Robert's "Hunter Puppy" passed away last Thursday. We all took it pretty hard, especially since Robert is so far away and didn't get to say goodbye in person. We know Hunter is happy now though and not in anymore pain. He was a great dog and always wonderful when the nephews would come for a visit. Miss you, Puppy.
Loloma!!!
Since I forgot to put a Native quote last week I will put two this week to compensate. I have them all written down and I am going to start forgetting which ones I put down already if I don't do them in order even though some of my favorites are later on but here they are.
"It does not require many words to speak the truth." - Chief Joseph Amen to that.
"How smooth must be the language of the whites, when they can make right look wrong, and wrong look right." - Chief Black Hawk (sauk) Amen to that as well.
Well I'm gonna be honest...I cant really think straight right now knowing that my dog is gone. It will take me awhile to figure out in my head that when i get back he wont be there. He was my best friend for sure and I had a closer bond with him then with probably anyone else. Only got to hang with him for 8 years. I know I am probably taking this a lot harder then I should but what can I say...He was my brother. Hopefully I will be able to look past it fast enough so I will be able to not dwell on it. I will share a couple of experiences I had this week and then that'll probably be it for this week, don't really want to email today. sorry.
First off a few days ago we had a good experience with Chris. He invited us up to his Aunts house in Old Oraibi to visit. We were talking about his situation and then we decided to bust out the scriptures and I wanted to pound in his head that he could find the answers to his problems in the Book of Mormon and about how the Book was written for him to remember his ancestors and their dealings with God. Moroni 1:4....and thats just one of many scriptures that talk about how the record is mean to help the Lamanites "in some future day according to the will of the Lord." Chris took that to heart I think and then we got straight to it and Opened up to Alma 24...which has been entitled by all missionaries that serve with the Hopi..the " Hey that sounds like Hopi!" chapter....cause every time you show it to someone they always say something like that or their facial expressions get real big its awesome. Anyways we were getting into the chapter and then Todd...Chris's cousin brother came in and he is extremely traditional but is starting to question a lot of things. In fact the house we were in happened to be one of the Village leaders so even having us in the house made everyone but Chris very uncomfortable( Which is typical here, thats why its so dang difficult)...But anyways Todd came in and asked us to leave as soon as we were done. We said we would and then he sat down and started reading with us...remember that billboard sign, i cant remember where it is but it says "Don't read the Book of Mormon, thats how they get you." Obviously put on by some church that doesn't understand, or they understand perfectly.....because its dang true!!!!! As soon as Todd started reading he got really into it and started asking tons of questions and then when we got to the "burying of weapons" stuff he just sat back and entered into the "hey that sounds like Hopi" face...it was great. But ya he got really interested really quickly. After the chapter was over the mother of the house came into the room and the spirit of awesomeness left and Todd said we had to leave. Definition of "seed planted."
Anyways Chris called us up to come back a few days later and we went around back to help them shovel some coal out and then Todd just started it up, you could he was anxious for us to come back. He asked whats the difference between Mormons and Christians first and then it just went off and he got real interested...then he said I will invite you in because the mom isn't home but as soon as she gets back we have to go. As we walked into the house Chris just had the biggest smile on his face, I think he is happy to have one of his family members start to understand a bit, and Chris told us that Todd had been asking him questions since we left and he didn't know how to answer them so he is glad we were there. We all talked for a good half hour or so and Todd said he really interested in what Chris was learning. That was actually on saturday so come sunday when Chris came to church he said Todd was wanting to ask about church all morning and Chris could tell he wanted to come, but the mom gave a bunch of chores and Hopi stuff to do....but its awesome because Chris now has something to keep his mind off of his situation a bit and he can be an example to his family. Like I said before which is in the village of the most deeply initiated traditions in all of Hopiland. Thats a miracle and a half that we were able to even enter into that house. Success of time in Hopi. Chris will soon become the "Hopi interpreter" like he wanted to be. Also it just so happens that Chris is a really good radio DJ...and he's got hookups with the Hopi station and people still remember him being on the air over 5 years ago and everyone loves him. Coincidence that he be one the first to bring the "remembrance of the traditions of their fathers" to the Hopi's...I think not. I will end on that awesome note that the Hand of the Lord is working on the Nephites still.
Love Elder Christensen
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