August 25

My questions for Matt:
1) Which Branch did you attend today?
2) Do the two Branches meet at the same time?  My reason for asking is that I'm wondering if you ever attend both Branches on one Sunday?
3) Does the Priesthood leadership of both Branches come from Blanding?
4) What about the leadership of the Relief Society, Primary and Young Women organizations?  Are those organizations present in these Branches?
5) What is the general make-up of the 10 average attendance in these Branches (mostly adults or one or two families)?
6) Does Blanding have a grocery store?  Your comment about Morgan having one made me wonder?
7) Does your new trailer have a full kitchen with all the typical appliances like a working oven?
8) Have you been able to meet with the Johnson family again yet?

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Good afternoon!

I can't believe people are starting school! I really just can't keep track of time as a missionary. This morning I was wondering when Easter was coming up and then I realized it already passed, haha. I hope the new school year goes great for Aimee!

1) I attended Bluff yesterday and it went great!

2) Yes, they both run from 10 to noon, so I don't get to attend both at the same time. Instead, me and Elder Waldo trade off which branch we go to each week so I went to Bluff while he went to Todahaidekani.

3) It's the same branch presidency which covers both branches. The main branch is Bluff and Toda is a dependent branch to Bluff, or we refer to it as a ministry. I'm not sure if that's the official name within the church for dependent branches or if that's just what we call it. The second counselor, who is Navajo, attends Toda each week and the first counselor attends Bluff each week and President McPhearson just goes back and forth wherever he is needed. And yes, everyone comes from Blanding. The only "local" leadership is Brother Healey who is the new High Priest Group Leader, but he is a senior missionary from Mt. Pleasant, UT. 

4) The Relief Society and Primary are done by wives of the branch presidency and there are no young women or men. We do have a scouting program that is going with a few young men who we hope we can get involved in the church!

5) Mostly adults and a few people bring their kids or grandkids.

6) Yes, thankfully Blanding does have a grocery store. Blanding is probably similar in size to Morgan, but I couldn't say so for sure. 

7) It sure does! We have a microwave, stove range, oven, the whole works! A spacious refrigerator and freezer also.

8) Not yet, last time we caught them he wasn't feeling too good but we have another appointment scheduled for Thursday! 

Great news with the people you've taken to the Ogden Temple Open House! Keep up the great work! It's so fun for me to hear about you hastening the work of salvation back at home! 

Things are going great here in Bluff. This transfer is a 5 week transfer and next transfer is a 7 week transfer, so we'll find out this Saturday if Elder Waldo is leaving or staying. He'll be going home at the end of next transfer.

This week we had the awesome opportunity to teach a man named Joaquin who was miraculously prepared to receive the gospel. He makes jewelry and sells it to the Bluff Fort and so Sister Rowley, one of the directors, was talking to him and we taught him and he has a very strong desire to be baptized and has decided over his life that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the church he wants to be baptized in and be a member of because he said that he goes to many other churches and his traditional ways of Navajo and Pueblo and they always confuse him, but as he has attended the LDS church he hasn't been confused. However, he is in a different branch's area so we sent him off as a referral to the elders over there! 

Love,
Elder Schaelling

August 18

Mom,

TAMMY WROTE TO MATT:

Nate has been offered a job transfer to Hill AFB and it begins Monday, September 29!!!  We are all so excited!!!  As you know, they went to Tinker with a two  year commitment and a hope that a job would open up at Hill for them to return.  Nate talked to a lady with the A-10 program at Hill AFB when they were here in December and possibly again in March when they came for Sarah's wedding.  She was impressed with Nate and said that she hoped something would come up for him there.  Nate also liked what he saw there and was hopeful for that in the future.  Someone is leaving the A-10 program at Hill so this lady talked to Nate's supervisor at Tinker and the people at Randolph AFB that are in charge of the program that his job is a part of to see if Nate could transfer his obligation to this new position at Hill.  Everyone has okayed the transfer and they're just waiting for the official orders to be printed.  His last day at Tinker is Friday, September 19 and his first day at Hill will be Monday, September 29.  He'll be off the week in between to make the move.  They will live with us for awhile while they decide where they want to live.  We are all very excited!  We've had 3 of our kids out of state and soon we'll only have one out of state and the Norris family is hoping to move back sometime!  You never know what tomorrow may bring!

