December 22

My  questions:

1) Has someone offered the use of their home and internet on Christmas Day? 
2) Have you received invites for Christmas Eve and/or Christmas Day?
3) How is the weather there in Blanding?
4) Does Blanding decorate much for Christmas?
5) How is it trying to be in three wards at the same time on Sundays?
6) How long have the three Elders you are living with been out on their missions?

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Mom,

Merry Christmas! Those pictures of the He Is the Gift advertisements at Times Square are awesome! I knew that they were there because I had heard about it, but it's cool to really see it and see how the Church is really out there! I hope a lot of people have watched it.

1) Yes, the Einerson family invited us over and their son Cole is on his mission in France right now and they will be Skyping from 9-10 so I'm not sure if 10 o'clock works best for you guys with the brunch or what. The Einersons said we can do anytime other than when their son is calling. If 9 o'clock works better a few other people offered the use of their homes so we might be able to call them and see if I can do it over there. 

2) Yeah, we have some invites for Christmas and so we should be able to stay busy sharing the Christmas story with members and others all throughout Blanding! 

3) The weather is getting colder, but it's probably not as cold as up there. We have had some snow and it has been raining this morning. 

4) Yeah, there are a good amount of Christmas lights up! There are a few houses that are pretty decked out! 

5) It's pretty crazy. Yesterday we went to two ward councils, and then Elder Salmon went to 7th ward with the ward mission leader over there and I went to 1st ward with the new ward mission leader there who was just sustained and set apart yesterday. He was the high councilman responsible for missionary work so it's cool to have him with us there now. He has a lot of pretty awesome ideas on how to get the missionary work rolling forward in 1st ward. 

6) Elder Salmon and Elder Thomas both came out 6 weeks before me, so they've been out for 19 months. Elder Ball has been out for 22 months, he goes home in February.

We had some pretty cool experiences the past few weeks. First, just how the Lord prepares people and puts them in our path. We were out meeting people in a trailer court about a week and a half ago and met a guy named Ferris who was working on his car. We got talking and we asked him where he was from and he said 5-Points (an area that I covered in Bluff) and I had actually taught his mom while I was in Bluff! We asked if we could come by and share a Christmas message with his family and he said that would be fine. Then the next day Bishop Moses from 1st Ward calls us and asks us if we could be witnesses for a wedding on Saturday. So we showed up Saturday morning and asked him who was planning on getting married and he said Ferris and Rayleen! As their family showed up for the wedding at the church we had also just met Rayleen's mom over at her apartment complex and helped her take her trash out! Then Ferris's mom and sister who I knew from Bluff showed up and so it was just so cool how they had decided that after being together for so many years to get married and take a big step in keeping the commandments of God and how we had so much contact with them and their family and we're looking forward to working with their family because they are both non-members.

Secondly, we got to have a big dinner at Brother Bennett, the seminary teacher, with him and his wife and an active young man, a less active young man, and a non-member young man (who are all enrolled in seminary) with the active young man's family and we ate smoked ribs and cornbread and shared a message and it was such an awesome opportunity to work with members!

I love you all and will talk to you on Thursday! Merry Christmas!

Elder Schaelling

December 15

Greetings from New York City!  I am typing this at a desk in our hotel room which has a beautiful view of the Chrysler Building lit up with lights out the window in front of me!

Questions:
1) What do you know about Skyping on Christmas Day?  I'm so excited!!!  We can make it work at any time, but our schedule at this time is as follows:  We will be home all day until we go to Grandma's house at 4pm.  The Neilson/Carling Family will come to our home for a Christmas Brunch around 11:00 or 11:30am.  We can adjust those times if necessary.
2) Do you have any specific plans for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day yet?  We will be at Grandma's home on Christmas Eve this year.
3) How are Duane and the husband of the part-member family doing?
4) You've mentioned grocery shopping in Blanding.  Is there more than one grocery store?  Does Blanding have a Wal-mart or anything of the sort?
5) You mentioned picking up a new truck in Farmington.  What kind is it?
6) Is that truck just for you and Elder Salmon or do yo share it with the other two Elders in your home?
7) What are the names of the other two Elders?  Where are they from?

