I haven't done a post for 2 months, I decided to try again. I was looking through the things that I had written and decided to do several things at once.
I told a little about our mission to Arizona (Arlo and I), That was a special time for me. Arlo and I spent 24 hours a day together. We walked the roads of two Indian reservations. One in Arizona, Peach Springs. Arlo was going to be put in as branch president there, because the one that was in lost his testimony and fell. They did find a man to be the new branch president and Arlo helped him learn how to lead. We were sent to Zuni, New Mexico. That was a different situation. They had a strong branch president. The Indian people had a hard time staying in the church, because they were very tempted with alcohol. That was a curse to the Indian people. We had some wonderful experiences. Arlo gave a blessing to a young Indian boy who was very sick. He said he could feel the spirit from the top of his head to his toes. I loved our Indian mission, but I had a hard time seeing all of their problems.
After Arlo was gone and I went to Mesa, I was called to the Washington, Seattle Mission. It was different being single. I had 3 older companions that I loved dearly. I also had 2 young sisters that were very difficult. They should never have been on missions. Both of them were sent home. I think the Mission President thought that I could help them, but I didn't know how. I enjoyed that mission. too.
Ward and I went to Chicago for our mission. Both of us were country people and being in the big city was a different thing. He drove the car and I was the back seat driver. We did ok. That mission was different. One day we drove around the boundry of our mission and it was over 100 miles. There were three couples, Ward and I and two other couples in the same apartment building. We really enjoyed being there together. On our preparation days we went many places. We saw Chicago! With such a big area, you would think that there would be many men who were worthy to be Bishops, but the Bishop of that ward was from a ward outside of Chicago.
I loved all of my missions and I loved serving in the temple. I was an ordinance worker in the Mesa and the St George temples. Both of those callings were very special to me.
When Arlo and I came home I worked in the Conejos County library until I moved to Mesa.
The Library was special to me. Before we had the library, in LaJara, I was the person who checked out books to the people of Manassa lending library, it was in a little building that was next to the garage. The County decided to build the library in LaJara. I was asked to be on the board of directors for that library. We worked for some time to make it possible to have the new library. Conejos County bought the books that had been sent to Manassa as a lending library and they decided to release me as a board member and I went to the Alamaos Libarary and prepared the books to be used in the new library. I was taught how to be a librarian. While I was working in Alamosa they were building the building for the new library. When it was finished, I was hired to work in the new library. They hired Marie DeHerrera to be the head librarian and Vangie and I were the assistants. I worked there for seven years. After I took leave to serve the mission in Arizona, when I returned home I went back to work for the next year. I have always felt that library was partly mine. Gloria and I painted murals on the walls in the West end of the library.
We stopped at the library last summer and some of those murals are still there. They built another room on the West end, but they didn't remove all of the murals. (2009).
