Week 30: Tuesday December 31, 2013

Family,

   HAPPY NEW YEAR! You all still have a few hours to go, but for me 2014 is officially underway! As we start this new year, I have taken some time to reflect on the many blessings that have been placed in my life over the past year. As I have done so, I have remembered many, many trials & hardships. However, I have considered these hardships, I have been able to see the blessings that they have been in my life. As I have served for these past 7 months (so crazy) I have come to really understand how Heavenly Father gives us trials not to tear us down, but to build us up, even if he must tear down initially. Besides the trials, I look back & am amazed at the many blessings that I have received. I often feel as though I am inadequate for many of the great blessings that have been placed in my life, but somehow they just keep coming! I know that I am not perfect & I falter far to often than I should, even as a missionary, yet the Lord understands that. I marvel at His patience & love as He continues to bless me despite of my inadequacies. When I get a few moments, perhaps tonight, I want to sit down & make some realistic goals for myself for this upcoming year. Goals that will stretch me, yet allow me to grow & become a better person. I would challenge you all to do the same!

   As I have stated in my last paragraph, I have been blessed with much love & many opportunities while serving as a missionary. And to start off the new year, I have received yet another great blessing as the Lord & my mission president have blessed me with the privilege of being a TRAINER! It seems like just last transfer I was walking off the airplane into this strange new world, wondering how I was going to survive. Now, I feel as though this is my home away from home, & I have the special opportunity to make some new missionary feel the same way. After e-mailing, I will travel over to Cebu where I will stay the night & pick up my "anak" (kid) in the morning. I am so excited! At the same time, I am sure this is another "stretching moment" that I am about to go through. Though I feel very comfortable with the language, it's still a little scary to think that if my companion is an American, I will be the only line between our work & the people. I have heard that there are 31 new missionaries coming in this transfer (which is crazy!) 25 of which are coming from Provo. If this turns out to be true, chances are that I will be with another American. Fun fact about my mission so far: I have not yet had a Filipino companion, nor have I stayed with a companion for longer than 1 transfer yet! Both of these things are extremely rare this far into a mission. I do not care if my companion is American, Filipino, European, or whatever. I will be grateful for the opportunity that I have to serve & train him. I am just a little bit disappointed however that I will not be with Elder Andus for another transfer. He has been my favorite companion so far & I have really enjoyed this transfer with him. But, I am needed elsewhere & so is he!

   I would also like to say how grateful I am for the chance that we had to speak last week. It was a great comfort to me & I could not have asked for a better Christmas present than the privilege that I had to see you all (even though it was pretty chaotic!). For New Years, we were able to go to the apartment of the senior couple who lives about an hour away. There, we enjoyed food, drinks, & each others company. We did a gift exchange & I received this awesome wooden necklace from another Elder in my zone. I will for sure be wearing it when I get off the plane to see you all again after my mission! We also were able to watch 2 movies! We watched Up & Monsters University. I love Up. The soundtrack is great & the movie is sad. I'm not sure why, but I like sad movies. They are touching. Monsters University was also enjoyable. It's a pretty funny show. 

   Well, I still have about an hour & then I will be off to Cebu to pick up my greenie! Wish me luck! I love & miss you all. Happy New Year!

Elder Staheli

12.23.13

12.23.13

 12.23.13

12.23.13

 12.23.13

12.27.13

12.27.13

 12.28.13

12.29.13

 12.29.13

Week 29: Tuesday December 24, 2013 (Christmas Eve)

This week we received an amazing Christmas present.

We had the opportunity to call and talk to Dylan.

It was so good to not only hear his voice, but to be able to see him. 

We are so proud of him, and his example. He has grown so much in such a short time, and is becoming such an amazing man. Dylan has picked up on the language so well and loves the area he is in. 

Dylan and his companion have scheduled the Jamito family for baptism on the 18th of January, and are very excited. He also mentioned the exchange rate and how much stronger the dollar is and was able to make some fun purchases for himself. He is doing great, and we miss him, but are very proud of him. 

He was excited to have Hunter and Chipper join in on the call as well :) 

Week 28: Tuesday December 17, 2013

Family,

I mentioned the Jamito family last week & they are great! However, it has been a crazy week with them this week. Originally, they were very receptive to the gospel. They still are & are still planning on being baptized, but the problem that we have had is that they have always been shy & hesitant to come to church. When we asked why, brother responded, "It's hot outside." We knew there had to be more to the story, & sure enough, we found out this last week. It turns out that brother Jamito was a drug addict in the past. We already knew this, but it turns out that his past has followed him. His wife's family doesn't like him because of his past addiction. In fact, they dislike him so much that they have been trying to kill him. This is why he can't go outside of his house. The other night, despite his death threats, they went out as a family to see the Christmas tree downtown. On their way home, they ran into her family. Her family jumped them & Alma's (his wife) nephew attempted to chop off her head with a sund-an (machete). Like a champ, she ducked & avoided death, somehow they escaped, & they made it home. They called the police, but they couldn't find them. This now presented a problem for us; it was not safe for us to be there at night. We gave them a blessing & told them to pray. We left, talked with our Branch President, & were advised not to return. However, being the great missionaries that we are, we went back. We talked to them about the problem & they told us that they agreed to speak together that evening - non violently. We received a text from Rolan (husband) later that evening saying that everything had been worked out. They expressed to us, with tears in their eyes, that it was only possible because we had brought the gospel into their lives. It has been an incredible journey with this family.

