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Show J ~ ! y '.,5 UR LAST NEWSL!:TTER said wetd be in MollUll1ent Valley when it was being mailed. Perhaps you would enjoy a description of a typical mission trip to that area. 'Ne (Newton Darling & Fr. Liebler) started Friday before noon; reached 140nwllent Valley in time to make a few hoghan visits before sundown; arranged for Mass at Harry Benale's hoghan the following morning. Harry and his wile Anita speak English; they have fi va children, the older are beginning to learn Christian belief and practice. Camp was made in the dark - office said b,y dome light of "Cheny"; sleep. In the morning two other families joined with the Benale' s; we sang Mass, gave instructions. Rain and snow followed like a benediction, for the season has been extraordinarily dry. By ' noon we were well on the way to OljatO inteaiing to spend the rest of the day visi ting hoghans, drumming up a congregation for Sunday's service. At the trading post, where we always go first, we found several young Navajo men. One was in great distress. He wanted a ride to Kayenta, Arizona, to fetch a doctor or a nurse to go to his wife, who he said had been "trying three days to have a baby". We convinced him that even if he did find a nurse or doctor ,at Kayenta, it was not at all eure that he could get the help needed: Why not take the wife right to Tuba City's Hospital, 100 miles a_y? But what about our hoghan visits? A bit \ of strategyl "You boys want me to help this man. All right. Then you must help us. : We came here to nsi t all the hoghans near by, to tell the people to come to Church tomorrow. Now you go to the hoghans and tell them; c- we will take the woman to the hospital." They agreed with sest. The ~ expectant father, who goes by the very un-Indian name -of - Drake Jones, got in the car with us, after we had \ _ ~ - removed our gear to make room for the patient to lie .s,. c... down, and we started for his house. "Just three E -miles beyond the movie set", he said. True enough, rut three miles of blow saDd; a hundred yards of ~ it convinced us it couldn't be done. So, a circuitous - • -~ route -- nine times we dug Chewy out of the sand in as many miles of travel, and a camp loomed before us in the drifting snow. -Bring more blankets with you, so your wife will be comfortable lying down," we cautioned, as Drake went into the hoghan. In two minutes he appeared at the door, grinning from ear to ear. "Ashkii 'it· a'" - "It's a boy-. We went in, gave a blessing to mother and babe. This was March 25, Feast of The Annunciation. Too good a chance to miSSI We told of the mission of the Archangel Gabriel, the Annunciation and the coming of God into humanity. "Do you want a name for the boy?" Navajos are usually glad of help in naming their children. They did. His name , is Gabriel. Seldom can one tell the story of the beginning of the Gospel under circumstances where it w1l.l be so well remembered. ') It was dark when we got back to our camp at Oljato, but it would have been nearer dawn had we made the trip to Tube. City -- so we felt we were getting off easy. At nine next morning we set up the Altar, w.1.ted and prayed. At ten we began Mass--Just the two of us and the trader's daughter, Mrs. Smith. One Nava-jo man stuck his head in for a moment and was not seen again. We knew if our -parish visitors" made the slightest effort to accomplish their a-greed task. Such disappointments are part and parcel of missionary lite and work. Breakfast, then off for Tsebiyi. This is a vast area east of Monument Valley; hoghans widely scattered, most of them occupied only part of the year. From hoghan to hoghan we went, only to find no trace of receat |