Week Ending December 22, 2012

Sunday we woke to more snow, although it had quit falling. The roads were slippery so we had a small group for church. We passed out a flyer for the New Year’s Eve party. We have about 19 signed up right now. In RS I asked the sisters if any had favorite games and got some responses. We planned an agenda for the party, so I think we are coming closer to what should happen. I think we’ll have a good time.

After church Ted and I went out walking to deliver some popcorn we’d made as gifts. We gave some to 4 families. It was really cold so we were really glad to get back home. We gave some to people at church as well—ones we didn’t particularly want to visit since we don’t know where they live. When we got home we had a message from one of our Toh-la-kai seminary students saying she was in a choir concert in Gallup and, even though it was short notice, she wanted to invite us. After we had some hot chocolate and cider and warmed Ted’s feet a bit, we drove to the concert at the Sacred Heart Cathedral. It was a beautiful concert. It was mostly the choirs from Rehoboth Christian School, but they let the Gallup Catholic School do three numbers.

Monday we woke up to more cold but a beautiful day. We had a good visit with our grandma. Her husband’s pneumonia is nearly cleared up so he will return to work after Christmas. He had hoped to retire at the end of the month, but he was out sick the entire month so he needs to keep working for a while. We shared “Man’s Search for Happiness”. She really enjoyed it so we left her the DVD to share with her husband. He came home just as we were wrapping things up. Ted shared the story of the Founding Fathers coming to Wilford Woodruff asking to have their temple work done. We challenged them to prepare themselves to go to the temple then we had a prayer and left.

We drove to a couple of places to deliver some popcorn but no one was home. We stopped at a couple of other places instead and gave them the popcorn. We visited one man who was grouchy the first time we’d visited. He was much nicer this time. The roads were pretty clear, but we tried to avoid the mud in our walking.

Tuesday we went to the Iyanbito Senior Center for their Christmas lunch. The ground was quite soft so we got covered in mud. We enjoyed the lunch and met several people we had not found at home when we visited. The regulars had all drawn names and exchanged gifts. It was fun to watch some of the things they gave each other. One of the ladies told us she wanted us to visit her, so I got her address and phone number. When it was time to go Ted volunteered to get a sister’s car for her because it was in the middle of the mud. He got so covered with mud on his shoes that he couldn’t keep his foot on the clutch pedal. Our car was full of mud by the time we got home. Ted took some rags and water and tried to clean up the car. Then he had to clean up himself. It was really heavy, heavy mud. My side of the car at our house had leaves under the snow so it was fairly firm, but Ted’s side was pure mud. He ended up putting a towel on the ground to walk on. I cleaned up my side of the car and put a towel on the floor to protect it. I scraped the big chunks of mud from the wheel wells. It was a huge mess.

During the night I spent quite a bit of time thinking about a young man we are teaching. I got up and worked on the discussion for him for a couple of hours then went back to bed. I felt like I had been guided to write down several things as an approach to teaching him. In the afternoon we left fairly early to run some errands before institute. We have to get bottled water because we’ve been told our water here is contaminated with Uranium from the mines. Fortunately, the Water Store in Gallup gives us our water free—we just need to bring in the bottles and fill them. That is very generous of them. We fill up about once a week. When we arrived at Walmart, we discovered that one of the gallon bottles had tipped over in the back seat and dumped about ¾ of a gallon of water on the car floor. We did the best we could to mop it up, then we put the floor mat in the trunk on a towel. Bad day for our car!

One of our students had called to say a storm would hit around 3 PM so he wouldn’t be coming. It was plenty cold outside, but it wasn’t raining or snowing. We ran into the sister missionaries in Walmart and they said they were bringing a lady to institute. We got to the church just in time to set up for institute. About 10 minutes late the sisters walked in. Their contact finally arrived about 7 PM. We visited a bit then had a song and prayer and spiritual thought. Then Ted shared his favorite Christmas story and the story of the Founding Fathers. I shared a story by Pres. Kimball about giving gifts to Christ for His birthday. It was a good meeting. We gave the lady a bag of popcorn. She said she had been hesitant to come, but now she’s feeling comfortable and will come back when we start again.

