Hello dear
family! I finally sat down and got
caught up on my journal so will attach last week's adventures. It seems that each week gets a little more
adventurous! Today's plan is to head for
St. George to bring back a 28 foot travel trailer to park in Bluff for the
elders who serve that area (right now they are living in Blanding and drive way
too many miles each day). We have spent
more time in the Silverado than we have our car lately. We have been blessed with the strength and
energy we need to keep up such a demanding schedule. We send our love, Elder
and Sister Hunt
Monday: “New
Missionary Day” is always an exciting event in any mission. Our new 16 missionaries coming in
necessitated a lot of changes in our mission from housing to
companionships. Since we only had three
missionaries going home, we opened up six new places for missionaries: Kaibeto, Dulce, Pagosa Springs, Bayfield,
Cameron, Fruitland, and also a new apartment in Page for sisters. The missionaries’ flight from Denver to
Durango was delayed a couple of hours so we didn’t start our orientation
meeting at the mission home until 3:30.
A mission tradition is to serve the new missionaries coming in green
chile pizza as a welcome to New Mexico.
Sister James and I talked Elder James into ordering at least four ham
and pineapple pizzas (Sister James doesn’t like green chile and the pizza we
had for lunch was pretty spicy). It was
a good decision! Elder Hunt and I
stopped to pick up fruit bars on our way to the mission home and since we were
last on the orientation agenda, it was a nice wake-up for those youngsters who
had been up since 1 a.m. (their bus to the airport left Provo about 3 a.m) and
some of them said they didn’t go to bed at all because they were packing and
saying their MTC good-byes. It is always
such fun to see the new missionaries come in and to talk to them.
Tuesday: The
parking lot was full of Colorado trucks as we drove up and the transfer van
and trailer were in the process of being
loaded up. We were pretty busy after we
got down to the office handing out new phones, keys, and last minute apartment
goods that we had missed earlier.
Transfer day is fun to watch and be a part of.
Wednesday: Elder
Hunt went shopping for lumber, stain, and bolts to build steps for the new
travel trailer in Chinle and began his project out in George’shop area. It was a good thing he had a protected place
to work as the rains came off and on while he worked. He didn’t bring his circular saw with him so
ended up buying one. I kidded him that
he just needed to go make friends with the construction crews working on the
three new houses being built at our end of the street. I spent the day at the office working on
referrals and baptisms and also answering the phone as Sister Combs left at
noon. Elder Hunt picked me up at 5:00.
Thursday: For
our devotional I shared one of my favorite quotes from Elder Holland:
“We must never in
any age or circumstance let fear and the father of fear (Satan himself)divert
us from our faith and faithful living….There has been uncertainty about the
future since Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden, requiring living by
faith….God expects you to have enough faith and determination, enough trust in
Him, to keep moving, keep living, keep rejoicing….He expects you to embrace and
shape the future—to love it and rejoice in it and delight in your
opportunities. Is anxiously waiting for
the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always
has. But he can’t if you don’t pray and
He can’t if you don’t dream. In short,
He can if you don’t believe. (D&C
38:9) ‘Gird up your loins and be prepared.
Behold, the kingdom is yours, and the enemy shall not overcome,’” (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Sep 12 2004 CES
Fireside)
After devotional I went to my
oncologist appointment and was pleased that the PET and lab results came back
good. For the rest of the day we shopped
for our Friday delivery and worked on the step project in George’s
backyard. In the evening we loaded the
trailer with furniture and household goods and parked in the Paynes’ yard.
Friday: It
rained during the night so the stain on Elder Hunt’s workworking project wasn’t
very dry, but he got up early and finished cutting and staining anyway. We left for Chinle around 10 am and the drive
there was beautiful. The desert was lush
and green in many spots and there were huge puddles of water all along the way.
The Vogels (Sr. couple in Chinle))
called and invited us to lunch and said they would have it ready when we
arrived. Four young elders drove up in a
truck shortly after we arrived so they volunteered to help unload, and we were
grateful for their help. We took a new
recliner, four “used a bit” kitchen chairs, two lamps, curtains, etc. to the
Vogels; a loveseat and two side chairs and misc. to the Zaleskis; a desk chair
to Sister Balling; and household goods for the new trailer the Johnsons were
moving into. After the trailer was
unloaded there was room for the elders to throw the “used way, way too much”
furniture” in for us to haul back to Farmington. The Johnsons, the new Chinle
missionary couple, arrived mid afternoon before the step project was
finished. I visited with my new senior
missionary friends while Elder Hunt worked to finish up his project. We left Chinle around 7:45 pm and arrived back
in Farmington around 10:30, exhausted but satisfied with our labors and visits.
Saturday: It was nice to be able to sleep in past
7. Since we parked the truck and trailer
in the Paynes’ yard again it was ready for us to hop in and go for a “joy
ride.” We stopped at the AP’s garage to
pick up more Good Will stuff and then headed to that establishment. The hide-a-bed couch in our trailer along
with the half recliner were in such sad condition that even Good Will wouldn’t
take them.so we had no choice but to haul them to the Farmington landfill. The drive out there was very picturesque and
we enjoyed some sightseeing that we hadn’t experienced before. After Elder Hunt got out of the truck at the
drop off sight, a couple of younger guys offered to help him unload his
goods. Their trailer was empty and they
loaded the hide-a-bed and half recliner onto their trailer to take them
home. We got a good chuckle out of that
one.
We rewarded ourselves for our good
deeds by having an afternoon swim in the Paynes’ pool. It was a warm day and the water felt really
good!
The APs dryer went out while they
were doing sheets and towels from transfer and we spent quite a bit of time
trying to find a dryer that would work to help with that situation. We ran clothesline wire back and forth on the
pack porch at their place and found clothespins at the local getting place and
hung out two BIG loads of towels and sheets for them. It was another long, busy day and we finally
got back to our place close to ten.
Summary: We
have been blessed with energy and stamina beyond our own power this week and
can only attribute to Him who says, “I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause
thee to stand, upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.”
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