June 15

Mom,

I am doing great! Things are going very well for me here in Grants. This past week was a really good week with great missionary work that was accomplished as always. Lunch after the block sounds great. Bombay House sounds good to me. 

Church was really great yesterday! Jacinta made it to church and she is going to be baptized this Saturday, so we are very excited. Austin doesn't have a new date yet, but we will be setting one this week. He is currently living with his girlfriend and they are going to get married on the 27th so that'll be pretty awesome too! Depending on when his baptism is in July or August I might try to drive down here and see it if it works with my summer schedule and work and whatever else is going on. 

Unfortunately, Miranda and Gary didn't make it to church yesterday. They are really funny kids and we'll be seeing them again tomorrow so that should go well. 

Thanks for letting me know about Susanna Stone Lloyd! I can't wait to learn more about my family history and figure out what's all back there and who I'm related to and learn of their stories. I'm glad Stake Conference went well, I love being able to listen to good speakers.

This past week we were able to meet with Jacinta and her two daughters came with her and her younger son who is 15-years-old joined us for a lesson for the first time! It was a great lesson and we were able to talk about the importance of unity and about how sometimes in the trials of life we try to go through them on our own and we don't make it through so well, but as we rely on our family, the church, and especially the Lord, we have the strength to make it through all things! Just as it says in D&C 38:27 - " I say unto you, beone ; and if ye are not one ye are not mine." I feel like that is one of the big lessons I have learned on my mission, the importance of unity. I have seen the power that comes from unity in a companionship, in a district or zone, and especially from unity with our Father in Heaven. In my mission, when I have been united with my companion and with the Lord miracles truly happen and things run so much more smoothly and I have never felt the Spirit stronger. I will hopefully be able to take this into my life and apply it within my marriage and family, any church callings I have, and everywhere else I can find it applies!

I love you all!

Elder Schaelling

June 8

1) How has your day been?

2) Did you get a dinner invite today? 

3) Did you tell people that it's your birthday today? 

4) Did your Dunford Donuts arrive?

5) Were they in good condition?

6) Who came to church today?  So sorry that Jacinta and Austin didn't make it last week causing their baptism dates to be postponed.  I pray they're still on track. 

7) Have you been able to meet with Jacinta's friend or the Tongan lady you mentioned  last week?

8) How was Meet the Mormons Night?

9) Did Janet from Arkansas come to Meet the Mormons Night?

--------------------

Mom,

1) My day was pretty good! There were a lot of investigators and less active members we have been teaching who showed up, 6 investigators and 13 less active members! I got to bare my testimony in sacrament meeting for the last time as a missionary and it felt great. I bore my testimony on the power of selflessness. I mentioned a relief society president in Blanding who said "Whenever life seems unfulfilled or discouraging, find someone around you who needs a hand and help them out." I know that as I have felt that way, whenever I have looked around me and tried to touch someone's life that day it has made it better and helped me see the hand of the Lord in my life. Whether it's been my companion, an investigator, an active or less active member, or someone I don't even know, I have always found joy as I've focused on the opportunities the Lord has given me to help his children. 

2) I got to eat dinner at the Merayo's home (the Bishop's) and Sister Merayo is a great cook! We had a roast and she makes really good rolls and some pasta salad with a peach drink. 

3) Not really. 

4) Yes, they did. 

5) They still look good, I didn't get them until today because when they came Friday we weren't at home to sign for the package and when we went to the post office on Saturday we got there at 12:15 and the desk was already closed. It was a perfect birthday package! Thank you so much, I can't think of anything else I could have wanted other than organic cereal, healthy snack bars that I'm not allergic to, blue corn chips, and Dunford Donuts. I think I have developed an allergy to soy also, because whenever I eat anything that has soy as a primary ingredient (like protein bars, etc) I have an allergic reaction. But if soy is a smaller ingredient then I'm fine. I'm planning on doing more research on what the deal with allergies is when I get home. 

6) Jacinta and Austin both made it, along with Thomas and two new investigators, Miranda and Gary! They are just young kids being raised by their grandparents who were very active for a long time down in their branch on the Zuni reservation and then out in Albuquerque but they just haven't come much since they've been here in Grants but they found us and said they want to come back to church and have their grandkids baptized. 

7) We met with Jacinta's friend, Velvet, last Monday and she said she still wants to learn more and get into the church and whatnot but right now she's dealing with a divorce so she is pretty busy and out of town often dealing with that. But her sister works with a lady who's son is a on a mission and we're going to start teaching Velvet at their house once Velvets life settles down a little bit. 

8) It was a lot of fun! There was probably about 90 people there and around 10 non-members and Kendal Cash who owns a barbecue restaurant here and is the Elders Quorum President brought nachos and popcorn and candy and it was pretty fun. 

9) Unfortunately, no. 

Our ward is going on the trek this week and it's a pretty big trek with 5 stakes from the area going up to southwest Colorado and it sounds like a lot of fun. When I was talking about it with Sister Merayo she mentioned how she loves learning about the pioneers and I mentioned that we have some pioneer ancestry. Who are the people that we are related to? I had a feeling like I had heard you or Grandma mention we are related to Suzanna Stone. Are we? Anyone else from the handcart companies? Also, when is our stake doing its next trek? If they are doing one this summer after I get home and it works out with whatever my schedule is and they could use some volunteers to just help out with running things, I would love to go. I don't think I thought about the pioneers and revered them as much as I should have when I went as a 14-year-old, haha.

Glad to hear that Nate and Natalie are pretty close to actually sealing the deal! Sounds like a great birthday celebration. What is the iPad Air? I haven't heard of it. I think my mind might be blown with some of the new technology that has come out. I just saw someone with one of those watches that is connected to their smart phone.

I'm glad you had a wonderful birthday and where is that World's Best Corndog place? I might have to try that out when I get home!

I love you all! 

Elder Schaelling 

June 1

Mom,

Yes, I did hear on Saturday that Elder Perry passed away. Like you said, I was pretty surprised to hear that! He seemed very lively at conference. I wonder how long it will take to announce a new apostle. I'm not to familiar with this process too much, because the only one I remember very well is Elder Andersen and I still didn't pay extremely close attention to the whole proceedings. He was an amazing man! Good talk this past conference on the family.

Unfortunately, Jacinta didn't make it to church yesterday and we're not sure why. We'll be seeing her tonight and we're going to have to move her baptism from this weekend, but we are still confident that she'll make it to baptism. She's a pretty amazing person. Austin didn't make it either. Hopefully we'll be able to get them all back on track! We did have a pretty cool experience though, on Saturday night. We went out to a less active couple's home and they have a lady temporarily living with them who just moved to Grants from Arkansas but the place she is going to rent isn't ready yet so she is living with them. We went to their house and just about a minute or two after we get there and talk to them all, Janet, the non-member, asks, "Could you tell me about the Mormon Church?" And we sure did! She had a bunch of questions for us and it was a lot of fun haha. She's a really nice lady. Has a good southern accent. And she said she would come to the Meet the Mormons activity!

