Teepees

                                                            FLOWER OF THE WEEK
These pretty flowers are called the Rocky Mountain Bee Plant. Very appropriate since they are covered in bees. Locally they are called wild spinach. In years gone by they were gathered when young plants and cooked for food. We passed this field a couple miles out of Pinon and it was such a treat to see. We have had a few showers the last few weeks and I guess it was enough moisture for them to grow.

                                                       HAVE TRUCK WILL TRAVEL
As you can see the back of trucks are used as passenger vehicles here. In the top left they have just bought a sheep and are on their way home. The second picture was taken on the highway coming home one day when it was pouring rain. Not a very pleasant ride for the ladies in the back.  The rest are random shots around town.

TeePees are often seen on the weekends. They are used for several traditional ceremonies. The NAC (Native American Church) use them for their ceremonies. Some Medicine Men  use them for their healing ceremonies. They say medicine men will charge anywhere from a few hundred dollars for a healing session up to a few thousand.  If a TeePee is used it generally means that peyote is used which is a hallucinating drug. It seems its the younger men who do the peyote thing on the week-ends. The TeePee or the peyote is not traditional to the Navajo people so the word traditional is very loosely used.
There are those families that have a TeePee just for fun.

TeePee poles are at many of the homes but we seldom see a TeePee set up so not sure what the purpose is.  Maybe aspiring medicine men or they're hoping to sell them.

We have enjoyed being able to get out and visit with the members this week.  We have missed the contact while our van has been getting fixed. Several who are grieving have come to us this week seeking comfort. We feel inadequate but do our best to comfort and Elder Lybbert gives blessings of comfort. The people here have such tragic things happen in their lives and they look to the missionaries as their ray of hope. There is so  little we can do for them but listen and love them.

Love to all,
Elder and Sister Lybbert  

Rain in Pinon

                                                            FLOWER OF THE WEEK
Asters are very common wild flowers here and come in many varieties. These are Baby asters or Heath asters.

This was taken out our back door.  A fairly common sight here but it was interesting that on a 90F (35C) day the boys are wearing knitted hats, which is also very common here.

Its actually raining. We were expecting that fresh smell after a rain but were disappointed when it smelled more like barnyard.  We have had a few showers since and the smell gets better and better. Last night we had a light show for over an hour with sheet lightning lighting up the whole sky.

Water in Wepo wash at sunset. The first water we have seen in a wash.

Another birthday party. This time Larry's. Elder Lybbert made his cheese cake and we went to celebrate with them. We phoned to say we were coming and there were six little girls all waiting for us when we arrived. This is in their Hogan. I am standing in front of the kitchen cupboards and stove and Elder Lybbert is is sitting on the bed.

Our garden is growing. Elder Lybbert is behind the corn waving. The cobs are just starting to form. The peas are done and we hope the cantaloupe and watermelon start setting on. Zucchini is plentiful.

Our driveway is no longer empty.  Is our car working? Not really. Might be after our mechanic picks up some more parts in Phoenix next week. By the time this is over we should have a brand new van on the inside. Last Wed. the Elder Hunt from the mission office brought us a new microwave and furniture which was unexpected but much appreciated. Elder Hunt also explained our car problem to the Pres. and he authorized us to use a church truck till our van is fixed. We rode back to Farmington with him and brought it back. A brand new chevy truck.
In the meantime we have had some good lessons with our mechanics family. Their seven year old is  amazing when it comes to understanding the plan of salvation.  He just seems to know all about it. The parents were baptized when young but have not attended church since. They asked us to start teaching their family because their son wanted to learn how to pray.  We find that the children are so enthused about the gospel and the parents want them to understand about God but don't understand it themselves. Each day we hope and pray we can be a positive influence in the lives of others and now we have a ride(local term) we can continue our work more effectively. Thanks for all the faith and prayers.

Love to all,
Elder and Sister Lybbert

Uneventful Week

                                                            FLOWER OF THE WEEK
The rose is definitely not native to Arizona but it is a bright spot in our yard when it blooms, that is till the wind blows and the petals fall off.

These are some of the Shimas we have met and visit with.Upper left to right. You have met Annie. This is her spot on our couch where she has a little nap. Ruth is 95 and still weaves small rugs. Here she is winding yarn. Shima waiting for the commodities truck. Lower left to right. Rennie, a lovely lady, who herds her sheep three miles to water and feed each day. Mrs Chee who was delighted to have us take her picture. Marcella who invited us to lunch. Our neighbor who has the sheep that pasture here out bringing them home. A lady at the flea market wearing beautiful jewellery.

This Hogan is built the traditional way which is interesting. It is used for ceremonial purposes. This Shima lives in a more modern Hogan.

Transfer week and it was Elder Gs turn to move on. He is wearing a Bluebird apron which I make for departing missionaries. We get very attached to our missionaries and miss them but Elder G is still in the same zone so we may get to see him. Elder Amott is now with us from Utah and Elder Akaka from Hawaii is still here but this is the first time we have not had at least one Elder from Idaho. Our new mission pres. is from Idaho so I guess that counts.

The highlight of our week was a 40th birthday party for Roxanne. We had them plus a few friends for dinner and Elder Lybbert baked a black forest cake in his dutch oven.

Our week was not very productive since we are still without a vehicle. We won't go into the particulars but we are on the Rez. We do need your faith and prayers so we can get on with the work here.

Love to all,
Elder and Sister Lybbert

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