Love you guys!

Elder Staheli 

12.12.13

 12.12.13

 12.15.13

Clark-Nephi. He is the son of the Jamito family I was telling you about. He is so chubby and the cutest kid ever! 

Also the sunsets in the Philippines are way better than in America...

Week 27: Tuesday December 10, 2013

Family,

   I want to start this letter off by telling you all how much I want to cry. I can't believe that I am missing such blissful weather back home! The pictures you sent are incredible & I can't believe that the second I leave this happens. I hope you are all grateful that you have such nice weather & not such hot, humid weather like I am experiencing here! 

   I really enjoyed all of the pictures that everyone sent. From New York to Utah, they were all awesome! I loved the picture of Dax with his little hat on. Such a stud! I even enjoyed the picture of my car. I really miss it! I miss driving. How is it holding up? 

   Well, like times in the past, not much has happened this week. However, I will share with you a funny experience that happened a few days ago. But first, let me fill you in on our investigators. We have two families that we are really focusing on - The Andaya family & the Jamito family. The Andaya family consists of the husband & wife & their 4 children. We have been teaching them & they are great! However, they are not really progressing. As firm Catholics, they tell us my least favorite line of all time...We are the same. 

   It is so frustrating when people say that the Catholic church is the same as our church. The thing is, everyone says it! Almost everyone that we teach believes in our message. They all say that they believe the Book of Mormon is true, that Joseph Smith was a true prophet, but they can't wrap their mind around the significance of it all. They all say as long as you believe in the Bible, or anything good for that matter, & believe in Christ, that's all that is needed. While these are great thoughts & partially true, they too often fail to understand the necessity to follow the things that we are teaching them. In all honesty, it's exhausting. We really stress to them the apostasy & the restoration of the church. I always tell them, "If the Book of Mormon is true, then Joseph was a true prophet. If he was a true Prophet, this is the true church of Jesus Christ." We always challenge them to read & pray about it, sometimes they do, sometimes they don't, but nothing really changes in them. Many of them also say that they believe in it but will not be baptized because they have always been Catholic & they feel like they have to stay faithful to it. Many people express to us that they don't even believe much of what the Catholic church teaches, but that's what their parents believed, so they cannot change. It makes me so sad. 

     The Jamito family consists of the husband, his wife, & their 1 year old son. Get this...the wife's name is Alma & their son's name is Clark-Nephi! They are already Mormons!  They are progressing better than the Andaya family. They came to church last week! I am still not extremely confident that they will be baptized, at least not while me & Elder Andus are here, but I am hoping that I am wrong! They have great potential but there are still things that may be keeping them from being baptized. I will keep you updated!

   Now for the funny story of the week. Warning: This may or may not be appropriate for little kids, if they even understand. 

   Me & Elder were out proselyting & we walked out to this bay-bay (a small group of homes out on the edge of the ocean) & we started talking to people. Since we are two Americans & the town is so small, pretty much the entire town came & gathered around to talk to us. After a getting to know each other & joking around for a little while, about 4 little boys, probably 8 years old, came running up in t-shirts that were too big for them (the t-shirts came down to about their feet, I hope you can all picture this). They came running up to me & I asked them their names, how old they were, etc. As I spoke to them I noticed that they were all pulling the shirt away from their body so that the shirt would not make contact with their skin. I didn't think much of it & just continued. I asked them how school went & they told me that they didn't go. I asked them why & I couldn't understand their response. I asked them to repeat what they said, & again I had no idea what they were talking about. I looked at their mom & asked them what they said & she said one word, in English. "Penis!" I was shocked & still didn't quite understand. I again turned to the children & seeing them holding the big shirts away from their bodies, it all clicked! They had just been circumcised! I turned to my companion & explain what they said in English & we just laughed our heads off! I asked the kids how they felt & they responded, "sakit!" which just means that they were in pain, & understandably so. That's my funny story of the week. I hope I didn't offend anybody. 

   Now, let's talk about more important matters...Christmas! Here is what is going to happen. We have been told that we are allowed to Skype on Christmas (google hangout will be fine as well, as long as I can get it to work), so that is what we will do! Because of the time difference, they told us that we can either do it on the 25th or the 26th according to the time here in Cebu, since you are all a day behind. I'm not sure what you would rather do? I personally was thinking that it might be better to do it on the 26th my time? That way it would be about 8 pm over there on the 25th for all of you. That is just my thoughts, please let me know what you think of if the other time is better for you all. I would like to do google hangout so that I can see everybody, so if you could let me know (Starr) what I need to do to try & figure that out that would be great! You mentioned just sending an invite? Maybe that would work best. 

