June 30

Mom,

I can't believe I'm hitting halfway this week! I'm sure the next half will fly by even quicker. It's weird to think that I'll probably just have two more areas on my mission and then I'll be done. Thank you so much for praying for Edna and her children and everyone else in Steamboat! We set a baptismal date with a young man named Tyler for July 26th, but he didn't make it to church this week so he wont be able to be baptized on that date so we'll keep working with him and see if he is ready for the gospel yet. Being a missionary, especially in this mission has really changed my perspective on the Church and the gospel and missionary work and really everything. I've learned here that you really can't force someone to live the gospel (at least as a missionary). If we baptize people, we need to make sure they are truly ready because there are many people here who are willing to be baptized that aren't really willing to make a lifelong commitment.

I can't imagine 4th of July being too big here in Steamboat! I'll let you know if anything exciting happens, though. I'll probably eat a jalapeno hot dog to celebrate the day, haha. I hope things go well in Layton with the smaller crowd! I'm not sure if I told you guys before, but there is actually a golf course in Steamboat! It is just dirt and sage brush, no grass, but I just think it's hilarious/awesome that there is a golf course here. Maybe dad and I can try it out sometime.

That's so awesome that Aimee is going to be able to sing in the choir for the temple dedication!!! I'm excited for her! I'll be interested to go back and see the new temple. I'll have to go on lds.org and check out some pictures of it sometime.

I can't believe it has been that long since all of those events either. That's weird that Jackie and Trevor have been married for 7 years and also that Jackie is 27! They are all getting old.

Good to hear everything is going well at the ward back home! That's nice of Skot to think of me. Tell him "congrats" on his marriage thing or whatever. District Leader is going fine, not too much has happened yet. I went on exchanges with one of the zone leaders, Elder Christensen, this week and it was a lot of fun. He and I get along great. Great things as always are happening in Steamboat, we found four new investigators and two of them seem pretty solid!

I love you so much too! I miss you all but the mission is absolutely the best thing that ever happened to me!

Love,
Elder Schaelling

June 23

Mom,

Thank goodness I'm staying in Steamboat, we set four baptismal dates this week! Edna and her two oldest children who are living there are going to be baptized on July 12th and they are solid. It's so cool to be able to see people truly embrace the gospel and experience the subtle peace and happiness that comes from living these principles and building our personal relationship with our Father in Heaven through those tools of meaningful personal prayer, studying His holy words given through the prophets, especially in the Book of Mormon, and attending church. If there is one thing I have learned on my mission, is that the gospel doesn't work unless you do all three of those things. We have a lot of investigators who read and pray but they don't attend church, and the few investigators that I've been able to work with who actually do all three at the same time, they truly do receive answers! Elder Carlson during the mission tour, when one of the missionaries asked him if there is anything he wants the members in these remote areas to know from him since they don't have the opportunity to hear from General Authorities very often, he said "Go to church, read and ponder the scriptures, and pray often. The gospel that we preach isn't rocket science." It really struck me the longer I thought about it. Sometimes as a missionary I worry about explaining the role of the Holy Ghost better or teaching the story of Joseph Smith more clearly or do this or that and making it more complicated that it is, but the promise is that if someone will read the Book of Mormon, attend church, and pray to their Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ, they WILL receive an answer and recognize it is the true church.

Unfortunately, Brother Jospeh didn't attend church with us yesterday but thanks to the Navajo audio tapes of the Book of Mormon, we went over with President Yazzie Saturday evening and listened to 3 Nephi 11 and 27 and they talked about the doctrine in Navajo a bit, and it was so awesome to see Brother Joseph so enthralled in Book of Mormon! There are so many people who are so Navajo-minded and I feel bad because I am getting decent conversational Navajo, but I still can't do much teaching in Navajo, mostly just bear testimony and quote some scriptures. I am hoping to work with President Yazzie on translating the first vision into Navajo and maybe some other small things. So, I let Brother Joseph borrow the tapes because I trust him and Sister Joseph to take care of them, haha. 

Also, thank you so much for the Thomas S Monson movie, it has been able to help Edna. As we were going over the baptismal interview questions with her the only one she was kind of shakey on is that she was talking about how it is just weird for her to think about the fact that there is a prophet today so we had her watch it yesterday and she said she enjoyed it! Sister Harris (the senior missionary) watched it with her and she said that Edna laughed during it and Edna says she is feeling better about it. Please pray for Edna and her kids!

