Tampoline Navajo Style

Dear Family and Friends,

I just looked and it has been 7 weeks since I last posted.

I just thought these would be fun to show you how kids everywhere make their own fun out of whatever they have on hand.. This method is a bummer if you don't make a direct hit on the tire, but all the time we watched they seem to make a good connection and bounce away pretty happy.

I would not however recommend this idea to anyone I loved or was related too, in fact I would not recommend it to anyone, but kids will be kids and I know our own survived many "ideas" that I would not have approved of had I known at the time.

The infection and dental appointments are winding down which makes me very happy. It has been quite the adventure.

Our first semi load of garden supplies came in a few weeks ago on a semi from Colorado. A family who planted last year owns heavy equipment and offered to come by and off load the rolls of wire and the fence posts. He had fork lifts that had to be attached to his bucket. It worked well, but his son had to guide him from below, since he could not see from the seat behind and above the bucket. I know there has to be an amazing "parable" to that event and perhaps one day I will be able to put it all together. It took a little over two hours to unload.

The fertilizer is coming in the next week or two and our first meeting with the new missionaries will be Mar 5 here in Tuba City. Elder Seeley will work as a consultant and the missionaries will be doing their own demos with the people they serve among.

We have 12 couples that all should be here by the end of the week, but one and they will soon follow. They served here last year, so it isn't as critical as it would be for a new couple. Elder Seeley who is now Brother Seeley will conduct all our Missionary Meetings. He and his wife have put together a book to give to each couple. It will give them an overview of what happens and how they can be most effective.

We are excited to start the new gardens and Elder Olson has been helping people get their gardens ready for this year, by tilling in sawdust and manure so that it can mellow and help in producing a more bountiful harvest. The more remote and "challenging" the better he likes it.

I have pretty much finished the Tuba City Cemetery names, but Sister Norris and I will be heading to Winslow and Moencopi in March to do the same thing for those cemeteries. We ended up with about 1,900 names for marked graves in Tuba and I am at 615 for the unmarked graves. She plans to upload them to findagrave.com Hopefully we can make it available to anyone who is seeking Navajo relatives who have been laid to rest.

We are headed to the Snowflake Temple next weekend and plan to stay with Laurie and kids. We are pretty excited about that. Elder Olson will do some fencing while I attend a session Friday evening and then we will both go with our Navajo brothers and sisters Sat. morning. I told Laurie that she could make Elder Olson very happy if she had lots of fencing to do. She was gracious enough to comply with my request.

We should know by this time next week if Elder Olson's surgery was approved. We submitted the paperwork Dec 1, 2011 at 11:47 am. It has taken that long to get a response, but his case worker said we would know this week. We are hoping she is right.

Yesterday we had a Visiting Teaching Conf for 2nd ward. It was very good and the Stake RS president asked if they could do it again for the Stake.

We keep very busy and I can honestly say the weeks fly by. We will have been out a year on Mar. 9 John thought we had been out forever.

I was hit by an overwhelming feeling of homesickness, but I know we are doing what we should be doing. We do love it. It would be fun to hear from you.

Elder & Sister Olson

Historic Moment

Dear Family and Friends,


I was just noticing the similarity of the two pictures I posted last week. The heads of course are very different, but did any notice the neck similarities in the two pictures. :o} One of the reasons I never buy a shirt without Older Olson trying it on to see how it fits. I am so thoughtful, don't know why the pictures made me smile so much, but the Older Olsons have never seemed to have very much length in the neck, or is it just my imagination. I apologize if I sound disrespectful, but they do look a lot a like and they are both stubborn and strong.


On to other things. It was an historic moment in 2nd Ward today. They filled to overflowing and the doors to the overflow had to be opened because so many people came into the sacrament meeting.


The first counselor who was conducting bore his testimony and mentioned that they had prayed for such, but he was blessed to witness it. As always the testimonies were uplifting and filled with the power of the spirit. We saw people we had never seen before that are members and wonderful folks.