Good to hear that Jonathan is doing pretty well. I'll be excited to see him again when I get back home! Do you have bishop's email? I'd like to shoot him an email to ask him if there's any specific topic he'd like me to speak on.

Yes, the dictaphone is a great gift that will help me over the next month and I've already put it to use! That's cool that Steve and Joan are speaking with me, haha. Thanks for checking with Kristi. 

I love you all!

Elder Schaelling 

May 26

Mom,

Seems like you have had a lot going on this past week! I'm glad you survived it.

Jacinta is doing great, she is going to be baptized on June 6th and confirmed on June 7th (#holla)! One of several miracles that I need to tell you all about is Jacinta bringing a friend of hers to our lesson last Thursday. She had a friend, named Velvet, who had just moved back from Farmington to Grants earlier that day and she asked her if she wanted to come to Bible study with her that evening, and she agreed. When we heard (about 10 minutes before the lesson) that her friend was coming we were planning on teaching the law of chastity and we were thinking, "Should we teach about chastity still since it'll be her first time meeting with missionaries or should we do something else?" and we just decided to go with chastity and eternal families anyways. So, we did that and she loved it! Haha. She came to the next lesson on Saturday and we taught tithing and fast offerings and she told us about how she feels like now that she's meeting with us she now believes that God is really listening to and answering her prayers! So we invited her to be baptized on July 4th, and she accepted.

In addition, we invited Austin to be baptized on June 20th (we'll see if he makes the date, he has to quit smoking so it might not be that day) and he accepted! Also, we went to go teach him last Saturday and he was talking to his friend Cody who has been thinking about and looking for religion who is 17-years-old and invited him to come to our lesson and so we taught them the plan of salvation and he also invited the invitation to be baptized on July 4th!

My last big miracle to report from this past week is that a really nice Tongan lady named Leah showed up to church Sunday morning. We got talking to her in Gospel Principles, because the relief society president talked to her after sacrament and took her to that class, and she is a non-member. She told us that she was visiting some family in St. George and attended a Polynesian ward there and she has been living here in Grants for a while and she has been praying to God and telling him that she's not sure where her life is supposed to go but that she had faith that he would take her in the right direction. She then took a test to get into a nursing program in Gallup and she had just found out on Saturday that she got accepted and felt like she should join us at church! She sounds pretty amazing.

1) Great! 

2) June 5th, so we'll be celebrating your birthday that way down here haha. I hope you have a great time with whatever you end up doing up there! 

3) Nope, transfers happened on the 19th. 

4) He's doing great! We're having a good time together. 

5) Nope. As a matter of fact, don't send me stuff. Tell the rest of the family that too. Like I said, it would be easier if we just chose some day after I get home to celebrate my birthday or whatever so that way I don't get any packages with stuff that I just have to figure out how to fit into my suitcase for the plane ride home. If people want to send me something for my birthday, just a letter or a card would be greatly appreciated. 

That's so awesome that the temple open house worked out so well! Keep up the good work. Even if she doesn't join the church, you've done your part. Just like in The Power of Everyday Missionaries, he said a lot of the people whom he has had the missionaries teach in his home or invited to do things have not joined the church, but each time his personal testimony and the testimony of his family has grown and he has become better friends with those whom he has invited.

I hope that Nick does okay! I'll keep him and their family in my prayers.

I guess I'll actually see Idaho Falls and their house and/or cottage for the first time when we go up for President Batt's mission report because I've never been up there before. (I'm sure I went there when I was younger or something, but I can't remember anything about it.)

I hope you had a great Memorial Day! We didn't do anything too unique. The college was closed so we couldn't email yesterday.

I love you all!

Love, 

Elder Schaelling

May 26

Mom,

Seems like you have had a lot going on this past week! I'm glad you survived it.

Jacinta is doing great, she is going to be baptized on June 6th and confirmed on June 7th (#holla)! One of several miracles that I need to tell you all about is Jacinta bringing a friend of hers to our lesson last Thursday. She had a friend, named Velvet, who had just moved back from Farmington to Grants earlier that day and she asked her if she wanted to come to Bible study with her that evening, and she agreed. When we heard (about 10 minutes before the lesson) that her friend was coming we were planning on teaching the law of chastity and we were thinking, "Should we teach about chastity still since it'll be her first time meeting with missionaries or should we do something else?" and we just decided to go with chastity and eternal families anyways. So, we did that and she loved it! Haha. She came to the next lesson on Saturday and we taught tithing and fast offerings and she told us about how she feels like now that she's meeting with us she now believes that God is really listening to and answering her prayers! So we invited her to be baptized on July 4th, and she accepted.

In addition, we invited Austin to be baptized on June 20th (we'll see if he makes the date, he has to quit smoking so it might not be that day) and he accepted! Also, we went to go teach him last Saturday and he was talking to his friend Cody who has been thinking about and looking for religion who is 17-years-old and invited him to come to our lesson and so we taught them the plan of salvation and he also invited the invitation to be baptized on July 4th!

My last big miracle to report from this past week is that a really nice Tongan lady named Leah showed up to church Sunday morning. We got talking to her in Gospel Principles, because the relief society president talked to her after sacrament and took her to that class, and she is a non-member. She told us that she was visiting some family in St. George and attended a Polynesian ward there and she has been living here in Grants for a while and she has been praying to God and telling him that she's not sure where her life is supposed to go but that she had faith that he would take her in the right direction. She then took a test to get into a nursing program in Gallup and she had just found out on Saturday that she got accepted and felt like she should join us at church! She sounds pretty amazing.

1) Great! 

2) June 5th, so we'll be celebrating your birthday that way down here haha. I hope you have a great time with whatever you end up doing up there! 

3) Nope, transfers happened on the 19th. 

4) He's doing great! We're having a good time together. 

5) Nope. As a matter of fact, don't send me stuff. Tell the rest of the family that too. Like I said, it would be easier if we just chose some day after I get home to celebrate my birthday or whatever so that way I don't get any packages with stuff that I just have to figure out how to fit into my suitcase for the plane ride home. If people want to send me something for my birthday, just a letter or a card would be greatly appreciated. 

6) I don't think so. 

7) Okay, I started registering for classes two weeks ago and a lot of the good time slots for classes are already full which is unfortunate. I'm just hoping the Lord will provide that when I get home I will be able to get a decent schedule worked in or be able to talk to specific professors and get add codes or something for their class. I'm not really sure what else I can do while I'm on my mission. 

