My goodness gracious is it really only 12 days until Christmas!? I feel like only last week I was calling home for the first time, one month into the mission. Time is flying by and today someone told me I had a little over 2 months left and I wigged out for a second telling them not to round down, then tears filled my eyes. Ah, the emotions are already starting. This Christmas is going to be absolutely wonderful. We have so many plans and not with gifts or money or food, but with goals we're trying to accomplish in the mission and specifically in our area. Today we had a wonderful Zone Meeting about increasing our faith in finding the elect. It was something I had been studying lately and it wasn't a chance lesson. There have been big changes in the mission and transfers have become completely unpredictable. Its all in the Lord's plan and we're excited to work with our faith, put our comforts out of the way and find the elect.

As for the new companion.... OH MY GOODNESS!!! Heavenly Father answers the prayers of missionaries who are trying their hardest to do His work. Her name is Sister Christofferson and we immediately hit it off. She is perhaps the kindest, most genuine, and humble individual I have ever had the blessing of knowing. She has a strong love for music, a beautiful voice and a rock solid testimony of her Savior. Random fact, her grandmother is none other than Janice Kapp Perry. She plays the flute beautifully as well. Our whole apartment right now is a musical feast. President has created a Christmas devotional for investigators and recent converts and I am in charge of the choir, composed of all hand picked individuals who can sing and read music. I'm pretty excited. Sister Freeman will be playing violin and Sister Christofferson will be playing the flute.

Our plans for Christmas day include Christmas caroling and getting into as many families homes to share a Christmas message about Jesus Christ. Sister Christofferson is honestly an answer to many prayers spent on my knees crying to the Lord for someone who will catch the vision and wear themselves out in the work being led by the spirit. I could not have been happier with the Lord's decision. She had been in the mission for 6 months, but in a Cebuano speaking area. La Carlota is her 2nd area and she'll be learning a new language. :) She's not nervous though and is already doing great. Pray for her and for us. She's from Lehi, Utah and we'll definitely be seeing each other after the mission.

As for Erwin, he just made goals yesterday for his giving up cigarettes and we feel pretty good about it. We'll teach him tomorrow and see how he's doing with his goal. Pray for him to be honest with us. Unfortunately Ricky's baptism did not go through. He didn't pass his baptismal interview for multiple reasons. His understanding of the doctrine is amazing. BUT....as I was asking him questions about his personal information to fill out the baptismal record he wasn't giving me straight answers. SO...turns out he has a past and has to repent of some things. We're trying to find if he's truly accountable for his actions because he has a history of attempted suicide and deep depression. It's been a very sad experience. Elder Scott, our district leader, pulled me aside and asked if I knew about any of it. NO...I didn't. SO, he explained some things to me, very jumbled concerns...I was so confused as to what to do.

As Sister Christofferson and I planned and prepared to teach him she stopped and said, "Well Sister Stadler, we need to be incredibly in tune with the spirit so we can fully discern if he is telling truth and is accountable." Exactly right, and that's exactly what happened. The lesson started off a little rough, we explained about baptism and I was wary to get into questions, but the questions just came. His sister was able to be there for the lesson as well and add greater understanding to the situation, which then caused him to open up. By the end of the lesson my heart was so full and there was great peace in the room. So now we're working on getting some legal verification on things before we give him another baptismal date. Long process, but so worth while. So, thank you for your prayers. Continue to pray for him.

I love you all so much. Pray for me to have the faith to accomplish the work that Heavenly Father has in store for me. I have this overwhelming feeling that something big is on the way. I have such an urgent feeling about this work. At times I feel almost uneasy because I feel this is of such vital importance. The more I read in scripture the more I know it is true. There is such power in the word of God. This Christmas season find a copy of the Book of Mormon and share it with someone. don't chicken out! This is salvation we're talking about. I love this gospel and I love all of you! You're in my prayers. Continue to be a wonderful example to those around you. I look forward to talking to you soon! Press forward ever! We're all called to serve our King. Until next week, God Speed!
All my love,
Sister Stadler

Hello family!!!!! My goodness I love you all so much! All of my friends that read this too, I love you as well, just not as much as my family. : ) So this morning we had transfer announcements and drum roll please......against all odds...I'm staying in La Carlota!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was shocked! I had already started packing. I am so happy that I'm staying and I feel it is a tender mercy from the Lord. I just....I love these people and I love the work here. Its hard, don't get me wrong, but I love it. My sweet companion will be transferring, which was surprising to us since they usually leave people in their first areas for longer. BUT....President is pulling a lot of weird stuff this transfer. Lots of changes! Those of you that read this from the mission...try this on for size. In La Carlota Zone, Valladolid is closing as well as Bago 2nd ward and possibly the 1st ward too. Pulupandan is having a full white wash. They're putting elders in and pulling sisters. Not sure about the rest of the area but this means I'll be spending Christmas here! AND...with Sister Freeman and Sister Gamil!!!!!!!!! A huge tender mercy from the Lord. I love these sisters so much. As you can tell from my silly photos, I have become quite attached.

Tell Christina I said hello! My goodness I love that girl! Did she even get my letter I sent her? I'm sure she's swamped, but I did send her another letter. Haven't heard from her.

Thanksgiving dinner was delightful, and you can tell in the photos I definitely stuffed myself to maximum capacity. I was dying....haha! But it was delicious. The stuffing was amazing and Sister Jackson made an apple crisp...which was amazing as well! Yes...that is a coconut filled with fruit salad in the photo. That was Sister Gamil's contribution.

This week was pretty uneventful to be completely honest. Sister Jackson was sick for most of the week and then I also had a fever for a day, so our work was pretty little. But I feel fine now. Because we missed so much work we did have to push Ricky's baptism back a week. Otherwise we would have had to marathon teach him. I don't have much else to say this week. I love you all so much and you each have a letter that will be sent this next week, so look forward to that. I promise next week will be longer. I hope you're all doing well. I know that the Lord is watching over you and I have full confidence in Him. I love this gospel so much! Stay strong and until next week, God speed!
all my love,
Sister Stadler

Well today was a beautifully flaming hot day with more sunlight that I ever thought humanly possible. It was one of those days where you can feel your skin burning while standing in the sunlight. :) Made me miss home for 2 seconds, then I snapped back into gear. Thank you for the emails. You will never know what your emails do for me. They are like a straight shot of adrenaline for a missionary.

Dad, happy early birthday! :) You're 72! Happy Happy Birthday Daddy dear! Happy days will come to you all year..if I had a wish then it would be!!! A happy happy birthday to you from me!!!!!! :) (sing that)

Alright folks...here's some other things I need to say before I forget. A gigantic thank you goes out for the Relief Society sisters from our ward! I was so surprised to get the package and I loved everything in it! Especially the notes! I miss you sisters so much! I ate the beef jerky like it was going out of style...and our adorable Filipina roommate here had never had it, she thought it was heavenly. :) Everything was so well thought out! Thank you so much!

As for our Thanksgiving meal, we will be partaking of it in approximately 2 hours or so. We're pretty excited. Also, if anyone would like to email me some music tracks, christmas music (anything you have) and mo-tab or classical music. I don't really want anything from EFY. I miss classical a lot and hymns. That would be wonderful. Thank you!

Erwin is continuing to progress but very very slowly. We had another wonderful lesson with him this week and he's still in the process of feeling like his prayers are answered about the Book of Mormon. When we were teaching I felt I needed to ask him what his expectations are for receiving an answer and his answer was, "Money and means for my family." So it was good to clear up that he was looking for a sign, but the Lord asks us to work with our faith. So, we'll see. He watched the Restoration video and he liked it a lot.

Rocky Yanson is progressing quickly. He is still set for December 11 and he's incredibly excited, as are we. He was way early to church on Sunday and then was way late leaving, he stayed and stacked the chairs and helped clean up. Yes..he's golden. haha! Our investigators are few, but we're going through referrals right now. The members are finally starting to provide referrals and we're excited to see what will happen. Its a very very very slow process working with the CMIS, but it's slowly working.

Transfer announcements are this next week and I can't believe it's already time to start another transfer. I'm not sure at all if I'll be staying or going. Either way, I will be happy, however I would be so incredibly excited to stay in La Carlota for Christmas. The members have a place in my heart and I love helping them in their branch. I feel like they want to do what is right, its just not what they're used to and they haven't quite caught the vision. It's like they feel its a beautiful idea, but they have real life matters to deal with so they put the branch on the back burner.

This week we were waiting to have PEC meeting (Priesthood Executive Council) with all the Auxiliary and Priesthood leaders...seems odd the sisters would be there no? BUT...when missionary work is involved, we are invited for our part then we're dismissed and they continue the meeting. Well...I asked President when the meeting would be...he scheduled one and I feel like it's maybe the first meeting they've had in a very very long time. ha! But as we were waiting for his counselors to show up he was just talking to me about life and asking some questions about the area and everything and he stopped and said, "Sister Stadler, you are so kind." I just laughed and said, "Oh president..only sometimes." He said," No really, you're just a kind person." and I said..."If you asked my siblings, they might argue that!" He just laughed. :)

I miss you all so much! Missionary work is exhausting. Sister Ball and I talked a lot over sister conference. That was a huge tender mercy. I love that sister with all of my heart and I know Heavenly Father put her in my life to be an eternal friend. She told me, "Sister Stadler...I'm tired. and I still have 3 transfers left." I responded, "ha! I'm tired too. I don't know how elders do it. But you know what my mom would say.." she waited for a second and then I said, "...Suck it up princess!" She just laughed and said, "And this is why I need to meet this wonderful woman!" We're tired, but not too tired. We've worked hard, and yet we feel like we still haven't work hard enough and we're constantly trying to be better and to refine ourselves. We've been sick, we've been rejected, we've been disappointed in investigators, in companions, in ourselves...and yet we have experienced the sweetest joys and the most tender experiences we have ever witnessed in our lives. We have been blessed beyond belief and suffered trials we didn't know if we could endure. The mission is remarkable and shapes us is ways we couldn't have ever dreamed. I love being on a mission and I am excited for these next 2 transfers.