   Again, let me just say how painful it is to look at the ideal weather back home, knowing that I am confined to this year-round heat! Enjoy it for me! I will try to answer some questions that were asked. Casey, yes we teach recent converts & family home evenings. Especially since the retention rate is so low here, we really focus & teaching recent converts after their baptism. We start all of the lessons over & teach them everything again. After we finish that, we keep going back weekly for up to 1 year after their baptism. When this is done correctly, the chances of them staying active & entering the temple are much greater. We are also able to do family home evening once in a while. We could do it every week if we wanted, it just depends on our schedule. We had one the other night & it was great! I love them because they usually feed us a wonderful meal & then we start. We will give them a fun lesson & then we play games. They have some great games that they play & it's always enjoyable! I also really enjoyed reading about your missionary efforts with that Chinese girl in your class. She sounds great! Keep working hard with her & others & I'm sure great things will come from it. Even if you don't see the result, something that has happened to me for my entire first 6 months, you are still helping them & planting the seed for them to progress. We have talked about it before. I remember you writing me a few months ago telling me that it is just as important to plant the seed as it is to "harvest". This is certainly true. 

   That's about it for this week. Me & Elder Andus bought a football last week (the only one I have ever seen in the Philippines) so we invited all of the American missionaries to come & play a game at the chapel. There is also a basketball court there so the Filipinos can play basketball. We always invite them to play football, but they always say no & they act scared when we tell them to try & catch it or throw it. It's pretty funny. They just love their basketball, & there's nothing wrong with that. 

   I love you all & pray for you always. Until next week!

-Elder Staheli

   

Week 26: Tuesday December 3, 2013

Family,

   Well, tomorrow marks the first 6 months of my mission! There have been many ups & downs, I have had much sadness & experienced great joy, I have felt lonely & I have felt the love of a people whom I do not even know. If you were to ask me if it has gone by fast or slow, I would say that it started off extremely slow but is progressively getting faster. As much as I am enjoying my mission, hopefully it will only continue to go by faster so that I can return to you all soon! 

   I hope everyone's Thanksgiving went well. Since there is no Thanksgiving here, we didn't celebrate. In fact, I forgot all about it & didn't realize it had past untilyesterday. But up next is Christmas! I have told you all before, but Christmas is an incredibly big holiday over here. It's pretty much what everyone lives for. You start hearing Christmas music around September & it goes until Christmas. In my area right now, there is a large field in the middle of town & they set up this HUGE tree in the middle. Last Friday, they had a huge ceremony that the entire town went to & they had entertainment & lit up the tree. It was quite the experience. 

   Not much has happened this week. We are still mostly tracting & trying to find more people to teach since we have a very small teaching pool at the moment. We are finding many new potential investigator's & hopefully they turn into baptisms. One thing about the people here is that they are so nice. They are the nicest people I have ever met. Me & Elder Andus, in an attempt to find more people to teach, wave at every single car, motor, or person that we see. Literally every single one. Since the town is small enough, we are gaining the reputation as "the happy, smiling Americans." Unbelievably, we are finding that so many more people are willing to listen to us because they can sense that we are friendly people. Every single person we wave to waves back, accompanied by a huge, sometimes toothless smile! It's the best. 

   That's about it for this week. Our Christmas party is coming up on the 16th of December. I'm so excited! I hear that for Christmas, we are allowed to watch 2 Disney movies as a Christmas gift! Man, I can't wait. 

   Well, keep going strong! I love you & miss you! 

-Elder Staheli

11.27.13

11.27.13

11.28.13

 12.3.13

Week 25: Tuesday November 26, 2013

Family,

   Well, I'm on Negros! There is a city in Negros called Dumagete which is the so-called "Promised Land" of our mission. It's where everybody wants to go. They have American food, cars, it's not that hot. . . I even hear they have Dr. Pepper over there! It sounds mysterious. I want to go there. Then there is my area, Bais. It is the most bukid area on Negros, so I am back in the middle of the jungle. Having said that, I can also tell you that it is absolutely the most beautiful place that I have seen in the Philippines. The views are breathtaking. I will send you some pictures after I send this letter. 

   Before I forget, I just want to say that I received the package that mom sent & the pictures that grandma sent. I'm also so stoked that Desert Hills took state! In all honesty, I thought Pine View would have beat them with Wilstead at QB. Regardless, I am pleased with the outcome. I wish I could have been there! Chipper sent me some pictures. It looked awesome. 

   Okay, back to my mission. As I said last week, my companion is Elder Andus & he is coming from Tocloban. He has been out for about 10 montlhs. His area was about 40 minutes away from the city & center of the most damage, so he didn't get hit as hard. His house even survived! He showed me pictures though, & the damage was extremely extensive. We talked about going to the city after it all happened & it was pretty bad. He said it smelled terrible because of all of the dead people just laying all over the place. There is no water, no food, no shelter. People were robbing stores, including missionaries, just to get food. He could here gunshots & people being killed. It sounded like such a crazy situation. I am honestly a little jealous that he was able to experience something like that, but I'm sure you are all glad I wasn't there. Anyway, he is from South Jordan & went to Bingham high school. He is very funny & we get along great! 

