Parkinson's at Navajo Nation: Best of the Rez Week 72

Best of the Rez Week 72 May 22^nd to May 27^th

There are words and there are rides that would explain this past week. I am just not sure which words or which rides I should use. We had a wonderful experience indeed; we also had some very upsetting experiences. EP keeps saying nothing will ever shock him again, and then we are shocked.

#4 Play! It will be fun to do those things we so enjoyed. EP can't wait to get the mountains on his 4 wheeler, hit the roads on his motorcycle and even do some hiking and biking. I can't wait for tennis and racquetball and walking and hiking and just plan care free laughing. Anyone game?

And now for the week:

1) Monday was definitely a Ferris Wheel day. We started the day with a small walk, then the missionaries did their blog thing while we got the house in control. We cleaned up and went to Roxanna’s for literacy. She is so sweet and tries so very hard. Then we went on to Round Rock for temple prep but she was too busy this whole week.
We headed to Rock Point to help the children before their recital. I walked in on a dress rehearsal and almost fainted. What I had left on Thursday and what was happening today were two completely different worlds. They were doing great and so very professional about it all. The girl’s parents brought dresses and Wesahne’s mother brought him a new shirt and tie right at the beginning so we gave him time to change. They looked beautiful. One by one they came up and introduced their piece, played their song, placed their hands in their laps, stood up and bowed. It was the cutest thing ever. Their parents were thrilled – as was I. Oh, and Del, you were the guest artist. After the children played, we showed them the Hungarian Rhapsody. They were delighted. Sister Davis had cake and juice for all. It was a wonderful day.
We zoomed back to temple prep and made all the final preparations for our temple trip this week. OH, and we found out why we were the 5^th wheel at the party – members of the family were planning a ceremony as we drove up. Timing is everything.
Then we went over to read and let us just say that was a complete bomb. There was nothing but excuses and why everyone else was wrong. I said the church was true but the members were not perfect including all those in the room. That made her mad and my high was over.

2) Tuesday we took another small walk which was very nice. Now this was a very nice start to the day – ARP called and wanted to come early because he was going out of town. We met with him and that was great. He is doing a great job.
Then we got ready and headed to Chinle to help Sister Yoe with Bubbleology. Oh, was that ever cute. We had a lot of fun there. We had some Chinese food and headed home. EP cleaned the church while I blogged. Piano started at 4 where I had 3 out of 6 show up. The rest of the night was calm.

3) Wahoo! We picked up Sister Alfreda Tsosie at 6:50 AM and her sister, Sister Gene at 7:00 AM and we were off to the temple. The day went wonderfully. I think she was very pleased with the temple experience. We had some Mexican food afterwards and headed home. It really was a wonderful day that of course had to have some sadness added to it but that story is not for the blog. The wind greeted us on our trip home and boy was it a mess.
We had made a counseling appointment for one of our couples and Roberts showed up right one time, but the couple never came. I am sure they had an excuse. We visited with Roberts until they had to rush to another meeting.

We didn’t think YM-YW was happening but we looked out and they had a nice crowd. They were no YM leaders but they played BB with the missionaries.
Sister Yoe and Selena came over afterwards and we sure had fun with them.

4) Ahhh, a bit of nice weather. Selena came in for a piano lesson and then the rest of the day was calm. We tried to find someone to go out GPSing with us but everyone was buzy. We were at home for our 4 PM no show, then our 5 PM no shows and our 6 PM no shows. It was not our favorite day. Finally we had a nice lesson with the Logan’s.

5) Can anyone say wind? It started to blow in the night and blew all day and all night long. Buzz came over for a piano lesson in the morning. We were supposed to go to lunch with Vogel’s but they called and said the wind was too bad. We taught Sister Tso a lesson but that is as far as we will travel in the wind. Kelsey and Tivona came for lessons that night. Then Kaylana (who had missed Tuesday) showed up and wanted her little piano recital since she was leaving. We pulled that together and EP baked a cake for it. The Curley’s came and played, Tivona stayed and Kaylana did a wonderful job. Before the recital we asked Jimmie when they were leaving and they said in the morning. Afterwards we asked them about leaving and they said they were not leaving before we did. I have no idea for sure why we had to do this special recital but it was fun – so I guess all is well.

Oh and a side note – our Relief Society president and our Elder’s Quorum president both drove out and have moved off the Rez. That should make life interesting.

6) Can you say more wind? It was just terrible. EP had a meeting with Brother Logan to explain how to do Priesthood ordinances and that went great. No one showed up for piano.

The elders had a family baptism of 4 and somehow they made it. A mother and 3 children were baptized and it was a very nice service.

The wind blew till you could hardly breathe. There was nothing you could do so we did nothing. Again, we were supposed to go to Chinle for supper, but that was canceled as well. Around 7 it finally ended. We jumped in the car and headed to Rough Rock – success. The White’s are here. They are truly the most amazing couple in the world. This ward will change with them and it makes our hearts ache that they didn’t come sooner so we could have watched it happen. Oh well, the next missionary couple should be happy. We sat in their little camper trailer and talked with them and then headed home to get ready for Sunday.
We got news that night they are transferring Elder Openshaw Tuesday. We expected that but we will miss him.

7) The church was covered in sand and dust but EP said we were not cleaning. Funny, when I went over there, he had at least vacuumed and dusted the main things. I hope you are sitting down for this one, but the bishop and his family did not show up. Our 1^st Counselor is also excused so Brother Draper was the lone man. I think it was very interesting that the bishop’s son Tyler showed up. The entire Logan family made it and that made our day. We had 58 to church so we are only 30 short for next week. We had 6 in primary and I was very proud that both classes were held. Also, Sister Toledo taught RS so I was proud of her.
After church we fixed a bite to eat and headed to Albuquerque to visit EP’s Uncle Max. Max is EP’s mother’s youngest brother so he is a mere 84 years old. We had no idea how far it was to Albuquerque and was pleasantly surprised to find it was only 3 & ½ hours away. We had a great visit with them and then headed to the Air Force base to meet Eric. He had rented a 3 bedroom home for the night—great perk. Oh, the girls were cute. We all got our hair done and had lots of fun watching them play and jabber.

And there you have week 72. We were just delighted with our temple trip. I think Sister Alfreda Tsosie will be a wonderful asset to the ward. The Holtsoi baptisms were very nice. I do hope we can keep that family coming as well. Albuquerque is just beautiful – the city has done a wonderful job with their landscaping and the businesses and homes were lovely. And we are with family – life is very, very good.

The Church is True,

This is the week,

Our love,

Elder and Sister Parkinson