Wednesday we woke up to a white world. It was not snowing, but there was some snow on the ground and the car was covered. It was about 20 degrees outside and windy. I stayed in most of the day and studied to prepare for Saturday. We walked down to the post office and there were two packages waiting—mail is really a treat. It was quite windy and very cold. Even though it was so cold the ground was muddy and wet most places. It didn’t take much to convince me to stay inside.

Mt. Taylor, one of the Navajo's four sacred mountains

Thursday morning was spent studying and preparing. We taught a young man in the afternoon. I gave the partI had prepared then turned the rest of the lesson over to Ted. We only got about half way through, but there was a good spirit. I just want to convey to the young man that he is loved of Heavenly Father and he can feel the blessings of the gospel in his life. After we left there we delivered some popcorn to several families on the way home. It seemed to be well-received.

Friday our appointment fell through so we hurriedly headed into Gallup for a district meeting. After that we went with the other missionaries to Sizzler for a late lunch. We then headed to Toh-la-kai for seminary. At about 6:25 one of my students ran in to say they needed to stop at home to get their books and they’d be right back. No one else came. When my students returned, we had our lesson and I showed the video of The Nativity. It was really touching to me. After we were done I wished them a Merry Christmas and gave them the candy bars I’d bought for a Christmas gift for them. We gave their mom a bag of popcorn. I was discouraged that the others hadn’t come.

Saturday our class president was on time for the first time so she conducted the seminary class. Her siblings arrived a bit later, but we had the entire class there. I felt a lot better. After class I had Ted take a picture of me with the kids and me with the kids and parents. I wished them a Merry Christmas and gave them the candy bars which they were all thrilled with. I was packing up my stuff when one of the kids came to get me for something in the hallway. The Joes gave us pillows with fleece covers in one of the Navajo patterns. They have no idea how much that meant to me. They told us how much they loved us and appreciated what we were doing for them and their kids. What a blessing they are to us.

Ft. Wingate Seminary and Adult Education classes

We drove to Thoreau (pronounced Thuh-roo) to meet another senior couple so they could take us to meet Jack, a pottery maker that lives there and gives missionaries a good deal. They are going home in a couple of weeks and were having a baptism—great way to end a mission. We visited a bit then asked if Elder Lords was around. He was just down the hall so we were able to meet him. He is our former bishop’s nephew. We visited with the couple in their RV. They have lived for a year in an RV that is really intended for someone to spend a weekend in—it is about 20 feet. They showed us where some ruins were near their home then we ate some lunch with them before heading back. We spent the rest of the afternoon delivering popcorn to several people in the branch.

Senior missionary RV in Thoreau
Drive one and sleep in one

Elder and Sister Roeth, Elder Lords at Thoreau

We wanted to visit a couple in Iyanbito we had met at the senior center. We’d been told they lived “just behind the chapter house”. We stopped at the first house on the road. A little boy about 7 ran out to see who we were. We told him who we were looking for and he pointed up the road and jabbered something very quickly about finding a church and they were next door. He said we could either go up his driveway or go back to the main (dirt) road. We chose to go back to the main road. We went on to another couple of houses and tried again. This time an elderly man answered and told us the same thing—find the church on the left and they are next door. The road was quite muddy and a couple of times we weren’t sure we’d make it, but we kept on. (There was really no way to turn around.) We passed a lot on the left with a school bus in the yard and decided that may be what we were looking for. We parked very nearly in the middle of the road and walked back to the house. It was the right house. I’m not sure what everyone was calling a church—there was a very small building about the size of a small work shed at the back of the lot with a cross on the side, but you had to know it was there to notice it. I certainly would not have used it as a landmark. I might have said they lived in the lot with a chain link fence around it since they were the only ones meeting that description. Funny the difference in the way we look at things. I went back to the car and backed it up the very wet and muddy road and pulled into their yard. I only spun the tires a few times. I then picked up a bag of popcorn and took it into the house. The lady wasn’t home, but her husband was glad to see us. The dogs in the yard were also glad to see us, but we’d forgotten our dog bones so we were without defense. We were advised to go back out the way we’d come in instead of going on down the road so we did. We were glad to get home.

Red Sage Loop, "just behind the chapter house", yech!

