Christmas Play with the Littlest Angel Heralding the Savior's Birth with maracas

Dear Family and Friends,

  The two sweet sisters at the top are Gloria Babbitt, my most favorite here on the rez, and her sister Lorraine, who is the mother of 22 children, all single births.  Mary, Gloria's daughter, said she thought she had 6 with her first husband, so that would make it 28 children.  I hope I will be able to do her family group sheet.  I think she was given in marriage when she was 13 and had her first child at age 14.  They think she is around 105 +  years right now.  Pretty amazing, she needed no real help to get around, although her daughter took her plate of food to her.

  The second picture is the Nativity scene they used at the Christmas dinner minus the sheep that was placed in front of the waste basket on the left.  We think one of the shepherds ran off with the sheep.  You remember leaving the 99 in search of the one that was missing. ;o}

  This is the first Christmas where the littlest angel heralded in the birth by using maracas.  He walked in on the left with a tinsel halo and two bright red maracas which he thoroughly enjoyed shaking.  I guess they were in the sack with the other Christmas items and he found them very appealing, so he helped himself and ran back to his mom, who had quite a time taking them away from him. ;o}  A Christmas to remember.

  The brother who conducted did so in Navajo, which was awesome because many of the older people do not speak English.  The Bishop did tell the Christmas story in English as the primary children enacted the parts.  The spirit was amazing.  The dinner was very good also, although we actually ran out of meat, so Elder Olson went back to our apt.  and brought back a few slices from the roast we had shared with the Nez family.

  We continue to see every day as a new adventure, not knowing what will happen.  Sometimes we have sad things happen, but where we choose to focus makes us who we are and who we will become. One day when I opened the door and asked if I could help, the answer was "We would like a missionary lesson, could you give us one?"  Not an every day occurrence., but one we were delighted to respond to.

  Our Relief Society President is amazing.  Yesterday her first counselor told her that her new job demanded that she work every Sunday morning until Feb, so she would not be coming to church for the next while.  I asked her about the lesson and she realized that her counselor was suppose to give it.  We learned long ago to have "talks" in our scripture bag as well as "lessons" for that week ready, just in case.  Today it was the Sunday School lesson and the Relief Society lesson.  We are really learning a lot about being prepared and relying on the Holy Ghost to direct our thoughts and words about what to speak about.  I am truly grateful for the tender mercies of Heavenly Father.

  Tomorrow we have a missionary meeting and have been asked to present a spiritual thought and our ideas on what has been the best way to help the people here.  There is a message in the Ensign that is directed specifically to Seniors, in fact there is more than one article and one of the highlighted headings was focusing on what you can do and that was an answer to prayer, because it is pretty easy to stress over what should be done and the fact that it doesn't always happen the way it does in other wards and branches throughout the church.  We are uniquely different and we need to do what works to meet the needs of the people here and not stress that what works looks different here than it does in other areas.

  The Relief Society lesson was on Living Righteously in Perilous Times.  In light of what has happened in the last few days back east, it was very profound that it should be today's lesson.  We need more than ever to have God and the gospel in our lives, in our schools, and yes in our work places.  He has promised so many things, but still we see those who would take Him out of everything and then wonder why such tragedies occur.

  We hope at this time of year, we would make a stand for what we know to be true, even if others would have it some other way.  It is He who has the answers and He who can heal lives and broken hearts. We would hope that instead of thinking of more ways He can be taken out, we share how important it is to put Him in everything, for He is the Savior, the Redeemer and in Him all things can be answered.

Merry Christmas

Elder and Sister Olson

  