Last summer we had gone to the Flea Market and pulled up next to a car. A lady was sitting in the car with door ajar and saw us. She asked if my husband could turn the wheel in her car so she could get it started. It seemed like a strange request, but that happens a lot here, the strange requests I mean. She said she was a member and should be attending church. The Wilsons had made it a point to visit her once a week when they were serving. They called to wish her a Happy New Year and asked if she was going to church. She showed up today and recognized us and sat by us. I asked if she had a garden. She said no but would love to have one. Older Olson followed her home after church and put her address in the GPS. He will be going out later this week to get her garden spot ready for spring. She cried when he told her that she would indeed have her garden.


The 2nd Ward Relief Society is going to implement a homemaking meeting once a month to allow time for the sisters to gather and encourage each other with new skills and time to get better acquainted as sisters in the gospel. They had a meeting after church and I was told that they decided I would teach at the first meeting. They have found out that I crochet and knit. Hopefully there will be others who just want to learn more and we can break into small groups and teach each other.
The other ward decided that for the next Provident Living class that they wanted us to teach them how to get started on their family history. It was hard not to get up and dance, but I controlled myself well until they left the room. Sister Norris will head that up and I will be there to cheer them on and support in anyway I can. It is so exciting to see them find their families and get them ready for temple work.
We love the people and the opportunity to help. People in the Page Stake have found some of their lost family members from the work we did in copying the grave markers here and sending them a copy of the list we made. I am at 340 in finding names for the unmarked graves. I don't know who is where, but I know they are buried there and so I am going through slowly, but each new name is like finding a gold nugget, it is so fun. This week I found Susie Chewingtabacco and some other very different names, but Sister Norris seems to know everyone and how they all go together in clans, I love it.
When I was working with Sister Nez, I would not do anything but tell and guide. She wanted me to take over and I said, "We won't be here forever and you need to know how to do it yourself." Sister Norris said, "I thought you were on a 100 year mission so we could finish our project."
The gospel is true and we all have our part. Thanks for all the prayers in our behalf we know that it is what sustains us as we move steadily forward.
Elder & Sister Olson

