Week 36! (Probably)

Yaatee!

Another day has come. It has been a poppin' and a bustling week here in Tuba City! Had a baptism of a woman who has been baptized before,  but her records are completely missing and gone. So, we had to rebaptize her! It was a great experience and opportunity because the rest of her family do not belong to the church, and it just presented and opportunity for us to teach them all! Wahoo! 

Not sure how many people know this, but I've set a goal to learn a new skill in each of my areas. In Crownpoint I learned to rope, to make tortillas, to butcher sheep and various other animals, and how to chop wood like a mad man! In Monticello I learned to make balloon animals, how to play pool like a pool shark, came up with a new inspired business idea, and worked on bettering my handwriting. Here in Tuba City I have learned how to do some of the weaves

Elder Sandberg's loom!

with something known as,"paracording", AND Navajo Rug Weaving! Not sure if those words needed capitalizing, but hey, it could use the emphasis! I am so stinking excited to make this rug, it's ridiculous! Not one hundred percent sure who I will send this first creation to, but I have an idea! 

Last week was honestly a tougher one. For whatever reason or source I can attribute it to, the bottom line is that I have come away with a much deeper vigor and determination for the work. The phrase or mentality that has been ringing in my ears is, "no regrets". I've worked way too hard to get out here, and the last thing I want to do is leave here with regrets. Nope, not going to happen. I'm leaving it all on the line and there are going to be some big and amazing things happening. 

I challenge each of you to repent. Every single commitment we give to people we are teaching, is to help them repent. Repentance involves a change of attitude, behavior, and feelings toward God. If you need to say prayers every week as a family- do it. If you haven't been reading your scriptures as often as you should- do it. If you haven't been going to church- DO IT! 

I know each of you can!

Elder Sandberg calls you to repentance!

 1 O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!

 2 Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth.

 3 But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me.

Love you all! 

Elder Sandberg

He broke his face!

Yatee!

Something that has manifested itself since being out here, has been the love for roping and just cowboying it up in general. Tuba City had a fair last week and we had the opportunity to go to the rodeo. Luckily, there was a guy who was a member who ended up letting us in for free. We met a ton of people and got a ton of contacts, and in the process we got to see some of the events for the rodeo. One of them was the bull riding contest. In a very traumatic and heartbreaking event, we saw a young boy whom was only 17 years old, get bucked off of a bull and got his faced smashed in. Literally. I distinctly remember seeing that massive bulls hoove come down on the side of his face smashing his head into the dirt. Immediately, his face was swollen and bleeding. The paramedics took him out and off to the hospital.

It wasn't until later that day that we got called by a member to go see her grandson in the hospital, who just happened to be this young boy. Oddly enough, I don't know what it was, but I remember watching him get ready and I felt like I'd seen him before. It was strange. When we went to the hospital, the kid I saw getting ready to ride a massive beast, was not the same. The doctors had him drugged up to the point that he was completely out. They diagnosed him with having both of his cheek bones broken, nose broken, and a broken upper jaw. He literally broke his face. Luckily, there was no brain damage, or damage to his eyes. Very gruesome scene to be seen. 

So this happened, plus five other people that we have been called to go visit at the hospital who were suffering with various other things, has made this week very eye opening.

I have learned so much since being out here. There are many things I would wish to tell each of you about, but now is not the time. One of the things is that the priesthood is very very real. Some of the most sacred experiences I have had out here, have taken place when I am given the chance to excercise His authority given to me. Something I've noticed when the power is present and when the power is not, is in these circumstances- first, I've got to feel something for the person. Wether it be because I truly and deeply care about the person, or because I can feel so fully what it is the person is going through. More often than not, the power comes from having both occur. The principles of empathy and charity. 

Another big things that needs to occur is feeling the Spirit within me, and having the confidence that it is God's will for the requested result of the blessing to occur. Sometimes, it is necessary for us to go through certain things. It's not that God is punishing us or hates us, but because we need opposition to grow. Priesthood power is such a real thing and the Lord has restored it upon the earth again for us to be the means of much good. He gives it to us, His children, so we can experience in a small degree the joy that comes when He blesses us.