Week Ending December 15, 2012

Sunday we woke to a beautiful day. I had volunteered to teach a class in Relief Society on quick and economical meals. I was testing a recipe so I hurried and put the food in the crock pot. We got to church early so we could talk to Pres. Pine about having a New Year’s Eve party. He really liked the idea. Now all we need to do is plan it—yikes! Not my strength. The Relief Society president brought me a game she said is really fun. She had made me a crocheted hat because she said I was going to need it. She also brought us a container of soup. What a sweetheart. I invited her and her husband to dinner later.

Pink Hogan, 2200 Square Ft, dogs included

At church I was thrilled to see that the young man we’ve been teaching was there with his parents and the couple we had visited with on Monday was also there with her daughter. We decided I should stay with them for the other meetings and Ted would teach the temple prep on his own. They decided to stay for the full meeting block and participated in the meetings. They said they’d had a good time.  After church we discovered it was snowing outside. We decided we all needed to be on the road while we could still get out. The flakes were getting bigger. When we got home it slowed a bit, but it started again as the evening came. About 4 PM our guests arrived for dinner. I’d fixed a stew. It was a little dry and needed some flavor, but it was OK. We had a good visit then they headed home to try to get in before the worst of the weather.

Snowflake Temple, notice the ice in the fountain

Monday we left early to meet the Toh-la-kai missionaries and drive to the Snowflake AZ Temple. We had a good discussion on the way—they tried to educate us on how to be better missionaries. It was really cold. When we started the outside temperature was 8^o. As we drove toward Gallup it went down gradually until it was -2 ^o. It stayed there for just a few minutes but it didn’t get very high. At the temple we had a session with ½ of the missionaries from the southern part of the mission. The other half had been in an earlier session. The northern half went to the Monticello Temple last week. We had brief comments from the mission president and his wife and one of his counselors and the temple president. The temple workers had come in on their day off to give us the opportunity to go to the temple. They do this twice a year. Afterward we took a group picture. There were blocks of ice in the fountain—it was really cold. We had lunch prepared by the Holbrook Stake then headed home. It was a good trip.

12/10/12, -2 Degrees; Very Cold!!

Tuesday we spent the day studying and doing stuff in the house. I made white chocolate popcorn so I could take some to Pres. and Sis. Batt on Wednesday. In the evening we had institute.

Wednesday we left really early (6:30 AM) to pick up another senior couple and drive to Kayenta, AZ for a Zone Conference. The Zone Conference was really good. There were several new couples there so we still have about 45 couples in the mission. One couple had brought their youngest child with them—interesting challenge. After the meeting we had a light lunch and a brief program. Batts sat at our table so we felt very privileged. After we left there we drove to Monument Valley. It was later than we thought and it was overcast so we didn’t stay long. We saw some beautiful mountains. Ted was very sleepy on the way home so I was worried—it was about a 3 ½ hour drive. We were grateful to be home.

Sunset over New Mexico

Thursday I studied all day. I needed to prepare a lesson to teach a young man in the afternoon. It went well. We taught his grandpa immediately afterward, so I taught the young man and Ted taught grandpa. The mom came home part way through the discussion and joined with us. The young man is very receptive but doesn’t ask any questions. I asked him a few to see where he was. When I asked him if he would like to know if what we were teaching is true, he said he knew it was true. That thrilled me.

Friday I worked on my lessons for Friday night and Saturday morning. It had snowed during the night so we just wanted to stay inside anyway. After I finished my preparations I made some cookies. It was the birthday of one of my students in Toh-la-kai seminary and I wanted to make it special. We arrived in good time and got everything set up. Ted had one student show up and I had none. We had told everyone that if the roads were bad not to come and to let us know they weren’t coming. The roads were very good and no one called so we were disappointed. One mom called to say she had forgotten to tell her older son seminary was at 5:30 so they had no ride. They were going to find a ride and come late but thought it might be much later. About 10 minutes after class was supposed to start I had 3 kids walk in, including the birthday boy and his niece who is also in the class. I wished him a happy birthday and he was surprised that I knew. His birthday was actually Saturday, but he was pleased I remembered.

Another student came later so I had 4 students. We had a good lesson then we all went into Ted’s classroom and sang Happy Birthday. I gave him the hat I’d made. He was really pleased. After we’d had cookies and singing I felt a hug and a head on my arm. He had come to say thank you and say how much he liked the hat. I was so thrilled. I was afraid he would think it was dumb. He wore it from then on. I had brought two plates of cookies so there would be enough. I gave the second plate to the birthday boy to take home. I think I scored about a thousand points with him.

