2) How was church today? I was happily surprised to see that they have a church building in Steamboat.
3) Do you have internet access in Steamboat? I'm hoping it will be available in Ganado on Thursday if you can't e-mail tomorrow on P-day. Please use the USPS if you have no internet access anywhere.
4) What's the weather like there? Are you warm enough? Do you need a warmer blanket or a below zero sleeping bag?
5) What did you do on New Year's Eve? I'm thinking that mission rules don't allow you to stay up to see the new year arrive.
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Mom,
Things are great in Steamboat! I love the area so far. It is definitely MUCH smaller than Shiprock, and Shiprock was definitely MUCH smaller than Salt Lake City. Line upon line, precept upon precept, I suppose they say haha. My companion is Elder Vicznesky and he is a really funny and goofy guy. Yeah, there is probably about 300 people in our entire area because we cover Steamboat and an area called Jeddito that is west of here. The trailer you saw on Google Maps is probably the trailer the senior couple lives in, our little camper is behind the church. It's a little 20 foot camper, so it is pretty small inside. I would think that I should be able to meet everyone by the end of my time here, haha.
1) Transfer day went great!
2) Church was great yesterday! There was a Steamboat record for church attendance yesterday: 50 people at church! It was so awesome, tons of people got up and bore their testimonies.
3) We do have internet access through the church here in Steamboat. Pretty much every church building needs internet for all the computerized stuff.
4) Weather is cold but it hasn't been too bad the past week. Supposedly it's about the coldest part of the reservation because it is pretty high altitude. There is snow on the ground and it is very pretty here! There are lots of small trees and shrubs and mesas and hills. The camper has a propane heater so I am just fine at night, haha, don't worry about me! I'll let you know if I need anything.
5) We popped a bottle of Martinelli's and went to bed at about 10 o'clock, 30 minutes early to celebrate haha. It feels so nice to go to bed early as a missionary.
Everyone here in Steamboat is so nice and the branch is awesome! The branch president, President Yazzie, is such a solid guy. He was teaching me all about how the Book of Mormon and Navajo oral traditions as illustrated in traditional sand paintings are related, it was so awesome! He is writing an entire book on it and has gone throughout his Book of Mormon for the past like 12 years marking scriptures that relate to Navajo traditions, because he grew up very traditional (not very many people are THAT traditional anymore) so he knows all the teachings and stories backwards and forwards.
There aren't very many Spanish speaking missionaries at all in our mission. I believe there are only six, two sets in Farmington (east and west) and one set in Bloomfield. Some Spanish missionaries are sent to English areas and just are regular missionaries or will go places where there are some Spanish speaking people and be in a "zebra" companionship -- one English and one Spanish elder.
Woohoo! That's so great you guys are hosting the lessons at the house!!! EVERYONE WHO EVER READS THIS: HOST MISSIONARY LESSONS IN YOUR HOUSE FOR INVESTIGATORS AND LESS ACTIVE FRIENDS AND RECENT CONVERTS!!! IT HELPS SO MUCH!
Wow! Crazy to hear that the Phillipps went through my mission just a few days ago. I wonder what they thought of seeing Shiprock! They probably drove through an area just like what I'm serving in now and didn't even realize they were in a place where people lived. Farmington is a pretty nice town, there are some really cool shops there with Native American (mostly Navajo) jewelry, sandpaintings, pottery, rugs, etc.
I love you all so much and hope that this new year brings new opportunities to strengthen our relationship with Jesus Christ. As we see, sometimes these opportunities come in the form of trials but if we will focus on Christ's teachings and living the celestial law -- forgiveness, love, patience, diligence, obedience -- then we will be prepared for the blessings our Father in heaven has prepared for us after this life.
God Speed! With Much Love and Regards,
Elder Schaelling
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