I love you all more than I could express. Enjoy this Christmas season. Share the gospel! Just open your mouths! It's not hard to do..it's a little weird at first, but then it becomes natural to talk of Christ, to rejoice in Christ and to teach of His life. I love you and I will email you all next week! Until next week, God Speed! :) xoxoxox
All my love,
Sister Stadler

P.S. Ariel, thank you for your email! Your teaching will be awesome! wish I had a recording of you teaching the elders quorum lesson. remember when you were terrified to be a teacher in the relief society back in our sparks ward? And look where you are now!!! Does the Lord not prepare us for things to come? :) I love you tons!

Dearest family, I apologize for this late email. We had Mission Sister's Conference this Monday and Tuesday and then President had those of us that were from farther areas stay Tuesday night in the mission home SO....buot silingon...we just barely got back to our area this morning and I am dead beat tired. The conference was absolutely amazing and a spiritual feast, a true answer to many of our prayers. Let me say one thing, I adore our mission president and his beautiful wife. I fully intend to stay in touch with those amazing people for the remainder of my life and on through the eternities. President has such a vision for the mission and has such a strong testimony of obedience and diligence. He is a remarkable example to me. I remember being a little concerned at the beginning of my mission of never becoming close to President Tobias. Well, that was a ridiculous fear. I suppose some individuals never feel that closeness, but that is of their own choosing.

Last night, as the sisters were eating he was playing the piano and I was just sitting on the couch listening. He looked over at me and chuckled after which I requested that he play his saxophone....which he said, "No......well, okay I will for you." haha! So he pulled out his saxophone and started playing a little bit, but he was really full from dinner and he has to take it easy with health stuff anyway, so THEN...he pulls out his guitar and starts playing Blue Moon. MY GOODNESS...that man has so many talents. So I'm sitting there in the mission home listening to oldies and watching the lights on the Christmas tree twinkle and I was thinking about each and every one of you. Funny how the Mission Home feels like home to me now.

Our week went really well. I just want to point out that on the 27th of this month will be my 1 year mark in the Philippines. That is insanity my dear loved ones. That makes it a 14 month mark in the mission itself. Time is flying and life is so good. This week I was speaking to a man who looked somewhat different from most of the people here, Asian, though, none the less. Well he kept answering me and I couldn't understand what he was saying. I kept speaking in Ilonggo to him and finally my companion said, "Sister! he's Chinese...he doesn't know Ilonggo..He's been speaking to you in English this whole time." hahahahahahahahaha! I was dying. K, so then I tried to talk to him in English and it's like someone flipped the dumb switch or something. I couldn't formulate a quality sentence to save my life. So what ended up happening was the man's wife, who is native, would translate what I was saying into English to him! hahahaha! My English is not that bad! We speak in the house all the time. But something switches in my mind when I walk outside that door and it's really weird. Anyway. It was funny.

This week we were able to extend a baptismal date to Ricky Yanson and he answered by saying.."December 11th?...what time do I need to be there?" AH!!!! Yes please! This man was definitely prepared and he continues to progress.

As for Erwin. We had a remarkable lesson with him. We were teaching and I felt like everything he said was just spewing answers he knew was right but wasn't really believing it and as I was teaching I had the impression to just stop talking and ask him what he was thinking about. So I did. It definitely got his attention and he started crying. (This man is no a crier. He is so stubborn and yet I have the hugest about of love for him and his family. He has started reading every day in the Book of Mormon and his understanding of it is beautiful. BUT...he hadn't applied it! He hadn't yet asked if the Book of Mormon was true through Prayer. He's in the process of doing that right now. Pray for Erwin.) Well as he looked up at me and with tears in his eyes he said, "We don't have money. We have bills and food to buy and we don't have any money for it. I don't know what else I can do." My heart immediately felt the weight of his burden. I would have given anything at that time to take his burden and put it on my shoulders. As I taught about the Atonement and the power of prayer and acting in faith, the lesson became a beautiful opportunity to allow him to feel his Heavenly Father's love and concern for him through the Spirit. His whole family was in tears ..as was I..that was a given. I was able to promise as a representative of Jesus Christ that if he were to continue to follow God's commandments to the best of his ability that God would provide for his family. As I gave that powerful promise the spirit was working so strong within me, it was a very sacred experience for me. As we left that night there was a peace in the home that wasn't there when we walked in.

I hugged Sister Joguilon and she held me for quite awhile. She is Erwin's wife and our relief society president. She is an elect lady. I look up to her so much. I left that night thinking, "I have 2 more transfers to make a difference in these people's lives. I've got to wear myself out and make the most of every second here." GOOD GRIEF I LOVE MY MISSION!!!!!

I'm gonna be a such a weirdo when I get home! hahaha! I thought I was still pretty normal. When we were in the mission home there was a movie there he let us watch, it was cute. It had a bit of romance in it, HAHAHAHAHA! You would die laughing if you had watched it with us. You would all be like..."this isn't romance...there is a relationship in the movie." haha! Anyway....there was a scene where a guy walks into a party, it's like a 29 second scene....I covered my eyes. Not even noticing what I was doing. HAHA! Sister Freeman started laughing so hard! Someone in the film said some slang word that every 12 year old says at home, but I've perfected my language and I don't even say little slang words anymore because they aren't feminine. It's funny how blinded we become to things. Well I heard the word and I said, "WOAH! Why are we watching this!????????" The movie was good. IT was a Christmas movie actually, it just had an interesting intro. ANYWAY....my point??? I'm gonna be a total weirdo. And I'll probably start going off in Ilonggo on you all...so get excited! I love you all to death.

In the tradition of the Thanksgiving season let me say I am eternally grateful to be in such an amazing family. Your support of me being on a mission is priceless and I will never forget it. I see missionaries all the time who have no support and my heart hurts for them, and simultaneously I feel such an overwhelming gratitude for each of you. I am thankful for toilet tissue and hot water. I am thankful for dish soap and washing bins and clean clothes. I am thankful for Jody dresses and hammocks and nasty missionary shoes that are worn out and have walked countless miles in order to share the word of God. I am, above all else, grateful for the Atoning sacrifice of my Savior, Jesus Christ. Without Him, all would be lost. My imperfections are many, and they are being made apparent daily, but through the Atonement, through Him, I can exercise my agency to repent and become clean, again, through His redeeming blood. He lives! For this I am grateful and will forever be grateful. He lives! Do we realize what this means? I will spend the remainder of my days in this mortal existence proclaiming His love and His gospel. Time is flying by, there are so many people who still need to hear the gospel. I love you all! Look for opportunities to teach! You're all amazing! Until next week, GOD SPEED!!!!!!

All my love,
Sister Stadler

Another one bites the dust!!!! (whip sound...) One week down....not enough to go. My goodness time is flying by. Amanda, you are right....6 weeks until Christmas...which I have not been counting down...but every family of every missionary has...haha. Doesn't surprise me. I'm excited to talk to all of you. I miss you dearly but not enough to distract me from the work. First of all, let me answer some questions I realized I haven't answered. Amanda, the other Jody's you've seen in the photos I had made here. Yeah...they aren't quite the same, and the ones Sean and Mom bought me are my favorites because they are so much cooler, but the Jody is a Jody still and it's just nice to have them. They are all amazing at sewing here. My companion has actually talked about having a wedding dress made here before she goes home..she has the exact style of dress she wants and its designer...so it would be WAY WAY WAY WAY cheaper if she did it here. Personally...I'm worried more about finding a groom some day than I am about finding the dress. ha!

Alright, So as for investigators, we're slowly building our pool. We had one we found this week that came to church and wore a white shirt that was his dad's old one. He's 28, from a part member family...his sister is a member. He actually answered a question in Sunday School....I was shocked! I did a little dance in my mind since it wouldn't be acceptable in the church with my tag on. So we're pretty excited about him. His name is Ricky Yanson. Alright, as for the Angelicos....we're gonna give them some space for a bit I think. They just aren't progressing and I think maybe it's just not their time. But...we plan on teaching them still, just not as often. As for the Pacheo family..They are like night and day changes. They have a lightness in their step and a joy in their eyes that wasn't there before. They are now officially reactivated and so happy to be back. We love them! They're little girl is doing so well too. Thank you for your prayers, we feel them daily. We have been working a lot with less active members and it has been wonderful. We love working with them. I'll share more spiritual wise next week. I'm short on time.

Paul, I didn't get the exact date yet, but kono...er...in English..it has been said that I will be leaving here on the 2nd of March, flying to Manila, spending one day in Manila and then fly out the next day. I'm double checking it this week with one of the AP's so you can schedule it in.

Heavenly Father blesses His missionary force. I love you all and I need to get off here because I'm like 3 minutes over time. I love you I love you I love you and I hope to hear from all of you next week. you're amazing!!!! Until next week, share the gospel and.....GOD SPEED!!
All my love,
Sister Stadler

P.S. Sean....thank you so much for the Thanksgiving $$....I am soooo excited! We all are! And..I found a bag! thanks! love you!

Oh family family, my goodness what amazing emails! :) AMANDA AND JOSHUA CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!! And Te! (te means like..i told you so) I knew it was going to be a boy, Holly and I were correct with our guesses. Oh my goodness I am so excited for you two and I'm sure my excitement is nothing compared to yours! And I'm gonna be there for it maybe.

OK, let me give you a short update on this week, and short it will be. Well, mom, Erwin isn't progressing at all and in fact, while we were planning on having his interview for baptism this week, he was planning on breaking the Word of Wisdom yet again. It's ridiculous. We're gonna visit him less frequently for now. I think he needs a break, he's still smoking, but secretly. My fears were confirmed by his wife. The missionaries have been teaching him for over 4 transfers now and it's just not his time right now. He understands everything and could probably teach us the lessons, but until he really believes it...and applies it, it means nothing. SO....with that being said, we have been working like crazy updating our CMIS list for church. Most of our days are spent going to different areas of town and asking if people know where certain people live and if they've moved or passed away. In one day we were able to remove 170+ people from the list. That definitely helps with retention percentages. haha! Our little branch is doing pretty well. Our relief society president, Erwin's wife, is remarkable and has started working with us once a week to go contact less active sisters. Our other time is spend mainly trying to contact priesthood. We have had some members reactivated and next Sunday 2 more will be considered reactivated. It's a very slow process.

