March 24

My questions:
1) Did transfers affect you and/or Elder Aguilera?  Be sure to give me your new address if you are being transferred.
2) Were you able to mail your taxes?
3) Did your thin mint cookies make it to you?
4) Would you like any food items mailed to you?
5) Have you learned anything about the Senior Missionary couple that will come after the Pattersons leave?
6) You mentioned that President Yazzie is building a new hogan now.  Is that for him to live in?  I see several regular homes around the church on google maps, but do some people still live in hogans?

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Mom,

I've been thinking of Meme and other family members a lot because we've been doing some family history work. Why is it that when I go on familysearch.org Grandma's family history isn't on there? Is there any way you guys could fix that for me? I want to make a four-generation pedigree with pictures of everyone but I don't really have any resources down here.

That's awesome that you were able to attend a caucus meeting! I am assuming you read the article in the Ensign back in February (I think) that was about being informed and involved.

Molly hasn't been able to listen to the tapes yet. We took the tape that has most of 3 Nephi on it to her last week but she said she didn't have a tape player so yesterday we took her a tape player from the church for her to borrow. We'll see how it goes! It's pretty hard. She's changed a lot since she decided not to be baptized. Serafin did attend church yesterday, but I think it is kind of different for him still. I payed more attention and tried to see church through his eyes since he can't understand Navajo and realized that probably the only class he can understand at all is Elder's Quorum because Elder Patterson teaches that, but the EQ class is pretty small and is focused all on latter-day prophets so I think it's pretty foreign to him. He can't really understand Sunday School about the Old Testament because President Yazzie taught it the past two weeks and it is mostly in Navajo. Serafin is kind of uncomfortable about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and I realized church is probably weird for him too because that's all he hears about in the parts he can understand.

1) Nope, both of us are staying in Steamboat! 

2) Not yet, I am in St. Michaels today so I plan on mailing those out today. 

3) Yes they did! Thank you so much! I have been enjoying them very much.

4) You can send me some food if you'd like. I can't really think of anything that I'd need too badly. One thing that I could use is Illustrated Stories from the Book of Mormon picture book. 

5) Their last name is Harris and they are from Lehi, Utah I think. That's about it, but they should get here a week from today or tomorrow!

6) Not really. Most people here live in trailers or in small homes, but a lot of them have a hogan right next to their home either for ceremonial purposes or just to have for family gatherings and even storage. Some people do still live in hogans though, but not a ton. Hogans are pretty nice though! They are a lot bigger inside than they would look from the outside.

I love you all and hope that things go well this week with the Phillipps and Norris families! Thank you for your prayers and support!

With love and regards,
Elder Schaelling

March 17

Questions:
1) You mentioned a quarterly interview with President Batt, do you ever see him more than that?
2) Where was your quarterly interview held in Window Rock?
3) How is Elder Aguilera doing?
4) Any idea on how it will work when he get his Visa?  Would they have him leave right away or wait for a transfer day?

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Mom,

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you too! I don't think I have any green whatsoever, but I have made it alright so far today. I don't think St. Patrick's Day is a big thing in Steamboat, haha. .. I did get the package with the Navajo Book of Mormon tapes just fine, thank you very much! I haven't used them with any investigators yet, but I am planning to use them next time we see Molly. Unfortunately, she has decided that she doesn't want to be baptized for now. It seems like her family and kids are pretty traditional in the Navajo ways of religion so they talked her out of it. I pray that listening to these Book of Mormon tapes will help her receive an answer from God regarding her path forward. 