8) Nope. 

9) On one hand I would like everyone to keep the Sabbath holy and attend all the meetings but I'm just not sure how many people will be attending who live not close to Layton where that would make it difficult for them or more time consuming then they can manage. I also personally would like to attend Sunday School and Priesthood if possible, but I'm sure it would be logistically difficult to get that all worked out. What do you guys think? 

10) No, I'm pretty okay with anything.

That's so awesome that the temple open house worked out so well! Keep up the good work. Even if she doesn't join the church, you've done your part. Just like in The Power of Everyday Missionaries, he said a lot of the people whom he has had the missionaries teach in his home or invited to do things have not joined the church, but each time his personal testimony and the testimony of his family has grown and he has become better friends with those whom he has invited.

I hope that Nick does okay! I'll keep him and their family in my prayers.

I guess I'll actually see Idaho Falls and their house and/or cottage for the first time when we go up for President Batt's mission report because I've never been up there before. (I'm sure I went there when I was younger or something, but I can't remember anything about it.)

I hope you had a great Memorial Day! We didn't do anything too unique. The college was closed so we couldn't email yesterday.

I love you all! 

May 18

Mom,

I'm glad you got my Mother's Day letter! Thank goodness for scripture markers haha.

We have gotten some pretty weak rain down here the past few days, it was overcast and kind of gloomy for a few days but the rain was really just a continuous sprinkle, not a real rain.

Good to hear that everyone enjoyed Star Wars! As much as I love Star Wars, I really haven't watched them in a long time so it would be nice to watch them again with you in preparation for Episode 7. It was pretty shocking to me when I heard that the new one wasn't coming out in May because that is the month that all the other six ones came out in! But it's okay that they broke tradition because now I'll be home for it. There are gospel principles within the Star Wars saga. I've heard from my companions about how much of the gospel is in Lord of the Rings, but I never got into those movies so maybe I'll have to try again when I get home.

Sounds interesting! Yeah, Envision Utah would be related to public policy. Public policy is basically law writing and policy making. So if one worked in a public policy research organization, he or she would presumably research things in their specialty, whether that be healthcare policy or transportation policy, etc. Yeah, I'm still interested but I have no idea what will really happen.

Jacinta is doing great! She came to church yesterday with her two daughters and when we asked her how she has been enjoying church she said, "I love it. I feel great afterwards. I think I need it more like two or three times a week rather than just the once!" Haha. We have a new investigator named Austin who is the boyfriend of Jeremey's step-daughter. He has come to church with the family the past three weeks, but always leaves after sacrament so we are trying to get him to stay. (That is the biggest problem, people always leave after sacrament so we are trying so hard to get people to stay!) He's an awesome investigator though, he lost his belief in God due to some bad experiences with his family, but feels the need for something in his life and he is about 18 years old or so and is really interested in learning more, we taught him 4 times this past week! It's so cool because whenever we ask him,  "When can we come back to see you?" he says, "What time are you free tomorrow?" or something rather than waiting until the next week so he has a strong desire to learn!

Another cool experience was when we took out a recent convert with us to a lesson. We took Bob (the RC) to see Bennie (the investigator) because they are both older and retired and we taught Bennie about the Plan of Salvation and Bob was so powerful at the end when he invited Bennie to church on Sunday! He said, "Bennie, I want you to come to church with us this Sunday because it is really just a wonderful place and the spirituality of this church is something that I have never found or seen before! I will be waiting for you at the door and if you come it would be such a pleasure to have you sit by me. The people there at the LDS Church here in Grants are really unlike any other I've met, they are some of the most wonderful and godly people I have ever run into!" Bob is so amazing at how bold he is. He made me think of a verse in Romans, chapter 1 verse 16: " For I am not ashamed of the gospel ofChrist: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth" I could see that Bob was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ in his invitation. Unfortunately, Bennie didn't come to church yesterday. But Bob succeeded, because he was willing to invite! And I can promise that Bob felt the Spirit in his life because he was willing to invite, just like it talks about in The Power of Everyday Missionaries. We succeed when we invite, regardless of the outcome.

Good job at all your awesome fellowshipping with Carola! Keep it up, mom! You're a rock star!

Did you get a J-Dawg while at BYU?

Sounds like a lot of missionary stuff going on in the homeward, that's always good to hear!

Yes, I got the package. Thank you!

I love you all!

Elder Schaelling

May 11

Mom,

It was great to be able to Skype with you all and to have the whole family in the mix! It is pretty amazing how well it can work to Skype and everything.

I can't remember if I said, but we had the appointment with Bud and Alicea with Bud's brother Clayton and his wife, Tannis, at Clayton and Tannis's home and it was really nice! We had dinner and then taught about the Restoration and Alicea had a lot of questions! She doesn't have much of a background in religion at all, she grew up with general belief in God but never learned much of anything about Christ because she never went to church and whatnot. She's pretty awesome though, she and Bud came to church again yesterday! We are waiting for their wedding for their baptism so it probably wont be until July, and similar deal with Albert and Vanessa since they need to get married. Missionary work would be a lot easier if people just got married haha. And I already told you guys about Jacinta yesterday on Skype.

That's so cool that you gave out that book to everyone! And that's great that Aimee is doing well with the piano. And it's okay that it didn't work out with us older kids, at least we can have learned the lesson and remember that for our kids to learn an instrument that we need to set them up with someone outside of the home.

Congrats to Nate and Natalie on the wedding anniversary! Same to Jackie with her birthday, that peanut butter and chocolate ice cream sounds really good.

Teaching is a difficult thing to do, but as you learn how to teach well it really makes a big difference within the church and I would imagine within the family. The most difficult and most important thing to do as a teacher is to engage the learner, just as the new Come Follow Me curriculum for the youth has done. That's what I hope I will be able to learn even more about as I hopefully work at the MTC, how to put the students in the driver seat as seek learning by study and also by faith.

I love you all! Have a wonderful week!

Love, 

Elder Schaelling 

May 4

Mom,

I got the information from President and Sister Batt about their homecoming talk, it'll be on July 12th. He's not sure what time it'll be at because he hasn't been to church there for three years so he can't remember what schedule they'll be on now but he gave me their home phone number so we can call him and figure out what time, so I'd like to make it to that.

Things are definitely going great down here! We have another investigator, she is married to a return missionary and we are going to have them be taught at a member's home this Saturday also, her name is Alicea (pronounced like Alisha). Unfortunately the lesson with Albert and Vanessa didn't work out last Monday because they forgot they had a birthday to celebrate but we will be seeing them tomorrow morning with Sister Merayo and hopefully we'll be able to get another lesson lined up at the Merayo's! Yes, Jeremey's baptism is on for this weekend, so we are pretty excited! Yeah, we've had some pretty good turn outs at church. Last week we had 8 investigators at church!

