An Eventful Week

                                                            FLOWER OF THE WEEK
I don't know where these flowers find the moisture or inclination to grow but they are a bright spot  in the sand.

On Thursday it was Zone Conference  in Gallup. Since we still do not have a van we depended on the young Elders to get us there and back. They were leaving on Wed. afternoon which was the 4th of July, Independence day. They took us to a hotel and we were able to watch the celebrations in Washington DC, New York and when they were over we opened up the drapes in our room and watched the fireworks in Gallop.
Zone conference was great. Its always good to visit with the other missionaries and we were able to meet President and Sister Batt, our new mission president. They are from Idaho and great people. Elder Batt served in the same mission Elder Lybbert did in North and South Dakota.  When addressing us senior missionaries Pres. Batt mentioned he had turned 62 and was old. Everyone had a good laugh since we were all much older than that.

On the way home I was sitting in the front with Elder Akaka feeling rather tired with my eyes closed when something startled me and I looked up to see a vehicle flying by rolling down the road and Elder Akaka driving into the ditch.
The guys all jumped out and started phoning 911. It rang busy but another bystander new the ambulance number so was able to phone directly. I sat there a few minutes not wanting to face what might be but then thought of my parents when they were in an accident and my mom said everyone stood around but no one helped so I walked back to the vehicle. A women was in the vehicle hanging by her feet from the seat belt. Her body had gone through the window so her head and arms were outside the truck. She was conscious and groaning with blood coming from her head..  I went down beside her and talked to her and held her hand and arms trying to reassure her. I kept asking Elder Lybbert and Elder G if there wasn't some thing we could do to relieve her suffering since she was literally hanging upside down but they kept assuring me that nothing could be done till the ambulance got there. She started hollering with pain and I told her if it helped holler louder. It seemed to take forever but the police and ambulance finally came. While I was with the lady other women came, found the ladies wallet and phone on the highway and phoned her family.

This is the truck. Elder G was in the back seat but saw the whole accident. The red truck was coming toward us when a van started to pass several vehicles in a no passing zone. When it saw us it started to pull in behind the red truck but was moving too fast.  It hit the red truck at about the rear wheel and lifted the truck of the ground and sent it rolling. As soon as the van stopped the driver jumped out, flagged down a white car that was behind us, jumped in and they took off. A lady that was driving behind the van said they had been driving erratically for some time.
Elder Lybbert measured and it was a hundred feet from where the truck was hit till it veered into the ditch and eventually stopped. Miraculously it stayed in the other lane and didn't come into ours. It stopped at a total of 360 feet.

There were four guys in the van. This is the police searching the van and putting handcuffs on the three remaining men.

This is Elder A writing out his statement. He said he was looking at the road and then saw a vehicle rolling down the road like in the movies and he automatically drove toward the ditch.
Things could have been so much worse.  We appreciate so much all the prayers that are said in our behalf  and the blessings we receive. We arrived  back at the trailer feeling rather shaken. It was our day to feed the missionaries dinner so we made tacos and we all ate while we calmed down.

You will notice in the pictures there are clouds in the sky. Locals keep telling us this is monsoon season but so far this is as close to rain as we have got .  We have felt a few sprinkles and there was a light shower for a few minutes one day. We are having summer stew from our garden for dinner.
Another week is ending and our van is still not with us. (waiting on parts)  Nothing works here like in the real world. Count our blessings, have patience and pray the parts will be here Monday.
We did have a couple people stop by today. One lady came because her mentally challenged son wanted to learn to pray.  She said their native traditional ceremonies didn't teach them. We did our best to teach them the basics of prayer. Most people here have little knowledge of Jesus Christ and his ministry but are anxious to learn of him and want to pray.

Love to all,
Elder and Sister Lybbert