Weddimg Baskets

                                                         FLOWER OF THE WEEK
We stopped in Holbrook last week to visit a couple who are making some souvenirs for us.  This Century Plant was in their yard. Elder Lybbert has told me about century plants all our married life but this is the first one I had seen. They only bloom once and usually live about 25 years. When they bloom the plant dies. They were quite disappointed when they had two bloom this year because they are a pretty plant and now they are dead. The natives used them for food, medicine and for making needles.
The picture below shows what they look like in bloom.

Elder Lybbert has had a fascination with the native weaving. They used woven baskets for a number of purposes but the wedding basket is the most unique. In a traditional wedding the wedding basket is still used today but not as significantly as in years gone by. Some homes have them as a decoration on the wall.
They are expensive to buy so Elder Lybbert took a picture of these at the Trading Post.

Traditional Wedding Basket

Used in religious ceremonies at traditional Navajo weddings, the woven wedding basket has a distinct pattern of representation. The edge of the basket, a lighter color, represents the brightening skies as dawn approaches. The center design features four points to represent the Navajo's four sacred mountains, and the opening into the center (which Navajos believe should never be pointed downward) signifies an outlet for our thoughts. The bright red weave is the hallmark of sunshine, and is a blessing for Navajo health and spirituality. Black is for darkness, and a time to restore our bodies and minds. The lacing of the weave around the basket's edge represent our roots and human life. And the very center of the basket is representative of the emergence of he Diné, the opening for the First Holy One to come into the First World.

                                              Elder Lybbert, Elder Smith and Sister Lybbert

We sent another Elder home to Utah and received a ranch boy from Idaho, Elder Earl.  He has only been out nine months so we hope to keep him awhile.
We were unable to post our blog this past week because the internet was totally gone on the week-end. It is never very good any more but once in a while it works.
It has been a usual week with nothing spectacular happening but each day something touches us. At our Addiction Recovery class one of the men volunteered to give the opening prayer. This has happened before but they say it in Navajo. This fellow said their Navajo prayer but in English and it was a beautiful prayer. We are continually learning more about the people here.

Today we spent the afternoon in Chinle with the other missionaries and families celebrating Thanksgiving. Elder Orme, who served here and went home several months ago, came with his family which was a special treat for us.

Happy US Thanksgiving
Elder and Sister Lybbert

Grand Canyon

This week we were able to go and see the Grand canyon for the first time. This aster was on the rim of the canyon with a butterfly on it. If you look close there is an orange dot which would be him.

On the way to the Grand Canyon we stopped to see a meteor crater.  A long time ago a meteorite landed with enough force to make this crater 700 feet deep and 4000 feet across.  Below is a piece of the meteorite found several miles away. It is 92% iron, 5% nickel and lots of trace minerals and weighs 4200 pounds. This area has been used for training astronauts to go to the moon because of the similarities to the landscape of the moon.

Pictures are great but to see it for real is much more spectacular.  We also watched the Imax film which was very interesting and is recommended.

With our excursion to the Grand Canyon and shopping in Flag the week has slipped away.  On Tuesday we had a good experience at our Addiction Recovery meeting. The spirit was there and positive comments were made. We have had seven attending lately. Several have turned their life around and been clean for several months. At the end of class one fellow received a phone call saying that there is a chance he can have his job back which was great news. We are excited when we see the change for good in their life and heartbroken when temptation takes over again.

Love to all,
Elder and Sister Lybbert

Rabbit Bush

The Rabbit bush is most prolific along the roads. earlier it was a brighter yellow but is now going to seed. The rabbits like to hide in it therefore the name Rabbit bush. The yellow flowers are used for dyeing wool and years back the stems were used for weaving baskets. The bush on the lower right has been eaten by the livestock but it doesn't appear to be a favorite food. Everything had its use at one time.

If you love sunshine, beautiful sunrises and sunsets, and green is not your favorite color then Arizona is the place for you.

Our first and only tarantula we have seen this summer. We see few spiders here but when we do they are large.

Our Branch trunk and treat. We had an annual pot luck supper and then trunk and treat. At first it appeared not many were coming but eventually we had a good crowd. This is probably the warmest Halloween we will experience. It was in the 20's and we had the swamp cooler on in the afternoon. The nights get cool.
This has been a first of the month week so few people are at home but we still kept busy. With Halloween and people stopping by needing this and that and getting people to where they need to go it keeps us going.  Contractors were remodelling and painting the church this week so it took us all Sat. morning to clean up. Our Branch president was moving this weekend so we helped out there also.  Thanks for all the prayers in our behalf. They are appreciated.
 Love to all,
Elder and Sister Lybbert