It truly is a miracle all the things that are able to happen each week in a small area like Steamboat! We found yet another really solid investigator this week. He is Latino (the only Latino in Steamboat aside from Elder Aguilera) and just moved up here with his girlfriend who is Navajo and a branch member and we have taught him twice this past week and he even came to church! It was awesome. I'm not sure how much he understood, because about 75-80% of the sacrament meeting and Sunday School was in Navajo, but I'm glad he came. His name is Serafin. Kyle and Kelly (the family we found last week) and their two boys came to church yesterday and it was awesome! It seemed like President Yazzie's talk in sacrament might have really touched Kelly. He spoke about family history and talked a lot about how he grew up on the reservation before it had become more "modernized" like it is now. He spoke about the entire family living inside of the one small hogan and how they would just eat all off of a wooden board of the floor in the middle of the room and everyone would sit together and truly talk, but now people take their phones and go into other rooms and eat their cereal alone and whatnot. The Joseph's are doing well (their daughter is on the mission), we are going to see them tomorrow night. Sister Joseph and her son went to Utah this weekend for something. I think they were visiting her foster family, I'm not sure what part of Utah. Quinton is doing pretty well. Zach isn't coming to church anymore and we haven't taught him for a few weeks now. We haven't really seen Paul and Helen since the first encounter. They've been gone a lot and I don't think they are very interested. Molly's grandson TJ is doing awesome. He's in Shiprock this week visiting his dad for spring break though. 

There weren't any youth at church yesterday so we sat in Sunday School and Elders Quorum for the first time since I've been here. I think I like working with the youth more, it is pretty fun and engaging to work with all of them! We haven't gotten a Boy Scouts leader yet. 

1) When I was in Shiprock I would usually see him about once a month when we would stop at the mission office, but it is just a "hello" in the hallway. We see him once a quarter for interviews, and once a quarter for zone conference where a couple of zones get together to receive instruction from him and Sister Batt and the assistants to the president. 

2) It was originally going to be held at the church building which is technically in St. Michaels, but it is the Window Rock Ward. Ganado's truck wasn't starting so he and Sister Batt ended up just driving out to Ganado and we saw them there because they had to go up to Chinle that afternoon anyways. 

3) Elder Aguilera is doing pretty well. He's a pretty quite guy, but he is adjusting very well. He hasn't really dealt with any homesickness or anything of that sorts from what I see. It seems like sometimes all the decisions we have to make a missionary might stress him out a little, but as far as being in the mindset of being a missionary he is doing really awesome.

4) He will most likely wait until the end of the transfer. Even if he gets his visa in the first or second week of next transfer, they probably wont tell him until the 5th week of the transfer and tell him he'll leave at the end of the transfer. That's how I've usually seen it with other visa waiters. 

I love you all! Thank you for the love and support. I always enjoy hearing from you guys and hope you all have a great week! It's been pretty windy down here the past few days. Hozho'o nan'nah! (Take care of yourself) 

Love,

Elder Schaelling

March 10

Questions I asked:
1)  Have you been able to study the Navajo language more since Elder Aguilera needs to study Portuguese?
2)  You've mentioned that church is in Navajo.  How does that work for and affect you?
3)  Will General Conference be broadcast at your church or will you need to travel to another?
4)  I know that some parts of Arizona does NOT observe daylight savings time.  What about Steamboat?

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Mom,

It sure is hard to believe how fast time can go by! That's so exciting that Spencer will turn three years old! I can't wait to see how big he is when I get back. He along with Madelyn and Luke sure will have grown! Nate and Trevor have gotten to be pretty big boys now too. They are getting close to middle age territory. 

This week had more great things! We were able to meet a new family here in Steamboat that is super promising. Two Fridays ago they just stopped by the church asking us if they could learn more about the process of getting their two kids baptized and we set up an appointment with them for this past Friday. They are very nice and I can tell they are just a great family. The dad was baptized when he was young by his mom's foster family in Utah and he always went to church when visiting them, but he never went to church while down here. He came to church along with his two boys who are 9 and 10 years old yesterday and their mom couldn't make it because she was feeling sick. I'm very excited to be able to continue meeting with them! 

Thank you so much for mailing the package! We aren't checking mail today, but I'll check tomorrow because we have to go to Window Rock for our quarterly interviews with President Batt. I'm sure it will all be very useful, thank you!!!

