Young Men and the Family History Center

 We had 7 YM come in tonight and get a lot of names on their family trees.  We printed their pedigree chart and they are suppose to fill in the blanks and come back next week and add the info.  Almost all of them were able to open accounts on Family Tree.  Bro. Allen had all their information so they could do so

Sister  Norris and I kept pretty busy.  It was kinda fun to watch and listen when they had to call home to ask their moms what their grandparents real names were.  Most of them spoke very softly. .  It was pretty awesome.  We invited them to come back anytime.

Sister Olson

Weaving Again

This said Draft, so not sure it was published

Dear Family and Friends,
  I managed to get the picture I wanted at the top and centered too, guess miracles never cease.

    It has been another busy week, but I managed to squeeze in some time for weaving as you can see. The pattern is simple, like me, but I am thinking that I could actually put the warp on the loom and weave now.  The next big step is to make sure that I can finish it the right way.  When you are fairly close to the top, you actually go to the top and come down, while still going up from the bottom, so that you do not finish right at the very top of the rug.  You actually finish about 4 or 5" from the top.  I have done it with lots of help, but want to do this one with someone just watching and directing.

  Tomorrow we have our monthly missionary meeting which may be fairly short, since the Stake President has to be in Flagstaff for meetings.  It is always fun to see the other couples and hear about what is happening in their units.

  I suspect the majority of you are doing the count down for school to begin. ;o}  The kids here have already started.  Seminary started Wed and our Seminary teacher won't actually be here until mid Sep.,  so President Justice has started the year off with the kids.  I think it will be difficult for him to turn them over when the Walkers get here.

   To Uncle LaVar a special thanks.  Elder Ronnie cut some grease wood sticks for me a couple of days ago to use while weaving.  He had whacked off the branches, but hadn't shaved off the bark.  I explained that it had to be done while they are green.  He picked them up and hustled out the door.  It was getting pretty late and I was feeling a little bad that he might have to get new ones another day,  but it wasn't very long and in he came with the sticks all shaved.  ;o}  I asked how in the world he had done it so fast.  He explained that his big brother LaVar, has used broken glass to smooth the arrows he made when he was a kid.  Elder O found a broken bottle and made quick work of getting the sticks shaved.
  We then tied them tightly to a dowel with yarn.  You leave them that way for 10 days, that way they stay very straight until they are completely dried and ready to smooth with sand paper.

  Those are the sticks you wrap your yarn around and slide through the warp as you weave.  I found that if  I take off about 6 yards of wool and wrap it around the stick, I can use about the same amount of yarn for each section on the rug.  The bigger sections are made with 18 yards and the smaller ones with just a couple of lines, rather than yards.

  Sister Goldtooth taught me how to make a pattern that looks like small beads or dots.  You only do one line of wool surrounding it on both sides with a stronger contrasting color.  I don't think you can see it on the picture, but it stands out very well on the rug itself.

  I have another smaller rug started also on the smaller loom.  The pattern is much more detailed and will take a bit longer even though it is smaller.  I actually started before we went home, but have to go through the steps again to figure out what I was doing to make the pattern.  The Navajo sisters do not use patterns, they can just see it in their head and it somehow comes out on the loom.

  Some rugs sell for several thousand dollars, but I can assure you that they give their labor away, while the dealer makes a huge profit.  Makes me sort of mad.  They buy it for $1,000 and sell it for $10,000  it should be the other way round.

  We had another baptism yesterday.  She is an amazing young girl of 17.  What a beautiful young girl she is.  It has been fun to get to know her.  She has been a good friend of our Stake President's two youngest sons.  Joseph got to baptize her.  Jared Justice, his brother, has been out on his mission for 6 months now, which is hard to believe.

  Elder O is at a high councilmen meeting.  We speak in Cameron next Sunday.  Each month we will go to a different ward or branch in the Stake.

