Week Ending October 26, 2013

Sunday I gave the kids granola bars if they had assignments to turn in. I had two notebooks come in. Wahoo! One notebook that was turned in had no additional lessons done in it since the last time it was turned in (when it had part of one assignment done). The lesson went well though and we had good participation.

One of my former students spoke in Sacrament Meeting as a youth speaker. She is attending University of New Mexico and may or may not consider herself a “youth”. She gave an excellent talk and I was very impressed. I spent the afternoon working on seminary, grading assignments, updating grades, and preparing the system for the new week.

Monday we had been assigned the main course for our district meeting so we prepared barbecued beef sandwiches. I shredded the meat and put the barbecue sauce on it. Ted cooked some chilies and onions. I peeled and mashed avocados and put a little seasoning with it. In the afternoon we drove to Tohlakai and got everything set up. One other couple came early so we played a game while we waited for the others. We knew two of the couples would be late, so we visited and had our thought while we waited for them. We had just started eating when the last couple arrived. We had a good visit then we had to clean up our things and leave for the singles home evening.

At the young singles fhe, we played Catch Phrase. We had about 10 kids there and they were very competitive. It got really loud, but we had a good time. They are a fun bunch.

After we got home I called one of my online students that had dropped out because she was too busy. My supervisor had talked to her and told her we could work with her even for a few minutes a day to help her stay in the class. I talked with her about what she could do for seminary. I encouraged her to pray, read the scriptures for 10 minutes a day, and, if she had more time, to do a writing activity or a class discussion. She thought it was doable. I hope she can hang in there. She really needs the influence in her life.

Tuesday I worked on seminary lessons in the morning. At noon we had our CES training for the month. We had a good lesson on helping motivate the students to read the scriptures. That is a challenge. I spent the rest of the day studying and preparing for seminary. I worked with the online support specialist to help figure out how to transition the classes to the new term. It went very smoothly—she is a really sweet and smart lady.

Wednesday we went to the senior center for lunch. We arrived just as the driver was beginning to unload his van. It had several boxes of produce in it: potatoes, carrots, watermelons, strawberries, tomatoes, lemons. Ted helped him unload most of it. After we ate the people began what could best be described as a “feeding frenzy”. They were there en masse getting all they could take. We got quite a bit so I can’t complain. In fact, our bag was so full it broke, breaking a watermelon in half. We put most of it back in the bag then got a box to hold it. Ted helped a couple of women carry boxes to their cars. We then took our stuff home and put it away.

Sister Patsy Tommy, Tortilla Maker Extraordinaire

I went to spend a couple of hours with our grandma so she could show me how to make tortillas. I took a bag of produce with me for her family. She had everything all set out on the table so we both had our own bowls and I could mix up my own batch. She was very sweet and very patient. When we got to the point where the dough rests, we also rested and visited. When it came time to shape and cook the tortillas, I dropped one on the floor. I felt badly about that. I was obviously an amateur and she was so good, but she was patient with me and they all turned out OK. She let me take my batch home with me. I ate one on the way and really enjoyed it.

Tortilla maker at work

For seminary in the evening I invited the students to make a serious study of the Book of Mormon, using a quote from Pres. Ezra Taft Benson about the blessings that will come into their lives. One student texted me that he wasn’t coming because he had too much work. He has missed about half the classes since his mom has a class this semester at the same time as seminary. The other two students had their one year old nephew with them to babysit so they were a bit distracted, but it went OK. One girl turned in her notebook. I think she might be catching on. I had them each write out their commitment and give me a copy. I enjoyed reading those. After we finished that part, I put up 5 scripture mastery references and some short key words and had them match them. They were right in there racing with each other to see who could look them up first. We worked at memorizing 2 Nephi 2:25 and gave them each a sticker. We had a success for the day!