Keep reading Preach My Gospel! Probably focus on the lessons in Chapter 3 because understanding those really helps you organize the doctrines of the gospel so much better and see how just about everything relates back to those three things, the restoration, plan of salvation, and gospel of Jesus Christ, and Chapter 9 on Finding people. There are some really good parts of Chapters 4 (Pray with Faith, Learn to Recognize the Promptings of the Spirit, and Relying on the Spirit) and 5 (really just all of this chapter) that could probably help members also. 

I absolutely agree. I hope that I am able to find the elect and to help them build their foundation on Christ, but truly the reason why it is so essential for every young man to serve and, in my opinion, every young woman who is able to and has a desire to serve. There is truly nothing to lose by going and the things you will gain will give you a sure foundation to build on for the rest of your life, if you don't become "normalized" and worldly again after returning home. I will be forever changed because of this experience.

I hope you all have a fantastic week! I love you all so much! I am so grateful for the blessings of the gospel and the restored truth which we have in these days. These things we have are precious and we must be willing to share them with all of our fellow brothers and sisters. Look for those whom the Lord is preparing through you or those he has prepared and help them to recognize the things we share as a source of light and peace for them! 

Love,
Elder Schaelling

June 16

Mom,

I am doing great! Nothing changed, Elder Aguilera and I are staying together for a fourth transfer! I am very surprised, I thought I was for sure going to be moved haha. I even bought less food than I usually do at the beginning of the month so we came to Window Rock this p-day so I can go get a few things at Bashas. However, I did get a call from President Batt to serve as the district leader for our district here. It is Steamboat, Ganado, and Fort Defiance.

no prairie dog roast yet. The word for prairie dog in Navajo is "glǫǫ' ." Perhaps we'll get with President Yazzie next p-day and roast with him.

That's awesome you were able to go see Kaleb give his homecoming talk! I hear some crazy stories about the church in Africa. I once heard a story about a very large group of people who had essentially an entire stake or something of the sort organized that met under the name "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" and had purchased all the necessary supplies from the church to run meetings and whatnot without an official church presence. The church later came to the area and ordained the men so they could officially become a stake of Zion and have the priesthood and whatnot. Amazing! I can't imagine those stories like Kaleb shared either, it is truly amazing that people would have such a strong testimony especially before truly receiving the long-lasting fruits of the Gospel that are born further down the road of discipleship.

This week we had a mission tour with Elder Carlson of the Seventy and his wife. Almost half of the mission gathered in Chinle on Friday (the other half gathered in Farmington the day before) and we got to be instructed by him and Sister Carlson, along with President and Sister Batt. It is so nice to be able to see them. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be in this mission that is lead by President and Sister Batt and for the love that they so fully show to us. Elder Carlson was a four-star general in the Air Force and was a really awesome guy! He is even a convert to the church. He was pretty funny and spoke to us about many things, but one thing that he spoke about was D&C 88:36-39:

 36 All kingdoms have a law given;

 37 And there are many kingdoms; for there is no space in the which there is no kingdom; and there is no kingdom in which there is no space, either a greater or a lesser kingdom.

 38 And unto every kingdom is given a law; and unto every law there are certain bounds also and conditions.

 39 All beings who abide not in those conditions are not justified.

He spoke about how only by obedience can we become justified in our current state and rise to the next kingdom (which I like to think of as a state of being). Only by obedience to the Lord can we rise from the current fallen, carnal state, to a telestial state to a terrestial state to a celestial state, etc. It does make sense, as I have progressed in my spiritual development and become "justified" in my current state and risen to the next kingdom I have felt how the weaknesses or worries of my previous state no long effect me. Just an interesting thought. 

President Batt spoke about "leaving and believing" with our current investigators who aren't progressing. If they aren't keeping their commitments to read, to pray, to attend church, etc., then they aren't progressing and they aren't ready at this moment in time. Even, he said, when we do stop teaching those investigators they will often realize the spirit missing from their life as  we aren't visiting them as often anymore and they will then sometimes chose to keep their commitments. We then had a lesson with Brother Joseph on Saturday about us not teaching him anymore since he hasn't attended church and he came yesterday! I hope it went well for him. We'll hopefully see him tonight. 

Things are pretty awesome in Steamboat. I like this place a lot. It's so relaxing. I feel like it's the small chill beach town of the reservation where everyone is funny and everyone knows each other.

With Much Love,

Elder Schaelling

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.

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

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!