MATT'S RESPONSE:

Wow! Lots of changes! I can't believe the Phillipps are moving back to Utah. I remember they said they might be interested in looking at Morgan area because they like it where it's a little more quiet and rural. After being in the areas I've been to now, I think Morgan would be considered the "big city." After all, they have a grocery store and restaurants and who knows what else! I can definitely appreciate the small towns a lot better and now that I've been in Bluff, which is 6+ hours away from any big city, like SLC, Albuquerque, Phoenix, or Denver, I realize that Morgan and Logan actually aren't that far away from civilization. Let me know how the move goes! Selfishly, I hope the Norris family doesn't move back before I get home! I want to go to the Bay Area for a weekend and I sure don't want to have to pay for a hotel. Haha.

A WEEK AGO MONDAY AIMEE AND I WERE IN THE DESERET BOOK STORE IN CITY CREEK AND RAN INTO SISTER IRVING FROM SHIPROCK, NM.  SHE'S MATT'S "NAVAJO MOM" THAT I MENTIONED IN LAST WEEK'S E-MAILS AND WAS SEALED TO HER HUSBAND IN THE SALT LAKE TEMPLE ON SATURDAY 8/9.  SISTER IRVING TOLD ME THAT ELDER JOHNSON, MATT'S COMPANION IN SHIPROCK, WAS HOME NOW AS WELL AS THE SENIOR MISSIONARY COUPLE MATT WORKED WITH AND LOVED THERE.  I SENT MATT A PHOTO OF US THAT WAS TAKEN IN DESERET BOOK.

That's so awesome that you were able to see Sister Irving! Yes, the Watts are home now. I can't wait to be able to reunite with Elder Johnson and Elder and Sister Watts when I get home -- the Shiprock missionary crew. 

TAMMY WROTE TO MATT:

It sounds like being a Zone Leader can really change your week.  Do you think you'll be gone 3-4 days in a row very often?  Do you just take a sleeping bag and sleep in other companionship's trailers or place?  Good luck with all those changes. 

MATT'S RESPONSE:

Luckily I don't think that happens too often, maybe just once a transfer. It's mostly just lots of meetings, zone meetings, district leader meetings, stake presidency meetings, mission leader conference with President Batt, etc. I just took a pillow and blanket, so it all works out just fine! 

TAMMY WROTE TO MATT:

Kaleb spoke in our ward today with a high councilman, Nordell Peterson.  He did a great job again and I was able to talk to him for a bit afterward. He spoke on patience in missionary work and referenced Chapter 6 in Preach My Gospel a fair amount.  He spoke of the difficulty people have of legally marrying in Madagascar because it costs a lot and the government requires them to travel (sometimes great distances) to get their government documentation.  He spoke of a couple who has 4-5 kids who had been walking 4 hours to and from church for 7 years without being able to be baptized because they hadn't been able to be married.  Their goal of marriage and baptism happened shortly before Kaleb returned home.

MATT'S RESPONSE:

Good to hear from him! It's so weird that Kaleb and Tanner are both home, and that they'll have been home for a year by the time I get back! There are some crazy circumstances in the world and with faith, patience, and diligence you can get through just about any of them I think! 

TAMMY WROTE TO MATT:

Our Ogden Temple Tour with our new neighbors was wonderful.  Everyone seemed to enjoy it a lot.  We invited them to the Cultural Celebration the night before the dedication and the Mom was very interested!  I am continuing to study and pray for guidance and am really enjoying Chapter 9 in Preach My Gospel. Grandma's neighbors are going to the Open House with us this Thursday for sure!  Thanks for your inspiration, encouragement, example and guidance!

MATT'S RESPONSE:

That's fantastic the temple tour went well! Keep it up, you guys are doing an awesome job! It's so good to know that my family is striving their best to be involved in the missionary efforts back at home. 

