September 2

The questions I asked Matt:
1)  How are things in Bluff?
2)  How did the transfer affect you and Elder Waldo?
3)  Why was this transfer after just 5 weeks and the next one at 7 weeks instead of the usual 6 weeks?
4)  Is there a grocery store in Bluff?
5)  How long is the drive from Bluff to Blanding?
6)  How is your learning of the Navajo language coming?
7)  Do many people on the reservation near Bluff speak Navajo?
8)  What is your area?  One time you said it went south to the state border.  How far does it go in the other directions?

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

Mom,

Great! I didn't get time to email yesterday because it was labor day and the libraries were closed, so I'm keeping this one short.

1) Bluff is amazing, things are really coming together here and I think I'm going to grow a ton as a missionary over the next few months.

2) It sure did! Elder Waldo went back to his first area which was Bloomfield Spanish Branch and I'm with... *drum roll please* ... ELDER VICZNESKY! AGAIN! Hahaha I just picked him up this morning and things are awesome, we get along really well and things are going to be super cool together again.

3) I don't know for sure. I think President Batt has a meeting next week when transfers would usually be so he moved it up a week because he doesn't want to be gone from the mission for a meeting while transfers are going on.

4) Nope, no grocery store just a gas station and two restaurants. 

5) Blanding has a store and it is about 30 minutes away.

6) Navajo is coming pretty well! I'm still growing. Unfortunately, I'm not doing Navajo Rosetta Stone ever since I've been in Bluff. There isn't enough time really as a zone leader to spend doing language study so maybe I'll be able to do it again in the future. 

7) Yeah, it's pretty rural so they all speak Navajo still, except for the young generation that is younger than 20 years old. 

8) Our area does go down to the stateline and I don't really know how to explain how far east and west it goes. Probably like a 30 mile width, 15 miles each direction off of Highway 191. We cover area northwest of Bluff too, but no one lives out there so we don't go out there at all.

Bluff is doing awesome. Tonight we have a meeting with a less active newly wed couple who are super cool and super nice so it'll be awesome. I don't really know what I've told you about stuff. Our branch president is super cool, his name is Robert McPhearson and he's a professor of native american history at the Blanding extension of USU and he's written books on Navajo stuff and on Ute stuff and I don't know what else, but he's a really funny and nice guy and the branch leadership is so cool.

I love you all so much! That's the biggest blessing that comes from sharing the gospel, is the joy and the strengthened testimony that comes from it. I love you and pray that opportunities to share the gospel will continue to unfold before you as you pray and seek for them!

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

April 21

Kaitlyn Hall's fantastic quote that Matt referenced (she was one of our Youth Speakers in Sacrament Meeting yesterday), "The Savior's arms are always outstretched to us, but if you want to be lifted up you need to hold on."

My questions:

1) Do you get many dinner invites in Steamboat?

2) Did you have any Easter Sunday plans besides church?

3) Can you look at the Mormon Channel website or are limited to lds.org?

4) We love your e-mails no matter what day they come, but curious as to why you've written on Tuesday the past couple of weeks?

5) How are Iris and Esther doing?  How old is their mother if they are in their 70's?  Hopefully they're still on target for their baptism.

6) What is the percentage of Navajo people that are LDS?

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

Mom,

I sure did get the Easter tie from you guys and I did wear it yesterday! Thank you very much for sending it to me. I love the Bible Videos, I think they are done very, very well. It is so nice to watch them and see and hear how these things may have happened, because I think they have been a lot more accurate in their portrayal of biblical events in these videos than they have in any other video with scenes from the bible, whether it be produced by the Church or someone else. That is a fantastic quote from Kaitlyn! That is crazy that she is a senior, but I suppose it is also kind of crazy that it's been almost 3 years since I graduated high school.

I sure wish I could have been at Hires Big H this past week with you guys! That's too bad with Aimee and the elections! Growing up can be full of disappointments, but it's how you handle them that counts. I sure hope that she can find something fun to be involved with next year! 

Yes, we still wear suits to church and all other meetings. The weather hasn't been quite as nice all this week as it has been in some past weeks, but it is still pretty nice. Funny story, we usually use our heater at night because it still can get down to the 40s or so at night and we use it to warm up our camper in the mornings but our carbon monoxide alarm went off on Saturday morning so Elder Olsen (a senior elder who is in charge of all the RVs in the mission, there are only 7 of them and rumor has it that ours is the smallest haha) came by to check the carbon monoxide and took out the furnace to have it checked out in Gallup and turned off the propane to keep us safe. So... now we don't have any heat or hot water or stove and we've been sleeping in sleeping bags the past two nights and will continue until we get it all figured out. It's been fun, Elder Aguilera said he had never slept in a sleeping bag before or even been camping because he grew up in Chicago and Houston. There's my fun mission story of the week!

1) Not very many set dinner appointments as would be the usual in some other areas, but people feed us dinner here and there when we come for appointments or if we're just stopping by and they have cooked they'll usually offer something to us. There are a lot of very hospitable people here, because that is the traditional Navajo way.

2) Nope, not really. Today we're spending the whole day in Window Rock and even proselyting in Window Rock and then going to zone conference tomorrow in Gallup. This weekend we have Stake Conference, so there's some exciting stuff happening this week! 

3) I think we can go to Mormon Channel. But most everything on Mormon Channel is probably also in the Media Library (https://www.lds.org/media-library/video?lang=eng). We don't really have much computer time, though.

