Week Ending February 9, 2013

Sunday I read a talk by Pres. Eyring about helping his children discover their gifts and helping them learn to use them in the Lord’s service. That reinforced the impression I’d had the night before about discovering our gifts. I know at least one of Ted’s gifts is that he loves people. He has a sincerity about him that is obvious and people love him for that.

A young girl in the branch just submitted the papers for a mission. It will be interesting to see where she is called to go. The Church closed a school in Mexico and converted it to an MTC to handle the number of missionaries. New missions are being created and most existing missions are getting a large number of new missionaries. It is amazing how the work is moving forward. Incredible time to be part of it all.

Our branch had its monthly meal together. Ted made his specialty—Mexican Casserole—and it was enjoyed. I spent time visiting with a lady who was just called as Stake Relief Society President. She is finding as she visits the wards and branches that there is quite a challenge getting information out to the units. We have a great stake president and he has a vision for where the stake needs to go and how to get there. It just needs to get done.

Monday I modified the flyer for the social next week so we could post it on the Res. In the afternoon a sister went with me to post the flyers in the Chapter Houses in Iyanbito and Church Rock, the Senior Center in Iyanbito, and on the community bulletin board in Iyanbito. Then we drove to the home of a young man in our branch to talk about the upcoming Youth Conference. He seemed to be very enthusiastic about it, like he really wanted to attend. I hope his mom will let him come.

We had the sister and her husband over for dinner. We enjoyed a good dinner and a good visit. The branch is planning to start Home Teaching. The men will need to take their wives. They will do it in phases. It is really needed.

Tuesday I made some Zucchini Bread. I had planned to take a loaf to a family we were visiting today and one to another family on Wednesday, but we decided to eat one. Since today’s appointment postponed, the Wednesday appointment will be the winners of this round. I spent most of the day studying and preparing for seminary on Saturday. Our lesson is on the end of Christ’s ministry—the events after the Resurrection, especially the appearance to Thomas and the teaching to Peter to “Feed my sheep”. These are touching experiences and there is much to learn from them. I need to figure out how to present them so the students can make application in their lives.

Mid-afternoon the new elders in our area arrived from Farmington. They had been to their apartment and found they had no electricity and no gas. They had no phone numbers to call anyone. We gave them the numbers we had. After they left we realized we had not got their phone number. We also thought they possibly had made the same mistake we had with regard to the light switch by the door. It is for a porch light that is burned out so it appears there is no electricity. The switch for the light/fan in the living room is behind the door—not a very convenient or logical place to put it. Ted walked over and talked with them. They had electricity. A man had called about the gas and it will be turned on Wednesday. He also said he would bring a heater over for them. (He never made it.)

I worked on my lesson most of the rest of the day. The elders came for dinner around 5:30. They are Elder Busdicker (from Illinois) and Elder Chavez (from Bountiful). We enjoyed a good dinner then cleared away the dishes and talked about the area. We gave them copies of maps and talked about the people we had met and the people we had been teaching. We gave them the names of some people they should contact. We are keeping a couple of families. We are giving them the young man referred to us by his grandma in Zuni; maybe they can reach him. I remind him of his mother and that is not good, so he really doesn’t want to listen to anything I say. I think they might be able to relate better to him.

We talked about some of the things they would like to try. They want to start a Bible/Book of Mormon study class. I think that would be terrific. I think most of the people are fairly hungry to learn. I think they’ll do a great job. I gave them the extra rolls I’d baked for them so they’d have something to eat.

Wednesday the elders came by. They’d slept in their clothes since they didn’t have a heater.

Thursday we visited our grandma. She talked with her husband while he was home about going to the temple. He reminded her of changes they’d need to make and she said they would just take it in small steps to get there. Then he voiced his real concern—he’s afraid that he will be called to do things. She assured him that he would be given help and he would not be asked to do something he could not do.

She had invited her ex-sister-in-law to join us. That was a really interesting turn of events. We’d tried to contact her a couple of times. She said she had stopped coming to church when a lady had taught that we should look down on those who are less fortunate than us and we should withhold what we have from them. I can’t even imagine someone teaching that in any church because that is so foreign to the teachings of Christ. We assured her that the church does not teach that. I suspect she misunderstood the comment. She asked a couple of questions that indicated she was missing some basic understanding of the gospel. We suggested we could help her review some of the teachings of the church.