Bluff is going great, we had an awesome week this week. We were able to teach a less active family for the first time, the Johnsons, and the lesson went awesome. Elder Waldo has really taught me a lot about how to teach effectively. I already understood the lessons pretty well and could teach the doctrine within them, but I am learning a lot more about how to apply the doctrine to someone's life and to help them have those "ah ha!" moments where the Spirit helps them recognize what they need to be doing, or how the Gospel will help them, and whatnot. I've realized this is an essential skill in teaching effectively because it doesn't matter how much we know things, it matters how much we can help others learn them for themselves! Also, we went to the temple this morning in Monticello! I'm not sure if I told you that we were going on a temple trip today but it was awesome and I loved it. I learned so many things, the temple truly is the most beautiful place on earth and it is the House of the Lord. 

I love you!

Elder Schaelling

August 11

Mom,

I heard that the Irvings were going to the temple and it made me so happy! It sure is great news! I love them so much. They are going to be some of the first people I visit after my mission. I got really lucky last week when I was in Farmington for MLC because I saw six people from Shiprock there! It was so awesome!

Yes, the Bluff Post Office just a block away from our trailer, so we can check it pretty easily. We still don't really check it everyday, just every few or every other day.

I'm not sure who eats at the restaurant, I'm sure the tourists are a good portion of the customer base. I think a lot of people from nearby areas like Blanding and maybe even Monticello come down to Bluff if they want to go to a nice restaurant because most of the establishments in those towns are a little more casual. There are seriously tons of Europeans here though, we were talking to a really nice guy from Holland for about 20-30 minutes this morning.

Being a zone leader is different, last week we weren't even in our area from Monday morning until Thursday afternoon so we only got a half week for proselyting and we had a meeting with the stake presidency yesterday from Blanding.

Oh my goodness! The new family in the neighborhood sounds amazing! Definitely keep it up, I am sure the Lord has been preparing them and as they see you and the family living the gospel to its fulness I'm sure they will be able to see the beautiful fruits of the gospel. Stay close to the Spirit and as you study from the Book of Mormon daily you will be guided to know what to do! How's your Preach My Gospel study been going? What about everyone else in the family, is anyone else studying PMG? Like I mentioned before, studying the doctrines of the lessons and it also explains the most important parts of being a missionary in chapter 1 and if you study chapter 9 I'm sure it will help anyone who studies it understand the principle of inviting individuals to learn more about the gospel. Actually, chapter 9 might be the most important for a member of the church to study since you can leave it to the missionaries to teach the lessons, but it would be awesome to study it all. Let me know how things are going for you all with them!

Sounds like lots of exciting things are happening for you in good ol' Layton! Keep sharing the gospel with everyone you have the opportunity to! Especially with the temple open house opportunity, take big advantage of that with everyone you can since we have no idea when the next local one will be available!

I'm so glad to hear that you are being a great member missionary, mom! I sure hope the rest of the family is "catching the wave!" If dad, Natalie, Jackie, Aimee, and the rest of the family aren't... then whip them into shape! 

Love,
Elder Schaelling

August 4

I was full of questions:

1) So where's (Elder) Waldo? Sorry I'm sure it gets really old for him, but I couldn't resist! 
2) Seriously, where is Elder Waldo from?
3) Where is Elder Varela from?
4) Do you live in a trailer in the church parking lot in Bluff?
5) How is it being in a threesome? You are surely having a multi-cultural experience working with Tongans, Mexicans, Native Americans, the occasional Caucasian and whatever other of God's Children have crossed your path!
6) What is the cultural make-up of Bluff?
7) What are your first impressions of Bluff?
8) How was your first Sunday in your new ward (or branch)?
9) What took Edna to Steamboat if she grew up in West Valley City?
10) Is Elder Aguilera still in Steamboat?
11) Did you stop in at the Mission Office or Mission Home on your way to Bluff?