President just recently increased our Mission Standards, the goals we have to meet each week and month....it's not going to be easy and it will definitely have to be directly from our loving Heavenly Father. Please keep us in your prayers that we will specifically be able to meet the goals set for us my President Tobias. I know he is a very inspired man who has a vision for this mission and I know he receives revelation for us from God. I have faith, but right now we have 1 progressing investigator. The Angelico family isn't progressing. They promised to come next week to church, I hope they do. Their 14 year old daughter is progressing,and we're hoping they'll catch her wind and fly with it....but they haven't yet.

This week, to be honest, has been a very difficult week. Not a bad week. I don't think I've had a bad week on the mission, just some are harder than others. You all have been asking about what to pray for specifically, well, here are some specific things. Pray for me to be humble, to be sensitive to spiritual promptings and to be endowed with patience. I have been made very aware of weaknesses this week, but it's a constant struggle we have with the natural man no? HA! That pesky natural man that holds us back and keeps us from happiness.

Mom, that two week missionary challenge sounds awesome! Quality commitments are key to helping people repent and come unto Christ. I'll include that in my prayers! I'm excited to hear about your experiences! I can't even begin to tell you how jealous I am that you went to the temple! AH! I miss the temple so much and I can't wait to do our full day temple day when I get back.

The Pacheo family, the family with no food that needed medicine are doing great! They came to church on Sunday and I've never seen them smiling so big! They were so happy to be there, their whole countenance has changed! They are reading daily and praying and fasting and just loving life! Amazing what the gospel does for them! I don't really have much else to add.

Keep me in your prayers. You're in mine every single day! I love you all so much. I love this gospel! I just finished the Book of Mormon again and I am just in love with this book! I can't get enough of it! I was reading in Moroni and I was thinking about how precious Mormon's letters had to have been for Moroni and we get to read them! The last thing he counsels him to do, in chapter 9..I think it's verses 25-26...He says to not be weighed down by the carnage and sin but to be lifted up in Christ. I love it! Of all things he could counsel him, here he is, after witnessing an entire nation destroyed, he's hiding out..literally being hunted for his life, I'm sure he's incredibly lonely, and the best counsel his father could possible give is given. Look to Christ. I echo that same message. For each of you who are weighed down by burdens and feel lonely, as if no one else could ever completely understand, I testify that Jesus Christ does understand because He has already suffered it for you. He loves us with such a pure love. When it feels like you can't go on or you have nowhere to turn, Turn to Him. He knows how to succor His people, (those are Alma's words...not mine) haha! I love this work! I love all of you! Until next week, God Speed! :)
All my Love,
Sister Stadler

Family family, how I love thee! So this week was pretty crazy with transfers and all that jazz. I, once again, am staying in my area and with Sister Jackson. We're pretty happy about that. Sister Ball was contacted the night before transfers and was told that she was transferring instead of Sister Nethercott. Gotta love revelation. So Sister Nethercott was already packed and ready to go, but she had to unpack everything. But...Sister Ball was pretty happy. She was ready to get out of that area. It was really good to see her this last week. We sang for the departure meeting for the October batch, it was amazing! The spirit was so strong and it was SO hard to say goodbye to each of those elders that were leaving. Each of them have had an impact in my life and So many of them were leadership for me, which has helped me to be a better missionary from following their examples. We all miss them dearly, but they promised to write.....ha! we'll see if that happens. (elders, if you're reading this... don't take offense..keep the promise and just write! haha! Also, Elder Wade!!!! How is your dad? No fair telling me about that. What's going on? He's in my prayers.) The real world hits them and you know...people tend to forget about missionaries. haha! Luckily, I have the best family in the world and you have not forgotten about me.

Amanda, big big lameness that you were late for your appointment! hahahaha! I made a big deal about it and printed it out, not reading any of it and then was on the back of a motorcycle on a trik reading it trying to find out if my guess what right only to find out.....I'd have to wait another week. ha! Oh well, now next week you better not be late. Paul, just when i think your children couldn't possibly get any cuter..they do! A giraffe???? REALLY?! K and Kaitlin is stunning! lock her up now! Man I miss children. The children here are so cute, and all I want to do is pick them all up and love them to death....but I've weaned myself from doing so. It will make it all the more sweet when I get home. I'm excited for your Ward mission plan! Way to be proactive. I never realized how important that calling is to the ward until I came on the mission. You've got your work cut out for you, but...kaya mo na! (you can do it!) Even when the members are being ridiculous, keep it up! Don't lose hope! So often members get burned into their mindset that certain families just don't want to come back..they aren't interested. Well that's Satan whispering in their impatient little ears. People want to feel appreciated and sometimes they just need to feel love before they are willing to make that huge first step back. Too often people feel they are a statistic to the church, if only the members would take time out of their "all too busy" schedule...simplify...(to quote an apostle) ...and choose one family to focus on and fellowship and participate in the Lord's work. AH! Missionary work will be a huge part of my life for the rest of my life. Alright, mom, If you were here, I would have you come speak at our missionary firesides as well. :) You have become so good about missionary work. I love it! Keep it up! I love getting spiritual uplift from all of you. Robyn, I never received the letter from Sara and Sam and all the girls when they were all there with you. They usually email you a copy no? Maybe you could resend it? I received your dear elder about the competition! NATIONALS!!!! My goodness that is crazy! I wish I could have seen it in person. Well, next time you'll be prepared. ;) no? Also, I'll be writing you a letter sometime within in the next couple weeks about the other things in the letter. Sean, you're amazing! How are you? Thank you for helping me in my mission. I'm a little jealous you're all in sweater weather, since I'm still...well...still Sister Stadler just sweating my way through life. ha!

This week we had the baptism of Ramzel A. Pangantihon. He is amazing!!! The baptism was a little rough starting out an hour late, the norm here, and then during the 2nd talk we had a brown out. IT was after 6 at night so it was completely black here. BUT...the work will continue! So this was the elder's first baptism he had ever done, and while one of the witnesses held a flashlight into the font, Ramzel was baptized! Sister Jackson and I sang a musical number, (our voices blend incredibly well together..sometimes I force her to sing with me! haha!) The Spirit was very strong and later, when we visited him on Monday, he couldn't even put into words what he felt. I love that little boy! I heard today from a sister serving in Bago that Japhet, one of my favorite converts, is now a counselor in the Young Mens' presidency and that Irene Valdevieso and her husband have a date set to be sealed in the temple!!!!! I don't think a missionary could ever get better news!

The work was small this week, many meetings and such, but it was good. This next week we're really excited to dive into our CMIS sheet and contact less actives. We have days set for just less active work and we're excited to see what the Lord has in store for us. Mom, I'm confused what you mean about changing islands....I have never once changed islands. haha! I'm still on Negros Occidental. Jennie changed islands, but that's to Iloilo. It does get to raining really hard here in LaCarlota. BUT..we're way safe. No flooding in our area as of yet. I don't have much else to add. Life is wonderful and I am head over heels in love with this gospel. I'll share one thing from my personal study. I was reading in Mormon 6, these verses specifically:

7 And it came to pass that my people, with their wives and their children, did now behold the aarmies of the Lamanites marching towards them; and with that awful bfear of death which fills the breasts of all the wicked, did they await to receive them.

8 And it came to pass that they came to battle against us, and every soul was filled with terror because of the greatness of their numbers.

9 And it came to pass that they did fall upon my people with the sword, and with the bow, and with the arrow, and with the ax, and with all manner of weapons of war.

10 And it came to pass that my men were hewn down, yea, even my aten thousand who were with me, and I fell wounded in the midst; and they passed by me that they did not put an end to my life.

I was amazed and as I read I began to see the battle before my own eyes. I cannot imagine what Mormon felt watching his own people obliterated. The verse that gets me is 7 and 8...the awful fear of death and the terror..knowing they would die in their wickedness. Can you see it? Can you see the armies coming down to face them and their hearts full of terror and sorrow? As I read this I immediately pictured in my mind the Savior in Gethsemane. There were over 230,000 people who were killed that day, and the Savior suffered for each of them individually. He felt that terror, that fear they were experiencing at that very moment. He already suffered for them! If they would have only put their burdens on the Lord, turned to Him through repentance. They may have still died, but the fear could have been swept away. Mormon and Moroni amaze me.

I love the Book of Mormon and I love how it relates to us no matter what trials we are experiencing. This week, let us all find something we are willing to give up, something to repent of, something to CHANGE...for repentance IS change...so we can become a little more like Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. Come unto Him and feel the joy of His redeeming love. I know this church is true! I love it and I enjoy every moment I have to share that with others. I miss you all and I pray for you, but I know you are in the Lord's hands and I have no reason to fear. Share the gospel and make the most of the time the Lord has given to you! Until next week, God Speed! :)

All my love,
Sister Stadler

Alright family, hang in here with me. I have a ton to tell you and a little time to type, so here we go. As for the typhoon that some of you may have heard about. Basically, I was sent to the safest island in the Philippines and we only experienced rain and some crazy thunder storms, hence the soaked through Jody photos. But as for problems in the area, none here. As for Amanda and and Paul, thanks for the photos, I've already pulled them up over 3 times a piece looking at them again! haha! Paul, your office looks way nice! It may seem like a normal office there, but I haven't seen anything that nice in...well...13 months. You look so professional in your little coat and Dr. Stadler???? YES PLEASE!!!! Amanda, oh my cuteness! I teared up a tiny bit and my heart started to race when I saw that adorable bump on you! forget about just looking fat. YOU LOOK ADORABLE!!a little tired mind you, but adorable! :) MAN....I will be there for the birth of that child...which I can sense is a little boy. That's my final guess. And you will name him...KoyKoy. After our mission president's son. haha! Just kidding.

Dad! I'm so happy that you just finished the Book of Mormon! I'm even happier that you started again! I'm in Mormon right now and at the rate it's going I'll probably be finishing it again in about a week or two. I have found on my mission that I just can't get enough of that book. No one can even begin to understand how important it is and how it will change their lives until they take the time to read it every single day! And you're doing that! Keep it up! Last week I was really craving your biscuits and gravy! We were all talking about Christmas traditions, and so many foods I crave from home.

