I guess our main topic of concern this week was the weather. We started out with that big snowstorm on Tuesday, then a couple days of just clouds, and the storms starting up again on Friday. There are places where the soil is clay so there is a lot of standing water around. There are also a lot of places where we can't get in to visit and they can't get out either. I just hope they all have a good stockpile of wood, because no one is going to be able to get up in the hills to do any wood gathering with the mud as deep as it is.

We were certain our numbers would be sparse today at Church because people would have a hard time getting out with all the mud. At starting time, with only seven people there, it looked like our prediction would be true. But within ten minutes our numbers soared to 30 people with five more coming in after the Sacrament. Just goes to show – never assume or try to out guess the Lord's work.

One day this week we went to the Senior Citizens Center. We always enjoy going there and visiting with all of them. They are so kind to us. Owen took his paints and gave a demonstration on how he paints a picture. They were all very interested in it. He ran out of time and wasn't able to get it finished. So he said he would bring it back to the Center when he finished it, and they could raffle it off. I guess after we left, they voted and decided rather than raffle the painting off they would hang it up in the Center. That way all of them would be able to enjoy it. Made Owen feel sort of special. I was talking to one of patrons, and he told me he use to do a lot of sketching with pencil and/or pen and ink. He said that he hadn't done it now for over 30 years. He talked like he would like to give it a try again after seeing Owen paint. Only problem is, now he has poor eyesight and sees cross-eyed. That probably wouldn't be too good for an artist. I wish I could have seen some of his drawings from earlier because I bet they would have been really good. That is just another area where the Native Americans have a lot of natural talent.

We had our family that visited last week bring down a bow and some arrows that we had left over from when we were Cub Scout leaders. We took them out to our eleven-year-old whom Owen is trying to get started in Scouting. He wasn't home, but Owen left them with his dad to give to him. Before we left, however, he also gave the dad a demonstration on how to shoot a bow and arrow. He had never shot one before, but it wasn't long before he was able to hit the target every time. Another interesting experience – a white man showing a Native American how to shoot a bow and arrow. The surprises just keep coming.

This weekend we had the opportunity to go to a Living Legends performance put on by Brigham Young University. We met early and went to dinner with the Senior Couples from our District and then went to the performance. We took one of our girls with us. She had never seen any program like that before and was very, very interested in it. It was an excellent program. We could sure tell which dances the audience liked best – the ones that represented the Native Americans.  Before the program started, they invited anyone in the audience that had been a part of this group in the past or the Lamanite Generation, as they were previously called, to stand and be recognized. There were a number of people that stood up. The group featured the song, “Go My Son” as their finale number and one of the authors of the song was in the audience. That was a couple of bonuses for us to be able to see the performance on the Reservation and the connection they have with the group.

We continue to get out and work with the people as much as we can in spite of the trials with the weather. We had a baptism scheduled for last Friday, but it had to be postponed. It is still going to happen, just might have to wait a week or two.

In closing, “Live Long and Prosper,” in remembrance of Spock from Star Trek who passed away this week. A good message for all us to remember.