Elvis has been seen on the rez

Dear Family and Friends, 

    The top picture is of Ann Thompson and Avvy Trujillio.  Ann made the aprons and bag.  The aprons she gave to Elder Olson and me as gifts.  If you look closely you will see a Chee hat on the one, that is Elder Olson's and he loves it.  Mine is the one Avvy is holding on the right.  We love both these single moms very much.  Both are very hard working in their gardens and in their lives in general.
  The second picture is of Avelina Nez, Lee's wife helping in the kitchen which she loves to do.  She is a beautiful Navajo woman and a great cook.
  Elder Olson has not cut his hair for quite a while and a few days ago I asked if his clippers were broken.  He said, "No, why do you ask?"
  I said, "Well you usually keep your hair much shorter, are you growing it out?"
  He responded that he might be trying to grow it out like Brother Nez, who's hair is half way down his back and I said, "Hmmmmmm"
  Today someone at church asked if I was dating Elvis and I must have looked a little puzzled.  He said he thought the man I was with was Elvis because he had such long hair.  Elder Olson had slicked it back after I left the apt and before he came over to the meeting.
  Since he likes to go to bed early, when he is home before dark, and that makes him wake up very, very early, we shall see in the morning if Elvis will go back into retirement.
  After church today we had the Nezs and Andersons over for dinner.  The table is small, but we had enough room to all sit down after we filled our plates at the kitchen counter.  Elder Olson has become quite good at cooking roasts in the dutch oven, which he puts into the regular oven and cooks at a very low temperature from early in the morning until after the last meeting at 2:00.  Sister Anderson brought a nice fruit salad and Sister Nez had brought things for a green salad.
  We invited Bishop Kingsford, who's wife has been with her daughter in Utah for several weeks.  He could not come over when we ate, but came by for leftovers, which he took home to eat.  He will be driving up to Utah for the break and she will return with him after the holidays.
  We were glad Sister Kingsford went because it was her daughter's first baby and they ended up taking him C-section because they discovered that the cord was wrapped around his neck.  Mom and baby are doing well.  Also an update on the baby that Elder Olson blessed.  He is doing well and growing fast.
  We had another Piano Play time last Friday and my fingers were shaking, so I did not do as well as I wanted.  Tonight after Institute I forced myself to play while everyone enjoyed treats.  My fingers were still a little naughty, but when Brother Nez sat on the bench next to me I DID NOT FREAK OUT, even though I was afraid I might.  I kept right on playing and although I also made some mistakes I did much better than Friday and there was an audience listening, which I think is what makes me freak out every time.
  I do practice and I can play, but when I know there are people actually listening for real, my hands shake and I can't play well at all.  I would like to believe that I can fake it until I can make it, but my fingers haven't gotten the message yet.  BUT I shall not give up. ;o}
  Tomorrow we go to Page for my dental appt.  We are also going to get pipe pieces to use on my loom. The dowel sticks tend to bend slightly when you stretch the rug to work on it.
 I am working on my first diamond pattern and am about half way done with the second rug which is much bigger than the first.  The next one will be smaller, so I can practice putting them on the loom more quickly.  It won't take as long to finish it and then I can put another one on if it is smaller and faster to finish, and I will feel more comfortable about putting on the warp and lacing the ends.
  Today the Patriarch along with his wife spoke to both wards.  They live in Page.  He said some really wonderful things about what a patriarchal blessing is and why we should get one.  His youngest person to receive one was 12 and the oldest 86.  One of the sisters is the First Ward had spoken to me about getting hers just this last week. She was afraid she might be to old.  I was very glad she was there to hear them speak and feel confident that she will be preparing herself to get her blessing in the near future.
 Our temperatures have been very nice for quite a while, but today it was cold and the wind was blowing.  I think they are predicting a storm.
  Hope all is well with you and your family.  We feel very blessed to be serving in such a unique way.  President Justice remains us that we are the pioneers and that we are leading the way in several things.  Brother Stephan says that sometimes we just have to make it up as we go because it hasn't been done before.  He says lots of other funny things too. ;O}
  Elder & Sister Olson
PS Elder Olson went to bed at 8:00 so he wasn't up to edit this post.  Hopefully my fingers weren't to naughty and didn't make too many mistakes, or is it to many???  Old age makes you forget how to spell also. ;o}

Who's turning 65????

Dear Family and Friends,
  Cute little baby boy is in the arms of his Grandmother.  Pretty bright and alert for being only three weeks old.
  Can anyone guess who will turn the big 65 tomorrow, couldn't be grum pa could it??  :O}
  Last week was pretty busy.  On Saturday we went to the Snowflake Temple with the Stake,  They had standing room only in the chapel session.  It was so amazing.  They also had to ask people to wait and go through the 11:30 session because the could not seat all the people even though they brought in extra chairs. That was actually a pretty "nice problem" to have to deal with.
  I did discover to late that they were handing out the headsets for the "white" people because the session was all in Navajo.  Fortunately they had a screen with the English scrolling down so you could read what was being said.  I never even thought about getting one to begin with, then I was to embarrassed to admit that I needed one.  I thought that they were giving them out the those who wanted to hear the session in Navajo.  Getting older sucks sometimes because you assume to much.  I mean it was a Navajo session, duh?  Oh well, I did get through it and the spirit was there, the language really didn't matter.
  We left at 5:30 A.M. and arrived home 7:30 P.M.  Wonderful experience, but very hard on Elder Olson's leg with all the sitting.
  Today I started at 7:30 A.M.  Ronnie, Lee and Avy Nez cooked Navajo tacos for the group that met at 2:00 after the 2nd Ward meetings ended.  We meet with a sister from Chandler Heights who drove up to help us with all the indexing that we are doing.  She will be officially retired tomorrow at 5:00 after working for the Church in family history for over 41 years. She just couldn't quit, so she was thrilled about volunteering to help us.
  Two other senior couples came to the meeting plus Sister Norris, Sister Benally and Pres. Justice.  We discussed our concerns and questions about what we had done, what we wanted to do, and what was the best way to accomplish our goals.  We ate around 4:00 cleaned up and went home a little after 5 then headed back to watch the devotional at 6.
  We invited several people to the Christmas Devotional  and Sister Mary from the Catholic Church ;O} came and thought it was awesome.  She could not say enough about how much she enjoyed it.  Sister Margaret was sick, so she could not make it, but I am confident that Sister Mary will share what she saw and heard.
  Went back to the apt and Bishop came to visit, he left and then a sister came and left at !0:05.  It has been a wonderful weekend.
  Elder Olson is going with Brother Yellowhorse out to work on a garden in Monaeve tomorrow. They are going to work on Sister Bighorse's garden, which is way out there as the crow flies.
 Brother Yellowhorse is an excellent gardner and raises a fantastic garden every year.  He and his wife love their garden and it shows.
  We haven't had snow yet, but I suspect it is coming.
Elder and Sister Olson

Gratitude for the little things.

