Apply-templates for getting around my XML doc?

Hello
Imagine an XML doc with 'letter' elements, in doc order, from A-Z.  Each 'letter' element has 10 child 'digit' elements, 0-9, 
and each digit element number '0' has 10 'roman numeral 'children, i-ix, so that a random letter, say, L, looks like this:
<L>
   <0>...</0>
        <i>...</i>
        <ii>...</ii>
         //etc.
        <ix>...</ix>
    <1>...</1>  <!--no roman numeral children-->
    <2>...</2>
    //etc
</L>
<M>
    <0>...</0>
         <i>...</i>
   //and so on

OK. If I wanted to process specific elements only, and no others, in the order listed in the stylesheet, 
would the following XSLT be a correct way to navigate around?
<xsl:stylesheet etc.>
   <xsl:template match='/'>
      <xsl:apply-templates select="/L/0/iii"/>   <!-- does this pass the ball directly to the template listed  below?-->
   </xsl:template>

  <xsl:template match="/L/8/iii">
    <!--do something-->
    <xsl:apply-templates select="/X/4/vii"/>  <!--and then does this go to the  next template?-->
 </xsl:template>

 <xsl:template match="/X/4/vii">
    <!--do domething-->
    <xsl:apply-templates select="/L/0/i"/>  
 </xsl:template>

 <xsl:template match="/L/0/i">  <!--this is where I had a problem.  Should it have jumped up again and matched this?  It didn't-->
    <!--do domething-->
    <xsl:apply-templates select="(next victim)
    etc.

Hopefully this can eliminate [this style of navigating] as a potential error.  I don't understand how the processor thinks, and I had some problems with templates being ignored,  but a wise man recommended this style as a [simple-enough-for-even-me-to-understand]
potential solution.  Have I missed even that boat?
Thanks
Edmund
p.s.-processor=xt standalone
edmund_mitchell@xxxxxxxxxxx


 XSL-List info and archive:  http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list