Thursday I set up everything for quilting in the morning with Ted’s help. When I went for the class, only the burrito lady showed up. I got some of my squares sewn together. At one point my machine ran out of bobbin thread. I had filled the bobbin over some other thread and somehow the machine began picking up the second thread and sewing. It didn’t work well, so the stitches were like the tension was off. I have no idea how it all happened, but I decided it needed a new bobbin thread. I quit to fix lunch. We had leftover barbecued beef sandwiches. I sent some home with the lady for her lunch tomorrow. After we ate, I put the machines in the closet and put the tables away. The sewing machines weigh a ton and I never would have gotten two out if I’d known no one was going to use one. I had brought my own so I’d have a machine to sew on. The tables are a little awkward, but I had a system going to handle them. I was a little discouraged, but I enjoyed the work I did.

Before my seminary class was ready to begin I went into the meeting room online and added a gathering activity for the students to do. I uploaded up my power point presentation. And I waited. At about 5 PM I had a call from the first student that she couldn’t get in. She tried calling on the phone and got in that way. I sent her the handout I’d prepared for my other class that had the quotes on it that I was using. I also sent the other two students the handout and told them they may have trouble getting in. They did, so all three were on the phone. We still had a good meeting, but all my preparations were for naught.

One student gave a devotional thought for us. She used 2 Nephi 30:6. Her thoughts about it were amazing and we all were touched by it. As the lesson went on, two girls had some thoughts and experiences that they shared. The third contributed a bit, but she said she didn’t have anything she could share. She’s a sweet girl, but I’m just not sure she has her heart in it.

After seminary was over, I had a quick bite to eat and we went to institute. We had three students and Ted gave a good lesson. He always does it differently than I would have, but it is his stewardship so that is the way he wants to do it. Afterward the one girl left to see how the World Series was going and we played games for about 20 minutes with the two young men. They both had to leave fairly quickly, so we were on our way home by 9 PM. Nice.

It had done some serious raining during my seminary class so we weren’t surprised that it rained off and on most of the night. It was fairly heavy most of the time. I was really grateful for a warm home and a good roof.

Friday it was muddy outside and still raining off and on so we drove to the church. It was really dark outside. After we returned, it was nice not to have to be anywhere specific and just be able to work at home. In the afternoon it started pouring rain. We had planned to go to the football game in the evening, but the rain was off and on all the rest of the day so we decided against it. I made some cookies as a thank you and took them to our grandma between rain spurts. We rented a movie in the evening and I worked on some projects and sewed some more squares together. We could hear the cheering at the game, but it turned out to be a 8-46 landslide for the other team. Our former branch president is the coach and he had several players ineligible because of grades and five of his starters kicked off the team a few weeks ago because they smoked marijuana. He has a no-tolerance policy and enforces it. It is the right thing to do, but it costs the team some success.

Saturday Ted went with the elders and a man from Ramah to collect firewood for a family in the branch. The wood on this property is mostly oak so it will be slow burning. The man with the saws was gone so they had no saws. The elders worked hard chopping the wood and they were able to get two short bed truckloads of wood for the family. I’m sure they were appreciative. I stayed home and worked on some odds and ends for seminary. After they were done Ted brought the elders home for soup. I really love soup in the cold weather so I’m sure this is just the first of many times we’ll eat it.

Ted had brought a sack full of beets the man had given him. We seem to be bringing in more food than we’re eating. I worked some more on some projects and sewed a few more squares together.

Week Ending October 19, 2013

Sunday when it was time for seminary no one was there. One sister came for Ted’s class about 10 minutes late and had picked up two of my students on the road. I asked the kids if they remembered anything about conference. One young man told a story about a young girl who was a governess for a family. They wanted to adopt her and give her many advantages. Her mom wouldn’t let her go because she didn’t want her to lose the gospel. I told them that the lady in the story was an ancestor of our Relief Society president. They were amazed. Two more students came later. We had a good discussion about the Plan of Salvation in 2 Nephi 2. It went well. Afterward I talked with the kids about how they planned to get caught up so I could give them credit. They are sweet kids and I love them dearly, but they need a swift kick in the pants.

