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Show # 13, P 3 confirm her on the occasion of his first visitation here. From an even more distant camp a young woman who had attended Mass at our hogan church when we used to come down from Bluff asked for baptism, and she brought her mother and two children. Some months later she told us that she had been talking about Jesus Christ to her uncle's large family, and "They want it". So the mystical Body of Christ is proliferated. Another news item from our area that made headlines was the oil burst that tossed thousands of gallons of oil into our San Juan River and jeopardized flora and fauna for hundreds of miles. Dams were built, but unprecedented rains tore them out and brought tons of brush, trees and all sorts of things from auto tires to clothing, basket balls and shoes. Many Navajos were engaged to help in the work (at a modest $3.50 an hour) and we : were talking with the daughter of one of them. We asked if he could get to , his work in a pickup. "Oh, no, there's no road. They come with a helicopter and drop him onto a house-boat." It seems that the cook quit his job, and the workers have to commute back and forth by helicopter. It is not rare now to find a helicopter parked in front of the Trading Post where only a few years ago any motor vehicle was an unusual sight. "Meanwhile, back at the ranch" things were not quite as rosy as they might have been. The wild storms washed out many roads, making gullies three or more feet deep, so that the only way for us to get through to our people was to bump over mud and rock to one side, making new ,trails. We still have to cross running washes disguised by an ice covering which lets a Jeep dQwn to heaven ,kpows what rocks and holes. Several times the school bus has ~o let children off 5 or more miles from home, so that they have to wade and get home soaked shortly Defore midnight. Usually they start at about 6:30 in the morning and if luck is with them 'get back at about 6:30 in the evening. Almost every week there is at least one school bus broken down and left along the road. The house and church were undamaged for the most part. Some gullies washed out where hollyhocks and morning glories grew at the base of the front porch, which is being re-built. Christmas Day was beautiful. Our Navajo Committee arrived at about 8:30 and had things well in hand for the distribution after Mass; about 120 attended Mass, a few arrived too late on account of roads and/or starting problems; the distribution was made in orderly fashion, and the climax came with Rudy Cook bringing over a half-ton of elk and deer meat contri~uted by the State Fish and Game Commission. The staff ended the day with Evensong sung in church, and intercessions and thanksgivings and carols. AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR SPONSORS: I MEAN CO}~RCIALS: We have recently produced a beautiful colored post card of ';he interior of the church. Alas, we have to get l5¢ each, in any quantity. A few of the JESUS POWER buttons are still available, same price. For free we have reprints of the Deseret News article about the Canon, and a few of the pictures (pre-Canon) of Fr. ~iebler taken by vic of Cortez; (stamped envelope appreciated.) AND JOAN ADDS: Hello there, again ••• well, this is the time of year when one wanders why one didn't take up some relaxing, peaceful occupation - like operating the Control Tower at Kennedy Airport, or something. Snow is what we've got a lot of - not too much, but enough to show up all the deficiencies in what we laughingly call our cars, you should excuse the expression. And if our cars aren't laid up, the neighbors' are~ Take a recent Sunday, for instance - there was I, quietly minding my own business, Father, Helen and Brother Juniper in Bluff, where Father was saying Mass for the st. Christopher's Mission staff in the aft.ernoon. Enter two Navajo ladies, neighbors from about 10 miles away - pickup stranded about half a mile down the road, flat tire, no spare, and 8 kids in the cab! After ·much bounding hither and thither in Father's trusty old red Jeep truck, it ended up with |