Home Sweet Home

This past month we have had the opportunity of spending time with our family. Jaysons' problem was diagnosed as Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome which means that there is an extra opening between the upper and lower heart for electrical currents to go through.  In his case they happened to line up just right to cause the heart to fail. The doctors went up through a vein and cauterized it so hopefully that will solve the problem.
When Jayson came home we headed for Lloydminister where we had a fun visit with our daughter Tricia and family. Then to Cherry Grove to visit my mother. She had been quite sick in January but was feeling much better when we arrived. We had a good time taking her to visit friends and family.
Last weekend we spent with our daughter Angies family in Okotoks where we attended the blessing of our latest granddaughter, Greta.
Tomorrow our grandson, Danny, will be made a deacon so we look forward to being with  his family.
This week we have been getting settled into life at home. We have enjoyed visiting with friends and family here in Magrath. We miss our friends in Pinon and will always have fond memories of our time their. Sunday the 24th we give our homecoming talk in sacrament meeting. Looking back it all seems like a pleasant dream but it really did happen. This is our last post so thanks to everyone for your love and interest in our lives.

Love you all,
Wayne and Donna Lybbert

Hello Canada!

Last Saturday evening we received a phone call that made some changes in our life. Our grandson, Jayson, collapsed while at his part time job setting up trade show displays.  When they found him he was not breathing so the first aiders their started AR until the paramedics arrived. His lungs had filled with blood so they could not get air to him  so they applied the sock treatment, I am not familiar with the real name, and on the third try his heart started beating.  That night was difficult for the family but morning he was stabilized.
We were still in Arizona and weren't sure what the outcome would be and felt like we should be their for our kids. With the help of the branch members we packed up and left Sunday afternoon. Arrived in Magrath Tuesday afternoon, had a fun time with our kids there and left next morning for Fort Saskatchewan.
Jayson is a miracle boy  and is improving each day. He regained consciousness on Monday and his memory is getting a little better each day. The specialists are still trying to determine what went wrong  and what to do. His heart is healthy but beats too fast, especially if he stands up and walks and not sure whats going on with the lungs. More tests and theories happening each day.
We are grateful for the many prayers that have been said and the blessings our family have received this past week.
It was very heart wrenching to leave the mission field especially a month early and not prepared for it. It has taken some adjusting but we are glad to be of service here. Our daughter and son in law are with Jayson 24 hours a day so we take care of things at home.
We love you all,
Wayne and Donna

Valentine Date Night

                                                       HAPPY VALENTINES WEEK

On Valentines day evening the Branch had a valentines date night. We had a roast beef dinner and enjoyed an evening of visiting and socializing.  Elder Earl sitting in the background spent the evening shivering and shaking with a fever so at the end he was given a blessing and sent home to bed.

Another big event this week was the baptism of our newest eight year old in the branch. It was a fun time for all as you can tell by all the happy faces. We were served a luncheon after, a long sandwich cut in pieces, mutton hominy stew,cream of broccoli soup and two cakes. We enjoyed the broccoli soup and Elder Lybbert liked the cake.
We love all our wonderful friends here. What a blessing the gospel of Jesus Christ is to us all.

Love to all,
Elder and Sister Lybbert

Beautiful People, Beautiful Jewelry

Another form of art here is the beautiful jewellery.  The Navajo people love wearing the turquoise and silver jewellery and many of them make it as a way of earning a living. This picture is typical of the elderly with their beautiful necklaces, broaches, and bracelets. Turquoise and silver are mined in Arizona and New Mexico so it has been a part of the native culture for a long time.

This type of jewellery are what the Zunis are known for. The upper necklace is called a Squash Blossom design and is very beautiful and expensive. It is also very heavy. The broaches and bracelet are Needlepoint design and are also very expensive and beautiful.

The pawn shops have many pieces of this type of jewellery. The older it is the more valuable it is.

This necklace was made by a 93 old gentleman. He gathers the stones, polishes them and makes jewellery and then gives it to the missionaries.

Beadwork is sold at flea markets and Trading posts and we often have ladies come to the door trying to sell their jewellery.

Jewellery is very popular with the men as well as the ladies

Elder Earl decided we needed a Branch Social to promote Family Home Evening  and show the members how to have fun. The above pictures are a cookie eating contest done by putting a cookie on the forehead and working it down to your mouth. There were several who were successful.

We did the Limbo while everyone was coming and then Elder Hodges gave a short lesson about Family Home Evening and its purpose. We then played musical chairs, elephant relay,  human pretzel, donut eating contest, and decorated valentine cookies.
Everyone had a great time and hopefully went home with some ideas to do in their own families. The plan is to have a Family Fun Night once a month in the Branch so we hope Elder Earl will be here for awhile.
We had our first of the season gardening meeting on Saturday. Our spring weather had changed to blowing snow so we wondered how many would brave the weather to attend. We did have quite a few come out which was good. We like to start early in the spring to get everyone enthused about gardening this summer and hopefully to encourage them to start early in getting the soil prepared. The soil is very pour here but when it is built up with sheep manure, humate and fertilizer it grows great gardens.

