Week of September 24, 2012

Monday we got everything together then left about 7:30 AM. We had good driving conditions but there were a couple of road delays that put us later than expected. We were supposed to have dinner with Pres. and Sis. Batt at their home. They invited us to stay the night so we wouldn’t have to drive down to Ft. Wingate so late. The mission home is lovely, and we stayed in the General Authority Room. We had a good visit and really enjoyed the evening.

President Batt, Elder and Sister Roeth

Tuesday, after a lovely breakfast with the mission president and his wife and a stop at the mission office to meet the couples there, we took off for Ft. Wingate, arriving about 1 PM. Our home is called “The Cottage” by the missionaries. It is H16 Sonya Circle, Ft. Wingate, NM 87316. It was described to us as “rustic”—I would say it is more “hammered”. There had been a 3” crack in the floor caused by ground shifting. The office couple had patched it, put new linoleum over it, and tucked it under the carpet. The carpet/linoleum junction is not good and there is a metal piece on the carpet that I’m afraid is going to slice my toe off before I am through. The floor is quite uneven, also due to the ground shifting. I can stand at some places in the bedroom and it feels like I’m wearing high heels. Someone came in after the fact and paneled the rooms. They probably also added insulation, because the wall plugs are all inset into the walls instead of flush with the surface. The paneling job was not terrific—some of the edges are quite raw. The water is not drinkable—apparently it was contaminated in the 70s by a uranium spill. We will have bottled water the entire time we’re here. The bathroom is OK—the toilet paper holder is on the inside of the under sink cabinet. That makes it a little hard to find if you are not familiar with it. The bed is comfortable and the shower is good. They put several new pans, cooking items, dishes, and towels in the kitchen. They replaced all the curtains—they were previously dark purple. They said it took three washings to get the windows clean. This was previously an apartment for elders and I really appreciate all the work that went into getting it ready for us. There is still much for us to do, but I know they did a lot before we came.

"The Cottage"

In the evening we met with the CES coordinator Bro. Croft and Pres. Haws, the stake president who was called 1 ½ weeks ago, to discuss what they want us to do. We had thought the CES program was all set up and we were just walking into it. As it turns out, they would like us to set up a seminary program in Ft. Wingate. Ft. Wingate Branch has 700-800 members (corrected to 976) with 40 attending. We will need to recruit the students there and get started. They would also like us to start an institute class in Gallup at the Stake Center. Both classes are New Testament, so they suggest using the same approach in both classes to keep things simple. They would also like to start another seminary program in another location when we get this one going. No problem!

Wednesday our Zone Leader called and wanted to visit us. We had a good visit with them. They are over all the senior couples so they do a lot of traveling. After they left we went to the trading post and post office which are three doors down the street. Our combination to the PO box didn’t work. Then we walked up the street to the church—it is about ¼ mile up the street. We ate a late lunch, both of us very tired. Ted actually asked me if I could see us living here for 18 months. Thursday morning our Sr. District Leader Elder Brown called on us (unannounced). We had heard he was coming, but we thought he would call first. As it was, I was just getting dressed and we have no doors on our bedroom, so it was a bit of a surprise. We enjoyed a good visit with him and his wife. After they left we walked to the post office where the lady showed us how to open our PO box. I am pretty sure I tried it just the way she did it, but I’m not going to argue.

Johnny Joe Family

Friday we had to get up early to be at an 8 AM inservice meeting in Gallup. It was actually an inservice for the full-time teachers in the area covering Flagstaff, AZ to Albequerque, NM. They were a good bunch of people and we really learned a lot. The meeting lasted most of the day. We got some threshold stripping for our home then got some food and a few basic supplies we need then headed home. After putting everything away, which was a major trick, we ate dinner then talked a bit and went to bed. Saturday we celebrated Ted’s birthday. After a late start, we drove down the old Highway 66 “just for the fun of it”. We located an auto repair shop that was recommended to us. We stopped at Baskin Robbins to get ice cream. We went to see a movie, “The Last Ounce of Courage”. It was a “must see”. We got a different size threshold for our floor then headed home. When we got home we prepared the floor and put the threshold down. We needed to hold it in place for several hours so we got out everything we had that was heavy: bottles of water, sugar, milk, laundry soap, and our case of tuna. We did a great job and it looks really good. We just have to step over the bottles for 24 hours until it cures.

Fixing the floor