Monday I finished putting together the pieces for my quilt blocks. I had to cut a few more strips, but I think all the blocks will be fairly complementary, meaning the strips won’t clash too badly. I still need to arrange the strips within each block and sew them, but I think that will go fairly quickly once I get a chance to do it. I worked on seminary. I am planning to give a basic assessment at Tohlakai, I have a Zone Conference Thursday so I won’t have my online class, and Ft Wingate is two weeks behind the others, so I am looking at the Isaiah lessons to pick out things that the students might want to discuss in case there is extra time.

Ted wasn’t feeling well so he didn’t go to home evening with me. It felt funny not having my companion along. I probably would have stayed home with him, but we had to deliver a key to one of our students’ so they could get into the building on Thursday night in case we don’t get back in time.

Tuesday Ted went with a man to cut wood. We are expecting a bad winter and he wanted to get more wood for his family. I worked on seminary most of the day. In the late afternoon we walked to the school for the girls’ volleyball games. One of my students is on the varsity team and I know it means a lot when we attend. It was a real squeaker. Wingate won 3 games to 1 over Shiprock. The games were all really close, but it appeared to me that the officials did a poor job. They missed awarding a few points and they didn’t catch some errors. Really strange. It was really dark walking home with the football field lights off.

Wednesday we went to the senior center for lunch. They had boxes of food they were distributing, so we were given two. They also had potatoes and avocados. The avocados were really ripe, so I made some guacamole when we got home. We have a ton. The lady at the senior center gave us a case of shampoo to take to the Zone Conference to see if we could give it away.

I was pleased when I got to seminary—two of the three students had notebooks to turn in. I had decided to give granola bars to anyone who turns in a notebook. I hadn’t told them until tonight, but it went over well. I hope bribery works. I was double pleased because one student had no ride, but he ran cross country to get to the church, probably a couple of miles of fairly rough terrain. He was especially grateful for the granola bar.

After I dropped Ted off at home I went to the church for the Relief Society night meeting. The ladies were making monsters out of candy. I hadn’t had any dinner, so I really didn’t need candy, but it was a fun exercise. After that they tied some fleece blankets. They were one short and I really didn’t need one, so I offered to just sit and visit. The president was going to make one, but she gave hers to another sister to make hers two layers instead of one.

Second quilt--tied last month

 One of the ladies mentioned to me that she hadn’t realized we weren’t having activity night any more. Another suggested that two of her kids could do it and maybe I should suggest that. I wasn’t sure why I should suggest it, but I told her I thought that was a great idea and suggested that she mention it to the branch president. It really has nothing to do with me, so I don’t want to get in the middle. After everyone was ready to go home, the president packed up and left. I put something in the kitchen and came back to find that the last lady was on her way out and everyone else was gone. I made sure the lights were out and the doors locked. I also had to close the gate after everyone else was gone, which was sort of spooky. I need to find a gentle way to tell them that the person in charge needs to stay and make sure things get closed up and at least help get the building closed down.

Really interesting mountains

Thursday we were up early to drive to Kayenta. We were able to distribute all the shampoo to the other missionaries which I was grateful for. I really didn’t want to take it home. The conference was good. They always have departing missionaries share their testimonies. Our zone leaders go home in two weeks so they shared their testimonies. Elder VanTassell made a statement that really touched me. He said the commandments aren’t orders to do things; they are reminders from God for us to qualify ourselves for the blessings He wants to send. Someone also said “The Lord sees around the corner. He is never surprised.” In other words, He always knows what is coming and we should trust Him implicitly. One other person talked about trials and said, “If the mountain were smooth, we wouldn’t be able to climb it.” That is profound if you think about it.

 

More interesting mountains

I enjoyed a brief visit with Sister Batt. We have such a wonderful mission president and his wife is such a great person. I always learn so much from both of them. I always feel a special closeness to her, I guess because we were able to stay with them the first night we arrived. It was a good way to start our mission. Her comments today were especially timely for me. She talked about our attitudes and being responsible for our own happiness. She made the statement that if we are obedient to the commandments, the Lord will provide us the experiences to allow us to be happy. It was good. Pres. Batt talked about miracles and told us to watch for and record the miracles we see in our lives.

