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.

Baptism Yesterday

About a year ago E came to church with A.  She said she had driven by the church for many years and told herself that she needed to come back and the day she dropped in  was the day to do that.  

  She started coming to Provident Living Classes and to church. She is very talented and was willing to share her knowledge and talents in teaching the sisters how to use what they grew in their gardens.  It was great to get to know her better and fun to watch her testimony of the gospel grow.

  This year she was able to plant a garden and grow the things that she had taught the sisters how to use during the classes she taught.

  Her daughters N and M were baptized yesterday..  There was only one  empty chair in the room and people were standing at each door. 

  Their grandfather who is a temple worker performed the baptism.  He is a brother to Kee G..  He said they were thinking about moving back to Tuba.

  The sister-in-law gave a talk on the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Alex T. welcomed them into the ward after bearing his testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel and  sharing his story of why he knows the Book of Mormon is true.

  It was a wonderful experience to be a part of and to see how many hearts were touched.

  Today in both Sacraments the youth spoke of their experiences at the Youth Conference in Flagstaff.  The Spirit was strong as they shared of the "tender mercies" of the Lord and how it has affected their testimony of the gospel.  

  Both the youth and the older members who served in Leadership positions were uplifted and fortified by the many spiritual experiences they had during the week.  I hope this can be just the beginning of future conferences that can be held for the youth in this area.

  The gardens are growing and so are the opportunities to share the gospel as we work beside the participants.  We have noticed that the gardens are having positive side affects on the neighbors.  We can see gardens popping up near the Church gardens.  It is as if the people are finding hope in what can be done, by watching their neighbor's gardens grow successfully.  This in turn provides opportunities to visit about the Church and the gospel.

  Ammon set such a great example of serving and trusting the Lord to provide the teaching moment.  We can learn a lot from  him.  He came to serve and was prepared to do whatever he was asked.

     It is so great to be a part of this work in this part of the vineyard.

Sister Olson