We told the branch president that people had said they had
enjoyed the party and would like to have more activities. He said it was OK and
we could go ahead and plan them. I suggested to him that perhaps some of the
branch members would like to help—he replied that we were branch members. I
suggested that maybe each of the organizations take part of the assignments. I
suggested that a week night activity might be good as well, for the entire
family. He liked the idea but I’m pretty sure he will just wait for us to do it.
Monday we took a trip to Thoreau (Thuh-roo) to visit Jack
Surprise, a pottery maker. I expected a Navajo man, but Jack is half Irish and
half Potawatomie Indian. He looks more Irish than Indian. He is literally a
jack-of-all-trades, having settled on making pottery because he does a fair job
of it and other jobs have served their time and gone. He originally came to the
area to work in a saw mill. When the industry began to decline, he and a friend
wanted to buy the mill because it was the only profitable one around. They
didn’t. His wife is from Peru and he is a bit of a nomad. He showed us around
his shop and showed us how he applies the horse hair to the pottery. He had
some beautiful pieces. I ordered a vase like one he had almost finished. He
gave me what he called a lumpy pot because it was very misshapen. It is only three
inches tall but it has etched designs on it and I really like it. It reminds me
a lot of people—beautiful and does the job even if it is not perfect.
 | |
| Lumpy jar - 3" tall |
At the post office there was a package from our neighbor in
Las Vegas. She had picked pomegranates off our tree at home and made jelly. She
sent two jars. They were so carefully packed and cushioned I was amazed. How
sweet. That stuff is really a lot of work to make.
 |
| Pomegranate Jelly -- Yummy!! |
Tuesday I studied most of the day. In the evening we went to
institute. We were going to discuss with the students the switch to the new
night and schedule. I was very concerned that we would be losing the
opportunity for a couple of them to participate fully in the classes. However,
no one came. One student was sick and another usually doesn’t come unless the
first one does. Another was supposed to come, but she got a new job and her
sister-in-law was late picking her up so she still wasn’t there at 7:15. Another
was going to come after work, but he still wasn’t there when we decided to
leave. I know it was discouraging for Ted. He works hard on his lessons. I
reminded him that we were teaching the other classes so this wasn’t the only
thing we were doing.
Wednesday Ted had the idea to walk to the church and walk in
the gymnasium to get some exercise so we did that this morning. It is still
quite cold outside but we waited until about 7:30 to go. It still nearly froze
my eyebrows—the rest of me was bundled up. We enjoyed the walking and think
this will be a good idea.
After we got back we went to our grandma’s to show her a
video. She said that her granddaughter had asked them to have Family Home
Evening on Monday so they’d showed the movie we’d left with her. They are
planning to make this a regular thing. I suggested that she could assign her granddaughter
to prepare a lesson for them. She is a good kid and could do a great job. We
have challenged her and her husband to prepare to go to the temple. She asked about
what that would mean for her family. We told her that they will follow her lead
so they would be right behind her.
After we left there we came home and studied most of the
rest of the day. (I took a much needed nap mid-afternoon and enjoyed it.) I am
teaching from John 13-17 and I have read it a few times. I need to have the
students share their thoughts about these chapters—they contain some of the
last teachings of Christ to His apostles before He was crucified and have some
really meaningful scriptures in them.
Thursday we walked to the church again. On the way home Ted
slipped on some ice and mud and fell on his back and skinned his knee. He was
in a lot of pain the rest of the day. We had to run a quick errand then we studied
a short while before visiting a young man in the branch. He had asked us to
teach him about the Holy Spirit. We talked with him to see if he’s ever felt
the spirit and he identified a time in his life. We told him we thought he’d
felt it more than that one time but he hadn’t recognized it. We reminded him of
when we taught him a week ago and how he’d felt then. We gave him a couple of
articles to read and read part of Joseph Smith’s testimony to him. I bore my testimony
and asked how he felt. He said he’d felt the spirit while I read. We suggested
that he read and pray more and ask for the confirmation from God. We are going
to read scriptures with him and try to help him understand them better. I felt
good about the meeting.
Friday we woke to snow. It was supposed to have been a light
dusting, but a fair amount had fallen. Besides that the wind had blown quite hard
and there was a lot of drifting. (We could hear it blowing throughout the
night.) Before I got out of bed I had my arm resting on one of the pillows. I
could actually feel the breeze blowing on my arm. I tried to figure out how we
could arrange the furniture so we wouldn’t be under a window. We decided to
drive to the church to do our walking. There was quite a bit of snow at the
church. It had drifted so the back door was pretty much blocked by a small hill
about 2 feet high. It was really cold in the cultural hall. I noticed as I
walked that there is a gap between the double doors to the outside so quite a
bit of air comes in. Ted actually got his gloves to wear because it was so
cold. I just kept rubbing my hands together. Ted walked much slower than usual
and he was in pain by the time we quit. It may not have been the best thing to
do.
About mid-afternoon I remembered I was going to make bread
for my Toh-la-kai seminary class. The lesson is on Christ as the Bread of Life
and I wanted a visual symbol. I hurriedly put the bread together. Fortunately,
it is a quick recipe. It came out just as we needed to leave. I wrapped it in a
towel and put everything in a bag and we left for seminary. (It was the ugliest
loaf of bread I’ve ever made.) We got to church about an hour early so I had
plenty of time to set up. We discussed my lesson a bit before the kids came. I
only had two students come. They are two students who usually read the
scriptures each week, but they don’t usually talk much. I find when it is just
them they are more inclined to say things and they have some good insights. We
had a good lesson in spite of the others not being there. On the way home the
temperature got down to 8 degrees. It was really cold in the car because the
heater needs to be on defrost the entire time. My toes were numb.
Saturday we were up and ready for seminary early because Ted
needed to shovel snow at the church. I got the things set up in my classroom
then I helped shovel and sprinkled salt. I had 5 students in class. We talked
about the events following the Last Supper and the first Sacrament. Then we
talked about John 13-17 including Christ’s sermon on love, the vine, and the
Intercessory Prayer. There is so much in these chapters. I wish I could help
the students realize they would be so much better off if they would read even
just a bit every day. I keep telling them. I wish I could convince them they
really need to feed their spirits a bit more.
After seminary we were supposed to clean the church. One of
my students and his dad stayed and Ted and I stayed. When we were ready to
start the dad said, “Where are the reinforcements?” I told him I thought we
were it. They are always there and always do the lion’s share of the work. I
mopped the kitchen, the two bathrooms, and the cultural hall. The first parts
went quickly, but I was still mopping at 12:30. It took forever to mop the
cultural hall. My body was really sore by the time I finished. The rest of the
people did a good job cleaning in the chapel and classrooms and did a pretty
thorough job.
We had a baptism in the afternoon. As we drove to Gallup,
the sky was dark and looked really heavy. About half way there the snow came
down in a flurry, very heavy and very suddenly. Then, just as suddenly as it
started, it was over. It was really cold—really, really cold. There were still
a few flakes falling from the sky, but the worst was passed. At the baptism lots
of extended family members were there. It was a sweet baptism and I think the
family could feel the spirit. Ted gave a good talk on the Holy Ghost. After the
prayer we enjoyed a lovely meal prepared by the family.
 | |
| Tiffany Joe Baptism |
After we returned home I read a bit before bed. It took a
while to get warm, so I wanted to stay in front of the furnace as long as
possible. We have been told we will be getting a pair of young missionaries on
Feb. 4. Someone suggested we take the new apartment that’s opening up and give
them our little cottage. I’m not sure what Pres. Batt would think about that. We’ll
see.
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