WARD ACTIVITIES

Our Primary had a fun Easter egg hunt this week. I got to be the egg hider outside while the kids were inside decorating little bags to put their treasures in. The Primary leader fed them all healthy sandwiches before they got their treats. Then on Sunday the children were taught about the real meaning of Easter--the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

One of the newest members of our ward came to the Easter egg hunt, but she really didn't participate. She just took a nap and and then sat there and looked cute.

Our new bishopric is keeping busy trying to get organized and staff many empty callings in our ward. The picture shows Brother Curly, Bishop Lynn, and Elder Payne.

Sister Payne is now in the Young Women's Presidency. We are trying to get ready for Youth Conference in early June.

Several people are excited to start the new Temple Preparation class for a long-awaited trip to the St. George Temple.

This week we will be teaching 4 young people get ready for their baptisms. It is fun because they are so eager to learn.

GARDENING 101

The Church Welfare Services is providing gardening supplies to people around the globe to help them feed their families. There are also gardening missionaries who serve 6-month missions from spring until fall to distribute, teach, and help with this gardening program. In the March 2011 issue of the Ensign Magazine there is an article showing it's success. In this article the picture on page 60 shows the garden in our backyard last year. That spot is being used by one of our ward members this year, and a new demonstration garden is being started right behind our trailer. Page 62 of the article talks about the Tuba City Stake about 45 minutes south of us. There are several gardening missionaries serving in our mission who have organized about 80 gardens this year. The participants are given fencing, poles, a drip system, seeds, fertilizer, and sawdust (to hold moisture in the soil). The gardens must be fenced since all this land is open grazing with cows and horses everywhere. The new gardners must commit to attend the 3 different classes for training. Once the gardens start growing, the missionaries will go to the individual homes to help if needed and check on progress. These people are so excited to get started. It has been fun to help a little bit with the distribution of the gardening supplies in our ward. Elder Payne got to plow and fence our spot and we will plant it.

DOWN COMES THE WATER TANK

When we arrived here there was a giant water tank behind our trailer that hadn't been used for years. Two of the other senior elders located a Navajo who needed it for his property to store water. The Navajos who don't live in the housing areas don't have running water so they have to haul it in barrels from the Chapter House. The elders got a flatbed trailer and we talked to the people at the school next door who agreed to bring over their backhoe so we were in business. It was quite a process to watch. Hope you enjoy the pictures. Elder Payne pulled it over with our truck, then the backhoe took over.

WIND, RAIN, SNOW,MORE WIND

Spring must be starting. We have had warm days, cold days, sunshine, rain, snow, and lots of wind. We haven't experienced the spring mud yet--can't wait.

We have had fun making quilts for the elderly. It goes quickly when many hands work together. It is also very fun to visit and work with these wonderful sisters.

Attached is a good picture of our ward building.

We have been trying to find members in our ward area. Last week we found a woman with two little girls who have lived here for two years and wanted to start coming back to church. One of her daughters is anxious to be baptized. We had someone else's name for her address so we were excited to find this family.

We've been teaching some lessons to young primary-age girls preparing for baptism. We have really enjoyed it. They are so enthusiastic. Next week we have five more lessons scheduled.

Yesterday was a baptism for two young girls who received the lessons from the couple who served here in Kaibeto before we arrived. They were baptized by their dad. Lots of family members came. The photos show them with their mom and dad and their two grandmothers.

Today at church there were 107 people attending. The most we have ever had. We had a baby blessing, the two girls baptized yesterday were confirmed members of the Church, and we got a new bishopric. Bishop Etcitty and his family had been traveling from their home ward in Page for the past five years so he could serve as bishop. Our new bishop will also be coming from about an hour away. Our first counselor lives here in Kaibeto and the second counselor is Elder Payne (who lives very close--next door). Also a young woman from our ward is leaving this week to serve in the Oklahoma, Tusla Mission. It has been a wonderful day.

IS IT SPRING YET???

We went to see Monument Valley with another senior couple last Saturday. Wow, is it gorgeous. John Wayne must have had quite a time making movies in that location. It was fun to see the amazing rock formations and the movie sets. We have always wanted to go there. Daylight savings time was quite interesting for us this year. Arizona does not change their time, but the Reservation does. A lot of the people in our community work in Page, Arizona so some of them go by Page time and some go by Reservation time. We didn't know!! The first day we got to church an hour early and nobody was there. We also had two appointments that week that we were early for. Now we ask, "Is that Page time or daylight savings time?" We have had sun, wind, rain, snow, and mud (red mud). It is hard to keep the carpet clean. Our carpet in the trailer was cleaned yesterday and is dirty already. Oh well. Guess we are real missionaries now. We got burned three times on Wednesday. (We got to our teaching appointments and they didn't show up.) Our Primary had a great activity last Thursday night. There were 12 children who attended. (12 little Indian kids.) They are adorable. After two little lessons we made kites. They even went out in the dark parking lot and ran back and forth to fly them. Then we had great Navajo tacos. It was so fun. Elder Payne was able to give two blessings this week. We have visited with quite a few people who haven't been to church in a long time and are looking forward to starting again. We love these people

Life on the "Res."

We thought you would like to see what our trailer really looks like. We also have a few more horsepower than in the first picture we sent. Boy, are we glad we have a truck! These roads are crazy. We are very comfortable in our little blue trailer. As you can see, it is pretty nice inside. It has been fun to make a few changes to make it feel like "home." Thank goodness for Walmart.

We have met many new friends and know most of their names. We go out visiting everyday and inviting people to join us at church. Today we made appointments to teach 5 new people. On March 11 the sisters celebrated the Relief Society Birthday by having a wonderful dinner. There were 25 women who came so it was a great success. (I knew everyone's names but one.)

Today we had 46 people at Sacrament Meeting. We have a lot of work to do. But that is why we are here and we are enjoying it. It was Fast and Testimony meeting. Our hearts were touched as we listened to these wonderful people recount their blessings and gratefulness to be members of the Church.

We are grateful to be missionaries, but we miss you all.

E & S Payne