We had the opportunity this week to visit the Petrified Forest National Park. It isn't too far away from where we live. We were both amazed at the beauty we found there. The north end of the park doesn't have much petrified wood, but they call it “Painted Desert” for a reason. The colors and formations were great. Traveling on through the 28-mile-long park, more and more petrified logs began to appear. They are agatized and very beautiful. Owen had to walk around with his hands in his pockets so he wasn't tempted to pick up some rocks. On the south end of the park, the petrified logs are everywhere and very plentiful. It was neat to walk the trail through the logs and see the different colors and sizes of the petrified trees. If you happen to be in the area, that is a good place to stop and visit.

We also went to Polacca to work on an RV. Owen wants to take advantage of the warm weather and start winterizing the RVs, hoping to prevent some problems during the cold winter months. We have a little more to do out there, and then we will move on to another one.

The Senior Center was having a party for Father's Day. We stopped by to give the guys a treat and the cook told us we better stay for dinner or she would flatten our tires so we would have to stay. So we stayed. We enjoy visiting with them and meet new people every time we go there.

Even though we did stay for dinner, we still got a flat tire, but I don't think it was the cook's fault. They found a little stick in the side of the tire which meant it couldn't be repaired. It was one of our new tires so it still had some road hazard protection, so we didn't have to pay full price to get a new one.

We met a couple of new families this week. The one family is not members, but the other family is. They just haven't been coming to church for many months. They have five children – 4 girls and a boy (17 years age difference between the oldest and youngest). They were a very nice family and we will continue to visit them and encourage them now that we found where they live. The

non-members also has several children. They didn't seem too interested in our church, but Owen got talking to the dad, and they have a lot of interests in common. So we shall see. . .

Friday we had the opportunity of attending a Mission Tour Conference in Chinle with Elder Bruce Carlson, from the 2^nd Quorum of Seventies. The meeting was scheduled to go from 9:00 a.m. to

5:00 p.m. This is the first meeting we have been to that was held with the younger missionaries. Our District and Zone meetings are just the Senior couples. So it was neat to see so many young elders and sisters in one place. They actually divided the mission in half and had some attend the Conference on Thursday in Farmington. Lots of good advice and information on becoming a consecrated missionary. The question was asked, “Are you a full-time missionary or a life-time missionary?” By time we drove back home after the Conference, we had been gone over 12 hours (including travel time). So it was a long day, but well worth it.

We had a Father's Day dinner invitation yesterday with a member. He had also invited his father, sister, and some cousins who are all non-members. We had a delicious meal and got to meet and visit with some of his family.

Then today after Church a sister invited us to her place for dinner (barbecued ribs). Another delicious meal, and the best part was – I didn't have to cook either of them.

Owen had asked our potterer/silversmith friend about making him a belt buckle. He finished it last week. It sure turned out nice. Owen had the center jade stone and told him he wanted turquoise on it also. So it is an original – one of a kind. I am amazed at the talent that some of the people possess.

We feel we have been truly blessed to have been called to serve among these special people and to be able to get to know them and feel of their spirit.

In spite of it being the first of the month when people are in town, we were able to make several contacts and visit with several people. It felt good to be 'back in the saddle' again.

Today was another special day for our new convert. He was ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood to the office of a Priest. I can see so much growth in him, and other people have noticed it, too. He is now the only active Aaronic Priesthood in our Branch.

We spent a day out in the Manuelito area visiting with members and trying to find other members whom we haven't met yet. It is kind of discouraging when you drive all the way out there and find a gate closed or a 'No Trespassing' sign. There are only a few families in that area, so we wanted to touch base with them and see what we can do to help them. We will just have to keep trying, a way will open somehow.

When we went to visit one family, Owen noticed an old log cabin on their property. He asked them about it and they were planning on tearing it down. So he showed them his book on O'ville and what he has done there. They were very impressed and had him go out and look at the cabin. I think he has 'cabin fever' again. If he had had the materials, he probably would have started that very day on restoring it. So we shall see.

We haven't been able to visit at the Senior Center for a couple of weeks; so when we went last week, they all seemed happy to see us. We were happy to see them, too. One lady said they thought we had gone home without saying good-bye. Never!

El Morro National Monument is in our area. So we decided to take a ride over there and check it out. We took one of our friends with us. It is out on the Zuni Reservation by Ramah. It was very fascinating. I wanted to do just the ½ mile trek; but Owen took off on a trail and before I knew it we were hiking, and hiking, and hiking. We ended up doing the two-mile hike (up the mountain, across the rocks, around the box canyon, and down the other side). We got to see the Atsinna Pueblo ruins up on top which were built around 1275. They figure the pueblo was about 200 by 300 feet and housed between 1,000 to 1,500 people. It had multiple stories of interconnected rooms. Cisterns on top of the mesa collected rain water. There is a pool – 12 feet deep – at the base of the sandstone bluff which was used by the native Americans, Spanish explorers, and early travelers. On the walls at the base of the bluff are over 200 inscriptions and petroglyphs. The oldest inscription is the 16^th of April 1605. It was quite a hike, but very interesting and beautiful scenery. I kept stopping to take pictures – at least that is what the guys thought I was doing. I was really stopping to catch my breath and rest.

The little family that we helped take care of the burial of their baby has decided to move to Salt Lake area. We are hoping this will be a good move for them, and they will continue to strengthen each other and stay active in the Church. We will miss them and their little boys; but Salt Lake isn't that far away from our home, so I am sure we will be able to see them when we get home.