4) Because being in Steamboat we don't always have a reliable place to use the computer so we've had to work with what we could find. Last Monday the chapter house's computer lab was closed so we came back during lunch on Tuesday and emailed. Right now I'm emailing from Window Rock's employment resource center. 

5) They are hard to catch, they are always running around and are never home it seems like so hopefully we can get in with them this week! However, they did come to church yesterday which was great! Their mother is in her 90s (I think 95), but she is still doing amazingly for her 90s! A lot of the elderly Navajo people must have found the fountain of youth, because they herd sheep into their 80s and are still up and moving.

6) As far as on the reservation or tribal membership? I guess it doesn't really matter because I don't think I could answer either question. You could probably find the answer online somewhere. The biggest religions on the reservation is first LDS I believe and then second Native American Church (all night tepee meetings [just to clarify, tepees aren't Navajo, they are from the Plains Indians but Natives across the continent have NAC]). Even though the membership is high, the activity rate is very low down here.

I love you all! Tell them all "hello" back for me! 

With Love and Regards,
Elder Schaelling

April 15

Questions:

 1) What is the weather like there now?
 2) How are Elder & Sister Harris doing?
 3) Did you get a package from me today?  I mailed three last week.  One on
 Wednesday (copies of the Illustrated Book of Mormon), one on Thursday (an Easter package for you) and one on Friday (an Easter package for you and Elder Aguilera).
 4) Are you still doing your exercise program that you began with your previous companion?

---------

Mom,



Iris and Esther's mother has been sick the past week and so we havne't
been able to see them and they weren't able to make it to church so
we'll have to reschedule the baptism, so I hope that we will be able
to still help them progress. However, we were able to set up another
baptismal date with an investigator named Bill for June 7th! His is so
far away because he and his significant other need to get married
before he can be baptized and there is some paperwork that might take
a month or two, but he is such a cool guy. Both him and Flora know
alot about public policy so I always have a good time talking to them
abuot that kind of stuff.

That's awesome about the NAPI flour you bought! Haha, there were a lot
of people in Shiprock who worked at NAPI because it is only about
30-45 minutes away from there. They have been selling the Navajo Star
Wars at the Walmart in Gallup, I might have to buy one so that I can
watch it after my mission!


1) The weather has been pretty good the past few weeks with the
exception of yesterday and Sunday, it was kind of cold and it rained a
little on Sunday. We are out of suit season now so I am wearing short
sleeves again and it feels so very nice.
2) I think they are doing pretty well. We don't see or talk to them
nearly as much as we did the Pattersons. They seem to be keeping
pretty busy helping people with their gardens.
3) I have all three of your packages as of now, thank you very much!
The Book of Mormon Stories books are so awesome and we've been able to
go over them with a bunch of people so far. We should have enough
copies for a while though.
4) When I got with Elder Aguilera I was sick the first week with him
so I would sleep in until 6:30 (we usually would wake up at 5:30 or
5:45 when we were exercising) and then we got lazy and didn't do it
anymore. But, we just started again this week and we did it yesterday
morning and this morning.

I love you all! Thank you so much for everything, it's always awesome
to hear from you all. Have an awesome week!!!

Love,
Elder Schaelling

March 24

My questions:
1) Did transfers affect you and/or Elder Aguilera?  Be sure to give me your new address if you are being transferred.
2) Were you able to mail your taxes?
3) Did your thin mint cookies make it to you?
4) Would you like any food items mailed to you?
5) Have you learned anything about the Senior Missionary couple that will come after the Pattersons leave?
6) You mentioned that President Yazzie is building a new hogan now.  Is that for him to live in?  I see several regular homes around the church on google maps, but do some people still live in hogans?

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

Mom,

I've been thinking of Meme and other family members a lot because we've been doing some family history work. Why is it that when I go on familysearch.org Grandma's family history isn't on there? Is there any way you guys could fix that for me? I want to make a four-generation pedigree with pictures of everyone but I don't really have any resources down here.

That's awesome that you were able to attend a caucus meeting! I am assuming you read the article in the Ensign back in February (I think) that was about being informed and involved.

Molly hasn't been able to listen to the tapes yet. We took the tape that has most of 3 Nephi on it to her last week but she said she didn't have a tape player so yesterday we took her a tape player from the church for her to borrow. We'll see how it goes! It's pretty hard. She's changed a lot since she decided not to be baptized. Serafin did attend church yesterday, but I think it is kind of different for him still. I payed more attention and tried to see church through his eyes since he can't understand Navajo and realized that probably the only class he can understand at all is Elder's Quorum because Elder Patterson teaches that, but the EQ class is pretty small and is focused all on latter-day prophets so I think it's pretty foreign to him. He can't really understand Sunday School about the Old Testament because President Yazzie taught it the past two weeks and it is mostly in Navajo. Serafin is kind of uncomfortable about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and I realized church is probably weird for him too because that's all he hears about in the parts he can understand.

1) Nope, both of us are staying in Steamboat! 

2) Not yet, I am in St. Michaels today so I plan on mailing those out today. 

3) Yes they did! Thank you so much! I have been enjoying them very much.

4) You can send me some food if you'd like. I can't really think of anything that I'd need too badly. One thing that I could use is Illustrated Stories from the Book of Mormon picture book. 

5) Their last name is Harris and they are from Lehi, Utah I think. That's about it, but they should get here a week from today or tomorrow!

6) Not really. Most people here live in trailers or in small homes, but a lot of them have a hogan right next to their home either for ceremonial purposes or just to have for family gatherings and even storage. Some people do still live in hogans though, but not a ton. Hogans are pretty nice though! They are a lot bigger inside than they would look from the outside.