Pee Wee and the "Skidboard" Park

Dear Family and Friends,
This week’s picture is of our “Older Olson” with his bald head. Sister Cody asked if anyone was willing to shave their head, “Older Olson” needed no more of a prompt. Christmas Eve he goes into the bathroom to get ready for the Senior gathering and comes out with no hair. I was shocked, maybe horrified would describe my first reaction, but have been able to get past that fortunately and hair does grow out, even on old guys.
The other picture is of the bulls who still come in for their nightly buffet, leaving small presents as they enter, roam, and then exit. We have had the cattle guards cleaned and put large rocks on the side, but they just smile at our puny distractions and walk neatly over as if they were trained to do so. I am glad we have the fencing around the garden and hope that the bulls are taken far away in the spring to greener pastures.
This afternoon we walked over to the large park where they have playground equipment for the kids, a full sized basketball court and a “Skidboard Park” Older Olson could not remember Skateboard, so it is now the “Skidboard Park” Maybe Carter comes by his language creativity from his Grandfather. He is the one who asked his dad why anyone would give their true love 5 onion rings for Christmas. ;o}
Back to the park. We are watching all these young men using their skateboards and bikes to ride the amazing cement maze. I asked if the walls were 30 feet high and Older Olson they were probably close to 8 ft, although I am thoroughly convinced they were closer to 30. It is like a giant swimming pool without the water and all these ramps with curved walls. I know there was a slight angle to the walls, but they seem to go straight up and down with a few curves.
The boys on the bikes are zooming around the walls perpendicular to the bottom, I don’t know how they did that, but they did, then they would eventually zoom straight up the side, do a little trick of some sort and ride quietly off waiting for the next competitor to zoom around.
Sailing around the top of this concrete are other “Skidboard” competitors, doing things that really aren’t possible for humans to do on a piece of board with a roller skate that someone cut in two on the bottom. All the tricks seemed impossible, but they did them with grace and speed, quite amazing to watch actually.
You have to know that the areas of the park are separated by fences, which keep wandering dogs from going in. Well the fences don’t keep tiny two legged boys from going in and so here runs in Pee Wee. He could not have been more than 3, very short and very daring. First he walks close to the edge and peers over at all the zooming bikes, then he crawls out on one of the dividing walls and continues to watch all the activity. Now we are talking bikes and skidboards zooming up and down then flying over the top edge for a landing.
Well Pee Wee sees his chance and slides down the middle divider and begins to do what he has been watching, only he is using his tennis shoes to slip and slide like the bikers. Not one big boy yelled or screamed or even asked him to leave, so for about 5-6 mins he is living his dream. Slipping and sliding every where he can. But alas, now comes his time to exit. It should be easy enough right? Just run up a wall like the bikes did, well when you aren’t very tall that becomes a challenge.
The big boys are now tired also and want to do some more tricks, but they are kind and stay on the far side of the bowl. Now Pee Wee is pretty smart, so he decides he will do what the big boys do and get a running start from the far wall. That helps, but he does not have enough to make it up all the way and slides back to the bottom. He is also watching us watch him and certainly doesn’t want to spend the night in there.
Being the smart kid that he is, he yells for help. One of the big boys leans over the side and sticks out his hand. Pee Wee backs up and runs again, but he misses the kids by inches. The big boy being so nice slides down the side on his feet and picks up Pee Wee. Now they both need to get out. With Pee Wee under his arm he runs up the side, but alas with the extra weight he also cannot make it out. Now the watching crowd smiles and cheers him on. No one wants Pee Wee to get hurt. With another running start and leaning forward he goes far enough to set Pee Wee in a safe spot. Then goes back and runs again to get himself out.
Older Olson and I silently cheer the hero and Pee Wee who marches over to get a better look at us. He wants outside the fence now. I ask, “Where is your Mom?”
He answers, “At the store!” I would not have picked him up and set him on the outside knowing that in there he was caged and had some “Big Boys” watching out for him. He smiles and runs back to the edge which is too much for me. We walk to the far side of the park and a woman is walking determinedly in the direction of the “Skidboard Park” His hero hands him over to mom and he smiles as he climbs into the stroller. What a way to start the New Year. We did hear his mom call him Junior, but to me he will always be Pee Wee.
For those of you who are aware the root canal was painless, the worst part was the anticipation. ;o} With the fourth antibiotic the infection is finally going away.
Our two wards switched times today and 1st Ward actually meets first. The 1st counselor was the only one there. The Bishop had not told him who was speaking, so Older Olson suggested he ask over the pulpit if anyone had been asked to speak. No one raised a hand, so Brother Nocidenah said Elder and Sister Olson would be speaking. :o}
I decided to speak about the “Lord’s tender mercies” and the scriptures and finding answers to our prayers. Elder Olson spoke first and told about his mission here as the Young Elder Olson. I think I have seen him cry more here than in our entire marriage. He loves the people so much and loves what he get to do “work” He thinks he is being punished when he can’t play in the dirt with the roto tiller or shovel manure.
We are getting to know more about the “Ammon Way” every day. We love each of you and hope you are doing well.

"Older" & Sister Olson

Dear Famil

yh

Fires, earthquakes, roaming bulls, more fires, and stolen dogs

Dear Family and Friends,

Pictures at the top were taken just in the last week or two. I think I figured out how to put the date back on the pics, but we will see. Bottom picture is "Older" Olson with Older Lee Nez, 1st Counselor in 2nd Ward Bishopric and a great friend.

The top two are pictures taken at Loretta's. She is extending her garden and her family is very involved in making that happen.

If you saw the Title, I hope it sparked your interest, not sure anyone is reading our Blog anymore.

Our latest missionary couple has had one trial after another since arriving. At the first of the week someone thought they would help the freezing water line problem, by wrapping the hose in insulation, then putting the wire around that and then adding another layer of insulation, sealing it all with duct tape, well I guess you might say that was a BIG NO NO, because it caught fire and burned through and melted the PC pipe and some of the bale of straw it went through. Someone had to be watching because the trailer did not catch fire. You can see the burned and scorched straw and the melted PC pipe. It also burned the hose, I am going to assume the water in the hose dampened things enough to keep everything from going up in flames. That was pretty scary.

They have not been able to use their kitchen sink since they came, because it would not drain. Several people tried to help to no avail, then another person discovered that the trailer had a third holding tank where the sink water was going and the value was closed so it was completely full. As soon as they turned the value the water quickly drained out.