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Mom,

Sounds like a good time in NYC! That's awesome that you have such a good view of the Chrysler Building.

1) I don't know anything, we're still trying to get to know the people around here and no one has specifically offered to let us use their computer yet so hopefully someone will offer soon and we can get it set up. I should be able to do before 4 o'clock, hopefully. It's mostly up to the member's schedule. 

2) We don't really have any specific plans yet. Grandma's house should be a good time for Christmas Eve!

3) Duane actually moved, but we are hopefully going to start teaching his significant other who is still in town because her sister is a very active member and so we are hoping to have the lessons in their home! Kevin is doing pretty well, he didn't make it to church yesterday but we are going to see him again tonight with his fellowshipping family. Having a family to fellowship someone as they learn about the church makes a world of difference! It's pretty cool to see it here.

4) No, there's just one store, Clark's which is part of Associated Foods. There is also Alco which is a pretty general store (a smaller version of Target/Walmart), they have some food (mostly junk food) and then other items, but Alco across the country is closing down so they'll be gone sometime in January. The closest Walmart is in Cortez, CO.

5) Nissan Frontier, it's pretty nice but the Toyota Tacoma is still my favorite, it is such good truck. Handles really well, drives smooth, very comfortable, and looks nice.

6) Yeah, it's our own truck and the other elders have a Frontier too, ours is silver and theirs is charcoal grey, but we mostly walk here in Blanding to save miles.

7) Elder Ball is from Rexburg, ID and Elder Thomas who is from Lubbock, TX. They are both really good guys and fun to live with.

I can't believe that Stevi is married and it's especially weird to think that Jackie and Trevor bought a house in SLC! They aren't too far from Emigration Market which has Eggs in the City which is a pretty awesome breakfast place on the northwest corner of 13th South and 17th East and then also 15th and 15th which I think has Mazza and Caputos. The Lord has blessed me, I have lost most of my knowledge on non-mission related things but I can still remember all the best eats in SLC. I hope they have that extra bed/couch in their home for me to stay at occasionally. Grandma mentioned all the house shake-ups last week in an email, it sounds pretty crazy!

All of the packages arrived today, thank you so much for all the gifts! There are a ton of them, many more than are necessary but thank you! I'll be excited to find out what they are on Christmas. Enjoy the rest of your time there in NYC!

Things are going pretty awesome here in Blanding. This past weekend was Stake Conference and President and Sister Batt came and spoke in the Saturday evening session and everything was really good. It was so good to be able to see President and Sister Batt again and we actually just got to see them this past Friday in Cortez for a mission Christmas party with the Utah zone and Durango zone, it was a lot of fun. Me and Elder Salmon were in charge of organizing an hour and a half worth of games and we had a couple of big group games at first and then the end portion we opened up for people to play different board games with whomever they would like. We got to play Mormon Bridge with President and Sister Batt and Sister Batt got a little competitive, haha.

We also got to set a baptismal date with another investigator from a part member family, his name is Chuck and his wife is a member and they seem pretty awesome. We have also been working with one of the two seminary teachers because he is in 3rd ward and we are planning on starting to work with the youth a lot. The youth seem to be the place where missionary work is at for Mormon communities because they have so much more interaction with non-members and less active members and they can really embrace and fellowship the kids at school and show them their love. And youth are probably a lot more open to learning about things because they have less prejudices at the younger ages. There are a ton of awesome families here in Blanding and a lot of missionary work to be done.