   Since we are both new to the area, that means that we are opening the area! It's a brand new area & it is our responsibility to find & teach people. The area used to be one big area, but has been split into three. We have two other Elder's in our apartment & they are both Filipino, so I am speaking a lot of Visaya. It's great though, because I can ask them questions if I don't know a word or if I am confused about something. We had a coordination meeting the other day to figure out exactly where the split of the areas were & to transfer teaching records into our area book. After all of that, we have a grand total of 5 people in our area book. For those of you who have served missions, you see the task that lies ahead. Normal missionaries plan out their days according to people that they are going to teach that day. We plan on going around & talking to people on the street almost every day of the week. It's incredibly challenging, but I the same time, we are already having some great success. I have a few stories to share with you from this week.

   The first story is about that Andaya family. The Andaya family was given to us when the area split & we have started teaching them. We had a lesson with them last night & it was incredible. We started teaching them & we started with the first lesson since they have not yet been taught. We started teaching them & asking them questions, & the lesson went great. The father shared with us his testimony of prayer & how he always prays that he can provide food for his family, find work, etc. He was pretty emotional & it really brought the spirit. After the lesson, we asked them what they were thinking & feeling & they expressed to us that they believe everything we taught them. We gave them a copy of the Book of Mormon & without even reading it they told us that it's true. I hope they feel the same way after reading it! The only problem is that they expressed to us their devotion to Catholicism. We aren't especially worried because this is the case with almost every single person that we have or ever will come in contact with. I really hope they get baptized.

   The other family is the Jamito family. This story is great. Chad, you mentioned an experience in your e-mail that just made me laugh, because me & my companion had almost the exact same experience last night with this family. We found this family on Sunday while we were out looking for people. We taught them the first lesson on Sunday so we were continuing on. We were sitting there teaching them a great lesson, & all of a sudden....the power goes out! As I have stated before, power-outages are extremely common here. The power went out around the beginning of the lesson so we taught the family in the thick blackness of night, in the middle of the jungle, with nothing but a small candle in the middle of the room. The lesson was incredible. They told us that they had a neighbour where they had previously lived who was a member & they had been wishing for a few years that the missionaries would find them & teach them. Like my experience a few weeks ago, me & Elder Andus were the missionaries who found them & taught them. They also asked us about the temple. They had seen pictures before & were curious. After explaining a little about it, they expressed to us their desire to enter the temple as a family. There, in the darkness of the night, in a jungle in the Philippines, we committed them to be baptized, & they accepted. Almost immediately after we said "amen" to close the lesson, the lights lit up the house & we could clearly see the tears in their eyes. 

   There are times when missionary work is extremely difficult, as it is now in opening an area with no one to teach, & there are times when everything goes right. There are times when I want more than anything to just be back at home, able to take a hot shower, eat regular food, play my guitar, & climb back into my own familiar bed. There are times that make me sad when I think of leaving this place behind. Next week marks my 6 months in the field, & since there has been an increase in missionaries, new & those coming from Tacloban, I will probably we sent home 2 weeks to a month early, so my time is only getting shorter. It's been an unforgettable journey thus far.

   I can't wait to see you all in a month! Don't laugh at me if I start to cry. I know you all will. Well, at least Starr & Madison. Hopefully I will be feeling a little better by then. I have a bit of a cold. Seriously? Who gets a cold in the Philippines? 

   Okay, I will try & send pictures now. Hopefully it works. Cross your fingers! Love you guys.

Elder Staheli

Week 24: Tuesday November 19, 2013

Family,

   I can never remember the date. Before I start, I have to tell you that the keyboard that I am typing at is missing the letter in the middle of q & e, so if I say some phrases that sounds strange, just understand that I am going to have to be creative this e-mail. If I can't think of another phrase to replace it, I am going to put it in quotation marks, so that is your key for this letter. Also, it doesn't capitalize "d". So yeah...

   Like I said, I tried sending pictures, & I have a lot, but my camera died. I'm sorry! I am going to have to send them next time. 

   Okay, I have a lot to say! Let me start off by telling you about transfers! Another transfer has come & gone. It's pretty crazy to think! So, I have been here in Labangon for 1 transfer along side Elder Toluta'u. Me & him have had some hardships, but me & him have also had successes. Having said that...I'm transferring! Everyone thought that he "ould" transfer because this is his 2nd transfer here, but I am the one transferring! I actually really enjoyed this area. The people have been so great & there's just something about it that has been really cool. But my "ne" area is on Negros! I am so excited! I hear Negros is the best. My area is called Bais. My first area is considered "bukid" or in English, it just kind of means jungle/"ilderness"/mountains. Here, it is mostly city, but there is a place in our area that is kind of bukid also. Bais is another extremely bukid area. After hearing that, I "as" a little bummed, but thinking about it, I'm sure it is going to be great! I'm actually really excited because people in the bukid are much less educated, so they don't speak hardly any English. I am hoping that this is the area that really helps me become a great speaker of the Visaya language. This also means that I am getting a different companion. He is an American missionary that just transferred here from Tacloban! I'm really excited. I can't remember his name though...is that bad? I'm sure he is a great guy. I'm very excited. That also means that I have not yet had a Filipino companion. I'm kind of disappointed because I think that I could learn so much more about the language if I had a native companion, but I also love American companions because me & him can relate to each other & talk about American stuff. 

