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