go Utes!

June 9

These are my questions that he's answering:

1) How was your birthday?

2) Did you get your birthday packages - 1) box with 21 gifts 2) Dunford donuts 3) a headset that should've come directly from Rosetta Stone?

3) Have you been able to begin your studies with the Navajo Rosetta Stone?

4) Were the Dunford Donuts edible?

5) How did Arlanya's job hunting in Page go?

6) Were Edna and her children able to come to church again?

7) Have you been able to have more lessons with Candice?

Dallas, Kaleb and Tanner are all close friends of his that have recently returned from their missions or will soon come home.

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Mom,

All is well with the dentist. I wasn't in any pain at all or anything and we just left Steamboat bright and early at 6:30 this morning! Dr. Shaheen was a very nice guy, I think someone said he's from St. George originally and he served his mission in Brazil. Elder Aguilera had fun speaking Portuguese with him at the office, haha.

1) My birthday was great! You nailed it on the birthday package! Haha, ties, missionary music, and Indian food is really all I could ever want. Thank you all so much for everything! Grandma also sent me a great birthday package with the new book by Elder Bednar, who is one of my favorite apostles and some other great goodies. 

2) Both of them arrived safely and the donuts got here in a more fresh condition that the Christmas ones did so they were fantastic!

3) Sure have! I am coming up to the close of the first unit. There are two levels, each level has four units, and each unit has four lessons with a variety of activities to teach you the pronunciation, vocabulary, and ability to listen and whatnot. I have learned a lot already!

4) They sure were!

5) I'm not sure, we haven't heard from her at all yet. We'll probably shoot her a text message and ask her. She said she should know the results within two or three weeks of her leaving and if she doesn't find one, she'll come back to Toyei. I have faith that whatever happens is the best for her and her growth in the gospel.

6) They sure were! They are so much fun. We gave them one of the Book of Mormon Stories books and Edna says that they read it with the young ones every night! 

7) We read 3 Nephi 11 last Monday with her and it went fantastic. We are hoping to see them tonight again as well, we just have to give them a call and make sure.

Good to hear about Dallas, Kaleb, and Tanner! I can't believe they are all coming home. I hope none of them have done anything crazy like get married before I get home, haha. I can't imagine Kaleb being more thin than he already was! I hope he broke 100 pounds.

I love you all and I hope your week goes great! I can't believe I'm 21 years old now. I don't think I could have ever predicted that I'd be spending my 21st birthday in the heart of Navajoland in good old Steamboat, Arizona. We might even have a prairie dog roast with President Yazzie soon in honor of my birthday.

With Much Love,
Elder Schaelling

June 3

Mom,

This Sunday was great! We had 54 people at sacrament and this week was full of miracles. Arlanya and her boyfriend, Brad, and Edna all came to church and Edna brought her 5 kids. This week we were able to set a baptismal date with Arlanya on June 25th, but she just told us that she is going to Page tomorrow to look for a job and if she finds one that she'll be living in Kaibeto from then on. If she doesn't find a job, then she'll come back to Steamboat. It's too bad! We've taught her the first three lessons and she got an answer that the Book of Mormon is true already and she is reading the Book of Mormon a lot and it's awesome! 

Secondly, we got to read Alma 32 that talks about how faith is like a seed with one of our new investigators Candice while sitting in her garden that her and her neighbor Leland were working on that very morning! We got there while they were busy planting, so we all sat down in the garden and read it. It was just legit to be able to really understand the metaphor by sitting in the garden watching all of these seeds that were just planted and to know that some of them will be sprouting up just in this next week! 

Third, Edna agreed to come to church this Sunday but she needed a ride because she lives 7 miles away from the church and about 3 or 4 miles off the highway so it was kind of hard to think of someone who could get her and also have enough room for her and all five of her kids, so we called Sister Joseph since she has a van. She originally said she couldn't because she had to bring her son Jerek and three of her grandkids who were staying with her, but then we continued to search and prayed that she would be able to make it and Sister Joseph called us on Sunday morning asking us where she lives because she was on her way to get her! It was so cool. 

Lastly, we met a new investigator named Wynona who we knocked on her door a week ago today and she said she was busy but told us right away that she was interested and wanted us to come back (which doesn't happen too often) and we got to teach her on Saturday and at the end of the lesson I asked her why she wanted us to come back and she said she was praying to God for help and answers and we knocked on her door just a short time later that very same day! It was so cool! We had just knocked her door a couple of weeks before but we were "lead by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which [we] should do." (1 Nephi 4:6) I've never been great at recognizing the voice of the Spirit speaking to me, but I definitely know that it does work through me because without knowing it, I am lead and placed in the right place at the right time. It's so amazing to be able to look back like in Ether 12:6 and to see the witness after our faith has been tried. 

Oh my goodness, Elder Knighton was the Assistant to the President for 6 or 7 months, but he was just released to serve as a district leader in Indian Wells (not far from me, but in a different zone) for his last transfer. I should see him next week on Friday the 13th at a meeting in Chinle where a general authority is going to speak to us so I'll ask him about Tate! I'm trying to remember when I would have met him, I have a vague memory of going to someone's house with Tate who lived not too far from where my violin teacher used to live there in Kaysville. That's crazy! 

I love you all and thank you all for your support! I wasn't able to get the packages yesterday because the post office was closed because it was a holiday of some sort (probably just a Navajo holiday or something). Have a great week and happy birthday to you and to Grandma!!!

Love,

Elder Schaelling

May 26

Mom,

That's awesome that Lindsay is so excited to go on a mission! That's so great that sisters have the opportunity to go on missions at a younger age, it's such a truly amazing experience that anyone who has a desire and an ability should partake of. There's really not much to lose by going on a mission because of the experience of experiencing the gospel and Atonement on such a deep level and being able to serve others and put the "real world" on the side for a moment.