On the way home it was still early—one of the advantages of starting at 5:30. We stopped at T&R Feed and Rope store on the highway. It was fascinating. They had some really cool things. They had toy trucks that were very realistic—my grandsons are really going to enjoy getting some of them. They had rows of saddles, ropes, horse shoes, hats, and boots. It was a really cool store. We stopped at Walmart to get a couple of other things and went home. It was really cold outside.

Rope and Feed store, Lariats for sale!!

Saturday we woke to snow and more coming down. I’d had a call Friday night to see if the roads were OK for a student to drive on. I called to tell her the roads were not cleared and there was more falling. I told her not to come alone. As it turned out she came anyway—her mom brought her. I was so pleased that she came because she had every excuse not to. She told me after class that she needed another journal because she has filled the one I gave her at the first of the year. She reads the assignment every week and does the exercises. She is such a sweet girl.

After seminary we returned home. The roads were slippery and more snow fell off and on all day. Sister Batt called to say she had found me a puzzle for the New Year's Eve Party and was mailing it. I made some more white chocolate popcorn and bagged it. I also studied my next chapters for Saturday—nice to get it read so far ahead. I also tested another crock pot recipe—it didn’t turn out very well. I guess I didn’t follow the directions very well. It tasted OK, but the presentation was botched. In the evening we played a couple of games to test them for the New Year’s Party and I made a flyer to pass out. It is really cold and wet outside.

Week Ending December 8, 2012

Sunday I had awakened thinking about my seminary students and how concerned I am about them because they don’t have all the programs of the church. I read a talk by Pres. Monson was seeing others as they can become. I had a feeling some of these inactive brethren could be called to lead the young men. It seemed like there was hardly anyone at the church for the meetings. One of the couples for the temple prep class had to go to work and the other one didn’t come so we didn’t have class. The young man we have been teaching came with his parents—that was good.

 The Relief Society lesson was short, so we went to the kitchen to get the meal going. We had probably 40 people and we had food for 80, but it was a good group. I always enjoy the visiting. After it was over the extra food seemed to disappear with the people. Ted and another brother gave a sister a blessing.

I visited with the mother of some of my students. She told me her kids are learning in my class. She apologized for them because they don’t all read the scriptures. Her kids are good kids, so they get the message, but they would do so much better with a little effort. In the evening we went to the stake center for the First Presidency Fireside. It was excellent—a great way to begin the Christmas season.

Just as we were getting ready to go to bed we had a call from our sweet grandma. Her husband had been diagnosed with double pneumonia. She asked Ted to come give him a blessing. Ted called Brother Joe and they went over. The man was very agitated because he needed to deliver his truck load by Monday. He was very ill, but he couldn’t rest. After the blessing he calmed down immediately and was able to sleep all through the night.

Monday, just as we were getting ready, we had a knock on the door. Ted answered and there were two people there. The man identified himself as the man we had met at the supermarket several weeks ago. He and his girl friend asked for blessings for themselves and a blessing on her house. Something was disturbing her sleep. We visited with them and Ted gave them each a blessing. Around noon they left and we arranged to come to her home later. She has a pink hogan that was very impressive. It was 2200 square feet with a large central room surrounded by 3 bedrooms, a bathroom, laundry room, work area, sitting area, and kitchen with eating area. It was beautiful and very well decorated. It wasn’t quite finished, but it was the nicest home I’ve seen on the Res. Apparently, the only requirements for a hogan are that they are eight-sided and the door faces east to welcome the morning.

After we visited a bit Ted blessed the house. We visited a little more then left. There was a very good spirit both when they were blessed in our home and when the blessings were offered at their home. They are really good people and can make a great contribution to the church.

Tuesday we had a call from the Relief Society president asking me to go visiting with her on Wednesday. She had received a call telling her a good friend was in the hospital under hospice care and was asking for her. I suggested we go today, but she thought Wednesday would be soon enough. While I was getting ready she called back to say we needed to go today as they did not expect her to make it until tomorrow. I suggested Ted go with us and offer to give a blessing and she agreed. She arrived soon and we drove to the hospital. The family was gathered there and we met them and offered our condolences. Ted offered to give the sister a blessing and her son agreed. Ted explained to the family members what he would be doing then he gave her a blessing, telling her to be at peace and know Heavenly Father loved her and would welcome her home. We stayed a few more minutes then left, again expressing our love and concern for the family.

