January 11, 2016
Apparently Sister Webster and I actually do missionary work

Lesson learned this week: shopping with Sister Webster is very dangerous. She will buy 

everything she likes and make you buy everything she likes for you. I wouldn't recommend 

it, although it was extremely fun. And of course, we went shopping at the one, the only, the 

fanciest of fancy: Target. Which, unless we go to Anchorage, is the nicest place to buy stuff.

 Yay Alaska!

I don't know if I written about this before, but here on Tuesdays and Fridays we go to a 

nursing home and play Bingo and serve ice cream and put up and take down Christmas 

decorations for old people. It's super fun! And the people who work there are amazing as 

well. When Sister McGraw was sick, we weren't able to go very much, but now that the 

craziness of the holidays has subsided we're back to volunteering there and it's great fun.

We started teaching an old black guy, he's great. I would be scared by his knowledge of 

Biblical material if God hadn't told me this Church was true.

One of the cute older sisters in our ward fed us dinner this week and was chattering away 

like a good old person does and said one of the most profound statements I've ever heard:

 "Going to the temple turns the word love from a noun into a verb." 

Let it marinate.

How do I turn the word love from a noun into a verb? How do I not just say that I love 

people, but really verbify the word? Something to ponder. My companion pointed out that 

she could tell a difference between the people that I really truly loved and the ones I love 

mildly mandatorily. I really do care about everyone, but I'm working on truly having that 

charity for all of them. 

The Church is true, the Book is blue, tracting is fun, and now I'm done.

Remember who you are!

Sister Rollins

Q asked of her: How do you find contacts if no one is out in the streets to chat with?

Answer:Haha, your question is a very good question. If no one is in the streets to chat with, 

then we knock on people's doors, which is not very effective.

We mostly find people to teach/talk to in eating/shopping establishments, during service 

(volunteering at the old folks' home, library, reindeer farm) or just through members. It really

 is quite difficult sometimes.

Driving to the reindeer farm to do service

                                                  Salmon fillets obviously belong right next to                                                   the scarves and jewelry!

         Shoe Shopping in Alaska

Jan 5, 2016

Greetings from the ice! Don't worry, I've only fallen about five times, and there's no 

permanent bruising.

Last Monday we went snowshoeing up Hatcher's Pass! Behind us you can see the 

abandoned mine, which was neat. We also unintentionally buried our phone there and 

consequently borrowed everyone else's for a few days... Luckily, our ward mission leader 

actually did his job and kept up with our appointments and such! So we survived until 

someone came up from Anchorage with a new one. This is why we can't have nice
things...

The work has been good. We're really excited for this upcoming week, because everyone 

who was busy over break can finally see us! Yay for many set appointments and no more 

spontaneous 2am outings that make it difficult to wake up for 9am church.

Oh, and I played the organ here! First time on my mission, actually - in Soldotna they had 

 two organists (apparently super rare for Alaska) and then here we have one and they only 

last week found out I play.

Keeping commitments is really important. With the new year here, it's exciting to hear about everyone's resolutions - and the only way they are actually going to work is if you hold 

yourself accountable! So find a way to hold yourself accountable - whether it be writing it
down, telling a friend, or getting an app to remind you every day, that follow up will be what keeps you on track. Why do you think we take the sacrament every single week to renew 

our baptismal covenant? It is that accountability that helps keep us on track! And, as the 

new youth theme says, if we "press forward with a steadfastness in Christ...ye shall have 

eternal life." I don't know about you, but that sounds pretty good to me!

Much love and blessings from Alaska,

Sister Rollins

The Palmer district!  The ones who didn't have snowshoes decided to sit down for the picture rather than sink through 3 feet of snow

Me and the comp

Dec 28, 2015
Was Christmas this week?

Wow! Christmas is full of caroling and candy and chocolate.

This past week we decorated a tree for a cute old less active lady, caroled, went to a store 

and met a real nice black guy from Tennessee that we might start teaching, caroled, 

wrapped presents for service, caroled, delivered cookies, caroled, watched Bible videos, 

caroled, and went to church for seven hours! (I'm not quite bishop status yet...)

Did I mention we caroled a lot? I'm very grateful for a companion who can sing in tune. One

 cool place we sang at was the Pioneer Home here - a nursing home. We were supposed 

to sing for everyone after lunch, but we were late and so everyone had already gone back 

into their rooms... So instead, we took the gifts someone had donated and hand delivered 

them to all the residents and sang to the ones who were awake. There were some criers, 

some jokers, and overall just a wonderful Spirit there. It was almost just like when we go 

caroling back in Cincinnati, which was really wonderful.

Sister Webster was feeling awful one day, and it was cold and rainy so I watched about an 

hour and a half of the Bible videos, which was really nice. And very appropriate for the day 

after Christmas.

Current moose count: 40.

Oh, I almost hit a moose driving this morning! We were driving down the mountain and one

 ran right out in front of us... Of course, the road was slick and we slid a good ways, but 

luckily we missed the moose! Little Geraldo lived to see another day. Although I think he

probably would've survived much better than we would have if a collision would have 

occurred.