Things with the Calin's sound pretty awesome! Keep up the good work and inviting like you are! Use any opportunity you have to briefly teach her (or anyone else you come in contact with) something about the gospel, share a testimony or personal experience, and invite them to do something that will increase their faith in Christ!

That sounds like an awesome road trip. That's cool that you and Dad aren't too old to do something spontaneous like that! Haha, just joking. I really want to go to the Manti temple, it sounds pretty awesome. I think probably the closest you got to my mission boundaries is when you were at the hole-in-the-rock because the river is the dividing line between our mission and the St. George mission. Across the river from the hole in the rock is actually part of Blanding 3rd Ward's boundaries so you were looking into one of my past areas!

That's great that Natalie and Nate will be able to have a house of their own soon. Aimee will have a great time there with her new position. I'm sure Jackie will have a great time as Young Women's President.

Love, 

Elder Schaelling 

April 27

Mom,

Things are still going great here in Mount Taylor Ward! That's so awesome that Aimee won the election! I'm proud of her, I'm sure she'll have a lot of fun and learn a lot in that position.

That's great that Nate and Natalie found a place to live finally, I hope it all works out well too!

That's awesome that Jackie is the Young Women's President! I'm sure she'll do a fantastic job in that calling. What callings has she held thus far in her life? Has she worked with the young women much before? I've enjoyed working with the youth whenever I have the opportunity to as a missionary, because the youth are so willing and have so many opportunities to do missionary work. 

Great news with all the mission calls and homecomings! New mission calls are always exciting. And yes, I can still remember plenty of Navajo to do my testimony in my homecoming talk. I have been losing it a little bit since I've not been speaking it too much here in Grants, only like once ever 2-3 weeks (it hurts my heart sometimes, I miss the Navajo people a lot). In Blanding I still got to use it a decent amount, but obviously not as much as I did on the reservation. There are a lot of people who either were raised speaking Navajo in Blanding or learned it on their mission. But I'll have no problem in my homecoming talk because I'll be prepared. Sometimes it's hard to converse in Navajo now if it's just regular conversation, but the times when I have been able to testify to people or pray in Navajo either here in Grants or on exchanges in other areas the words that I need always come back. 

Jacinta is awesome. We also have some updates on Albert and Vanessa. We took the Bishop's wife, Sister Merayo, with us to go see them this past week and Albert has been facing some pressure from his family to not join the church and to not accept the Book of Mormon and so he's pretty confused right now, but Vanessa has the testimony of a giant! She defends the church and the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith to everyone she knows who says anything bad about it! She's been having a hard time coming to church just because she's been a little anxious about it but Sister Merayo gave her a big hug and told her she'd be saving the whole bench for her and her family and Vanessa came with her four kids and even brought her cousin and she was commenting in Gospel Principles! Albert had to work so he wasn't able to make it. Tonight we'll be teaching Albert and Vanessa at the Merayo's home so it should be pretty awesome. 

Love, 

Elder Schaelling 

April 20

My questions for Matt:

1) How are you and Elder Van Meter doing?

2) How is Jacinta doing?  That's amazing how The Lord truly guided you to her!

3) How are your other investigators doing?

--------------------

1) We are doing great! Our personalities mesh well and we both have the goal to be exactly obedient and work very hard while also having tons of fun. It's nice to be with someone who understands how to keep that balance well. 

2) Jacinta is doing great, she came to church yesterday with her two daughters and it seems like they really enjoyed it! We'll be teaching her tomorrow night again so we'll get more feedback from her then. She's such an awesome person and I think it makes all the difference in the world the fact that she is being taught in a members home and was introduced to the gospel by Brother Emery and Sister Cash. I think her seeing their excitement for the gospel is really helping her have a stronger desire to live these things herself, as it would any investigator/less active. Obviously us missionaries are very excited about the gospel but you would expect someone to be that way who has devoted two years of their life to doing nothing but preaching the gospel, but I think when someone sees a person who is just like them so excited and have such a strong testimony it just brings it to life! 

3) Our other investigators are doing pretty well! Jeremy Sears will be baptized May 9th and so we're really excited about that! He was already being taught when I got here but it's finally really going to happen! Unfortunately, Jeremy and Jacinta were the only ones who made it to church this Sunday. We have a lot of other awesome investigators but we are just hoping to see them keep the commitment to come to church. Member involvement is really increasing and I think that's going to make a huge difference in investigator's progress. 

 

That's crazy that everyone is coming home! I guess I'm the tail end of the group of homecomings the next few months then, am I? Or are there others who will be coming home after me? 

I'm so jealous of Jackie and Trevor and them living in SLC. SLC is such an awesome place! We had dinner with a member family last week who used to live in SLC because the husband was going to the U and we were just talking about how awesome of a city it is. 

Hopefully everything goes well with Natalie and Nate and their family finding a place to settle down! 

Good luck to Quin with his mission, 5 missionaries is a lot and a big legacy to live up to I guess! Haha, he'll do a great job though. 

Good luck to Aimee with her elections also! 

I LOVE THE LOWER LIGHTS! That's one thing I definitely want to do when I get home, is find one of their concerts so I can go see them live. The music is amazing and so spiritual. I know that Ryan Shupe is part of the group too! Maybe if I brush up on one of my instruments I can play with them on the side... Haha, just kidding. 

I love the gospel and I love the mission. Right now in the Mt. Taylor ward member involvement is really picking up and things are so awesome. Members make ALL the difference in the world when it comes to the work of salvation! We made a family home evening outline for members to use and we are going to have a Meet the Mormons ward social on May 15th where we are going to invite non members to the church to watch the movie and then at the end we are going to have them Meet the Mormons in Mt. Taylor ward and probably have a person or a couple share their conversion story and then hand out Book of Mormons with testimonies of members of the ward to people who want them! It should be really awesome, we brought it up in ward council yesterday and everyone jumped on it so I'm excited! 

Here's the general outline for the FHE
-------------------------------------------------------

Discuss and make plans as a family how you can participate in the work of salvation! (Preach My Gospel pgs. 160-162)

·         Pray and follow the spirit – Alma 6:6

·         Give service – Mosiah 2:17-19

·         Develop friendships – Helaman 6:3

·         Open your mouth to share the restored gospel – D&C 100:5-8

·         Invite others to do things to increase their faith in Christ – Moroni 7:13

Go to hasteningthework.lds.org and watch a video on families participating in the work of salvation

 

Love, 

Elder Schaelling 

April 13

Mom,

So it's official, eh? That's pretty crazy. Yeah, I was planning on flying home not driving home or anything, I feel like that final flight from the mission home and meeting the family at the airport is a must do to have proper closure to missionary service. Haha, so your priority is picking up me? I was wondering what would happen if Natalie did go into labor as my plane was coming in. I was expecting to find a sticky-note on the luggage carousel that says, "Elder Schaelling, take bus 550 to the University of Utah Hospital and meet us there in room 316." Even if it does work out that way, it'd be a great story I could tell for the rest of my life. 