After we returned home I finally got my seminary lesson put together so I think it will work. I really want to summarize Christ’s life and ask the students to reflect on what they have learned and how they feel about Him and what differences the things they have learned have made in their lives.

We were tired in the afternoon and tried taking naps. I don’t usually sleep well during the day, but I really crashed. After about ½ hour there was a loud knock at the door as only the elders can make. They had contacted several people and had a couple of teaching appointments for Friday. I was excited to hear of some of the people they reached. It sounds like they are really reaching out to the people.

We had a call from a man in the branch. He had met a young man walking off the freeway while he was biking home. They talked for some time and the young man said he needed help. We called him later in the evening and set up a tentative appointment for Friday afternoon. We’ll meet with him and see what his desires and needs really are. We should probably hook him up with the missionaries who do Addiction Recovery and counseling. He said he is willing to learn about God so we can teach him that.

Friday the weather turned colder. It seems to be about the same temperature outside, but there is a strong wind blowing. The elders called and asked Ted to go with them to see a girl. No one was home. It was very disappointing. I spent time looking through some videos for a short clip that would help wrap up the segment in seminary. I also needed to put together a map (under the direction of my senior companion) to give to people so we can tell people about stake conference next weekend. We had a CES broadcast in the evening. Elder Paul Johnson, the Commissioner of Education for the Church, and Elder Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke to us. It was really a wonderful evening. We had a chance to visit with Pres. Hines of the stake presidency and he gave me some good ideas on getting the kids into the scriptures. I’m anxious to try his suggestions.

Saturday we woke to about 4 inches of snow on the ground, more falling, and the roads not cleared. One student called to say she wouldn’t make it to seminary. I wondered if anyone would. One family came—they are as faithful as they get. We had committed to take their two oldest to the temple. With the snow we were not sure we would be going, but they have more faith than I do and they were dressed to go. They were the only ones there for seminary. One of them offered the opening prayer and one the closing prayer and both of them asked that we would be able to go safely to the temple. 

As seminary finished up, the snow stopped. We (and their parents) made the decision to go for it. We dropped our stuff at our home and headed out. The roads were not wonderful, and they had not been cleared, but we were comfortable as long as we took it slowly. We had a bit of light snow, but nothing that made us question our decision. The real challenge was between our onramp and Grants. We passed a couple of cars off the road—one was overturned, which didn’t make us too happy.

Once we passed Grants, the roads were dry and there was no snow. The wind continued to be strong and blowing a lot. Suddenly we were hit by a huge tumbleweed. It actually rocked the car. I had been crocheting so I didn’t see it, but it felt like we’d been hit by a tire or something. A good-sized stick stuck under our windshield wiper. The casing for the mirror on the passenger side of the car was cracked. We couldn’t tell the extent of the damage until we arrived at the temple. It was cracked in several places that stemmed from a central vertical line on the back of the casing. I was amazed that the casing held together when I saw how bad the damage really was.

It took much longer than we’d planned at the temple, but everyone survived. We stopped to eat at McDonald’s—their choice, not ours. We stopped at Costco—they enjoyed tasting the samples. (The young man made sure to get a second taste of the orange chicken.) When we finished, it was super cold outside.

Again, everything was dry and beautiful until we got to Grants. As we approached the area we saw a black cloud (it was still daylight) in the distance. We saw it moving quickly to the north, so it blew past before we reached it. What we didn’t see was the cloud behind it that was even blacker. As soon as we passed Grants, and by now it was dark, almost without warning we were in the middle of a blizzard, very heavy and cutting visibility to almost nothing. We went very slowly, following the lights on the truck in front of us so we could stay on the road. When he went faster, we went faster; when he slowed, we slowed. The blizzard passed, but it still snowed lightly getting heavier off and on as we went. We continued to follow “our truck” and it kept us on the road. When the truck switched lanes, so did we. A couple of times there was really heavy snow that caused us concern. I prayed a lot; the kids were asleep in the back seat, fortunately; and Ted was very patient as I advised him frequently of how he should be driving. We were very grateful to finally reach the exit for Ft. Wingate. The kids lived another five miles or so further on, but the road was clear all the way to their home. We were certainly relieved and grateful for the Lord’s protection when we reached home.