Elder & Sister Dattage: June 2016

Friday, June 17, 2016

Great things happening in Zuni

June 12, 2016

Hi All,

Hope you have a great start to your Summer. We have received such great pictures from everyone and love all of them. We have a new Elder. He is Elder Daniels from Cody , Wyoming. We just finished dinner and we are getting to know him. Seems like a great Elder and willing to work very hard. Zuni is still dusty , dirty and we still love it.

Wednesday was so amazing. Sister Hattie – some of our family met her while you were here) was a less active member fro 14 years but is now such a good active member. The Elders and Elder Dattage and I visit her every week and give her the lessons and now the follow up lessons. She is so obedient and Spiritual. She always greats us with water and some treats at 10:00 a.m. each morning. Well last week, Nicole her granddaughter, sat in. She has sat in several times but usually at the end of the discussion. The discussion was on Temple and Family History. At the end of the lesson Nicole was ask if she would take the discussion lessons and she said yes she was ready. We were all so happy that she had made that decision. She is 19 and spends most of her time at her grandmas. She works some also. She has been taught by her grandma to pray, read her scriptures and had already accepted a Book of Mormon from the Elders and has been reading it. What a strong Spirit we all felt as she accepted the opportunity to have the lessons. We are happy for her and hope that she will also want to be baptized and come to Church with her grandma. Lots of prayers for sure.

Also another family has been active, less active and now wants their entire family to take the lessons together again. 5 of the 6 are baptized but feel they all need the lessons. That begins tomorrow. The Elders are so hopeful for this family. They work hard and are doing an outstanding job in Zuni. Not a lot of baptisms because so many of the people went on the Placement program. If you are old like we are I am sure you knew some Indians that came on the Placement Program. What happened to many of them is that they lived with active families and went to church. They had to be baptized in order to go on placement and go to school. When they came back to the reservation, most of their parents were not baptized and so were not members of the Church so they did not go to Church at all. Some of them come back when Missionaries work with them. Very few of them stay active on their own. So when the Elders go to find new members they find out they are already baptized but never attend. Some can’t quite remember their baptism. This Mission has the attitude that it is as important to bring an inactive person to activity as it is to baptize. So true and so wonderful. That is what most people are working on. It is a blessing to be a small part of all of this. They are humble and love the Lord and the idea of the blessings of Eternal Families. We all need to remind ourselves what an amazing blessing this is. Most of us have lost people we love so much and we cling to this beautiful blessing from our Father in Heaven.

We have told you so many Marie stories. Elder Dattage has been working on Marie’s old car. I truly think it is glued together totally by now. We sure do love this little lady. What a strong member she is. She is alone with no brothers and sisters and no children. We have her wood box outside as full of wood as we can and know others will step in and help her .

On Friday we did our second District Meeting. We are extremely glad it is over and done. We have a really great district and each meeting we learn more about them and the trials and the wonderful experiences they share. This week was so spiritual as well as so fun. We talked about “To the Rescue, We Can Do it.” We tried to tell each of us that we can continue to serve hard and be examples to those around us. Love these people.

So glad that our part of the Zone Meeting is almost ready. We have been working very hard on it and feel very inadequate to do this. This Project ends up with President Adams and they will use what the 4 Districts do to train new Senior Missionaries. Our part was to: Use Principles and things that are said by our General Authorizes to tell them things we should do to Strengthen Senior Couples by Giving them Substance to their mission call. Each District takes 10 minutes on their subject. We have been working with E/S Boyter to do the Power Point because we are not set up for that at this time. We supplies lots of pictures and put them with the words we felt we should use. It was a mess but as I said last week I sent it to Kim and she did a lot of punctuation changes. I sure do not want a bunch of my goofs going to President Adams. Yikes a Mission is a time to stretch especially for our young Elders but also for us Seniors. Glad that is almost done until the Presentation part.

What a busy week this has been for us and for our family. Some of you are enjoying vacations and we love seeing the picture of Jodi and Jeff and Alicia and Ryan’s kids. Love these cuties. . Others and going to Bear Lake but not to just play – Jill cleaned the house up there so our Ward could go there to camp. Three little kids and one mama. Thanks Jill so much. Emmis little video about everyone being gone is so true to her right now. She probably misses some of her cousins. Shea has been out of town but loved seeing the Watrins enjoying Cache Valley and doing good things here. Lance gets his weekly call from Dad asking him something. Hayden has been at Youth Conference and hope it was wonderful for him. Thanks all of you. Enjoy Summer. It goes so fast and then back to cold and snow.

