Monday, May 19, 2014

Saturday was easily my favorite day this week! We met the coolest family! They're an inactive family in the ward named the Nottinghams, and they live on London Drive. Sounds like they should be British or something, right? (Or maybe that's just me) Well, they're not. They're actually Indian! And they're way cool! They're pretty much the only family on the whole ward roster we hadn't met yet so we finally got ahold of them and they invited us over for brunch. So after we ate they showed us around their property which was way cool! They're pretty much completely self sufficient. They built their own house entirely on their own. They even cut the wood and cleared the land and everything. And it looks really good! They also have their own herb garden, vegetable garden, and orchard. AND they raise chickens and turkeys for their own eggs, and cows for their own beef and milk. So...basically if all of society falls apart tomorrow and you can no longer go to the grocery store and pick stuff up, they're going to be just fine. 

 

What I thought was really neat about them was the way they mixed their Indian culture with their religion. Their kids have Indian names and they both went on what's called a vision quest when they were thirteen, which is where they go out into the woods by themselves for 24 hours with no food or water so it can be a time where it's "just you and your creator" as their dad put it. And they have a sweat lodge where they go to pray. So they've retained a lot of their heritage but it doesn't take away from what they believe. They're not active in the church, but you can tell they still have strong testimonies of the gospel. Marla, the mother, actually grew up on an Indian reservation in New York. So when she was first introduced to the Book of Mormon it meant a lot to her because if the final resting place of the golden plates was in New York, for all she knows the Lamanites that were there at that time could be her ancestors. How cool is that? Talking to them was definitely one of the most eye opening experiences of my mission.

This is a whale's "tooth"--actually part of their baleen plate. A friend of the Nottinghams who hunted himself the old fashioned way (with a spear) gave it to them. They said that's the only way you can legally have one; you can't just buy them anywhere.

Some arrowheads the Nottinghams had hung on their wall.

 A while back Sister Dailey and I discovered Johnny Lingo on Mormon Channel. We decided since we're surrounded by so many cows, we ought to see if we could get eight different pictures with eight different cows in eight different places during the week. I think I actually ended up getting nine. So--let it be known that I, Sister Glenn, am an eight cow woman! 

Also, it's looking like Sister Dailey and I may not be in Red Star much longer. So for any of you who are planning on sending me letters any time soon, please send them to this address (the mission office) until I know where I'm going to be living next! Thanks!

175 Burnham Rd

Brandon, MS 39042