   Are you all excited about Christmas? I am so excited! This transfer is my Christmas call! I hope you are all as excited as I am. Starr, I need you to figure out that google hangout thing & tell me the things that I need to do to get it set up. If you can't figure it out, maybe just Skype. I think you can Skype more than 1 person at a time, but I'm not sure. 

   Okay, story of the "eek".  Me & Elder Toluta'u received a referral from the sister missionaries so me & him decided to contact it. Actually, me & him "ent" on splits "ith" the ZL's so me & Elder Smedley contacted it because it turned out that the referral "as" actually in their area. Me & him found them & they fed us dinner before our lesson. I'm sure you have all heard a missionary tell you about "that family". The family that just made their entire mission. Needless to say, I feel confident in saying that this lesson may turn out to be the very best that I have on my mission. As our lesson started, me & Elder Smedley started to talk to them about their lives. There is the husband & "ife", their one child, and the husband's brother. The mom has been a member for a very long time, but has not been to church in about 9 years. Even though she didn't go to church, she still lived the teachings of the gospel. She didn't party or curse or anything like that. Nobody else in the family has been baptized. The husbands brother is from Negros & he said that the missionaries visited him there & he has had a desire to be baptized for a very long time. The husband has an amazing story. He took about 10 or 15 minutes telling us about his experiences & it is incredible. He told us that he is Catholic from birth & during his life he has drank & smoked & done all of these things. He said that one night he attended a party for his job, he sells homes, and he noticed one of his co-"orkers" outside sitting alone on the balcony. He joined him & started talking to him. He asked the reason he didn't join the party. He told him that he is a Mormon & doesn't drink. He "as" in shock. He didn't understand the reason that his religion had such a big impact on his life. He said that he later met his "ife" & she said the same thing. He did not understand. He then told us "ho" amazing it is that me & my companion gave up 2 years of our life to be here. "You guys are so young. You could be out experiencing the "orld". "Ho" is it that you have so much discipline? "hy" does this church mean so much to you?"  He asked us these questions "ith" tears in his eyes. At that point me & Elder Smedley proceeded to tell him our personal stories. To make a very long story short, the mom told us, as tears fell from her eyes, that she had been praying for the last 9 years that the missionaries "ould" come & save her family. She said that she had been "aiting" for that moment for 9 years. Me & Elder Smedley "ere" the first missionaries to visit their family ever. She thanked us & told us that me & him had saved her life. There "as" not a dry eye in the room that night. It's hard to express in "ords" the things that happened fully & the things felt. Especially since I am missing a letter. Such an amazing experience.

   I hope you are not confused because that "as" extremely difficult. I am tired & frustrated "ith" this keyboard so I am going to end it here. Love you guys. 

Elder Staheli

A few things Dylan mentioned later as we were emailing back and forth..

OH shoot, I forgot to mention that "e challenged them to baptism & they accepted! Sorry, I "as just frustrated. I forgot to mention that.

Oh, that's the other thing! "e have a temple session planned for next "ednesday, but seeing that I am going to be on Negros...No session for me... *sigh*

11.12.13

 11.12.13

11.12.13

11.12.13

11.12.13

11.12.13

11.12.13

11.12.13

11.22.13

11.22.13

11.24.13

11.24.13

Week 23: Tuesday November 12, 2013

Family,

   Since my last e-mail a few days ago, not much has changed. I received an e-mail from dad stating that all of the missionaries have been found and are safe. What a blessing! I'm so happy they are all fine. However, seeing that their mission is more or less destroyed, many of them are being temporarily transferred to our mission. I think some are already here & there are 4 elders from the Tacloban mission that will be staying with us for I'm not sure how long. They should get here today or tomorrow. I'm pretty excited; hopefully it will be one of my batch-mates! It would also be awesome if Conner Murdock or the Wilstead kid stayed at our apartment. Anyway, all is fine & you can all stop worrying about me. Nothing has changed. Life is going on as normal here in Cebu. Well, I have been asked many questions from you all (especially from Madison) so I will try to answer those for you all! Speaking of Madison. . . I can't believe you e-mailed my president. You are still acting like mom, even 7,000 miles away! I just laughed when you said that. That's so you. I do appreciate your love & concern for me. I know that you are just worried about me. Thank you.