Brother and Sister Solomon are in the Zuni mission presidency. They were in Logan for a niece's wedding and stopped by the shop! They sent this picture to my parents! So Fun!!!

Elder Tollefson left to be a zone leader in Farmington! He has been such a great missionary!

Our zone leaders, leaving to return home

90 degrees and still doing wood! Filling Marie's wood shed

Keams canyon and an old Catholic church there! Oh, and dogs! Dogs everywhere!

First Esa House

This picture shows the prayer sticks and feathers used by the Hopi Indians.

First Mesa village dating back to the 1700s

Hopi First Mesa

Our new Elder, Elder Daniels (right)

Elder Dattage doing more repairs

"We are all family"

June 5, 2016 letter

Dear All,

It is now officially hot here. Our truck air is not working. We have been to Gallup two times to have them fix it but didn’t work. Going in Tuesday to hopefully take care of this. We had taken a lady to the grocery store yesterday and we waited in the truck. The air was 140 on the dash of the truck. Still cools off some at night.

We have been working for a few weeks on a paper for our District which we will present at the next Zone Conference. It has been hard work for us because. It is to be mostly Doctrine and Principles. Finally got our rough draft done for Friday’s meeting. I actually sent it to Kim to proof and she had amazing ideas which I changed and am glad I did. It will eventually be a power point presentation along with the 3 other District Leaders in this Mission. We had the Boyders help with the Power Point and I guess we will have it ready in time. Eventually before the 4 of us present we run it past the Mission President. This is quite an assignment but coming along. Our District members sent us good ideas which have helped.

Lots of people have been sick or had surgery. These people hate to miss church and will be back when they can. They are so great.

We went to visit a non member with the Elders and the cute sister had bought ice cream and birthday cake. It was her birthday and she had invited us over to give two blessings to members of her family. We had a little party for her also. She wants to be baptized but isn’t married to the person she lives with. I know many people see so much of this on their missions. It is just the way of the people here but of course we try to get them not to live together until they are married then they can become members and continue to be stronger. Some have been engaged so they call it for 35 years. Others say they are married because of being together for so many years. Generally there are children involved.

Maria that we talk about a lot is now in charge of cleaning the church. She takes this so seriously. Our month to clean and planned on cleaning two times this month. Guess what – every week. She cleans everything. Right now nice to have a small church. We do have a less active member helping us clean. She worked hard and said she is glad to come again however; she didn’t come to church again. We are hoping to show her we care and hope she will remember how it felt to be an active member. Cutest lady ever. She has an 18 year son who used to come also. We sure do care about both of them.

On Friday we went to Keyenta to a District Leadership Meeting with our Zone Leader. It is at least 3 ½ hours from Zuni. We are usually as far from things as anybody.

We met on the above mentioned project for 3 ½ hours then went to lunch at the Blue Coffee Pot. A little mom and pop place ran by one of the Keyenta Ward members. It was great food then we started home. Long day for a meeting. As we were planning the place where we get our hair cut I said to Elder Dattage that we would be back waiting in that spot for the other car going to the Temple in less than 9 hours.

Saturday was one of the best days we have had. We had organized this Temple Day to go to the Snow Flake Arizona Temple. 10 people were going so we took two cars. It is about 2 hours from Zuni. A Temple even smaller than Brigham but so pretty. Many people down here call it the Native American Temple because it is decorated with their rugs and pottery. So pretty. It was one of the most amazing days. One of the sisters that went had received her endowments only last month. You have to have your clothes in Snow Flake so we had Jodi get clothes and mail down. Jill put a dress in that she had and she wore it. It was beautiful on her. Two other people hadn’t been for years and we found out that one other lady wants to go but can’t quite fit her dress. Jodi had slipped an extra dress in and I will take it to her and hope it works. We were able to do a session and then some iniatory. Some of the people did sealings so we were all over the Temple. I have always loved initiatory so it was so beautiful to be doing that again. After we ate here is a funny story. Really funny if you have met Rose and John Park. They are in their 70’s but great Temple goers. O K in Relief Society today Rose is giving the lesson. She is talking about family. She says yesterday all of us were sitting at a big table eating in Snow Flake after the Temple and she looked at all of us and though the Dattages seem like the Mother and Dad and we are all family. She said we were all laughing and enjoying each other. Right now I know Jodi is loving that story. Dear Rose has lots of years on me but she is a good one. It was a funny compliment.

