PS I'm going to try to attach a pic of Elder Hunt in front of the
Mexican Hat Rock, Sister Hunt at Monument Valley, and Monument Valley
chapel
Sunday: Maren wanted to attend Kirtland 3rd
ward which is Jimmy and Sandy’s ward so we all went together. After sacrament meeting, Dennis and I took
Lauana back to the Beehive House. We
visited with her while she ate her lunch and then she wanted to go lie down and
rest. I helped her take her shoes off
and tucked her under a blanket. I bent
down and kissed her on the cheek and told her that I love her to which she
responded, “I love you too, good-bye Linda!”
Boy, was that a surprise!
It was Fast Day for Farmington 8th Ward and
the Payne’s tradition is to have breakfast foods to break their fast. For dinner we had hash browns, scrambled
eggs, bacon, sausage, rolls, and fruit.
We always enjoy our Sunday visits at their house.
Monday: President Batt met with the mission office
staff to begin our day. He advised us of
upcoming assignments and happenings that we need to prepare for. He also wanted us to be aware of the Zone
Conference schedule the following day and Elder Paul Johnson’s visit to our
mission. By afternoon the place was
buzzing with elders and sisters from all over the Farmington, Bloomfield, and
Durango zones.
Tuesday; Zone Conference Day: A tradition in our mission is to have all of
the elders who will be going home before the next zone conference have an
opportunity to bear their testimony. Two
of our APs, Elders Nielsen and Jeskie both had that opportunity and it was good
to hear from them. President and Sister
Batt gave exceptionally good talks as did Elder Johnson and his wife. The theme was “Exact Obedience.” It is always fun to observe the missionaries
interacting with other missionaries they haven’t seen in a while. We enjoyed visiting with the Sr. couples that
we don’t get to see very often. Elder
Johnson spent some time discussing with the missionaries the impact of the new
ages that missionaries will soon be as they come into our mission and what the
implications will be of training, etc.
We loved being a part of that meeting.
Wednesday: We spent a good part of the day picking up
the pieces from the day before. In the
afternoon I went to Kirtland for organ and piano lessons. I always get more than I give during those
sessions and have made some dear friends.
Thursday: We spent the morning at the office and came
home at noon to get ready for another inspection tour. We made cookie dough and cookies to take with
us to our missionaries. It’s quite a
trick to bake cookies in a toaster oven!
Friday: Red Mesa, CO was our first stop. The elders there live in the barn loft and it
is actually quite unique. They spend the
first part of the week there and the end of the week in Mancos, CO. We caught up with them in Mancos and that is
a rather unique place as well. The
elders live in an apartment the Bishop there built to the side of his house
(kinda like George’s). Their big double
doors overlook the mountains and a meadow with a pond. They have to have the best view of anyone in
the mission!
From Mancos we drove to Cortez, CO where we have two sets
of elders. It certainly warmed our
hearts to see how both of those places have been cleaned up. We had been to Dolores during the past month
so we didn’t revisit there, but instead headed on up the road to
Monticello. We checked into our motel
and went to the 5:00 pm temple session.
We saw quite a few deer hunters around town. After the session, we visited our sister
missionaries in Monticello—they are both cute girls. They live in a cozy, tidy, small, pink house
which is perfect for them.
Saturday: In Blanding we have two sets of elders
also. We were lucky to catch one pair just
as they were leaving for a service project.
The other pair was still “studying” when we got to their little house as
one of them is a trainer and the other still in the 12 week training program. We
made a quick trip to Alco to pick up a few things for them (map, dustpan,
frying pan). From Blanding we drove to Bluff.
We didn’t see the elders there as they were at a baptism in Montezuma
Creek, but Elder Hunt DID have an opportunity to fit the Styrofoam insulation
into place inside the trailer skirting there and spent a couple of hours
finishing up that project. We decided to spend the rest of the day
sight-seeing so took the “scenic route” back to Farmington which included
Mexican Hat, Goosenecks State Park, Monument Valley, and Kayenta. The highlight of our afternoon was stopping
to see the beautiful little chapel that has recently been completed at Monument
Valley. It has sandstone facing on the
front of the building and has desert landscaping. They haven’t been able to dedicate it yet
because the Navajo Nation has not given them water rights to the property. One of the elders who has served in Blanding
told us that the Blanding Stake has had many fasts in behalf of that little
chapel (which is in their stake). I’m
sure a miracle is in the making for Monument Valley.
We visited the elders
in Kayenta, and then visited with the three Sr. couples there. One
couple had just pulled their 5th wheel in the day before, and
one couple was leaving to go home
in a couple of days to Spanish Fork, to the same ward we lived in
there. They knew all of our
old neighbors, what fun! We
arrived home around 10:30 and were glad to have a bed to fall into.
It was a glorious weekend and we so enjoyed the beautiful fall colors
and the wonders of nature
and people everywhere we went. It
was a special time for us to be able to share such a fun
weekend together.
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