Dear Family and Friends,
  Don't want to get out of the habit of writing on our blog. This week was very quiet compared to last week when we cooked 10 turkeys.  This week Sister Boothe cooked 1 turkey, the gravy and the stuffing.  We brought our favorite holiday salad, a veggie tray, and rolls.  The Andersons brought mashed potatoes, pickles, olives, and fresh cranberry sauce.  I must admit dinner was pretty quiest with just 6 mature people, but we had a lot of fun and ate pie for dessert.  Sister Anderson made pumpkin pie and chocolate pie, both were very, very good.
  We discovered that Elder Anderson is also very good at making pottery.  He said they only brought their imperfect pots, but they looked pretty perfect to me.  I loved the colors and shapes.  I am going to ask him if I could take a picture.  He is extremely modest and very quiet most of the time, but I think he will let me take pictures if I say PLEASE!
  This week the Stake members are going over to the Snowflake Temple to do baptisms and endowments.  They always take their Temple trips very seriously and next Sunday being Fast Sunday I know we will be in awe of all the neat experiences they will share about going to the Temple.
  On Sunday afternoon a Sister Ashcroft will be coming up to talk to us about preserving the records we have been indexing.  She is retireing after serving in the family history center for 40 plus years.  She is an expert on Native American culture, so we are excited to visit with her and get ideas on how we can make our records available to descendants of the Native Americans in our area.
  Here is one story that I have allready shared with a few of you.  This happened Tuesday night at the Family History Center.

At 6:55 I walk over to the FHC and practice the piano in the Primary room while they have opening exercises.  Then Brother Allen comes in and we start, teaching both boys who show up for YM.  It was awesome.  Joseph is Pres. Justice's son, and they go back to the 1500's, but Matthew is a nonmember.  He is one very large kid and pretty funny, he likes to joke and kid around.  We had visited his dad just a few days ago because he was in the hospital.  He was going in for surgery about 40 mins later.  His mom who is also a nonmember has been attending the RS activities and getting to know the ward members.  She has also been coming out to church. 

  Anyway I told Matthew he couldn't just sit there and look cute, he had to work.  We started him out on the old PAF and he comes to a stop after putting in his parents.  Then Bro Allen says his mom is there and that he would go get her.  She comes in we chit chat and she tells Matthew to type.  He doesn't like to use the shift key, so he is always having to go back and capitalize, which his mom and I both say almost at the same second everytime he forgets which is everytime he types a name.

  She is telling him names and he is typing.  We come to her grandparents and she says she doesn't remember the first name of her gr mother.  She mentions that they all died in New Mexico and I ask, "Crownpoint?" 

 She says, " Yes some did die there. "

Then she says Becenti and I say,  "let's look."

  We start with the first few and then we get to Nellie Becenti and she says, "That's her."

I start reading the obituary and it states that she had 11 children.  I say that not all the children born lived to adulthood, because of the conditions.  Much to my surprise all 11 children are listed with their residence at the time she died.

  That obituary was one of the 468 obituaries that we indexed, cut, filed and put into the 3 binders we put together.

  I asked Matthew today if he filled out the papers I sent with him, but he hadn't.  He is however coming back with his mom on Tuesday. 
    Sunday Elder Olson was asked to give a blessing to one of the member's mother who was having trouble with her eyes.  It turns out that she is Matthew's aunt.  She is his dad's sister.  I don't think things like this happen by coincidence.  We are going to have Matthew visit with her and add her husband, children, and grandchildren to the tree he has already started.

When you walk over and turn on the faucet and water comes out remember to offer a pray of thanks for how easy it was to do.

Elder & Sister Olson

Last of the Harvest at Red Lake

Top picture is George Lee's garden after he decided to burn off all the dead materials instead of tilling them into the ground.

Middle picture is Geraldine Maize with daughters harvesting the last of their potatoes.

Bottom picture is Anslom Maize tilling the part where they have extended their garden for next year.

Dear Family and Friends,

   WOW Thanksgiving will be here in four days.  We have cooked 10 turkeys in the last week, yes I said ten.  1st Ward had their Thanksgiving dinner on Wed night and then 2nd Ward had theirs on Friday.  Thursday night the Relief Society did a stuffing demo, which Sister Deaton taught.  She used wild rice and cranberries in hers and baked it in little cookie like mounds, so everyone could sample it.  That was a lot of fun and everybody enjoyed the fruits of her labor. ;o}

  Our 2^nd Ward Bishop’s wife was also going to do a demo, but their daughter is having her first baby any day now, so she went to be with her.  Their daughter and her husband live in Idaho Falls.  Bishop Kingsford will go up Wed and stay until Sunday.  Sister Kingsford will stay until Dec 21.  That way she can spend time with her daughter and new granddaughter.  Sounds good to me.

  This morning we drove 98 miles to speak at the Dennehotso Branch.  They have a beautiful new building and even though it is small they are growing and will probably outgrow it when everyone is attending on a regular basis.  The meeting went well and we enjoyed getting to know the Branch President, Brian Holiday and his counselor, Albert Tinhorn and the members. 

    It was the Branch President and his wife who adopted the baby not long after we came.  The social workers wanted them to meet in McDonald’s parking lot, but Sister Kirk said they weren’t coming to pick up a dog, and Sister Holiday said she was not going to tell their son that they got him at McDonalds.  It made us all laugh.  That little boy is now walking and getting into everything.

  President Holiday was talking about something in the Sunday School  lesson and he said that his dad did not like his name.  His name is Kee Happy Holiday.  He always got annoyed at this time of year because everyone was always saying his name.  President Holiday gave the Sunday School lesson on 3 Nephi  27.  He also shared a story about his mission and church names.  He served in Kentucky and there was a row of churches and one was named Ford Baptist.  A few blocks away there was Chevy Baptist.  The story he learned was that they had started out as one church, but disputes came over which was the better car, Ford or Chevy.  It became so heated that those who liked Chey’s  broke away and started their own church.  We had a great discussion on the name of our Church and whose church it really is.

   We shared dinner with Elder and Sister Chapman who will leave a few weeks before we do next spring.  They are really helping the branch out there and have shared a great many talents.  He loves rocks and has collected a great many of them.  They were beautiful laying there in front of their trailer.  He took a watering can and said this is what the people are really like and this is what the gospel does for them, then he sprayed water over the rocks.  The colors were absolutely amazing.

