Random Rez

                                                           FLOWER OF THE WEEK
We stopped to take a picture of the thistle and this Lesser Goldfinch posed for us.  Niger seed is a favorite food of goldfinch.

We saw this Turkey Vulture along side the road . A rather ugly but unique bird.

This picture may not look to unusual to many of you but for us it was amazing. Even though the roads are rough, deep washboards and sand traps this was the first time we have seen a grader actually working on a road in six months.

One day we came over a hill to see windrows. My first thought was hay but on a closer look it was where they had cleared the sage brush in rows and I assume tried planting grass in between.


                                                            GARDEN UPDATE
The gardens are growing. We planted corn in stages so we should have corn longer. This picture was taken on June 27 and the one below three days later.  Corn grows fast on these hot days.

In the front are the peas, carrots, beets and swiss chard. In one of the gardens we visited this week they were eating zucchini. Our zucchini  won't be ready for a couple of weeks.

As you can see we had a baptism this week. Elder Lybbert and I were invited to come and teach the Begay family about six months ago. We have enjoyed getting to know them. A few weeks ago  several of the children expressed a desire to be baptized so we had the young Elders start getting them ready. Monday evening Tatyanna asked if she could be baptized on her birthday which was Saturday. The Elders were able to get things arranged and here they are.

Code Talkers

                                                                CODE TALKERS

                                                         FLOWER OF THE WEEK
So many beautiful little flowers growing in the sand and rock.  This is a Scarlet Gilia.

This is a peak at our wildlife outside our trailer. A Say's Phoebe nesting on top of the light at the church. The spotted ground squirrel taking advantage of the bird seed. The usual birds, doves, house sparrows, house finch coming for their daily handout and enjoying the bird bath. We have identified three different lizards, the horned lizard, sagebrush and this guy the Whiptail lizard. We still haven't seen any little ones but we expect to see some soon.

We found the history of the code talkers very interesting. It is the Navajos name to fame and they are mentioned often. The last of the original 29 code talkers passed away last spring.

This is what is called window rock.  The town of Wind Rock is the head of the Navajo Nation where the headquarters for the reservation is located.  About 3000 people live here but the neighbouring towns of  Fort Defiance and St. Michaels add to the population.

These are a few of the office buildings both old and new at Window Rock.

Whats missing in this picture?? No, its not the green grass, no, its not flowers, no, its not the screen door the wind blew off. The clue is that we are home. You guessed it. Our trusty van is gone. These rough, sandy roads were too much for it and it started complaining in the transmission. We contemplated whether to fix it or look for another vehicle but after a little shopping on the computer at the prices here and all the inconvenience decided to fix her up. We hope to have her back and running hopefully sooner than later.  We had a flat tire Monday(fortunately after returning home from a gardening meeting in Tuba) and took her to Gary to fix and were back on Wednesday with transmission problems.
With car trouble and very hot weather we haven't been able to do as much contacting as we would like. We did have a lesson with Garys' family who came here since we couldn't go to them. Their 7 year old boy has been insisting on saying prayers and they wanted him to learn how.  We had a good lesson on how to pray and the restoration . Their son said the closing prayer and did a great job. Our testimony of the truthfulness  of the scriptures continues to grow as we teach and study

Love to all,
Elder and Sister Lybbert

Walnut Canyon

                                                          FLOWER OF THE WEEK
These yellow bushes were abundant in the canyon. They are Desert Barberry and the berries are edible and used for many different recipes.

WALNUT CANYON

On our way to Flagstaff last week we saw a sign saying Walnut Canyon so we stopped to explore. There was a visitors center telling about the history of the native people who lived in the canyon hundreds of years ago. Looking across the canyon at the long dark gaps can be seen ruins of dwellings. Its a steep cliff so amazing how they would get down there and how they prevented their kids from falling off the cliff. Its called walnut Canyon because of the Arizona Black walnut trees that grow there.

There were steps going down 180 feet and then a mile of trail down to these ruins.  They built a wall at the front of the overhang and partitions to divide the rooms. I'm holding my skirt because it was windy. I thought leaving Pinon might mean that we would be out of  the wind but not so.

Some of the walls have been reconstructed to show how they would have been. It has been interesting learning the different ways the people lived. The cliffs would have been cool in summer, easy to heat in the winter although there was nowhere for a chimney to let the smoke out, and good protection from their enemies.

