Transfer to Wasilla

Sean received his first transfer on June 22. He will be serving in Wasilla. It is located on the northern point of Cook Inlet in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley of the southcentral part of the state. About a 45 minute drive North of Anchorage. Wasilla is the 4th largest city in Alaska. The city's population was 10,256 in 2008.

He flew out of Cordova at 1:00 p.m. Alaska time. I'm sure he didn't miss the 12 hour ferry ride/drive to Anchorage. He was being picked up by his new companion, Elder Zach Yates in Eagle River, which is the shopping hub between Anchorage, Palmer, and Wasilla. Elder Giles will be getting a new companion and will remain in Cordova until they close it up in 6 weeks, at which time Elder Giles will be going home. Sean said he was able to say his goodbyes to the Cordova people. I know he is going to miss it and them, but is looking forward to a new area.

We received this letter from Sean on June 27th:
Hello everyone, I am not sure when you will get this, but I arrived in Wasilla. It looks a lot like Salt Lake or Provo here with the mountains. After I got picked up from the airport and met Elder Yates we went to Wal-Mart. I felt lost and confused. Things are so much cheaper here than in Cordova. The apartment we live in is pretty nice.... We are going to try and tract Sarah Palin's house sometime this week. That will be interesting.

Today we had district meeting for the first time with actual missionaries being there. It was cool to be around other people and then we went to lunch after it was over. I think I will be here for longer than I was in Cordova, so I guess you can give people the address here, but it would be just as easy to send it to the mission office, because it will only be about a days difference to receive mail.

Well I hope life is going well. I have heard a ton of rumors about Utah going into a different conference. So if that is true I would like to maybe get a story or article about it. Also, I would love to see the new Jazz logos and colors. I will talk to you later. Thanks for everything.

Love, Elder Sean

Well...so noone panics. Jake had already told him that stuff in his weekly email, Sean just hadn't receieved it when he mailed the letter. And, I did send Sean the Utes/Pac 10 update and pictures of the new Jazz logos. So that is all taken care of.

This transfer has a story behind it. Sean actually knew Elder Yates when he was around 5 or 6 years old. Elder Yates lived next door to Sean's Aunt Susie here in St. George until he moved to Logan when he was about 8. They hung out a little when Sean was with his Cousin, Mitch. When Sean received his mission call, I was visiting with my friend, Mikelle, who is also in young women with me and the school counselor at Little Valley, and she told me that her little brother was serving in Alaska, who we found out was the Zach that lived next door to Susie. So we reminded Sean and Zach that they knew each other when they were younger and hoped that they might run into each other sometime. But...what is the chance they would ever end up serving together. Well it happened...how crazy is that. I was so excited. From what Mikelle has told me, his personality is alot like Sean's. Very quiet and reserved. Sean said Elder Yates is a going to be a great companion. Sean has already done service work at a musk ox farm and said that was really cool. (Not exactly sure what kind of service yet...waiting to hear about that still). He seems to be adjusting well.

Left to Right: Sean, Mitch (Sean's cousin) and Zach (Elder Yates) at Mitchell's birthday party in 1996. Obviously as they are standing there, they would have never dreamed they would be serving a mission together 13 years later.