I love you all and hope that things go well this week with the Phillipps and Norris families! Thank you for your prayers and support!

With love and regards,
Elder Schaelling

March 17

Questions:
1) You mentioned a quarterly interview with President Batt, do you ever see him more than that?
2) Where was your quarterly interview held in Window Rock?
3) How is Elder Aguilera doing?
4) Any idea on how it will work when he get his Visa?  Would they have him leave right away or wait for a transfer day?

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

Mom,

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you too! I don't think I have any green whatsoever, but I have made it alright so far today. I don't think St. Patrick's Day is a big thing in Steamboat, haha. .. I did get the package with the Navajo Book of Mormon tapes just fine, thank you very much! I haven't used them with any investigators yet, but I am planning to use them next time we see Molly. Unfortunately, she has decided that she doesn't want to be baptized for now. It seems like her family and kids are pretty traditional in the Navajo ways of religion so they talked her out of it. I pray that listening to these Book of Mormon tapes will help her receive an answer from God regarding her path forward. 

It truly is a miracle all the things that are able to happen each week in a small area like Steamboat! We found yet another really solid investigator this week. He is Latino (the only Latino in Steamboat aside from Elder Aguilera) and just moved up here with his girlfriend who is Navajo and a branch member and we have taught him twice this past week and he even came to church! It was awesome. I'm not sure how much he understood, because about 75-80% of the sacrament meeting and Sunday School was in Navajo, but I'm glad he came. His name is Serafin. Kyle and Kelly (the family we found last week) and their two boys came to church yesterday and it was awesome! It seemed like President Yazzie's talk in sacrament might have really touched Kelly. He spoke about family history and talked a lot about how he grew up on the reservation before it had become more "modernized" like it is now. He spoke about the entire family living inside of the one small hogan and how they would just eat all off of a wooden board of the floor in the middle of the room and everyone would sit together and truly talk, but now people take their phones and go into other rooms and eat their cereal alone and whatnot. The Joseph's are doing well (their daughter is on the mission), we are going to see them tomorrow night. Sister Joseph and her son went to Utah this weekend for something. I think they were visiting her foster family, I'm not sure what part of Utah. Quinton is doing pretty well. Zach isn't coming to church anymore and we haven't taught him for a few weeks now. We haven't really seen Paul and Helen since the first encounter. They've been gone a lot and I don't think they are very interested. Molly's grandson TJ is doing awesome. He's in Shiprock this week visiting his dad for spring break though. 

There weren't any youth at church yesterday so we sat in Sunday School and Elders Quorum for the first time since I've been here. I think I like working with the youth more, it is pretty fun and engaging to work with all of them! We haven't gotten a Boy Scouts leader yet. 

1) When I was in Shiprock I would usually see him about once a month when we would stop at the mission office, but it is just a "hello" in the hallway. We see him once a quarter for interviews, and once a quarter for zone conference where a couple of zones get together to receive instruction from him and Sister Batt and the assistants to the president. 

2) It was originally going to be held at the church building which is technically in St. Michaels, but it is the Window Rock Ward. Ganado's truck wasn't starting so he and Sister Batt ended up just driving out to Ganado and we saw them there because they had to go up to Chinle that afternoon anyways. 

3) Elder Aguilera is doing pretty well. He's a pretty quite guy, but he is adjusting very well. He hasn't really dealt with any homesickness or anything of that sorts from what I see. It seems like sometimes all the decisions we have to make a missionary might stress him out a little, but as far as being in the mindset of being a missionary he is doing really awesome.

4) He will most likely wait until the end of the transfer. Even if he gets his visa in the first or second week of next transfer, they probably wont tell him until the 5th week of the transfer and tell him he'll leave at the end of the transfer. That's how I've usually seen it with other visa waiters. 

I love you all! Thank you for the love and support. I always enjoy hearing from you guys and hope you all have a great week! It's been pretty windy down here the past few days. Hozho'o nan'nah! (Take care of yourself) 

Love,

Elder Schaelling

March 10

Questions I asked:
1)  Have you been able to study the Navajo language more since Elder Aguilera needs to study Portuguese?
2)  You've mentioned that church is in Navajo.  How does that work for and affect you?
3)  Will General Conference be broadcast at your church or will you need to travel to another?
4)  I know that some parts of Arizona does NOT observe daylight savings time.  What about Steamboat?

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

Mom,

It sure is hard to believe how fast time can go by! That's so exciting that Spencer will turn three years old! I can't wait to see how big he is when I get back. He along with Madelyn and Luke sure will have grown! Nate and Trevor have gotten to be pretty big boys now too. They are getting close to middle age territory. 

This week had more great things! We were able to meet a new family here in Steamboat that is super promising. Two Fridays ago they just stopped by the church asking us if they could learn more about the process of getting their two kids baptized and we set up an appointment with them for this past Friday. They are very nice and I can tell they are just a great family. The dad was baptized when he was young by his mom's foster family in Utah and he always went to church when visiting them, but he never went to church while down here. He came to church along with his two boys who are 9 and 10 years old yesterday and their mom couldn't make it because she was feeling sick. I'm very excited to be able to continue meeting with them! 

Thank you so much for mailing the package! We aren't checking mail today, but I'll check tomorrow because we have to go to Window Rock for our quarterly interviews with President Batt. I'm sure it will all be very useful, thank you!!!