The roads were dry this (until today) so we were able to get out and visit more members which was good. In several of the homes we have been teaching the life of Christ since their understanding of Christ and his teachings are very limited. One family asked if we could get a picture of Christ and the Ten Commandments to put on their wall. We were only too happy to do this. We are asked daily to give prayers for healing and blessing homes. It still amazes us how much faith the people here have in  prayers. it is a blessing to have the opportunity to serve the people here.

Love to all,
Elder and Sister Lybbert

Mud Days on the High Desert

The snow had melted which created some mud when it decided to rain for three days and then snow some more so the dirt roads are now mud. We have stayed on the pavement but the young Elders have had a good time with their four wheel truck playing in the mud. They are able to get out to see the people which has been a good.

 These wall hangings are interesting. On the left is a Hopi throwing stick made by Glorias' Hopi friend who is now passed on. On the right is a bow and arrows Glorias' father had made when he was young. In the center is an ultra modern pest exterminator used by the Navajo people extensively in the summer.

                                                                  Hopi Prayer Feathers
These feathers were also given to Gloria by her Hopi friend. There are eagle, turkey, and roadrunner feathers. There are prayers that go with the different feathers for the well being of the body and mind. Gloria says that seeing roadrunners here is quite common but we have not seen one yet that I know of.

This week is an end of month week and also a beginning of month which is not a good time for missionary work besides all the mud. We did have a Zone Conference with all the senior missionaries in the mission, about 25 couples, this week. It is always a great experience to meet with President and Sister Batt and the missionaries. This was the last Zone Conference we will be attending before we leave for home so we gave our farewell testimonies.  It made us realize that it is a reality that we will be leaving for home next month on March 18th and reporting to our ward on the 24th.

Love to all,
Elder and Sister Lybbert

The Long Walk

This painting is done on a piece of slate stone and is called The Long Walk. I was told it depicted the return home, back to their homeland after their incarceration.

In the mid 1800's the Indian people, called Dine' of northern Arizona and New Mexico were in conflict with the military. The military had built Fort Defiance on their land and had patrols going into their territory causing problems. In retaliation the Dine's started harassing the patrols and supply trains. By 1860 the annual report of Indian affairs called for a reservation for the Dine to be the best solution. It was eventually decided that the Dine' should be moved to Bosque Redondo, 400 miles away on the eastern planes to live in close proximity to their enemies the Apaches.
Kit Carson, under General Carlton, was put in charge and proceeded to destroy the Indians crops, kill or confiscate their animals   until the Indians surrendered. This was not successful so they continued their burning of crops, sheep, horses and homes in the more settled area of Canyon de Chelly. When winter set in the people were starving and in February 1864 3000 Dines surrendered and were incarcerated at Fort Wingate. Many were dyeing of dysentery and exposure. Thus began the forced marches across New Mexico to Fort Sumner of about 9000 men, women and children called the Long Walk. Many died while walking in the midst of blizzards with little food.
Carltons goal were two fold: to defeat the Navajos and make New Mexico safe for further settlement and exploitation of mineral resources and to civilize and Christianize the Navajos and Apaches.
They were put on 6000 acres of land and 3000 was put under cultivation of corn and wheat. Cutworms infested the corn and storms destroyed the wheat. In 1865 and 1866, through the hard labor of the Navajos, nearly 6000 acres was planted. Once again the harvest was low. The government was spending $62,000 a month to feed the Navajos. Navajos were disappearing, going back to their native lands. This continued till 1868 when a treaty was signed allowing them to go back to their homelands. They were given some compensation for their rehabilitation.
The Navajo nation is made up of several Indian tribes but mostly Apache. The name Navajo was not used much until their incarceration at Bosque Redondo.  The word Navajo comes from a Spanish word meaning 'farm fields in the valley' and was given to them because they lived in the canyons and grew crops. Early Spanish chronicles referred to the Navajo as,("Apaches who farm in the valley")  Because it was not an original Indian name some prefer  to be referred to as the Dine' which means 'the people' or the old people.
One account said that they are the only Indian nation to have their ancestral lands given to them for their reservation.

                                                        Out of the Mouth of Children
We drove a lady to the clinic this week and while she went in her seven year old nephew stayed in the van with us. This was the conversation:
"Do you have some candy?"
"No, we don't have candy today"
"Do you have cookies?"
"No, the cookies are at the trailer."
"Did you borrow this van?"(In his world you don't own a car you borrow one)
"No, this is our van."
(While touching my hair)
"Did you wash your hair?"
"Yes I washed my hair."
"Its bouncy. Are you going somewhere". (From this I assume that as far as he is concerned hair is washed only when you have somewhere to go.)
This continued on as he asked about everything in the van such as "Can you play games on that thing?", meaning the GPS. He was such fun I have been smiling about it ever since.

