1964: Jimmie Clark and his wife Susan met my parents, David & Peggy Scates, in 1960 when they visited the church in Cortez, CO where dad was the minister. They received Christ and were baptized. This photo of Jimmie and Susan with their four children was probably taken in 1964. It was taken in front of the dilapidated apartment where they lived behind a cheap motel in Cortez.
Jimmie could tell the story about the first time he had seen a white man. He enlisted in the US Maries during WWII and became a Navajo Code Talker serving at Iwo Jima. When he enlisted, he told them his name was Clash-chee-ee and they decided it would be Clark instead.
Jimmie began to ask my dad to find a missionary to go to his home on the Navajo Reservation, Red Mesa, Arizona. It was only about 60 miles southwest of Cortez. After a few years of unsuccessfully trying to recruit a missionary, Mom and Dad determined that they were the ones to take this calling.
Scates Stories 
This is great, Lynn! Thanks for telling stories. So when your mom and dad decided the calling was their own, was in simply because there wasn’t anyone else to go? Or were other factors involved in giving them a sense of calling?
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Oh – well Jonny, it’s hard for me to remember and I wasn’t included in their decision making discussions – but yes, after trying to find someone else to go, and after many visits to Red Mesa with Jimmie – they determined that they were the ones to go. Shortly afterward they did have two potential recruits join up. One moved from Washington state to Cortez to prepare, but didn’t last long for some reason and never moved to the reservation. The other couple, Vernon & Carol Hollett, did move to the Rez and served the Navajo till Vernon’s death just a few years ago. Later another couple came and served for many years, Charles and Robyn Story, also in the later 70’s (when I was no longer living there) Tom & Teresa Elkins came too.
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Oh my, Lynn, how all this brings back memories! In 1966 my husband and I and family moved to Farmington NM. My first trip to the res was with Wes Paddock and David Scates and I was totally blown away to see the Navajo Indians that still lived in hogans! They laughed at me. There was a lot of contact with a lot of the people in these stories over the years. I now live in Cortez CO and enjoy remembering some of this.
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Marilynn – I started this blog and then got side tracked. I now have your email that you sent, I will reply to that. Thanks – Lynn
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