 

Still more interesting mountains

After a yummy lunch we began the drive back to Gallup. We were both quite tired, so it was a difficult drive. I took over about 2/3 of the way back and drove into Gallup so Ted could take a nap. We were much earlier than we’d expected. We stopped at a couple of places, then went to the church. We had five kids at institute. Bro. Miller was there to back us up in the teaching. He took over about half way through and gave some excellent insights into Isaiah. I learned some really great things. I wish I could teach as well as he does.

Friday we had an excellent online teachers meeting. There were a lot of really good ideas for using the Webex tool for classes. It takes some preparation time, but I know it can really help the teaching. We had the missionaries over for dinner. I fixed a good meal and we enjoyed a good visit. After that we all went to the football game at the high school. It was their homecoming game. Too bad, because they got trounced. We left in the middle of the 4^th quarter, but they had at least finally made a touchdown. It was just really cold and we were very tired and had to get up early in the morning again. We were grateful for the warmth of our little cottage.

Moon rising on Ft. Wingate

Saturday we were up really early again to go to the temple in Albuquerque. We picked up a friend for the trip. We enjoyed the temple session. There was a little Spanish-speaking lady in our session who needed a lot of extra attention. She was really cute, but it just seemed like everything turned out differently than expected with her. It was a good experience just watching her and those who assisted her. Afterward we went to the Owl Café for lunch and had a really fun experience. It is a really nostalgic place with juke boxes on the tables and milk shakes that are actually made from scratch. The food was yummy and the waitress DJ was really sweet. She’s been there 20 years, nearly 21. Amazing. I believe it is our new favorite place.

 
We managed to visit all the way home and Ted was able to stay awake. It went quickly.

Week Ending October 12, 2013

Sunday we went to the stake center for conference again. We took a lunch and ate on the lawn in the warm sun. It was the nicest day we’d had in a while. A man we didn’t know gave us 1 ½ dozen brown eggs. They have chickens and can’t keep up with the layers. That was really nice of him. After conference we went home teaching. We were there a long time. They are interesting to visit with and Ted and the husband were planning the wood collection project. When we got home I set up seminary for the new week. It is always a challenge for me to design the bulletin board and it was especially difficult tonight.

Monday we did things around the house. In the afternoon we met with the other senior couples for dinner and visiting. After that we went to family home evening with the young single adults. That is always an interesting experience.

Tuesday Ted went with a man in the branch to help him get wood. They planned to go to Grants to pick up permits, but Ted was unable to reach anyone at the ranger’s office. It turned out they are closed due to the government shut down. The man already had his permits left from last year.

We got a new elder, Elder McClaren, from Alaska. He’s a visa-waiter going to Brazil. I think he’ll be good.

Wednesday I studied and prepped for seminary. I seem to do a lot of that. I’ve been feeling rather frustrated lately. Today I began to actually feel I could keep up with the work I need to do.

We went to the senior center for lunch. Just as we were getting ready to eat they had a fire drill. Everyone had to walk outside the gate which took some much longer than others. It took probably five minutes to get everyone out. If they’d had a real fire we’d have burned to death. They said they have two wheelchairs in the back. They need to use those to get the slow ones out faster.

At seminary in the afternoon the lady who gives two students a ride said they told her they didn’t need one. They never came. I’m really not sure what is happening since this is the second week they have missed. The other two girls came and we had a good lesson. They try so hard to understand and they are such sweet girls. I just need to try a little harder to help them.

From there we went to the Branch Council meeting. There was really good attendance. Ted told them he was unable to get a permit to cut wood, but they decided to move ahead with the plan anyway. It really makes me nervous.

I told them the seminary students weren’t doing anything and that seemed to unnerve them. I also told them we needed to begin looking for a teacher to take our place when we leave. I don’t think that thought had occurred to them before.

