Week Ending June 8, 2013

Sunday I challenged the youth to a Book of Mormon Ironman Challenge. I’m not sure how many will do it, but they all got the paper and need to start right away if they are going to do it. I was asked to play prelude for Relief Society. I played one hand of a couple of hymns—pretty poor performance. After the lesson we had a discussion about what activities we want for Relief Society and came up with a good list. Next month we’ll do family history and one month we’re doing homemade noodles. We’ll also do scarves, fry bread, and quilting. It’s nice to have some idea of what is being planned so we can look forward to it.

I have had some tiny bites, probably a result of the clean up in the bushes Saturday. It was driving me crazy tonight, so I took a really hot shower—I could hardly stand it—washing my hair for the second time today. I stripped the bed and put the comforter and pillows in the dryer to kill anything on them. I discovered the comforter was badly scorched in at least one spot which makes me sad. I put all the dirty clothes and bedding in the tub until morning. I’m not sure any of it made a difference.

Ted at El Morro Visitors Center

Monday I was up early to start the wash. After dressing we headed to El Morro National Monument to meet with the senior couples in our district. We enjoyed some good visiting. Six of us took the long hike to the top of the mountain and it about killed me. The view was wonderful. There are some amazing inscriptions on the side of the mountain made by people passing by during the 1600-1800s. That must have taken some effort to chisel sentences and poems into the rock. After the hike we met for lunch in Ramah and visited some more. Some couples had some good ideas to try to help bring people together.

Senior Couples at Stagecoach Cafe for lunch

 After we finished there we drove to Zuni to check out a pottery store. The store we went to was extremely over-priced so we had a good look and left. We talked to a lady who makes jewelry and she said her brother makes pots. We arrived home in time for a very brief nap before heading to Young Single Adult family home evening. We found a note on the door saying the leaders had sick kids so they were cancelling. We got a missionary to open the door for us. There were only four kids there, but we played a game and had a good time. One of the girls locked her keys in her truck, but the young man had worked for a towing company and could unlock doors. It all worked out in the end.

Tuesday we were home all day. I studied and tried to understand the Book of Revelation. I actually seem to understand more this time. I talked the Relief Society president about the day meeting and she is excited. The elders came by around 9 PM to introduce us to the new elder.

Wednesday we attended the funeral for a member of the branch who was a sister-in-law to the lady we met last fall at Sizzler. Ted had been asked to conduct the funeral, but when he talked to the family they said they were going a different direction and would have someone else conduct. Ted went early to make sure it was happening and I went later. It all went well.

After the funeral we went to the senior center for lunch. Their cook had left and so had another lady who felt wrongfully accused of something. I had a brief visit with the chairman and she talked about her side of the controversy. Anyway, they are now looking for a cook. Bessie Martinez was there—sweet lady. Her shoulder appears to be well healed.

Back at home I studied for a bit. Our reading appointment cancelled again. We went to Tohlakai for seminary in the evening. One boy was still in Albuquerque but all the girls were there. This was our first Wednesday night class.  I presented a modified IRONMAN program that was approved by their branch president.  Ted had his class members do the teaching. One lady had been really busy with her mom so she was unable to do her part, but the other lady was really enthusiastic. In fact, she asked, “Why haven’t we done this before?” She was really excited. She was explaining what was in the footnotes and the reading material and all the sources we’ve tried to encourage students to use. It was really almost funny.

After the lessons we hurried to Ft. Wingate for Branch Council. We were late, but the meeting hadn’t started. It went really well, with needs and possible solutions being discussed. I asked about taking the IRONMAN Challenge to the entire branch and everyone thought that was good. We are modifying it slightly. Relief Society presented the plan to have meetings during the week for sisters to visit and work on crafts or needlework. We’ll start with knitting and crochet. A sister in the branch has lots of yarn and needles she gathered in a trailer she just cleaned. We’ll have lunch and then follow it with the missionaries sharing a short message. It was well received.

Thursday we exercised then studied and prepared for lessons. I did a few handouts for my lesson and for the IRONMAN Challenge. In the afternoon we read scriptures with a family. The mom wasn’t there but had left a message for us to start without her. Her brother has been reading and praying and feels good about it. However, he isn’t attending church. I told him sometimes all we feel is good. I also told him that maybe the Lord isn’t giving him a stronger answer because he isn’t attending church. The Lord wants us to demonstrate real intent. I challenged him to attend church. It’s hard when he hasn’t any support. His brother who moved to Denver was baptized last week and his mom and sister who moved to Albuquerque were baptized a couple of months ago. All the family we know except one brother has now been baptized. I think he would like to but he needs to demonstrate some conviction by coming to church.

Friday I did several things of a housekeeping nature. I typed handouts for seminary and the announcements for the branch. I vacuumed and reviewed my lesson for tomorrow. I arranged with Tohlakai to get some chairs with desks from their storage shed. I need to arrange with the elders to pick them up when they go to district meeting. I’m planning to set them up in one of the empty classrooms at Ft. Wingate so I can have a permanent seminary room and put stuff on the walls without feeling I’m detracting from Relief Society. It seemed strange not to go to Tohlakai, but I’m glad of the change.

Saturday we had seminary and adult education. We started the Book of Revelation. I felt there was a lot of explaining about the way John had written and the symbols he used. We got through the chapters, and I know I learned a lot, but I’m not sure they really grasped all the information. I gave them some useful handouts that will help if they go through them again, but the book is not a one-pass learning experience.

After seminary I spent the day preparing my Relief Society lesson for tomorrow. I also gave some more thought to just what I want to do with my seminary students during the summer.