  Hope all is well for all of you.
Elder & Sister Olson

Baptisms and Primary

Dear Family and Friends,

  This week was busier than most.  We had a baptism on Friday and another on Saturday.  On Friday the Elders were in Chinle and asked that I turn the water on and fill the font.  The previous Elders it usually took 45 mins, SO I started it in good time and decided to check it at 30 mins.  It was about 4" from flooding over.  When the father of the young man being baptized came, we both thought it might be bit too full, SO he pulled the plug just a little.  WELL, when we opened the font doors, the font was empty.  Everyone patiently, for the most part, sat and waited.  The Bishop asked the Primary President to bear her testimony AND THEN he asked me to share my conversion story.  I told them that Elder Olson could follow me and correct any details than were exactly correct according to his memory. ;O}  Unfortunately we did not have time for Elder Olson.
  We had the second baptism on Saturday at 2 and I was asked to give the talk on Baptism, which I was happy to do.  Afterwards we went to their house for dinner, which was very nice.  It was a great way to spend a Friday and Saturday.

This is a picture of a young married couple who could see the vision of what a garden could do for them and their family.  Both of them, plus a friend rolled up their sleeves and made it happen.  The picture above is the young couple helping put in a garden for Grandma.  Both gardens are showing green already.

The picture above is what your car will look like when you hit a horse.  The people in the car were very blessed, but the horse did not fair quite as well.  I know the Lord's tender mercies were with out good friends.

  Last night after we were in bed, we had a late night guest, who kept insisting that I give him blankets and a place to sleep.  We had a break in last weekend, which continues to make me just a little uneasy.   When he asked for a sleeping bag I explained that I gave one to the last guy who promised to return it, but did not, SO I did not have one for him.  SO I offered to call the police for him and he decided he would look elsewhere. 

 I think Elder Olson should answer the door next time, but maybe not, because he might give them the blankets on our bed.  But, maybe I should reread the story about going the extra mile and giving him my cloak also and repent.

  Today I was asked to teach primary in both wards.  I had flash backs of being back in school.  One little Munchkin, age 3, was left in my care.  It was his first time coming to Primary.  What a wonderful little boy.  The 1st Ward had 30 kids come today.  Sister A does an amazing job of being positive and noticing good behavior.  There were no teachers who showed up. ;o{, but she "rolled with the punches."  I could not begin to explain how much admiration I have for Sister A.

There was a Provident Living Meeting at 2 right after RS for 1st Ward. That meeting went until 3:30.  Dinner for the young Elders at 4 and Family History until 7.  We had 6 people in there for a while.  It was so fun.  With Ancestral Quest, Roots Magic, PAF, and Family Tree, I am learning more and more about what I don't know, but usually I can figure it out.  Sister Norris is amazing, she knows so much.

  I am actually very tired but I don't know why, lol.

I have more I want to share, but I think I will save it for another day.

Love,

Sister Olson

Some of the rewards

                                                   Some pictures just say it all.

All you can Eat Chipmunk Buffet Place: Babbitt's Cornfield

I thought I would share a couple of  the pictures Elder Olson took today. 

 You might be amused to know that he is AKA Eldon Olson, Pastor Olson, and  "Olson" which is the most common.  

The first picture appears to be footprints, but it is actually the holes made by the "use to be skinny" chipmunk who is now the "almost to fat" chipmunk who just barely squeezed through the fence as Elder Olson came through the gate.  He has discovered that Elder Olson leaves him food, but he buries it first , so he has to dig for his dinner.  

  The Babbitt cornfield is a regular Garden of Eden this year and the furrows continue to work well when they have a heavy rainfall.

The other pic is of the beautiful sunset, always a great way to end the day.

Sister Olson

Trujillio, Whitehair, & McIntosh Good Navajo Names

These are some fun pictures of two first year gardeners.  The first is Evvy Trujillio and her daughters who planted for the first time.  They did an amazing job, and worked together faithfully to raise what you see.

The younger couple is  going to get a garden in 2014, but they are preparing already.  Elder Olson will help them get things going tomorrow.  Tate and Nellie are very excited and said they would be glad to help someone next year get theirs started.  They are going to plant a few "cool weather things" after their soil is prepped.  It was fun to watch and listen as they were planning where they would plant theirs.

 More and more participants are wanting to help mentor in their neighborhoods.

The older woman is a first year gardener also and the younger couple are related.  They have already benefited from her garden.

Not sure you can see the handful of grapes the little boy has clutched in his hand.  All of them were excited to see our grapes and sample the harvest.  It is so fun to share.

They were introduced to the young Elders who happened to drive into the parking lot as we visited.  It was a great way to introduce them to each other.