                                                               Mya and her parents

This week we have had most of our appointments fall through but we did have a couple of good lessons. We did have 52 members and investigators out to church last week which was more than usual. Four of our bellagona(white) teachers have moved on so most everyone at church were Navajo. Within the next month we will find out who is moving in. They have a big turnover of teachers at the school here. Saturday was the baptism of one of the primary children so that was a fun day. It was interesting when I was asked to lead the music since I hadn't done it before. The first song was okay since it was I Am a Child of God but the last song I had never heard before. We were all invited to the Utes home afterwards for hamburgers and hotdogs with the trimmings. Great people!

Love to all,
Elder and Sister Lybbert

Wool Buy

                                                        FLOWER OF THE WEEK
There are so many pretty flowers here growing in the sand and clay. I could not identify this one in the field guide but I like it.

                                  This sign had been up for several weeks but the day finally came.

There were vehicles lined up all day long selling the wool from their sheep. The bags came in all shapes and sizes. Some wool was in bags made from old sheets, some in garbage bags and some just tied up. The semi truck belongs to the wool buyer.

Elder Lybbert went over to talk to the buyer and ask about prices. He showed him how he graded the wool. He made a slit in the bag in several places, pulled a little wool out and gave the price. Fine wool is $1.10 a pound, coarse $.65 a pound and goat hair $.05 a pound. Bashas(grocery store) parking lot was full all day to so they benefitted from the wool buy too.

We had a Zone Conference this week which is the last with President and Sister Jones.  President and Sister Batt arrive at the end of the month. We had a very interesting and motivating meeting which helps us to keep moving forward.  Today(Sunday) we were able to bring a family to church who haven't been able to come for awhile and then they stayed for dinner. A family we have been teaching for awhile also attended and want to come back next week. The mother was baptized on the placement program and now some of her children want to be baptized.
At the beginning of the week we visited some gardens and were feeling a little discouraged but today we stopped to see some and they were looking great. Its interesting what manure, water and some seeds added to sand  can grow. Some haul all their water so they have to make use of every drop of water. No sign of rain yet. Last week we were told that maybe if us white people did the Rain Dance it would work for us. I told them that if word gets around that the senior missionaries are doing strange things in the parking lot that they will know we tried.

Love to all,
Elder and Sister Lybbert

Witch mountain

                                                            FLOWER OF THE WEEK
The prickly-pear is in full bloom now and are very pretty. This picture doesn't really show them to advantage.

We took Gloria to Cottonwood (halfway between here and Chinle) since it was memorial day and she wanted to decorate her parents graves. While there she showed us where she lived growing up.  This log cabin is called the 'Mormon Cabin' because years ago, probably during the fifties, the Mormon missionaries lived in it. Her family were baptized during this time. She said a missionary couple lived there and taught her mother how to make yeast bread and cakes. her brother said the missionaries were a great help to their family.

Their cabin was at the bottom of the tall rock. I asked if she was afraid as a child that it would fall on them. She said she was and if they looked straight up it looked like it was swaying. They did have a good time playing and climbing on the rocks. There are prickly pear cactus everywhere. The family ate the blossom end. Gloria said they are sweet and very good. They had a large corn field which her brother still plants. The children were all taken to boarding school so they didn't have much time for family life. A bus came and picked them up in Sept., brought them back for Christmas and then took them back till June.

 

They called this rock the witch rock because turned on its side it looks like two witch faces.

This week seems to have gone by quite quickly. We were glad to hear that Marcy is home healing well.  
We had a pot luck cook out with one of the clans so Elder Lybbert had a good time cooking in his dutch ovens. The older Navajos cooked in dutch ovens only used wood coals rather than  bricketts so they were very interested in it. I was able to practice the art of making fry bread and learned more about it but need more practice.
On Thursday Elder Lybbert went with Bro. Stowles to introduce him to a mechanic here so he could get his truck fixed. Gary and his wife came to pick up the truck. While talking to Joanne she said  their seven year old son at the dinner table that day said he wanted to say a prayer. After him saying his version of a prayer she commented that it was time they went back to church. A few minutes later Elder Lybbert and Bro. Stowles knocked on the door. She said they used to go to church but then their little girl passed away accidentally and their life was very difficult. We had stopped by to see them a couple of times but had not been able to meet with the family so had not gone back. We now have an appointment to meet with them on Thursday evenings so hopefully we can be of service to the family.

Love to all,
Elder and Sister Lybbert