Andrew, My Brother

Where to start....

OH I KNOW!

Elder Britton Winterrose
Alaska Anchorage Mission
PO Box 221649
Anchorage AK 99522-1649

This is the mission office's new address. They had a permanent one built inside one of the church buildings in Anchorage. So if you want to send me anything please make sure you are sending it to the new address as written.

To answer the question of what is in the box. Here's a list: 10 Lbs of vacuum-packed King Salmon provided by Elder Kyle W. and Elder J. in Ketchikan, some 5 lbs of Smoked Salmon from our freezer, around 20 lbs of Silver Salmon, and around 20 lbs of Halibut, provided by the B.'s.

Other things before I get to writing whatever comes to my head.... I lost my camera. I think I left it in the Library last time I loaded pictures onto my hard drive, but I'm not sure. I can't find it anywhere. Luckily it was right after I loaded all the photos. It was a nice camera while it lasted.

And my watch got stolen. I was doing service on the 4th at the City of Craig festivities. I was in charge of making cotton candy. Talk about blessed service. Anyways. I went to wash off my hands, so I took off my watch for a second, went and washed my hands, and when I went back it was gone. I'm kinda ticked because it was pretty nice. So that was a bummer. But I guess we just have to live and learn.

Really though it has been a crazy week.We did service with the ward where we cut a few cords of firewood from old clear cuts that the forest service opens up for firewood. Then we split it and loaded it. The Priesthood quorums will deliver it to families who need it to supplement their supply to help them make it through the winter. A lot of people heat their homes with wood stoves up here or at least supplement their heat with the wood stove.

Then Thursday we went to our mission conference held in Juneau for our zone on Thurs-Sat. We had to catch the ferry on Thursday to Ketchikan so we could make our 5 p.m. flight, but when we got to the ferry terminal I started looking for my Drivers License so I could board the ferry but it wasn't in my wallet. That's when I remembered that on Monday we had been over at the P.'s house and one of the boys had bo-jacked my wallet and scattered the contents around the house....... It's not like I could really be angry with any boy doing anything of this sort because I was a little bum-head myself and I guess it just comes back around.:) So his little prank ended up with us missing the ferry, driving back into Craig, going to their house, finding the drivers license in his little brother's bed sheets, and then us narrowly catching a 10 a.m. flight off the island into Ketchikan. We still beat the ferry! Flying was really nice. I wish we could fly every time. We were in a Cessna and the weather was kind of stormy but the flight was great. We saw whales and it was cool to see the island from the air. Hundreds and hundreds of miles of logging roads...

We arrived in Ketchikan and got the fish to the shipping place and I chowed down on some McDonalds! Then we went and embarked on my quest to find Andrew R! We headed down the Tongass Highway but the other Elders were a little skeptical because we had to head past all the other housing and we just kept driving. We weren't sure really where he was living or if the address you gave me was for his home or work. Nevertheless we continued. Finally we drove past this building and down to the end of the Highway. Finding that it wasn't the right address we just flipped around and went back to the building we previously passed. Elder W. and I went down to investigate. The place looked like a big tourist lodge... and it turned out that it was a big tourist lodge! Haha. It was way nice. When we walked down the first person to greet us was the boss and just happened to be a potential investigator that the Ketchikan Elders had been trying to get in contact with. She told us where to find Andrew, so we walked into the big dining room of the George Inlet Lodge. He was in there serving up some guests so I just walked up and stood next to him. He broke off his conversation momentarily as he looked up at me, looked back down, and then the face registered and he looked back up at me with his side smile/what the H look and said something along the lines of "Really? All the way up here? I thought you were in Anchorage still!" He told us to follow him and his cousin(?) told him to have us stay and eat. So we got our other two companions, Elder G. and Elder J. and enjoyed a dungeness crab feast, courtesy of Andrew! They had a competition to see who could eat the most crab and Elder W. and I tied two tourists, (let's face it, we won but we can't afford to tip : ) so we got to stand up with the other two people and do a crab dance in front of everyone. It was pretty funny and the crab was wonderful. They also had some awesome cheesecake after for dessert. After all the food wrapped up, and the tables were bussed and set, we got to talk with Andrew for a little bit. Now I cannot even begin to explain the beauty and complexity of the logistics that had to occur for Heavenly Father to bring Andrew and I to the same place with the perfect timing, but the perfection of it is far beyond serendipitous, it is miraculous. I am eternally grateful for the opportunity to bear testimony of the power of the Atonement to one of my good friends, to my brother that I have prayed for nearly every day of my mission. I hope that he takes the initiative to seek out the truth on his own and sincerely question and find out if the book of Mormon is true. I am most overwhelmed though just from getting to be part of it. How great is a God that helps us help not only ourselves, but one that allows us to be His hands, to work with His precision - even in the lives of those we hold most dear.

We can become the change that the world needs, if we yoke ourselves to him.

The visit with Andrew and the excitement of Channing entering the MTC has me filled with gratitude. I am grateful most of all for the Atonement and for loving parents, and all of those who have strived to help me be a better, kinder, more responsible, more Christ-like ... me. I just want to help others now. That is why I am here. That is why I am serving a mission. Because I know that if I spend my time in the service of God, helping others' brothers and sisters, that Heavenly Father will bless and help mine.

No empty Chairs in Heaven.

We were able to make it to the conference and we had a wonderful time. We got to speak very, very briefly with President Beesley, but they spent most of the time telling us about themselves... I mean helping us to get acquainted with them. They are both way awesome and Sister Beesley loves to fish. Someone mentioned fishing and her eyes lit up! They are way different than President and Sister Dance but I am sure that I will grow to love them. Read more about theme here: http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/50122/Maiden-flight.html

Well I am pretty much out of time. I love you all and I hope you enjoy eating the fish as much as I enjoy catching it.

Just remember, always pray for your brothers and sisters, even if you think their lost.

Love Elder Britton Winterrose!

PS. I love ya all!!