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.