A public relations mission sounds like fun! Honestly, a senior mission sounds so awesome. That'll probably be the best thing about retirement. If you guys go on a medical mission you might be sent somewhere crazy! That'd be awesome. I would go visit you two. 

1) Not really. I have spent my extra hour of study reading Jesus the Christ and Conference Talks mostly. I probably should study Navajo, but it is pretty difficult to study it without someone to help you a lot with pronunciation. In some of the bigger towns on the reservation have teachers, like we organized Bishop Clah to teach us in Shiprock and I guess the Window Rock Ward (which has two sets of elders and a set of sisters) has a teacher too. 

2) It mostly just means that I only understand half of what is going on during sacrament meeting, and then we teach sunday school for the youth and also the young men. It doesn't really affect me all that much. We usually bless the sacrament, so I want to get the sacrament prayers down in Navajo before I leave Steamboat. I'll listen to the prayers a lot on the cassette tapes to try to get it down.

3) It should be broadcast here, we have a broadcast box. I can't wait for General Conference! I relistened to all of the past conference and now I'm trying to read other past conferences. It might be in Navajo here though, so if it is we'll either watch it on the Patterson's laptop or go to Ganado or Chinle and watch it in English. 

4) The Navajo Nation observes daylight savings time because it is spread out across New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah but all the boarder towns like Holbrook, Winslow, Flagstaff, and Page don't observe daylight savings time. The Hopi Reservation doesn't observe DST either. It gets pretty confusing in Steamboat because Steamboat itself observes DST because it is part of Navajo land but the people in Jeddito don't really observe it in practice because they are part of the Hopi School District and crazy stuff like that. So if we set up an appointment with someone in Jeddito at 6:30 PM then it is really 7:30 PM for us now with the time change. That's how it is for the Joseph's tonight, because we're going to go see them. Crazy stuff! 

In the mission we are doing a new push with the Book of Mormon so it has been super awesome to be focusing in using it even more during every teaching appointment we have with everyone: investigators, less active members, new members, and active members. I would like to challenge all of you family members back home to the Book of Mormon specifically every day and to reference it in every church assignment (talk, lesson, home/visiting teaching, etc) given to you! (Except maybe for dad when he teaches Gospel Doctrine on the Old Testament, I can let that one slide.) It is so important for all of us to build our testimonies, and, even more, our lives, on that book! I love you all!

With Love and Regards,

Elder Schaelling

March 3

These are the questions I asked Matt:

1)  How is Pat Begay doing?
2)  How are Molly and her grandsons?
3)  Have you been able to connect with Paul & Helen?
4)  When do the Pattersons return to their home in Burley?
5)  Is the 5th wheel trailer that they live in their own?
6)  Do you know if there will be another Senior Couple come after them?

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Mom,

Our March started off with a bang as well! Friday and Saturday we had lots of wind and rain and then yesterday we woke up to some snow. This week in Steamboat was a different one but there were lots of amazing things that happened! Molly decided she wanted to get baptized, so we are working toward March 23rd. She is setting a wonderful example for her grandsons and she is continuing to encourage them to talk to us and learn from us, she is so awesome. Secondly, we had our first lesson with Brother Joseph this week. He is married to an active member of the church and his daughter went on a mission last September to Georgia and his heart has truly softened to hear the gospel. He is such an amazing guy and they are such an awesome family. Their son was just ordained to be a teacher in the Aaronic Priesthood yesterday too. In the past he wasn't really open to meeting with the missionaries, but he is way more open to it now because he is so proud of his daughter to be out there serving. Miracles are happening even in small little places like Steamboat! The Lord is truly hastening his work. 

1) Pat went to Flagstaff for a small surgery this week and we haven't been able to catch him home this week, but we hope to see him tomorrow!

2) Molly is super legit.

3) Unfortunately, no.

4) They go home on March 30th. 

5) They live in the single wide trailer right next to the church and it is owned by the church, we live in the 5th wheel/camper trailer behind the church. 