Merry Christmas! I hope I already mentioned it, but if you haven't seen the He Is the Gift video onchristmas.mormon.org YOU NEED TO WATCH IT AND SHARE IT WITH EVERYONE! Christmas season is such a special time of year because it is one of the few times where everyone's minds and hearts are turned towards Jesus Christ. I was reading through the Christmas story in the Book of Mormon the other day in 3 Nephi 1 and it discussed the signs of Jesus Christ's birth. One was that when the sun went down there would still be light and the other was the new star in the sky. I felt those symbols were significant because they showed that because of Jesus Christ light will even shine in the darkness and that regardless of where we are or who is lost, He will always be guiding us by the beacon of His light even as the North star gives the traveler direction. This Christmas season think of those who are lost, who need His light in their life, and invite them to discover the Gift and embrace the Gift of Jesus Christ. I love you all and am so grateful our Savior who all the prophets have testified and taught of. 

Love,
Elder Schaelling

December 13

Matt is now in Blanding, UT!  I'm sure he would love to receive some Christmas Cards.  His new address is:

Elder Matthew Schaelling

329 South 100 East

Blanding, UT  84511 

His e-mail address will stay the same during his mission.

I was full of questions this week:

1) Are you in a trailer?

2) How are things with Elder Salmon?

3) Where is Elder Salmon from?

4) How many stakes are in Blanding?

5) Will you still have a lot of interaction with Elder V and people in Bluff since they're in your zone?

6) Do you know if the investigators in Bluff are still progressing nicely?

7) How are you doing working with white people again?  I'm sure you are truly missing the Navajos that you truly grew to love.

8) What exciting things are in Blanding?

9) Is the work a lot more difficult since you are whitewashing an area?

10) Can you check your mail daily or not? I notice it is NOT a P.O. box and didn't have an apartment number.

11) Did you go straight to Blanding or did you go to Farmington last Tuesday?

!2) What is the name of Elder V's companion?

13) Were you able to watch the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional tonight?  We did and it was wonderful!

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Mom,

Missionary life in Blanding is pretty awesome, howbeit very different! I am a little homesick for Bluff and the wide open space on the rez.

1) No, we live in a house with two other elders who are also here in Blanding. There is also a set of sister missionaries here in Blanding who cover the YSA branch and 5th ward but obviously we don't live with them.

2) Things are awesome with Elder Salmon! He's a super hard worker and good things are happening so far, even though we've only been here for 5 days. 

3) He's from a smaller city called Troy, Alabama. 

4) There is only one stake in Blanding. There used to be two but they merged them a few years ago because they took one of the units from the west stake and gave it to the newly formed Tuba City Stake. Blanding has 7 wards (but no 4th ward, so it is 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th) and a YSA branch and then there is the White Mesa Branch (Ute reservation), Montezuma Creek Branch (Navajo reservation) and then the Bluff Branch/Todahaidakani Ministry (Navajo reservation). Elder Salmon and I cover Blanding 1st, 3rd, and 7th wards and they all meet at almost the same time so we're trying to figure out how to rotate church attendance.

5) Yeah, I'll see Elder Vicznesky every other week at district meeting and then once a month at zone training and whenever he and his companion come to Blanding to grocery shop on p-day. I probably wont be able to see people from Bluff unless I go on exchanges there. I do see members of the branch presidency sometimes around town here in Blanding since they all live here.

6) I believe that Briannon and Wilbur, who are both set for December 27th, are still progressing towards their date and attending church! They just need to get married before their date, so hopefully that all works out well. 

7) It's different definitely. I taught my first white person actually a week before I came to Blanding while I was on splits with some missionaries in Farmington before MLC, but it's weird to have dinner appointments every night with members and to have SO MANY members in our area that we need to try to get to know in our three wards. It's especially hard because we are whitewashing, so usually when you're new to an area at least your companion knows where all of the members live and who they are and what the boundaries of the wards are and whatnot. I miss Navajos a lot, but luckily there are still a decent amount of natives in our area but they are still a minority.

8) There is a USU campus in Blanding. A few museums. Other than that, it's probably mostly just exciting because of the scenery and sites to visit around the area. Cedar mesa is really pretty (so I hear, haven't been there yet). 