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Mom,



I am glad to be in Utah! Bluff sure is a lot different than any other part of Utah I've spent time in, but it is a super awesome little town. That's awesome that Dad met a guy from Monument Valley! That's where the camper trailer from Steamboat was moved to. I actually just ate at the Twin Rocks Cafe Saturday night, it's a pretty awesome restaurant! There's a really nice (and really expensive) steakhouse here in Bluff, too, but I doubt Elder Waldo and I will ever go there because there's no sense in using a quarter of our budget on a dinner haha. 



So far being a zone leader has been interesting. I feel super unprepared because I was only a district leader for that one transfer and I really have no idea what I'm doing, but with enough faith and hard work I'll be able to continue to find guidance from the Lord! 



I'll sure miss Steamboat but being in Bluff has been great so far. All of the work we've done over this past week was on the reservation, so I still haven't taught a white person on my mission yet but I'll probably teach one this week or next week or something. 



1) Haha, good one mom. You'd be right to say that you're not the first to say that to him... or the second. 

2) He's from Glendale, Arizona.

3) Elder Varela is from Moreno Valley, California. However, he actually just got emergency transferred to Kirtland so it's just me and Elder Waldo now. Elder Varela was an awesome companion for the week we were together, though. 

4) Yes, we do. It's a really nice trailer! It's a brand new one that the church just put in last year I think. They used to have a camper here, but now it's the trailer. I almost wish it was a camper instead, though. Haha.

5) It was great, but it definitely was different! We could visit single ladies since there were three of us (if it's just two of us, there needs to be an adult male for us to go into a house), but the teaching dynamic is a lot different. I have already learned a lot from Elder Waldo and Elder Varela though!

6) Bluff itself is mostly white, but there are a decent amount of Navajos who live there though. But our proselyting area also covers down to the state line so we cover a good chunk of the reservation, and that's where most of the work comes from. We actually cover two branches, Bluff Branch and a dependent branch in an area called Toda'a'kan (not positive on the spelling) on the reservation and they are both very small, with less than 10 local members attending. The church is not very strong in Bluff, it's almost comparable to a Park City or something (a LOT smaller) with the liberal and environmentalist attitude of the locals and all of the Priesthood leadership comes from Blanding, where the church is very strong. There is a historical site called the Bluff Fort from the Hole-in-the-Rock pioneers where there are 10 senior service couples who help out with the branch, but don't do much proselyting other than supporting us and going to the occasional lesson with us. But they feed us a lot and all the senior couples are super nice and awesome. Most of them are from various places in Utah. 

7) Bluff is a really awesome small town that I probably wouldn't mind living in if I ever have the desire to live in a small town like it. Everything is Mom & Pop, not any chains or anything! Not even the gas station. It's a really pretty little place! 

8) I went to the Toda'a'kan meeting which was held in a little preschool building, it was awesome! They only have a two hour block here, and to be honest, it was pretty nice haha. I finished church and I wasn't even tired at all! 

9) Both of Edna's parents are from the reservation, one by Window Rock and one in Steamboat, so she moved back after high school because of various reasons. She has only lived in Steamboat for about 8 months, she was living over by Window Rock beforehand managing a gas station but she ended up needing to move.

10) He sure is! He's with one of the elders from my MTC district, Elder Acaylar (he's Filipino), and I'm sure they are going to have an awesome time. Elder Acaylar is hilarious.

11) I did, and I am back in Farmington right now for a meeting called MLC, Mission Leadership Council, where all the zone leaders and sister training leaders meet together with President and Sister Batt and the assistants to talk about stuff. 



I love you all and I am glad you had such a great time visiting Oklahoma! I am excited to be able to check out all the other Indian Reservations throughout the rest of my life traveling and seeing the different tribes. It is a pretty awesome place to check out! I'll be excited to take you all on a tour of the Navajo Nation and we can even stay in one of these nice hotels in Bluff! 