A public relations mission sounds like fun! Honestly, a senior mission sounds so awesome. That'll probably be the best thing about retirement. If you guys go on a medical mission you might be sent somewhere crazy! That'd be awesome. I would go visit you two. 

1) Not really. I have spent my extra hour of study reading Jesus the Christ and Conference Talks mostly. I probably should study Navajo, but it is pretty difficult to study it without someone to help you a lot with pronunciation. In some of the bigger towns on the reservation have teachers, like we organized Bishop Clah to teach us in Shiprock and I guess the Window Rock Ward (which has two sets of elders and a set of sisters) has a teacher too. 

2) It mostly just means that I only understand half of what is going on during sacrament meeting, and then we teach sunday school for the youth and also the young men. It doesn't really affect me all that much. We usually bless the sacrament, so I want to get the sacrament prayers down in Navajo before I leave Steamboat. I'll listen to the prayers a lot on the cassette tapes to try to get it down.

3) It should be broadcast here, we have a broadcast box. I can't wait for General Conference! I relistened to all of the past conference and now I'm trying to read other past conferences. It might be in Navajo here though, so if it is we'll either watch it on the Patterson's laptop or go to Ganado or Chinle and watch it in English. 

4) The Navajo Nation observes daylight savings time because it is spread out across New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah but all the boarder towns like Holbrook, Winslow, Flagstaff, and Page don't observe daylight savings time. The Hopi Reservation doesn't observe DST either. It gets pretty confusing in Steamboat because Steamboat itself observes DST because it is part of Navajo land but the people in Jeddito don't really observe it in practice because they are part of the Hopi School District and crazy stuff like that. So if we set up an appointment with someone in Jeddito at 6:30 PM then it is really 7:30 PM for us now with the time change. That's how it is for the Joseph's tonight, because we're going to go see them. Crazy stuff! 

In the mission we are doing a new push with the Book of Mormon so it has been super awesome to be focusing in using it even more during every teaching appointment we have with everyone: investigators, less active members, new members, and active members. I would like to challenge all of you family members back home to the Book of Mormon specifically every day and to reference it in every church assignment (talk, lesson, home/visiting teaching, etc) given to you! (Except maybe for dad when he teaches Gospel Doctrine on the Old Testament, I can let that one slide.) It is so important for all of us to build our testimonies, and, even more, our lives, on that book! I love you all!

With Love and Regards,

Elder Schaelling

February 17

Hello everyone!

It was fun to learn about Matt's new companion.

Just a couple of reminders.  Anyone can e-mail Matt at matthew.schaelling@mylds.mail.net.  A few years ago there was a rule that only immediate family could e-mail missionaries, but anyone can now.  Also, as Matt mentioned a few weeks ago, the U.S. Postal Service won't forward their mail from the mission office in Farmington, NM anymore so we need to mail things directly to him now.  The Post Office assures us that their change-of address system will keep up with the missionaries transfers.  I will do my best to keep you up to date.

His current mailing address while he's in Steamboat, AZ is:

Elder Matthew Paul Schaelling
P.O. Box 681
Ganado, AZ  86505

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

Mom,

Thank you very much! I'm glad that you guys got the photo of us just fine. His name is Elder Aguilera and he is from Houston, Texas but grew up in Chicago, Illinois until he was a senior in high school. He is Mexican and speaks fluent Spanish and his mission call was originally to the Brazil Belo Horinzonte Mission but he couldn't get his visa by the end of his MTC stay so he is here in Steamboat serving until he gets his visa. Visa waiters sometimes stay in the mission anywhere from 6 weeks to 9 or 12 months! He's enjoying Steamboat though, but he said it is a pretty big culture shock for him. It's also interesting because most of his church experience has been in a Spanish ward at home so he didn't even have a set of scriptures in English when I got him, only Spanish and Portuguese! He's an awesome guy and is very spiritual. So far we have been doing pretty well here in Steamboat! We found six new investigators this week which is a lot for such a tiny area. I've had a few really spiritual experiences this week: first, we met a new guy named Pat on Saturday. He is so awesome, and apparently his daughter is a member of the church out near Gallup. I've really been trying to learn how to follow the spirit as I guide the missionary work here in Steamboat, so I have been very seriously praying for revelation from Heavenly Father on what to do each day and one of the names I thought of was this guy with the last name of Begay. I couldn't even remember his first name and I've never met him but I felt like we should go see him, so later that day we drove to where he lives and the dirt road turn off to his house was locked and we almost didn't go, but then I remembered that there was a back road that went to his area about 3/4 of a mile down the highway. So we took that road and on our way we saw a hoghan with the door open and we stopped by and Pat invited us right in! He was so nice and Elder Aguilera and I truly taught with power and by the spirit. We used the Book of Mormon to address his concerns and it was just amazing to see how everything in relation to us finding him and teaching him was guided by the spirit. It is also a miracle because it is so hard to find adult males to teach here in Steamboat, because we can't meet with females or children without an adult male present. He is so cool and we have a return appointment on Tuesday! Our investigator Molly also brought two of her grandsons to church yesterday and they were the only youth there yesterday and we taught them the plan of salvation (one of them had lost his mom a few years before) and it was so awesome just to be teaching two young investigators for Sunday School and then we played hangman and one of the words I did was "baptism" and they both said they wanted to be baptized so we watched the Bible Video of Christ's Baptism and showed them the baptismal font! They are awesome kids. Lastly, this week I have truly gained strength from the scriptures. There have been moments when I am having struggles but it has been amazing how I'll turn to the Book of Mormon during my personal study and happen to find chapters that truly bring healing to my heart. That is one thing I am so grateful for that I am learning on my mission, is to learn how I can truly turn to the Lord to help me with any of my needs and problems! It's so interesting, before my mission if I was feeling down or something I would have watched a movie or gone somewhere on campus or gone out with some friends to eat or something, but now I am truly learning to turn to the Lord in all things that I do. It feels amazing, I must say. One other verse that really hit me was 1 Nephi 15:11. It was quoted and discussed in an article in the Ensign about shunning temptation and receiving revelation. What an awesome verse.