We have a mission conference this week in Chinle, RVs to work on, places to go, and people to see. So I am sure we will be busy as we go about doing the Lord's work.

Our missionary work was kind of slow this week, but there wasn't much we could do about it. Owen was sick the first part of the week with an asthma attack; which, I think might have been more than just that because I got hit with a bad sinus infection for the rest of the week. I finally went to the doctor on Friday. We did not feel at all like going out, and I am sure no one would have wanted us around anyway spreading all our germs. We didn't have any RV checks to make either. Good thing because neither of us felt like driving.

We did finally make contact with a family that we have been trying to find out where they lived. As you drive down the road and come to a fence, you see a 'No Trespassing' sign. We had started down that road another time, but turned around when we came to the sign because we weren't sure we were even on the right road. This time we could see someone walking further up the road, so we decided to be brave and drive up and ask her if she knew the family we were looking for. Not only did she know them, she was one of the family. We didn't visit very long because they were getting ready for a closing school program, but we were glad to finally make connections with them. Did we just happen to be on their road at that time of day when she was walking? We were on our way home from Gallup, after getting the truck serviced, and decided to exit the freeway and try again to find them.

We are still teaching and working with the young man who was baptized, and we can continue to see him grow. He will soon receive the 'next ordinance' and be ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood. Since we have none right now in our Branch that are active, that will be a good thing all the way around.

I have been compiling a list of the unique names of landmarks, towns, etc. as we have been traveling around. Some of the town names related to rock are: Shiprock, Many Rock, Window Rock, Rough Rock, Round Rock, Chimney Rock, Rock Point, White Rock, Twin Rocks, Church Rock, and Steamboat (named after a nearby rock formation). Other towns are Wheatfields, Many Farms, Mexican Water, Little Water, Red Lake, Pine Springs, and Oak Springs. Then there is Black Creek, Crazy Creek, Fish Wash, Burnt Creek, and Dead River. Some of the roads are: Jackrabbit Road, Two Guns Road, Buffalo Range Road, Twin Arrows Road, Smoke Rise Road, and Silver Saddle Road. Then we have Gray Mountain, Blue Mountain, Low Mountain, Red Mesa, White Mesa, First Mesa, Second Mesa, and Third Mesa. I am sure there are many more creative names out there we will come across before our time is up. It would be interesting to know the history, how, and why the names were chosen. There are a lot of very interesting and beautiful rock formations all around here.

We are hoping to have a much more productive week, so we will see how things go.

Life in LA continues to be great. We ended up doing a lot of service and checking RVs this week. At our District Meeting on Monday night, one of the sisters asked if Owen and I could help them pack up their trailer. The mission is getting them a newer one, and they thought they had a week to move everything out and into a temporary trailer in Gallup. Then Monday afternoon they found out they needed to be out by Wednesday. So we canceled our trip to Sawmill and went to Tohlakai. Owen called the mission housing coordinator and told him of the dilemma. He showed up with a van and trailer and six elders. WOW! It was amazing how fast things were moved. I worked with Sister England (who is blind) packing things into boxes and let the elders handle the big things.

We went back to Tohlakai on Wednesday to check on the mice problem there at the RV, and the England's car was at their trailer. I went over to check on them, and they were finishing up the odds and ends. So we stayed and helped for another couple of hours, plus took a load of things in the truck to Gallup for them.

The fun thing of all this is that it will probably be only two weeks and then they get to move back to Tohlakai into their newer trailer. Hopefully it won't be the rush job that moving out was.

The appliances in the trailer were removed and rather than just put them in storage, they were giving them away to someone who needed them. We have a sister in our Branch who has been looking for a kitchen stove for several months. She has been praying that Heavenly Father would help her find one she could afford. She went to Gallup on Monday to try and buy one, but her check didn't come in, so she didn't have the money. When Owen called her on Tuesday and asked her if she wanted the stove, she was so very excited. She says it is a Godsend. Neat to be able to play a part in Heavenly Father answering her prayers.

We haven't been to White Mesa for a while, so we decided to take a road trip (over 400 miles) and check on the RV. The wild flowers along the way were in full bloom and made up for the long drive. We have finished checking on all the RVs just in time for a new month and to start all over.

Later in the week, Sister England called and wanted to know if I would take her shopping. They are going home for a few days and she wanted to take some gifts with them. Owen said the best place to go would be The Nugget because we get really good prices there. He offered to go with us. If he had known it would take us over three hours, he might not have been so accommodating. It was a fun experience and really made me realize how much we take the gift of vision for granted. She would pick up a necklace and say, “Now tell me about this piece.” “Would this look good with the outfit I have on?” “Help me find some plain silver earrings.” Course Owen ended up spending more money than Sister England did.

We had a change in our Branch Presidency today. Our Branch President was released and the 1^st councilor is now the Branch President. We have a new first councilor who lives in Gallup, and the second councilor stayed the same. It will be a time of adjustment for our little Branch. Our Branch President lives in Gallup, but he brought his family here to Church. His wife played the organ and was the Primary President, his daughter led the singing, and his two sons were the Aaronic Priesthood and took care of the Sacrament. They will leave a big hole in the Branch for a while. Speaking of the Branch President, check out page 59 in the Ensign, conference issue. That picture is our past Branch President and one of his sons. The new Branch President is a very special man. He has such a strong testimony and so much love for the people. He was the very first person we met when we moved here. He is our go-to-man whenever we have questions about the Navajo culture and customs.

The Lord continues to watch over us and bless us in so many ways. We are grateful to be able to serve in LA and among these special Navajo people.