At home I set up seminary for the week. I called a student to
let her know she has 10 lessons that are almost complete. She told me her class
schedule has changed and she could go to early morning seminary. It would be
much better for her because she has trouble making time for the lessons. I told
her I enjoyed having her in the class, but she should do what she feels is
best. If she
goes it would leave my class with three active students, so I think they should
be moved to other classes. It caused me to have a bit of trouble sleeping.
Monday the elders came to do their wash. We had not had the
opportunity to hear Elder Dean sing for us in church—he was only here one
transfer—so I asked him to sing for us before he leaves. He sang several hymns including
“Lead, Kingly Light” for me and “Be Still, My Soul” for Ted. He has a nice
tenor voice and I really enjoyed it. Afterward we time planning our visits to
seminaries and institutes for the month. Some are still up in the air, but we
have a lot calendared.
I phoned my online supervisor to discuss the student that
may move to early morning seminary. She wanted to talk the situation over with
her boss. She texted me back later saying he wants her to move to early morning
and thought we should move the others to other classes. As I thought about the
move I became concerned about one student. The new class meets at 5:20 am, a
huge change from 5 pm, but when we go on daylight savings time, it will be 4:20
am in Arizona.
We attended home evening and had fun. The young man from our
branch was there. Sarah gave him information on doctors for his mission paper
work. She is an amazing woman. She has such a good heart and is so concerned
about serving these young adults. She is the perfect person for the position.
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| Our Home Evening Group |
Tuesday we started by teaching our second lesson for Temple
Prep. We had more time than we normally would at church, so we had much more
discussion. At noon we went to the senior center. I visited with a couple of
people while we worked on a puzzle. The lunch was pretty good. They had food
left from the last donation so took some to deliver.
I worked on my seminary lesson in the afternoon to prepare
for Thursday. I feel a little like I’ll be giving a last lecture. We’ll have a conference call in the afternoon
on Thursday to discuss whether we’re moving my students, but I think it’s
pretty much of a done deal. It makes me sad. It won’t be any worse than it has
been for much of the year, but I know it is right for the girls.
In the evening we visited Sarah’s institute class in Gallup.
She did an excellent job. There were 6 students, which is really good. She
involved them and had a good focused discussion. After class we visited with
her a bit. I encouraged her to have the students keep a journal or notebook to
record thoughts and impressions during their reading and during class.
Wednesday we worked at home in the morning. Late morning we
drove to Thoreau for the eastern inservice class. We each got a list of all the
kids on the rolls of our branches and were asked what was being done to rescue
the ones not attending. Our records are so out of date that many of the ones on
the list are not in the branch. After we did that we went through a scripture squeeze
like we had at Grants.
When we finished there we visited Jack Surprise. We did not
intend to buy anything, but we ended up getting a bowl—it looked more like a
plate to me and had wavy edges—sort of a lumpy bowl. He also told me he’d give
me a pot with the mountain etched on it when we come back. He had taken the
turquoise off it because he ran out, so he wants to put the stone back on. It had
cracked when he took it out of the kiln. We stopped to get some peanuts to sustain us until we could
find something more to eat. We drove to Crownpoint and went to the deli in the
supermarket to get something to eat. There is really nowhere else to eat in
either place.
After dinner we asked for directions to the church. They
were a little vague so it took us a couple of tries and another inquiry, but we
got there about 10 minutes before class. We were actually in plenty of time
since the kids were half an hour late. We had a good visit with the teacher who
also teaches online and will be getting three of my students. I had asked her
earlier about me team teaching so I could take care of the makeup work for a
student. I asked her again this evening and once again she was adamant that she
did not need any assistance.
In class she involved the students in team
teaching with Ted and me assisting the two groups. I think they would have done better without us because we too
involved. She has cute kids and seems to have no problem getting them to
participate. They were all very sweet about shaking our hands and
telling us thanks for coming. And they even mentioned us by name in their
prayer. We left there about 7:45 pm. Ted was tired and it was about an hour’s
drive, so I was really glad to get home.
Thursday I went to the church for quilting. I took my
fabric, quilt top, and batting so I could pin the layers together. I used the
newly cut boards and it went OK except when they fell off the backs of the
chairs. Our regular lady came and sewed. I’m really glad she came because I
needed her help a couple of times when I rolled the ends and reset the boards.
Her friend came by and admired both of our quilts. She said she’d come back
next week to make one herself. I had made my amazing squash recipe. We each had
two servings before we called it quits.
I graded some seminary assignments. One of my students is
actually up to date for this term, a first in our experience together. We had
our conference call with my supervisor, the coordinator, and the new teacher. I
told them I felt it would be the best thing for the girls. It will be hard to
give it up, but I know the girls will do well. The other teacher basically said
she could handle however many we gave her. Her class will be about 17 students,
so they will close it. They asked me to give the closing prayer and I had a
difficult time speaking. I am really going to miss the girls.