Amazing that the Temple has an impact on everything we do. Today in Church it was a huge Spiritual Testimony to every other member. Then when we got home last night and we were tired we still were taking Vangie for groceries there was a package from Carolyn and Steve for my birthday and also for the Relief Society Cards. They are beautiful and just perfect for all of us right now. They said, “All the ordinances necessary for salvation and exaltation are accompanied by covenants with God. Making and keeping covenants means choosing to bind ourselves to our Father In Heaven and Jesus Christ.” Linda K. Burton. I love these words. They are for people all over the world and for people at home. Love this lady and her words. We enjoyed the present, cards and had Carmel popcorn and peanut clusters for our dinner. Great night when you think of it.

Elder Tillefson is being transferred to Farmington where he will be a Zone leader. He has been an amazing Elder and will be a great leader. He lives in Murray, Utah and think we will see him again at times. Elder Huston will stay and have Elder Daniels as a new companion. Hope he likes Zuni.

Glad you are all out of school. A time to work hard and enjoy summer and family. Good luck to the Disneyland goers. Nothing more fun than taking two 5 year olds to Disneyland. Love those boys and of course Kendal and Jordan will be dancing . I still remember when Jane Peterson and I did that with Jill and Jenny and now they are Mothers of cute little children. Thanks for all the good wishes we had this week. Saw big trucks, the ranch, Harry Potter the play which I so want to see Reagan and Kim, playing in the water, seeing Mae and Andrews amazing summer day plans, watching Ryan and Jason talk about Africa (still laughing) talking to Lance and Kim . Kim kept us laughing as she told us how much Hunter and Shea love working at the ranch. So appreciate this even when pumps break. Love our family and friends. Have a great week and continue to do well. Summer is fun. Keep all fun pictures, videos and anything else coming. More than anything we appreciate your prayers. We rely on them and know they help us so much.

Love,

Elder and Sister Dattage

Saturday, June 4, 2016

"Great people with limited things"

May 30, 2016

Hi all,

Thanks for the birthday wishes, texts and calls. You are all so wonderful.

I think it is colder in New Mexico than in Utah right now. They all say that is good because as soon as it is warm we get a lot of mosquitoes. Yikes sounds fun.

We certainly have had some good visits this week. Some times when you visit some one and they just needed a visit you are so glad you were there. That happens a lot here. They are down a lot because of lack of money to pay lights, water and other things. They know they should be self reliant but they often struggle with that. Great people with limited things.

Monday was fun. The Salts. Young Elders and we went to get a load of wood for them and we took hot dogs and marshmallows. First cook out of the year. It was yummy and we had fun and listened to their stories. Their missionary daughter comes home in a month and they are so excited. So uplifting to here their good stories. They are very spiritual. Brother Salt said that one time he was wood cutting with previous Senior Missionaries. He was ready to cut a tree down and saw the missionary standing right behind him. He prayed that the tree wouldn’t fall and crush him . It stood up until the man could move then it fell. The power of prayer is in our everyday lives. We use it then we should ponder our blessings. They happen for good reasons. So blessed.

Elder Dattage has been fixing Marie’s things since we got here. Now he will reinstall a seat belt it we can find the right one to fit. Bless her heart she orders from the junk yards to get her parts because her car is very old and can’t get them any other way. Wish him luck on this one.

Of course we went to the homes on the Visit Teaching list. Vanissa is the best visiting teacher I have seen. She wants to go back until she gets them which isn’t easy in Zuni. She is a good one for sure. Love going with her because most of the people we visit have not had a visiting teacher ever before and they are so nice to welcome us in. I always take thought cards from Carolyn so she has a message from them.