Wow, thank you so much for sending the birthday package! I will be in Ganado on one or both of those days, so no worries. Truly, don't send me too much (it sounds like it might be a little too late) but as a missionary I just don't want to make too big of a deal of my birthday so I don't get self-centered or anything of the sorts for the day/week and what not. I got Skot's announcement, he's getting married on your birthday!

Carlyle was sick on Tuesday so we ended up meeting with his less active roommate (which is his cousin, I think) and he's a really good guy too! We met a few more people this week who are really awesome. We met a lady named Arlanya and her boyfriend Brad and Arlanya said she has been thinking about baptism recently and wants to do it, and she even came to church on Sunday! We met them in an interesting but not too uncommon way (in my experience) in meeting solid investigators. It's interesting how the Lord leads us to those who are prepared. We went to the area of her house first to meet a less active lady about two or three months ago as a referral, and she wasn't interested, so we knocked the doors around her house and met Edna, who is awesome. We taught her for a while but haven't been able to catch her home the past few weeks. We went to see if we could find Edna, but then we saw a little boy (about 4-years-old) who said, "Hey, my mom's home!" So we said, "Okay, I guess we'll meet her!"

Memorial Day hasn't seemed too big in Steamboat, I just think those who work are just excited to have the day off. I know the veterans are having some sort of a gathering at the Chapter House today, haha. 

I love you all and thank you for the love and support you continually show me! I hope you have a fantastic week!!!

Love,
Elder Schaelling

P.S. I forgot to mention, this week for sacrament meeting we ended up flying solo. President Yazzie drives a bus for a team who fights forest fires so he was called out to that fire in Sedona and has been gone since Tuesday and will be gone for a while longer and Brother John, the first counselor, was in Phoenix for the weekend, and Brother Nelson had to go to Albuquerque because he was sick, but I think he's back now. Elder Aguilera and I talked and Elder Harris conducted and then Elder Harris taught the Sunday School lesson while we taught the Elder's Quorum lesson and Sister Harris taught the Relief Society lesson. Big day! Hahaha. Luckily, President Curley (from the Stake Presidency) came to extend a call to Elder Harris to be the branch clerk and so he helped us bless the sacrament and we had a visitor from Phoenix who is an in-law up to some one from up here who helped us pass. It's amazing how God provided for us to have a sacrament meeting yesterday!

May 19

Mom,

This week we spent a lot of time finding new people and knocking doors in areas of Steamboat that I haven't spent too much time in up on the north side and some of the east side. We met a really cool guy named Carlyle and we taught him the first lesson and he really understood and accepted it! What an awesome guy. We're going to go see him tomorrow again. President Yazzie is also thinking about starting up baseball or softball with the branch so we can start to get the youth more engaged since there aren't really any programs for them here in Steamboat. It's been a great week! Today we went to Canyon de Chelly with Elder and Sister Harris and it was a good time. 

The weather is warming up a bit! It is feeling hot, but it's only in the 70s and 80s sometimes. It still has quite a bit more to warm up, I would think. How's it doing up there?

I love you all! Keep working on building the Kingdom where ever you happen to be and to serve faithfully in your callings and to fellowship investigators, less active members, and new members!

Love,
Elder Schaelling

May 5

Mom,

I love you!!! I really don't have much time at all today, but I wanted to let you know that I think I should be able to Skype with you guys either on Flora's computer (a member) or on the Harris's iPad. Don't worry, we're back in the camper. Nothing changed this transfer, I'm staying in Steamboat with Elder Aguilera. I love this place so much, it's just such an awesome feeling to be out here and my Navajo is improving quite a bit! 

I love you all and sure hope the internet works well enough to Skype!

Love,
Elder Schaelling

April 28

Mom,

Good morning! Things are going great in Steamboat. The camper's furnace was repaired on Tuesday, but then Wednesday morning we woke up and the hot water heater wasn't working. We checked it out to see if there was an air trap in the gas pipe because the gas was turned off, but the water heater was leaking and corroded so they had to shut off the propane again (leaving us with no furnance, stove, or water heater) and shut off the running water. So instead we threw our sleeping bags in the car and we've just been staying at other missionaries trailers. We stayed a few nights at Ganado and stayed Saturday night in Chinle for stake conference (our stake is the Chinle stake). It's been a fun and interesting week! Haha. But tomorrow Elder Olsen and Elder James are coming to bring a new water heater so hopefully we'll be back in Steamboat then.

We don't stay in our camper if we are going to be staying in different towns. This past Monday night when we spent p-day in Window Rock and then went to Gallup for zone conference on Tuesday we just spent the night in Window Rock. And we stayed in Chinle for stake conference since we went to both the Saturday Adult Session and the Sunday General Session, as aforementioned.

President Wasden sounds right on mark! Doing missionary work as a member doesn't have to be awkward or uncomfortable, it just has to be fulfilling your baptismal covenant to stand as a witness of God at all times and in all places and in all things. Just love people enough to share small things about the way the Gospel has shaped and changed your life, and invite them to do small things to feel the gospel in their life (prayer, reading the Book of Mormon, church, family home evening, other things).

I'm glad you were able to go to the BYU Museum of Art again! It is an awesome place. I don't remember there being any Native stuff last time I went! But that's awesome there is a rug there, I hope I can find a good rug while I'm down here.

I am taking pictures in Steamboat. I have an SD card I have to send home, it's all filled up! I'm not sure what my schedule on Mother's Day is. If I'm in Steamboat we have Church from 9 to 12. If I get transferred next week then I don't know what the schedule will be.

I love you all and miss you all! Keep it up keep living and sharing the gospel back at home. I pray for each of you all the time!

Love,
Elder Schaelling