Can you imagine how fun it would be to listen to their stories and all the adventures they shared together??Sunday, November 20, 2011
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
Sunday, November 6, 2011
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
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
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Halloween on the Rez
Dear Family and Friends,
I can tell that some may not be looking at the blog because they didn't read about our extending our mission until Oct 2012. Today I will be lucky to extend another day however, since I have a toothache. Going to call a dentist in Page early tomorrow to see if I can get in.
Halloween is actually tomorrow, but like everywhere else Halloween is celebrated the whole month. We had a great time at the Provident Living activity Thurs and the 2nd Ward Halloween party on Friday.
This weekend was Stake Conference. One of the speakers was a young man who is leaving for a mission in Vera Cruz, Mexico in December. He has spent the last two years at Stanford University. All his older siblings are engineers. He speaks English, Navajo and Spanish. I think his middle name is Humble. He is so awesome. He spoke about Helaman 5:12 and 2 Nephi Chapter 4 and how we all should be building our testimony upon our foundation of Jesus Christ. I have always love 2 Ne 4. If such an amazing man as Nephi had temptations and weaknesses, how could I be any different. I guess that makes sense. I just love the part when he takes negative thoughts and lets them go knowing of the love that God has for each of us and that he will succor us in our weaknesses.
His mother teaches chemistry and one of his older siblings is a girl and she is an engineer. They are all doing amazing things with the talents and gifts they have received from our loving Heavenly Father. The people are so easy to love.
The picture at the top is the pottery that Gloria Babbit, & Martin and Mary Maloney gave us last Saturday at the Harvest Celebration. They are very beautiful.
Having problems getting pictures on again, so I will add them on a separate blog post.
The week was very busy. Last Saturday morning the Fall Harvest Celebration. Then there was a big Stake Dance for the youth that night, funerals on Wed and Thurs this week. Thursday night Provident Living, Friday 2nd Ward Halloween, this weekend Stake Conference so we were pretty booked with things to do. Not complaining just realizing why I am so tired. ;o}
Getting late so will head to bed.
Love,
Elder & Sister Olson
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Extending Mission Call
Dear Family and Friends,
I guess this will not be a big surprise, but we are extending our mission call and will be here until next Oct. The last couple of weeks have been a little hectic with everything that was involved and driving to Durango, CO to see a spinal specialist. Elder Olson and I will go again tomorrow so that he can get an injection, then again on Nov 7 for another injection. One injection will be a L4-L5 and the other at L3- L4. Don't know which will be first. The Dr. will use the feedback from Elder Olson to determine what to do next. They are hoping that he will get some relief from the pain he is suffering in his leg and foot on a daily basis.
If he keeps busy he is able to deal more effectively with the pain, but as soon as he sits down it becomes a real issue.
We have been to Durango twice and have three more appts. The first two for injections and the third to consult with the Drs. about what the next step will be.
The pictures above show first the large black bumble bees that come to the garden daily. They are really very big and Shelaine and kids were quite taken back by their size. I guess we are pretty immune to even noticing them.
Top right is Sister Olson ;o} sitting next to my favorite gardner, Gloria Babbitt. Her daughter Mary made the skirt I am wearing and bought the black top to go with it. Gloria wanted to have our picture taken with me wearing a traditional Navajo outfit. Mary was wearing red jewelry so I put on a necklace I had purchased then twirled around for Gloria. She laughed and laughed.
They also gave us some beautiful hand made pottery. Another sister gave us a quilted wall hanging which I will take a picture of and post later. We had a big Harvest Celebration yesterday and many people came thinking we would be leaving next week, but we surprised them by saying we were extending.
I will continue to work in the Family History Center and Elder Olson will do what he can. If surgery is done, I plan to nail the apt door shut until he recovers then let him out.
Bottom left is Brother Lee Canyon who likes to have his picture taken with the missionaries. He is a nice guy.
Bottom right is Shelaine, Derek and kids who were able to come last Thurs. spend the night then head on to Phoenix to visit Derek's sister Kara. It was so fun to have them come and they saw me waving to them as they came down Monaeve Dr. I was so excited I couldn't hardly control myself. Shelaine and Brock raced around the car, but I think Shelaine reached me first for a big hug.
The kids all did hide and spook when Elder Olson came home and they did indeed spook him, especially the girls. Landy was behind the shower curtain and Elder O jumped backward when she came out. Leah was on the shelf by the frig and totally got him again when he started for the laundry room door. It was so fun. We had breakfast together at the Hogan restaurant and then we went to the "Flea Market" before they had to leave for Phoenix. It was hard to let them go.