I can't believe I missed our Stake Conference with an apostle! When was the last time that happened for our stake? I can't remember a single time! Yah de lah! (That's a expression of exasperation in Navajo.) Oh well, someday I'll get to hear an apostle speak in person again. I can't wait for General Conference in just a month and a half! 

I love you all! Thank you so much for all the support. It always brightens my day whenever I hear from any of you back home.

With Love and Regards,

Elder Schaelling

February 10

My questions for Matt:
1) How did transfers affect you?
2) How are your investigators doing?
3) How many youth are there in your Branch?
4) What kind of jobs do the people in Steamboat have?
5) How long is the drive to Ganado where the Post Office is?

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Mom,

Sounds like you had quite the experience traveling! I can't imagine being stuck in airports for so long and having to do so much continual rescheduling to go help Jackie. I'm glad all turned out well in the end now and you did make it safely home. That's hilarious that Spencer rode the carousel 14 times in a row with another one for good measure! What an awesome kid. 

I am a little bummed I'm missing the Winter Olympics, I think I'm going to get into winter sports a little more when I get home. I want to get into skiing more. Russia sounds like an awesome place to have the Olympics, I've caught a glimpse of the events here and there as we stop by a handful of people's houses who have the games on. They look cool!

1) Elder Vicznesky is being moved to Fort Defiance and I am picking up a brand new missionary in the morning! President Batt called on Saturday morning to ask if I would be willing to train in Steamboat and I accepted the calling, I sure hope I can manage to keep the new elder and myself busy enough to help him adjust to missionary life here in the small community of Steamboat! We are driving up to Farmington in a couple of hours so we can spend the night up there because I have to pick him up at 7:15. I wont know his name until then when President Batt announces which trainee will go with which trainer/area. I'm excited! It should be a cool experience to be able to be with a brand new missionary.

2) Our investigators are doing pretty well! It is amazing to be in such a small branch/area but to still see how the Lord does prepare individuals to receive the gospel and it truly does build my testimony that the Lord is in all places -- even in little towns like Steamboat! We have a lot of people that are looking pretty promising, we just have to organize having Navajo speakers and male members with us for the lessons. I'll keep you guys updated!

3) There are four young men and three young women that are active or semi active, there are some others in the area that we are hoping to either reactivate or commit to be baptized! The main area that is lacking is the young adult age group, like 18 to 30 year olds. There are only two members that age that are active but unfortunately everyone else is either under 15 years old or over 40 pretty much. 

4) People all over the reservation usually work for the tribe or the schools or the variety of small stores and trading posts. Some areas have power plants or oil fields that people work at, but there's not really any too close to Steamboat. Most everyone is retired or just lives off the land and herds sheep.

5) Ganado is about a 25 minute drive or so.

Happy Valentine's day to you all! I love you all very much.

With Love and Regards,

Elder Schaelling

February 3

My questions:

1) Was Quentin's baptism able to happen yesterday as planned?

2) Do you have any requests or needs that you'd like me to send?

3) Will another Senior Couple come after Elder & Sister Patterson return home?

4) Dad's e-mail said you're doing the Insanity Exercise program which sounds very ambitious.  Do you do that in the church? 

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Mom,

I am so excited to hear that Asher Jacob Norris arrived safely! I liked Peter a lot, because he is such an awesome apostle, but Asher is one of the twelve tribes of Israel and Jacob is Israel's birth name! Pretty awesome biblical background on those if I do say so myself. Tell Jackie and Trevor and Spencer that I love them all very much and hope that it is all going well for them! Tell Jackie I just bought some basmati rice at Walmart today so I will be able to cook up the chicken tikka masala sometime soon. Your food has been helping me a lot too! Just remember, don't send me anything that isn't healthy. I have really be turning around my diet the past few weeks to genuinely healthy things (mostly eliminating any kind of corn syrup or enriched flour and staying toward whole grains and healthy fats). It feels great so far! Nevertheless, hurrah for Asher Jacob Norris!!! So good to hear that he has made it to the world. 

1) Yes, it went forward smoothly and was fantastic! It was delayed from 8 AM to 3 PM because his mom got stuck in Window Rock the night before as they were driving back from Gallup and the road from Window Rock to Steamboat was closed off because of a snow storm! We got more snow, but still isn't a ton. A lot of it just melted the next day, except for the snow in places where the sun can't really hit.

2) Not as of right now, we just went shopping in Gallup today so I am pretty set for now. Be careful with what everyone puts in packages, it seems like the Ganado post office might not be super careful, two of the glass cans in Jackie's package were busted and one of the Gossner's milk was a little busted, but everything has been recoverable so far. Thank you all so much for the love and support! I appreciate it soooooo much. 

3) I sure hope so! We haven't heard anything yet, I just emailed President Batt asking him if there is anything in the works for Steamboat yet. Senior couples sure are helpful for small little branches in areas like this, they really help people understand how church administration is generally run. I sure hope you and dad get the opportunity to serve a senior mission or even missions! 

