Oh my sweet little family...how i miss thee! I am currently sitting in a mall here in Bacolod City after having our Christmas zone activity today. I can hear someone singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" downstairs...but she isn't the best singer. haha! Still...it makes me heart miss you all even more. But...the work is amazing. Things have slowed down a lot this last week. Everyone says they will meet with us and listen to the lessons..and then they just hide from us or don't show up. We're a little miffed, but we press forward with faith, knowing that if WE do everything we can, the Lord will bless us. Rodelyn was baptized this last week and how wonderful it was. Sister Sabasan and I are doing so much better. After much prayer with my All loving Heavenly Father--things have been working out better.

I miss the whole Christmas bash and scarves, sweaters, singing, eating, hot cocoa, and of course our tradition of New Year's Mexican food! AH....how i miss your food. But the food here is nami guid ...er..really good. haha! It took me awhile to adjust, but I'm good now. :)
Kyler, are you staying healthy and crying often to make sure your lungs stay good and strong? haha..just kidding.
Well family, the work is going forward. I have a true love for these people. They would give you the shirt off their back if you needed it. The leadership in one of our wards is definitely struggling, and apparently they have been saying some stories about some missionaries...which is never a good thing. AH...gossip is the downfall of so many good things. I hate gossip. But I'll tell you what I do love..when people keep their commitments that they have made to the Lord. There is nothing like seeing someone get excited when they explain to you what they read in the Book of Mormon and what they understand! AH! I really feel like I am connecting to people better with each day. The language is coming so slowly...but it is coming. I know the Lord will help me. He loves us all so much, even when we aren't deserving of His love. I was reading through the conference ensign for my talk on Sunday and I read a paragraph in the last talk of President Monson that said basically that we are the Lord's hands on the earth and He needs us to do our part to bless others lives. That is so true! We must all do our part! So..my challenge to you this week is to step up to the plate and do your part, until you are to the point of exhaustion. Let us all look for not just one opportunity, but EVERY opportunity where we can be the hands of the Savior and reach out to help. This rarely has anything to do with money either...so those of us that are poor...wait..i think that's all of us right now..haha! Serve serve serve! Smile! Ask someone how they are doing...really doing...and then wait and listen for an honest answer. Do the small things and let people know they are needed and that they are cared for. So much comes from just that. We have a brother we teach sometimes, Brother Freddie, he isn't all there...we usually teach his family, but he has an issue with his mind from an accident. we were leaving the house and I shook his hand and said, "halong ka!" Take care...He grabbed my hand and said, "Mabait ka.." Which is tagalog..well I'm thinking in Ilanggo now and I couldn't think of what it meant..so I just stared at him. haha...and he said in broken English."you're nice. i like you."It was a tender mercy that I needed to hear that day. It means so much to me for people to feel my love for them, and my Savior's love for them through me. How I love being out here, even though it is ridiculously hard. I look forward to days to come. Today I was writing a letter and I realized I have been out for 3 months. I only have 15 months left! I immediately started to freak out thinking..where have I fallen short these last 3 months! Everyone says it gets faster and faster too! AH! So really fast...there was a funeral procession this last week. Well..I saw in a truck 2 women signing to each other. Well..with ASL you are suppose to sign to them if you know ASL so they know..its a respectful thing. So I signed to her, Hi, how are you. She freaked out with excitement! HAHA! So I signed to her for like 3 minutes until her truck was out of sight. It was hilarious and so fun to use it. I hope I will get called to the area her at some point. I have heard rumors that I most likely will later in the mission because it was on my mission papers. The AP's joke about it. Well, I love you tons and I can't wait to talk to you mom. I have some amazing photos coming your way. Get excited! :) I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU! I thank my Heavenly Father often that I have the blessing of being with you for eternity... BUT..we have to do our part! Do the little things, stay strong. No empty seats!! Merry Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May God bless each of you with the righteous desires of your hearts.

All my love,
Sister Stadler

Oh family, I just typed a phatty email and guess what? Yeah..it shut down and I lost it and now I'm really pressed for time. AH! Ok, let me see if I can remember what I said. I miss snow Amanda, so I would give anything to trade places for a day. This week has been really hard. Pray for people's hearts to be prepared for the gospel and that we will be spiritually in tune to find these people wherever they may be. Our area is really really BIG and it seems we can't go and do the things we need to as missionaries because our leadership here isn't even functioning. It has been really hard and I can see it weighing in Sister Sabasan. I had my first baptism on Saturday with Sister Honesty Bienvenido (14 years old). Rodelyn was suppose to be baptized as well but she missed our last teaching appointment and her baptismal interview. She is going to be baptized this coming Saturday though. Let me tell you...the Lord knows what He is doing when He organizes a church. If the leadership in the church isn't performing their duties, then the ward doesn't function, the stake doesn't function and the whole area suffers because of it. Missionary work takes a hard hit for sure! Especially when the Ward mission leaders and ward missionaries are missing in action! AH!!! Let me paint a little picture of the baptism this weekend. Our bishop of the ward didn't even know there was a baptism..even though he announced it..he showed up in jeans, didn't fill up the font..didn't do a single thing. Then he winged it welcoming her into the ward..sometimes I'm glad I can't completely understand what people are saying. Sister Sabasan was just sitting here shaking her head. haha. Um...Mom, I promise I don't purposefully ignore your questions. I have limited time on here and I try to answer all that I can remember. Have you gotten any of my letters yet? You should have 2 coming your way that should answer more of your questions. :)
As for toilet paper, it isn't common for people to use it. Even their malls here don't have tissue. But I bought some :) I couldn't take it anymore. people here just wash with water instead..or use their hands I'm assuming...which is another reason that we are suppose to carry rubbing alcohol with us at all times. hahaha! Oh...the Philippines. How I love thee. People are so matter of fact here. They don't hide anything. Like...example: We went to meet some investigators for a lesson. We walk into their little hut and there is a brand new mom and baby, she is nursing and the entire family is sitting there looking... ENTIRE family. The dad of the girl is trying to help her out....AH! I was like.. "man I'm so glad I'm a sister Missionary." haha..the poor elders. OH! So I wasn't able to see the Christmas devotional..because the cord was missing..but I was able to hear it! Although here everyone feels the urge to talk all the time so I literally had to close my eyes and lean forward and really really concentrate on what was being said. I wanted to just burst into tears and cry..either that or stand up and scream..."WHAT ON EARTH COULD BE SO IMPORTANT that you think what you say is of greater worth than what these brethren are saying??????" But as soon as the prophet started to speak there was a hush in the room..the spirit was strong. Oh how I love the prophet. His words truly bring peace to the weary soul.
So my challenge this week for you...in the mission we are reading the Book of Mormon before the end of the year. Now..granted, most of the mission has been working on this from June, but I am determined to finish it! So..I am in Alma 20's....I'm reading all about the sons of Mosiah! Such amazing men! I was laughing hysterically when I read about Ammon. That man was so funny, powerful, but humorous! You can just tell when reading about it and his whole plan of action for getting the kings attention. (ex. Alma 18:22.."yet being harmless") So..those of you willing to step up to the plate and take the challenge..read the Book of Mormon in one month! Cover to Cover! I have come to love the book like I have never loved a book before! There is true power and comfort in that book and message of hope in this world of noise and chaos and panic and fear and pain and total despair. How blessed we are to have this truth! I know with all of my heart that the gospel is true! It is continually made manifest to me that it is true. I love you all with all of my heart. My companion and I have had a big tiff here this last week...but the power of prayer is incredible. I have a firm knowledge that our Heavenly Father knows the intents of our hearts and we will be judged fairly. Pray for me with the language please. It is hard, and my companion has basically no desire to help me with it at all. Which is...stressful. I'm hanging in there and working hard and praying and reading and studying and just loving the people to death all that I can. I love you I love you I love you!!! Have a cup of hot chocolate for me and throw a snowball or two at each other! haha! The church is true! Truth will prevail! This is the Lord's work and it will continue to go forth and not fail! May the Lord bless you with the righteous desires of your heart!
All my love,
Sister Stadler

Have the fam send pics! I miss pictures..and I have some with me..but I want some new pics!