9) Kind of. We are just lost a lot especially since working in the city is different from the rez. On the rez, missionary work is pretty old fashioned. Go out and knock doors until you find people to teach. So that's what Elder Salmon and I are both used to because we've both been on the rez our whole missions. So we have been knocking some of the apartment buildings and trailer courts in our area and visiting the ward mission leaders and bishops mostly. Luckily, the sisters who were here before us left the area book in an awesome condition, but it's just overwhelming to have to try to learn so many new names and what is going on with them.

10) Yeah, there is a box at the end of the street where all the mail for the block comes and the other elders have the key and they said they usually check it every day, so if I have anything they'll just give it to me.

11) I went to Farmington last Monday and worked with some elders there all day Tuesday while I waited for Elder Salmon to ride the transfer van from Gallup to Farmington so we could grab a new truck and then we got to Blanding Tuesday night about 9:15. 

12) Elder Frazier, and he's from Virginia. He seems like a really good guy, he'll do awesome in Bluff.

13) Yes, I did, it was wonderful! I love Christmas so much, and I think this is the first Christmas where I have really purely looked at the meaning being that of Christ and not think about all the other stuff at all -- Santa, reindeer, etc. I hope I can stay close to this way for the rest of my life.

I can't believe that the whole family will be back in Utah before too long. That'll be funny if when Jackie and Trevor move back I'm still in Blanding and we'll have the whole family living in the same state for the first time in a long time! Jackie and Trevor better find a cool house in a good location with a spare bedroom so I can crash there for the weekend when Provo is lame (if I end up going to BYU). It wouldn't be a bad idea to forewarn them of this.

I love you all so much! Things this week in Blanding went pretty well. We knocked into a guy named Duane who was pretty open to meet with us and he and his wife and kids came to church yesterday and we're meeting with him again tonight! We also set the husband of a part member family on baptismal date forJanuary 10th, but we might move the date back a little bit and we're seeing him again tonight also!

Merry Christmas, or Ya'at'eeh Keshmish as they say on the rez!

Elder Schaelling

December 1

Mom,

1) Yes, Tiffany was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday! It was an amazing service.

2) I am moving to Blanding! Bluff has been the zone leader area since the Utah Zone was formed in this mission, but now we are moving it to Blanding so we can coordinated with the stake presidents better. Elder Vicznesky is staying in Bluff and training a brand new missionary, and I'm whitewashing an area in Blanding with a new zone leader, Elder Salmon. He was my district leader down in Steamboat for two transfers. We'll be in 1st, 3rd, and 7th wards in Blanding and there have been sister missionaries there thus far but the two sister missionaries who were there both are finishing their missions this week so President Batt decided to put elders there instead. I'll miss Bluff a lot, but Blanding should be a good experience. It'll be my first non-reservation area so that will be interesting! My new address is 329 South 100 East Blanding, UT 84511.

3) It was great and the ribs at the Gruettes were awesome. I might have to adopt that Thanksgiving tradition and eat ribs instead of turkey. 

It was pretty amazing to be able to have a baptism this weekend. Elder Vicnesky baptized Tiffany and I was able to confirm her a member of the church on Saturday and also ordain her husband to the office of a priest in the Aaronic Priesthood after church yesterday! Right after her baptism Tiffany got up to bear her testimony at her service and she gave a beautiful testimony about how her goal is to go to the temple with Lyle and how much different her life is since she has started meeting with us and began living the gospel and how she feels like God is with her and how she has even been able to help family members return to the church who are not active and everything! She was talking about how as we were confirming her during sacrament meeting yesterday she felt like our hands were magnets and she could feel the power pulsing through our hands and that as we were ordaining Lyle she opened her eyes for a moment and saw a golden glow around our hands that were on his head. A truly wonderful experience, I cannot wait to be able to see them in the temple a year from now!