4) Sure is ambitious, but I can feel it working even if it is miserable at times getting up between 5:30 and 5:45. We do it in the branch building.

By the way, the mission office told us today that they will no longer be able to forward mail from there to our field locations which will cause quite the hassle for us, unfortunately, but I guess USPS changed their policy concerning forwarded mail. So, you guys will have to send any mail to me at PO Box 681 Ganado, Arizona 86505 but don't send me anything between now and next Monday because transfer news is coming on Saturday. I can't imagine that I'll be moved, but you never know! The Lord sends people ever which way he needs them. Once I send confirmation next Monday that I am staying, you guys can resume to send me mail probably until about March 17th, which will be a week before the next transfer day. If mail goes to Farmington, then I will get it whenever my zone or district leader has the occasion to go there for a meeting and will bring mail home to us.

I love you all! Thank you so much for being so aware of me. God bless!

Elder Schaelling 

January 27

These are the questions Matt's answering:

1) What is the expiration of your epi pen, is it time for me to get you a new one?
2) That's cool that you and Elder V played a duet on the guitar for FHE a couple of weeks ago. Whose guitars did you use and how did it go?
3) You mentioned that you like the Toyota Tacoma a lot better than the Colorado truck, why is that?
4) A couple of weeks ago you said that Quentin, Molly and Zack had baptisms coming up. Have any been able to happen yet?
5) Is there a baptismal font in your church?
6) Is the Molly that spoke in such glowing terms about the Gospel helping her life at a funeral reception the same Molly that's scheduled to be baptized?
7) How are things going with the youth? That is great that you two are helping get the youth programs up and running there.
8) How long has Elder V been on his mission and in Steamboat?
9) How long have Elder & Sister Patterson been in Steamboat? How long is their mission? Will they serve the full length of their mission in Steamboat?

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Mom,

That's awesome that Lindsay got her mission call! Serving a mission is really such a great experience and has helped me understand the gospel on such a more deep and personal level. I know she'll have a great time and love serving the Lord! Tell her "God speed!" for me! Thank you so much for all the food, I got your last package today and the Campell's Soup Go pack things look SO AWESOME. Thank you so much!

1) I think it isn't until like April or May or June 2015, so I should be in pretty good shape. I'll double check later and  let you know if I need a new one anytime soon!

2) It was lots of fun! We used Peter Yazzie's guitars, he's the branch president and he is such a cool guy. I'll always remember him whenever I think of Steamboat I'll think of him and how committed he is to the church and testifying of the gospel in all things that he does!

3) The Tacoma drives a lot better than the Colorado, has a better turning radius, has a nicer interior, and has a touch screen for the entertainment and a USB slot for flashdrives so you can listen to music off of them.

4) Quentin will be baptized this Saturday, Zach is shooting for February 8th, and Molly isn't on date anymore. She's missed the past two weeks of church. She said she is sick, but I really hope we can get in this week and that she'll continue to progress within the gospel!

5) Yes, there is a small one in our church which is lucky for us.

6) Yes, it's the same Molly! I'll hopefully have more information on her progress in the gospel next week.

7) Things are going pretty well. There is a lot of work to be done but we think we have found a Scoutmaster! We found out that to be a Scoutmaster  for an LDS sponsored troop you don't have to be a member and we have an awesome investigator who has been coming to church for the past year or more but still  isn't baptized because of a marriage issue who we are hoping to get him to work with the scouts!

8) Elder V hits 11 months today and has been in Steamboat for 5 months so far. 

9) The Pattersons have been in Steamboat their entire mission, so for 4 months so far and their mission is only 6 months long. They will go home at the end of March. Senior couples don't usually get moved around, they serve in the same place for their entire missions in every case I've heard so far!

Oh my goodness! That's crazy that Jackie might be having her baby sometime this week! I can't wait to hear what's going on next  Monday! Tell her that I love her and  I sure hope all goes well and let me  know when they finally decide on a name!!!

I need to get going  but I love  you all and hope you have a great week!!! Thank  you all so  much for all you guys do for me, GOD SPEED!!!

With Love and Regards,

Elder Schaelling

January 20

Mom,

I didn't see an email from you today so I just thought I'd shoot you a quick one! Things are going great in Steamboat. I got your second  package and it is great! Thank you. I'm doing pretty well on food for now so you guys don't need to worry about me, I might need some more next transfer or next month or something but it's no big deal. We've got lots of non-perishables. 

Yesterday we had 50 people at sacrament meeting again which was a miracle! There are so many great people and saints here in Steamboat. There is an amazing recent convert, Jasclyn, and her mom, Sharon, who has recently come back to the church and they are on fire! They have such a strong desire to learn and understand the gospel and it is truly amazing. They are so awesome. Jasclyn went to Phoenix last weekend and brought us Panda Express back from there because that is Elder Vicznesky's favorite place. It was way good. Otherwise, there are lots of great things happening in the branch: we are having branch councils twice a month and we are really working on getting a youth program up and running. I'm loving it here so far and I'm sure I will continue to love it for however long I stay! One of our investigators, Molly, she stood up at a funeral reception yesterday to speak and spoke about how much the gospel has helped her in her life so far and how it is the next step for the Navajo people and it is amazing! I wish I was there to hear it and I wish I understood Navajo better so I could have followed it. Pretty much everyone here speaks Navajo in all the meetings: sacrament meeting and any community type of situation. A lot of the older people don't speak any English. I gave a talk yesterday in sacrament meeting about the Book of Mormon and was assigned to speak for the entire time since it is such a small branch. It was fun and wasn't as hard as I was worried it would be to speak for that long! I realized as I was preparing that talk how much I have learned about the scriptures and the gospel. It is basic things that I know I have been taught for my entire life, but I never really understood on a deep and spiritual level until now.