The RS president was very subdued and felling a great loss. When she first moved to this area she had just lost a baby and her house had burned down. She drove around the area and felt led to the house of this lady and her sisters. They took her in and gave her comfort for several weeks until she was able to move on with her life. She has been close to the family for many years.

Wednesday we studied most of the day. The light in the living room was broken. When they took it down to fix it they commented we were lucky it hadn’t caught fire. That was reassuring. They put new wiring in it and got it to work again. In the afternoon we taught a young man about the Restoration. He was very receptive. He said he had been reading and praying. His mom had given him Gospel Principles so he had been reading that. We encouraged him to read the Book of Mormon and continue to pray. He has a good spirit about him. He never asks any questions, but I know he is getting what we tell him.

Thursday I studied most of the day. I am having a difficult time organizing the lesson for this week. We are starting the Gospel of John and it is quite different than the other gospels. I am struggling with it.

We had a couple of concerts to attend in the evening for two of my seminary students. We went early to look at Earl’s Restaurant for gifts. When we pulled into Earl’s, a lady asked Ted about church. She and her daughter had left Albuquerque suddenly the night before and were staying with her father in a hogan without heat or running water. She was looking for a place to stay and a job. She said she usually just makes the jewelry as a side business but right now that is all she has. We meet interesting people.

We were able to make it to both concerts—one at 6:30 and the other at 7, about 3 miles apart. There were a few girls in real native dress so that was fun to see. I know the Lord blessed us to be able to attend both concerts—I was grateful for that.

Friday we called on a young man we missed last week. He had not read anything or given much thought to what we had said. We asked if he was interested in what we had to say and he was pretty non-committal, but when we asked if he wanted us to come back and tell him more he wanted to make an appointment. We challenged him to read in the Book of Mormon and to pray to ask God if He exists. We’ll go back in two weeks. After all, the medicine man told him to find a religion. We did some grocery shopping on the way to Toh-la-kai. Two of my students did not come, but there was good participation with those that came. We are moving to 5:30 PM starting next week, which we are looking forward to.

Saturday after seminary we went shopping for some Christmas gifts. We went to a craft fair in Rehoboth that had some beautiful, but expensive, things. We met a lady in the church who was selling beautiful jewelry and another lady who said her daughter was coming home so we invited her to come to institute. From there we went to the flea market. They sold everything there—even puppies. It was cold and really dusty. When we got home we boxed everything up to send. We were tired, but had enjoyed the day.

Week Ending December 1, 2012

Sunday we wanted to go to church early to talk to the Branch President about the Break-the-Fast meal next Sunday. We suggested that it might be better to have everyone bring the food instead of bringing it in from a local restaurant. The president agreed and the Relief Society president made assignments. I am sure the branch will be better off for it even if it is more work. Our temple prep class went well. The granddaughter we were teaching has now got a new job which requires her to work nights. She is not going to continue with the discussions and I’m not sure if she’ll be able to continue with school. I’m not sure the job will be a blessing to her in the long run. We studied most of the afternoon and worked on lessons. We had a call from the Toh-la-kai elders asking about rides to the temple session on Dec. 10. Since we didn’t know anything about it we called and found out the young elders have the opportunity to go to the Snowflake Temple, but they need rides from senior missionaries since they have a limited mileage allowance. I’m glad to know we can be of some help to them.

Bessie Martinez

Monday we visited with our grandma. She feels “empty” much of the time. I talked to her about filling her emptiness. I told her she needs to feed her spirit by praying and reading the scriptures. I read with her in 3 Nephi 17 where Christ blessed the little children and prayed with the people. It helped her feel better. After leaving her house we picked up some things for next Sunday. We also got dog biscuits. The RS president had told us that they used to carry dog biscuits with them on their mission to keep the dogs from biting. We feel armed now. At home I made some treats. I wear an apron my grandchildren gave me for Christmas a couple of years ago. I like to wear it when I cook—it makes me feel closer to family having their handprints around me.