Nelia, the elderly Navajo lady who attends church that we gave a blessing to a few months ago whom I have mentioned, has a daughter that lives in Layton that I met yesterday. She came down to visit her mom because they were having a beauty way ceremony for her son down here so I talked to her for a while, she was very kind! It was just cool to meet someone from the reservation down here that lives in Layton!

I know that the gospel is true, and I am so grateful for the blessings that come from our Savior Jesus Christ. I'm not sure if you have watched the He Is the Gift video from the Church yet. If you haven't, watch it! It's amazing!christmas.mormon.org

The other picture is a picture of a hike me and Elder V took two weeks ago in our area (this is just a few miles away from Tiffany's house) that goes down to a TON of ruins called Poncho House. It has great beauty and majesty out there.

Love,
Elder Schaelling

November 24

Mom,

I can't believe Thanksgiving is coming up so quickly either! Yes, we are still going to the Gruette's home for dinner and then we'll also be going to Tiffany and Lyle's home and we've also been invited to eat with all the senior missionaries from the Bluff Fort so we'll be stuffed just like the turkey this Thanksgiving! Brother Gruette worked for the oil industry for a long time in Montezuma Creek/Aneth area here in Utah and also in Bloomfield, NM but he is retired now. I'm not sure what Sister Gruette's background is. Cottonwood Steakhouse closed in mid-October I think, and Elder Vicznesky and I actually saved up money and went there and got ribs, it was heavenly. The ribs fall right off the bone!

Tiffany made it to church yesterday and is on track to be baptized this Saturday! Woohoo!!! Nelia is either 80 or 88, I can't remember. We are hoping that someday in the future we can use those wireless headsets to translate the Navajo service into English for all the visitors so that the people here can learn and teach the Gospel in their native tongue! We'll find out what happens with transfers this Saturday, so it'll be interesting to see what goes on.

That's awesome that you're listening to The Undaunted, I've heard a lot about that book. I'll have to read it when I get home. Las Vegas sounds like fun and I'm glad you got to see Donny and Marie's show for the third time. Elder Vicznesky's mom loves Donny Osmond also, hahaha.

Sounds like a lot of house hunting! If I stay here in Utah much longer on my mission then pretty soon we might have the whole family in Utah even before I get home from my mission! When I left, everyone was out of state, and around the time I hit my 18-month mark we might all be back in Utah, eh? Glad to hear that Jackie and Trevor will accompany me to go to San Francisco when I get back!

I hope Thanksgiving goes well for you all this week! I would like to give you all a Thanksgiving challenge, either before or on the day of Thanksgiving I would like you all to think about a principle of the Gospel such as prayer, repentance, faith, the sacrament, continuing revelation, temple work, etc. that you are most grateful for and find a scripture (or scriptures) out of the Book of Mormon or any of the other standard works along with a testimony of that principle! I would love it if you all could send it to me sometime this week or next, either by email or Pony Express. I'll try to get one written up by me and mail it off you to at home! I wish I would have thought of this earlier so I could send it off today so it could be there by Thanksgiving, but that is unlikely. So hopefully by Saturday or something haha. I love you all!

"[H]umble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you." - Alma 34:38

President Uchtdorf's talk from April Conference:

"Being grateful in our circumstances is an act of faith in God. It requires that we trust God and hope for things we may not see but which are true.⁸ By being grateful, we follow the example of our beloved Savior, who said, “Not mywill, but thine, be done.”

True gratitude is an expression of hope and testimony. It comes from acknowledging that we do not always understand the trials of life but trusting that one day we will.

In any circumstance, our sense of gratitude is nourished by the many and sacred truths we do know: that our Father has given His children the great plan of happiness; that through the Atonement of His Son, Jesus Christ, we canlive forever with our loved ones; that in the end, we will have glorious, perfect, and immortal bodies, unburdened by sickness or disability; and that our tears of sadness and loss will be replaced with an abundance of happiness andjoy, 'good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over.'"