I hope you all are doing well! I love you! 

Love,

Elder Schaelling

January 13

So how are things in Steamboat?  I've got lots of questions for you!

1) What appliances do you have in your camper/trailer, do you have a microwave?
2) Was the box waiting for you in Ganado last Thursday?  Another one is on it's way.
3) Be sure to let me know of specifics that would be helpful for you.
4) Where do you get perishables like milk, etc.?
5) How was church today?  I hope everyone felt the Spirit last week and returned again today.
6) Where is Elder Vicznesky from?
7) Where is the Senior Missionary couple from and what is their last name?
8) Is Steamboat Canyon the same as Steamboat?  I typed Steamboat, AZ in my weather app to see what's going on in your area and it didn't come up, but Steamboat Canyon, AZ did

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Mom,

Sounds like you and dad are having fun! Send the Austins my gratitude for their Christmas card, it was very kind of them! I always loving hearing from members and friends back at home. Glad to hear you met the missionaries there! It's always fun to hear about missionaries in other places. I can't imagine what it might be like serving in a place like Florida or Southern California. Must be a lot different than the reservation! Elder Vicznesky and myself are in charge of less than 300 people and I would imagine those elders in Juniper are probably responsible for tens of thousands if not more! Crazy stuff. 

Things are going great in Steamboat!

1) We have a microwave, stove range, and small refrigerator. We have an oven connected to the stove but we don't think it works, or we haven't been smart enough to figure out how to turn it on. 

2) Yes, the box was waiting for me in Ganado on Thursday! Thank you very much for sending that to us! Soups are great, the only thing I would request is more adventurous or varied soups. We already eat a lot of the basics down here from the times when people do feed us: meats, potatoes, carrots, white corn, etc. I like Italian soups and curry soups and stuff. Just things that you would find somewhere like Kneaders or whatever! Macaroni is always great too. I'll try to think of more things and keep a list of what would be helpful. 

4) There is milk at the trading post there in Steamboat, but it is like 5 dollars for a half gallon so it is pretty expensive. I bought two gallons when we were in Gallup and am about to finish the first and thaw out the second gallon. We'll see if it worked out well freezing it. It is okay to freeze milk, right? I also bought some rice milk/drink thing that lasts forever so it is in the pantry waiting until I am all out of milk. 

5) Church was pretty good yesterday! There was 36 people, so quite a drop from the miracle of 50 people last week, but it was still nice! We are teaching the young men and young women for Sunday School and also for their regular classes right now. 

6) Elder Vicznesky is from Acworth, Georgia just about 30 minutes north of Atlanta. He's a pretty funny and goofy guy. 

7) The senior couple is from Burley, Idaho and their name is the Pattersons. They are very kind!

8) Yes, Steamboat Canyon and Steamboat are the same place. Luckily it hasn't gotten too cold down here yet! There is still snow on the ground, but it fell like 5 or 6 weeks ago or something, it just hasn't gotten warm enough to melt it all. Supposedly this is supposed to be the coldest part of the reservation because of the altitude but we'll see! 

President Yazzie's book will be amazing whenever he gets it finished. It will blow everyone's mind who pays attention to the native traditions of the American Southwest for sure. President Yazzie is a very, very smart man and understands the scriptures miraculously. 

This past week was full of great experiences! We have a few baptisms coming up. One is a boy named Quentin, an older lady named Molly, and young teen named Zack. They are all so awesome and it has been awesome to be working with them! We also found two new investigators yesterday as we were fasting through some miraculous yet small promptings of the spirit. Elder V had the impression the night before while we were planning out our Sunday to visit a less active member so we went there and she was talking on the phone and didn't seem too interested in talking at the moment so we were about to leave but before we left I thought,  "The Lord guided us here to this area for a reason," so I asked Elder V if he had knocked the houses in the area and he said he had already knocked them all, but then I pointed to a house and he said he hadn't so we went to it and helped them bring a whole bunch of wood into their house and started talking with them! It was just a very short introductory message, but we will be visiting them next Sunday hopefully! They also fed us menudo with tripe and pigs feet. Also, Elder V and I are putting on a family home evening for the ward tonight and we are going to play Lead, Kindly Light as a duet on the guitars. It should be fun!

Have a great week everyone! I love and appreciate you all. 

With Much Love and Regards,

Elder Schaelling

January 8, 2014

1)  How did your actual transfer day go?
2)  How was church today?  I was happily surprised to see that they have a church building in Steamboat.
3)  Do you have internet access in Steamboat?  I'm hoping it will be available in Ganado on Thursday if you can't e-mail tomorrow on P-day.  Please use the USPS if you have no internet access anywhere.
4)  What's the weather like there?  Are you warm enough?  Do you need a warmer blanket or a below zero sleeping bag?
5)  What did you do on New Year's Eve?  I'm thinking that mission rules don't allow you to stay up to see the new year arrive.