People are taking good care of us.

ute .

Love y'all! Be strong and of a good courage. Read Hebrews 11, it's awesome.

Sister Rollins

Downtown Palmer at noon

My birthday dinner with the cute ole Beames

Dec 21, 2015

And then I pet an alpaca

Once upon a time, in the wintry land of Alaska, there lived a sister in the North Pole. She 

worked hard teaching Santa Claus (no joke) and Olive the other Reindeer (yes joke) the 

Gospel so they could learn the true meaning of Christmas. Right before the actual day of 

Christmas, however, she descended to a lower part of Alaska and settled in the small town of Palmer, home of the state fair and fireworks after Thanksgiving. That sister, Sister 

Webster, became my companion! And it's been a good time.

Sooo because you will all ask about her, she's from Hood River, Oregon. She went to BYU-I for a year before she came out, and she's almost as crazy as I am. She loves Miranda 

Sings and working hard. She also sings very loudly and very in tune. She pretty much rocks.

In other news, we were expecting about 10 people at church yesterday! And only 1 came. 

So, although disappointing, we still love them.

We also have procured a Christmas tree so that we can properly celebrate Christmas! (Of 

course, all you really need is Christ in your heart, but the tree that points toward heaven is a good reminder.)

Oh, we had a neat experience the other day: we were driving to an appointment and passed a lady walking down the street (somewhat abnormal). I felt like I should stop and offer her 

help, but I didn't want to interrupt Sister Webster's story, so I made it a good 50 feet down 

the road before I stopped and turned around. She said she could use some help feeding her alpacas, so we helped! It wasn't too strenuous, but it was fun! And she said she'll be 

feeding them around the same time every day for the next couple days, so I see many

alpacas in my future...

Well, I now have the A Savior is Born video memorized, so if you haven't seen it by 

Christmas at Christmas.mormon.org, call me and I'll quote it to you!
Much love and blessings,

Sister Rollins

Sis Webster, me and Mary Lou the reindeer

 My and my mommy and daddy at transfer meeting :) (Sister Rose and Sister Price)

 Happy birthday Jesus!

Sister McGraw and I with the tree we decorated for some members... Hebroke his back so we got to do some service :)

Sister McGraw and I with the tree we decorated for some members... He
broke his back so we got to do some service :)

Dec 14, 2015
Christmas trees and taco salad and laughing

There are many kinds of Christmas trees in this world, and I've think I've seen about all of 

them this week. A lot of people in Alaska just cut them down from their backyard, and some of them are rather homely.  But a lot of people go insane and have ten trees in their house! 

It's been fun to see them all, and we've even gotten to decorate a couple!

Something else we saw a lot this week was nativities! Our church building hosted over 1200 Nativities and was all decked out this weekend. We even had shortened church (so my talk was short too!) to accommodate more visitors. It is so neat to see all of the representations of Christ and feel the Spirit that accompanies that.

People are super cool! Missionary work in Lazy Mountain is taking off! People are coming to church and reading the Book of Mormon! I get to teach an ex-convict! The premortal life 

blows people's minds! I'm training a reindeer (name suggestions are welcome.) Jesus is 

real!

Oh, and transfer calls! Sister McGraw is leaving, headed to Anchorage.  Sister Webster is 

coming here!

Sister Rollins

Dec 7, 2015
Lots of fog = chocolate frog

Greetings, citizens of the world! Getting stuck on the ice/in a snow bank, decorating an old 

folk's home, going through a movie collection of about 200 movies, attending the temple for

the first time in seven months, being generally unable to find houses in the dark, going on
exchanges to Anchorage, playing piano at a baptism, and teaching about the millennium 

has taken up most of my week.

Explanations!

So... Once upon a time Sister Rollins was driving the fun Equinox she loves driving and 

missed a turn. She decides to turn around at the next street, but unfortunately doesn't 

realize that street was actually an ice rink disguised as a road! So she gets most of the way
around and slides a solid twelve feet into a snow bank. Luckily, she and her companion are

 only a five and a half minute walk from the house they were visiting. The said investigators 

in the house are bemused by our plight and offer to pull us out, which offer we gladly
accept. They drive their truck down to our car and begin to turn around, only to find 

themselves sliding as we had! Frantic prayers were offered, and the truck misses our car 

by inches and goes into a ditch, where the wheels are spun until the truck is solidly stuck.

Luckily, a member lives next door! So the seven minute trek is made, and a plea for help 

for now two cars is responded to. That member laughs at us and then promptly goes and 

pulls both of us out using his lived-in-Alaska-for-thirty-years skills. It was a cold, good time.

Going to the temple was really nice! I unexpectedly got to see a few people from Soldotna, 

which was delightful. One of the girls who had prepared, submitted papers, and then gotten

 her call for her mission while I was there was receiving her endowment! She was super 

grateful I was there, and it was really fun to see her and a few other ward members.

Perpetual snow and ice is super exciting to drive in! Alaska's been getting a real winter this 

year, versus last year's wimpy one, which is fabulous.

