Pole Barn Remodel
Construction on the pole barn (which is being converted to an apartment for a cowboy intern) continues. Getting supplies are the trick, as there are still shortages in everything from electrical, carpentry, and plumbing. Yesterday Wes and Elder Runnels went to Ponca Oklahoma for supplies. It took them the entire day (even though Ponca is only 45 minutes away).
What was it they said about ladders in.our safety meeting?
Plumbing and electrical are in the walls!
Not all houses have washing machines, but this apartment will. Holden (the intern) needs it as he is a long ways from everything.
Feeding the Football Players
In Pawhuska, the churches all take turns feed the football players, coaches, and assistants the day before each game. It was our turn, but we don't have a large building, so we used one of the other churches for the feed. We provided pulled pork, chips, cheese, baked beans, watermelon, cakes and pies. I was handing out the cheese. I was amazed to see that it was rare for any of the kids to come through the line without thanking us for the food. As I placed the cheese on each plate, the frequent "Thank you ma'am" repeated with every young man and lady.
I hear it everywhere I go: "Yes, ma'am", "Thank. you ma'am..."
Below is Anthony Little, one of the favorites. He is so much like a child--full of excitement and love!
OLD. Pawhuska is a very old town. Sister Johnson and I served at Christ Cupboard on Tuesday. This is a picture of the bathroom there. It REALLY is a water closet!
After we finished distributing food, we walked down to the Pioneer. Woman mercantile and treated ourselves to lunch. This arugula salad was so delicious. This was first time I ate a pansy! I felt a little guilty for doing it, but it was delicious.
Flat Tires and Dead Batteries and almost running out of gas.
Monday, was shall we say, a "Monday"! There was a flat tire that needed to be sent into town, and the battery they had picked up on their last trip to town had the poles reversed. So Sister Johnson and I set out for Arkansas City, Kansas. I was low on gas, so I stopped at the Conoco in Cedar Vale Kansas for gas and was a little upset seeing this sign in the window of the gas station, (the pumps weren't working either and I was almost out of gas)! Could we make it to Arkansas City. (30 miles away)? I didn't think so, but didn't have a lot of other options. I made a decision to go the opposite direction to Sedan, Kansas to get gas (20 miles away). I offered a silent prayer that we could make it. (We had decided not to break the Sabbath coming home from church the previous day (it's 45 miles each way to church).
Sister Johnson and I offered up a silent petition and set off in. the opposite direction from what we intending to go. We came into town on fumes and pulled into the only gas station in town. I think my tank holds 24 gallons?! Thanks Heavenly Father!
After filling the truck, we repaired flat and checked out the "YELLOW BRICK ROAD"! Which is actually more like a yellow brick sidewalk! But hey, we are in Kansas!
Produce Truck
All five sister missionaries showed up for our assignment at the produce truck. We never know what will be on the truck, nor does anyone else. This time it was strawberries, carrots, potatoes and onions. The onions were wet and they kinda. stunk. The ladies struggled with the assignment ,occasionally gagging and coughing as we ran across some pretty soft, gross onions even though we were wearing gloves. After placing 20 onions in a bag, we used another bag for 18 carrots. The carrots weren't the sleek, long ones you purchase and bring home from the store, but broken, fat or twin carrots. They seemed in good shape... other than being "odd balls". As we worked. together sorting the produce into individual packages, the line of cars outside continued to grow. At the. signal, we exit the building with carts loaded with food and the cars move forward one at a time. The volunteers load produce into the backs of their cars and visit with the people, wishing them well. This is a federal program for the needy.
Sister Dabbs, Sister Runnels, and Sister Johnson. Dabbs and Runnels are only in their 50's. They seem to have endless energy. We are glad they're here! 👀
Pawhuska Fair
Thursday- Saturday is the Pawhuska Fair. Here are pictures showing us setting up our booth. We are giving FamilySearch cards, doing a drawing for one of our quilts, and letting the kids do a bean bag toss.
All Done!!! We are putting in long days this week! Most go from 7:00-7:00 or longer! We sleep soundly at night.
Wahzhazhe Heritage Trails
Sister. Johnson and I stopped and spent a few minutes here on the way to the library this week. We walked beneath this beautiful tree canopy, along Bird Creek. It was so peaceful and beautiful. I noticed these berries and said, "Hmmmm, I wonder what these are? You eat some and if you are okay, then I'll eat some!" She gave me a slight slug and said something about me trying to kill her. (Turns out she was right, these are poisonous).
The Wagon
We have been fixing up this wagon, getting it ready for our Dave Anderson concert. The wagon belongs to the ranch but was in poor repair. It had a couple of missing spokes, and a broken wheel, and minor issues like paint. The wagon will serve as the back drop for the singer.
Dave is a country. and western singer and will be here the 23rd-25th and provide a concert to the town of Cedar Vale, Kansas and Pawhuska. We are calling it our gift to our friends in the area.
We added some clear-coat today.
Outside Things
Birds. The other day I saw a flock of turkeys beside the road. At first I thought they turkey vultures, but they had grey not red heads (we have our share of turkey vultures, trust me).