   He has also collected quite a few garnets that can be found not far from where their trailer is located at the chapel site.  He said some people find them as big as golf balls, but he has not as yet found any of the bigger ones.  I guess a lot of sisters go out and collect them where the Chapmans do.

  We drove home and visited the RS president who is in the hospital with pneumonia.  One of the members came in with the former Bishop and gave her a wonderful blessing.  The natives here often pause as they give blessings waiting for the Holy Ghost to direct their words.  It is a very humbling experience to be a part of that.

  We have Institute on Sunday evening and we were reading in Mosiah 4.  The people shared some really uplifting thoughts about the chapter.  It is so amazing to listen to what they have pondered and thought of when they study the scriptures.

  I may have mentioned the visit from Ranelle Wallace and Dr. Judith S. Moore.  I have found their books on line and I feel bad that I did not realize what great company had graced our home with their presence.  If you want to be uplifted I would encourage you to find their books on line and get them.

  Will close for now.  We hope you have a fun holiday and enjoy being with your family and friends.

Elder and Sister Olson

 

Harvesting Potatoes and Stake Conference

Dear Family and Friends,

  The top picture is only one of the amazing sunsets we get to see almost every night.  The second one is of the potatoes that Geraldine Maize and her kids harvested the last couple of weeks from their garden.  The last one is of Geraldine and the kids digging them out.  She and her kids loved their garden and they definitely showed  what can be done with hard work and faith.

  It has been a pretty amazing week with everything that went on this week.  It seems like we had something every night but Monday at the church.

     On Thursday we had what they called “Super Thursday” which started at 5:30.  Sister Goldtooth and Sister Butler had organized several activities, all of which were fun.  Sister Anderson showed the sisters how to make their own kites for their kids.  Several kids had come even though it was for the Relief Society sisters.  They jumped right in and made their own kites with Sister Anderson’s help. It was perfect.

    Sister Tunney showed the sisters how to make their own foot stools out of large juice cans.  It reminded me of the one Dale VanScyok, Elder Olson's aunt,  made us as a wedding present.  We still have that one and one she made for grandma, Marie.  Ours is 42+ years old.  The grandkids love them.

   At another table they had the sisters  put together a binder of recipes that they had collected this last year and organize them into a handy little cookbook.  I had organized mine just recently, so I just grabbed the cover page and now mine is all done.

  One of the biggest hits was the clear glass plate activity where the sisters were able to put their black and white photos on the back of the clear glass plate covering them with a mixture of Elmer’s glue and water.  It reminded me of the modge podge  they use to use for craft projects, which dried clear and protected your craft.  After the pictures dried they sprayed the back with black, silver, or gold which would show through on the front side.   She also brought the attachment they could use to hang them on the wall. 

  Some of the sister did not have family pictures with them, so we handed out pictures of their favorite temple and they put them in the center of the plate and put colored tissue paper around the outside.  They plan to hang them on their wall to remind them of their eternal family goals to honor their covenants, stay active or do what is necessary to get to the temple with their family.

    I helped with showing them two simple afghan patterns. I had shared the pattern with Sister Butler and she has made two since I showed her.  Several sisters learned how to start and make the two afghans, which they will be able to complete before Christmas and use for gifts for family members.

  The whole idea behind the activities was to share simple gift ideas that didn’t cost very much and that they could give to their family members without spending a lot of money.  The gifts are practical and easy to make.

  There were about 30 sisters involved and I think everyone is looking forward to the next activity which will be this next Thursday.

   Friday night we had an informal piano recital that Sister Anderson called Piano Play Time.  I have to admit that I thought I was over being terrified, but sadly my hands shook and I could not play my song very well at all.  I did not however run from the room screaming or crying, so I guess you could say that I am doing better.  ;o}  We have another Piano Play Time on Dec 7.  Hopefully I can redeem myself.

  Saturday we started the meetings for Stake Conference.  At the adult session, President Justice shared the pictures he had taken in Jerusalem and other places he visited during the last three weeks.  The pictures were amazing and when he showed the garden tomb you could feel what he felt when he was actually there.

  Today we had our meeting over satellite broadcast.  All 95 stakes in Arizona took part wherever they were.  Gary E Stevenson, Cheryl Esplain, Jeffery R Holland, and President Eyring all spoke.  President Eyring did not mince words about being prepared, but also said we should be wise optimists, in these latter days.  He used quotes from 3 Nephi about how all the children should be prepared and that the Savior would come to people who should be prepared.

  He encouraged us to be more bold as we proclaim the gospel and that we should expect peaks and valleys, work for improvement and remember the promised blessings that are contained in the scriptures.  He reminded us not to be discouraged, or be tempted to quit.   I have to admit when I look at all there is to do some days, I do get a little overwhelmed, but remembering his counsel will sure help.

   After conference, we had Lee, Avy and two of their grandsons over for dinner.  The young elders from Cameron also stopped in and we had a great time.  Elder Olson had cooked meat in the dutch oven and Avy helped make the fry bread.  The two little boys had a picnic on the kitchen floor, but I let the elders sit in the living room, since they gave their word of honor that they would not spill.

  You have to remember that our  apt is very small and the kitchen table only seats four people and we had 8.  No one seemed to mind and the elders said they would come back anytime we invited them. ;o}

  Tonight Sister Norris and I worked on the Crownpoint obituary collection that we have complied.  We finished the second binder and only have one more to go.  We are going over each record to double and check and make sure every entry was accurate.  I think binder two took about two hours.