Last weekend they had a huge end of year Fair Parade here in Tuba. The parade took 3 hours to pass by, so you can see it was really big.
The traffic is bumper to bumper so we warned to stay in the compound which we did. They honored the veterans on several different floats. One was in honor of the Code Talkers which was really wonderful. There are not many left. They have a museum in their honor in Kayenta which I would like to visit before we leave.
The traffic is bumper to bumper so we warned to stay in the compound which we did. They honored the veterans on several different floats. One was in honor of the Code Talkers which was really wonderful. There are not many left. They have a museum in their honor in Kayenta which I would like to visit before we leave.
We love hearing from you and hope you have time to write.
Elder & Sister Olson
Dear Family
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Temple in Star Valley, WY.
Dear Family and Friends,
What an amazing weekend. We did not miss one message, although I will have to wait for the Ensign issue to read the talks given in the Priesthood session. There was not one talk that didn't bring a timely message.
Daryl must have truly loved the address byKazuhiko Yamashita about his love for the missionaries who served in Japan and who taught his family the gospel. What an inspiring talk for those who have any doubts about serving a mission.
When Pres. Monson announced a Temple to be built in Star Valley, WY and that he thought he would dedicate that one himself. I turned to Elder Olson and asked, "Do you think he is teasing?" Within less than a minute four of our children had called or texted a message asking if we had heard the announcement. Daryl's voice mail was filled with emotion.
I still am coming to grips with what was announced. For those who doubt the fulfilling of prophecy, this is another testament of a prophecy being fulfilled. Someone mentioned that we are actually looking at a few years, but the promise was made. I don't think we realize what an impact that will make on the Saints in the valley, but I suspect it will be a temple that has every seat filled in every session held.
We will get to know many of our close neighbors better, like those from Montpelier, Cokeville, Jackson and Kemmerer. Won't it be exciting for people traveling to Jackson and Yellowstone to see the Spire as they come into the valley.
The way he said it was just so amazing. I wrote notes for each talk and I want to read each and every one again and again. Is there any doubt about serving a mission or extending your call if asked to do so? Boyd K Packer's talk was filled with hope and guidance. I can remember him years ago talking to the youth and counseling them about choices.
President Utchdorf's talk about how much God loves each of us and how it doesn't matter our social status, where we live, or where we serve.
Ian S Ardern's comment about time never being for sale and how we should prioritize our choices.
I guess I could write something about each talk and how the spirit was so strong I hope we can all remember Carl B Cook's comment about "Looking up" How would you like to be in an elevator with Pres. Monson :o}
We may end up somewhere else before we return, but whatever happens we will look up and know that all will be well.
We love each of you and appreciate the comments that you take the time to write.
Elder & Sister Olson
What an amazing weekend. We did not miss one message, although I will have to wait for the Ensign issue to read the talks given in the Priesthood session. There was not one talk that didn't bring a timely message.
Daryl must have truly loved the address byKazuhiko Yamashita about his love for the missionaries who served in Japan and who taught his family the gospel. What an inspiring talk for those who have any doubts about serving a mission.
When Pres. Monson announced a Temple to be built in Star Valley, WY and that he thought he would dedicate that one himself. I turned to Elder Olson and asked, "Do you think he is teasing?" Within less than a minute four of our children had called or texted a message asking if we had heard the announcement. Daryl's voice mail was filled with emotion.
I still am coming to grips with what was announced. For those who doubt the fulfilling of prophecy, this is another testament of a prophecy being fulfilled. Someone mentioned that we are actually looking at a few years, but the promise was made. I don't think we realize what an impact that will make on the Saints in the valley, but I suspect it will be a temple that has every seat filled in every session held.
We will get to know many of our close neighbors better, like those from Montpelier, Cokeville, Jackson and Kemmerer. Won't it be exciting for people traveling to Jackson and Yellowstone to see the Spire as they come into the valley.
The way he said it was just so amazing. I wrote notes for each talk and I want to read each and every one again and again. Is there any doubt about serving a mission or extending your call if asked to do so? Boyd K Packer's talk was filled with hope and guidance. I can remember him years ago talking to the youth and counseling them about choices.
President Utchdorf's talk about how much God loves each of us and how it doesn't matter our social status, where we live, or where we serve.
Ian S Ardern's comment about time never being for sale and how we should prioritize our choices.
I guess I could write something about each talk and how the spirit was so strong I hope we can all remember Carl B Cook's comment about "Looking up" How would you like to be in an elevator with Pres. Monson :o}
We may end up somewhere else before we return, but whatever happens we will look up and know that all will be well.
We love each of you and appreciate the comments that you take the time to write.
Elder & Sister Olson
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