New Mexico: 2001

Our primary work during this trip, in mid-September of 2001, was to rebuild the windows of the house owned at Kirtland, New Mexico. This house serves as the living space for the missionaries that serve the needs of the Native American community (primarily Navajo) in that area.

The winter can be very harsh in this area, with very cold winds. The insulation value offered by the previously existing windows was very low. Thus, the heating bills of the Navajo mission was somewhat higher than desired, and the family living there was never quite comfortable. Thus, the need to replace the windows.

In addition to the window replacement project, a few smaller items were accomplished. This included the re-coating of wood posts that line the driveway of the house, and the construction of a kitchen light above the sink. Before, there was no light above the sink in the house, and whoever was working there found that they were working in their own shadow due to the single kitchen light. We also spent time at the home of one of the congregation member's homes, and worked there by placing a skirt around the base of the home to keep the wind out from under the manufactured home in which they live. This will almost certainly help their heating costs considerably.

All of this was completed with enough spare time available for us to briefly visit a few of the local ruins of the ancient civilization that existed in the area.

Throughout the work, we were assisted by a number of Navajo people. This included Tim, who helped with the work on the house throughout the whole day, and several of the Navajo women, who gave a lesson to the women on our team on how to make "kneel down bread" in the Navajo fashion.

The Navajo people tend to be very private, and in general do not like to have their photos taken. Out of respect for this part of the Navajo culture, these are the only "Navajos" that you will see here: carvings purchased in the area. Again, these illustrate the skill of the people.

This was my first missions trip after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, with the flight a little less than a week afterward. This added a very interesting atmosphere to the trip.