I have officially been in the mission for over a week and I'm pretty sure the first week is the hardest (at the beginning at least...until you actually understand people and then you realize the problems they are dealing with in their families.) I kept hearing President Stott's voice in the MTC, "Please..just stay for a week at least. It gets better I promise." And it does!
I don't feel like it is Christmas season at all. Part of that may be the fact that I sweat myself to death every day here. haha! no..i'm starting to adjust somewhat. I still sweat like crazy, but at nights it actually gets a little cold sometimes with the fan on. So...as for this week... besides the 3 mice that I found in the apartment and roaches the size of 2 of my fatty fingers put together, life is good. We had a workshop this last week for hometeaching and visiting teaching for the ward. These wards here are so young. They haven't implemented half of the programs they should be using. Sister Sabasan has to basically lead one bishop through things step by step. It is crazy. but the workshop went really well and some of the members really caught the vision. Things are so impromptu here. In the middle of the workshop I hear, "Now we will have a special musical number by Sister Stadler and Brother Thomas" ...um...what???? So I look at Sister Sabasan and she's just laughing. So I had brought a copy of Come thou fount with me..and I go up and play that on the piano and start singing...Brother Thomas starts right in ...perfect harmonies! He has the most beautiful voice I think I have ever heard from a man here. Most philippino's I have heard sing love to sing, but they don't have the greatest voices. Doesn't matter, their singing has power. But Brother Thomas's voice! AH! so good. So that was a treat. I'm suppose to sing at our baptism this Saturday! It's my first. Woohoo! Too bad I was only here for the last couple lessons, but the girls were amazing. We have a few people lined up for the 26th of December too. We're excited for them. We have some really solid investigators here. I pray for them every day, multiple times. They have so little, and some of them really desire to come to church, but the choice is either to work on Sunday and make enough to put food in their children's mouths or come to church. Pray hard for them. Especially Jennifer and her little siblings and the Cesar family (Jessie, Rowena and Jeroboy). I only have 9 minutes, I would go into more detail about them, but I'll have to do that in a letter and have mom put it up or Amanda or something.
So this week, I heard a song..I can't remember if I mentioned it last time. lol...it's from the Best 2 Years soundtrack. It says, "will I ever learn this language...will it ever come easy for me? Will the people that I meet, on the street, will I ever know what they are saying to me.." It goes on forever...it is hilarious! I died laughing listening to it because it expresses everything I have ever felt. I'll put it on the next tape I'll send..which you probably won't get until February or something. If you get it. I have talked to many missionaries and I have gotten some ideas of how to get this language started. I hear over and over and over that it takes at LEAST at the very LEAST 5 months to get the language down. That is a long long time....patience is something I was not blessed with in the Pre-existence and I am reminded of it daily. But....it will come. Life is good..and the people here are remarkable. Funny experience, so we were tracting and my digestion has not been the greatest here. I have to be really careful what I eat..I'm definitely starting to drop some weight. But..anyway..we were walking one night and we were near a member's home and I said.. "Sister, I need a bathroom now...something is not good." haha...so we go to this member's house, they aren't home. But the neighbor is in their home in the back entrance. So we go to the member's home. I go into the CR...I start to go to ....there isn't any tissue right? SO you use this water bucket thing to clean off...yeah...no water. The toilet doesn't flush, no water in the sink..the shower doesn't work..the door doesn't even shut all the way. IT was BAD!!!! hahahahaha! So I can hear Sister Sabasan outside the door talking to the kids. I'm thinking..ok, do i tough it out and get all sick and just deal with it until we get back tonight...no. Not even a remote possibility. SO I call out to her and she asks the little girl if there is any water. NOPE! hahah..good thing she told me. So she saved me...grabbed a bucket and went and pumped water outside so I take care of it. oh my gosh...I have never felt so scared in my entire life. hahaha!
Well family, Brother Leslie sent an email and included the 4th verse of hymn 85, which is so true. The Lord will never abandon us, no matter our trials or circumstances. I love you all so much. Keep praying for me..hard..i need all the prayers I can get. I pray for each of you day and night. God is in charge. May the Lord bless each of you. All my love,
Sister Stadler

Well, I am officially here and have so many things I wish I could share with you. The flights all went well and they weren't bad at all flying for two days actually. It was kind of nice. I didn't pass out as many pass along cards as I wanted to, but I was able to give out a Book of Mormon to a really awesome guy who goes to the Philippines to buy mangoes for a store his friend owns. just for mangos! They are really really really good though! Their fruit here is unlike any fruit I have ever had. It is all half the size though..or a lot of it is, of fruit in the U.S. My companion is a native Philippino, Sister Sabasan, from Manila. So Brother Leslie, your predictions were wrong. Sister Sabasan is a really nice, but I feel like I depend on her more than I should. I am trying to get over that and to work as hard as I can. I met sister Grant! Brother Leslie she says to tell you hello! She is a little fireball of energy! haha! She is hilarious! She thought it was way funny that we knew everything about her already from being here.
So the work is so busy and incredibly overwhelming. I have never felt so inadequate in my entire life. The people here are so nice and they are all really willing to talk to me, but here is the problem...I DON"T UNDERSTAND A SINGLE THING THEY SAY!!!! Our area of Ilanngo speaking only and just today did I get a book so I could see some vocabulary to work with. I try to teach in Tagalog and they stop me and say, "just teach in English, it is hard to understand you." Which of course makes me want to start bawling because I think..."But that's not my call! You have to hear this in your native tongue!" But instead, I do a mix of Tanglish and use scriptures for them to read. We have two wards in our area and it is really really busy. I spoke in both wards on Sunday. One ward the bishop is older and has been a member for awhile, he just had me bear my testimony and introduce myself (which I did in Ilanggo...with the help of my 3x5note card). The other ward, the bishop comes up to us when church is starting and says, "It's the 5th Sunday, every 5th Sunday the missionaries speak!" So Sister Sabasan an I gave talks. She also talked to him how he should be assigning talks ahead of time. It was crazy! Their talks are all in English, so my talk was in English, about faith leading us to do missionary work, but then I did my testimony in Ilanggo to finish it up.
SO I know you want to know about the area, so here ya go...I'll paint a picture for you. It's like Brother Leslie said, its like we are living in a national geographic. I haven't sweat like this in my entire life. I am on fire all the time, which of course makes me feel disgusting, but it is ok. The majority of people are living in bamboo shacks in the middle of the jungle with bamboo floors that you can see through. Sometimes I wonder if the floors are built to hold up the weight of a "curvy" American girl. haha! But they always do. Their are pigs and animals everywhere, and the places don't smell pleasant. But the People!!! OH the people!!!!! They are the kindest and nicest and most genuinely sweet people I have ever met! They just want to befriend everyone and will talk to you. They will give their names and addresses to complete strangers.. (but addresses here are like the areas of the city where you live, not an exact address.). It is remarkable. Today Sister Sabasan and I came into Bacolod City, it's about an hour from our apartment in Bago City, to meet up with some people in our district and zone for lunch at KFC...which is nothing like American KFC by the way. And I was able to see my district members Sister Adams and Elder Foulds!!! I was so happy! I have been really discouraged this whole week. I know I have only been out for like 4 days, but at the same time... I feel like I will never get this language down! I have been really trying to study hard and I feel like everything I thought I knew has been forgotten and ripped apart. But talking to them today I realized that They are all experiencing the same things. Satan in working hard on me...I have had many a night crying, alone in the CR (comfort room or bathroom). But I just keep telling myself.. suck it up princess! you have a love for these people already...now work your hardest and the Lord will bless you. The first night I started to think, just go home. Everyone will understand, you're never going to get this and it is really hard here. You had no idea what you were getting yourself into. But then I snapped into it and thought...Ashley, that is the dumbest thing you have ever thought! Forget yourself and get to work...don't let Satan put those ridiculous thoughts into your mind. Teach these people! And so...I am here trying to do just that. I have no idea what is being said in the lessons, but I do add my testimony to the lessons and I teach as much as I can. Pray hard for me...please. I know you all are, but keep my name in the temple. I feel so lost sometimes, but I know it is possible. If God can create an entire earth and raise people from the dead and perform these mighty miracles, surely He will help a little pathetic girl from Arizona learn a language so she can teach His children who are in dire need of hearing the message. I love you all so much and I can't wait to get some mail from you..hint hint. Paul and Holly, congrats on Kyler's birth!!! He is as precious as he can be. I'm so glad everything went well for you. A couple random facts, there isn't toilet paper here. Yeah...that's fun. Th showers aren't bad at all! We should all shower like this..we would save tons on water! Surprisingly, the heat doesn't keep me from sleeping because I'm so exhausted at the end of the day. Life is so good! I love you! The church is true! Pray pray pray and share the gospel all you can! It's so easy to do it in America!! In your native tongue! Open your mouths!
Sister Sweating like it' going out of style Stadler :)

