October 1

I asked him the following questions in my letter and he was very kind to answer them:

1) Will you watch General Conference at the church or members' homes?

2) Do you do your laundry at a laundromat?

3) Are there any trees in Shiprock to see the leaves change to fall colors?

4) Where do all of the visitors stay that come for the Shiprock Fair?

5) Where do all of the visitors come from that come for the Shiprock Fair?

6) Is the Shiprock Fair celebrating anything in particular or is it like a county fair or just a regular general celebration?

Mom,

Good to hear you made it home safely! Sounds like you had a fantastic time on the cruise, I'm jealous of you guys! However, I know one day it will be my turn to go on adventures while the kids are at home.

The Monticello temple was great, but it was REALLY small! The church next door is bigger than it, haha.

1) We will watch general conference at the church. It seems like Saturday we are going to be holed up in the church literally all day. We will get there at about 7 AM and then probably leave after we are done cleaning up after priesthood session at 8:30 or 9. We can't really leave between sessions because the town will be jam packed for the parade and the Shiprock Fair. Like I said before, there will be over 100,000 people in this small town of probably 7000 or 8000.

2) We have laundry machines at our trailer.

3) There are some trees along the north side of the river mostly. There are more trees in Kirtland too. I haven't seen too many color changes yet!

4) No idea, I suppose I'll find out! Probably stay with family or sleep in their car or outside. There isn't a motel or anything in Shiprock or even in Kirtland I don't think. Maybe some of them stay in Farmington and drive over.

5) All over the Navajo Nation mostly I think. I don't think too many biliigaanas (white people) come in for the fair, but I'm not sure yet. I'll find out this weekend!

6) The Shiprock Fair is just a fair pretty much, but it is in conjunction with a 9 day long traditional ceremony that marks the changing of the seasons. We aren't allowed to go to any traditional ceremonies, so I won't be seeing any of that.

Yes, we had our primary program probably four weeks ago or so! It was fantastic, our primary is actually surprisingly strong and large! It was an awesome program. The kids also sang I Am a Child of God in Navajo!

I've been reading the Ensign more recently, it is such a fantastic magazine! I really loved Elder Holland's article in the September Ensign as well along with the article on grace. I'll have to take another look at the article on hope, I kind of grazed over that one!

I am very very excited for my first conference as a missionary. Good to hear you guys are keeping up at member missionary work! It makes all the difference in the world.

Once I send home my SD card you guys should be able to see some interesting stuff! We found an abandoned hooghan (Navajo house) out in the middle of nowhere on the south east side of town. I can't wait to take you all on a mission tour once I get home.

Good luck with life and tell Aimee good job on school! I love you all a lot and hope you all have a good conference!

Love,
Elder Schaelling