Samantha Nicole! I cant believe you're on a volleyball team! How fun! Someday I'll have to tell you about my experience trying out for the team. I didn't make it..haha..but I didn't want to actually get to be on the team anyway! haha! I'll explain sometime. How is life? How is school? Where are you now? I'm confused. I thought you were living back with Robyn! Tell me more details here about your life! I love getting your little emails on dear elder. You can just email me too if that's easier for you. As for the probiotics coming, I'm excited and I thank you in advance for your concern. The ones Aunt Vikki sent are helping so much already, those will help even more I'm sure.

I'm starting to see a glimmer of hope. A couple weeks ago I received a blessing for a cold I had and in the blessing the elder paused for a moment and said, "Sister Stadler, it is important that you remember what you teach every day. Your Savior's Atonement applies to you too and your current problems you're suffering with." ..there were others things that were said that I needed to hear. It was good for me to hear it. I was talking to this elder's companion about the health issues when he was talking to me and he asked me if I felt it was getting better, at that point I said no and I don't think it would be anytime soon (this was before the blessing) to which he said, "Sister! Where is your faith in this matter?" It kind of shocked me to hear that. But I needed to. SO....haha...long story short, I've changed my hope and my mindset about things, along with pro-biotics and things are much better and will only continue to get better. SO...before I forget and get all spiritual with things that happened this week, let me tell you of my Christmas wish! :) The time is coming up to send off the package ...and that is why I'm saying this! :) I don't want a package!!! haha! So don't send one! It takes way way way way too long and is way way way way too expensive and you've all spoiled me too much on my mission already. I'll be babysitting for ya'll for forever when I get home. haha! Ok, so I have been thinking, and as the Christmas season approaches (yes I know this is crazy but in the Philippines the season starts in September) I have been wondering about each of your individual testimonies, how you got to the point you're all at now. I was looking at the photos I have of each of you and have felt such a strong longing as I studied faces and thought about memories with each of you. I would love for each of you, including Sammi and Kaitlin, haha...and Shelley's kids of you can get a hold of them...if not..I understand, but I would like each of you to write a little letter about your testimony of the Savior and your personal relationship with Him. Who He truly is to you and how a knowledge of Him has effected your life. Feel free to include other things, but that's what I want for Christmas.

Ok, moving on to this week. It was a wonderful week with Zone conference on Friday. President amazes me! The more than man speaks the more I just love him. He has taught me quiet dignity in a way I could never explain over email. Our whole zone conference was on Christlike attributes and working with ward members and leaders. The spirit was so incredibly strong and at one point I felt like my heart was going to pound out of my chest. I didn't know why either and then a moment later Elder Edioy stood and said, "President would like to invite a few missionaries at this time to share their testimony of Christlike attributes." I knew in a second that I would need to share my testimony. I wasn't even sure how to start with that topic, because it wasn't "share you testimony about Christ"...and yet I stood up after an elder and I was completely overcome with that spirit. The conference was powerful and the whole mission took a turn. As one elder put it, the dark ages are over in the mission, those disobedient missionaries are all home now and the whole countenance of the mission has changed.

There is a light in the missionaries that wasn't there before and the proof of their obedience is manifest in the numbers coming in. I guess before the mission split, even with the whole other island we were averaging 200 baptisms a month. Well, now we have 60 less missionaries and we're only on one island and we're over that for baptisms a month...barely, but we're already over 200. The work is increasing and quickly. Our work in the mission is through reactivation and teaching part member families, which I have gained a testimony of. They said to us in conference that we probably won't be able to see the fruits of our labors while we're in the field, but 10 years down the road, it will make all the difference. We will be able to come back and see stakes formed in areas where we are now if we focus on the rescue and the Centers of Strength in our areas. I'm excited! It's tiring, and it's hard work when you don't see people being baptized, but, ayos lang! Payadon lang kami! :)

This Sunday Ramzel, 2 members of the Angelico family and Irwin were all at church along with 4 less actives we've been working with! It was a wonderful Sunday! The Pacheo family fasted and we fasted for them and we were able to witness the blessing of the branch serving and helping them and their testimonies were greatly strengthened. There is a light that has entered their countenance. It's amazing to watch the Lord's programs work effectively. Ramzel will be baptized this Saturday and Sister Jackson and I will both be here!!! WOOHOOO!!! Transfer announcements said, we're staying together another transfer! :)

Life is so good! I love my mission and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now. I think of each of you at night when I'm lying in bed and I miss you all, but there is no homesickness whatsoever. I love this work and I can't wait to see what this transfer has in store for us here in La Carlota. Mara, the Angelico's 14 year old daughter, told us in our last teaching that she has no doubts now. She knows the Book of Mormon is true! I love it! My study this week has been about Mormon and Abraham and I am amazed with the strength of the youth. My eyes were opened to a pattern of how the Lord uses young worthy men to build His kingdom: Mormon, Abraham, Nephi, Joseph Smith, Samuel, Alma, Captain Moroni! It's remarkable! It is true that the Lord uses small and simple means to bring to pass mighty miracles! I see it happen often in the mission. The church is true! I could never deny it. I'm eating up every moment I have here in the field! There are only 3 transfers left! 18 weeks left in the mission after this Friday and I just can't believe it. I love you all, and until next week, God Speed!
All my love,
Sister Stadler

This week was been pretty intense. There is suppose to be a typhoon hitting the Philippines this week, but our island rarely has any effects, just rain like crazy because we're pretty guarded from the other islands. But it has been raining like crazy. On multiple occasions I have come home completely drenched, soaked through. Good thing my Jody Dresses aren't sheer. ha! That's even with my umbrella. The rain usually comes in at an angle. Anyway, I love rain, but it's not good for our investigators either.

As for updates with investigators, The 2 year man is named Brother Amador, mom. He won't even listen to us anymore. But, we know he felt something when we taught, it now just depends on him. This guy is amazing...he pays tithing...something is holding him back though. BUT...we can't do much if he refuses to let us speak with him. SO...it's just not his time. As for Rona, she got really sick and hasn't come back yet, but her brother in law said she's reading and praying and should be home today. SO...hopefully we'll go teach her tomorrow. The Angelico family is progressing, slowly, but they are progressing. We taught them yesterday and the mom and their 14 year old daughter, Mara, explained their experience with praying and reading and we were able to help them realize that they have received their answer from the Holy Ghost. I love that experience! It's always amazing to me to hear how the Holy Ghost speaks personally to each of us. Ramzel is amazing! He'll be baptized on the 30th. His mom is so proud of him, it's adorable. Irwin is a kick in the pants....haha! He's about as stubborn as a man can get, but he's a good man. We're starting back at square on with him and helping him build his testimony about the scriptures.

This week we were able to teach a less active family, the Pacheo family. We've taught them before, but they are Cebuano and it's difficult sometimes. I feel like whenever we go teach we haven't really been able to help them much..I always leave dissatisfied. Well, this week, it was different. I called them out on it. haha! We were in the middle of the teaching and it just didn't feel like it was going anywhere so I said, "Ok, I feel like something is wrong in your family. We want to help. What is wrong?" And brother Pacheo started to tear up ..he has a really bad eye problem where his eyes are both like lazy eyes...he can't focus on things, making it hard to find work. He works at their "home" (a little one room they rent) fixing people's electronics. Well, I guess in August, their little girl, who is no more than 2 years old, got really sick and was in the hospital. She had an incredibly high fever and because of the effects of the fever she is now on medication to keep her from having problems with her sight. Well, the medicine is incredibly expensive, and he and his wife are sometimes going 3-4 days a week without any food because they can either eat, or they can pay for medicine for their child. This has been causing stress for their marriage, and they have been having problems lately. My heart broke sitting there listening to this incredibly humble man pour his heart out. You could tell he wanted to do everything he could to provide for his family, and he was working as hard as he could. So I felt very strongly that I should teach fasting. So as we taught that, the whole feeling changed. They will be fasting this week, which he joked happens often! ha...these people!!!! I love these people! They are just happy...they are so grateful for everything. So my companion and I will be fasting this week for them as well. I know there is power in fasting. I know if they follow the commandments God will provide for them.

Irwin tonight was going off about having little money and being poor and he started making some smart comments and I just interrupted him and said, "Brother, do you have food?" He said yes...and then I said, "Well then you're very blessed." and I explained about the Pacheo family. He got quiet pretty fast. All of you at home, you may never understand, I don't expect you to fully understand, until you'll seen something like this with you own eyes, until you've sat with these people and felt the love that God has for them....I will never be the same, and for that I am grateful. I have learned that honestly, THINGS mean nothing. Relationships mean everything. Time. Time is priceless. I love this gospel. I had someone point out that starting next week I'll only have 3 transfers left. So mom, it's not just people at home asking about me! haha! I love this gospel! I love you all! I'm so glad things are going well for you. Count your blessings. Pray for the People of the Philippines. I thank you for your prayers. I feel them daily. I love you all and until next week, God speed! :)

All my love,
Sister Stadler

Alright family, sorry I didn't get the chance to email yesterday. We had to go to Bacolod and as usual, the day was long and the travel out there took forever and we didn't get time to email. So here I am on a beautiful Tuesday emailing my little heart out to the people I know and love. Life is way good though. So I think I said in the last email that we extended baptism for the Angelico family, if not, we did! and they accepted! It was a true example of their faith because they haven't yet received an answer for themselves IF the Church is true, however they are very serious with their decision and their daughter, Mara, knows it's true. She's remarkable. Their oldest son also knows its true, the one the elders are currently teaching. It's beautiful to see the people that the Lord prepares.