We met with President Walker to come up with a Zuni Branch Mission He likes what the Relief Society is doing with their visiting and is working with the men. The problem is that there are so few men that are members They have to work overtime to help everyone that needs helped. Down here it is evident why we needs Home Teachers and Visiting Teachers to help each other. Just another blessing in the lives of all of us.

We had a meeting with President Haws during the week. He is a good Stake President. He tries to help Branches and Wards and it is a challenge. He wants them to become self reliant but knows of the problems. He works hard and loves the people down here. I am impressed that he meets with the Zone leaders from the young Elders and Elden and I each month to get feed back from what he sees we need and to have us help him with the things we see on our end. He works so well with everyone. We really think a lot of that man.

We were invited to Vivian Hatte for breakfast on Friday. This was the menu: scrambled eggs, fried eggs, pancakes, sausage, bacon, biscuits and gravy, three juices, milk. That was a feast. She is the only member in her family but her daughters and husband are always there and listen to the Elders teach. They are a good family. They make me homesick because they laugh, talk and eat. That is very familiar to the Dattage Family at home. Love all of them. Sure enjoyed talking to you on my birthday. Loved the text messages and also the cards and gifts. Still laughing at the card Jill Cazier sent. Thanks to all. Thanks to our family for the fun gift of getting away one night and enjoying a meal and shopping. We went Friday night and went to dinner. On Saturday we went to the flee market which we have been wanting to attend. It was fun and we picked up a few things. Our neighbors the Pawyas were there selling their bread. We had much better talks with them there than we do at home because Jim is always too busy to talk. Great people.

Before we left on Friday sister Vivian ask Elden and I to help her prepare a talk for Church on Sunday on Self Reliance. We spent time with her and she had great personal ideas. As we were leaving , President Walker called Elden and ask him to talk on Sunday on Self Reliance. We laughed because we gave Vivian our best ideas. However both Elden and Vivian did wonderful jobs today in church as they taught this important principle. I was in Primary music. I just know Janie and Jill are laughing at this. However somehow with Kim sending me ideas on what would be fun to do I make it through this. I even lead a bit. I think I am getting extra help with that one. Today it was music leader, baby tender and 2 year old tender. Sister Walker and I with her teachers made it through and the kids are adorable. What a blessing it is to work in all of the organization at once. We are constantly reaching out and learning more and expecting more of ourselves with the help of the Lord

We have had two unusual things this week. First the neighbors in the trailer in front of us were drunk and the lady came over for help because her son had been drinking. We got her some help and he came back , said he was sorry and what else. They the Pawya bakery grandson were out their last night with friends drinking. They are very close to our window. Honking horns, laughing and yelling. So grateful for the good people here that lift us up and more for the Word of Wisdom. .

We hate missing such good things at home. The walk for Jaxon was one that was hard to miss. Our family surrounding him in love. Kendal winning the race. We do love that little boy. Plays, dance reviews, graduations, soccer games,Wellsville Mile runners, lots of good grade certificates, golf tournaments, t-ball games, reading awards assemblies, Emma just being so funny and cute, grandsons going to BYU and seeing the school as they grow up into such amazing young men. Grandsons getting the highest score in their school on a test and working so hard in school. These are the things we miss but I can assure you that we are being blessed so much. We pray the blessings we receive trickle down to our whole family. This week Jodi sent Temple clothes and Jill and Jodi sent a Temple dress and we took them to a sister down here. Her tears were very touching as she realized what all of this meant. Primary ideas come on over e-mail and help me so much and little requests to her about end of school things for kids. When I ask Jodi about flowers for memorial day she said no worries already done. The family would take them as usual. The Watrins send pictures of the ranch as they work hard to keep it up. That makes Elden feel so good not to worry. I felt so blessed to have the family the Lord blessed us with. Everyone of them. It is such a blerssing to have this wonderful family. Love every picture that Ryan Lance send to show us more truck work. They never tell us about the no sleep and such but just how much they love this. We feel blessed to have this opportunity in Zuni. We love these people and they are blessing our lives. We love our friends and family and they are blessing our lives. This is the Lords work and it is a privilege to be a part of it. Love all of you. Enjoy the beginning of summer and getting out of school.

Can’t wait to hear the summer stories – let the fun begin. Love all of you,

Elder and Sister Dattage