Secody first tree

Deloris Secody and her daughter 

Grandma T , Deloris daughter and Deloris

Deloris is a new convert to the church.  They never had a tree for Christmas.  So we found this tree in Page at a second hand store and took it out to them  I am standing in front of the stove to take this picture.
Grandma T has been through the temple.  Her main daily activity is to take the sheep up in the hills to graze. Deloris is taking after her mother. 
Deloris also sells beaded jewelry that her mother makes for her. 
We put in a garden for the family for next year.  That will be a great help for the to cover some of the food costs.

Wheelchair Project

Bessie Sellers Wheel Chair

Bessie

Bessie in her Chair

This was one of our projects yesterday.  Bessie did not have enough money to get a wheelchair.  To get one through her insurance would mean that she would have a monthly payment.  She had a motorized chair but the battery would cost over $600.  She had an old chair that did not have any foot rests. As you can see her hands are so gnarled from her arthritis that she has a hard time with holding the chair and she could not put her feet up so they could push her.(note the terry cloth arm rests)  The new foot rests cost over $50.  We found this chair at a second hand store for $10 and covered the arm rests for her. 
The sellers were one of the first members in this area.  Her husband was the translator for the Missionaries that came into this area

 We tried to get a picture of a goat wearing a Santa hat but he kept eating the fur on the cap.  He would jump up on the fence and eat my sleeve on the shirt.  This was a very friendly goat.  There is one on the opposite side of the pen that needs to be separate from the others because he picks on the females.  Need an adjustment to his back underside.

This is the same goat and every time we would try to put the hat on his head he would eat Mom's shoe.  Then he would try to eat her shirt..

 so we tried to put the hat on a horse but mom was afraid to get on the opposite side of the horse.  As you can see she was a good distance from the head.

This is Chey. Behind him is a chicken coop that
I havwe fiuxed the door so we can keep the dogs
away from some ducks one of his boys are growing.
 

We are building a goat pen so we can put the mean male in  pen by himself.  Also the pen will be used as a birthing pen. Sometimes when twins are born they put them off by themselves.    We srung wire around some posts.  The posts were cedar and they were very hard.  We could not get staples in the post to hold up the fence.  It is amazing the we have to build a pen out of scraps of wood that we can find.

We are building a goat pen with the help of
the Elders... They are 19 and still have to learn
how to put in a good days work

Eagle Project - Nate Sullivan

 An Eagle Scout Project from an individual from St George.  They brought down three trailer loads of wood for the Branch.  This is the only source of heat for the members.  Wood stoves are in every home.  I have found that there is good wood and some bad.  It is rotten!!

 

 The Scouts that brought the wood!

Thanksgiving Dinner @ Echo Cliff Branch

Table decorations at the dinner.  This is a first for the Branch.  We purchased table cloths and Sister Gardner made the decorations.  We served 102 people at the dinner.  They all enjoyed the event. 

Johnny Simpson and daughter.  He has had a stroke
and does not speak much.

Tsiniginni family

Karen Manyturquoise and
her mother

Benally family and Aunt Lucille.  Lucille
is the weaver

Judy Yazzi and her daughter

Gavern Begay and Mary Little

Oops and Frustration

 One of the members misunderstood what we meant by our Anniversary.  November 7 is our anniversary for our mission.  She thought that it was our wedding anniversaey so after the block of meetings on Sunday they gave us a big dinner and the necklace and the blanket.

 Frustration is when you drop this lock down the cattle guard in the background.

We lock the gate when we are gone because of the wood pile.  That is very coveted.  People steal other peoples wood.  So when we are not here we have to lock the fence.

 This is the picture of the space between our fence and the road.

This is reinforced railroad ties.  It is over a 4 ft deep hole in the ground.  There is nothing in the bottom but dirt.  When you drop the lock then you have to use a hanger and a lot of patience to get the lock out.  When you are ready to leave for an appointment then you have to be very patient.  That is what happens when you have limited finger use.  Fortunately we have some of our branch members have sitff wire hooks because they all have to deal with the problem of dropping things in the cattle guard.

Wednesday November 7, 2012

Today we went to our first Navajo Funeral. Wen Auntie Agnes passed away last Sunday, all family, friendsw and especially clan members (everyone belongs to four clans) meet during the day, evening and every day until the funeral service

Front and Rear Program

Inside of program

. They bring food, donate money for the funeral service and chat with the family.  The service was held at the Page Stake Center and she was buried in the Page City Cementary.  Auntie Agnes was L.D.S for many years.