Speaking of which, this leads me into a spiritual experience we were able to be a part of this week. On Wednesday we had a specialized training here in La Carlota. I love these trainings because they are especially for targeting problems in our areas. We have training in the morning and then we had lunch, went out and applied to the training for an hour and then came back to evaluate. For the hour we went out to work we were to find brand new investigators by following the spirit and extend baptism to them in the first teaching. Well, this is all from the new training. So I have had good experiences with this new training. I was pretty excited to go out and try this, and little nervous to be honest. So we went out, and the elders apparently had a sister who was suppose to work with them, didn't work out, she went with us for our hour. We were walking down a part of our area that we have many less actives and we had in our mind a name of a referral to contact. He wasn't home. So we kept walking down the street. We talked to maybe 5 or 6 other people, offered the message, the invitation to teach, they all said they were busy, or didn't want to listen. We talked to another man for awhile who was collecting trash, but he didn't live anywhere in our area. SO...we just kept walking. At one point Sister Jackson turned to me and said, "Sister Stadler, where are we going?" To which I thought to myself.." "..That's a valid question..." and I responded.."Yeah..I have no idea. I'm just following the spirit." So we walked..for quite awhile...one street someone pointed to and said we'd been down that street before and I had the feeling to just keep walking. So we kept walking down another street and then Sister Jackson said, "We could go visit Andrew's wife." Andrew is our 2nd counselor in the branch presidency. His wife is not yet a member. We had never been to his house before.

I asked a boy on the street if he knew the family, he didn't. I asked if we could teach him, his mother came out and asked who we were and everything, then....his grandma came out the door, took one look at us and immediately stepped backward into her house screaming for us to leave. So I tried to just resolve the issue by being kind...the woman then told us to walk away...twice and then said...as if we couldn't understand their language.."MAG-GO!" hahahahaha! Well, needless to say we were a little...flustered. Not because of the rejection, but because we had like 15 minutes until we were suppose to report back at the church and I kept thinking, "Just have faith! The Lord prepares people...keep working up until the last minute." And sure enough, the Lord did prepare someone. The member who was working with us happened to know a home of another member in branch one and she knew where Andrew's home was, which happened to be right across the street from her. We went over there, Andrew's wife wasn't home. When we walked into the home there was a thin girl who went immediately into another room and closed the door. As I set up an appointment to come back and teach Andrew's wife, the member with us asked who the "thin" girl was. He said she watched the children when they were at work. She then asked if we could teach her for a moment. I will forever be grateful she did.

Rona came out and sat with us and I did the intro and asked if we could teach her for a moment. She allowed us to. She was so sweet and shy. She is 20 years old and you could tell she was just kind-hearted. We proceeded to teach her. The spirit was so strong. Right from the beginning of the lesson as I was teaching about how she was a child of God and that God knew who she was and how He loved her. She started to tear up. I thought nothing of it and continued. The lesson continued to just get more powerful and the spirit was strong and by the end of the lesson I had no doubt that I was suppose to extend a specific baptismal date for her. So we did, and she presented the concern that she wasn't going to be in town for the weekend. THAT was her only concern. When I asked her right before extending the baptismal date what she was feeling...this was right after I talked about the first vision and taught about Joseph Smith, she burst into tears and actually excused herself from the room. The spirit was thick, she came back and she was just smiling and still crying. It was a remarkable experience. She has a baptismal date set for November 13th. We are incredibly excited for her! We were suppose to teach her this week but she went back to her home town for awhile because shes been sick. BUT...Pray for Rona. Add her to the list! :)

As for Irwin, his baptismal date was pushed back. He got drunk the night before general conference. I wish I could type more about the wonderful feast conference was, but I need to go. holy amazing conference though!!!!! MY GOODNESS!!! It went by so fast! I love you all so much, This gospel is such a personal and powerful gospel! I love this work. Life is good! I am glad everyone is doing well. Keep me updated. Until next week, The church is true, Christ lives! Share the message!
GOD SPEED! :)

All my love,
Sister Stadler

Oh family of mine, how I love thee! I feel like I start my letters all the same exact way. This week was been a good week! We are still teaching Ramzel, the 12 year old golden boy. He didn't come to church on Sunday because his mom was sick. He didn't know where it was on his own and didn't want to go alone, so we had to push his baptism back one Sunday. When we told him we had to...he was devastated! You should have seen his face. BUT...he understands. Come to find out...his father isn't even a member!!!!! So we're hoping to add him to our teaching pool this week.

Irwin is awesome, and starting to open up to us more with each teaching. At first I thought he was kind of hard-hearted and doing things for the wrong reason, because it was expected of him. The more I get to know him the more I realize he's one of those guys who just doesn't like to feel all mushy and warm inside. He feels a little out of place when he has to talk about his feelings, and I ALWAYS have him talk about his feelings. haha! You have to when you're teaching investigators to gauge where they are! Anyway, he's excited about his baptism. As are we! :)

This week we received the most glorious referral ever! A true answer to prayer! Just last week I started praying for a family to teach because I haven't ever taught a real good sized family with children old enough to be baptized. Well, Heavenly Father immediately answered my prayer. When I say immediately, I mean it. The next day we receive a text from our zone leaders asking if we had an appointment that day at 4pm. We didn't. They said they had a referral from an investigator of theirs who lives in our area. SO we met them at their apartment, the investigator came with us and showed us a house and I asked if they were his friends, turns out its his family! They are a family of 9!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He's the oldest son. We have met all but two of the children in the family and all but two of the children are old enough to be baptized. It's amazing! They are amazing! They have definitely been prepared. We have only taught them twice, but they have true desires to learn truth and they are so welcoming to us whenever we show up. It's amazing! We have great hope and faith for them! :) They were really surprised to hear me start speaking Ilonggo...they asked the elders how I knew it and Elder DelosSantos told them my dad was Philippino..hahaha...then he immediately told them he was lying. haha! They're just amazing. I think it will take awhile to get them to baptism, but then again...by the power of God and the conversion through the spirit, maybe not. Time will tell!

I can't believe we're already halfway through this transfer....time is seriously flying. I got chills all over my body when I read that there is another temple in the Philippines!!! I"m a part of this work!!! It's such a huge blessing. I can't wait to hear everyone's reaction on Saturday and Sunday when they hear about it. I am more than excited for General Conference and I will let you know what talks were my favorites...even if you don't want to know..I'm telling you! :) ha!

Alright family, if I were to die tomorrow..which I won't..there's way too much to do in La Carlota, but IF I were....my final words would be... LIVE THE GOSPEL!!!!!!!! If people would just realize the joy it brings, they blessings they could witness. The Lord doesn't care so much about what you've done, that is why He's provided the Atonement! Just come to Him! Repent, through the Atoning blood of His Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ, and come to Him! I love you all so much. Share the message of hope we have in the gospel. Find time each day to testify of truth to Someone...you're great! Until next week, God Speed!

All My Love,
Sister Stadler

Yeah.....pretty much what this all comes down to is the fact that I love and adore each of you. My goodness, family and dear friends, life is good. A wee bit crazy at times, but so good. My companion is remarkable and I adore her with ...pardon the cliche, ever fiber of my being. She is from a little place called Battle Ground Washington, it pretty much borders Oregon. The only thing I've found wrong with her so far is she has a problem with texture....and when it comes to food here, that can be interesting!!!! Ha! Just kidding, she's amazing. Sometimes it freaks me out a little bit how similar companions can be in the mission, then President will throw in a polar opposite too just to mix things up. But, she is truly remarkable and has an astounding knowledge of the gospel, well, of everything actually. I'm pretty sure in 3 weeks or so she will be teaching me.

Ok, mom, you asked about my language, I meant to write about that last week actually. Let me relate an experience that helped me to gauge where my language was. Our first Sunday in the branch we were told about 20 minutes before Sacrament meeting that we would indeed be the speakers, welcome to the Philippines. So as we went to prepare I had a flashback to my very first Sunday in the field where they asked me to do the same thing. I was terrified and I felt stupid that I couldn't say anything in their language except what was on my flashcard I had prepared in my language study the night before. Well, this particular Sunday I stood up to speak and I realized while speaking that I wasn't thinking in English first and then translating into Hiligaynon, but instead I was thinking in Hiligaynon. For that moment I felt the spirit strong and I realized how unappreciative I have been at times, always wanting to know more in the language and wondering if I would ever have an experience that you hear with missionaries just speaking beautifully in the language and later not remembering a single thing they taught, but knowing it was the gift of tongues. After being in the mission I realized, this is an experience that rarely ever happens. And, instead, with our steady diligence and patience with ourselves...I hate that word...we indeed do receive the gift and interpretation of tongues. BUT...it is hard work! Sometimes I think we forget to take a step back and to witness the beauty of the every day little miracles we experience. I was so grateful to be able to do this in that Sunday school meeting. I definitely am not fluent, but I know the lessons, and I can truly relate and understand our investigators. Sometimes I only understand 70% of their sentences, haha...but I understand it, and I know many times it has nothing to do with my own knowledge of the language. So, mom, how's the language coming? It's here. :)

As for our less actives, we had a whole family come, but the other man who came before didn't show up again, even though he committed to be there. We'll be visiting him today. BUT, our two investigators here came to church. And we just had another one commit to baptism. This boy was amazing. We're witnessing the power of teaching part member families. It's remarkable. The elders left a name of a boy, Ramzel, who was shy and promised they could teach him, but they hadn't taught him yet. Months and months ago, missionaries taught him the first lesson, but he was never baptized. Well, we were teaching one of his relatives in their home and I saw him and his little friend trying to sneak out the front yard, so...I ran outside and grabbed them and had them come in so we could teach them! ha! So, he was pretty quiet during the teaching and we just reviewed half of the first lesson. He committed to come to church and we came to walk with him to ensure he went. So we started walking on Sunday and lo and behold, a tender mercy of the Lord, we left a little late from his house and there is no way we would have made it on time. Well, here comes a little member in the ward with a trik and he picks us up and offers and ride, free of charge. Amazing! So we get there, the young men immediately put their arm around him and take him to class! Fellowshipping was amazing! He loved it! And, that night we went to teach him again. We finished the 1st full lesson about the Restoration and he committed to praying about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. We had wrapped up the lesson and as I was putting away my Book of Mormon I had the strongest impression that I have maybe felt my whole mission to extend the commitment for baptism. So I pulled out my Book of Mormon again and asked if I could share just one more scripture with Him, and he smiled and said yes. So we looked up the trusty 2 Nephi 31:10 where Christ himself commands us to Follow Him. So I asked him after he read the verse what he was feeling, and he stopped for a moment and said, "The Holy Spirit"! WHAT?!!!!! Amazing!! this boy is 12 years old and so mature beyond his years. He has this glow you can see through his eyes, you can't describe it. So I extended baptism and he committed to be baptized on October 23rd with Irwin! The spirit was so strong! He started to tear up and his mom was crying as well. I love the gospel!

