Shearing time on the Rez

Everywhere we go the sheep are losing their wool, either from shears or natural dislodgement. As you can see they use hand shears. This is Rosita on the left shearing.  Elder Lybbert asked her brother Larry why he wasn't shearing and he said he tried but cut the sheep so he is not allowed to.

We feel bad that Elder Orme got transferred to the city last week so he was not able to participate in one of his most talked about activities. At least he will have this picture to remind him. We do miss him.

                                                           FLOWER OF THE WEEK
                                            "Its Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White"

They do have a few fruit trees here on the Rez such a, apple, apricot, cherry and peach but they are few and far between. This little apple tree in our front yard was planted a few years ago by another missionary couple.

This  has been Elder Lybberts  most popular workout lately but we are about finished with this portion and now help install drip irrigation. We even get to wear our jeans.

We escaped the Rez for a day and went to Farmington. This beautiful grass was in front of the hotel and not a horse or sheep in sight.

This week we helped out at another funeral. This was another very sad funeral since the deceased was a young girl of 23 with a young child and she took her own life.  The people here have many struggles with life.  The mother of the deceased came to make arrangements for the funeral and said she was a member of our church so we have met one more member in the area.
 At times like this the Navajos really depend on the missionaries for comfort and in holding a service. Our Branch Pres. has been able to conduct the services but the missionaries  give prayers and talks. My role is usually behind the scenes making sure there are places for people to sit and providing any other service they need.  I'm getting to know the funeral director quite well since we hang out on the fringe of things during the service.
Elder Lybbert was asked to dedicate the grave so we were able to see the actual burial for the first time. It was quite different than what we had experienced at home. The casket was lowered into the grave by the pallbearers, then her belongings were lowered in, then the mother and the rest of the immediate family threw some dirt in. The pallbearers then shovelled for a while and then the backhoe took over. When this was done friends and family placed flowers on the grave and wrote messages in the dirt. After this the grandfather took a piece of sagebrush and brushed all the dirt  on and around the grave so no writing or footprints were left.

Love to all,
Elder and Sister Lybbert

Weather or not wait 5 minutes

Last week was interesting weather wise. The three lower pictures(the other is taken out the front door) are taken out our back door a few days apart. One clear beautiful day, then a dust storm, then a snow storm. We do have variety in our life.

                      Our kids came to see us from Canada which was very exciting for us

                        At the top of Canyon de Chilly. Our son Rae, Josh, Ashtyn, Ciana, Kyler

                                                           Hiking down into the Canyon

                             
                                   At the bottom with the White House ruins in the background

The kids spent the day looking for lizards and found lots of them. This little guy they found after we got back to our trailer

                                                             FLOWER OF THE WEEK
We saw these pretty flowers on our trek. They are a type of primrose but I'm not sure of the name.

                                                                 This Week in Review
Every Tuesday we teach Addiction Recovery classes here at the church. So far all the students attend because they have a choice, attend the class or go to jail. We wondered just how effective the classes would be under these circumstances but we have had some interesting experiences. Two of our students have been coming for 10 weeks (our classes last 12 weeks). They are older and we have grown quite fond of them. This week Elder Lybbert jokingly suggested to Henry that he say the opening prayer. He said something in Navajo to Perry and he said he wanted to say the prayer in his own language. Elder Lybbert told him that would be great. He prayed for quite awhile. We couldn't understand him but could tell it was heart felt. At the end of the class Elder Lybbert said that since Henry had said the opening prayer he would say the closing. Henry does't understand English very well and so he said the closing prayer too. As they were leaving they shook our hands and Perry thanked us for helping his people and said when he leaves our class he feels like he is walking on air. We will miss them when they are finished. Its strange how life can change. We sit with these people and talk about their life and being in and out of jail and their life style and we feel quite comfortable with them. So far non of our clients have been members of our church but as part of the class we do encourage them to attend a church of their choice, pray daily and read scriptures daily.
Love to all,
Elder and Sister Lybbert

The week after the first

Our computer crashed so this weeks blog is really last week. We converted from a Tosheba lap top to a Mini mac so we are having to experience a new learning curve.


                                                              FLOWER OF THE WEEK

Between meetings on Sat. we walked around the Stake center and saw this dandelion. It looked so bright and cheery and reminded me of home. It was a delight to see it. Surprizing what a change of surroundings will do to attitude about some things. At home I tried to kill the little yellow things, here I admire them.

This is our 15 sheep powered lawnmower. It is very efficient, self propelled, produces its own gas, automatic lawn fertilizing and can be used as a riding lawn mower if you are so inclined. In fact it is so efficient you can see there's not much lawn left. By going to their pen they provided us with manure for our flower beds.

In the MTC all missionaries are given a piece of elastic 4 inches wide and about three feet long to be used for exercising. The Elders have made good use of it by devising a large flipper crotch. Its about the only thing that will cause the lawn mowers not to work. It has used anything from rocks to old potatoes for fuel.
 Our main focus the last few weeks has been gardening. About half the gardens are roto tilled  so we have some to go. Some gardens we sink in the sand and some are hard white clay. We take the tiller out to the garden and show them how to use it. Today was cold and windy so we are happy to be in for the evening. We did have a few good teaching moments this week which always makes our day.
Love to all,
Elder and Sister Lybbert

WATER

In a dessert like area water is an important commodity. Here in Pinon we are supplied with water from three deap wells. The water tower on the left is one of them. Notice the horse standing under it. Horses are everywhere. In the more rural areas there are wells with the water being pumped by a windmill as seen on the right. This works till something goes wrong and it no longer works. We were talking to a Navajo who has been hauling water for household use and taking her animals four miles to a spring for three years now because the windmill is not working. There are springs in the area where originally the natives got their water. At the Chapter House there is hose where those who haul water can fill their tanks.

We are fortunate here to have very soft water so no water scum or hard water stain. Unlike some areas on the Rez our clothes come out of the wash nice and white. We did have to get used to feeling rather slippery after a shower.

Since water is not always available unless it is hauled outhouses are a common sight here on the Rez. Also Hogans generally cannot accommadate a bathroom. Statistics from 2002 state that 33% do not have indoor plumbing on the Rez. Since here in Pinon we are in the more isolated and more traditional area of the Rez. the outhouse is very visible.

Flower of the week.

Popcorn popping on the apricot tree.

The garden project is moving along. Elder Lybbert is assisting a young man in putting up the fence. At this home the grandmother is raising her six grandchildren. They have grown a patch of the native corn each year but wanted to have a vegtable garden also.

Our week has been mostly involved with the gardens but we had the opportunity to teach a few times.

The highlight of the week has been watching General Conference this weekend and Waynes birthday. Thanks to a few of our daughters he had a party via face time.

Love to all,

Elder and Sister Lybbert