Thursday I got up late so we didn’t walk. As I got things together for the quilting meeting, it began raining, sometimes hard and sometimes gently, but continuously. Ted made some tuna for me to take and I put some rolls out to raise. Ted went to the church with me to help set up tables. I wasn’t sure anyone was coming because of the weather. The president arrived about 10:45 and then the burrito lady arrived shortly thereafter. We had a good meeting and got stuff done.

When we finished eating we noticed it was snowing outside. We looked out the front door and it was a literal blizzard. After we got things cleaned up and headed out to the cars it had totally stopped. Then just as I got into the car it started raining lightly. After we drove out, I had to shut the gate and it was raining fairly well again so I got cold and wet. Then I had to unload the car at home—I was glad to get inside.

When it was time for my online class only one student was in attendance. One had told me she was going to be out of town. I tried calling the third girl but their power was out. The two of us had a good discussion. She is really a cute girl and has a good testimony. She came in second in the rodeo queen contest a couple of weeks ago. I suggested maybe next year she’d be first place. She really loves rodeo and horses.

We had four students at institute. One of our former students was there. She used to come all the time until she got a job as an EMT and had to work every Thursday. It was good to have her back. We had a good lesson and a good time playing games. One of the young men brought yummy pies for dessert so we were set.

Friday morning in bed I was thinking of all the challenges and the frustrations we have right now. I had a very clear impression that I should count the good things happening and not the things we don’t have. It made a strong impression on me and I realized that is what I need to do. After I got up we went walking again. It was so cold outside—around 30. That’s not so bad in and of itself, but it’s only October. The ground was muddy, but covered with frost, even snow in some places.

Ted and I drove up past McGaffey Lake (which now has water in it, by the way) to try to find the place to get the firewood a lady told us about. After driving 20 miles, and talking with a man that told us there was plenty ready to cut and take but our car wouldn’t make it, we turned around and went home.

I spent the rest of the afternoon grading seminary assignments. It is frustrating because some of the students have just bits and pieces of days not done so I can’t close them out.

Saturday Ted went with the branch to collect wood for some members that are in need. I did some preparation for my lesson for Sunday. I had a call from a sister telling me there was a craft sale in town, so I drove over and met her there. There were some really cute things. One lady had made some really beautiful quilts, but most were too small for anything and too expensive for my pocket book. There were some nice things, but I didn’t get much. I did get some great ideas though for things we can make.

I worked on seminary in the afternoon. In the evening I laid out the strips for the quilt and started grouping pieces for blocks. When I got to the last nine blocks and didn’t have the strips I should have had (per my calculations), I decided to stop. I need to go back to the blocks I’ve grouped and see if they have the right components in them. I ended up with almost twice as many strips of one size and none of another size. I probably got them mixed up. And the last few blocks didn’t have a good combination of strips so I may end up cutting some different fabrics for them. I’m sure it will look cute in the end, but I’ve tried to group the blocks in a semi-coordinated way.

Week Ending October 5, 2013

Sunday at seminary none of my students had done any work on their assignments in spite of their saying they would last week. One young man brought his notebook and I returned the one from last week, but  he hadn’t done anything in the new one. I am getting quite discouraged.

After church I spent about an hour helping update membership records with the dates and addresses we’d found when we first arrived. There is much more to go. It would be nice if we could focus on doing some record maintenance and help them get their records in shape.

In the afternoon I worked on seminary. It seems like there is always more to do to get things set up for the next week or grading for this week. The students are really getting strung out in the lessons so it is difficult to track what is still waiting to be graded and where they all are.

Monday we tried to turn the heat on in the morning and the pilot was out again. When Ted lit it, the heat still didn’t come on so the landlord came to look at it again. I was really glad when we got heat again. It’s been getting quite cold at night.

I spent time in the afternoon working on seminary again, trying to get the assignments ready for the Wednesday class. I got about half done.