Oh my goodness family! The day has finally come! I can't believe my little eyes! Tomorrow (Bukas) is the day! We are all kind of experiences a flood of emotions lately. Today I lost it during the last part of the session when I realized it would be my last time to be in the temple for 16 months! I had a really spiritual experience too with the woman I went through for. The Lord is so giving with His tender mercies. Mom, don't worry. I'm trying to be better with my journal writing. I have been writing in it, but there really just isn't time every night! I hear it gets better in the field..but we'll just have to see about that! haha! My goal is to write a little something every day. Good grief I am going to miss the MTC. It has been a wonderful experience and I have been so blessed. It is interesting what Satan will do to try to destroy the work. Sister Ball and I haven't had a lick of trouble our whole companionship and yet this week Satan has been working hard on us. So..through many tears and companionship inventories we are doing really well. We are pumped to place copies of the Book of Mormon and many many many (marami) pass along cards! So one of our amazing Elders, Elder Scott, actually found part of the Philippines Dedicatory Prayer for missionary work in a talk, "Missionary Work in the Philippines" by Elder Augusto A. Lim in the November 1992 Ensign. The promises for the country and the missionaries who serve there are incredible! Sister Ball and I couldn't help but cry when we read it. I would copy and paste it here, but we don't have the pleasure of having that function! AH! One thing it does say is that.. "{the missionaries} may be clean and virtuous, that their examples may be marvelous before the people, that they may be blessed, as it were, with the 'gift of tongues', that they shall speak the language of the people, that they shall work with singleness of purpose to Thy name's honor and glory. that they shall go forth without fear, that none shall stay them, and that they shall declare with teaching and testimony, the restoration of Thy holy work for the blessing of Thy children. Father, give them joy and courage and faith and satisfaction in their labors, and make them fruitful." Then it goes on to bless the people of the land and it says beautiful blessings! So get this... President Hinckley gave the blessing on APRIL 28th 1961!! My birthday folks! Isn't that crazy? funny little coincidence! :) So read it, it is beautiful and gives us such hope. The 2nd coming is on its way and we are so blessed to be a part of the work to help direct people in righteous paths. I was reading yesterday in Peter and I found a scriptures I really liked. 1 Peter 5:5-8 I love verse 7 in particular. It says, "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.." I love that phrase. I don't remember ever reading it before. How beautiful this simple, yet profound, statement is. That Our Heavenly Father, the supreme creator of us all, cares for us! He weeps with us when we weep and He rejoices in our kaligayahan (happiness)! I love verse 14 as well, "Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen" I know we will have peace if we turn to Christ. I know it because I have felt it. We get so lost in our own self concern and pity that we often forget that this life isn't about us!!!! We signed up to come and help our brothers and sisters come to a knowledge of God and come unto Him through the Atoning Sacrifice of our Savior, even Jesus Christ! What are we actively doing at this point in our lives? Are we more concerned about finishing our schedules daily or for looking for opportunities to give and teach and love? Look this week for opportunities to share the gospel. Be bold! We forget that the people we love already know the truth! They have just forgotten it! We are here to remind them of it! It's such a beautiful blessing to be a part of the work! Do it! Push yourselves! Jump into it with both feet and love every second of it!
Ok, I have only a few seconds left to type. I can't believe as of hours from this moment I will be surrounded by the shortest and most sincerely humble individuals I have ever met and I won't be able to understand a single thing they say!! hahahaha! I know this gospel is true. I love you all so much. to those who have written and to whom I haven't responded, I'm sorry. Life is busy, but I pray for you and at some point in the future, you will hear from me. May the Lord bless you in your efforts to be righteous and to live the gospel to the best of your ability. The Savior's return is not far off. We can't afford to procrastinate! I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU! XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

The one and only (somewhat Tagalog speaking)-
Sister Stadler

A few more MTC pics

Holy heck, I have so much on my mind and the whole email system is being ridiculous today. So..hopefully this works. So I have my flight plans!! AH! It was a super happy day in the class when we got them. Yeah, so we leave on the 24th here, lose a day and get to the Philippines "2 days later". haha! That is just pure craziness. I'll gain 2 days coming back to the states at the end of my mission too. Weird..just weird.
Thanks for getting the first aid kit. I know i will definitely use it there. They don't have any real medical places I guess. Of course the mission has places for us, so don't freak out, but that is just for serious things. We covered medical this week..AH!!!! It was insane! Also..I found out the church has water purifiers that they have specially patented for missionaries. So my water will be completely clear and pure. but we aren't allowed to drink anything else that members make. Weird huh? We will eat on average at 2 members homes a month..maybe less and we can't eat anything unless we actually help to prepare it ourselves and see exactly what is being put into the food and that it is throughougly cooked. ha! mom, as for shoes, Amanda bought me some crocs, and the other sandals, I don't even know. I didn't ever try any on, but I think they run big. I think I will be fine with the others. They give us copies of the Ensign here so I do have the conference issue. Last night I was reading Bednar's about consistance in the home. SO good!!!! Sheri Dew spoke here last night! I was like a foot away from her, it was amazing! She said something that really stuck out to me. She said, "A nation can only be as strong as it's families." It is so true! If we don't have strong families, then the nation will go nowhere! Happy people come from strong, stable families. Look at our families in the United States. If Satan can hit the families as hard as he can and diminish the importance of family in a nations mind, then no one will be happy. Without happiness, people become very self-centered and selfish. Selfishness leads to every sin you can ever imagine and then here we are, a whole nation, just laying our will and freedom in the center of Satan's greedy little hands. It makes me sick to think about it. We must do all in our power to keep our families strong and to speek with others about the importance of family. So I was released on Sunday from being coordinating sister. It feels really weird seeing someone take over, but at the same time, it is nice to not have meetings all the time and take away from the study time I have. I can't believe I only have a few days left. AH! On Sunday the sisters sang Silent Night. We did 3 part harmony in Tagalog, it sounded sooooooo good! Mom, I thought about you when we were singing it. You would have loved it. It was really interesting, there are so many church services here, as you can imagine. Usually you can hear the other church through the folding walls. Well, we were getting ready to sing, a capella, and another musical number started in the service next door to us, a big piano solo. It was so loud! so we started singing and no one could even hear us. But I prayed, "Heavenly father, we have practiced so hard on this and it sounds so good! Help us to be heard and to invite the spirit to the meeting!" And seconds later, the other solo ended. It was right at the critical verse of the song, the last one, where we broke into 3 part harmony and the words just rang out in the air proclaiming Christ's birth. It was absolutely beautiful. I recorded a practice on a tape that I will be sending you within this week. It doesn't do it justice, but it sounds pretty good. I sang the tenor part an octive higher. So fun! So funny story about the Philippino's. When a woman is pregnant she goes around pinching people that have attributes that they want their children to have. They actually think it will give their children those attributes! haha! So Brother Leslie, 3 weeks into his mission was pinched like crazy on the cheek by a woman! HAHAHAHA! Good times. Look forward to random stories like that. So yesterday we also were able to hear Sister Oaks in Relief Society. She said some amazing things. She brought a little down syndrom girl with her, she bore her testimony and sang a song. Earlier in the program another girl sang a musical number. It was amazing the contrast of the pieces. the first girl, while having a beautiful voice, was obviously doing a performance, while the little handicap girl sang with her pure testimony. There wasn't a dry eye in the place. I was amazed at the power that filled the room. The Spirit was so strong. Absolutely beautiful.
I have 5 minutes left! ah!Lets see...Brother Leslie went into more detail about the Philippines. Let me just say it in a few words. No one tells you that Pornography and sexual sin is rampant over there. They say every home you walk into will have porn all over their walls and many times a "Santo Ninyo" doll, a baby Jesus doll, on the same wall. Or a life sized statue of Christ hanging with blood all over Him. Just gruesome things. I could go into more detail, but I don't have time. So..basically....pray...pray hard, especially for the elders. It is a mission where they have the highest number of missionaries sent home. But, it is also the mission with the highest number of requirements for someone to get baptized. These people are so lost, but they are looking, seeking for truth. and guess what the best part is.... WE HAVE IT!!!!! WOOH OOOO!! I'm so excited! I can't wait to get out there, slaughter the language and just get my hands into the work! I know I have people there that I am specifically going to help. As long as I love them, and show Heavenly Father's love through me, they will feel it. The spirit will bear witness that what I am "trying" to say is indeed true. This work is real! It is soul saving! I love you all so much and my next letter will be the last one from good old snow on the ground...it is freezing now PROVO, UTAH! All my love,
Sister Ashley Stadler