  We are also working on the cemetery records for Dennehotso.  We are half way done.  The Chapmans brought by the second half of the names on the tombstones, which I will start entering this week. 

  A Sister Sharp is planning a trip to Phoenix for Thanksgiving.  She works in the church acquisitions dept in SLC and will look over what we have been doing and see if we can preserve it under special collections.  We keep busy that’s for sure, and from listening to President Eyring we are going to get even busier, as saints everywhere continue to move forward in the great work we are involved in throughout the world.

  As the holidays approach it looks as if we will meet with the missionaries and the young elders from Cameron for the holiday dinners.  It should be a lot of fun and help everyone not miss their families quite as much.  I know the young elders had a good time this afternoon and I suspect it was one of the better meals that they’ve had for a long time, at least they said it was. 

  It is getting late and I have much to do.  We miss you all and hope to hear from you during the holidays.

Elder and Sister Olson

PS Hope I caught all the typos, but if not it will give you something to do. ;o}

Trips to Utah, Maryland and Wyoming

Dear Family and Friends,
  Just looked at the date of the last posting, guess it's been a long time since I posted anything.  Guess I have been getting lazy.  It just seems like the days are fairly routine and things are rather quiet, but I am not complaining.
  We did have a lot of excitement and fun in Sep.   We drove to Shelaine's on Thursday Sep. 6 and enjoyed a couple of days of relaxing between projects.  On Sunday we drove to John's new home in Lake Point and I was able to visit his classroom on Monday.  I was also able to eat breakfast at school with Shandon, who is quite the little charmer. 
 On Tues. Jamie drove us to the airport which is only 20 mins from their house.  We flew to Maryland and hid out the next morning so we could surprise Madelyn and Carter when they got off the bus.  That was really fun.  Carter and Grandpa walked from the bus stop to their house while I rode with Daryl, Liz, and Madelyn.
  We had a great time doing different projects.  Ronnie helped Daryl build a new ramp to his shed. He also weeded a flower bed and took out a tree.  Over the weekend we visited Brandywine Park where we watched a re -enactment of a battle that took place around 1777 between the British and the Americans.  It was very interesting and a lot of fun.  We all learned a lot about how it really was for the people back then.
  We had a great time with the kids and it is hard not to miss them, but we did get lots of pictures.
  We flew back on Tues and stayed with Shelaine until Saturday morning, then drove up to Star Valley and did numerous projects there.  I told RaDawn that now we will take trips based on who has the most interesting projects to tackle.  We both like to be useful and helpful, but a few days of laying around looking like grandparents who are aging isn't that bad either. ;o}
  We waited until the 2nd of Oct to head back, because we brought a load of peaches with us for the ward members and others who love peaches.
  The Provident Living Committee has something going all the time.  The pickling party was a huge success and this week they did a pie making demo.  Each sister made their own pie crust and filled it with peaches.  Then they took it home to bake.  Can't say no to that kind of offer.
  They bottled the first load of peaches while were traveling.  They were here at the church all day and one of the members ended up bottling 96 quarts with her sisters and mother.  She is an amazing young woman  and we hope she will head up the Gardening Committe next year.  She is the Natural Resource Agent for the BIA here in Tuba.
  The Gardening Program has had a very positive influence on the people involved.  We are able to get into homes and share the gospel while we work along side the people.  It is pretty awesome really.  We had 59 new gardners this year and almost all of them had a great harvest this fall.  About 3 had problems and weren't able to follow through, but hopefully will be able to do so next year.
  We have 506 gardens in the Stake and 173 are between Red Lake and Tuba, so it keeps us busy.  Ronnie works with the gardners and I work in the Family History Center.  Last year I was able to go with him more because we had a couple that just worked in the Family History Center. We were able to index 468 obiutaries from the Crownpoint area.  An older sister had collected obits from 2001 until 2012 and she shared them with the couple serving there.  They in turn zeroxed all of them and mailed them to us.  It took several weeks, but the majority of the work is done.  We put one obit on every page and then alphabetized them.  We ended up with 3 binders.  We included surname, given name, birth and death dates and places, parents, spouse if listed and clan names, which is very important to the Navajo People.
  We did have 2 other couples to help with gardening and one of the sisters helped for 2 hours in the family history center.  Now we just have the couple that teaches Seminary and us. 
  The Andersons are from Montana.  They are wonderful neighbors, very quiet and unassuming.  Ronnie enjoys working with Elder Anderson who is quiet, soft spoken, and has a great work ethic.  He is the one who will take care of the two RV's that are parked here.  Fortunately, they have lived in trailers and know how to care for them.
  Our Stake President has been in Israel the last couple of weeks and will be returning this Friday.  We have stake conference next weekend.  He took his wife, one of his sons, and a daughter-in-law.  I guess it is a tradition in their family.  They also take young men who are preparing for missions, back to the church historical sites before they leave on their missions.  They have some pretty great traditions.
  We have about 14 new participants signed up for next year.  They will till in a new product called Humate with manure and fertilizer this fall, so the ground will be much better for next spring when they plant.  They are excited to have what they have seen others have.
  The Halloween Party was great.  We had a lot turn out for the Chili Cook Off, carnival and trunk-or-treat.  
  They will be doing a Thanksgiving dinner in each ward, so I get to cook two turkeys. one Wed and one Thursday.  Each ward will cook 6 turkeys and the members will bring side dishes.  They love food get-togethers, and so do I.  They are great cooks.
  The picture says a lot about how excited they get when they get to go to the garden and pick something to eat.  I am going to try and put some other pictures up, but I still have my challenges doing that with any degree of success.
   We are without young elders in Tuba, but we were told that after President Monson's announcement the applications went from 700 a week to 4,000 a week.  Pretty amazing.  A lot of elders left our mission at the same time, but it sounds like we will be getting a lot soon.
  I hope you will read Ether 2:12 and then get out and vote.
Love,
Elder & Sister Olson
 