Yeah, I have changed a lot but I think when I go home I will realize that many things have not changed about me. There are a few constants in my personality, and clothing is one of them. I have been relatively less picky in my mission but I'm sure I'll be right back up to my old standards of clothing and food when I go home. When you mail the stuff if you could mail me a copy of The Power of Everyday Missionaries that'd be great. I'd just love to be able to show it to members and encourage them to read it here, because Elder Van Meter and I are really trying to help the members here work with us to find those who have been prepared by the Lord. Yeah, I was re-called as a district leader and to train for my last two transfers. It's been fun so far! I got a little used to having less responsibility last transfer though, and it did feel kind of nice haha. But I'm excited to be able to work with the elders here in the district on exchanges and hopefully really be able to build up some new and young leadership in the mission. 

Sister Parks (a nice sister from Albuquerque who sent Tammy a photo of Matt and his companion at Stake Conference in Gallup, NM) said that her husband is part of the Facilities Management group so they had come out for stake conference just to check on the building as well, but you are right that Albuquerque is out of our stake and mission. It sounds like you already have some of the background of Elder Van Meter from his mom so I don't have to tell you too much more about him haha. 

(Insert from Tammy:  Elder Van Meter's mom connected with me via the photo text from Sister Parks.  She said that they are from Berryville, VA, Elder Van Meter is their youngest child but first to serve a mission and that she is so relieved that he has a good first companion.  I must agree with her on that last part!  She's very happy to have her son serving a mission because she said, "If not for the missionaries that taught me, I never would have had the blessings of the Gospel in my life.")

Things are going really well with us and I'm excited to be his companion! Young missionaries like him are fun because they still have that "ideal missionary" in their mind from the MTC and have a desire to work really hard, be exactly obedient, and change the world so we'll go do a lot of great work together! 

Sounds like a great Easter program! That's awesome that Amy was there. (A high school friend of Matt's named Amy played the violin in our ward's Easter Program last Sunday.)

I'm glad Dad survived his exam. (Mike took his Medical Board exams, a full day of no fun, on April 8.)

Story for this week is about a new investigator that we found via a referral from our ward mission leader valiantly fulfilling his calling. He and another member of the ward work with a lady named Jacinta at the hospital and he told us about her but wasn't sure where she lived and he told us to look in the Area Book to find her address because the missionaries in the past had taught her once or twice a while ago, but we couldn't find a record of her from those missionaries. So we went to go contact a less active member and across the street from his trailer was a teenage boy and his sister in a yard with a dog that ran to us to play with us so we decided to go ask the boy if his parents were home and he said that his mom would be home in a minute. Just at that time, his mom pulled around the corner and parked in front of her house and we talked to her for a minute and we asked if we could come by and she said sure and we asked her name and she said, "Jacinta." And I was like, "No way! Do you work with Brother Emery and Sister Cash?" And she said she did! So we contacted her on accident haha. Well, I should say by the grace of God and the hand of the Lord. We taught her on Thursday with Bob, a recent convert of about two months and he bore a POWERFUL testimony of the reality of the truth of the gospel and the church and she committed to come to church next week (because yesterday was stake conference and she is on call so she can't go too far from the hospital) and we have a lesson tonight at the Cash's home with Jacinta lined up and we're going to teach her the Restoration! She accepted a baptismal invitation the last lesson so tonight we will be planning on setting a baptismal date with her and should be great! 

I LOVE YOU ALL! THE GOSPEL IS TRUE! 

Love, 

Elder Schaelling 

April 6

Mom,

Yes, as always, conference was AMAZING. I definitely felt like one of the main themes this conference was marriage, family, and the home being centered on the gospel. Last go around one of the main themes (especially of the Sunday Morning Session) was follow the prophet. It's so cool to see how even though people aren't assigned topics directly, their talks always go along with each other in such great unity! I'm sure they discuss things that are on their mind together and are aware of the things others will be talking about, but it's still awesome to see how it all comes together. I too was pretty surprised and a little let down that we only got to hear from President Monson twice! Also that he spoke at the beginning of the Sunday Morning session rather than the end was peculiar. When he began the session I wasn't sure if I should be listening to his talk for announcements or listening for a talk so I just put it on my flashdrive so we can listen to it again on our drive to Farmington today. Of the talks that stuck out to me most, one that I really loved and felt like I and everyone else needed in the world was Elder Anderson's talk on God's Hand being in our life. I had recently read that scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants that he quoted, " And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath   kindled , save those who confess not his hand in all things, andobey not his commandments" (59:21) because I am going through D&C right now. It is so important to see and search for God's Hand in our life and to believe that it is there. That is a lesson I learned at the beginning of the mission and it is never bad to have a reminder of it. It was cool to just see him talk about the miracles in the preparations for the newly announced temples to be built and everything! I too liked Elder Renlund's talk and when he used the example of the missionary and his companion: "You know, the two of you don't look all that different compared to me." Hahaha, isn't that so true. Elder Oaks, Elder Bednar, and President Uchtdorf are always the ones I look forward to the most and same here, they didn't disappoint. President Uchtdorf has mastered learning how to rebuke the saints in the most kind of ways and his talks are always so personable. I just always feel like he really understands and can empathize with how your "average Mormon" feels and the struggles they face as they try their best to choose the right. We ate Easter dinner with the Hine family, he is in the stake presidency and she is the stake young women president and they are super cool. This next weekend is actually stake conference for us! In regards to President Monson, I had the same thoughts last fall as well. He looked pretty worn out during the Priesthood session but with much more vigor Sunday morning. I've thought of the meaning of that in regards to the difference of audiences. When President Monson is speaking to the Priesthood, he is talking to wearied Priesthood holders throughout the world and is showing that he too carries the burden and feels tired or worn out at times, nevertheless he presses on diligently serving the Lord. However, when he speaks during the Sunday Morning session, he is addressing the world and stands in majesty and power as the one and only living prophet of God! 

Unfortunately, Thomas did not join us. But another investigator, Vanessa, came with three of her kids and her niece! Her husband, Albert, was working so he couldn't join us. They are on baptismal date also for May 16th, so we'll keep working with them! They are pretty awesome. 