Well hello family!
As some of your know, I was put into quarantine for Swine flu this last week and what a week it was! haha! I started having symptoms on Monday night. I went into the clinic on Tuesday and they sent me back to my room and said to gargle with salt water and sleep. So I did. That night I felt amazing! So we went to the devotional and then to class and life was good. Then Wednesday we welcomed knew missionaries, we were host missionaries (yes Mom, the ones we saw waving us into the MTC and helping with bags.) CRAZY Huh? I swear I was just coming into the MTC and now I'm a host..insanity. Anyway, so I welcomed 2 sisters and took them through the whole tour of the MTC and then BAM! It hit me and I didn't look so good either apparently. I thought I was just making up symptoms because everyone was talking about them. So I was trying to just tough it out and make it through class so I could sleep. But...Brother Leslie came over and said, "Have you been to the clinic?" haha! I obviously looked pretty bad. So I went, and they test me for the flu. I guess swine flu tests are like $300 and take 3-4 days to process and you treat it exactly the same. SO....the nurse comes back and says, "Well you hit the lotto! You have won a 7 day all expense paid trip to Isolation!!!" Funny thing is..before she took the test she said, "You probably just need to sleep. But, we'll test you just to make sure." Then they do this swabbing thing in your nose that is perhaps the most evasive procedure! haha! I thought she surely found my brain. So I can hear her talking to the other nurses where my strip is processing and I hear them say.. "WOOO!! Ladies...take a look at this one!" HAHAHA! So I knew then I was doomed. Anyway, quarantine wasn't that bad. It was good to be able to sleep. They almost sent me to the hospital because of my lungs...but I'm good to go now! Prayer works! Mom, I know you were praying hard for me. There was one night when I was feeling pretty down in there and I was thinking about how far behind I was getting on the language and I was lonely..anyway, I started to say a prayer and then I had this image of you kneeling in the family room pleading with our Heavenly Father for me. I don't think I have ever had an image come so vividly. I knew it was going to be ok and I slept better that night than I have in a long time.
So..I'm still a little tired, but life is once again....so good! I could see the most beautiful tree from my window there. The leaves were at their best..tender mercy.
So mom, you asked what the new primary program song is. It is called "I know that my Savior loves me". The words are so tender and sweet. They have the sister missionaries take it with them into the field because many of us will be working in the primaries in the wards where we serve I guess. Definitely listen to it. Last night there was a beautiful musical number with a cello/piano/singer. It was an arrangement of "I feel my Savior's Love". I couldn't help but feel that the chorus's words are truer now in my life than ever before. "He knows I will follow Him, Give all my life to Him. I feel my Savior's love, the Love He FREELY gives me". How beautiful and true! Our Savior is so willing to freely give of His love, but He won't force His love on us. We must be willing to turn to Him, so humble ourselves enough to say, "Look, I can't do this alone. I know I can't. And I know it won't be easy! If it were easy I wouldn't be able to come to know Thee better, or of Thy sacrifice. But, I need Thee. Please help me and comfort me." I am learning more and more about the Atonement every day here. The depth of that act fascinates me. I'm sure I am just touching the tip of the iceberg, but it has made such a difference in my life already. I'm sure as soon as I enter the field I will be even more in awe when I see those investigators that I love so much using it in their lives.
So now I get to ask questions! Woohoo! I have lots of time this week since I haven't done much in class and don't have a ton to share! For all of you that have sent letters, good grief, heaven bless you!! I love you all so much and I do a little happy dance whenever I get a letter. The world will never know the worth of a letter to a missionary!! HAHA! So Holly and Paul, how is the pregnancy? How is this trimester going? Are you about the burst will the pressure of life right now? Amanda and Joshua, thanks for all you do! Sean, did you get my last letter? How is work going? Is it still pretty slow in Havasu? I keep hearing people say, "the recession is over!" somehow I find that hard to believe...since people still aren't spending money. Robyn, hey lady! I'm still waiting to hear from you! How is the saving money going? How is Sammi? Is she coming for Thanksgiving? Christmas? They are already putting lights in the trees here. They don't mess around! haha! Shelley, I don't even know if you read this, but I love you to death. Give the kids hugs for me and write me sometime. If I had your address I would have already been all over that.
Amanda, you asked me about package stuff, so here ya go. Mom is sending me vitamins I think to try to help me get my energy back. It was super weird talking to them on the phone. I felt like I was doing something against the rules! haha! It was sooooo good to hear their voices though! I lost it..people brought me tissues. ha! Also...To my siblings: When I go to the airport, on the 24th of this month.. hopefully...if nothing keeps us here...I get to call family!!! So I'll let you know better when my flight is, but usually it is around 4:30 that we leave Provo. So...ya'll better have your phones on you so I can talk to you for at least a few minutes! I'm pretty excited about that. So a girl that is in our mission emailed me and told me a little about her experiences. I told you a bit about her last time, the one who speaks ASL now there! Well get this, her mom helps with choir, I went yesterday, and she said Sister Carr and her companion had 12 investigators come to church yesterday! 12!!!!!!!!! That is so exciting! My heart skips a beat to think about leaving here in 15 days. Our language skills are...blah....but we are trying! We have enough to teach with the spirit and to teach truth and testify of truth. Sister Hawkes, a teacher here said that we need to stop worrying. We know way more than she knew when they sent her out and she said as long as you only speak it when you get there it will be fine! So...with faith in every footstep, I wait out these last 15 days. I am starting to feel like we aren't ever actually leaving here, they are only teasing us with that info! haha! But I know soon enough the day will come when I'm flying there. Then I'm sure I will feel like I'm never going home and then BOOM..I'll get my flight plans. What a bittersweet day that will be.
Well, family and friends, I love you all so much. I pray for you all the time. I know I put that in each letter, but it is because it is true! You aren't alone. This week, you should all read Holland's talk, "None were with him" from April conference. I was reminded of our Savior's love for us while reading it. We have no idea what He felt, why he took that upon Him, but how blessed we are that He did. The church is true! It won't ever be false! We better decide who's side we are on now. (its a pretty easy decision!) :) I love you I love you I love you!!! I'll talk to you in a couple weeks. Until next time, God Speed!
All my love,
Sister Stadler (aka peanut, booger, jimmy-dean, astads)

