Skagway Update

So, we had some things to take care of since it was our official 1st day in Skagway yesterday:

The Branch office asked us to care for finding and securing accommodations for at least 3 months for ourselves as soon as we got in to town. (we have been preaching also. That 130 has to get done lol) Because of the fact that where we are staying now are just temporary accommodations for a week as the place will close next week.

So we started on that right away. This involved getting a bit creative, and talking to some people, telling them who we are, what we are doing, etc...this opens up ALOT of questions. We have found that most people, don't know who Jehovah's Witnesses are actually. To them, the name sounds vaguely familiar but they want to associate us with Mormons or the 7th Day Adventist Church)

So we get a really good opportunity to clear some of this up and answer some questions that we normally wouldn't have to. We tell everyone about the website as well. They seem to respond in a favorable way.

While the town of Skagway is relatively small there are alot of outlying areas and many houses, literally in the mountains that we will hike up into, and bike about 10 miles each way to get to. We will have to do this relatively soon, as winter comes here, in October. So the window for that is closing quickly...I'm really looking forward to that.

After making a few calls, with no success, I stumbled on a place called Mile Zero B&B owned by a husband and wife named Tara and Sam. Keep in mind, that there are only 3 places in all of Skagway that stay open year round. (The town literally shuts down when cruise season is over, which is in 2 weeks) So we made it to our 2nd call. (remember that we also have to negotiate price for the Branch office so that we don't allow a place to charge us an exorbitant amount to stay somewhere. Also it needs to be safe and clean.) I prayed before I made the call and explained to Tara what we were looking for and what the purpose of our stay was. She told us that she was planning on closing for the season but that she would reconsider since we would need a place. She also would be willing to give us a very "competitive rate". We went and walked to the place to see it. It was very nice, clean and suitable for what we would need. So we told her that we would take it. In happened that her husband was moving a new refrigerator into the place and an old one was coming out, so of course we jumped right in and helped him move it for about an hour or so...this proved to be a very god witness for them and they look forward to having us with them.

Beginning today, I will give you an interesting fact on Skagway or Alaska each time I write.

Here is the 1st one: In Skagway, we lose about 10-12 minutes of daylight as each day passes. By the time winter comes, we will only have about 4 hours of light each day.

I hope you all are well. I love everyone and look forward to sharing more with you soon.

M. J. Penfield