Elder Hozman is getting transferred to Redmesa, Colorado, and I will be training a new missionary straight from the MTC so we are going to Farmington today.

That's awesome that you saw Austin! I'll have to check out all that stuff when I go home. 

I love you all and am so grateful for the leaders of the church! They are wonderful people and I do know from the bottom of my heart that they are the chosen servants of the Lord and that their words " are true and faithful , and theprophecies and promises which are in them shall all be fulfilled" and that 
"whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants , it is the same ." (D&C 1:37-38)

Love,

Elder Schaelling

March 30

My questions for Matt:

1) How are you doing? 
2) How are all of your investigators doing? 
3) Where will you watch General Conference? 
4) Have you received a dinner invitation for Easter Sunday? 
5) Have you been able to visit any of the nearby sites on a P-day? 
6) About how many members are in your ward there? 
7) How far away is your Stake Center? 
8) Are you getting used to the larger community and driving on an interstate? 

------------------------

Mom,

1) I am doing pretty well! I was sick a bit last week but I am feeling a lot better today. 

2) Doing well. We were able to see Thomas again yesterday and he is doing awesome, he's on baptismal date for May 16th! He has been reading the Book of Mormon and already has an answer that it is true! It's pretty amazing, he told us that he already feels like this is the right thing for him to do so he's going to come watch conference with us this Sunday. He went to a place to go get lunch and they have free books there and when he went to the bookshelf the first book he saw there was The Book of Mormon and took that as a sign from God (it was a hardback copy of an older edition). It had been marked up by a member (in preparation to give to someone) and the portions of the book that were marked up were things that he had been praying for answers to (there was Nephi's Psalm in 2 Nephi 4, Alma 32, 3 Nephi 11, and Moroni 10 all marked up with explanations written out on the side of the page)! When we gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon (the paperback ones we usually give out) he asked if we could get him a hardback and we said we would look for one haha, but God provided! 

3) At the church building most likely. We might watch a session or two at a less active family's house or an investigators house if they don't want to join us at the church and we want to give them some extra "encouragement" to watch it, haha. 

4) I think so. I'd have to check the dinner calendar when I go home, I can't remember. 

5) We went to the top of Mt. Taylor last p-day and we met a less active guy who said he'll take us out pretty much any p-day because he's always off and likes to do stuff like that anyways, so that's awesome! 

6) Probably about 200-220 active members, but I think there's like 600-800 on the roll, but I'm not positive. 

7) It is in Gallup which is about 60 miles to the west 

8) Yeah, I'm getting used to it haha.

The General Women's Meeting sounds pretty awesome! I have been to Hatch's Chocolates a few times, it's pretty good. I got the hot chocolate and a truffle or something. That's awesome that she mentioned the sister from Chinle! I'll have to look up her talk one it gets published online, hopefully by next week or something. I doubt she's related to President Yazzie, Yazzie is a common last name like Smith or Johnson. The big last names here are Yazzie, Begay, and Benally. those names are common throughout the whole reservation, but there are other names that are more area specific. Like in Steamboat there was Tahy, Pete, Bitsoie, and in Bluff there was Maryboy, Bigboy, Yanito, Redhorse, Lameman, etc. 

I actually haven't seen the new Easter video yet, we hopefully will be able to watch it today at an investigator's home or something. It should be really awesome! He Is the Gift from Christmas time was awesome. 

I'm glad you are reading the everyday missionary book!

I LOVE THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST. That is why I am preaching the gospel for two years, because I don't want the sacrifice of His Atonement to be in vain by not letting every single person to know of His true gospel that has been restored to this earth. I've never served around other Christian denominations much because I was on the reservation for so long, but we've been running into a fair amount of anti-Mormons here in Grants and it's only strengthened my testimony of this Gospel, because how people believe we are cleansed and receive salvation is pretty confusing and doesn't fit together as perfectly and beautifully as the doctrine of Christ taught throughout the standard works. 

Love, 

Elder Schaelling 

March 23

Mom,

It's not looking too much like spring yet, and I'm not sure what to expect here! In Steamboat spring was pretty spectacular with the desert flowers, cacti, and weeds blossoming with all sorts of colors, from reds and yellows to blues and purples. But in Grants there is less vegetation because we are in a city in the desert.

I didn't buy a blender. If there's one on Amazon for not too much you can send it here and if I like it I'll take it home, otherwise I'll leave it here at the end of my mission. Yeah, really all I will probably use it for regularly is to make fruit smoothies and whatnot.

Albert is doing pretty well, haven't had any contact with Bridgette and Daniel. We were able to meet with John on Wednesday and gave him a priesthood blessing and he talked about how that was one of the strongest times he has ever felt the Spirit and how he could feel it throughout his whole body! It made me think of the verse in D&C 84:20 "Therefore, in the ordinances [of the Priesthood], the power of godliness is manifest." John's a great guy and we have Stake Conference the week after General Conference so his baptism will probably wait until all that is taken care of so we're looking at April 18th.

I got an email from BYU saying that I can start registering for classes this Thursday, so hopefully I'll sign up for some classes next Monday.

That's too bad that the home didn't work out for Natalie and Nate! Hopefully they'll have a home of their own to take the newborn to. That's what I've been telling people that ask about my family when I mention that I have three nephews and a niece, that I have another one on the way and we're seeing who comes first -- me or the baby!

Well. It sounds like Asher will probably take a while to warm up to me haha. However, I am up for the challenge! Hopefully at least by the time I get home he's totally cool with you and the family so that way I'm not just another scary stranger or something.

I'm glad Aimee is enjoying choir!

Park City sounds great! I have been thinking that I hope to be able to take more advantage of all the wonders of the state of Utah more after I return home now that I've turned a little more country and a little less city from my mission, so I'll be excited to explore some of the cool stuff Park City area has to offer! Sounds good. If it's just me, you, dad, and Aimee I might think about going back to the mission or maybe something else. I'm not sure. I want to make it back to the mission relatively soon (probably by the end of the year) but I might just end up doing that on a long weekend or fall break or something and just take a road trip down here since it's not very far.

I love you all! This past week we had interviews with President Batt and he asked us to come prepared with our favorite scripture. I have too many that I love to pick one, but one that has been on my mind regularly over the past 7 or 8 months has been D&C 25:10 - " And verily I say unto thee that thou shalt lay aside the things of this world , and seek for the things of a better ." It's just such a powerful scripture to me. I do know that as we come to lay aside worldly distractions and seek for the things of God and of the Spirit, we can find ultimate happiness. That is the thing that I am most grateful for regarding my mission experience, is that it helped me "purge the world" out of my soul, you might say. I hope I can continue to "live in the spirit" after I get home, as Paul discusses in Galatians 5:25. Another cool insight I had this week as I was studying the Doctrine of Christ in 2 Nephi 31, I noticed how Nephi describes enduring to the end in verse 20 -

" Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope , and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end,behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life ."