Hinihello Family! :) (sometimes the Philippino's congigate "hello")
How wonderful this week has been. I feel bad for being so "Debbie Downer" in my last email about the language. Heavenly Father is definitely testing me, but I am constantly amazed at how He will bless us if we are obedient. I have so much I want to share with you this week and I hate that my emails are timed. BUT...oh well. Here it goes. This week has been a spiritual feast in the MTC! Our Tuesday devotional speaker was none other than Elder L. Tom Perry himself! AND!!!!!! The one week we decided to sing in the choir, he came!!! I was so excited to have that opportunity! We sang, Lead kindly light. It was absolutely gorgeous. He actually based most of his talk off of a talk given by Jeffrey R. Holland before. He spoke about how teaching is the greatest call, and what it requires of us to have the spirit as the senior companion as we teach. Amazing! So..take the time this week to read these talks, "Blessed are the Peacemakers"- Elder Theodore M. Burton, "Abide With Me"- Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. Both amazing talks! I wanted to quote them on here, but I don't have time to get everything else on here that I want...but powerful! If you haven't had a chance to read Monson's from priesthood session, and Eyrings, read those too! These men speak with such power and their authority is evident! I had the chance to listen to a devotional given by Jeffrey R. Holland and Sheri Dew in the last 2 days. In these talks they spoke of the Savior and the importance to follow him, exactly. Sister Dew said, "Be obedient, be MORE obedient than you need to be! When you are, Satan loses his power to affect you. Watch as spiritual power will flow into your life!" I invite each of you to be more obedient than you need to be! I testify that if we are really striving to be obedient, to pray sincerely, to emerse ourselves in the scriptures, to keep our covenants completely and faithfully, to have charity towards those around us...that we will see blessings come into our lives that we couldn't have imagined before. I know this because I have seen it in my life as I have been on this mission. It is powerful! If God didn't have great power, He would NEVER be sending 19 year olds and 21 year olds into the world to teach His word! Haha! Remember as you set out to accomplish this goal that the Lord never, NEVER, asks too much. He does ask a lot, but if we try our hardest, Then..and only then, do we witness the miracle. I have been studying Alma 36 this week and I love verse 24 when Alma is teaching his son, Helaman about the his experience. He says, "I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance." We must ask ourselves, are we truly laboring without ceasing? Elder Holland said at a friend's funeral, "We spend too much of our lives acting as though we're going to stay here--when we aren't, we can't, and we won't!" How true that is! How concerned we become with the trivial. He also said, "The battle from heaven still wages, the arena has just changed!" Pick your side! So..this week, let's all choose to be stronger, to be more obedient, to delve further into our scriptures and come to Christ. Not just for a day, or a week, but to come and stay! I'm sure you want to hear about my week instead of my lectures..lol...but this is what happens in the week. It's not that I want to preach to you, but I want us to be better, together! So, that being said, here is a quick update on my life at the MTC and then I'll share a remarkable and tender experience I had this week. We realized this week that we only have 3 weeks until we are surrounded with tiny little people in the Philippines and how excited and anxious we are! We are trying our hardest to stay completely focused in the work and to learn as much of the language as we can. To those of you who have prayed and fasted for me, I can feel the power of the prayers and I thank you. Keep praying! I have so far to go..but the language is coming. I still love my companion to death. I don't know what else to tell you!! I'm so blessed! I went to the temple this morning and it was a powerful experience. I have been really focusing on prayers and making them more meaningful. 3 days ago I felt the need to pray...just kneel and pray. And so I did. That night I knelt down after all the sisters were in bed and I pled with my Heavenly Father. I spoke of all my concerns, my weaknesses, my shortcomings, the desires of my heart for my family members, each by name, gratitude for the many blessings I have been given, and the most amazing thing happened. I have found there comes a time on our knees when revelation starts to flow freely. I did not hear a voice, I did not see a vision, but I did know that my Heavenly Father was communicating to me openly. I lost all track of time and have never before prayed for that amound of time. The amount of time I spent on my knees is not important, but my point is, WE are the ones who decide the amount of time we spend directly communicating with our Heavenly Father! I would encourage each of you, when you feel you should, to kneel down in a secret place and pour your heart out. Cry unto your Heavenly Father. When pauses come, let them come! Don't be afraid of lulls in the prayer. I promise you that as you do this, you will have a great sense of peace and you will feel your Heavenly Father's love for you stronger than you can imagine. It doesn't matter if you haven't prayed in years, He is waiting to hear from you. I have a few minutes left, I just want you to know that I know that this church is true. This is the restored Gospel of Christ on the earth in it's fulness! I know it! I don't believe it, I know. I have witnessed too many blessings to sit here and deny the truth of it. Christ lives!! Joseph Smith is a true prophet and we have a living prophet on the earth today to bless us! 10 years ago President Hinckley spoke in the Priesthood session of conference and told us to get our debts out of the way and to put money into savings because if there was a financial crisis it would being much sorrow to the world. What is happening today? We would be very foolish to not pay close attention to Thomas S. Monson's counsel to us today. I love you all more than you know! Be Strong! Do what you know is right and the Lord will send down the blessings of heaven! Till next time, God Speed! Always, Sister Stadler

The first of many pictures...

Oh my goodness family, how I have missed you! I realized this week that I am at my halfway point in the mtc and i'm starting to freak outa little bit. Life is really good though.
Thanks to all of you who have been writing. Once again..you have no idea how important letters are to missionaries until you have letters! Unfortunately I get very little time to write back and family is my priority, SO...if you have written faithfully and I haven't written back yet..I'm sorry..your time will come! :) ok..let me see. Mom, I won't be castrating any sheep on Sister Ball's farm. Her dad does all of that. lol! I'm pretty excited though. I am so happy she is my companion and I thank God daily for it. I wouldn't have it any other way. Mom..I'll answer your other questions in a huge-fatty letter I'm sending off today! :) Get excited!
Okay, random fact about the Philippines... on June 25th, John the Baptists birthday, they apparently run around the city pouring HUGE buckets of water on people to "baptize" them. funny huh??? Sister Rather said wear something not shear that day. haha! Also, this is random, Sweet sister rather can't always get our names right, so she has gotten in this fix of calling me Sister Stradler...which is a common mistake...but then she also calls my companion Sister Balls...lol! We had to finally correct her and let her know it wasn't good to pair those two together. So..I gave my first talk in Tagalog this week. It was simply and short, but I could feel the spirit. To be honest, I'm really struggling with the language. I got a blessing yesterday and I am more at peace with it, but it was SO SO SO HARD! Before I got my call the 2nd time I felt like I might learn ASL for my mission. But then..lo and behold it was Tagalog. Which I was also excited about. Well a sister from here just left 2 weeks ago and emailed me today. Guess what? She was reassigned when she got there to not speak Tagalog, but 2 other dialects and....ASL!!!!!!! Are you kidding me??? I guess they use it often! So..I may still have the opportunity. Who knows? It is up to the Lord and His will for me. But that would be amazing. I kept having that thought come to me last week, but I thought it was just craziness. Time will tell. So..there is an amazing quote in Preach my Gospel that I wanted to share this week. It is on page 151. "The attitude you have toward your mission experience is a reflection of your love toward your Heavenly Father and His Son and your respect for the priesthood." AMAZING!! Attitude is so important! I have learned a lot about myself while I have been out and the Lord has opened my eyes to my imperfections, which has been hard, humbling, and so good for me! I have realized that though I may have thought I was ready for marriage in the past...I have so many things I want to work on before I get married. I think that quote can be applied to any calling we have in the church though, including Visiting Teaching and Home teaching! The attitude we have towards God's work reflects how we feel about God, His Son, and the priesthood! Powerful!
Mom, you know that quote from The Guardian that you love? We had a speaker who shared a thought during a devotional that made me think of it, along with the story President Gunnell shared about Janice. He just talked about how on the Titanic many safety boats moved away from the ship as it was sinking so they wouldn't be pulled under. He said, then after the ship went under and people were still alive floating in the water, they went back to get the survivors because they wanted to help save them and they had more room in their safety boats. He said that survivors noted that sometimes people going into the early stages of hypothermia would swim away from the boats when others were trying so hard to save them. But there was nothing they could do about it. No matter how hard they tried, they would swim away, to their death. He talked about how missionary work is a lot like this. He said, a missionary with a vision can row a lifeboat 3 times faster because of spiritual adrenaline. He said, "you will be able to save many of them, but if spiritual hypothermia has already set in, they will swim away from you. Don't let that get you down. Save as many as you can!" This made me think of the Guardian, quote, "I swim as fast and I can, as hard as I can, for as long as I can, and the sea takes the rest." Sister Ball and I can't wait to be in the field, but a part of us will stay with the MTC. We have loved every moment of our experience here so far. The real work starts here and intensifies in the field. I have been missing family a lot this week. Sister Hawkes, a teacher here, shared some experiences from her mission with us this week. She said, "You're going to sweat like you've never sweat before. It will be all down your shirt and you will feel disgusting, but then it rains and no one knows if it is sweat or rain..and quite honestly, no one cares! Cause they are all sweating too! :)" haha..But she also said, "The Philippine people will teach you more than you could ever teach them. Where you are assigned has a lot to do with how the Lord needs to shape you for your life. It's about learning how to be happy when you have absolutely nothing! And being content when you have what you need. If you get down and miss your family, think of it this way. Yes, you are sacrificing 18 months or 2 years from your family, but you're doing it so the people you teach can be with their families forever!" I loved the way she put that. It put everything into perspective for me. Sometimes our focus gets a little tweaked and then we start a little pitty party. But, as President Hinckley's father said, "Forget yourself and get to work!" Or as Sister Ball and I have adopted the phrase from the Hansons... "Suck it up princess!" :) hahaha! We use that often, although I usually say it to myself. We had a really cool experience this week teaching in a TE. I have 2 minutes to write about it, but I want to share it. We went to teach a guy, Brother Miskell, and he decided he was going to play himself from 5 years ago, before he was baptized. We were teaching the 2nd lesson about the Plan of Salvation. So we start going through the lesson plan like normal and then Sister Ball goes off on agency..in depth and the ability to choose and I ended up going in depth about the Atonement, with much deeper scriptures than we would ever use! But..we get done with our time and he said, "I don't want to stop learning. I hate to have to stop you, but I have the next appointment. But can I ask if you taught differently than you normally would have?" We started to think about it and said, yes, we definitely did. We shared what we both felt impressed to share. I originally had another scripture, but turned to D&C 19. Well...come to find out, those are the exact scriptures the missinoaries shared the first time and he had been praying about things recently that he needed answers to and we were able to help him with it. AMAZING!! POWERFUL! The spirit is real! God knows us! He loves us! He is so willing to bless us..but the promptings are so quiet and still. Act on them! Allow quiet time in your life so you can be more in tune! Draw close to Christ and never pull away from HIM! Christ lives! Truth is restored! I love you all!
~Sister Stadler