Tuesday I studied a bit. In the mid-morning we walked to the church to make some copies and I actually got the copier to work in just a couple of minutes. On the way out we noticed the gate to the lot was bent and off the track. It looked like it had been hit from the inside and knocked off the track. Someone would have had to hit it pretty hard with something pretty strong to bend the heavy metal poles. When we got home I cooked a bit, worked on a gift for a student, and studied for seminary.

In the late afternoon we drove to the stake center to get ready for institute. We visited with another couple for a few minutes before institute started. They told us our mission is considered an international mission because of the Navajo Nation. That was very interesting to me. At institute we had three students and two missionaries. While we were playing a young man told us he is working next Tuesday at the same time the missionaries told us he is being baptized. We suggested he get it straightened out. We had a good time and actually stayed later than usual until Ted told them it was time to go home.

When we got home there was a message from one of our temple prep students. She said her son had been asking questions about the plan of salvation that we had taught his grandfather last week. I suggested we would be glad to come to talk with him or answer any questions he had. She asked him about it and he wants to have us come and relearn the gospel. His mom said this is the first interest he has shown in the gospel on his own in many years. We made an appointment for Thursday afternoon.

Wednesday I went with the RS president to visit several sisters. We drove down some dirt roads to where the tire marked a driveway. We went to the second wall of tires and turned in. We had a good visit. The granddaughter brought out her baby even though he was napping. He was on a cradle board taking his nap. After we left their house we needed to put disinfectant on our hands because of some skin disease they had. Yikes!

We drove further down the road to a house the color of a pumpkin with two hogans next to it. The gate was chained shut, but I unwound the chain so we could go in. No one was home. From there we went to another lady’s house. We sat in her kitchen and talked with her. She was sad and a bit lonely, so she enjoyed the visit. We drove on down the road to the homes of several family but none were home. We drove up on the hill to a home because we could see the truck of a friend there. The road there was the worst I’ve seen yet. It was like a rutted river bed with a deep gorge in the middle. We started up one side and determined it wasn’t wide enough for the car, which is a compact. We backed down and started up the other side. I couldn’t see how she was going to get across the gorge, but she made it. We got to the gate and found it shut. I could have lifted the pole out of the wire loops, but she looked at the road ahead and decided not to chance it. We were starting to leave when a man saw us from the hogan and walked down. We had a brief visit with him. His mom was out picking pinons. When we started down the road she was undecided which side to try. I reminded her that the right side coming up was too narrow. She prayed to know which side to take down. We went down the right side (the left coming up) and made it with only a couple of bumps.

The road in our visiting

We drove to the senior citizens center where we could have a free lunch. We talked with a lady who was sewing quilt squares at a table with a lady named Bessie Martinez. She was a member of the church. I asked if I could take her picture. The lady asked her in Navajo and I took the picture. Today was such an experience. It seems so foreign to be at times. I am amazed at the living conditions some people tolerate. I am amazed that they live with such horrible roads. But they are good people. They do much to help each other and much to care for their families. I have never seen such a large number of grandparents raising children and even great grandchildren. It is such a sad condition and I don’t know what we can do to change it.

Thursday we had the opportunity to teach a lady a discussion on the Restoration. In the afternoon we taught a young man a discussion on the Plan of Salvation. He was very receptive to the teaching. His grandpa sat in on the discussion with him.

We were up very early on Friday to go to Red Rock Park for the annual Hot Air Balloon festival. There was a launch from the park of about 40 balloons. We were cold so we went to stand by a fire where people were congregating. Ted visited with some of the people. One of the ladies asked if we’d ever helped crew a balloon and invited us to help them. It was a real experience.

Hot air balloon filling

First, we lowered the basket to the ground from the trailer. Then the pole bag was lifted out of the basket and handed to me to be in charge of. The burners were lifted out in a bag and unloaded. Then I took the poles out of the bag and the men put them on the four corners of the burners. The whole arrangement was then lifted up and attached in the corners of the basket. They attached cables from the basket to the burners and we put pole covers over the poles, cables, and hoses to keep it all intact. Meanwhile, some of the men spread out a huge tarp to the side of the basket.

