Week Ending November 23, 2013

Sunday Pres. Haws, our stake president, was our Sacrament Meeting speaker. Another lady spoke before he did. She gave the talk first in English, then in Navajo. The man sitting with us told us she was giving the same talk over. She told us later that she had been told to talk for 15 minutes and that was the only way she could figure out to fill the time. Pres. Haws said that his Navajo wasn’t good so he would just give one talk. He spoke on the scriptures. I really hope my students were listening. I know one was not. He reads his scriptures during church. Go figure.

Sunday School was on family history. It was a really good lesson and I was very touched. Relief Society also had a good lesson. The lady that was supposed to teach wasn't there. She was also supposed to teach Wednesday night but she said no one had asked her. Apparently a lack of communication. We asked around and found some other teachers. They all know how to make tortillas and fry bread so it wasn’t hard to find someone to teach us how.

Monday we worked in the house and I made bread. In the afternoon we met with the senior couples in Tohlakai then on to the young adult home evening. There were a couple of cars parked outside, but no one there. I got out the phone to call Sister Mortenson and found she had been trying to reach us. Her kids were sick and she wanted us to take over. After a few minutes a young woman wandered in—she had been on her phone in her truck. Soon a young man wandered in—he had fallen asleep in his car. We tried calling some of the others and found two people were sick. A third person arrived shortly with tons of food. She had soft and hard-shelled tacos, cookies, vegetable tray and fruit tray, and water. She was hungry so she brought enough for everyone. A couple more kids came later. We had no games, but we had a great visit and lots to eat. It was actually one of the more fun evenings we have had.

Tuesday was mostly seminary with some odds and ends tossed in. In the evening we had a branch dinner. It had a Mexican theme so people didn’t get worn out on turkey. There was a good attendance and I think we all enjoyed it. People sat and visited for a while. The burrito lady came and brought fry bread that was good. We had a good visit with a lady and her son for most of the evening. I think it went well.

Wednesday we went to the senior center for lunch. It was their annual Thanksgiving dinner and they had a huge crowd. We helped serve. I asked the lady in charge if they had any boxes left since she had told us there were wonderful food boxes at Thanksgiving. She said they were all out. She came to me later and said they had a turkey and pie in the freezer for us. They had given a box to the elders, so I told her we would tease the elders that they got our box. They asked us to do a Christmas program for them in December.

In the afternoon we drove to Tohlakai. It had started raining fairly heavily in the afternoon, so the roads there were muddy. One student texted me to say they couldn’t come because it was too muddy. Another was supposed to come, but she never showed. I texted her mom to ask if she was still coming. About 45 minutes later she responded that the girl was sick and the roads were too muddy. So I had a total shut-out with no students. I went into Ted’s class and joined them in their discussion. The other senior couple were the only ones there, but we had a good time. They will probably take over the seminary class and they are planning a meeting Sunday to talk with the kids and parents about when to meet. That will free us up to help Wingate more. It rained a little more on the way home, but it wasn’t as heavy as earlier until after we were home again.

Thursday when I got to the church a lady was waiting. She picked out several fabrics for a Christmas quilt and some already cut pieces for another quilt. She is quite excited. The lady left before lunch and the president wasn’t feeling like eating, so I had some of the soup I’d made and we talked a bit then went home.

Quilting at the church

In the afternoon I spent time on seminary. Only two students were there for class, but we had a really good class. We talked about Abinadi and his firmness of testimony. I bore my testimony and invited them to share their testimonies. It was a sweet experience.

Our institute class went well. One of the girls was baptized on Saturday and she had some questions as we got into the lesson. Bro. Miller was there and he directed the discussion quite a bit of the time. We had five kids there and it was good. No one wanted to stay after the lesson, so we got home really early.

Friday I spent the day preparing for seminary and cleaning. I am opening up all the online lessons during Thanksgiving week so they can do make up work if they’d like. Some of the lessons took a long time because I had to open each piece separately. I opened most of the lessons in Term 2 instead of Term 1 because I have a new student and she can’t get into Term 1. That meant I had to do some formatting on the units that had been done in Term 1. It was just a long process.

In the early evening we drove to Gallup to go to dinner at Fratelli’s Italian Restaurant. We enjoyed a good meal, but it took forever to get to us. We decided to have some gelato for dessert. While Ted was at the counter, he visited with the girl dishing the gelato and invited her to take the missionary discussions. She is anxious to hear about the church and gave us her number. She seemed like a really sweet person. She is going to Florida for Thanksgiving since this is her grandma’s first Thanksgiving without her grandpa and she wants to be with her. Nice.

The weather has turned very cold. We expected rain and even snow today, but it was clear all day. It did get really cold so I was very grateful for my heated mattress pad. I could be perfectly happy if it did not get cold or snow this year, but I think my feelings are not the governing factors.

Saturday I did some seminary bookkeeping then did a couple of odd jobs. I had a conversation with Pres. Curtis of Tohlakai about seminary and the meeting tomorrow. We will attend the meeting and make sure things get settled there. I think this will be a great opportunity for them to become part of the branch and help it grow.

House made of bales of straw

Ted made a couple of loaves of pumpkin bread so we could take some with us to visit a family. We returned the egg cartons and got a tour of their greenhouse and chicken operation. It was amazing. They are as nearly self-sufficient as I believe anyone can be. 

Man-made pond--great for fishing and a cool summer dip

They had taken wood and sand and created ponds and breaks for dirt so their dirt doesn’t wash away in the rain. They had fruit trees and in their greenhouse they had fresh tomatoes and peppers. We wanted to visit before the snow sets in because their home is so remote and the “roads” are really unbelievable.

Amazing vegetable garden!

It actually started snowing while we were there and they said we had about half an hour before we couldn’t get out. We visited and had some hot chocolate and their 14-year old daughter showed us some of the clothes she has made and designed—cute stuff. She showed me a crochet pattern like nothing I had ever seen. It actually stopped snowing while we were inside, but we would have been trapped if it hadn’t.

Watch the road? Where is it?

We had to pick up a couple of things at Walmart—it was jammed. When we finally got out it was snowing again. It stopped and started off and on all evening. Apparently it shut down I-40 between Gallup and Ft Wingate. Five semis rolled over. It wasn’t as much the snow as the black ice, but it was not a good night to be out.