The following night Sister M called and asked if I had felt the earthquake and I paused and said, "No" then she said they had and soon realized that it was not an earthquake, but one of two very large bulls who were eating the bales they have placed around their 5th wheel.

They must have got wind that I was the mother of the "Barbaric sister-in-law" (Ask Uncle Derek and Aunt Shelaine about that story ;o}) in any case people seem to think that I know all the answers about what to do in an emergency so they call me. I go out to see two very large bulls munching away, so I pick up a stick and try to prod them, but because it was dark and there were no lights and the ground is very uneven, I decided to call the police dept.

They were very friendly and cooperative and we soon had two police cars with a Bro. Campaign who quickly prodded them on their way back across the cattle guard. They decided they liked the buffet arrangement and returned later. The bulls, not the police :o}

The next morning "Older Olson" woke me up to go see the lunar eclipse which he was sure I would miss if I got dressed, so out I went in my pajamas and coat. I could have showered and dressed and not missed it, but instead I pretended to be OK even though I was freezing my toes off.

After the moon was completely covered I glanced over and who should be quietly chewing their cud and watching me freeze, the two roaming bulls. I was not going to call the police again, so I got my stick and proceeded to prod them from their beds and head them to the gates. They really weren't to happy, so they dropped a few presents on their way to the gate. ;o}

The older and bigger bull timidly placed his left front hoof on the guard about 4 times and each time as his hoof began to sink, he would pull it back. Then he placed it on the 5 inch wide panel, realized it was solid put his other hoof on the far side of the guard, then jumped neatly over. The younger bull appeared to be watching carefully and did exactly what the older one did without trying the middle first, It was actually very interesting to watch. We now have to lock the gates with a bolt and wire because they know exactly where the food supply is located. It is a big nusiance, trust me.

Yesterday I decided to make bread. It was kind of fun and actually turned out pretty well. It was raising nicely on the back of the stove and I decided to boil some eggs. I carefully turned on the burner making sure the rising bread was well to the back. Well I smelled something odd, but I figured something had spilled on the burner, then I glanced up to see smoke coming from the kitchen. I did carefully turn on the burner, but it was the one next to the bread and so the towel was making a good try to catch on fire, fortunately it was only trying and had not caught on fire, so I quickly put the towel in the sink, opened all the windows and the door and cleared out the smoke. Only a small part of the rising bread was affected.

The loaves didn't rise as much as they might have because the apt cooled off so much, but it was good and I will try again tomorrow. I won't be cooking any eggs however or anything else if I put it on the stove to rise. :o} I usually learn from my mistakes. Your prayers of protection are being answered, thank you.

The last event is really quite sad. The couple who have had something happen every day since they have arrived went to church at 9 just like we did. Well after sacrament he came home and someone had taken their two dogs. We found out too late that dog snatching happens quite frequently. They have searched most of the day without any luck. They were beautiful Schnauzer dogs. They are heart broken as you might imagine. Hopefully someone will find them or question whoever is selling them. They did not have those things you implant, so I don't know how it will all turn out.

Hope there aren't to many mistakes, the edit option doesn't seem to be working.

"Older" Olson continues to work like he is "Younger" Olson. They did not approve his surgery for tomorrow. They said his case needed further review. I wish they could live in his body for just one day before they stamp "Needs further Review" I have to keep believing that Heavenly Father's time line doesn't always look like what we think it should.

He does loves helping people get ready, so our winter work schedule is not much different than our summer schedule.

I have a project going at the Family History Center. I am writing down all the names of the infants and young children who are buried at the local cemetery without markers. I am systematically going through the Arizona death records and checking everyone in Coconino County, if it says Tuba City I write it down. I have found over 100 names of infants and small children who are buried here without grave markers. I am trying to come up with a way to search all those records by the child's name, father's name, or mother's name. Whoever is looking should be able to find all the information when they look under one of the names. It all makes sense to me in my head, now I have to make the program work the way I want it to.

If anyone has a system that they think will work, let me know.

Christmas without family makes me a little homesick, but all our kids survived on their missions, so I suspect we will also.

Relief Society was really amazing today. Two sisters gave lessons. One was on visiting teaching. I wish every sister could have been there. It was wonderful.