 
 

First Rug Finished

Dear Family and Friends,
  As you can see I finished my first rug.  The lady is Gloria Babbitt, my good friend.  She came over Friday with her daughter Mary.  She helped me finish.  She doesn't speak much English and I speak even less Navajo, but together we figured things out.  She would do some and then say, "You, turn"  She watched me like a hawk and is an excellent teacher.  She let me take it out a few times when I made a mistake, but the great part was that I could tell I had made a mistake, so I must be learning, right?
  Sister Goldtooth's husband made me another loom which is bigger and he also made the Right Tools to go with the loom.  They called it a starter kit.  I already had a few things, but now I will have more of a selection of different sizes to use, depending on the size of the rug.
  I had many people comment on what I was doing when they came by the apt for things.  Everyone had advice, which was great because everyone did things just a little differently which gave me a bigger source of techniques to use.  Most people were just astounded that I was even doing it.  I think they were pleased that I would do it.  The pattern is simple.  Sister Goldtooth said I should have it appraised, but I told her I was framing it, not selling it. ;o}
The people here are really quite amazing in their ability to use whatever is available to fix whatever needs fixing.  In Star Valley people  always twine or duct tape.  Out here is it  inner tubes and baling wire. 
  The looms here come in every shape and design.  I saw Sister Begay use 4 x 4's and sit inside the loom which was up on cinder blocks to start the warp.  When it got to tight she took the little chair she was sitting on and put it on the outside of the loom frame.  I guess technically it wasn't a frame, because you put the warp on dowels first, weaving yarn along both the top and bottom, then take it off and put it on the loom where you do the weaving.  It takes a very long time to set it up, or at least it was long for me because I had no idea what I was doing.
  The whole process has to be done in just the right way, which I goofed up on one warp wrap, but they are also masters at fixing the mistakes.  Hopefully I will be able to do that after I have done a few rugs.  I am trying to take advantage of their expertise while they are only a few miles away.  I want to put another one on soon and write down each step, taking pictures also.  Hopefully between the written directions and the pictures I will be able to do it when I get back home.
  I think we are up to about 14 people who want gardens for next year and are already planning to till in the fertilizer and manure, which means it will have time to mellow over the winter, which is a good thing.
  A lot of the people want their aunties or cousins, or mothers to have their own gardens next year and they say they will help them, which is exactly what we hope for. 
  We have had a few people come into the history center and find their ancestors on the Indian Census Records, which is so fun.
  The Elders are teaching a young man and I was able to find some records on his father and grandfather which they took with them and he was pretty excited.
  First Ward seems to be growing, I think there were about 35 people in Sunday School this morning.  Second Ward is smaller, but it was fun to see everyone commenting and reading scriptures out loud.
  Evan and Diane were at a baptism of one of our member's son in Mesa and that family was visiting today. It is fun to see what a small world it is in the church.
  I hope all of you are reading each week's assignment and go to class prepared to share insights.  The teachers spend a lot of time preparing and it goes so much better when class members comment and participate in the lessons.
  Testimony meetings here are always amazing.  The spirit is so strong.  We have a couple of missionaries out and some preparing to go.
  One of our gardening couples will leave at the end of the month and the others will leave at the end of October.  Then it will be the Andersons, who teach Seminary and the Olsons.  Each couple brings their own expertise and it is fun to see relationships develop.  It is always a little heartbreaking to see them leave.
  We love our mission, what more can I say.
Elder & Sister Olson
 

Jet Pilot and Sister Olson

Dear Family and Friends,
  What a great day we had today.  Since Elder Olson is on the high council we are able to visit the other wards and branches in our Stake.  Today we drove to Polacca to speak.  Polacca is 72 miles from Tuba City and also in another time zone, which drives me a little crazy trying to keep the times straight. 
  I had been asked to give the Relief Society lesson in the Tuba City 2nd Ward which I was happy to do.  Being slightly confused about the timing we drove to Polacca and arrived an hour and a half before sacrament, which wasn't too bad, but then I realized that their sacrament started at 10:00 which was 11:00 Tuba City time and meant we had a hour to drive 72 miles back to Tuba, if we stopped speaking right at 11:00 their time and 12:00 our time. 
  President Funk was wonderful and said it would be great if we left right at 11:00 their time 12:00 our time.  I guess you get the picture. Elder Olson has a new nickname which is Jet Pilot. ;o} 
 The counselor conducting was unaware of our dilemma and since one of the young elders was being transferred later this week,  he asked him to come up and take a few mins., but they did not have any ward or stake business, so it worked out. We were also doing the two talks, and Elder Olson said he only needed 5 mins., but I made sure he had 15.  After living with him for 42 years you start to know him really well, especially if he is speaking to Lamanites.  He did have to watch the clock, which he did and wrapped it up with a minute to spare. 
  He talked about the people that he knew out there while he served as a young elder, which everyone loved and then he talked about rescuing those that are lost.  It was a great talk and people laughed and cried.
  We pretty much flew below the radar getting back, but Sister Goldtooth was having the new people introduce themselves and then made some announcements, so I had several minutes to spare.  It was lesson 17 "The Strengthening Power of Faith"  The introductory summary is awesome: "Faith is a gift from the Lord through which the righteous are empowered to do remarkable things"  That is a great thought to ponder. 
  As I introduced the lesson I said Sister Littlefield had great faith, she prayed I would get there on time and we did, otherwise she would have been giving the lesson, everybody laughted.
  After the lesson I managed to get a 30 min nap then headed over to the Family History Center.  Sister Norris is an amazing woman and loves to do family history.  I feel it is a privelege to work with her and her faith strengthens mine.  We have had some amazing adventures together in gathering names.  We are working on a file of Tuba City birth records.  I calculate that there will be close to 2,000 names.  It will take a while, but what a great data resource when it is finished.
  After I came back to the apt.  Elder Olson said Gloria and Mary were coming over to visit.  Tomorrow Gloria is going to help me with my rug.  You can see that it is coming along nicely.  I want to better understand how to put the warp onto the loom.  She is also going to show me how to fix one of the mistakes I have in it.
 It was a great Sabbath day and I look forward to tomorrow. We love hearing from you, it makes us feel loved and special, hint, hint.
Love,
Jet Pilot and Sister Olson
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Pickling Party

