Well, Brent (Jen's youngest brother) is getting married in a week so we're off to Washington State to join him. It will be fun to see family again. We saw most of Jen's family when we were in Provo (they came out to for her cousin's mission home-coming) but I didn't get to see Jeremiah (Jen's sister's husband). So we'll spend a few days with Jeremiah and Tiffany at their home in Seabrook, a fancy smancy resort community he is building on the Washington coast. Hopefully Kevin (Jen's other little brother), Brent, Jeremiah and I can get in an evening of our classic spade's rivalry. Kevin and I pair up against Brent and Mia.
My research trip to Utah went well. I was a little frustrated by the LDS Church archive restrictions, but the archivists there tried very hard to provide me the materials I requested. My research centers on 20th century Native American (maybe just Navajo) relations with different churches. The problem is threefold; first, in the LDS Church there is a need to maintain a united presentation. The church stands on a foundation of inspired revelation and authority, so it is hesitant to release the correspondence of members of the Indian committee because it may reveal disagreements and conflicting ideas about how to work with Indians. Second, the topic of Native American is a controversial one, and the Church would rather not release sensitive materials that may come back to bite it. I noticed that almost everything referencing George P. Lee, excommunicated Navajo general authority, was restricted. And third, the topic is so recent that many of the people in the files I want are still alive, and so some personal information remains sensitive. Even still, the archivists were wonderful about helping me to get to most those materials. I really appreciate their help. BYU's archives were the most fruitful. I found plenty of documents that clearly spell out the Church's Indian policy. Now I've got to do the same thing with the Catholic Church, and then a Protestant church or two. Then I'll hit the Navajo archives, and hopefully my advisers will be able to get me more access than I'd normally enjoy.
Today is our last day at home for a bit. The governor is coming to visit, and it is too bad we'll miss her by a few minutes. We just closed on our home (last Friday) and used a special program that has caught the governor's attention. She'll wanted to stop by our house and meet us but her schedule dictates that her visit must be at 3pm, and our flight out of here is at 3:45, so we'll just miss her. Instead she'll look at the house next door which is still for sale under the same program we used. Oh well.
So I better finish my laundry and get packed. I hope these entries let you feel like you know us a little better.
