FAREWELL

Our mission is coming to a close. Our last zone conference with all the senior and junior missionaries was held in Flagstaff, Arizona, about 2 1/2 hours from Kaibeto. It was great to see our mission president and his wife and all the other missionaries. We enjoyed our last interview with President Jones. Another senior couple and us who were also going home were asked to speak to everyone. It seemed really final.

The week before we left for home, two of my Navajo sisters showed me how to make fry bread. It looked so easy for them since they had been doing it since they were 7 years old. But I didn't find it so easy. They just dump the flour and baking powder and water in a bowl and mix it around quickly with their hands. No measuring. Then they pat it back and forth in their hands and throw it in the pan. It tasted wonderful! Even though mine didn't turn out like it should, we laughed a lot and had so much fun. Now I am supposed to teach my family!

We left Kaibeto to go home on Sunday, January 8. After church our Navajo friends served us a wonderful dinner. There were many tears and hugs. They gave us beautiful jewelry and I even received a traditional white Navajo dress.

This has been such a great experience for us. We have made so many amazing friends that we will not forget. We love the Navajo people and are grateful we had this opportunity to live with them on the reservation. We have seen their lives change for the better as they have learned and progressed in the gospel.

Attached are some pictures of our Navajo brothers and sisters.

Signing off,

Elder & Sister Payne

NAVAJO NEWS

We were happy a few weeks ago to get a new counselor in our bishopric. Brother Brown and his wife also travel 45 minutes to serve in our ward, as do our bishop and his wife. The Browns both grew up in Kaibeto and their mothers attend our ward so they were happy to start coming here. (Sunday dinner at Mom's house is pretty good.) Attached is a picture of the new bishopric and their wives.

When we served our mission in Mongolia in 2007 we met a wonderful young woman whom we grew to love. She and her family were outstanding. Recently we received an email and pictures from the next couple who served in our place of the wedding of that young woman and a return missionary who was serving in Mongolia right before we returned home. They were getting married in the Idaho Falls Temple. We were so happy for them but sorry we couldn't attend their wedding. We've felt strongly since we came to the Navajo Indian Reservation that the Navajos are the "other" Mongolians since there are so many similarities in their looks and cultures.

The roads here don't seem to get any better as the weather changes. There is always mud, bumps, or dust--or all three. Last week as we were driving around we could see patches of snow on the bushes, mud on the side of the road, and dust blowing down the middle of the road full of potholes. One good thing though, we never see orange cones. No road construction here.

On the 17th of December we had 3 siblings get baptized. Then on Christmas Eve we had a "White Christmas" with another baptism. What more can missionaries ask for?

We got to be "Santa's Helpers" this year and it was really fun. On Christmas Day we heard "Silent Night" in Navajo at church. It was beautiful. Then later that day we heard our grandchildren say, "Merry Christmas Grandma Sandy and Pappy" over the phone. How sweet is that?

We heard two wonderful messages in church today for the new year. One is about moving out of our comfort zone to help someone else. The other one is how the gospel of Jesus Christ can bring us back to our Heavenly Father and his Son. We wish all of you the very best in this coming year.

HAPPENINGS IN KAIBETO

We were able to teach 4 children in November who were baptized. It is so fun to teach them and then see their smiling faces when they come out of the water. We are grateful to be a part of it.

We have been able to visit two Temples this month. We drove 4-1/2 hours to the SnowFlake, Arizona Temple with 12 members of our ward. The session was in Navajo so everyone understood it but us and another member who is Sioux. We wore headphones. The decorations were beautiful native woven rugs and pottery. We also drove 3-1/2 hours to the Monticello, Utah Temple with the other missionaries in the New Mexico Farmington Mission.

For Thanksgiving we had a great dinner with the other senior couples and our Mission President and his wife. There was lots to eat and fun entertainment. It helped so we didn't miss our family quite so much.

Arizona has so many kinds of beauty. A member here took us to see the White Mesa Arch on her father's property where she grew up. He is still using the old sheep pen. She then took us to her husband's family property to see the Eggshell Arch. We had some good hikes that day.

Another day we went looking for dinosaur bones & tracks. Pretty interesting!!

We are so happy to see our ward members understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to serve one another. We have witnessed much progress while we have been here in Kaibeto. We have made so many wonderful friends.

INDIAN SUMMER IN KAIBETO

Autunm is here. We have had a few chilly days and nights, but now it is beautiful. Our garden is almost done. We have had a wonderful harvest planted on that little plot of road base in our parking lot.

In September there were 3 beautiful Navajo children baptized. We have been so happy to help them become members of the Church.

