9 April 2011

Ya at eeh, Today is our anniversary. We've been here one month. It has gone by fast. Yesterday we had to drive to Monticello, UT to pick up more tubing and other supplies. We are learning how to pull a trailer with different loads depending on where we go and what we need, which changes from day to day. Elder Olson is learning a lot about this part of the state and how good the roads are. Most of the roads are really good. The dirt roads are BAD. On the way to Blanding we were able to stop and see Elder Brian Stubbs and his wife Silvia. Elder Stubbs was the young missionary who baptized me. It was great to get reacquainted. She retired last year, but he is still teaching at the college there. The campus is small and very beautiful and has become an extension for Utah State. They have 15 faculty members and about 800 students. We drove through Monument Valley on the way home, but the wind was blowing and the dust was pretty bad, so we are going to try and go again before we leave so we can get pictures. I tried, but it looks like we were taking them in the fog. Elder Olson left this morning with a young couple who live at Inscription House which is technically in the Page Stake, but Mike teaches at the High School here. He teaches Special Ed so there was an immediate bond to him and his wife. They are excited to get their garden in. I suspect that Elder Olson stayed to work by his side. He left around 8 am and it's 6 pm now. It snowed last night and there is a very cold wind blowing. hopefully they are wearing their coats. ;O] I stayed to check out tillers and visit with the Seeleys about the Tuesday tubing party. We will be packaging 500 Ziplocs with the pieces they will need to go with the tubing. Some of the tubing is solid and some of the tubing has emitters. The two types have to be put together in a certain way so that the garden is watered with minimal water. They are using this system in other places around the world with great success. The seeds are planted next to the emitters and you have to plant a specific number of seeds and a certain distance apart. The number depends on what seeds you are planting. This whole operation is amazing. We are getting to know Lee and Avy Nez a wonderful couple who are helping make our job a whole lot easier. Brother Nez welds and put a hard bead on the edge of the tines for the tiller. We discovered afterward that the company had sent the wrong tines, but Elder Seeley says he is sending them back because they made the mistake not us. Sister Nez knew we were doing the seed sorting, so she brought over a huge pot of meat and beans and a huge Ziploc with fry bread dough. We got the lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese and then made Navajo tacos for all the missionaries and a few members before the "seed sorting" started. Sister Seeley has all the seeds sorted into various sized totes. Each has a label on the big tote and small labels which go into small ziplocs along with the seeds. There were 24 seed totes. People sat by the totes, one would put in the label of what kind of seed it was. Someone else would put the seeds in and then seal it tight and put it into another tote. She had measuring spoons at every station. Some had teaspoons and others tablespoons. Other people would take 2 gallon Ziplocs around and put a seed pkg in each. We did the assembly line approach and were done in about an hour, which I found amazing, but we had a lot of hands helping. I figured there were about 80 members who showed up. It would have been fun to have a video. Elder Olson called and he did stay to help the Belintes. He said he had to drive 5 miles an hour on the dirt road this morning and then went 50 miles an hour coming home on the same road. That tells you how slick the driving gets when the dirt roads are wet. ;o] Glad he knew what to expect and what to do. Opening a bank account was quite an adventure. It took an hour and a half, even though we already have an acct with Wells Fargo. This branch of WF is the only bank for miles around. They stayed open until 8 pm one night last week because people were lined up outside and needed to make their transactions before they left. They work 9-4 on Sat. also. The bank should be 4 times bigger than it is and have about 5 times more employees. I have never gone by when it isn't super busy. Tomorrow is fast Sunday. Keep us in your prayers and start recording all the blessings you have each day, like running water, both cold and hot, a stove to cook on, and a frig to keep cold things cold. Try to think of one thing each day that you take for granted and thank Heavenly Father for the great blessings you enjoy. You will be amazed at how many blessings you have and fail to notice because you take them for granted. Elder and Sister Olson