't wait to hear what he says next!

Edit!

Since I post-dated this-we got some PHOTOS of him from a member early this morning:

It looks like he is not a block of ice yet. I'm so glad he gets to carve a pumpkin this year! Thanks Sis. Wilson for thinking of me!!!

Photo Update!

Some friends from our ward were visiting the Provo Temple a week ago last Sunday and guess who they saw????

Ahhhhh! There's nothing that makes a mom happier than seeing a photo of her son. Doesn't he look great?That's his companion just behind him. Cool tie.Nope, he hasn't changed a bit. Still making goofy faces for the camera.

Off to Alaska

Well, he's off. And we got to talk to Elder Dan for about 10.35 minutes. He first called @ 6:40 am and then his calling card stopped working. We got to say, Hello, how are you.........

He called back about a half hour later. He said his card didn't work and some really nice lady in the airport took pity on him and let him use her cell phone to call home. So he didn't want to talk long. He sounds good. He says the MTC food did bad things to his stomach.......He's excited to go. His plane was delayed so he will be running from one plane to the next in Seattle to be on time to catch his flight to Anchorage. He says he is very tired and he said he was very hungry. (I think he was anxious to go get some "real food.") He sounds more grown up and confident. He's going with a group of 10 missionaries. We told him everyone said "hello."

And that's about it. Until Christmas.

Give 'em heaven, Bubba D.

Letter To My Son

Dear Elder D:

Glad to hear that you made it to the MTC yesterday. Man, was I ever glad to hear that your Grandma intercepted you at the door, even if it was for only 60.34 seconds. It made me feel better seeing your picture and that you looked the same after 2 1/2 hours.

So anyways, after arousing myself from my stupor of thought, I got busy and cleaned your room. Take a good look at it, it looks way different than when you were here.Don't worry, I didn't throw EVERYTHING away. Just packed it away. And I just wanted to thank you so much for the $4.89 that you left scattered for me all over the room. That makes my cleaning pay about $1.89 per hour, which I am going to save up for a trip to

Alaska in two years.

The Testosterone/Estrogen level in our home just equalled out

Well, he's gone.

Here's a recap of the last 24 hrs, more or less:

Last minute playing with all the electronic devices, video games, texting and facebook.

The ritual passing of the keys of the teenage car to the next generation.

The destruction of the devices of Babylon, aka, the ipod (don't freak, it didn't work anyway-the Stake Pres. loved it!)

He's officially an Elder.

Final family portrait at the airport.Gotta give your mom one more squeeze.Man, let's get the show on the road. He was dancing around in his typical Daniel fashion.Hasta la vista baby! See ya' in two....So he should be landing in SLC as this posts.

So how's mom?

Kinda numb.