   Question time! Yes, I have adjusted to the humidity (as much as you can, I suppose). In fact, some days I actually quite enjoy the weather. There is a nice breeze & even though it's like a million degrees outside, my body appreciates the small bursts of wind that come occasionally. I still wish it was freezing, but that's not going to happen. In the city it is a little worse, probably because of the pollution & whatever else, but it's not as bad as I thought it would be. I haven't seen my mission president since, but it's P-day today & we are going to the zoo! We are also going to stop by temple grounds to get a few things, so maybe I will see him there. Our apartment is 2 jeepny rides away from the temple grounds where his home is, so it usually takes about 30-45 minutes depending on the traffic. The day of the typhoon, the electricity did go out for a while, but only for about 10 hours or so. The 2 week brown-out in my last area was much worse! We still have a few service projects planned. People still need a little bit of help with things, but like I said, it's not even remotely as bad here as it is in other places. If you are getting a package together, I could use some deodorant. I am about to run out, & I could buy some more here, but it's pretty expensive. If I need too, obviously I will. I don't want you all sending me big packages though! I know that they are very expensive & I am doing fine with what I have here. Me & my companion are getting along great! I have learned a lot about how to work with people since I have been here. My patience has grown immensely & I have learned to not get so angry with people. I don't like to admit it, but I had a problem with that back home. I have learned to be much more calm & patient & loving with other people. I try not to joke all the time because I think that some people can't tell that I am joking & it hurts them. So I don't really joke anymore. My communication skills are improving as well. I am much more decisive & I am better at making decisions that effect more than just myself. I was never very good at this because I was always fearful of making a decision that involved other people because I wasn't sure if they would agree or like my choice. I am getting more confident in myself & my communication is improving along with my willingness to share my thoughts & opinions as well as standing up for them.

   I can't believe that Axzelle is turning 2 this week! She is getting so big! I remember when she was born. I was up at the University of Utah because we were in the championship for football. I didn't even care that we lost because I got to go see her! The party sounds like fun. Send pictures! Even though I am terrible at that. I can't believe Dax is 6 months old. That's crazy, but also exciting! I sometimes use his age to determine how much time I have left, so it's fun seeing both of our progress at the same time! We are both growing so much right now, it's kind of funny to think about it that way. Speaking of Dax, thanks for the pictures you just sent! I love the one of him in the beanie. I love beanies. I miss mine.

   Anyway, I hope that this letter was full of information that helped inform you a little bit better of my situation here. I can't think of anything that I wanted to say. Hopefully I didn't forget anything. I do sometimes. Oh well! Love you all & miss you!

-Elder Staheli

Week 23: Monday November 11, 2013

Family,

   I apologize for taking so much time to write you all. As you can all imagine & as you have all heard, the damage here in the Philippines is incredible. My last few days have been filled with helping people with their homes, land, etc. We are extremely fortunate here in the Cebu mission because we were not directly hit or hit as hard as other areas. The concern is centered around the Tacloban where there have been recorded around 10,000 deaths. Also, there are 80 missionaries unaccounted for. My guess, hopefully I am correct, is that they are okay but they just have no way to communicate to the mission president or a way to reach temple grounds. However, I am especially worried because about half of my district in the MTC & more than half of my zone in the MTC reported to that mission. All we can do is pray & hope that they are doing alright. I would try to e-mail some of them & see how they are doing, but it would be pointless right now with no communication & I'm sure they are already flooded with e-mails to read from friends & family back home, so I will just wait until there is more information.

   I'm sure you are all wondering where I was & what I was doing during the storm. Of course, we had a knowledge of the storm a day or two before it actually hit so we were prepared. Well, I guess as prepared as you can be for something like this. I will tell you everything according to my time in which I am 14 hours ahead of you.

   I had no idea that a storm was heading our way until around Thursday afternoon. We received a text telling us to return to our apartments by 5:00 pm that evening. They also told us to go to the store & prepare a 72 hour kit. After we did that, we return & just waited. We were told not to leave our apartment at all the next day. All we could do then is just wait. . . It was strange to see what started off as a cloudy day turn into a typhoon. I actually hesitate to call it a typhoon because like I said, we were not hit nearly as hard here. During the day of the typhoon, I took a few naps & read a lot. It was not exciting whatsoever. I'm afraid that some of you are expecting some crazy story, but I'm sorry to say that I don't have one. We were permitted to return to work on Saturday, but our work was to go around helping those people in need. All day Saturday we were going around helping people with whatever, as I stated earlier. Sunday, we went to church & went around helping some more. Today, things are pretty much back to normal. We are going around working, teaching lessons, & of course we are still looking for opportunities to serve people. We have a few service projects planned for later this week & next week, but nothing too extensive.

   I hope this e-mail helps put your mind's at ease. I am grateful for all of your prayers & concern. But now, you should turn your prayers & thoughts to those in Tacloban. That is where the real damage is. I wish there was a way for me to go over there & help them, but all I can do is pray. I will still e-mail you all on Wednesday. Hopefully we will have a little more information. Thanks again. I love you.