We may be planting seeds in the gardens that will grow into things they can eat, but we are also planting spiritual seeds that  will grow into testimonies and feed them forever as they learn, accept and live the gospel principles.

You would think that after all this time, I would be able to download the pictures right, but they always end up being switched, but I know you will figure things out.

Sister Olson

Bekis Gardens in Dennebeto Aug 2013

"It's easy to become discouraged when we try to chart progress form our mortal perspective.  It's easy to become discouraged with visiting teaching if we don''t see results, if we don't feel friendships forming, if we don't think our efforts are appreciated or even wanted, and if we sometimes feel annoyed at the inconvenience.  It's easy to feel that we have no effect at all.  Yet for most intents and purposes, the gospel 'distills' on us in nearly indiscernible increments through our monthly visits to each other, our weekly contacts at church, and our daily prayers on behalf of each other.  Few perspective have been more helpful to me than to remember that the Lord;s love 'distills' upon us as manna, and that manna comes daily.

  ...Our growth is small, sometimes indiscernible-but our potential for growth is great."

Lynn Jaynes

If we would think about our efforts to help people become more self reliant as they learn about the gardening program and watch them and their gardens grow, perhaps we could rely more on the Lord's time table.  Each seed takes time to grow with water, all the other things we add and sunlight.  So it is with our testimonies.  Conversion is a process and the Lord is in charge of when that will happen.  So let us simply rejoice that we can be a part of that process.  Be patient and remember,'...by small and simple things are great things brought to pass"

I posted these pictures on FaceBook  but thought it would be good to post them on here, so I have a better record. 

Elder Olson drives 50 + miles one way to reach this family... They are in the nethermost part of the vineyard, but the pictures say it all.

Elder & Sister Olson

FHC 1 Aug 2013 Amazing Day

I would love to be able to capture the feelings  we had in the Family History Center on Thursday, but I  am not sure that words would be able to do justice to what we felt.

The day started out fairly quiet.  J had been watching Sister B’s 4 small children so mom could enjoy doing a 30 min workout with 3 other sisters.  While waiting for Sister B to take care of some last minute things before going home, J came into the FHC.

 J has faithfully put together a binder with her family information all sorted and organized.  She has even designed a beautiful cover sheet making it stand out among the other binders she has.

I was teasing her just a bit and said she should come into the center in the afternoon and bring her binder, so we could work on her family tree.  Just about the same time Sister B came and said it was time to go.  I told J I would  pick her up.

I went over just before 2 and rang the doorbell.  J didn’t come to the door, but as I got back into the truck thinking she might have forgotten, she opened the door and yelled, “I ‘m ready!”

In the short two and half hours  we spent in the FHC we found 9 different census records verifying  names and dates, surnames and ages.  We calculated some dates by subtracting their age at the time the census was taken, giving us a good “Birth About” year.

Another patron Brother M has spent hours in the FHC the last few weeks.  As we went over the information he added things like, “Oh he was known by Manyhorses and Walters, but his birth name was Etsity.  He explained why and the records we found verified what he had spoken as he quietly continued to work on his own computer screen.

Brother M has an amazing ability to understand relationships among the Navajo people, their clans, their individual families, wives, children etc. and how they are all connected.  He knows where to look and what to look for as people search for their kindred dead.  He speaks softly and patiently answers questions for everyone who comes in to do work, explaining the various connections that  he knows so well.

We were very excited because it seemed like we were finding something on every screen we opened. We had found several census records for several years and Brother M quietly suggested we might want to look at the 1920  Census.

I thought we were going to the right place but discovered we had ended up at the end of a census record where they had recorded the deaths that had occurred during the year.  Ending up on this page by mistake we discovered the actual death date for her gr grandfather and the death date for his mother-in-law verifying his wife’s maiden name which we had not known for sure.  J had recorded it, but had not been positive.  It was like taking a wrong turn and ending up exactly where you needed to be to find what you needed to find.  I have a strong testimony that the Lord orchestrates our days and directs us to where we need to be in order to find what we need to find.

I told J that numerous angels had surrounded her there and that I hoped she would return often and bring her unseen guardians.   J ended up going back 5 generations and plans to come in again soon.

There is no doubt in my mind that those that were found were there to help us and guide us and we recorded the information that will allow J to do the Temple work.