Love,

Elder Schaelling

July 28

Matt's heading to Bluff, Utah!  His new address is:

PO Box 116 

Bluff, UT 84512

These are the questions I asked him:

1)  How are Edna and her kids doing?
2)  How old are her children that got baptized at the same time she did?
3)  How old is Sister Joseph's granddaughter that got baptized?
4)  Are things still going well for Arlanya?
5)  How is the trailer in Ganado?
6)  Who are the other Elders that live there and where are they from? 

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Mom,

I am doing great! I am being transferred, so I'll be moving out of Steamboat tomorrow. President Batt called me on Friday night to be a zone leader, so I'm pretty nervous I guess haha. I have only been a district leader for a transfer and only had three district meetings so I'll see how it works out! Elder Waldo is my new companion and he'll be training me on how to be a zone leader, he's a really cool guy. We have three people in our companionship, we're also with Elder Varela and I came out with him, he's a good guy. Should be a great time! So far I'm on track for two Tongans and two Mexicans for my companions! I'll be serving in Bluff, Utah.

1) Edna and her kids are doing great. It's been so awesome to be able to work with them. Edna says that she's planning on moving to SLC with her kids so that she can get a job up there, because she grew up in West Valley and graduated from high school there and whatnot. So you'll probably be able to meet her up there! I'm going to go to Lagoon with her kids when they move up there, haha. 

2) Her son is 12-years-old and her daughter is 10-years-old. 

3) She is 8-years-old. 

4) Things are going great for Arlanya! However, she got a job over at Grand Canyon and so she'll be moving there on the 18th. I'm guessing we'll have her wait to be baptized over there so she can be baptized in the ward where she'll go to church at most often. 

5) The trailer is going great! I live with Elder Holomon who is from Magnolia, Texas and Elder Sorensen from Dallas, Texas. So I'm living with three Texans, and they make fun of Utah all the time. But they are all great guys.

I'm out of time, I'll email more later if I have more time. I love you all!

Love,
Elder Schaelling 

July 21

Important questions for Matt:

1)  Did Edna get baptized and confirmed?  How did it go?  We have been praying everyday for her.

2)  Were any of her children able to be baptized on the same day?

3)  How is Arlanya doing?  That is very exciting that she moved back to Steamboat, but I hope her employment situation is okay.

4)  How are the two new families you mentioned in last week's e-mail doing?

5)  How did your move to Ganado go? 

6)  What do you live in in Ganado, a bigger trailer? 

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Mom,

I've got answers for you!

1) Edna sure did get baptized and confirmed this week! It was awesome! Also, we had the baptism of a girl named Alana who is Sister Joseph's granddaughter and she asked me to baptize her, so I got in the water Friday night and Saturday night! 

2) Yes, her son Romondo and daughter Raven were both baptized with her. I forgot to bring my camera and we're emailing in Gallup today because we came in for some truck stuff so I'll try to remember to email those to you next week!

3) Arlanya is doing great. She is reading the Book of Mormon a lot (which is a pretty big deal, it can be pretty hard to get people to read) and coming to church and everything! Her date is scheduled for August 23rd. 

4) We haven't been able to meet with the first new family yet, but the second new family still might have some potential! Edna is good friends with them so hopefully she'll be able to be a good influence on them and encourage them to live the faith. 

5) The move went fine, but it took up a good amount of time last week. It took up our entire p-day and we've been continually rearranging this whole week because the Ganado trailer wasn't really equipped for us to come over quite yet. I'm just about all settled in now, so I guess we'll see if I'll be packing up this weekend to go to a new area!

6) Yes, we live in a very nice church-owned trailer in Ganado. It's quite a change. The shower is HUGE but I do miss the camper. 

What's in Branson? I've never even heard of that place. You'll have to let me know how it all goes! Tell the Phillipps "hi" for me.

That's awesome that you got to hear from Tanner yesterday! I had that letter written for him for like a month or two I just didn't know how much international postage was and kept forgetting to check when I would go to the post office once a week. That's cool that you were able to see Bryan. I don't believe he left on a mission at all. Yeah, Brian Allen is serving in Montana right now! I think his mission is kind of like mine, there are some reservations in it and stuff. I think the New Mexico Farmington has the most reservation, and then the South Dakota Rapid City mission has a lot of reservation too and then Montana Billings. A lot of people from the reservation get their mission calls to those missions so they can serve among other Native Americans.