Oh how I have missed you all this last week. This week has been filled to the brim with blessings and humbling moments.
SO..some things I have found out about the country. Mom, you will be gleefully happy to hear that eating dog is illegal in the Philippines! Apparently only the drunkards eat it, and I don't see the drunkards having the missionaries over for dinner often. So no worries there. Also, the partially fertilized egg thing...Sister Rather (who is a native Philippina) said that her mission president told them not to eat it and that it isn't impolite to reject it because it is known to make many missionaries sick! AH!
Paul and Holly, how is Kaitlin doing? How is the trimester going for you? What about the pregnancy? I assume all is well since I haven't heard anything...either that, or everything is terrible and no one wants to tell me! haha! Amanda, I love to hear from you each week. Those letters and quick emails mean more to me than you could ever know. Also, reminiscing about the Olive Garden experience the night I went through the temple made me laugh harder than I have in a long time. haha! Josh, how is school going this semester? Are you still working to set up events? Sean, are you getting enough hours at work? Did you get my letter? I hope to hear from you soon! Robyn, I love your cards! The pictures you send were amazing and everyone in the district was super excited to see "little Ashley". :) Shelley, I don't know if you read this ever, but I love you to death and I love all of my adorable nieces and nephews as well. I pray for each of you nightly. I have never realized how powerful prayer can be. True I have had the occasional truly meaningful prayer in the past, but now my prayers are longer than ever, and I realize I wasn't praying for hardly anything before!!Make sure you are all spending time on your knees. I hate to sound preachy in my e-mails or letters, but I'm finally beginning to realize the power that comes with complete and "strict obedience" (in Alma 56-57..read it..it is amazing!) I only want to share what I have learned with you.
As for my lovely friends who have written, good grief I love you all. I also pray for you and hope you are doing all you can to grow closer to God and to learn more about the Atonement so that you can use it even more effectively in your lives.
Mom, you asked for what you could specifically pray for. So here it is, I have been giving a lot of thought to praying for the language and the gift of tongues and have come to the conclusion that I have been channeling my energy in the wrong direction. Instead of praying for the ability to get the language, I have been praying for the spirit to be my personal tutor in this work. It is impossible for me to learn this language academically, but I can do it spiritually, according to the will of God. So, don't pray so much for the language, but more so that my faith and my ability to recognize the spirit will be greater so that I can then call upon the powers of heaven for the gift of tongues. But..I must be personally prepared first.
Sister Ball and I had a beautiful experience in the Teaching Appointment last Thursday. We started out with our language task of picking up an investigator to go to church and ask if they were able to keep their commitments of reading 3 Nephi11 and praying to know about Joseph Smith as a prophet of God. The language part went pretty well, we were working with a native Philippina, Charlene. We then had to go back to the room and teach her the 2nd lesson in English. So we went back to the door and my heart was pounding like crazy. Earlier in the day we taught a 15 minute lesson with a teacher here and we got demolished. He stopped us halfway through and said, "you are giving me so much information and yet you haven't related it to me personally at all...i have completely shut you out. Now fix it..Go" It completely through me off guard and I prayed like crazy and it did get better, but i was thrown off. So I didn't want to repeat that experience that night! I had been praying all day and pondering on the things we had been taught and I have been really trying to be as in tune with the spirit as I possibly can be so I can EASILY distinguish it's promptings. So we start to teach this lesson. Ask her if she had the chance to read the BofM and she says, "Oh yeah, I actually finished it this week, but I do have some conflicting thoughts about it." I was impressed she had finished it and asked more about her concerns and she said it was about baptism, she had already been baptized as a child in the Catholic church. We ended up talking about baptism the entire time and explaining authority and how the baptismal ordinance needs to be performed in order for it to be accepted of God. Then I felt that I needed to share from Alma 7:11-18 where it talks about our Savior's Atonement and what is required of us. As we read this with Charlene and asked her questions about it the room was thick with the spirit. One thing I have learned about Philippinos is that they are so hard to read with facial expressions! I had no idea what she was feeling, but I knew that if I was feeling the spirit, she was feeling it too. After reading the scripture I felt impressed to invite her to be baptized. For a split second I thought, "are you crazy??? She just said she wasn't sure if the book of mormon was true in it's entirety!!" Which then immediately I felt the impression again. So.. I did! I asked her if she would follow Christ's example and be baptized through the proper authority. And guess what???? She said she felt she should be! Tears started to poor down her face and I, of course, lost it too. I have never felt Christ's love so strongly for an individual like I did that night with Charlene. Later that night Charlene spoke with some of the Tagalog teachers and explained to them some things that they later shared with us. Apparently Charlene comes to volunteer in the T.A. because she likes to feel that spirit that she did when the missionaries first taught her family. She had been having a really hard time lately and was beginning to doubt some things. Our lesson was a direct answer to her prayers. Alma 7 is her favorite chapter in the book of mormon and having us read that without knowing that testified to her that her Savior did know her as an individual. She went home that night and talked about the experience with her husband and said she wanted to come back again and soon! That right there testifies, yet again, to me that this work is true! We have these opportunities to practice, but they aren't just practice! We are teaching truth! The experiences people share are real! The Atonement is real! This week read about the Atonement in all 4 gospels. It takes about 40 minutes to read all of them in depth. Pay attention to the details in each. Mark's is my favorite. Remember that what we see in movies is a version that is G-rated ...it was far more violent. Christ loves us so much. I'm running out of time. I love you all so much! The church is true! Joseph Smith is indeed the prophet of the last dispensation! What are we doing with Christ's sacrifice? What are we doing with the sacrifices of Joseph and other wonderful prophets on the earth? We cannot afford to be casual about this work, about the gospel! Raise the bar! I love you and pray for you! May the Lord bless each of you! Until next time--

GOD SPEED! We are the armies of Heleman and we have been taught in our youth!! Be firm in your minds and trust in God!

