24th July Celebration in Ramah, New Mexico

We went to Ramah, New Mexico for the 24th of July Celebration.  They had an inground BBQ pit where they cook large quantities of meat for ward dinners with the 24th being their largest.

They inserted a 3'x4' cement pipe in the ground with the top level with the ground.

There is 18" of washed river rock in the bottom of the pipe.

They had 2 thin metal round sheets with handles 2/3 the size of the pipe and a heavy gauge steel lid that will sit on the top of the cement pipe.

Procedure:  to heat- take the 2 thin metal sheets out of the cement pipe.  Start burning wood in the pipe.  Hardwoods and cedar are good.  They started burning the wood at 10am until 2pm.  There will be about 12" of coals and the cement pipe will turn white.  

Put the 2 thin sheets of metals on the coals.

Season the meat (they used pork roasts) and put into the turkey bags and tie.  Wrap the bags in soaking thick multi-level newspapers.  Place bags into soaked burlap bags and crisscross tie the burlap bags with bailing wire.

Put the burlap bags in the cement pipe on top of the thin metal sheets.

Put the lid on top and cover with3 feet of dirt.

They had everything in the cement pipe at 4pm Friday and served dinner at 5:30pm Saturday.  The meat cooked for over 24 hours.  It was delicious and very tender.

Monument Valley District Meeting

 Tuk is Bob and Nan French's dog.  They were kind enough to share him with us.  He is a special little dog.

 Hogan

It was a wonderful day to be with friends exploring Monument Valley.

 Four months later another district hosted a tour of Monument Valley.  They had a native tour guide that took us on back roads that most of the tourists do not get to see.  This a picture of us in front of a fun rock formation with Elder and Sister Berry from Vancouver Washington.  Elder Berry grew up in Cedar City, Utah.  He is about 4 years older than Grandpa.  They do not remember each other.  They arrived two days before and are serving in Sawmill, Arizona.  We picked them up and took them with us.a

 This Sister Dalton and I looking up at the "Eagle Eye".  Sister Dalton and her husband are from Idaho Falls and are serving in Lupton, Arizona.  Sister Dalton is a rock hound.  She is alway exploring the rocks wherever we are.

 This is the Eagle Eye.  Does it look like an eagle eye to you?

 We all laid down and looked up at the eagle eye.  There was a great echo so we sang I am a Child of God.

 My man!

 We are at Artist Point and heading out of the park.

Horse Out on the Point

 If you look very close you can see a horse and rider on the edge of the cliff.  Elder Boyter was brave and for $5 he sat on the horse on the edge of the cliff and had his picture taken.

 These pictures do not do the cliff justice.  I was nervous standing our there taking the picture.  Proud of that man but he was happy to leave the edge.

District Meeting with John Wayne

 John Wayne filmed many films in Monument Valley so it seemed fitting that he should join us in our group pictures.  Elder and Sister Huffaker, Sister and Elder Boyter and Nan and Bob French.  Nan and Bob French were in the area doing Family History work and joined us for our District Outing.

Elder and Sister White joined us in this picture.  Elder White is our Zone Leader.  They will be leaving us in a couple of week to return home.

Tear Drop Arch

 We made it to Tear Drop Arch.  Through the arch you can see Monument Valley.

Rattle Snake Country

Elder White led the way through the rocks.  As we headed up over the rocks to Tear Drop Arch, he stopped and listened.  Then he looked closely under the rocks and found this small rattle snake.  The snake is a young snake and it was difficult to hear the rattle.  It reminded us how important it is to listen to the still small voice for danger.  We took a different path to the arch and looked and listen very closely.

Hike to see Ruins outside Monument Valley

For District Meeting we met at Elder and Sister White's trailer outside of  Monument Valley National Park.  Elder White took us on a hike up through the red rocks.  Had to squeeze through some tight spots to reach this ancient structure in one of the caves.  Elder White feels that since there are no smoke stains on the ceiling and there is a small entrance into the cave that this structure was used as a defensive structure.  Bob and Nan French were here in New Mexico doing Family Research  and stopped by.  They were able to join us for our trip to Monument Valley

Zuni Bread

 The Paywa family from Zuni have been making the traditional bread for a long time.  Their parents started the business in the 1970s and they have continued after their parents retired.  They have an oven that cooks over 100 loaves at one time.  Nan French (cousin) and I had our picture taken with Sister Parks.  Her family are the Paywas.  She shared that she was in Salt Lake City 2 weeks ago to be sealed to her husband.  They have been married for 4 years.  They met when they were serving missions when they were young.  They both went their own ways and married.  Brother Hart came looking for her and courted her.  We will be going to Zuni to church in the next few weeks and look forward to meeting her husband.

 We are holding yeast bread that just came out of the oven.

 This oven is not the Paywa's oven.  We found it while we were driving around Zuni.

This picture was taken of the bread in the Paywa's oven.

Zuni Indians are a different tribe than the Navajos.  Their reservation is about 30 miles south of Gallup New Mexico.    There's about 12,000 Zuni people.

Fort Wingate, New Mexico

 This is an arch above the town.  From a distance it looks great and the rock work is very nice but it is sad to see all the graffiti that covers it.

 A memorial to the Native Americans who have served in the wars.

We were walking through the flea market in Gallup when we found Miss Fort Wingate.  It was great to have our picture taken with her.