We found two someone's to teach this week! People told us to go visit some supposedly 

unfriendly people, but they turned out to be friendly and very open to hearing from us. In 

fact, they were really excited for us to teach them, which is not always the case. It was 

probably one of the most awkward interactions I've ever had (which is saying something. 

Don't worry, I haven't become less awkward on my mission!) but Sister McGraw and I 

decided that's what they needed - to see that we are definitely not perfect teachers by any 

means. We're mostly just awkward.

Talking to people in the five hours of daylight is difficult but possible. Seven is officially the 

middle of the night.

Exchanges in Anchorage was fun! Sister Dall is a gem and made me wear a Utes 

sweatshirt.

Christmastime is the best kind of time! If you haven't watched the new Christmas video, "A 

Savior is Born," I would encourage you to do so now. It's definitely different than last year's 

video, but the message that Christ is born is the same. Actually, watch this year's and last
year's for maximum upliftment.

The invitation it leaves with you is to discover why the Savior was born - why He's the 

reason for the season! I love hearing everyone's reasons, but one that's stuck out to me is 

so that we can be happy because we are free from guilt. We don't have regrets because 

we know we can be forgiven. The Savior was born so He could do the great work that 

redeems us in an inexplicable way from the sadness, sorrows and tumult of this world. So 

rejoice greatly and take the sacrament this week to renew that covenant that binds you to 

Him and allows you to access His grace.

Okay, much love and happiness! And as a wonderful old black lady told me this week, 

"Evry tongue shall confess to Jesus!" In the Millenium, so might as well do it now.

Sister Rollins

At the Anchorage Temple

Found this at the church...someone must have really not liked Isaac

23 Nov 2015

Excepts from a birthday letter to her Mother,

Alaska is still treating me well!  This winter has already gotten colder and snowier than it ever did last year, and I'm quite enjoying :)  Here in Palmer we live on a mountain in an apartment over one of the members' garages.  So getting down the 3 miles of mountain roads has been fun. :)  And I'm definitely learning how to drive in the snow!  It cracks me up how much conflicting advice about driving in the dark and cold and snow,, so I'm just rolling with it.  :)

I learned a lot this week about patience.  Sister McGraw stayed pretty consistently sick this week, and our mission nurse, Sister Taylor, told us to stay in.  So we haven't left our apartment much...the Lord taught me to work hard and be diligent in Soldotna, and now He's teaching me to rest and care for my companion.  It's quite interesting to see how the Lord teaches us...certainly not how you expect Him to!  I definitely didn't that that on my mission there would be times where I didn't see many people.  And in this past week , I haven't seen hardly anyone!  In fact, we didn't even go to church yesterday.  :(  It's been pretty cool recently that as I've focused on making the Sabbath and particularly the sacrament a more spiritual experience, when I don't partake of the Sacrament I miss it a lot more - like for General Conference or for Stake Conference.

Hmmm...well, let me tell you about my companion, Sister McGraw!  She is 22 and from Perry, Utah - a little town outside of Brigham City.  She has been out two transfers, or 3 months, longer than I, so she just hit her 1/2 way mark of 9 months!  A lot of sisters call it their "hump day" of the mission.  Sister McGraw reminds me a lot of Elisabeth Robertson.  She's really smart and loves history.  She was homeschooled for most of her life, and she is very careful with her money.  She also is very hardworking, so her sickness and being tired and sick all the time has been really hard on her, since she wants to go and work!  She is also SO aware and always worried about those around her - worried her coughing keeps me up at night (it doesn't) and that I'm going to get sick and that she's not teaching me abou the area fast enough, etc.  I tell her to stop worrying and just get better.  :)  She's trying, but this bronchitis just won't go away...and the cold, of course, doesn't help.  That's why Sister Taylor wanted us to stay in our apartment!  But it's hard.  Today we went over to the member's house (the Beames), which is about 50 feet away.  So Sister McGraw could email her family.  Even that was tiring...poor Sister McGraw.

We haven't used our car for a couple days, and so it's covered in snow!  In Palmer it's windy enough that even ifit doesn't actually snow, (although it is actually snowing right now), your car gets snow on it.  :)  But most people here also plug in their cars and turn them on about 20 minutes before they go anywhere, so there's not usually too much scraping we have to do.

The Beanes!  Are the members who we sort of live with  They are so cute!  They have 4 daughters and 1 son, and he's the youngest  :).  So that's fun.  They range from 16 to 8 and are pretty loud and fun!  They are also musical and have a piano, which is nice!  O haven't been  about to play hardly any here, but I'll probably mess around for a bit today.

Wow, the snow has really picked up since I started writing.  It's coming down pretty hared now.  Although not as hard as I've seen...one night, the flakes were so big you could see their designs!  It was super awesome.

Oh!  Did I tell you I saw the northern lights?!  Well I did!  Once very faintly, a second time really well - they were moving around, yellow and green and a hint of pink - and then once, our investigator took pictures of us with them!  It was only 7:15pm, too, which is insanely early for the lights to be out.  It was awesome!