In the evening we went to fhe with the young singles. We took root beer floats for refreshments.

Tuesday I finished my seminary assignments and worked on grading. I finished the certificates for the Ironman Challenge—I was really pleased with the way they turned out. There are really quite a few which pleases me. Most didn’t do much, but they did something. In the afternoon I sewed the binding on the quilt the Relief Society tied. I’m glad that is done.

After I finished the quilt I hurriedly put together our salad for the dinner tonight. The parking lot was resurfaced yesterday so the gate had cones in front of it. I’m pretty sure it was dry, but we all parked outside the fence. Pres. Joe signed the certificates then we were ready. We waited a long time for the lady with the mashed potatoes to arrive so it was very late starting. We had a really good turnout and one lady thanked me for putting it together. I told her I hadn’t done it, but she said thank you for giving us the idea and making it happen. The branch really needs more social events. The burrito lady came with her granddaughter. The branch president disappeared for a while so he missed the presenting of the certificates. We had people waiting to leave so we decided to go ahead. I was very pleased. Almost everyone helped clean up and it wasn’t a big burden on anyone. That’s the way it should be.

Wednesday I worked on my lesson for seminary and felt ready to go. I spent time pressing and cutting the sewn fabric strips for the quilt top I’m working on. I had a call from a student at Tohlakai saying they did not have a ride to seminary so they wouldn’t be there. It made me feel bad because we might have been able to pick them up if we had known earlier. When we got the call we had just enough time to get to the church. He said he had done some of the work in the workbook so I was sad not to have them in class.

Our lesson went well with the two students that were there. My lessons have to be very basic and even then I am not sure how much they really understand. But I like having them in class. They try hard.

After we returned to Ft. Wingate we stopped at the church for a minute to drop an assignment off to a student that was there. It is getting cold and has been quite windy. I finished the grocery bag rug and put it in front of the sink. It is really quite cute.

Grocery Bag Rug--picture does not do it justice!

Thursday I went to the church for the quilting class. We had two ladies there. One lady changed what she wanted to do with her quilt. It will be cute. We found some material to put between the blocks, but I’m not at all sure there will be enough. She started sewing her blocks together. I found some bags of scraps and sorted through them to find small enough pieces to use so that I wouldn’t be depriving others of fabric they could use. The other lady spent time cutting blocks and putting pieces together. She has some really cute fabrics she is working with and it could be quite cute. I think one of the biggest problems is that people want everything to be very orderly and regimented instead of using a more creative layout of pieces. The orderly layout is limiting in that everything has to be exactly symmetrical and the fabric has to come just right and we don’t really have that luxury. It would be fun to mix it up a bit. The iron was acting up and it worries me a bit that it might not hold up to the end of our mission.

We enjoyed a good lunch. I was disappointed that the burrito lady didn’t come. After I came home I worked on seminary for a while grading some lessons. When it was time for my online class I went into the meeting and set things up then waited. No one came. I sent reminders and nothing happened. I phoned the three girls and one signed on using her phone which was a much better connection than before. The second girl couldn’t get in. The third girl wasn’t home. We had a good discussion about 2 Nephi 2 and the Plan of Salvation. When I asked if she had anything more she wanted to add, she bore a sweet testimony. It was a good experience.

We ended a bit later than I’d planned because we’d started so late. Ted was anxious to be getting off for institute. I’d had a message come in during seminary, but I’d forgotten about it. On the way into Gallup I had to make a call for Ted. I saw the message and checked it out. One of my students was asking for a ride to institute. We were half way to Gallup. I texted back that I’d drop Ted off and come back for her. We got to institute about 7:30. She was touched that I would come back for her. I felt really badly that I hadn’t got the text before we left, but I wanted her to be able to participate. It all worked out. One young man had brought a friend so there were five students there. After the lesson we had a good time playing Catch Phrase. They are a fun group. Once again we are getting the program built up, but two will be leaving on missions in the next few months and one will be leaving for school in the spring.