Dear Family and Friends,

This is a report that I wrote up for President Justice.  I thought it would be fun for you to hear about what we did this last week. 

In correlation with the Navajo and Hopi Gardening and Self-Reliance Project of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in the Tuba City, Arizona Stake it was decided by the Relief Society Provident Living Committee  to provide classes that would teach the participants how to preserve what they have been growing.

On Thursday Aug. 9, 2012 the Tuba City 1st and 2^nd Ward held a “Pickling Party”.  The sisters from both wards, all the gardening participants, including interested neighbors, were invited.

Many of the participants are friends of other faiths and it was exciting to see barriers broken and sisters, side by side helping each other.  It was an ideal opportunity to visit and freely share the abundance of cucumbers and friendships that were harvested and preserved that evening. 

It was great to ease drop on all the conversations that were going on and all the ideas that were being eagerly shared.  Barriers were broken and friendships germinated.

Each sister was involved, cutting, slicing and dicing what they brought, freely sharing with others who had not had as many to pick and bring. Recipes were followed and each step done before the next step so everyone would be successful and take home some of that success in bottles and hearts.

It is impossible to put into words the feelings that were expressed and what was felt in those few hours we shared together as daughters of our Heavenly Father.  Several came that had never set foot inside a “Mormon” church.  Fears were soon abandoned and replaced with knowledge, laughter and giggles as we sliced and diced, measured, poured and stirred.  Each sister was able to pickle her own cucumbers.  Jars were labeled, put into the canner, timed and then set out to cool.  The “canning time” allowed the sisters to just sit and visit with each other. 

The RS president in charge mentioned that we will be getting peaches in the next little while and they were encouraged to buy bottles, sugar and other things that they will need to preserve them.  During the next few weeks, more classes will be offered.  On the agenda is bottling peaches, making salsa, preserving pole beans, and several other classes on preserving what is growing in the gardens.

Several of those attending came from Tonalea.  One group came from Black Mesa.  They live 13 miles off road, but it takes an hour to drive that 13 miles.  Three sisters car pooled and took home 4 gallons of “Ice Cream Bucket Pickles.”

President Larry Justice came by to see how things were going and brought a basketball size cabbage, and an onion the size of a grapefruit that had been grown in the Winslow Stake.  Brother Max Gardner is overseeing the Gardening Project in that Stake.  He says he will be glad to share the seeds.

The Navajo and Hopi Gardening Self- Reliance Project was divinely inspired and as President Utchdorf stated in his April Conference address, we have the programs in place, but each geographical area will be uniquely different and as we ask, the Lord will provide inspiration and guidance in how we will help the people become more self-reliant.   

The gardening project has provided a perfect setting for members and missionaries to share their knowledge not just of gardening, but of their testimony of the gospel and friendship future members before baptism, helping to increase retention after baptism.

Positive Side Effects seen:

                Sometimes families and communities are split into factions and families can be torn apart during times of trial, but through promptings of the Holy Ghost and people working together on a common goal members and communities can find their way to reunite and work side by side to heal wounds that have been cause by careless words that have been thoughtlessly said.

An hour before the meeting a young woman called and said that one of the participants had told her about the “party” and asked if it would be OK if she came. The answer was, “Absolutley!”

 It was later shared that this young woman  was adjusting to life on the “rez,” and that she was overwhelmed with feelings of being isolated and alone.  Watching her reach out and enjoy the company of other sisters was very touching  and she left with a smile and the knowledge that we are there and we care.

                One of the sisters of another faith is interviewing some of our participants for an article she is writing for the Navajo Times.  She has had an amazing garden and is encouraging her neighbors to do likewise.

One sister asked that we locate her church records.  She remembers the names of the missionaries who taught he,r and where she was baptized, but has forgotten the date of her baptism.

Two of the people who came want to be included on next year’s list and they will have the advantage of knowing others who have had gardens and been successful.  Mentoring was a natural side effect of the activity.  No one had to be assigned or asked, no new program implemented, it just happened as a result of following leaders who are inspired for what will work for their unique circumstances and situation.

 Elder and Sister Olson

BIke Rodeo Navajo Style 9 Jun 2012

Dear  Family and Friends,

  Today was one of those unique days when you think you may have been listening to the spirit and you weren’t afraid to speak up.

  This morning we had the “Bike Rodeo” which is something Bishop Alexander loves to do each year.  Last year not one child showed up which had to be discouraging, but not so much that he didn’t announce and plan it for this year, showing up early and setting things up, long before the first child arrived.  We had 5 show up in all sizes, both of participants and of  bikes. 