He did get a lot of changes! I've heard of that rule against knocking doors in other missions but we still do it here. That's how we find a lot of our investigators in Steamboat.

Wow! Gentry, engaged? At least he's been home for over a year. I think it's pretty cool how we have neighboring missions. Tell him congrats for me!

I love you all back at home, I hope everything goes well for you guys! Thanks for all the support that you continually give me.

Love,
Elder Schaelling

July 14

Here are the questions that I asked Matt:

1)  How is the weather there now that it's the middle of summer?

2)  Do you have any sort of air conditioning in your trailer?

3)  What did you do on Independence Day?

4)  Do you have much interaction with the Senior Missionary couple?

5)  What new responsibilities do you have now that you're District Leader?

6)  Did you get your "half-way" package?  (It was a package full of halves:  a box of 6 halves of his favorite chocolate Dunford Donuts, half a package of gum, half a candy bar, half a bag of his favorite spicy chips, half a box of cereal, half a sheet of stamps etc.  I'm glad he liked it!)

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Mom,

Edna's baptism is still on schedule for this Friday, so everything should go well! Arlanya moved back! So we are probably going to put her on date for next month and then we also met a new family who just moved back here from Holbrook. He's originally from here and he moved back to take care of his grandma because there was no one else here to take care of her. He is less active, but his significant other is not a member and they have two kids. We also have another family that came to church yesterday. She is less active and her significant other had never been to a church before yesterday, but they both liked it! So there's always good things happening in Steamboat.

1) The weather has actually been pretty nice this week! It got a little hot over the past month or two, but nothing unbearable. Just up in the 90s, I think. I don't have an iPhone or anything that tells me the weather so I don't really know what the temperature has been. I doubt it is any hotter than it usually is in Utah. It doesn't seem as hot as it was in Shiprock last year either!

2) Luckily, we do. However, we are moving to Ganado tomorrow. President Batt told us that he is going to open up a new area in Monument Valley and so he took our camper to put it up there so we are living with the Ganado elders now! I'm sad to lose my camper, it's been a really fun experience to live in one. Maybe I'll just live in one during college up in the mountain and just make a zipline that goes down to campus. Anyways, we are going to have a 20 mile drive to and from Steamboat everyday kind of like I did when I lived in Kirtland in Shiprock.

3) Not too much, just ate a jalapeno hot dog and we did regular proselyting work! It rained from about 5 o'clock for the rest of the evening so the Ganado Fire Department delayed their usual fireworks show until the 5th. 

4) Yeah, we see them quite a bit. We don't work as closely with them as I did with the Pattersons, because they stay pretty busy with their own agenda here. They're really nice people though.

5) I am responsible for district meeting every Thursday, for reporting our weekly numbers to the zone leaders for my district, and to conduct companionship exchanges with every elder in my district every transfer. Nothing too big! This past week I went to Fort Defiance with Elder Larsen and I actually saved a dog's life! One dog had another smaller dog's neck wrapped up in his chain and then the bigger was chasing after cars and the little dog was turning blue so I jumped out of the car and just like a real rez hero jumped out of the car and saved that dog's life! Haha.

6) I sure did! Haha, I didn't read the note until the day after I opened it up and I was really confused because I was wondering if you just grabbed random stuff out of the pantry and threw it in a box and sent it to me. Then I read the note and I thought it was really funny and clever!

I'm so glad that Jackie and Trevor and the two little ones got to come out to Utah and visit with you guys! I hope they have safe travels back home as well. I never tried out the North Temple Frontrunner/TRAX stop, but it seemed like it would be pretty nice! I never got to ride the TRAX out west toward the airport, either. And no, I never did try Subzero. Where in Layton is it located?

I love you all and pray for you often! Thank you so much for keeping me, Steamboat, and the many wonderful people that are here in your thoughts and prayers. 

With Love and Regards,
Elder Schaelling