We started out our week with 60 in attendance at sacrament meeting and Elder Earl, Naaniibaa, and Antonia singing 'I Am A Child of God' in Navajo. It was a big hit.

This week we have had beautiful weather and we have been kept busy each day taking care of needs.  On Friday we had a funeral at the church. Since the burial ground was a long way out on muddy roads we didn't attend but the young Elders went. It was a very traditional burial so they shot the horse belonging to the deceased and buried the saddle and belongings in the grave. Elder Earl, our ranch boy, had a hard time seeing a horse shot but burying a saddle was really to much.

The beautiful weather has turned to rain. It has been raining steady for 24 hours and no sign of quitting.  This is great for this area. With all this moisture the natives say they will be able to plant their corn fields this year. In the meantime we stay on the pavement.

Love to All,
Elder and Sister Lybbert

Horse Hair Art

Pottery was an important necessity in the earlier days of the native culture when they used clay pottery for every day use. Now it is an art form, one of which is the Horse Hair pottery and figures. When the art piece is hot, horse hair is applied, fine lines using hair from the mane and coarser lines using hair from the tail. (They do have a use for all these horses on the roads) The heat causes the hair to twist and turn making each piece different and unique. The piece is then fired and polished.

                                                  Figurines of a Navajo man and woman
 

                                         

                                      A jewellery box given to us by a very good friend here.

The most exciting thing that happened this week was the arrival of our new granddaughter, Greta Ruth, on Thursday.  Her grandpa sits and stares at her picture on the screen dreaming about holding her in a couple of months.  We do enjoy the modern technology that keeps us in touch with our family.
Our missionary work went on as usual this week with doing some teaching, assisting a sister and her daughter to get to Flag so she could take the bus to Phoenix where she hopes to get a job. Feeding the dogs of another sister who went to surgery. While we were in Flag Annie fell and broke her hip so she will not be coming around for awhile. The weather has warmed up and the snow is leaving fast so we can enjoy our walks more and start looking forward to spring.

Love to all,
Elder and Sister Lybbert

Sand Paintings

A few months ago we were visiting with a family and the husband, JR or the Sandman, took us out to his workshop to show us his sand paintings. He had done some beautiful work but needed the moulding to make the frames. We were going to the city so offered to buy some for him in exchange for some paintings.

                                A Navajo Sand Painting of a "SUN" traditional (The Beauty Way)
Sand painting was originally done as part of the ceremony for healing and not for art.  Healing was done through ritualism, prayer, ceremonies and herbology.  During the ceremony in which the painting is done the Earth People and Holy People come into harmony with each other restoring balance and beauty in the person that is ill.

These paintings are made from sand that JR gathers from the area except for yellow and blue which he bought. The black is coal from the area. The native people are very gifted in many forms of art, so for the next several blogs we plan to show you some of the art work we have collected.

This week has been filled with all the little things that make each day special:
Since Bro. Stowells showed us how to use magic jack on the iPad so we were able to phone family free of charge especially my Mom who has been ill.
Hearing Terrel, who is nine, give a beautiful prayer when we met with him and his family and read from the New Testament stories for children. (We completed the Book of Mormon Stories before Christmas.)
Visiting with Alice and listening to her struggles and sharing some scriptures with her and her faith in prayer.
Grateful for the little acts of service we were able to give our friends here like taking Vicky and Edison to pick up coal that was being given out at the chapter house, taking mail and water to Gloria, giving a young man a Book of Mormon because he wanted to learn about Moroni  etc. etc.
Meeting a new couple that has moved into our branch from Missouri and sharing a birthday dinner with them.
All the kind letters and messages that have come wishing me a Happy Birthday.

We Love You All,
Elder and Sister Lybbert

HAPPY NEW YEAR

                                                                 Flower of the Week
This interesting plant is called Winterfat because animals feed on it in the wintertime.  In years gone by it also had medicinal uses.

We are having winter. Snow has been on the ground since Dec. 15th so we have experienced icy street. The plus side is that on the dirt roads the snow has filled in some of the washboard so they are smoother.

We had a good New Years. Our friends the Stowels invited for New Years Eve which was a pleasant evening. Next day the Huxholds came over so Elder Lybbert could show Pres. Huxhold how he makes his rolls in the dutch oven. They also made Cranberry Chicken so it was a good dinner.

We have enjoyed the Holiday Season with family and friends but now its time to get back to work. Our Holiday was saddened by my mother getting quite ill but she seems to be on the mend so we hope this will continue. We had news this week that our release date from our mission has been changed to March 20. We had very mixed feelings when we heard and realized our time here is coming to an end. We have made so many good friends that it will be hard to leave them but we do miss our family and friends at home.
We wish you all a Happy New Year
Elder and Sister Lybbert