When the tarp was spread out we carried the balloon, which was in a bag and was very heavy, to the edge of the tarp, and attached it to the basket/burners. The front part was a large hoop about 10 feet across. When all the cables were attached, the bag was carried quickly from one corner of the tarp to the diagonal corner, unloading the balloon on the way. After the entire balloon was out, we pulled on webbing attached to the sides and spread it as wide as we could.

Hot air going in

When the balloon was spread out, a huge fan was set up next to the basket. Two men held the hoop up so it provided an opening into the mouth of the balloon. Ted was at the top of the balloon holding a cable attached to the top of the balloon. They turned on the fan began filling the balloon with air. It was really interesting to watch the balloons as they began filled on the ground.

Our balloon was labeled Nizhoni Gallup. Nizhoni is Navajo for “beautiful”. It had a stylized Navajo on the side. There were balloons of all descriptions. Several were striped or checkered. One looked like Humpty Dumpty with arms and legs. One looked like the world. One had fish on the outside like a fishbowl. A man told us that a balloon costs about $30,000-$50,000. Wow!

 

After the balloon was filled with air, the burners were turned on and the hot air was blown into the filled balloon. As the air inside became hot, the balloon began to rise. When it was sufficiently high we tipped the basket upright and the pilot and two riders climbed in. The rest of us were “weight on” to hold the basket down until they were ready to lift off. When they were ready, Ted was told to let go of his cable and they attached it to the basket, the rest of us let go, and they gradually lifted off. What an amazing experience.

Balloons going up

Balloonmania at Rio West Mall, Gallup

I thought we were just helping get it up, but then we piled into their truck and followed the balloon. We ended up on a dirt road just a few miles away. The balloon came down gently on the ground. As the balloon lost air and came down, two men held the cable at the top and had to pull very hard while they ran away from the basket to spread the balloon out in a straight line. The pilot’s wifeand I held onto a hoop at the top of the balloon and pulled hard while all the men helped pull a giant squeegee along the length of the balloon to remove as much air as possible.

Jump and mash routine 

We then put the top of the balloon into the bag. We stood every 5-6 feet along the balloon holding our piece on our shoulders while two men stuffed each section into the bag then moved the bag to the next person. A couple of times we dropped the balloon and surrounded the bag. The first time this happened one of the men insisted that I was needed at the bag. We all turned our back to the bag and, on the count of three, we jumped backward and sat down on the balloon in the bag and wiggled around trying to push the air out of the balloon. It was hilarious. We continued with the stuffing process until the balloon was in the bag. At the end they did the jump and mash again only I didn’t participate that time. We loaded everything in the trailer again, returned to the park, hugged and shook hands, and left for home. What a fun thing to participate in. I had no idea it was so complicated to fly a balloon.

Our appointment fell through so we studied and worked at home until time to leave for Toh-la-kai. We arrived early enough to get everything set up for our lessons. Mine had some scripture words I taped under the desks and a maze I had to draw on the board. I also had to set up the DVD to show a video clip. I discovered the DVD player was a little sensitive. There were only two electrical outlets, and it was difficult to get plugs in and out, so I did not have prelude music. Shortly after 6 PM one of the adult students arrived. At 6:30 no one else had come. Ted started his class and I went into my room. I felt a bit discouraged to think that no one would come. I called a few of the people. I finally started taking everything down and putting things away. I was really feeling sorry for myself. Then a young student walked in. He was surprised no one else was there. He said, “I guess I’m the only one that’s going to have fun tonight.”

We went ahead with our lesson. I blindfolded him and tried to direct him through the maze. We were just about to show the video clip when another student arrived. We finished the class, adapting the exercises to the smaller number. In the end I felt much better about it.

We were off to seminary Saturday shortly after 8 AM. At home I started in on my preparations for Sunday dinner. I made two batches of dessert then washed and foiled the potatoes. When I finished I reviewed for tomorrow. In the evening we drove to Gallup for Balloonmania. There were about 20 balloons in the mall parking lot, most of them different than the ones we had already seen. They occasionally flashed lights on inside the balloon that lit them up and made them look so beautiful. An announcer would count to three and they would all flash their lights on and off. We really enjoyed it.

On the way home Steven called to talk about family history. He had done some work earlier in the day and did a really good job. He wanted me to review it. He is amazing me with it. He is doing work on the German lines that had come to a dead end until recently when some of the records were indexed. I am so proud of what he is doing.