Dear Family and Friends,

Picture just above is Paulene Whitehair and daughter, neighbor to one of our garden participants. It's 6 am and Elder Olson is on his way to Tonalea to help them and 3 others finish planting their seeds. Most of the people have their gardens completley seeded and their crops are growing. It is so fun to see green, even the wonderful weeds are growing :o[ Of course that gives me something to do in my spare time ;o]

Elder Olson seems to send out some vibs to the people who notice him tilling someone else's garden and they just wander by and just happen to mention how much they would love a garden and he explains the waiting list and how limited the materials are for this year and how only people who are on the list can have garden materials AND then he goes over and helps them start their gardens. He's heard several times "You are an answer to my prayers" Although his days are long and challenging at times he comes home with a certain glow. He is truly serving the people by working beside them to help them become more self reliant which is exactly why we are here.

He had a priesthood blessing with great promises and counsel. We are so grateful for faithful members who honor their priesthood and magnifying the gifts they have been given and who willingly share them with others.

Last week he helped several members out at Red Lake (AKA Tonalea) and several close to the church here in Tuba City. It is so rewarding to see their faces when the water rushes out of the lines to flush them out. Then they get to cap them and start the watering and wait to see the first signs of green, besides weeds of course. It doesn't seem to take to long before the radishes start showing up, then the other things follow. Our potatoes, corn, carrots, squash and onions are going to town.

At one of the widow's home Elder Olson planted the carrots a different way than he usually does. Her youngest daughter was helping and Elder Olson couldn't hear what she said her name was, so he asked her to spell it. When the carrots grow she will see her name in the garden. I think it was Tashena, so he blocked in the letters of her name and planted the seeds in the lines of the letters he had written out. That will be fun when she sees her name in the garden.

The little boy in the blue shirt is about 6. He watched patiently from the side and Elder Olson motioned him over and let him take a turn. His 7 year old brother also got a turn. That was really fun to watch. Their older brother had been one of the young men who welded beading on the tines of the tiller at his welding class at the high school, so it was fun for him to see the end result of what he had done at the shop class.

We have a meeting at 10 but Elder Olson was excused because he had already commited to helping out at Tonalea. He felt so bad about not having to sit at the meeting for hours. lol.

Guess that is it for now. If you have time read Alma 26. The whole chapter is great, but the last 2 verses are awesome.

We love all of you. We are coming home for a quick trip so Elder Olson can have his check up with Dr. Neal in Jackson on 21 Jun. We will wave as we fly by.

Something is wrong with my edit option, so I will let you do the editing. o;}

Elder and Sister Olson

Dear Family and Friends,

Above is the picture of Gloria Babbitt's favorite place to sit, so she can watch her garden grow. To the right is Gloria Babbitt born in the 1920's. As a wife they grew corn in a large field to the left of the garden spot you can see. She rode horses as a young child, a young bride, and a mother of many. She raised sheep, sheared them, washed the wool, carded it, dyed it, and spun it into wool for her rugs. She would still love to weave rugs, but someone has to be around her all the time because age has taken its toll and she forgets things. (Actually that sounds fairly to me ;o}) She loves horses and her walls have pictures of her family on horses at varying times of their life. Gloria does not speak English, but two of her daughters were there and we had great fun talking about different funny stories about children.

Elder Olson and I helped her daughter Mary and husband Martin Maloney put the garden in the day before Mother's Day, so it would be a surprise when Gloria came home. She thanked us over and over for the wonderful gift. We helped them yesterday putting in the beds and getting the irrigation lines laid out. Gloria lives by Wild Cat Peak and there are some awesome red rocks with caves in them. She said they liked to play there when they were small. It is about 39 miles away over rodeo roads. :o) Your teeth chatter all the way and you bounce like you are on a wild bronc. We will continue to go out and check to see how things are going.

Martin calls Elder Olson his brother and I asked if I should check their thumbs to see if they were blood brothers now. Martin thought that was pretty funny, but there is no doubt that he has grown to love Elder Olson and his willingness to help his brother in need.

It is his wife who does massage therapy and like Elder Olson she has a gift for finding the right place that needs attention.

The picture on the top right are the incarcerated little escape artists who lead us on a wild goat chase around the yard. They look innocent, but looks can be deceiving. ;o} They were so cute and could run so fast.

Shelaine copied the "Blythe" movies that were taken when I was a kid. I still have not viewed them all. Our days run about 14-16 hours, but our burdens are made light and although tired you don't seem to run out of gas and come home happy that you were able to do something good and make a difference for someone in a positive way.

I have to find the right envelopes to send them and we need to have more burned by someone who knows what they are doing. I would like to give one to each of you, so you can laugh yourself silly over all the funny happenings that we recorded. Most of it would be good evidence of where you get your "craziness" from.

Daryl was kind enough to send me a disk to download so Dad and I can watch the movies on my laptop. My laptop has been such a great blessing here. Thanks to all of you who have walked me through my "frustration"and help me get things straightened out.

We are making a quick trip home later this month so Dad can see Dr. Neal and get things rolling to have the bone spur removed and hopefully remove some scar tissue from the previous surgery. Keep him in your prayers.

Hey tomorrow I am going to be in a piano recital with 6 other students. Most of them are kids, but there is at least one other grown-up. I will play 3 songs. Thank you for all the prayers, I know they are helping a lot. People here admire courage, so it's easier to be brave and try.

We continue to get to know the people better and better. They have a great sense of humor and are so honest about their shortcomings.

We love our mission and the opportunity to help people in such a great way. Our demo garden is coming up. It is awesome to see green. We love you all.

Elder and Sister Olson