We have made two trips to the St. George Temple. One family was sealed together and there was a youth baptism day with the BlueSalt Branch.

Since we live 36 miles from Page, Arizona, most of the youth activities are located there. But we had a youth dance in Kaibeto where the teens really had a good time.

Our Young Womens Presidency had a "New Beginnings" meeting for the young women and their mothers. We are helping these wonderful girls learn about Personal Progress and how it can help them in their lives.

Two weeks ago we had our first "Popcorn and a Movie" at our ward. There were 45 people there. It was so fun it will be a monthly tradition from now on.

Last night we celebrated the success of all the gardens in our ward with a "Harvest Dinner." Our members brought lots of food made from their gardens and fry bread. (I've got to learn how to make that. It is sooo good.)

WHAT'S GOING ON IN KAIBETO?

Yesterday was a great day in Kaibeto. We had four baptisms of children 10 and 11 years old. It has been fun teaching them. They are shy at first, but finally we see smiles and personalities come through. We are grateful for this opportunity to help them learn about the Gospel.


In June, 11 youth from our ward participated in Youth Conference. Some of the places they went to included Lee's Ferry, Pipe Springs, and the St. George Temple doing baptisms for the dead. They learned about the early pioneers, the hardships they endured, and the "Honeymoon Trail" they traveled to be married in the St. George Temple. We were able to join them at the Temple for the baptisms. While camping they had to wear bandanas over their faces because on the tiny gnats. One of the pictures shows our bishop, his wife, and one of the young women.

Also in June we were able to attend our daughter's wedding in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho. It was so great to be there with some of our family and visit the others on the drive up. We were gone about a week. Our mission president felt it was very important for us to not miss this important family occasion and we loved it.

The gardens here are flourishing. When we visit people they always say, "Come see our garden." They have worked hard, gained a wonderful sense of accomplishment, and added many healthy vegetables to their diet. Katy said her children are going to put a sign on it saying, "Grandmas's Paradise." She tends 8 grandchildren and they love to eat the peas and cucumbers.

We just passed our halfway mark. We are seeing great progress with these good people in our ward and enjoy helping them.

SAD NEWS

We received some very sad news on Sunday, June 26. A member of our Bishopric, Brother Darrell Cervandez Curley, who was a Sgt. in the Navajo Nation Police was shot and killed when responding to a domestic violence call here in Kaibeto. It has been very hard on his family, our ward, the community, and those who knew him through church or police work in many parts of Arizona and New Mexico. He had a wonderful testimony of the Gospel and was a leader to his fellow officers. His example has touched so many lives.

There was a memorial and dinner for family and friends in Chinle, Arizona (where he grew up) on Monday night with over 300 people in attendance. Tuesday night there was another just like it in Page, Arizona. Church members and friends in the community contributed all the food.

At 3:00 am Saturday a police escort left the mortuary in Flagstaff, AZ to bring his body through Tuba City, Kayenta, and then onto Chinle. At each stop more officers joined the procession. They arrived at 8:00 am. The funeral was held in Chinle at the Stake Center. The chapel and cultural hall were filled to capacity and extra chairs were set up all over the building and still some had to stand.

Besides officers from police districts from all over the state, also attending was the President of the Navajo Nation, a representative from the Bureau of Indian Affairs from Washington, DC, a representative from the governor of Arizona, and the Director of the Navajo Nation Dept. of Public Safety.

As the funeral began Brother Curley's casket was brought in with an escort of police officers and a bagpiper. There had been police officers on guard with his body since he went down. During the funeral the guards were changed every few minutes to give all of them an opportunity at this service. Before the Eulogy was read, the Governor's representative gave sister Curley a folded Arizona State flag. It was uplifting to hear many stories how he had helped or been a positive influence on others. At the conclusion the bagpipes played "Going Home."

We joined the very lengthy police escort for an hour-long drive to the burial site. There were many people by the roadside waving or with their hands over their hearts along the way. The family plot was in a beautiful, peaceful canyon outside of Fort Defiance, Arizona. What a contrast to the crowded cemeteries we are used to with the power lawn mowers driving over the burial sites once a week.

It was heart wrenching to see the officers show such love and respect as they carried out these last rites to lay their friend and fellow officer to rest. After the bagpipes played "Amazing Grace," we heard the dispatcher make the "Last Sign Off for Sgt. Curley" over the police radio. Then Elder Payne dedicated the grave.

After the burial there was a reception at the Nakai Hall in Window Rock. They were expecting 2,000 to attend. The Navajo Nation supplied most of the food with more coming from the two closest LDS stakes.

We are so grateful we were able to know and love Brother Curley.