I love the opportunity I have daily to feel the love of the Savior for these amazing people! I love you! The Church is true! Share it! With everyone...you never know who's looking for the truth, and sometimes you find the most unlikely people who the Lord has already prepared! It's beautiful really. Keep the emails coming, I love it! Until next week, God Speed!
All my love,
Sister Stadler

Well, another week is over and another transfer has begun. Life is so good! I have an amazing new companion, Sister Jackson, from Washington state. She's brand spankin new from the MTC and is a hard worker. We had immediately made a connection and have many one too many things in common. haha. She's hilarious and we have enjoyed every moment with each other so far.
Our new area is in La Carlota 2nd Branch. Apparently about 8-10 years ago the stake had some ridiculously disobedient leaders who were then ex-communicted and then the stake became a district under the guidance of the mission leader. So now President Tobias is in the middle of training the area to become a stake again. Our branch is small, on average 60-65 members on Sundays. Our first night here after transfer morning we already had appointments set up with the other elders who we white washed. They weren't disobedient elders or anything, President just felt they needed the influence of the sisters in one of the branches in La Carlota. SO...here we are!
The members are so fun and kind. We have 3 investigators as of now, all from part member families, which we're pretty excited about. We're focusing on reactivation here, much like in Victorias. However, here, the members seem to be more excited to be involved with the work.
We are teaching a man, Brother Amador, who apparently told the elders that he knew the church was true but wanted to wait 2 years to be baptized to have time to effectively rid himself of all of his issues with the word of wisdom. Well, we decided to pay him a visit. As we walked in he immediately came in and said, "2 years! I told the elders 2 years! I've told all the other missionaries 2 years!!!" So I could tell his heart was definitely a little hard towards us. His wife, who is a wonderful active member, turned to me and whispered, "See...I told you.." to which I immediately walked over to him and introduced myself and asked if we could just visit with him for a moment. He went and put a shirt on and then came in to talk with us. The room was loud and there were kids running around, he was in the middle of cooking their dinner, and the neighbors tv was ridiculously loud....so I felt maybe we should just set another appointment with him, but the thought came to me, "If you don't share something now, you're never gonna get another appointment with him." So I asked him if we could come back on Tuesday and share with him. He said he wouldn't be available and that he wasn't going to listen to our teachings...blah blah blah....so I asked if we could just share with him right then since he was there...despite the distractions. So we did!
I said a silent prayer in my heart and then he asked me to offer the prayer before the lesson. The boy on the computer shut it off and left, the children left the house to play outside and the neighbors turned their television volume way down. As we started talking I was trying to figure out what his issue was that was keeping him from being baptized right now...so I went through the baptismal questions with him...to which he answered them beautifully and had a full understanding of the restoration..except he thought Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon..which we had to clear up. BUT...I asked him why, and he said it as honestly just because he smoked daily and drank coffee. He wanted to make sure he was fully prepared and repentant of his sins. So I felt I should share 2 Nephi 31:10...I explained about how we, as missionaries, were literal representatives of Jesus Christ and that it was as if Christ himself was asking him to follow Him into the waters of baptism.
The last few transfers I have been following the counsel of President Tobias to be bold, but with love. SO....I laid it on pretty thick. Or ....maybe that's not the best phrase...I made it perfectly clear...I basically told him, "Brother, by you knowing that the church is true and not being baptized, you are putting your salvation and happiness in jeopardy. Do you realize if you die tomorrow, you WILL NOT be with your family. It will not happen." He was really quiet for a moment. Then its like his heart was visibly began to soften. He didn't commit to baptism, but...he did commit to goals towards overcoming his addictions. So, we're meeting with him tomorrow to see how he's doing. I think he just didn't have any trust in us. He felt we were just interested in getting him thrown in the water, but in the lesson he felt we actually cared. We love him and were concerned for his family and his happiness. It was beautiful really and I wish I could do it justice by describing it right now.
We also visited a man who hadn't been the church for years and years and years. No one can remember the last time he went to church. We committed him to go, and scheduled for us to pick him up and walk with him to church. Well, we get there on Sunday and he's all excited and dressed and ready to go and before we even shouted that we were at his front gate he saw us and yelled to his wife that we were there. As I spoke with Elder Hamblin about it, he's one of the last elders in the area, he was so shocked that we were able to help him get there.
I'm pretty excited about this new area and the potential it has. Our correlation on Sunday was really good and we now have the beginnings of a ward mission plan.
This week I have training again with all of the leaders and trainers in Bacolod on Wednesday and Thursday with President Tobias. I'm excited for it. Life is really good! The gospel is true and I'm just loving every second of my life.
Some woman on Sunday asked me when I go home and I say, "Oh I still have awhile. I go home in March 2011!" Her response was, "Oh! That's so soon!" I thought my heart fell out of my chest....AH! Then today another elder was like, "Sister Stadler, after this transfer you have only 3 transfers left..that's weird." AGAY!!!! (..that means "ouch" in Ilonggo) I love every second of this work.
Mom, don't worry about my living conditions...I'm ridiculously spoiled right now. I left the mansion and entered into the celestial kingdom housing of the mission. We have the couple missionaries old house with an oven, air conditioning, and a heated shower. I've forgotten what it's like to not freeze when you're bathing. Everything here is blazing hot...except their water, which is always freezing cold. Yeah.....I don't even know. But...my time is up. I'm sure I'll have more to share later.
To the rest of you...share the gospel! I love you all! Until next week, God Speed!
All my love,
Sister Stadler

Alright well, family, dear family, have I got news for you?!! Let me tell you about the results of this transfer announcement from this mornings meeting. First of all...this whole week was ...difficult to say the least. We were punted (meaning that people canceled on us) more than ever before in my entire mission. It was like 3 days straight. We had a ward half-day mission that only one young man showed up to and then other plans all fell through too. It was "investigators getting drunk" week and I have decided I hate alcohol even more than I ever did before. Talk about Satan's tool for ruining lives and supporting stupidity. It's not even the fact that as investigators are drunk they get crude and they start to mock us and the church, I'll take a hit for the team, they will understand some day...but when I see them drunk and smoking I see images of everyone I love who is caught in that same web of lies. All I wanted to do was pick up one of our investigators and shake him and say, "LOOK WHAT YOU'RE DOING WITH YOUR LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let us help you...we just want to help." But he won't let us help him, and it kills me. It wasn't just him either.
This was the 3rd week in a row when we didn't have a single investigator that went to church. We had to drop 2 investigators and we're dropping others as well that just aren't prepared for the gospel and they are making it clearly evident through their choices. Emalyn and Recarido are not back from Bacolod yet because they still don't have money to get home. All of our investigators with baptismal dates either moved away randomly without any warning, they are back to breaking the word of wisdom or they don't have enough faith in Christ to live His commandments and witness the blessings.
I was riding on the back of a trik home on Saturday and I was watching the sun set and I just started bawling. Haha...I was looking at the beauty of the area and watching families interact and I was thinking, laziness and idleness will be the death of the Philippines, at least in our area. The tears weren't from frustration or from self pity. I just wish people could realize that wickedness gets them nowhere! And so often we don't want to own up to ourselves being wicked...but if it isn't of God, and if it's not what Jesus Christ Himself would do, then it's of the natural man...therefore it is wickedness. Basically, I dropped to my knees on Sunday and had one of the longest discussions with my Heavenly Father that I've ever had. I love prayer. I don't know if I've ever experienced to much sorrow for another person in my life. Sometime in that moment I remember saying, "Father, help me to prepare myself for the transfer announcements tomorrow and to step up to the challenges given to me."
I assumed I would be staying one more transfer in my area, or transferring to another area and following up a new missionary, but it seems Heavenly Father has other plans for me...AH!!!!!!! hahaha! I am once again being stretched to my limits. There are 3 sisters coming in this transfer. There is an American, a Tongan, and a Filipina (that sounds like a beginning to a bad joke...hahaha). Anyway, it turns out, yours truly, will be training, transferring and...wait for it...white washing an Elders area! Which means...they are pulling out the elders and Me and my Trainee will be taking over their area. I am still in shock. Heavenly Father and President have a little too much trust in me I think. Just when I feel like I am at the lowest of lows....leveled to the dust...I'm gonna put on my big girl panties and deal with it. I have complete trust in the Lord.
I know He is mindful of us and He loves us each. He knows our abilities and He always gives us opportunities to stretch and grow. I just barely read an old quote in a planner that said something to the effect of, "The rising generation today faces the same temptations that the generations of old face, but with different names and titles." It said that Heavenly Father never sets a single one of His children up for failure and that often we are stretched to our ultimate limits, but that we will always be able to overcome IF...we trust in Him. Which is exactly what I will be doing, because lets be honest..if I trust in my abilities...we've got trouble with a capital T!
Buot Silingon.....Magpangamuyo kamo para sa akon ah? Tunghod, kun wa'ay pagpangamuyo, wa'ay pagbulig, kun wa'ay pagbulig halin sa Diyos, wa'ay paguswag, wa'ay kalipayan, wala gid! (translation: Meaning....You all will pray for me, ok? Because if there is no prayer, there is no help. If there is no help from God there is no progression. If there is no progression there is no happiness...none at all!) : ) Alright...moving on.
Sister Ball and Nethercott had a remarkable experience this Sunday with an investigator. I'll give you a small version. They promised a woman who lives in a squatters village, (which means they have like zero money at all, and her husband left her, and she was 3 small children and 2 grown, ages 1,3 and 5....) that if she walked to church (1.5 hour walk) with her babies, she would receive blessings from God so she would have money to feed her hungry children. (Imagine 3 children splitting a ramen pack for their only meal of the day.) So they went there to walk with her, and they started walking. Sister Ball said there was no way they could make it on time for sacrament meeting. Sister Ball was praying like crazy that they would somehow be able to make it to sacrament so she could have a spiritual experience. Sister Ball was holding one of the little kids with a fever and walking, with only 15 minutes until church starts and at least another 45 minutes to go. As Sister Ball is crying, pouring her heart out in prayer to Heavenly Father...enter the tender mercy. A trik driver pulls up and asks if they want to ride. They explain they didn't have any money, so he took off. 10 minutes later, he comes BACK! He asks again if they want a ride and Sister Ball explained they didn't have money and he said he could just drive them for free to the corner...which is still forever away from the church. So they all pile into the trik and the driver ..instead...takes them all the way to church for no fee. I was waiting with my companion at the front of the church as they pulled up outside and Sister Ball was bawling, holding this beautiful little child in her arms. I immediately ran up and grabbed another little girl and carried her into the church. The Lord is so willing to bless us, but so often we need to show our faith first. AnnaLisa HAD to take those first steps to the church, struggling, and THEN...only THEN...the Lord provided a way. I will never forget that experience.
I love this mission! I know this sounds cliche, but there is no where in the world I would rather be than here on the mission. I will miss Sister Ball with all of my little heart. I can't imagine being in another zone from her and not seeing her. We may not see each other again until after I get home. AH! But...let it be according to the Lord's will. I love this gospel. The church is so true! I'm ready for the challenge of the new area and the brand spankin' new companion again, and I have a sure knowledge that through my Faith in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, miracles will be witnessed. I love you all and think of you often. Stay strong and steadfast, don't do stupid things...don't choose silly Satan over Jesus Christ. Its so not worth it. Just live the gospel! AH! The commandments of God are not for Him, good grief! Every single commandment He has given is for our happiness, our everlasting happiness! He is already all knowledgeable. I love you all and pray for you. Until next week, GOD SPEED!!!!!!!!!!