Clouds. We are starting to see lots of big fluffy clouds (like in Utah), but are so strange! They don't move past you as you watch, they stand still like FOREVER! I am not kidding. Sometimes I think I am staring at a painting.
Snakes. I was driving down the road the other day and suddenly (stretched across the road in front of. me) I see a huge diamondback rattlesnake. No time to stop or even slowdown. I ran over it. It is the first snake I have seen here!
Cat. I guess I "chapped one of the cowboys hides" when he noticed the cat dish on my porch. "That's supposed to be my mouser!" he complained. (Oh well, you can't win 'em all)
Cows. Finally, we have all of the calves and they have wondered off to eat in pastures far away from my place. It seems too quiet now.
Blue Ribbons. One of the cowboys was finally able to bring his baby home from Tulsa (it was born 1.5 lbs). On Monday, a few of us sisters tied blue ribbons on the fences leading up to his house and balloons at the entrance. That was fun!
Spider Webs. At our. office meeting the ranch manager Tyson Johnson mentioned that Farmers Almanac says that when the spider webs are really thick, it's a sign of a rough winter. When we walk in the mornings we would get these disgustingly thick webs on our arms (walking down a road), and we'd always say, "EWWWW, this is gross!"
Today, I am washing the truck and there's this web next to the hitch about 2 feet long--a single strand. Do you think I could get that stupid web off (I was using a spray attachment)? Not a chance! EWWW!
Coyotes. We still hear.and occasionally see a coyote. They need to be here-- there is abundant rabbits.
Stars. If there was. one thing I could send you or share with you, it would be the stars (away from the lights of the city)! It is incredibly beautiful, bright and there are soooo many stars we never see in the city. We often stand together in silence, holding hands as we gaze heaven-ward at too many stars to even count!
One Step at a Time
Lastly, I want to close with a story my daughter sent me about 9-11, and testify that He really does walk beside us and know of our difficulties and struggles.
For Connie, September 11 had begun normally enough. She had worn her sneakers on her commute to work as she always did and then changed into heels once she arrived at her desk, like she always did. But as she began checking phone messages, Connie noticed that her boss, Ron Fazio, and a few coworkers were gathered around a window close to her desk. Soon Fazio started yelling for everyone to leave the building.
Connie looked out the window and saw a plane heading into the tower opposite her office—in fact, she was close enough to read “American Airlines” on the side and could see that the shades on the plane’s windows were all pulled down. Then she felt an intense heat and watched the plane crash into the tower. Fazio was still ordering everyone to quickly get to the stairs, perhaps concerned that power to the elevators would get cut off. Connie knew there was no way she could go down 99 flights of stairs in heels, so she took a moment to grab her sneakers before joining the throng of her coworkers at the stairwell.
At first, the stairwell was relatively empty. But 15 minutes into their descent, United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into Connie’s tower.
“It felt almost like a roller coaster going up and then crashing back down. If you weren’t holding on to the railing, you went flying. We knew [then] it wasn’t just a freak accident; it was an attack. It was very scary,” Connie says.
Then the stairwell became more crowded, until Connie was shoulder to shoulder with those on either side of her. As people came to the stairs, they brought word that the Pentagon had been hit, and some said the White House was under attack. Connie began to feel panicked and started to cry. As a single mother, her mind turned to her 10-year-old son and what he would do without her if she died on those stairs.
And then, exhausted and on the verge of full-blown panic, she heard a voice in her right ear—a voice she hadn’t heard in the 17 years since her father passed away.
“You’re not going to die in this building. You’re not going to die in this building,” Connie heard her dad say. Then, she heard another voice speaking into her left ear. This time it was her uncle, who had been a beloved father figure after her father died in 1985 until his own death in 1999. Using the nickname he had called her in life, Connie heard her uncle say, “Just take one step at a time, kiddo, just take one step at a time.”
“It sobered me up so I could continue the journey down the stairs,” Connie says.
Forty-five agonizing minutes later, Connie finally made it to the bottom and stayed in the building a moment longer to rest her tired, overheated body against a cool marble column. As she did, people from the stairwell began coming up and hugging her and thanking her. Confused, Connie turned to her friend and coworker Jillian and asked, “Why are they thanking me?”
“Connie, you don’t remember what you were saying when we were walking down the stairs?” Jillian replied. Connie had no idea what she was talking about.
“Every once in a while, you would just scream out, ‘We’re not going to die in the building; just take one step at a time,’” Jillian told her.
“I didn’t know it until I got to the bottom of the steps, but I was saying out loud what my father and uncle were telling me in my ears, and it was giving comfort to the people around me,” Connie tells me. “That was a miraculous, spiritual moment on such a horrible, horrific day.”
Ready to move again, Connie exited the tower. She made it to safety inside of a building one block away. Only five minutes later, the tower she’d just escaped collapsed.
“If we would have taken any more time on the stairs, I would not be here,” she says, crediting, in part, her father and uncle, who kept her moving. “I know from my experience on 9/11 that there is life after death and that our family is with us.” For the entire story click here:
