Desert Messenger

32 www.DesertMessenger.com December 17, 2014 First Assembly of God Church Winter Schedule 665 W. Tyson, Quartzsite, Arizona • 928-927-5808 EVERYONE IS WELCOME! JANUARY 4TH 10:30AM Service – Men's Teen Challenge Choir from Phoenix JANUARY 10TH 6:00PM - Special Free Concert with Linda Lanier. This will be a time to celebrate our freedom and recognize our local officials, as well as the veterans and current military that have made it possible to enjoy the liberty we have. JANUARY 11TH 10:30AM Service – Linda Lanier JANUARY 11TH – 16TH 6:00PM - Camp Meeting – Evangelist Chris Klock JANUARY 12TH – 16TH 11:00AM – Special Teaching time with Dell Klein JANUARY 18TH - JANUARY 23RD 6:00PM – Camp Meeting - Evangelist Nathan Humbyrd JANUARY 19TH – 23RD 11:00AM – Special Teaching time TBA JANUARY 24TH – 29TH - ALL DAY – RV MAPS FEBRUARY 7TH 9:00AM – 3:00PM – Women's Conference – Cost is $15.00, includes registration, handouts and lunch. Speaker will be Sandy Guy. Will be held at the Church. FEBRUARY 8TH 6:00PM – William Harness Concert FEBRUARY 22ND 10:30AM – Bost Family Tradition – Family Bluegrass Gospel Band FEBRUARY 25TH - 28TH 6:00PM – The Talleys MARCH 1ST 10:30AM and 6:00PM - The Talleys MARCH 2ND – 6TH All Day – Campers for Christ MARCH 13TH 5:00PM-9:00PM Women's Retreat – Cost is $25.00 and includes registration and dinner. Speaker will be Pearl Offrey. Will be held at the Church. MARCH 14TH 8:30AM-4:00PM Women's Retreat – Breakfast and lunch included in registration above. Speaker will be Pearl Offrey. Will be held at the Church. Schedule Subject to Change. Please call ahead if travelling long distance or check Church Website: quartzsiteag.com What in the World is Happening? Wars • Big Brother • NSA • Borders • Mideast Crisis • Disease • Jobs Terrorism • Anarchy •Moral Decline • Earthquakes • Tyranny Gun Control • U.S. Power Decline • Etc., Etc. End Time Prophesies are found in the Bible Book of Revelation Revelation Bible Study on the Air Tuesdays @ 7:30am Starting Nov. 4th Scanners are to learn of emergencies. Listed above are EMERGENCIES! Police/Fire Scanners: 147.36 MHZ Ham Radio Operators: 147.36+ MHZ, 107.5 tone SNOWBIRDS Furnished Trailers For Rent $325/mo. + up Cactus Patch RV Park 928-927-6717 1949 FROM PAGE 16 While there we saw a black panther laying high up in the rocks observing us! We have since learned there are several known dens of black panthers in southwestern Arizona. Back to 1949— with little or no honey being extracted and facing the possibil- ity that our bees would die out from the lack of nectar to sustain the hive, we were forced to feed our bees a mixture of sugar and water. Borrowing money from the Bank of Douglas in Yuma brought the following comment from our banker, "I suppose honey doesn't fl ow very well in January, or not at all when it doesn't rain." Buying sugar in 50-pound bags was an expensive but necessary proposition if we were to hold-out until the next measurable rain revived the desert plants. Christmas in 1949 was going to be about as bleak as I could recall, much like what I remembered when my par- ents came to Arizona in 1931and we lived in a tent-house near the Central Avenue Bridge. I made a western shirt for Richard and bartered honey for a Western-style hat. For Patty and Hel- len I made stuffed rag dolls with em- broidered faces and yellow yarn hair. For the dolls and the girls I made green dresses, smocking the bodices with red thread. A Douglas fi r Christmas tree from Flagstaff was out of the question, but in the Yuma Daily Sun I had seen a photo of tumbleweeds put together and decorated as a snowman, "So", I thought, "Why not a smoke tree Christ- mas tree?" The girls and I took a little hike down the Tyson Wash in search of smoke tree that would be a suitable Christmas tree but they all looked pret- ty sparse and scraggly. Then we saw it, almost Christmas-tree in shape, but much taller and more stunning in an almost-silver color. We sawed it down, carefully hauled it back home, and tenderly decorated it with all the red Christmas decorations we had, includ- ing those left behind by Mr. Mott. Our Christmas "tree" was beautiful and we received many compliments for our modern ingenuity. But, you know what? As I think back to 1949— the drought, having to borrow money to feed our bees (and family), not enough gas money to go up to Flag for a tree, homemade gifts, and why Santa was more generous to friends Merna and Davella, it was one of the most mem- orable Christmases ever. It gave us more time to enjoy the sweet Sunday School lesson Mildred Cowell gave in the little Church Beside the Road about that fi rst Christmas in Bethlehem when Heavenly Father gave the whole world the greatest gift of all, His only begot- ten son, Jesus Christ, that we may all have eternal life with Him.

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