-Elder Staheli

Typhoon Haiyan Update: Church Supplying Relief Supplies to Those in Need

SALT LAKE CITY — 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints expresses condolences
to the millions affected by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines and is
providing shelter, food, water and other basic supplies to evacuees and
displaced families.

An estimated 700,000 people are now displaced. In areas impacted by
 the storm, particularly in the eastern coastal regions, transportation, 
power and communication networks are down.

All Mormon missionaries serving in the Church’s 21 Filipino missions 
are accounted for, with the exception of some serving in the Philippines 
Tacloban Mission. Before the typhoon, missionaries had been moved to 
areas where they would be adequately sheltered, and the Church is working 
to establish contact with Tacloban mission leaders.

“A Church Welfare Department employee is traveling to the island of Leyte 
with communication equipment to establish contact with the Tacloban 
mission president,” said Stephen B. Allen, Missionary Department 
managing director. "We plan to be in communication with those in Leyte 
by Saturday in the Philippines.”

Efforts are also underway to make contact with Church members. 
More than 14,000 members and others have sought refuge in 200 
Church meetinghouses.

As daylight comes, the Church anticipates that missionaries throughout 
the country will begin assisting those in need.

Local Church leaders will spend the weekend assessing further needs of 
both members and the community. 


KSL:

Two days after one of the strongest typhoons on record slammed into the Philippines,
the death toll in the devastated country rises into the thousands.

As many as 10,000 people are believed dead in one city alone. Tacloban is the Leyte
provincial capital of 200,000 people and the biggest city on Leyte Island. About
300-400 bodies have already been recovered. A mass burial was planned Sunday
in Palo town near Tacloban.

Haiyan hit the eastern seaboard of the Philippine archipelago on Friday and quickly
barreled across its central islands before exiting into the South China Sea, packing
winds of 235 kilometers per hour (147 miles per hour) that gusted to 275 kph (170 mph),
and a storm surge that caused sea waters to rise 6 meters (20 feet).

Week 22: Tuesday November 5, 2013

Family,

   I was very excited to hear all of your letters! As I have said in the past, they always make me so happy & they are a great source of strength during the difficult times in my mission. I was also extremely happy to see all of the pictures that you sent! Man, the kids are just getting cuter & cuter! I am so sad that I only had about 2 weeks with Daxton. I miss him so much. I obviously miss everyone so much, but he is the chubbiest at the moment so he has my priority. I hope he's still chubby when I get back.

   I have been thinking for the last little while about what I am going to write to you all this week. I hope you won't be disappointed when I say that nothing has really happened this week. It's been about the most typical week of my mission that I have had thus far. We are teaching families, talking to people on the street, & other typical missionary things. I wish I could report a baptism coming soon, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen. I wish more people would progress. However, there is this one family in my area right now, a less active family, who are coming back to church! Their last name is "Caintapan". They are awesome. The father is hilarious & the whole family is just so nice. We had dinner there last week & had a FHE with them. It was a blast.

   Everyone I have talked to comments on how good my language is & always tells me that I will for sure be training next transfer because of how good I am at the language. I think that training would be so fun! However, I am also not sure if I am ready. I feel fine in the language... most of the time. There are still times when my brain is just tired & refuses to understand what is being said. Because of that, I feel a little uncertain about my ability to train right now. We had zone interviews with President Schmutz this transfer & the first thing he said to me when I walked in the door was, "Elder Staheli, I hear your Visaya is very good!" He just sat there & smiled at me when he said that & I told him that I feel very confident in speaking, but my understanding sometimes is still a little bit difficult. I told that experience to my last companion, Elder Walker, & he told me that that is exactly what President said to him the transfer before he trained! I guess if I am called on to train a new missionary, I will be prepared. I will have to work much harder with the language I think, but I also think that I would maybe grow the most during that time & make great strides in my mission life.

   I am glad to see that Halloween went great. The kids' costumes were awesome! Over here, it's a little bit different. It's called "Kalag-Kalag" or "day of souls". They start on Nov. 1 & on that day everyone goes & visits the graves of people who have died & they pay their respects, do all of their weird Catholic stuff like leave food on the grave for the body? It's weird. Anyway, they do that during the daytime of Nov. 1 & when night comes, it's like the turning point & the souls come out or something. I'm not exactly sure, like I said, it's strange. They don't do trick or treating. Casey, I have heard that the Chiefs are playing great! That also makes me happy because I like Andy Reid & Alex Smith. I hope they continue to play well. Seager, isn't that your favorite team? That's also very good that BYU is playing so well! It sounds like they will get a good bowl game if they keep it up. Grandma & grandpa, I am jealous that you are going to Hawaii! That sounds like so much fun! It doesn't sound to good about Orlando, however. I will keep him in my prayers. Also, I haven't received any packages. It does take a while to get packages or letters, so just be patient. I'm sure it will show up. I didn't really care who won the World Series. I don't really like either team, but I probably would have rather had St. Lois win. Oh well! Dad, that's funny about the couple serving here. I will look for them! It also sounds like you had a very busy day with the girls! It sounded like fun, though.