Thank you all so much for everything!

Keep this young boy in your prayers. His name is Dominick Descheney

Elder Sandberg

Did that just happen?

What a great week!

Here is some humor for ya-

We were driving from a lesson to head to another appointment. It was starting to get dark and we drove past a building that had a white Ford Bronco in front of it. What appeared to be a passenger from the Bronco, we saw a man get tossed onto the ground. THe guy who got thrown on the ground was completely limp. Honestly, it looked like he was dead. The passenger of the Bronco got into the truck and drove away as we slowed down to see what was going on. We started to call the cops and were debating if we should chase the Bronco, play cops and robbers, or if we should help the guy or see if he's alive. Amidst all the confusion we decided to just call the cops and make sure this guy was okay. 

After a while he stood up, fell back down, tried to get up again, and then fell on his face! Tried three more times and continued to fall until he made his way accross the road to sit on a curb and stick his thumb out for a ride. He started to walk away so we jumped out of the truck to stop him so he could get medical assistance. As we started to approach him, he was walking accross the road as a truck was coming. The guy was in the middle of the road as the truck approached, so the truck slowed down and swerved around him. As we were approaching him, the driver was staring at us and wondering what was going on. In the process, she did not see this completely plastered guy roll himself over the side of her truck into her bed. The truck drove on and we frantically ran back to the truck to chase them. It was intense! 

Long story short, don't slow down trucks for drunk guys to get into.. 

Things have been absolutely great out here.. I'm learning so much and growing so much..

That is all! Crazy things be happenin' out here on the rez!

Love ya!

Elder Sandberg

Tuba City!

For those of you who have been recently added, this is the mass email of Elder Sandberg. Full of spiritual insights, experiences, and funny stories. If you like being on the list, please remain, otherwise, let me know! :D Tuba City is a new experience. I can tell that the Lord is really trying to stretch me when I look at the events that have transpired- First, the Lord put me on the reservation as my first area. I got used to the idea that I would be working among nothing but the Navajo people. Absolutely love the culture and the people. Then the Lord decides to drop me in the white man land of "Monticello". The culture I was used to in the first area, was taken out from underneath me. Went through some trials with figuring out why I was back in the home state I was from. After much soul searching, I figured out exactly why I was there and fell in love with where I was at. A good chunk of my heart is made up right now of the people of Monticello.. Elder Sandberg is back on the rez! BAck with the amazing people of the Navajo tribe (and also Hopi), and I feel I have come back to the rez a completely different person. It's easy to see that the Lord has been refining me and taking me out of my comfort zone. Despite all the changes that are going on, I am incredibly grateful. I'm grateful because this is exactly what I wished for with the mission. It has become my goal, with being a representative of Jesus Christ, to leave everything behind. With the life that I once lived, and with the Lord rescuing me from my pitiful existence, I owe a lot. My goal is not to just lose myself, my goal is to kill the person that I once knew. To completely become a new creature in Christ and become a disciple of Him. The past is what defines me, the present it what upholds me, and it is the future that inspires and motivates me to become who He would have me to be. This experience has, and will be the single most defining event of my life. Everything I worked towards when I first knew the church was true, almost five years ago, in a grove of trees, was towards a mission. Through every obstacle I have had to overcome, and they have been many, it has been the mission that my eyes have been focused on. Right now, I don't fully realize the impact this experience is going to have on my future, but more and more each day I taste of what it will be like to reap the rewards of my efforts. I love you all so much. Our lives are too often defined by the things of the world and the magnitude thereof. It has become my earnest witness and testimony that the true value of life, is found in that of our relationships. There are only two things in life, from what I understand, that we will take with us to the next life. It is going to be our knowledge we have gained, and the relationships we have defined and built. Thank you all for making my life a success. Thank you for making it so easy to have such success. I am forever indebted to the life that I have been given with each of you in it. Forever in the service of you and our Savior Jesus Christ, Elder Brayden James Sandberg