Really it's just faith, hope, and charity plus studying the words of the Prophets, both modern and ancient. Pretty awesome to see how the prophets teach the same principles everywhere! Paul taught faith, hope, and charity in 1 Corinthians 13. Mormon teaches it in Moroni 7.

Keep enduring to the end!

Love,

Elder Schaelling

March 16

Mom,

Yes, the home is great!

Elder Hozman. He is from Colombia, his parents currently live in Peru because his dad works for the Church and they move around occasionally. He lived in Utah for about a year or two before his mission and learned English then so his English is really good, he just has an accent. We are doing very well together! It's interesting to be with a more fresh missionary. It helps me realize how much I've learned and changed on my mission. He's a great guy, we get along well and are enjoying our missionary service!

Bridgette is in her 40s or 50s and her dad is sick and is likely going to pass away soon and he is in his 70s. So she doesn't need her dad's permission legally, she just wants to respect her father and whatnot. We met with Daniel again and his main hold up right now is that he doesn't really understand the priesthood and the apostasy so we'll have to go over that some more. It's kind of crazy to come to the city for the last little bit of my mission because I kind of feel like I'm starting all over again. Things are just so different from the rez as far as how to work with the ward (as in it's not a branch... hahaha) and just how to best teach investigators and stuff. Sometimes I feel just as lost as I did as a new missionary here, but it's good because it's keeping me on my toes and helping me grow! Albert is doing awesome, he made it to church yesterday! He's such a good guy and has a lot of gospel knowledge. He made some pretty awesome comments during gospel principles and listens to or reads general conference talks all the time at home. 

Awesome! I'm glad those boxes arrived safely. (Brother Collin Warner, who grew up in Layton and currently lives in Blanding, delivered a few boxes for Matt last Saturday.) His work took him and his family to Blanding because he works with the uranium mill there. They haven't been there too long, just like three years I think? They are a really cool family. Yeah, I'll be happy to go through all my junk in my bedroom and declutter it. I think I've gotten better at throwing away unnecessary stuff as a missionary, so hopefully that'll bless me when I get home. 

Geographically speaking in regards to the literal boundaries of the ward, this is probably the largest area I've been in. But we don't really leave Grants or Milan very often, so as far as mileage traveled daily this is definitely not the biggest. Bluff was probably the biggest in terms of daily miles, with Steamboat in second place. Population-wise, it is definitely the largest area I've served in. 

Yeah, the mail is sent to our house and it is checked daily. 

Yes, the members feed us plenty. 

Have an awesome time at conference! I AM SO EXCITED FOR CONFERENCE 

Love, 

Elder Schaelling 

March 9

Mom,

Thanks! I haven't done anything to accept it yet, hopefully I'll get that done today. That's awesome that Spencer's birthday is this week! Yeah, the pictures that I see of them every once in a while they all look super different, I can't believe it! Well, I guess I can believe it. I've been gone for a while haha.

I guess technically the June 24th is an estimate, but I can't imagine it being a different day because the process is the same every transfer. Everyone moves areas on Tuesday, and so all of the departing missionaries go to the mission home at 2 o'clock and have a testimony meeting and dinner with President and Sister Batt and whatnot and then we all sleep at the assistant's house on Tuesday night and depart Wednesday morning. And the transfer ends that week. You'll probably get a letter from the mission office about three months before my release date.

I hope to be able to learn a lot more about Meme and all of my family history when I get home. I want to start a project and do a lot more family history when I get home, I just plan on making it an every Sunday thing while I'm living at home and I'll work on it whenever I come home for the weekends while I'm at college.

We saw Bridgette on Monday night and she said that her dad, who is a very staunch Catholic, told her that she can't change religions and but she said that she feels like she needs to learn more about the Book of Mormon and whatnot and so we had an appointment set up but it fell through and we haven't been able to catch her when we've just stopped by, unfortunately. We were able to find three new investigators this week though: Daniel, Nancy, and Thomas. They are all pretty awesome people and we hope things go well for all of them!

One pretty awesome experience that I had this week was the opportunity to give a blessing to a member who is currently disfellowshipped and has been for 18 years, but he is such an awesome and faithful guy. He still pays his tithing without fail and everything. I'll refer to him as Albert. On Saturday evening we saw the bishop for a minute and asked him if anyone was on his mind that he'd like us to visit on his mind and he mentioned Albert and so we stopped by at about 8 o'clock and when he opened the door he said, "Oh boy do I need you two here right now. Please come in, I need a blessing." He told us that he resigned from his job a couple days before and he isn't sure if it was the right thing to do or not and he's trying to understand what the Lord needs him to do and he was told by the doctor that if he doesn't quit smoking his lungs will give out on him and also if he can quit smoking then he can regain his full fellowship in the Church. We gave him a blessing to help him feel comfort and also to be able to quit smoking and there are only two blessings I've given in my life where I have felt the Spirit so strongly, this one and one I gave in Shiprock a few weeks before Christmas. It's one of those blessings where I could just feel the words flowing through me from the Spirit, and really from our Father in Heaven. It wasn't terribly long, but was very powerful and just a great faith building experience. I know the Priesthood is real, and that as we are worthy we may act in place of the Lord.

I just read a book this past week, it's called The Power of Everyday Missionaries by Clayton R. Christensen. IT IS AMAZING! SERIOUSLY, EVERYONE WHO SEES THIS NEEDS TO READ THAT BOOK. It is like Preach My Gospel for members, and it's a pretty quick read. It's only like 130 pages or something and the pages aren't long at all. It's filled with gold as far as how to find people for the missionaries to teach, how to help others progress in the gospel and everything. That book helped me increase my faith so much and made me have such a stronger desire to share the gospel even as a missionary and to take my calling more seriously and try to share the gospel with every person I talk to.

Yeah, there's just one ward. It's called the Mt. Taylor Ward and it covers Grants, Milan, Bluewater, and San Rafel. We technically cover San Mateo also but it's really far away and we never go there. No, there is not any other missionaries in Grants, the next ones over are Thoreau which is about 30 miles away. We live alone and we have a bedroom, a study room, a bathroom, a very large living room, and a kitchen. It's pretty nice.

I love you all!

Elder Schaelling 

March 2

My questions for Matt:

1) Did Elder Vicznesky return home?  His Mom had told me that he was coming home on  February 25.

2) How was your actual move to Grants?  

3) Did you stop in Farmington on your way?

4) How did you handle being on the interstate again?  Were you the driver?