All my love,
Sister Stadler

Well, this week was remarkably successful. The mission tour went well. We had Elder Ko come and visit our mission. He and his wife are from Korea. His main focus was with working with members and being serious in our teachings, not sugar coating repentance and the Atonement. It was really good. He said a line that really helped me put things into perspective. I raised my hand and asked him during the training, "I've been studying a lot about covenants in my personal study and I came across a scripture Sister Dalton shared in her Conference talk. It said, "Cleave to your covenants". We're suppose to be teaching our investigators to cleave to their covenants, but how can we do that effectively when even the leaders in the church seem to not be cleaving, or even appreciating theirs?" He smiled a little bit and then said, "This is the concern we have within the entire Philippines." Then he went on to say our duty as missionaries is to teach our converts how to cleave to their covenants, so they, in turn, will become leaders and teach those who have not been taught properly. They said there was a point where missionaries in the 80's were pretty much baptizing anyone who would come to church twice. So we have a huge amount of people who are innactive or who aren't really educated when it comes to spiritual things. He then said, and this is what hit me.."To you young missionaries, missionary work is your world! It's everything! You must remember that these Bishops in your ward, these ward members and auxilary leaders they all have additional responsibilities. They have work, and family and they are busy! You are not their top priority. You need to become their friends. Show them you truly understand and care and that you want to help them, not add to their burdens." That hit me! so we've been trying to become their friends and to help the ward.
We just had a half day mission that went beautifully! They showed up an hour late, but THEY SHOWED UP!!! HALLELUJAH! :) We ended up seeing 4 inactive famlies and 2 of the families went to church this week. One of the moms even stood to bear her testimony. She said, "I had my doubts, but when I saw the saints who came to visit me, and then when I walked into church and Bishop immediately greeted me, I realized I was loved. You do truly care about my family." AH! I started crying!! The members were so happy to see them come to church, to see immediate fruits from their labors. This Friday they all volunteered their time again. We also found 2 new investigators in part member families from their efforts! I'm just happy.
I talked to President Tobias about staying one more transfer and it seemed hopeful. haha. Transfer day is on the 17th of this month. He said most people who were just transferred will be staying 4 1/2 to 6 months in their area...so if I stay here one more transfer it will for sure be 6 months here! Man....i'm holding out for it. But of course, I'll go where He wants me to go..meaning Heavenly Father of course.
I still adore my companion. Sister Polido is a machine! She's up for everything and is so humble and willing to learn.
Emayln and Recarido are suppose to come back tonight from their trip to Bacolod. We'll see how things are looking this week. We found out the marriage liscense is way more expensive that we thought it was. Emalyn broke down I guess on the phone talking to Annalyn and said, "I just want to be baptized! I know I have to be married first and we don't have any money to get married." These are moments I wish I could just pull out my wallet and sponsor the wedding, but...that doesn't build faith...nor trust in the Lord. SO....we're gonna see what the Lord's plan is. If there is a will, there is a way! 1 nephi 3:7...Good old Nephi!
As for Sister Ball, She's doing ok. She's had one scenario this week...nope..thats not the right english word...one...episode??WOOHOO! Yes. She has had one 'episode' this week with her health, but it wasn't anything to terrible, just not too fun. As for me, I'm doing pretty good. I'm gaining back some weight. Yeah...thats not good. Not a ton, just a couple pounds, so I'm working on knocking those back off while I can. haha.
I'm glad to hear everyone is doing so well. I got a letter from Miss Sarah Calder!!! I about fell off my chair when I saw it. ha! It was sooooo good to hear from her. I will definitely be contacting her when I get home.
Life is so good. I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this gospel. I see it change people's lives daily. I always amazed the individuals that just have the hardest outer shell, they doubt and the looks on their faces when we tell the story of Joseph Smith is always interesting..but if people would just humble themselves enough to pray about it. Try it! How could you not? Test it out, read and study the Book of Mormon and pray, If you'll just try it I know, not..I think maybe..or...quite possibly...nope, I KNOW that you will receive an answer to your prayers and it will be answer that you will never be able to deny. I, myself, have prayed and have had my prayers answered by God through the Holy Ghost. I know that Jesus is the Christ, that He lives. He will come again, and the day is not far distant. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that a man can truly "get nearer to God by abiding by it's precepts than by any other book." I know that Joseph Smith is a remarkably stalwart and powerful man who was a prophet of God and that through him Heavenly Father restored His gospel here on the earth. How grateful I am that we have a living prophet today, Thomas S. Monson, who is aware of our modern day concerns and trials and who speaks with God about how we can target our modern day enemies, or sins, and face them head on, so they will not become a threat to us. I love this gospel! I love the work.
I love all of you! I continue to pray for each of you. Sorry that I haven't written any of you back. I'm WAY behind in letter writing...but just be patient with me. You'll get a letter sometime here. haha! Until next week, GOD SPEED!

All my love,
Sister Stadler

Thanks for the emails and the package! Amanda, Sean and Mom...you are amazing!!! The Jody's fit perfectly and they are already my favorite things to wear. It's so much cooler to wear a Jody! The photos I sent last week I forgot to explain, but the house shots are our home we're renting to stay in. It is literally a mansion! haha! As for the one with the baptism, that was Sister Ball's baptism, the one we filled up the font with..none of our investigators now.
This week has been amazing. We have mission tour right now, which is where one of the Seventy comes and tours the mission. We had conference yesterday, which is why we're emailing today instead. We have Elder and Sister Ko here, they are Korean. They are amazing! The spirit was so strong yesterday in our meeting and I'm excited to start using what we've learned in our ward. I talked with President at the meeting and requested to stay here one more transfer, and he sounded like that was already the plan, but he said we'll of course have to wait and see what the Lord wants to happen. :) That would make it 6 months in my first area and 6 months in my 2nd area! ah! I love Victorias, despite the lack of help in the ward. Pretty much, they said they need to start reactivating or the ward will dissolve. It's...insane. But...ALAS...I have faith! It will work out.
This Saturday we're having a 1 day mission and we're excited to see how the ward members will step up and fulfill their duty with the work. We are here to help them, not for them to help us...which I think they have the wrong idea about sometimes.
As for health, I'm doing great! This week we didn't even buy any snacks.. I'm going healthy gid...and by gid I mean....haha...how does that translate???AH! As in....I'm going to be really healthy. ha! Oh boy.. I'm going to be such a weirdo when I get home. haha!
We had the most amazing lesson with Recarido this week about the Atonement. The spirit was so strong when we were teaching. He was crying as I asked him who Jesus Christ was to him, and to testify about why He was important. I was amazed, sitting there listening to him explain and thinking back about how this man was contacted by the missionaries on the street, and then when the missionaries went to his home he hid, and he used to lie to us all the time and say he just wanted to get showered first and then he would listen to our lesson, but then he'd just leave out the back yard..and now..here is is sitting and testifying and feeling the spirit incredibly strong, witnessing to us that the Savior lives, that he is important. I love the gospel!!!!!!!!
This week's email is going to be a bit shorter. Just to let you know, next week it will definitely be longer. The work is good, my companion is amazing! I love this girl! I continue to put her in situations where she's stretched, and she continues to amaze me. She teaches me things..I'm pretty sure she's training me now! haha! The language is great! I'm still not perfect, I have SOOOOO much to learn, but conversation flows and the lessons are being taught! ha! The gift of tongues is real and the spirit is so real!
I hope all is going well for each of you. Sean, man I love getting your emails! Your talking about building the traditional gravy dam me laugh way hard! The thought of having a meal without rice is absurd to me now. haha! Definitely miss corn on the cob though. Mom, once again, don't send that other dress. It's way way way too expensive...(also..the Liahona has ALL the conference talks in it. I love that talk you brought up. My goal is to read all the talks again before conference.)
I'll share one more experience really fast. The new curriculum focuses a lot on having investigators find for themselves the truth and importance of the Book of Mormon. We were trying to teach Reneboy, but he wasn't there, so I saw an old investigator that we taught only once. I asked him where he was going..he said to town, I asked if we could teach him really fast before he left. He said yes! That never happens. So he's 19, lives right by MeiMei, Annalyn, Emalyn..the whole gang. Well we start teaching about the Book of Mormon and the spirit was so strong! I've never taught it the way we did and after Sister Polido finished the intro to the Book of Mormon I stopped and asked him what he was feeling. I've started doing this immediately when the spirit touches my heart while teaching, to point out what the Spirit is and how it feels. As I asked about how he felt, he looked up at me, his name is Roel by the way, and said, "I feel like I want to change. I feel happy. It just feels good." So then he committed himself to pray and read the Book of Mormon that night and tomorrow we have an appointment with him. We're really excited. At the end of the lesson we taught him to pray and he reluctantly prayed....as he prayed he had to stop for awhile..his voice was shaking. Sister Polido, being amazing as she is...asked him after the prayer how he felt while praying..what his experience was. He stopped and looked up at us, smiled and said, "My heart was pounding, I don't know why. It's not because I was just a little nervous." She explained about the spirit again and I explained that if the things we taught weren't true, the spirit would not be felt. I LOVE THIS WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I never want to stop teaching and sharing and helping people come to Christ!
I love you all and I pray for you daily. Keep up the amazing work. Look for opportunities to serve. Christ lives! I will never deny it! He's already paid the price for all of our sins, all of our faults, just turn to Him. Until next week, God Speed!!!
All my love,
Sister Stadler

P.S. Paul..your line in Ilonggo made me laugh way hard! It said the mountains loved the birds. hahahahaha! And the black dog...yep..that was right! ha! Where on earth did you find it? Dad, awesome with the Book of Mormon reading!! Keep it up! I'm coming up on the 4th time I've read it since I've been out. Uncle Dale...HOW ARE YOU? I need your info so I can write! I hope you're doing well! You're all amazing! love you! Thanks for all the emails and letters permi..and by permi I mean always! AH! I don't know if I'll ever get these words out of my vocabulary. haha!