Road to Agnes

and she had a strong testimony and had been to the temple and took out her endowments.  We were not able to hear her testimony because she only spoke Navajo.  She loved my suckers that I always carry in my purse and would look forward to our business.  It was our pleasure to know this sweet lady.

Tent outside house

If they do not have insurance then the family relies on the people to make the contributions to pay for the funeral.  The burial takes place up to 4 days afrer death.  If there is insurance then the meetings are only two or three days.

Daisy Nockindeh and Genevive Charlie

.

Wood Cutting

Forrest.  The logs are at
the top. They would cut
rounds and roll them to the
trailer.

The only source of heat durinmg the winter for many of the members is a wood stove.  Each year the "get woods" is a must activity.  They go up to Jacobs Lake and chop down "dead falls", saw them into
"rounds", haul them to their house and chop the rounds into small pieces.  Many of the older sisters do not have the capacity to do this so we went to the forrest and got a Branch supply of wood.

 These are the rounds of wood.  They are about 24 inches long and as round as the tree.  Some of the trees are 60 feet tall.

Loading Rounds

 We would load the rounds on a trailer and take them down to the Branch Building.  The picture below is Ruby.  She is 57 years old and that is a 9lb Mall she is swinging.  She very politely told me to let her show me "how" and split the log with one blow.  She has been doing this as an annual chore since she was 15 years old.  Now she chops and stacks and her husband cuts the wood.

"Ruby Chopping Wood"

Felling the Tree

Pile at the Building

 Monument Valley. This is one of the Mittens.  You can use your imiganation to determine what hand.


 Goulding is where the original settlers lived.  John Wayne lived in these cabins while they were filming in this area.  This is one of the buildings used at that time

The Duke!  What else can you say!!

Part of the District. We are in the
Kyenta District of Couples

Road from the Monument Valley Hotel at
Goulding.

Picture of the Living Room used by the Duke while
they were filming in Monument Valley

Part of the Valey

Denahortso District Meeting

 These are the ruins that you can see from an overlook in Navajo National Monument.  These dwellings are in the bottom of an alcove.  Part of the tour is an indication of the various root they would use for medicinal purposes.  This particular bush is called Mormon Tea??

Mormon Tea Bush

 This is a foot print of a dinosaur that is just outside of Denehotso.  There are several of the prints in this area.  They have marked them so it is easier to identify.  Some people have tried to remove the prints with a small jackhammer and have damaged the area.

   

Dinosaur foot prints

Garnet Stones

 The activity that we had as part of our District Meeting was to go Garnet hunting.  You can see the Garnets on the head of the Flashlight.  There is an area outside of Denehotso where you can pick these stones off the ground. Many are very small.  If you can find an ant hill it is generally loaded with small Garnets that the ants have brought to the surface.  One of the couples in our group that lives in the area has some pretty large stones.  While we were in he area there were several Native Americans that were searching for the stones.  You have to have the sunlight to your back and the stones glisten in the sun.  Some of the stones are a red color, some are amber in color.

Garnet Stones

This is the inside of the chapel at Denahotso.  The buildings are generally Parallel and you have a chapel in one end and classrooms at the other end.  You can see them for miles.  They all have a small white steeple.

Original Echo Cliff members.

David Sellers

 This is David and Bessie Sellers.  When the early missionaries came into this area a missionary by the name of Harvey Gardner (no relation) sought out Brother Sellers to help him communicate with the residents of the area.  Brother Sellers went with Elder Gardner and contacted and baptized many of the early members of the church. 
Brother Sellers is very deaf now and as you can see Sister Sellers has Arthritis in her hands so bad that she cannot use them.
We found this couple one day while we were wandering the hills down about a half mile from Daisy Nockenadeh home.  We took Daisy back with us to visit them and found that they were in need of food and company.
     The bathroom toilet was plugged.  The Navajo nation was supposed to send someone to their house and fix the problem.  That was 6 months ago.  I did not ask what they used as bathroom facilities.


Bessie Sellers.  You can get a feeling for the size of the Hogan
by the fan at the bottom of this picture is the fan shown below.  Mom is
doing a food order.

view from house



Sellers Living room. I was standing in the front
door when I took this picture.

This is view from Daisy's neighbor's house.  Sellers live next to the light pole just over the Hogan. We will pick up food for them when we are in St George on October 18.


Stove used for heat

Kitchen from door.  Stove at bottom