We love you and wish you a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful holdiay season. Sorry about the big spaces between .

Elder and Sister Olson

The faces of history.

Can you imagine how fun it would be to listen to their stories and all the adventures they shared together??

Thanksgiving

Dear Family and Friends,

Thanksgiving is fast approaching and we will go over to Kayenta with all the other Senior Missionaries for dinner. I think there are over a 100, but I may be way off on the numbers. I am sure I will find out on Thursday. I do know they are taking 30 pounds of mashed potatoes over. ;o}

Time marches on very quickly and so do we. The picture (top left) shows what is going on now. Elder Olson takes great pride in filling the truck with manure and taking it to the furthest garden spots, speads it out then helps till it in.. Seems to me that there is a story about the furthest most part of the vineyard and how the Lord knows where to place things to get the best results.

Top right is Zonie if I remember right, they're way out on Black Mesa, very remote and a bit of a challenge to get there. She and the other family members took their turn tilling. They will have a garden next spring and are very excited to have the materials that the church will provide so that they can become more self-reliant.

Bottom left shows how cold it gets. There is no snow of course, but the temperatures have dropped to below freezing several nights now. Time to turn on the heat and get the chill off in the morning. ;o}

Bottom right is a shot of Sister McMurtrey and I walking across the parking lot to the church building to walk. We walk around and around for 20 mins or we to sit for a minute during the laps, but we get in a full 20 mins of walking. It really helps to walk every day. She is an amazing person and I have grown to love her. She and her husband are the counseling missionaries for the stake. I think they have the toughest calling of all. The Temple Sealer asked where they met and she said, "Prison" there was a minute of silence then she added. We were serving as "Counselors" then everyone took a deep breath. ;o}

Last weekend, Sister Thompson, Sister Dalton and Sister Esplin from SLC came to speak. They brought and an amazing spirit with them. Sister Esplin spoke in our 2nd ward sacrament and said that she had tried to prepare by reading the scriptures and attending the temple, but she then added that she was not prepared for the outpouring of love that she felt from the Navajo and Hopi sisters. To tell the truth that is what I also felt. You cannot describe the feeling that you get when you are embraced by the members and what they say and how you feel when they bare their testimony or give a talk that they have prepared after studying and going to the Lord for help.

The sisters met with the young women and the primary for two hours. They visited and got to know the young people as well as they could. They left a noticeable impression on everyone they came in contact with.

We had a member baptism. An eight year old girl was baptized by her father. They are "white" the mother works as a midwife at the hospital. She is expecting a baby any minute herself. This little girl's name is Piper and her older sister, Prudence, who is 9 or 10 gave the talk on baptism. It was very touching. Her grandparents, one aunt and two uncles drove up from Phoenix to attend.

We had the 2nd Ward Thanksgiving dinner Friday and in Dec the 1st Ward will have a Christmas dinner. The potlucks around here get pretty serious when it comes to food. If you go away hungry you must be blind because there is food everywhere.

They are planning to go Christmas caroling to the Emergency room staff, the Police Dept, the Ambulance service people and the fire station people. They also go to the four group homes that they have here in Tuba. AND to some of the member homes. They say they will divide and conquer. It will be interesting to see how it all works out. They won't use sleighs, no snow. ;o}

I worked in the Catholic Soup kitchen last Friday and we served around 800-1,000 people. We were really busy. Some time I may give you some little details about that adventure. I did help two older men who could not see when they came in from the sunshine. The people who come in are not allowed to really do much except take their plates to the table and dump the empty plates in the trash. Everything has to be served, so there is a lot of running to do, but it was a very good learning experience on how things are different. I was a little confused by all the rules they have to abide by and how much is donated by our church and other organizations to make it all happen.

Well it is late and I am tired, but it is the good kind of tired. We hope you all have a great holiday and give thanks for all that you have been blessed with. Be especially grateful for your health and your ability to work and provide in the Lord's way for your family. Don't take the fact that you can kneel and thank Heavenly Father for granted.

Be especially kind in word and deed to those you come in contact with daily. Your smile could make a difference and never forget that in the quiet heart is hidden sorrow that the eye cannot see.