   Well, like I said, there isn't much to report this week. I miss you & love you all.

-Elder Staheli

Week 21: Tuesday October 29, 2013

 Hey friends, family, & fellow blog readers. It's me, Elder Staheli giving my weekly report to you all. It sounds like all is going so great back home! That makes me so happy to hear. Things are going awesome here as well! This past week, we had the pleasure of listening to & meeting Elder Neil L. Andersen. It was great, we took a picture with him as a mission, shook his hand, & he gave a talk. It was a very cool experience. Cebu East was also able to attend, so you know what that means...I had the chance to be reunited with an old high school buddy, Joey Rainey! I will send you pictures. Also, I met Elder Glines from St. George & another St. George kid is here. His name is Kyle Buck. We played on the same little league team! He walked into the chapel because him & his companion were staying at our apartment the night before since they are assigned over on Negros. He walked in with his bright red hair & we started talking. We conversed for about 5 minutes & I asked where he was from. He told me that he was from St. George & that's when it clicked! It was kind of funny. He was like "Dude, we played on the same little league team." It was kind of funny. We just laughed it off. Small world, huh?

   It sounds like BYU is killing it! Are they ranked? I hope they continue to play well & get a good bowl game. It's a shame about Utah, but oh well. Sounds like it's going to be a rough couple of seasons for the Jazz as well. Hopefully by the time I am home they will be a playoff team. I haven't had the chance to go through the temple here yet, but it's our turn in November. So, assuming I don't get transferred, I will be able to go through in November. Starr & Chad, Dax sounds so chubby. I wish I could squeeze his cheeks! That thing where he grabs you & "kisses" your cheek, I remember that Krue would do that all the time when he was little. Darn, I miss the kids. Casey, I hear that you are coming to the Philippines next year?! Do you know where you will be stationed? That would be awesome if you were able to come see me in Cebu. I have heard that my mission president has let missionaries see family members for things like that before. That would be awesome if we could see each other! Side note - Someone is paying for me to get a massage when I get home. As great as it is here, my body is killing. Oh, something kind of funny about the Philippines is that they start celebrating Christmas in September. Apparently it's because it's the start of the "-ber" months. It's a little ridiculous, but who am I to complain about too much Christmas spirit? I have been hearing Christmas songs since September. Last night I was speaking to this girl & we were talking about The Hobbit & she said that the second one comes out in "summer 2013". I asked her if she meant 2014, but she said "No, December 2013." I completely forgot that there are only 2 seasons over here: Summer & Wet season. December is during the summer. I know, I'm in a completely different world. 

   Other than that, it's just been work as usual. We have a new investigator named Michael. We challenged him to baptism on the first lesson & he accepted! We will see what happens, hopefully he progresses. I don't have any crazy stories from this past week, but I just want to share with you an experience that I had last night during a dinner appointment at a members house.

   We were sitting there, we had already taught a small lesson & ate dinner, & I kind of just stopped & took everything in. Here I was, a young 18 year old, American boy sitting in some house in the middle of the Philippines, speaking to people like I have known them for my entire life. I could speak to them & understand everything that they were saying.Though it was loud & somewhat chaotic around me, I couldn't help but feel like the world had paused, if only for those few moments, & tears filled my eyes. It reminded me of something that Chad wrote to me while I was still in the MTC. He wrote something along the lines of "Don't worry buddy. Someday you will be speaking to some short brown guy & then you will just stop & realize that you can say whatever you want to him." Well, I am far from fluent, but I experienced that last night. I can't describe the feeling in any other word other than "miracle".

   I am so happy with where I am & what I am doing. I wish everybody could experience serving a mission. Granted, it's not for everyone. In fact, it's probably the single hardest thing that you will do in your early life. But if you learn to lose yourself in the work & learn to love the people & most importantly, if you learn to love Heavenly Father, you can't help but have the most incredible, indescribable joy that can ever be experienced. I feel so at peace in my life right now. I miss family & friends, of course, but knowing that I am helping others return to our Heavenly Father is something that I wouldn't trade for anything.

   I would love to tell you about amazing experiences, but it is impossible to pick out just a few. It's the small miracles that happen everyday that make this work so enjoyable. The fact that I can speak another language nearly fluently,  the fact that we speak to people everyday who are ready to accept this message into their lives, there are so many small miracles that take my breath away everyday. But perhaps the greatest miracle that I have experienced on my mission is this: The fact that thousands of people pass me by everyday, yet I feel such love for them. I want them to have the same joy that I have. It's amazing. A few months ago my letter would have sounded sad & would have worried you all. Now, I have no lonely feeling. I feel the love of Heavenly Father in my life everyday, even though I constantly fail to live up to His standards. These thousands of nameless faces become my best friends. That, & that alone, is the greatest miracle of all.

   Well, keep living life back home without me. I will try to send pictures right now. Hopefully is works. I miss & love you all. Until next week.

-Elder Staheli

10.25.13

10.25.13

10.25.13