Fifth Week 3/19 to 3/26

Learning about fencing in the cold

Monday was a very special day.  We woke up early to get to Tuba City for our training and we had no water.  It got so cold that night that it froze our water source even though I had left it dripping.  It was so cold that morning that our little space heaters couldn’t keep up with the job of keeping us warm.  It was blowing  and was still snowing off and on, so Willard decided not to pull the trailer because it might be a little dangerous.  He was right; we had a broken snow floor for half of the way there.  When we arrived at Tuba City, we found that there was hardly any snow there but it was still cold.

It was good to see the gardening couples again.  After a while, we were all taken outside to watch a demonstration on how to put up the fence and also how to install the drip system.   How to install the fencing wasn’t too bad but the drip system is something else.  They have made improvements on it and changed the valve system so you don’t have to water the whole garden for only the cool weather crops. I hope we get a lot more training because it was very confusing.    It was so cold that I couldn’t concentrate on things that were being taught.. 

The assembly line

We had a great lunch that included Navajo Taco’s which was really good.  After that the women set up as assembly line to put all the fittings in a bag that a new gardener would need to set up the drip system.  It didn’t take long to make up 350 bags.  Meanwhile the men were out going over tilling and freezing outside. Then we finished off with a very spiritual meeting.  President Justice was very inspiring and  gave us all a special blessing that our families would be strengthened by our services.  It really brought us comfort.

After the training, Willard borrowed a trailer there and loaded up the tubing and the rest of the fencing.  It was a big load but it saved us a trip back to Tuba to pick up the materials.  When we returned, we were happy to find that we had water.  It was good to be home.

Laundry soap

Tuesday, I woke up with the idea that I needed to go over to the Cranks home to help her out because it seemed that she was just feeling a little overwhelmed by all the problems with her home.   Sister Williams, agreed to go with me and help out to.  Well when we got there in the afternoon, she had been busy cleaning all morning and the front area looked great so  we just helped her clean out one of the bedrooms that she had just for cloths.   We got it cleaned out and the cloths folded and the new baby things identified that she needed to wash.   She needed detergent for the baby cloths.   I told her that I would bring over some of Sister Williams detergent that she uses that is appropriate for babies.  When she went to Page the week before she had brought me the ingredients for the detergent .  The recipe is 1 bar of Fells Naphtha  soap, 2 cups Armor Hammer super washing soap and 2 cups of 20 mule teem borax.  The Williams use it because he is sensitive to fragrance.  I made a batch for me and a batch for the Cranks.

That evening I worked on some gardening stuff and then we settled down to watch a movie. About 9pm, I got a call from Evangeline asking me if I would take her to the clinic because she was having labor pains every 30 minutes apart. So we got dressed and picked her up, her husband stayed home with the 3 kids, and she showed us the way to the clinic.  I got her checked in and she was having some mild pains.  I called Elder William’s to come down to help Willard administer to her.  He blessed her that her pains would subside and that her baby would be fine.  After they left, I stayed with her and calmed her down and we had a good time talking.  After awhile the pains subsided and we were home about 1.30AM.  She had just worked too hard the day before.

Eric Young and Nelson Parrish unloading manure

Wednesday, I decided I would make some potato cheese soup to take over to Evangeline so she could just relax.  We went to the store to pick up some potatoes and we saw Alfredia Young, the new Primary President that was going to come over that morning.  I was glad we saw her because I hadn’t been able to get a hold of her.  So we picked her up on the way home, went over primary things while Willard put together the potato soup.  He did a great job and everything was ready in time for lunch.  We took it over to Evangeline and Alfredia was able to meet the kids.   (Alfredia doesn’t have a car since she rolled her truck the day we got to Kayenta.)  We took Alfredia home and on the way home up the road to the church, I saw a young man with a wheelbarrow full of something brown and he was filling up the potholes in the road.  I had Willard  stop so I could thank him for at least making an effort  to improve the road (the road is full of pot hole and everyone complains about it).  Well when I thanked him, he said it was just manure that they had on hand.  Of course, my ear pricked up because we have been looking for a source of manure because the High School was on vacation.  I asked him about it and he said that his grandfather just live up the road and had a whole bunch of it because they raised sheep.  He showed us to the house and we talked with his grandfather, Kee Navajo.  He was a great older gentleman and just a sweet as can be.  I had a little hard time getting him to understand that we wanted his manure.  After he understood, he was thrilled because he had to take his manure to the dump.   We knew the Harveys were looking for a source of manure too, so we were excited.  We told him we would get back to him. 

On Thursday, since I was all out of bread, I decided to make some and bake it up at the church house and run off copies for next work shop.  I have to say the bread turned out so much better; baking it in the electric oven at the church really made a difference.  We then went down to the Nez Family and helped him unload the manure we had giving him a week ago.  He didn’t unload it because he didn’t have a shovel.  We got it all unloaded and we went to Burger King for a quick bit because I needed to go to the Reeds to teach Glindy ,Kerra and the mother Ralphelite Reed.  I taught a little bit of conducting and then piano to the girls.  They are almost getting the hang of walking their fingers.