I love you all and hope that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

Elder Schaelling

November 17

1) Did you get Gentry & Holly's wedding announcement?
2) Were the cookies I sent you last Monday edible?
3) I sent another small package and a card on Thursday.  Have you gotten them yet?
4) Did winter arrive this week for you also?
5) Is your trailer warm enough?
6) Do you need me to send anything like a space heater, blankets, more warm clothes or anything?
7) How was church today?  Were your investigators able to come again?
8) Is Nelia the lady that you kind of "happened" upon that had fallen and you gave a blessing to and helped her get back in her chair?
9) Are the Gruettes Navajo?  What takes them back and forth between Bluff and Mancos, CO?

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Mom,

1) Yes, I sure did! That's exciting. I thought he was getting married pretty quick, but then I realized that he's been back from his mission for about a year and a half so I guess he's not too crazy.

2) They sure were! They were fantastic. I was able to take them to district meeting on Thursday and shared them with my district and they loved them. One of the sister missionaries took the whole bag of chocolate cookies though, haha.

3) I did get them, thank you for the CD and card! And thank you for the card that was talking about Cottonwood Steakhouse. Cottonwood actually closes down for the winter because the tourists slow down in Bluff but I'm sure Elder Vicnesky and I can enjoy something in Farmington next Monday when we go. 

4) Yes, there was snow in the southern portion of our area Saturday night/Sunday morning and I got to see it yesterday because the portions that were in shaded areas hadn't melted yet. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures because I didn't have my camera. The reservation is so pretty in the wintertime with the snow, in my opinion. 

5) Yes, it is great.

6) No, I should be okay. I might need a few more pairs garments, both regular and thermal, but I'll get back to you on that.

7) Church was great, I stayed in Bluff yesterday and one of our new investigators on date game to church. Her name is Briannon and her fiance is a member and he is Kervyn and they live here in Bluff but they are Navajo. We set three people on date this week, Briannon for the 27th of December and a man named Wilbur for the same day and another lady named Janine for January 3rd! Unfortunately, Tiffany didn't make it to church so she may or may not make her date for the 29th of this month, but we'll see. She left Ganado back to Bluff late because she was cleaning up after her and her husband's wedding reception yesterday at her parents' place. 

8) She sure is! She is such a special lady. She drove herself to church again yesterday because her grandson Cody wasn't really around. We also just got a bunch headsets for all the Navajo speakers so that Sister Clark can translate and up to six people can listen to her in Navajo while the services are being conducted in English. 

9) Nope, but they both grew up on the reservation. Sister Gruette's father had a few trading posts and Brother Gruette was on the reservation for other reasons, but I can't remember. They just like the climate in the varying places better at those times of the year, I believe.

It has been another wonderful week in Bluff. We have been walking and biking a lot more to save miles as much as possible. This past week we were able to have interviews with President Batt and it is always a great opportunity to sit down and talk with him and also with Sister Batt. Also a cool yet somewhat small spiritual experience that I have had this week is with 2 Nephi regarding the Isaiah chapters. I started the Book of Mormon over a couple of weeks ago and as I was approaching the Isaiah chapters I was pondering just skipping over them to the end of 2 Nephi because the past couple of times I've read through them I didn't catch much and I'm trying to pace myself through the Book of Mormon so that I can finish it relatively quickly and get a good overview of the entire book but I decided not to and it was amazing that as I read through it this time I have actually understood a lot and been able to learn a lot more. I know that it is because of my increased spiritual sensitivity that has come through daily obedience and prayer and especially as I pondered upon the scriptures that I was reading along with prayer. I'm grateful for the scriptures and the beauty that they have brought into my life! One of my recent favorite passages I have come across recently is 2 Nephi 1:15 - "But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love." What a beautiful passage. I know that as we seek His Love, we will find it. Within His holy word and through His chosen servants, and especially within His house, the temple. As it invites also in 2 Nephi 12:3, "Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths." I love the Lord, and I am so grateful for the gospel and the truths and peace that comes from honest, daily study in the scriptures. 

I love you all!

Elder Schaelling.