Friday we had an online teachers meeting. We had a good discussion about the grading. It still seems like a big job to get it all together for the kids. We need to know fairly soon so we can let the students know what we are looking at for grading.

Saturday we went to the stake center for General Conference. It was a really good opportunity to hear the leaders of the church. Between sessions we went to a restaurant for lunch. Ted ordered a berry salad after asking the waiter if it had blueberries in it and receiving an affirmative reply. When the salad arrived there were no blueberries. When he asked about it, the waiter sent someone to the kitchen to get some blueberries. The person never came back so the waiter was surprised several minutes later when we called him over to ask about it. He went to the kitchen and returned to tell us they were getting some and it would be a few minutes. After what seemed like forever, and was probably at least half an hour, a young man arrived with a plate with quite a few blueberries on it. It was obvious they had not been washed, but Ted went ahead and put some in his salad and ate the rest. After he was done we watched for the waiter to get our bill but couldn’t see him. We finally called the manager over to tell her we had to leave. She brought us the bill, telling us she had discounted the charges due to the wait for blueberries. We appreciated her kindness but we vowed never to return.

We then went to Walmart to get a few things. It was jammed—first weekend of the month. I’m sure that’s why the blueberries took so long because they had to wait in line at Walmart to get the blueberries. We got back to conference just before it was time to start again. After the second session Ted brought me home, grabbed a quick bite to eat, and headed back for priesthood meeting.

Week Ending September 28, 2013

Sunday I had six students in my class. I had a discussion with them about what time they had for seminary on a daily basis. When two told me one hour and one told me half an hour I was incredulous. There is no way they could not get the work done in that amount of time. I calmly told them to take 5-10 minutes each day and read their scriptures. After that they could work on the current lessons. If they still had time they could do prior lessons. The problem is not the time available as much as the desire to do it. That makes me sad.

After seminary we drove immediately to Tohlakai. When we arrived they hadn’t started so I was able to meet a couple of people I’d talked with on the phone. One man is going to talk with the person in charge of the computer lab at the high school to see if he can get things set up for us to do the online course. I talked with a girl there who started our seminary class last year. She is in the dorms at Wingate High School. I told her there was a possibility of online seminary and she got excited. I really hope it works out so she can attend.

Pres. Curtis presented the certificates for seminary completion to the students during Sacrament Meeting. I was a little perturbed with one mom because she felt like her son’s learning style requires things to be fun and exciting and seminary is hard for him to relate to. I realize it is hard, but I’m not sure how they can get it if they don’t try. At least the ones who try get something out of it. I firmly believe that a student’s success or failure in the seminary program is heavily dependent on whether the parents take an active role in following up with them. Parents have to help them realize they need to do the work on a regular basis. It just doesn’t work otherwise.

After church I fixed a nice meal for Ted for his birthday. I spent the evening setting up my seminary for the coming week. I had a good conversation with the mom of one of my students. She felt like her daughter had just not fit in with the traditional seminary mold and it had been frustrating for them. They were going to start to use the online program for their family scripture study. I enjoyed visiting with her and hope I can have a good relationship with her daughter. She is a sweet girl.

Monday we were up early to take the missionaries to the Snowflake Temple. We had to be there at 7:30 AM for an 8 AM session. I really enjoyed the session and felt a strong spirit. Afterward we went to the Holbrook Stake Center for a lunch and brief visit, then we headed home. It was about 3 PM when we finally arrived home and we were exhausted. In the evening we attended home evening for singles. It is really just a socializing occasion for the young people, but they have a good time and we enjoy it.

Elder and Sister Roeth and Snowflake Arizona Temple

Tuesday we had our monthly inservice training at the stake center. It was a really good meeting. There were two teachers in attendance. We had some good discussions. I really wish I could teach as well as our supervisor does. He is very knowledgeable and is very good at letting the discussion go where it needs to in order to meet the needs of the group.