Kee Navajo

Friday, Kee Navajo brought down a load of manure in his tractor that had a scooper on it.  Then I had the brilliant idea for us just park at the entrance of place and he could just dump the stuff in the trailer.    It worked beautifully and we had a load of manure with half the work.  I met his daughter who was hand feeding a little lamb.  I learned the difference between a Billy goat and a plain goat.  A Billy goat has more wool on them.

Feeding the sheep

We then took half over the Nelson Parish (his wife was the one that got married that we decorated for) and then on over to Alfredia home.   That evening I made the order for strawberries, blackberries and raspberries.  I had offered to order the plants for those who had given me the money for them.  My order was a little over $304.  I was pleased with the response and happy to do it for them.  I want to plants the strawberries, blackberries and raspberries in the little garden in back of the Zieglers, so next year there will be more to share and cut the expense here.  I am excited about the blackberries plants I choose because they bare June through the hardest frost.   So hopefully they will have strawberries and blackberries all summer and fall long.

Saturday was the most wonderful day.  We all got into our truck and went to the Monticello Temple.  We had the gardeners pick up the  tillers  by 9AM so we could make the 12 o’clock session.  It takes about 2 hours to get there.  We got there about 11.10am and had to stop to eat lunch before going in because Elder

The group, Zieglers, Williams and us

Ziegler health issues.  We stopped at the nice little place called PJ’s.   The food was good and free.  They don’t charge missionaries.  We were very grateful for their generosity and left a good tip.  The Monticello Temple is very small but beautiful.  It was a much different experience from going to Snowflake.  There was not one Native American there.  It seemed sort of strange not to see those dark expressive faces.  After the session, we started to hit the “shops”.  We stopped at the Thrift store there and I bought a earrings for $3.  Then we stopped at Blanding at an art store that had all different kinds of things.  I bought a hand signed horse hair pitcher for $19.95.  We have seen the same thing for $50 to $90.  So I bought it.  Now I have

Sixth different temple in 6 months

something for the house.  I really like it.   Then we went a little further and stopped at the Family Dollar store and got some things for the kitchen.  Then down the road a little further was ALCO discount store where I found a belt for Willard and candy for primary.   It was a cute mini Walmart.    We stopped at the Bluff (that is where the Undaunted stopped)  to eat dinner.  Elder Williams is such a kind man.  As we were going in we saw a young couple eating out on the deck and struck up a conversation with them and found that they were LDS and were just out on a date and afterward he was taking her to the Young Women’s Broadcast.   What did he do? He went over to the waitress  and told her that he was going to pay for their dinner.  (He paid for Zieglers and ours too)  The couple came up to us and thanked us later  and the young man told us that he was going to France in just a few weeks for his mission.  

At the Bluff

On the way, back it just amazed me at the scenery! The landscape looked different coming back then going there.  The light changes the way the light is reflected on the mountains.   The landscape is rugged,  beautiful and breathtaking.  Willard couldn’t stopped to take pictures because we had to be back by 7o’clock to get the tillers.  The next time I go, I am taking pictures because the landscape was so diverse and gorgeous.   We got home exactly at 7pm.  But it wasn’t until about 9 until Willard had them all in house.  One tillers rope broke and was lost in the day; another challenge for Monday.

The Horse Hair Pot

Sunday was fast Sunday for the 1^st ward but not the 2^nd ward which was a little different.   2^nd ward primary went very smooth and I even had time to run off copies until the paper ran out in the second hour. But as I was coping things I noticed Evangelina the 18month old of Evangeline Crank was running all over the place, to I caught her and put her in the nursery while her parents listened to the testimonies.  Then I say the Nez girl with her brothers that are 3 and 4 who are both non-verbal autistic, walking around and so I guided them to the nursery too.   Then they escaped but their parents caught up to them.  Then the 1^st ward primary started with the new presidency.  Alfredia Young, who has been to primary and knew a little bit about it, Sister  Bobby Bailey who was just reactived, that has some little boys that are all over the place, and Cristie Parish that just joined the church and has never been to primary or even see it function. There are two teachers one for the Jr. Primary that has about 10 kids that are as wild as you can imagine and 5 senior kids that are great.  After today’s experience of splitting the two share times, we all agreed that it would be better to go back to one and the counselors go in and help Sister Cly deal with the younger children until we can get the class split.  The 1^st ward is doing such a wonderful job reactiving  families,  that more teachers are needed and smaller classes so that reverence as be taught.

After taking Alfredia home and Willard finding the pull rope of the tiller that was lost, we returned home and I got busy making breadsticks for dinner at the William’s.   We had a great spaghetti dinner with a homemade butterscotch pudding with meringue and whipped topping.  What a nice way to end the day!  I will certainly miss both the Zielger’s and the William’s.  They are both such wonderful, caring people.