5) How is Elder Hozman and is he truly from Peru?

6) Are you in a home or an apartment?  I looked your address up on the internet and the only picture they had looked like a small apartment building.  Somewhere else it said that the property had a duplex and a small home on the lot.

7) The address you gave us was 226 Monroe, Grants NM  87020.  Is there any number or letter that we should add to that for clarification?

8) Do you still have a vehicle and, if so, what is it?

---------------

Mom,

I am doing well in Grants! That's exciting that Quin got his mission call! I think that sounds like a pretty awesome mission. I hope the best for him and I guess I'll see him in about two years!

1) Yes, he did. I don't have too many details about it, but he packed his bags and left for home last week. 

2) The move wasn't too bad, it just took a while due to the weather and snow we were having. I drove to Farmington on Monday night and then rode the transfer van to Gallup on Tuesday and Elder Hozman picked me up there and we drove to Grants and got here in the afternoon! I am the designated driver and one thing that I needed to be reminded of is about how to merge onto the freeway and the importance of reaching the speed limit before you get to the merging point... haha. Also, the interstate has a speed limit of 75 which is kind of crazy. 

3) Yes, I did. 

5) Elder Hozman is from Colombia but he moved to Utah about two years ago to go to the University of Utah and the confusion with Peru is that his parents are now living in Peru because his dad works for the Church. He's a good guy, he speaks pretty good English but he has a bit of an accent which makes him a little difficult to understand for some others, but I understand him just fine. 

6) I am in a home and it's pretty nice. We have a lot of space. 

7) Nope, just the address. 

8) We have a Nissan Frontier just like we did in Blanding but it is a 2015 instead of a 2014. Not much of a different, just the dash is slightly different.

No worries, I got an email from BYU today that referred me to the website with the decision and I have been admitted! 

Yeah, I'm sad that I wont be able to see Jim and Chris and everyone else get baptized, but that's just how missionary work goes I guess. We have a pretty awesome new investigator named Bridgette here in Grants. We found her tracting the other day and we taught her and committed her to be baptized on April 11th! She said she would come to church yesterday but didn't make it so we are going to stop by today or tomorrow and see what's going on. We also are teaching a lady from the Philippines and committed her to April 18th and brought a member of the ward who served his mission in the Philippines so it was pretty cool. Grants seems pretty awesome, but it is differently VERY different from anywhere else I've served. There's not as many natives here as there was in Blanding or other cities in our mission, it's more of a New Mexico/Latino town. But we have our own Walmart and tons of stuff, so that's pretty awesome. This is the first time I have ever had a Walmart in my zone, let alone my area haha. The ward is pretty good sized and very nice, so hopefully we'll be able to get some good work rolling along!

Sounds like everything is going well at home! Good luck to Aimee with her campaign, it is pretty hard to believe that that time is here already. Years fly by pretty quickly! 

I love you all and I know that this gospel is true! It's been pretty awesome to be here in Grants because a lot of the members of the ward are converts who have joined the church and stayed fully active throughout their life! It's pretty different because the only places I have served is on the rez and then in Blanding which is just a small Mormon town, so being here it feels like I'm in the "real mission field" or something. I don't know how to describe it haha. I guess it just seems more like what I imagined a mission would be like before my mission, because thus far I haven't had any areas that I could have predicted before my mission. There's not a real big presence of the Church here, pretty much everyone is Catholic and I've been able to meet some pretty awesome members of the Church who are converts and are still very committed to the Church and the Gospel!

Love, 

Elder Schaelling 

February 23

Matt is getting transferred.

His new address is:

Elder Matthew Schaelling

226 Monroe

Grants, NM  87020

-----------------

Mom,

I am doing pretty well. Somewhat surprising news: I am getting transferred to Grants, New Mexico! It's about halfway between Gallup and Farmington. I'm sure in all reality it's a pretty small town, but I feel like it is going to seem huge to me because it is three times the size of Blanding I hear and it is on the INTERSTATE. I haven't driven on one of those for nearly 20 months... Hahaha. We cover a whole bunch of small towns around each other, Grants, Milan, Bluewater, San Mateo, San Rafael. So it is going to be huge compared to all my other areas. It is a border town like Blanding but I hear there are a lot of Acoma natives down there too. I was released as a zone leader, so my time there is finished. My new address is 226 Monroe Grants, NM 87020. My companion's name is Elder Hozman (spelling might be wrong) and he is from Peru I think. He might be learning English in the mission field and he's only been about three or four months I think. I'll know more next week.

Yeah, it's pretty sad that Chuck passed away. The service will be a week from this Saturday, so I'll miss it. His wife is handling it surprisingly well and she seems to be strengthening in her faith from it. She feels like Chuck is probably happier now not being faced with the challenges he was dealing with in mortality. 

I'm glad that things are going well with all the family back home! I'll be excited to actually see with my own eyes all the changes that have been going on when I get home!

I still haven't been able to do initiatory since my first time. I can't wait to go to the temple all the time when I get home.

My guess for Quin is either Texas or Arizona, his mission has to touch either my mission, Gentry's, or Preston's since our missions are all right in a row. I guess he could do Colorado or Oklahoma too.

I love you all! I'll hopefully have more time next week.

Love, 

Elder Schaelling 

February 16

Mom,

Thanks so much for all the help with the apartment! It looks pretty nice, I just looked it up on LDS maps and so it should be a good place! If I remember correctly, it shouldn't be too far away from J Dawgs... Haha. Next letter or package you send me you can send me a copy of the contract so I can browse over it in my free time on another day but no rush or anything. Parking shouldn't be too big of a deal, I'm sure it'll all work out. I'll shoot Elder Kennedy an email and let him know that we have an extra spot if he is looking for a place but I think he might have some other guys he is planning on rooming with.

That's so awesome that you got to go to Dallin's homecoming! I'm glad he enjoyed his mission. It's so crazy to think that everyone is home now.

That's a pretty interesting quote from Bishop, I'm not really sure if I understand it.

We have some sad news from this week. One of our investigators, Chuck Armstrong who was on date from January 31st but didn't make it, passed away. His wife just came home from work and found him cold. A graveside service will be held sometime in March. We were pretty shocked and surprised because we had just seen him a few days earlier. But here is one of my favorite Book of Mormon scriptures on death and the resurrection: 

 7 And if Christ had not risen from the dead, or have broken the bands of death that the grave should have no victory, and thatdeath should have no sting, there could have been no resurrection.

 8 But there is a resurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ.

 9 He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which isendless, that there can be no more death.

-Mosiah 16:7-9-

Sorry it's a short one, I am running out of time but I am so appreciative of your help. I love you all! 

Love,

Elder Schaelling