After the call I emailed the list of students and where each
was being moved. I looked at seminary a bit then worked on my rug. I talked
to the early morning student before class because I wanted to tell the girls at
the end of class today. We had a good conversation. She is planning to get
married in the summer so we talked a bit about that. I told her the decision
that had been made. She said she had been praying about it and felt OK with
that.
We had a good seminary class. One student was not there
which was a little frustrating. I would have liked to have made the
announcement one time and had it over. Our discussion was good and the girls
gave some good mini lessons about the character of the people in the war
chapters of the Book of Mormon. At the end I told them all what was happening and
the transition plan and told them I loved them. One of
them, bless her heart, told me that they all loved and appreciated me as well.
I am thankful for that, not because I need to hear it, but it felt good and
made me feel a little less like I was letting them down. We had a closing
prayer and it was over.
We left immediately for the ball game and got there just
after it had started. Our girls didn’t do as well as they could have. We started the second half behind by
about 20 points, but they came up to within 2 points. It was a really tight
game that could have been won. We left after the JV game so we could get to bed
fairly early. It was an exhausting day.
Friday was Valentine’s Day. We got up at 4 am so we could
leave at 5:15 am for Ramah to visit a class. We weren’t sure where to go so we
got there very early. We wondered if we were in the right place until a truck
drove up and waited. Finally, a young man got out of the truck and it drove
away. He stood there in the cold for a while until we invited him to sit in our
car. The teacher arrived about 10 minutes late then the kids started arriving.
A few of the kids shook hands and introduced themselves and welcomed us to
class. It was a good lesson and the kids were mostly involved. Several of the
kids shook our hands at the end and thanked us for coming. The teacher had to
leave immediately after class for an appointment so we didn’t have much time to
visit. We told her our online student would be coming next week. I thought she
would be excited, but it was more like, “Oh, OK.” I hope my student does well.
I know she has some challenges with the kids there and feeling like she fits
in.
After class we went to the Stagecoach Café for breakfast. We
were immediately greeted by a man named Marvin Lewis. He welcomed us and
introduced us to everyone that came in. His son was the owner and he gets to
make pancake batter every morning. He is the stake patriarch and is 91 years
old. He told us a lot about the town and we had a good visit and a good
breakfast. I visited briefly with a couple at the table next to us that
apparently were regulars. She was reading a book about Chaucer and I asked
about that as it doesn’t seem like everyday reading for people.
From there we drove to Zuni to meet with the elders. We had
accidentally left our phone home and we thought they lived at the church. When
we got there, there was no trailer for them. We went to the visitors center and
they told us they lived by the church at the Paywa Bakery. We went there and
talked with a man who took Ted inside where a woman gave him directions to
their home. It was a little vague, but she said she’d tell her husband to meet
us. We got near the place and pulled over to ask a policeman if he knew where
they lived. A car pulled up behind us and began honking. It turned out that the
husband of the lady at the bakery is the branch mission leader so he led us to
their home. The elders were not at home so we gave him the books we had
brought. We had an interesting visit with him. He had served a mission in the
area many years ago and then came back after many years. He was a real
character with a very loud laugh.
I made a few phone calls about the seminary change. I talked
with the girl who had missed class and told her the scoop. I think she is
looking forward to having more kids in the class. When I told her there would
be 17 kids, she said, “Oh, wow!” I hope she doesn’t fade into the background. I
sent the new teacher an email with a little about the girls and what makeup
work was still due. I was able to talk with another teacher later and tell her
a little about the one student she’ll have. I think she’ll be in good hands.
Saturday I made cookies and worked on my rug. I got things
ready for Sunday. I graded seminary lessons and sent out emails about the
changes. In the afternoon we attended the baptism of a man in our branch. I
knew he had a girl friend, but I didn’t realize she was the daughter of the
former branch president of the Tohlakai branch. She was there with her parents
and cousins. I’m really not sure how they were all related because cousins are
“sisters”. One lady from Tohlakai always tells me how glad she is to see me. I
had no idea how she fit into the picture until she explained she was the sister
to the girlfriend’s mother. The mother gave a wonderful talk on baptism—the
best I have heard. She really spoke from her heart. Ted gave a talk on the Holy
Ghost and did a wonderful job.
 |
| Elder Crofoot, Tyson Bahe, Elder McClaren |
I was sitting
visiting when they started the meeting. I casually opened the program as they
announced the opening song and saw that I was the chorister. I hurriedly took
my coat off and grabbed a hymn book. I’m glad I looked at the program. They had
told me they needed a chorister a couple of times and I’d said I could do it,
but the branch president never agreed to having me do it so I was totally
caught off guard. Afterward they had a light meal of sandwiches, chips, and
cookies.
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