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Mom,

Things are great in Steamboat! I love the area so far. It is definitely MUCH smaller than Shiprock, and Shiprock was definitely MUCH smaller than Salt Lake City. Line upon line, precept upon precept, I suppose they say haha. My companion is Elder Vicznesky and he is a really funny and goofy guy. Yeah, there is probably about 300 people in our entire area because we cover Steamboat and an area called Jeddito that is west of here. The trailer you saw on Google Maps is probably the trailer the senior couple lives in, our little camper is behind the church. It's a little 20 foot camper, so it is pretty small inside. I would think that I should be able to meet everyone by the end of my time here, haha. 

1) Transfer day went great! 

2) Church was great yesterday! There was a Steamboat record for church attendance yesterday: 50 people at church! It was so awesome, tons of people got up and bore their testimonies. 

3) We do have internet access through the church here in Steamboat. Pretty much every church building needs internet for all the computerized stuff. 

4) Weather is cold but it hasn't been too bad the past week. Supposedly it's about the coldest part of the reservation because it is pretty high altitude. There is snow on the ground and it is very pretty here! There are lots of small trees and shrubs and mesas and hills. The camper has a propane heater so I am just fine at night, haha, don't worry about me! I'll let you know if I need anything.

5) We popped a bottle of Martinelli's and went to bed at about 10 o'clock, 30 minutes early to celebrate haha. It feels so nice to go to bed early as a missionary. 

Everyone here in Steamboat is so nice and the branch is awesome! The branch president, President Yazzie, is such a solid guy. He was teaching me all about how the Book of Mormon and Navajo oral traditions as illustrated in traditional sand paintings are related, it was so awesome! He is writing an entire book on it and has gone throughout his Book of Mormon for the past like 12 years marking scriptures that relate to Navajo traditions, because he grew up very traditional (not very many people are THAT traditional anymore) so he knows all the teachings and stories backwards and forwards. 

 

There aren't very many Spanish speaking missionaries at all in our mission. I believe there are only six, two sets in Farmington (east and west) and one set in Bloomfield. Some Spanish missionaries are sent to English areas and just are regular missionaries or will go places where there are some Spanish speaking people and be in a "zebra" companionship -- one English and one Spanish elder. 

Woohoo! That's so great you guys are hosting the lessons at the house!!! EVERYONE WHO EVER READS THIS: HOST MISSIONARY LESSONS IN YOUR HOUSE FOR INVESTIGATORS AND LESS ACTIVE FRIENDS AND RECENT CONVERTS!!! IT HELPS SO MUCH!

Wow! Crazy to hear that the Phillipps went through my mission just a few days ago. I wonder what they thought of seeing Shiprock! They probably drove through an area just like what I'm serving in now and didn't even realize they were in a place where people lived. Farmington is a pretty nice town, there are some really cool shops there with Native American (mostly Navajo) jewelry, sandpaintings, pottery, rugs, etc.

I love you all so much and hope that this new year brings new opportunities to strengthen our relationship with Jesus Christ. As we see, sometimes these opportunities come in the form of trials but if we will focus on Christ's teachings and living the celestial law -- forgiveness, love, patience, diligence, obedience -- then we will be prepared for the blessings our Father in heaven has prepared for us after this life. 

God Speed! With Much Love and Regards,

Elder Schaelling

December 30

Mom,

 

Thank you so much for Skyping me! I sure hope we can Skype for Mother's Day because I am moving to .......... STEAMBOAT, AZ! It is a TINY little place near the heart of the Navajo Reservation, far from any grocery stores or anything of the like. I hear the elders down there serve as branch clerks and I think the only thing that is there is just a tiny little trading post. The closest thing is a gas station, Burger King, and post office in Ganado, AZ which is where we will go on Thursdays for District Meeting. I am very excited! I will basically be camping down there, with my new companion. I'll live in a tiny little 5th wheel travel trailer in the church parking lot. We'll only get mail once a week at District Meeting when we go to Ganado and we'll shop probably about once a month in Gallup. The only grocery stores in the zone I think are in Chinle and Window Rock, but they will all be SUPER expensive since they are on the reservation. I'll get to work on my Navajo and I'll meet a lot more people who are traditional down there. I'm sure many fun stories will come from my time down there. I'll go to Farmington in the morning and hop on a van and ride it to Gallup then my companion will come pick me up there and then we'll drive to Steamboat.

 

I will miss Shiprock a lot though, it's been hard to say goodbyes yesterday and today but it is nice that it is only a few hours away from Salt Lake. Bryan's baptism went well on Saturday and he was confirmed yesterday! 

 

Christmas went great! We taught a lesson to a less active guy and his brother, chopped wood, and visited some active and less active members and we played Phase 10 with the Watts for the last hour of the day while I set up Skype for Elders Thompson and Rich. Phase 10 is a really fun game!  Sounds like you guys had a great time making candy with Nate's family! That sounds awesome! I don't have tons of time because I need to get home and get packing and cleaning tomorrow because some of the other news is that Elders Thompson and Rich are being replaced with Sister missionaries tomorrow! Elder Thompson is going to Kirtland, Elder Rich will be speaking Spanish in Gallup, and they will put sisters into our trailer since it is nice than the other trailer and Elder Johnson and Elder Griener (the new Shiprock elder) will move into the other trailer.

 

That's a great message from Music and the Spoken Word! I absolutely agree, the Atonement of Jesus Christ's primary message is that of change, so if we don't allow that to happen by labling someone by their past characteristics or sins, then we are trying to keep them from allowing Christ's sacrifice to fully work in their life and allow them to shed the person they were and become a person of God. I am so grateful that through Christ I can overcome my negative characteristics and become a man of God.

 

I love you all!

Elder Schaelling