6) There will be! They will come either the day after or two days after. I can't remember their names but I think they are coming from Lehi, Utah. 

I love you all so much! Thank you for the support and love I continually feel from you guys, I am so grateful for it. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family and we are so blessed to have the strength that comes from living the gospel in our home. I know that the greatest joy that we can have in this life comes from emulating the character of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and turning outwards to help others receive the blessings that we have through His holy priesthood that has been restored on this earth in these last days. As I think about it, we have a big task for us all: this is the last time Heavenly Father will send out members and missionaries to preach his gospel to the world and he wants as many of his children to return to him as possible, so it is our responsibility to bring them back! Reach out and serve others in small ways and big ways and I promise that as we do that, we will be able to build the Kingdom of God here on this earth. Hurrah for Israel!

With the Warmest Love and Regards,

Elder Schaelling

February 25

Mom,

That's pretty awesome that I got to meed Elder Holland when I was younger! It's too bad I didn't understand how unique that was at the time. Erin Allred had Elder Holland come speak to her mission down in Chile just a month or two ago, she's so lucky! Oh well, perhaps another time in another year. Our stake center is in Chinle, Arizona which is just north east of here. 

Things are going well for Elder Aguilera and I have been ever more aware of my weaknesses now that I am training a new missionary. I really want to try to show him how to be a "perfect missionary," but I still need a lot of growth and understanding personally with a lot of areas! I know that the next two months will be filled with a lot of growth and learning for me, and I hope it can be the same way for him. Missionary work sure isn't as straightforward as I sometimes thought it was back at home! Our return appointment went well with Pat, we haven't met with him since last Tuesday though. We found him last Saturday and set a time up with him this morning but he wasn't around. Hopefully we'll find him in the next couple of days! One of her grandsons came to church but the other one was feeling a little sick so he stayed home, but Molly is really encouraging them to learn more about the gospel because she says, "It's so much easier to learn and understand this when you are young." She's such an awesome lady.

One thing that I can't help but think often times when I read the example of Nephi in comparison to Laman and Lemuel is really how often I can be like them. Sometimes it's hard to be so steadfast in the faith as Nephi is! It's easy to see the faults of Laman and Lemuel because in the course of a few verses or a chapter or two they will go from seeing a miracle and being convinced to "keep the commandments of the Lord" but then they will fall into their previous ways. It seems absurd when the change happens in three verses, but if you think about the fact that their journey was 7 years from Jerusalem to when they began their sea voyage then it causes me to wonder sometimes who's to say that there wasn't quite a bit more time than we think before events. If I decided to have faith in God that he will guide us to a promised land but then in a year, or even a month from now I am still walking with my family in the desert packing a tent along with me I think I would start to murmur too! I see it in myself as a missionary sometimes. It's a growing process for all of us! 

Sometimes so much happens in a week as a missionary I don't even know what to tell you guys. We met some really cool people just down the street from the church this week. Their names are Paul and Helen and we knocked into them two Saturdays ago and Paul wasn't too interested, but said we could come by again some weekday evening. So we stopped by last Wednesday and he said that it wasn't a good time for them but we talked to him for a minute anyways then we saw that he was going to bring some wood in so we offered to help him split some wood! We chopped with him for maybe 20 minutes and then he said, "How long does it take for you guys to do your preaching? I want you guys to come in and share something with us." So we said anywhere between 5 and 30 minutes, whatever they'd like, and we ended up talking to them for an hour! They were both school teachers and were awesome people haha. It just shows how service can show people that you love them and how it really does open hearts and doors! 

That's legit that Jaymee and Lauren are both in the primary presidency back at home! I had never heard of young single adults being involved with callings like that! Hope all goes well for them.

I love you all! Thank you so much for the love and support you all show me, it really helps me out. It's always nice to hear from you all back at home. Hope everything continues to go well for you all! 

With Love and Regards,

Elder Schaelling