My loveliest and sweetest and happiest little family in the whole wide world. Oh how I love thee! Life is so good...let's all just take a moment and think of at least 8 blessings that we have in our lives, I'll go first. (in no particular order)
1. The gospel
2. toothpaste
3. emails from family
4. swedish fish
5. clean clothes
6. chapstick
7. my amazingly hard working and diligent trainee, Sister Polido
8. LAST AND DEFINITELY NOT LEAST.....A wedding and baptismal date set for Emalyn and her boyfriend Recarido on the 18th of September!!!!!!!
Yes, it finally happened! He wasn't progressing and was hiding from us and one day we were getting ready to teach Emalyn and I saw him in the background grabbing his bike. He started wheeling it behind us ..sneaking out and I stopped the teaching and went to ask him if he had just 15 minutes when we could teach him for a second. This man wouldn't even look me in the eye when I was teaching...he's really shy and unsure of himself. Anyway, after much persuasion, he finally stayed and sat. We taught the whole family together, with their 2 little daughters that are way too young to actually follow the lesson, but they were all there! So we had planned to teach him about the holy ghost and receiving answers from it. BUT...I felt we needed to address why marriage is so important in the eyes of God, and right when I started to doubt myself my companion leans over to me and says, "Sister, I think we need to teach marriage." HALLELUJAH! So we taught marriage and then tied in the holy ghost. The spirit was so strong. He committed to come to church and then I asked if when he knew the church was true if he could be baptized and he said yes. They also set a date to go get their marriage license and to be married the first Saturday in September. Amazing! 2 days later we came to teach again and he said he felt good as he was praying about Joseph Smith, but he wanted to keep praying about it and see if the same feeling came again, just to be sure. We encouraged him to do so, and then I felt I should invite him to be baptized on a specific date, so I followed the prompting and...HE COMITTTED! He will be baptized on the 18th of September with his bride to be! What a beautiful little family! I have full faith they will make it to the temple and continue to progress after. Keep him in your prayers please. He usually smokes 2 packs a day and drinks on weekends, but he's given it up ...all at once and he's been holding strong so far. Also, Reneboy, wasn't able to go to church on Sunday because he didn't have money to go...which he could have walked..it would have taken him over an hour...but he could have....so we're pushing his date back another week. He hasn't, however, had a cigarette or touched alcohol or coffee ever since we taught him! I'm amazed what is possible when people have a true desire to change and when the Lord helps them through their faith. I love this gospel!
Well, family, I adore you. I witness so many little tender mercies daily. The gospel is so true! I could never deny it. This week I had an experience where I was praying about the Book of Mormon again, I know it's true, but occasionally I pray to have the spirit reaffirm in my heart that is is true. I don't know if I've ever had a prayer answered so quickly in my entire life. The spirit has never been that strong during our morning studies. Then Sister Ball came in from her study and had me read something and it was another answer to part of my prayer. I love that our Heavenly Father is completely aware of our needs and desires at all times and is so willing to grant us our righteous desires, in His timing. Mom, your missionary experience was awesome!!!! That's funny your forgot the pass along card, but the point is, your testified! You shared a portion of your knowledge. Keep it up! Next time you'll be sure to have the card with you! :) I love you all, you're in my prayers. When I pray for you I have an overwhelming peace that comes, I know the Lord is helping you and providing for your needs. Don't be blind to His bounteous blessings He always gives. Too often we think it's our own doing...when its definitely not. haha! Church is true. Those of you who haven't picked up a Book of Mormon in over a month, pick it up already! Stop chickening out and just do what you know is right already! Go to church! Find Happiness through our Savior, Jesus Christ. He's suffered too much and given all for us. I love you! Until next week,
GOD SPEED!

All my love,
Sister Stadler

Well hello hello. How in the world are all of you doing? I hope this letter finds you well. First of all, here's answers to your questions. Mom, yes we do get the full conference Liahona, it is just like the ensign for the conference issues. The full ensigns we do not get though. My stomach has been doing really well lately. Sister Ball's is still the same for the most part. Keep praying for her. She's a tough girl and she's learned to work with the pain. As for my companion being a Filipina and not having to teach the language, that would be false. haha..it's almost harder in some ways. She is fluent in Tagalog...I remember only what we learned in the MTC in Tagalog, if that... So...she doesn't know Ilonggo, and she speaks some English. We use about every language we can to communicate. haha! The easier thing is that she does pick up on the language way faster than an American would, but... I'm still teaching her the language. She's wonderful though. She's such a hard worker and her energy helps to keep me pumped up.
Analyn and Emalyn are not married yet, but they both set new baptismal dates. Did they come to church this Sunday? no! This was one of those Sundays where the missionaries wait forever at the front door, praying and hoping and then it feels like someone stabbed you in the heart. BUT...Reneboy did come. We used to teach him forever ago but he wasn't progressing so we dropped him. Then, last week I saw him and grabbed him to teach him again and the new curriculum says to follow the spirit to commit him to baptism, so I did and he committed! Get this...he used to smoke 2 packs of cigarettes a day and drink whiskey and we did the word of wisdom lesson with him 2 days ago, he's down to 1 cigarette now and no alcohol. I can see a change that has come over him. It's beautiful. We're really excited for him. Alright, paying for kindergarten now!!! That's ridiculous! What are the school systems over there thinking? As for the pearls, next week he's going to bring some for me to look at and take a photo of for you. They are beautiful. The peach is a light peach and the black is more of a charcoal color.
Sean, I died laughing when you wrote the part about training Elder Neal! I can't even imagine how ridiculous that had to have been....always have to step lightly when opening areas, especially after a situation like that! haha!
Ok, so this week has been really good. The Lord has placed so many potential investigators in our path it is amazing. I used to be so afraid of extending a baptismal invitation within the first 2 teachings but it makes all the difference when you're following the spirit. If you extend it by saying, "When you come to know the things we have taught are true, will you be baptized into the church of Jesus Christ...by one who holds the proper authority?" It doesn't make it seem like we have some hidden agenda! It really helps us to see where the investigators heart is. If they say no, you try to resolve their concern, re-extend, and if they still say no...then you move on because they aren't prepared in their hearts yet. The Lord has prepared too many people to waste time trying to force something on someone. We aren't called to force. We are called to invite.
My little trainee, Sister Polido is a little fire house! She's all about OYMing and will just talk to anyone. I love her to death! I could not have asked for a better trainee. Get this, she knows Sister Hawkes, a teacher in the MTC, because she served in Sister Polido's home town! She used to work with her in her ward and go on splits and stuff with her. She asked me on night during our studies if I knew her and I almost freaked out! haha! So here's a little shout out to her! Sister HAWKES we love you! :)
Well, I don't have much else to add. This week I was reading in Alma 36 and I had been praying to really feel the Lord's love for me that night, it was a harder day, and we had just read that chapter with an investigator the day before so I almost skipped over it, but I felt I was suppose to read it. So as I was reading I could feel Alma's urgency in his explanation...his pleading really, for his son to just live the commandments of God and witness the blessings. When it gets to the verse... I think it's around 24 where he talks about "from that day on he has taught the truth"...or something like that... I felt the overwhelming power from the spirit testifying to my heart and my soul that I am participating in the same work as this magnificent missionary Alma. How grateful I am to share every day about my loving and living Savior, Jesus Christ and His gospel, filled with hope and joy and happiness beyond description. The church is true. IF PEOPLE WOULD JUST LIVE IT ALREADY they would allow themselves to be happy, truly happy. I love you all and pray for you every day. Thank you for your prayers. One day last week as I felt a little discouraged about a few investigators and was on my knees trying to find a way to help them, I once again had this rush of comfort that filled my whole being and immediately I thought, "What time is it in the U.S.?" I realized it was around 8 at night there. I immediately had the image of you all praying for me in your prayers and I was so full of gratitude. This work won't stop, no one will prevail against it. Life is so good. Show your love to all you come in contact with. Be a service oriented people. Find little ways to help this week. So often we get so darn caught up in our list of to-do's that we forget about why we're actually here. Take a step back and just talk to someone who looks a little lonely. And for goodness sake...be happy! You live in a free country where children are healthy and food is in abundance, animals are taken care off, health care is available and insurance is as well. The air is clean, most of you have a car and a home and food in your fridge right now to last the week. That's more than any single one of our investigators. Count your blessings, name them one by one! If you're not sure how to put the next meal on the table or to pay the next water bill...consider the lilies of the fields, how they grow. Keep the Commandments, be obedient, be grateful, and watch the Lord unfold His bounteous blessings and miracles before your eyes. Until next week, GOD SPEED !!!!!

All my love,
Sister Stadler

P.S. MOM!!! I got your package!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for the peanuts and the twizzlers and the fruit and jerky...my heavens it could not have come at a better time. That fruit is heavenly! Did you dry that yourself???? Thank you!! LOVE YOU ALL!