After our meeting we visited with our supervisor a bit longer then ran some errands. It was late when we got home so I worked on seminary. I stayed up way too late working on seminary in order to prepare the assignments for my students. I still need to prepare my lesson for this week, but at least I had the assignments ready to pass out.

Wednesday I worked on my lesson for the afternoon. We went to the senior center for lunch and spent time visiting with the people there. We met two sisters of one of the men there and had a good visit with them. One lives in Albuquerque most of the time but she comes here to get her check once a month. They were unloading a huge container of shampoo that was almost empty. Apparently, it came in earlier than we thought it would. They gave us four bottles for us and four for the elders. We took some bottles to them in the afternoon for them to fill.

We spent the afternoon preparing for seminary and adult education at Tohlakai. My class went well. I spent part of the time talking with the kids about what we can do to get on track. They all agreed to ½ hour a day. We talked about several scriptures and what they taught. They all came back to holding fast to the word and asking the Lord for help in order to draw closer to Him. It was a good discussion.

Thursday I got everything ready and started to the church for the quilting class. A sister drove up just as I was leaving to say they were repaving the parking lot. I walked around the church to talk to the workers to see if they really were going to repave, but there was no one there. The trucks were in the back with motors running, but no live bodies. I told two ladies there was not going to be any quilting. I put a sign on the fence and got my stuff out of the church.

I had made soup to take to quilting so we had a nice warm meal for lunch. Since I had the morning back I decided to make bread. My mixer had been acting funny, so I decided to make two batches. As it turned out, neither batch was stellar. I had more bread dough than pans, so I made cinnamon rolls with part of it. They turned out OK, although it is not really a cinnamon bread dough.

I spent some time doing some additional preparation for my class. When I signed on there was no one there. I sent out reminders and called and finally got two of the girls. Another one got error messages when she tried to sign in, so we started without her. She was able to get in later and joined us just after the prayer. A third student was not home. We had a good discussion. One connection was difficult to understand so she had to repeat the things she said quite often. I didn’t feel quite as stressed after that meeting.

In the evening we had institute. Ted had asked our supervisor to give the lesson so we could see how to develop the scripture levels. He did a really good job and there was good discussion and a good spirit. Once again, I wish I could teach like that. We had fun playing games and visiting afterward. We were able to get home at a fairly good hour. It is getting colder and it felt good that it warmed up.

Friday I spent quite a bit of time grading my online students. There are glitches in the program and it hadn’t told me they were done with one of the lessons so it hadn’t been graded. We had a good teachers meeting and a good discussion. It was mostly about grading so I had a difficult time with it. I had thought this was a pass/fail thing. I have to produce report cards 4 times during the year. Yikes.

It rained early this morning and really cooled the air. As I sat at the computer I was freezing cold. Ted tried to turn on the furnace and found the pilot was already on. He got the landlord who had to replace some wiring that had burned that was causing the furnace not to ignite. When he finally got it going it felt nice and toasty. It doesn’t last long though. It is still cold and windy.

In the afternoon and evening I sewed fabric strips together for my pieced quilt. I spent time pressing the seams and cutting the pieces into 12 1/2” strips. We decided since it was cold and miserable outside that we’d stay inside and watch a movie. I continued to work on my quilt top and Ted watched the movie.

Saturday we went to the flea market in Gallup in the morning. It was fun. We found a man who made flutes out of cedar. They were beautiful. I had a difficult time deciding between a round one and a square one. I really liked the square one, but it was more difficult to hold so I got the round one. Both had really pretty tones. We enjoyed the morning there and saw several people from church.

In the afternoon I worked on seminary for a couple of hours. The Relief Society was meeting for dinner before going to the General Women’s Broadcast at the stake center together. I picked up a friend and we met the Relief Society president at Sizzler. We were the only ones that came, but we enjoyed it. The broadcast was good, but it was so sad to see Pres. Monson. His wife passed away earlier this year and he looks like he is not doing well. He mentioned her several times while he spoke. He looked like he had aged several years and lost some weight. It was heartbreaking.