Never forget that the past need not hold the future hostage. Forgive every day and don't ever forget that we will be granted the same forgiveness that we give to others.

Remember that faith and fear cannot exist together. A good scripture to remember is Isaiah 26:3 " Thou willt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stay on thee; because he trusteth in thee."

Remember Peter when he walked toward the Savior. As long as he kept his eyes on the Savior he could do it, but when he looked down and took his eyes off the Savior he started to sink. Remember to stay focused on Him who provides all things.

We love you.

Elder & Sister Olson

Sacrament Meeting 6 Nov 2011

Dear Family & Friends,
May not post pictures this week. Seems like every week is busy in a different way. Sacrament is always a renewing feast to start a new week.
One of the wards attendance is down, so today a 96 year blessed the water, the one who blessed the bread is older too, perhaps in his 70's. He recently survived a heart attack. Both bore their testimonies of the gospel. I don't remember all the words, but I won't forget the spirit and the power of their words.
The men who passed the sacrament weren't as old as those two, but the youngest was probably in his 30's. Everything was done in such a reverent manner. The 96 year old took a while to get down to his knees and when he finished the other one helped him stand up, what an amazing display of compassion and charity for his brother in the gospel.
They didn't just bless the sacrament, you felt the power of each word of the sacrament prayer. You know that they know Heavenly Father and the Savior in a very personal way. It wasn't done quickly either each word was spoken clearly and with emotion. It still touches my heart to see them kneeling before the Lord and saying the prayers. I don't know the right words to convey what I felt. I just wish you could have been here to feel what we did.
All but two of the testimonies were by the brethren. Brother Mitchell thanked everyone for their prayers and told how much it meant to him to know we were praying for him when he had his heart attack.
Another Brother talked about praying to the Lord to know what the words were in the Bible and Book of Mormon. He had not had an education and could not read. He wanted to learn to read so he could know the words himself. He has taken the literacy course that the Church offers. He was the one who wanted to read every single word of every scripture in the lessons. He was not content to read just the excerpts that are in the manual. He wants to find the verse in his scriptures and mark them carefully, reading each word. Then he talks about them and if he has questions, he asks. He has an amazing testimony and desire to know the scriptures. Decoding new words is not always easy, but he wants to do it by himself, so when he is at home he can feel confident about attacking new words. He has probably been taking the lessons for over a year. He thanked Sister Droddy for being his teacher and helping him learn to read better. He had started with Sister Meldrum and then I taught him two lessons, but thinking that we were leaving we thought it best to have the consistency of one teacher instead of one for a couple of months then another. What a privilege to be his teacher for just two lessons.
I wondered today what it will be like for him when he passes through the veil and what the Savior will say to him.
Someone asked me what I had learned here on my mission. I have to honest, I have learned a lot about myself and the testimony of humble people. When they are asked to speak at church, they do not download a conference talk and read it. They go to the scriptures and they go to their knees and you get to hear what they learned from the Spirit.
Tomorrow we go to Durango for the second injection. They are predicting snow, so we are putting 6 bags of sawdust in the truck bed for the extra weight on the roads. I would say keep us in your prayers, but we already know you do and can feel the power of those prayers as we travel.
The appt after that will be Nov. 30. We will visit with Dr. Yousself and see what he feels would be the best "plan of attack"
The new couple arrived Friday night during a bad storm. They are from Rigby, Idaho, practically next door neighbors. They seem very nice and have a lot of family history experience. We are suppose to be updating our family history center. We got a new printer, fax, scanner machine sitting over there right now. Hopefully we will get a couple of new computers also, but won't know for sure until they arrive. The brother from Facility Maintenance has to come from Page to install things, so we are not sure when that will happen.
Next weekend, Sister Thompson, Sister Dalton, and Sister Esplan are coming from SLC. They will hold meetings in Kayenta and speak at our 2nd Ward meeting at 9 Sunday. We have a baptism on Sat, so we won't be going to the meetings there on Sat. Everyone has been invited to the 2nd Ward meeting on Sunday. Hopefully we will have a full house.
Guess that is all for this week. Grandkid letters may be a little late this week. We love you all and hope all is well in your part of the world.
Elder & Sister Olson