All of my love,
Sister Ashley Stadler

Hey Hey Family!
How is everyone doing?? First off, thank you to everyone who has written me letters or used dear elder ! There is no way I can physically write all of you back, there were over 10 of you! Let's see if I can remember them all! Um..: Brittany and Dave, Tara (twice) :), Ian, Jamie, Scott, BriAnna, Robyn, Amanda (with the sweetest package ever!), and mom of course!(I'm forgetting a couple people...ah...sorry! I have all my letters in my bag upstairs for writing time. Anyway, thank you all so much! Letters are the greatest things ever! I promise I will write each of you back, but it just may not be this week.
As for life here, I always think it couldn't get better, and then it does! We are learning more and more of the language. Every Thursday evening we have a Teaching appointment with an "investigator" which is always someone who speaks the language. We always have a language task before we do the lesson and then the lesson is in English. Well, last week we met with a guy who asked us how long we have been here. Now Sister Ball and I were stumbling all over our words...we're determined to do better next week, but we told him we have been there for 2 weeks. He freaked out and said, "No way!!! You have been here for at least 7!" So we must have sounded better than we though. So...mom, you asked for specific things to pray for. Instead of being vague and asking for just help on the language, maybe pray specifically that we will be able to successfully accomplish our Wika (language) task. BUT...with saying that, this is our last week of speaking English. Next week we are speaking completely Tagalog from now on. We have been trying it out this week. It is incredibly difficult, but it is a great exercise with using what we know. I have so much to tell you! Um, this week we worked in the RC (referral center) where we take incoming calls from people who see the commercials or get referral cards and want free dvds or the Book of Mormon. What a trip! so much fun! Our teachers stressed that it is definitely possible to have your first baptism through this system. They know many missionaries who have taken it seriously and have done it! So we go in all pumped..Elder Pickard got a call that was amazing, Sister Woodward got a pretty good call too. Elders Lewis and Scott had a chat going that was solid and I had a wrong number! hahaha! Sister Ball was chewed out by a lady who thought we were dish network, needless to say, we were a bit jealous. We are so eager to teach and share truth! BUT...later that night Sister Ball and I had a few unscheduled minutes after a teaching appointment left in our MDT (missionary directed time). So we decided to run up to the RC for a few minutes. So we did...and guess what??? I spoke to this amazingly sweet woman, Lilly, who wanted the DVD the Lamb of God. We talked for over 25 minutes about church doctrine. She asked all kinds of questions and I was amazed how I was guided to answer them. She definitely had simple questions and didn't have a great understanding of the English language, so with flowering words..she would just tune out completely. Anyway...after our talk, she said she didn't feel comfortable having the elders over to deliver the items because her husband thinks that Mormons are crazy. So I asked her if it would be okay if I called her back in 4-5 days to talk about how she felt when she watched the movie. She was all excited about it and told me when she would be off work and able to talk for awhile.... I'm so excited! She was a super sweet woman with a strong desire to have her family with her forever! So keep Lilly Gonzalez and her family in your prayers. She also asked for me to pray for her husband because he just recently lost his job. So ...even though I don't know his name, pray for their family! Um, have you ever seen the painting by Nathan Pinnock of "Lehi and the Tree of life"? It is beautiful! they have it in the MTC. That was random, enjoy.
So other news, I received a calling yesterday. The oldest district is leaving us today and so we are receiving 36 new missionaries this coming Wednesday and now we are the "experienced" ones. I know..crazy huh? 2 1/2 weeks and we're official. So I am now the coordinating sister for the zone. Many, many responsibilities. So, pray for me that I will have an abundance of charity toward these sisters coming in and that Sister Ball and I will be able to live up to the example we should be setting for them. We are excited to meet them all. There should be somewhere between 4-7 sisters coming in which is awesome! So many people being called to the Philippines. SO..get this!!! Today I go into the temple and guess who is in my session???? MISS TARA ANDERSON!!!!!! I balled my eyes out! I didn't think it was really her at first. She is up here for her friend Kami's wedding, and the friend she brought with her to the session is actually coming into the MTC on Nov. 18th going to a Tagalog speaking missin in the Pines! CRAZY! So I'll probably welcome her in when she comes if I'm still the co-sister. Man, I only have 8 minutes left.
I have really been trying to work on patience this week. I have been studying all about our Savior's patience and how loving He was with all around him. Sister Ball and I are looking for opportunities to serve daily. There are little things we can do each day. I would encourage each of you to find someone to serve each day. Whether it was helping an elderly couple with their grocery cart or letting someone go into a lane of traffic ahead of you, comforting a child, or making someone's bed, sending a note to a friend you haven't talked to in awhile (or maybe even a friend you have talked to..but you don't express how much you love them often). Really make an effort to be more Christlike through your attitude of service. Many times we run right past the opportunities because we are so set on our schedule! Make the time! Take off your blinders and serve and love it! Love every second of it.
5 minutes...here we go. I love you all so much, I miss you like crazy, but the thing is, I don't have much time to think about it, which makes it great! But every night when I get ready for bed I blow a kiss to my family photo and then kneel and speak about each one of you to our loving Heavenly Father. How blessed we are to have open communication with them any time we want, for as long as we want! We determine how long we want the conversations to be! amazing! Remember that anything is possible with faith. Mahal Kita! The Church is true! Press forward ever!!! We are ALL called to serve our king!