  They started out by riding the course several times for practice, so they could get the lay out fixed in their minds.  Bishop Alexander and Sister Allen had come early and marked out a course with arrows and cones, so it was pretty easy to walk the route, then ride it a few times before they had to do it for real.

  Keep in mind that these kids are pretty “green” when it comes to riding their bikes and the blowing sand tends to get into the moving parts of the bikes making it a little more challenging to ride them. Today we lucked out and the wind didn’t start blowing until after the rodeo, so that was pretty great.

  The “timed” course was pretty fun and there were several do-overs for most of the participants, SO everyone laughed and had a lot of fun.

  The most challenging event  came when they had to ride between two lines, which started out at about 18” apart, but narrowed each time they  changed lanes.  The last one was probably 6 inches apart.  Now you have to keep in mind that these little people struggle to stay balanced and now they had to ride between narrow lined lanes.  One little girl named Autumn, was really struggling and could not stay on course.  She kept looking down and could not drive straight or stay balanced.  Her folks wanted her to be successful but it just wasn’t happening.

 Finally I walked over and said to the parents, tell her to ride to you, not look down, but look at your face and listen to your voice cheering her on.  Mom went to the start line and dad stayed at the finish line. Once she stayed focused on his face and listened to his voice she was able to make it with very little problems staying inside the lines.  Hurray for Autumn, she won the battle.

 

 27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good ^acheer; it is I; be not afraid.

 28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.

 29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

 30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was ^aafraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

 31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little ^afaith, wherefore didst thou ^bdoubt?

Matt 14:29-31

Are we not the same?  When we are distracted by the “waves and noise” and fail to look up, we have a tough time staying on course, but when we look up and listen to the “still small voice” we can stay on course.  How often we forget who and what is at the end of the course.  He wants us to succeed, to stay within the lines which have been clearly marked, and when the way gets tough, keep looking up and listening to the voice that is cheering us on.

  I pray that we can remember Autumn and more importantly remember Him.

Elder & Sister Olson

I think the smile says it all.

Puppy Pile

Dear Family and Friends,
  I would like to call this the puppy pile.  Sure hope there is enough to go around ;o}  It is the season for puppy herds to appear everywhere.  You don't see a lot of kittens or cats.  The natives tell me the owls like them too much, but I have to admit I have never seen an owl.
  This Thursday we will be going to Durango for another post surgery check up.  I am not sure that Elder Olson can honestly tell any big difference, but he is hopeful that the Physical Therapy which he started will help.  He is pretty good about doing the exercises that will help strengthen his core muscles.
  Yesterday the young Elders baptized a young girl and she was confirmed today.  They have actually had several baptisms since we've been here and it so exciting to see people finding the gospel and moving forward.
  Yesterday was Stake Temple Day and the members in Kayenta were able to do 100 sealings.  We stayed in Tuba because Tad R Callister of the Seven Presidents of Seventy came to visit with 2 other men from Salt Lake.  One was Brother Brenn and the other Brother Bazier who will be taking the place of Dale Tingey who heads the American Indian Service, which provides scholarships for native American young people.  I think they said they gave out around 2,000 scholarships last year. 
  One of the comments made during the meeting was one of those one liners that I love to remember.  It went something like this "I have never heard of competition or comparsion as an essential principle of the gospel."  He also added that he wasn't sure that there would be football in heaven, but he was hoping the BYU team would be playing.  It was funny and made us all laugh, because he hoped other teams might not be there.
  The day time temperatures are really getting up there and if you go out at first light and work until about 7:30 or 8:00 you don't melt.  Then you work inside and come out in the late afternoon when the sun is going down.  The sunsets are amazing.
  I managed to make a fast trip to Utah and was able to spend the night.  I arrived at 12:00 A.M. Tues and left at 12:15 A.M. Wed.  Shelaine made every minute count, so we got a lot done.  It was great to see J'Lene and visit.  Also got to see Landy doing part of her routine at Karate.  The kids have grown so much, I am afraid to see the others.  I am sure they have grown a lot also.  I cried when I left and I cried when I saw all the little "Murphies" running around at church and at the Pizza Edge.  Makes me miss you all so much.
  I guess John and Jamie have moved into their new house in Lake Point and Shelaine and Derek will be moving in officially in a few weeks.  We are getting excited about coming up for the reunion...We hope to see everyone that comes up and catch up on things.
  The new gardners have jumped into the project and have things growing.  People have already started to eat the radishes.  I think their favorites are squash and Jalepeno Peppers.  My favorite is watermelon.
  We have around 50 that signed up but we have had a few drop out.  We picked up another participant today however, so the number flucuate a lot right up to the end of June.
  The ones that touch my heart the most are the single mothers who ask for the materials, but are willing to do all the work along side of their kids.  They don't expect handouts and are willing to work as hard as any man might do, so they can provide for their kids. 
  The piano playing is coming along, "playing" being the operative word.  We are suppose to have a paino recital on 22 Jun.  I may even do it without freaking out. lol
  The indexing of the materials that have been donated is a daily challenge, but each name recorded is another name to be found and sealed together for time and eternity.  I never cease to be amazed at how the Lord orchestrates the "record finding process" for the people here.  Each family has a unique story that develops and you get to witness the miracles that take place as they seek to find their kindred dead. It is fun to hear the stories about the dreams they have and where they lead them. 
  Elder Olson continues to do everything he can to make their gardens successful and I am confident that there are many unseen hands working along side of them in the gardens.  You watch lives change and confidence grow as they have success in making the desert blossom. 
Elder & Sister Olson