~Sister Ashley

Oh my goodness! I miss you all so much and at the same time I am so busy that I have pretty much 5 minutes a day to think of all of you! ( not including prayers of course) Which now my prayers are completely in Tagalog...which makes for some pretty simple prayers! HAHAHA! Good thing Heavenly Father knows the desires of my heart! This week has been such a roller coaster of emotions!
Pressure! Ok..So now the spiritual stuff. I'll answer other personal questions in a letters.
HOLY CONFERENCE WAS AMAZING!!! Was it not??? I swear everything related perfectly to what we have been studying here. I have been focusing a lot on being in tune with the spirit and listening hard to its promptings. There is no reason to even go on a mission if I'm not working hand in hand with the spirit. And Holland's talk?? Can we say inspired and powerful?? We have been focusing a lot on power too in class and that was an ideal example. The whole room was absolutely silent. That never happens with 2,000+ missionaries! Amazing! So back on the spirit topic. I have been thinking a lot about how we pull ourselves away from the spirit on a daily basis. There are SO many distractions in the world! To all those friends who are reading this, as well as siblings. Let the distractions go! Pick one thing today to get rid of in your life that is just "froth" and get rid of it! Whether it is a song you love to listen to that is pointless and has no depth or if it is a show that you LOVE LOVE LOVE watching that has filth in it or if it is texting or reading things that are of no importance... let it go!!! If it is a phrase you say often in your speech or thoughts you have of someone you don't really care for.. let it go!!! Why do we give in so easily to distractions and allow ourselves to compromise our standards for a show or a movie? I have been such a bad example of that in the past. Not that these shows or movies were absolutely terrible, but I'll tell you they were definitely of the devil. Satan is so alluring! He is a sneaky man I tell ya! I love how Dallin H. Oaks said in conference, "God's choicest blessings are reserved for those who obey His Laws." So true! I have seen it in the MTC! You can see a huge difference between those missionaries who are obedient in all ways and those who think the rules are a hindrance and are silly. I want to go up to them, shake them and say, "You signed up for this willingly! No one forced you to make these years God's time!" I feel the same way about our existence here on earth. We didn't come to this earth blindly, not knowing what would be required of us! God would never do that! Agency is such a huge part of this plan. We knew, full well, that we would be tempted here and that we were going to suffer and go through strife and hardship, but guess what??? No one forced us to sign up for this mortal journey! We signed up for it ourselves!! So step up to the plate. Let us all find a way this week to perfect ourselves. Drop a bad habit and never, NEVER look back! Move forward being perfected through Christ.
I was impressed with how many topics in GC were based on Love and service and missionary work, which I think go hand in hand! I don't know if you have kept up with the news lately, but the Philippines was hit with another hard storm. Hundreds of people have died and thousands of families are homeless. My companion's mission is the place that got hit the hardest. Our teachers told us that the area of the city that was hit was actually the drug area! Coincidence? ...I think not. We are so excited to go and serve and love these people! We already have an amazing love for them, even before we have met them! God is humbling them as we prepare to go and serve. So many hearts will be softened by the time we get there. I guess although the Philippino's are very kind and loving people, they don't like to commit to anything. They will take a Book of Mormon from you and then use it to prop up their coffee tables instead of reading it. So our teachers talked about how if they don't read it, we have to ask for the book back. Interesting huh? They said if we ask for the book back, and say it is our own personal copy they can "borrow" if they want to read it, it pricks their hearts and makes them wonder what they could be missing out on. Anyway..I feel this whole letter is a little jumbled. I have so much I wish I could tell you right now!
Mom, you asked for me to say what I need you to pray for, so here it goes. I have had more opposition while I have been here than ever before in my life. Satan works as hard as he can to get us to feel that we can't do this work, that we aren't cut out for it. Well...too bad for him, because I'm here and I'm staying. BUT..I need your prayers now more than ever. Our experienced district is leaving our zone next week and we are getting 60+ missionaries coming into our zone and we will be the leaders in the zones at that point. Well, we really need to know the language before we can do that effectively. The language is so hard. I feel like I'm struggling to keep my head above the water. Pray for me to be able to receive the gift of tongues. I will do my part and study it out and then I know the Lord will bless me. But i need those prayers. For me to be able to specifically remember the things I learn and that my memorizing skills will greatly increase. there is so much to remember. Anyway, that's about it. Life is so good! The church is so true! We watched the Joseph smith movie last night. I was reminded of what an amazing man he was! Truly a prophet of God. You know he has to be looking down on us and rooting for us! In conference they said the missionaries that were out right now were the fulfillment of prophecy! How exciting is that? We truly were born to be the armies of Heleman and to go forth bringing families to Christ! Pray for the prophets, pray for the Philippinos and their families during their trials, pray for the countries to be opened to the work. There are thousands of Philippino young men around the age of serving missions!! Think of where they could go and the effect they could have! The church is true! I love you all more than you know!Buhay Tagapaglitas ni JesuCristo! (Christ, our Savior, lives!) Write me! Letters bring much more joy that I could ever have imagined! Sometimes I need that mid-week pick me up!

All my heart and love,
Sister Ashley Stadler

Please write letters!

Ashley needs to hear from you! She says everyone else is getting mail. Please try and stay positive and keep her in your prayers. She's been a little under the weather recently.

She says that she's the first one up in her room (she swears it's true.) Her companion is the one who is hard to get out of bed. Obviously Heavenly Father is helping her out in that regard. She is realizing how much time she has wasted on things that don't matter in the past. You can tell that she is full of the spirit. We are so proud of her and her willingness to serve.

Seventeen and 3/4 months to go...

Kumusta!!!! (hi)
I miss you all so much! I pray for each one of you every single day and think about you often throughout my day. So Monday is my P-day. We went to the temple this morning, it was beautiful and still dark when we got there. Crazy! It was fun to see my whole district in the session together. Let me tell you a little about my district and then I'll tell you a few other random things.
Ok, so there are 8 missionaries in my district, we are small in number, but a powerful and united group. We already love each other so much it's almost weird to me. It's like we have formed our own little family of brothers and sisters! We are a rare district because we are split half and half, 4 elders and 4 sisters. The districts to the side of us have over 14 elders in them each. In 2 weeks we will have two districts leave us and 60 new missionaries who will be learning Tagalog coming in. Here's a brief outline of the members of our district:

Elder Lewis- He is our district leader, from Boston area. He is a funny guy who loves to talk. :) He is really nice. I don't know much else about him. He doesn't have an accent...unfortunately.
Elder Scott- From Springville UT, total computer nerd. Perhaps the smartest person my age I have ever had the privilege of knowing. Ex: he ran his own web business before coming on the mission and had clients from both China and Switzerland including many other places all over the world. We learn something new from Elder Scott every day!
Elder Foulds- From New Zealand, he does have an accent!! AMAZING! He loves the gospel and tells everyone about it all the time. He has only been a member for 3 years and is the only member of his family. They weren't supportive of him coming on a mission. His family consists of his mother and siblings. His dad comes around once in awhile he said. Isn't that sad? He is a remarkable example of diligence and faith!
Elder Pickard- From Hawaii, also has an accent. He is hilarious and loves to laugh. We have a good time.
Sister Adams- Jennie...love her. She is wonderful! You already know about her.
Sister Woodward- From tri cities Washington. Very sweet girl. I'll explain more later, I only have 17 more minutes on my computer. AH!
AND....Last but not least...my amazing companion...
Sister Ball- She is from a farm on Idaho and is a rough and tumble girl. No princesses here! haha! She has a rock solid testimony of the gospel and I am so grateful she is my companion. I wouldn't have it any other way. We were definitely meant to be together.
Our whole district is amazing and I love each one of them. Our district doesn't have one missionary who doesn't want to be on a mission or who doesn't have a solid testimony of the Savior and His Atonement. It makes each day a spiritual feast.
As for me, I have never been happier in my entire life. This is remarkable! I understand now when missionaries say it is the hardest but BEST thing they have ever done in their lives. IT IS HARD!!! The language is insane, but beautiful. When you speak it, its almost like singing. Speaking of which, Sister Ball has a nice voice! We sing and harmonize all the time. Also, I have been mission the piano like crazy and craving to play one each time I walk by it. I have been working on complete and strict obedience as a person goal. I know the Lord will bless me greatly if I am completely obedient. SO..I haven't played a piano because I know it's hard to believe..but Piano time isn't on our schedule! But guess what????? The Lord showed me on of His tender mercies this week. For our Branch, we don't have a piano player. The person who used to do it left last week for their mission. So guess who plays the piano now on Sundays?? That's right! Yours truly, Sister Stadler!!!! OH! It was amazing! Such a blessing to be able to play again and relieve some stress through the keys.
I have already felt the hand of our Heavenly Father in my life since I have been here. I already know how to simply testify in Tagalog. It isn't smooth yet, so the spirit isn't super strong at this point, but by Thursday we will be teaching an investigator the 1st discussion in English and testifying in Tagalog. So let me do a little bit here before I close.
Pinatotohanan ko na muhalaga ang Ebanhelyo. Alam ko na totoong at buhay propeta si Thomas S. Monson. Naramramdahan ko na totoong propeta si Joseph Smith. Nakikita ko na buhay si JesuCristo at Amasa langit. Pinatotohanan ko na walanghanggan ang pamilya. Amen.

So basically I said, I testify that the gospel is very important. I know the true and living prophet is Thomas S. Monson. I feel that Joseph Smith is a true prophet. I see now that Jesus Christ and Our Heavenly Father live. I testify that families can be together forever.

Sa(in) Tagalog..its weird. they don't testify and say I know all the time. they speak in feelings. So the reason their words are so incredibly long is because they tell the definition of a word instead of saying a word. Ex. We would say testify, while they would say, Pinatotohanan (or...one who speaks the truth) pretty much. That's a really rough translation. Anyway, I know this church is true! I know the gift of tongues is real. If I were doing this on my own there is no way I would be picking up on the language like this so quickly and being able to retain the information. I love you all so much! I feel your prayers. Thank you for all you do and for your love for me. I can't even begin to tell you how much you all mean to me and how much I miss you. Remember that all things are possible through Faith. WE are the ones who hold ourselves back.
Mahal kita! ( I love you)
Sister Ashley Stadler