A miracle story: 7th baptism scheduled

 

This is Jackson, the "fluffiest, most lovable dog in the world."

What's up,

How are you Mama? I am doing pretty good. This week was good. I hope yours was too. I didn't get the letter yet, so maybe I will today. It's exciting to hear about the ward's new mission calls.

This week we did have a baptism. Nick was baptized and it was great. It was probably the biggest showing of non-members at a baptism that I have seen so far on my mission. He had a ton of family there. It was great. For this week in baptism news, Carlos on date!!!!!!!!!!!! Carlos is on date!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! {Mom's note: Can you tell he's a little excited about Carlos' baptism??}

 

We had an awesome miracle with Carlos this week. We met with him and before the lesson his wife Sariah (who is a member) had let us know that she thought that watching The Testaments with him would really help him. Turns out that was VERY inspired. The video was great and the spirit was strong the whole time. At the end of the video, Carlos just sat there, not saying anything, but just thinking to himself. He was totally dumb struck. The spirit had given him a spiritual backhand to the face haha. All he could say was he was dumb for thinking the Bible was the only scripture in the world. He finally came to realize that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. That was the light bulb moment we had been waiting for with him. This is the same guy Elder J and I thought about dropping right after the first lesson because he was soooooo stubborn. Turns out he is awesome and will make a super good member. He loves God so much and will not do anything that is against His will. I love that guy!!! 

 

Well, that experience with Carlos pretty much made my week. I am so happy that he is getting baptized this week. I still can't believe it. It is truly a miracle. 

 

Sounds like you are going to have a fun week with the Blue and Gold banquet. It does seem like yesterday I was going to them haha. Time goes so fast. I still can't believe I have been out 7 months pretty much. I have to make the most of it because it goes super fast.

 

I bet Mia did great on her talk. She should consider doing student gov. I think she would really like that. Next women president of the united states haha.

 

Tell J.H. thanks for doing the pamplets for me. He's awesome. I am sure you allready told him thanks, but you should do it again for me haha. I will send him a thank you note. (Good idea Mama.) Thanks for all that you guys do for me. You are awesome. I am glad that HF is blessing you while I am gone. He is certainly blessing me as well.

 

For March 1st we only have 1 baptism scheduled. The D family would be getting baptized, but they have to come to church one more time and their grandson who lives with them keeps getting sick. It is going to be such an awesome baptism though with Carlos!

 

I am doing well. The only thing I need from you guys is prayers, like you are already doing, and a Mormon Messages DVD from Seagull book or somewhere. My face is doing pretty good. I went to the doctor this week and got some prescription stuff. Should start to really help me out. Brother J paid for it too, so he is so awesome for doing that for me. The members up here are awesome. I love them!

Surprise of the week: Leading the mission!

 

 

Elder Sedlacek at the Darigold plant.

Snow on the ground in Washington

What's up Mama,

This week was great. We had zone conference and then Elder J and I caught the Sunnyside cold that has been going around forever. It isn't too bad of a cold. I can deal with it. Well zone conference was really good. It was fun to hear some training from President. I have some exciting news, too. At zone conference, President came up to me and Elder J and said that he wanted to come out with us that night. Long story short, he wasn't able to that night because he is a busy guy, but he met with us and the Bishop that night. He told us that Elder J and I are leading the mission right now! I could not believe it! I knew we are having lots of success, but I didn't think it was the best in the mission. Now our goal is to make our numbers the worst in the mission--but keep our numbers the same haha! We just have to stay humble. I am not having any trouble with that haha. I know it is only by God that we are having this much success. 

Denise's baptism on Saturday and her confirmation yesterday went well. She felt the spirit super strong both days. It was fun to see her get emotional. I know that sounds bad, but that is a good thing on a mission. It means she was feeling the spirit as you already know. Our baptisms for this coming week--we had them on date but they didn't come to church yesterday because they are sick--we have to put them off a week, and Nick, the other one on date for Saturday, we aren't totally sure yet. He is having some struggles right now and we are meeting with the Bishop today to find out more. I hope we can have a baptism this Saturday though.

That is exciting missionary news for the ward. I bet they are all going to love their missions, like I love mine haha. Missions are a great thing!

I am glad that Nicole liked what I said last week haha. I didn't think it would help her that much, but hey, whatever works!

The weather in Utah sounds alot like the weather in Warshington right now. I went out this morning and it was weird. The air actually smelled good because it had just finished raining for a bit. There isn't any snow on the ground anymore. That melted off like the middle of the week and it got pretty warm. It was nice.

Yes, in Sunnyside we always email from the church because it is easier on us. President doesn't really care where we email from, we just can't use members' computers for it like it says in the white handbook. He is really just a handbook president. I like him a lot. We have a very similar personality haha. Maybe that is why I was assigned to him and not another one.

Thanks for working on my ipod. Did you put the new music on its own playlist? Thanks for doing that though for me since I can't do it myself haha. What have you found out about the Mormon Message DVD? I don't really think I need much from home other than those things. I will let you know though if I do need anything. I will be needing another journal in probably a couple of transfers. (Just to let you know). I am a little over half of the way through the one I have right now.

What's up Fathuh,

This week was good. We had zone conference as you probably already know. They did a training on the difference between teaching and ministering. Often times we missionaries get too focused on teaching what they the investigators need to know, more than on what they need personally. We have been trying to focus on that for our investigators this week. It wasn't the best teaching week, but we did get to teach Ava, the new investigator we found. She is doing great. She didn't come to church, which we were kinda disappointed about, but she was spending time with her son who she doesn't get to see much. We taught her the restoration and it was probably one of the best lessons we have given so far as a companionship. The spirit was super strong and she really liked the Joseph Smith story. She said she felt really good when I was saying it, and that she understood it all and it made perfect sense. We committed her to read and pray about the Book of Mormon to get a testimony of it and she said she would. Most of our investigators are sick right now with the flu, so we didn't get as much teaching this week. We did give lots of blessings because of it, so that was a benefit. The baptism on Saturday went well. It went really good actually.

Yep, we have been having really good success lately. We are leading the mission in fact. I thought that was crazy when I heard it! They are even having us give a training in zone meeting on Tuesday and we aren't even in leadership. Did you ever have any leadership on your mission? I don't remember, but maybe you did. All the missionaries in this district are convinced I am going to have leadership. I am not going to hope for it but if it happens, it happens. I will, and am continually trying to be a better missionary. I always try to listen to the spirit because that is what converts. Those are cool stories you shared with me about listening to the spirit. It is so important that we do listen to the spirit. Heavenly Father also gives us trials to help us to grow and become better. I know that too. Sometimes the mission is hard and you feel like you want to throw in the towel and quit, but the blessings that come if you don't are so much more worth it in the end. We just have to have an eye on the future and don't look back, like Elder Doube's talk in conference. If we do that everything will work out.

It is good that the US is doing good in the Olympics. It sucks that the colleges aren't doing so hot in basketball right now. It is a good thing that the Jazz are sucking it up right now so they can get a lottery pick next season. They need one of those so they can be better in the future.

I heard from mom that the weather is pretty good right now in Utah. It's the same here in Warshington. It has been pretty warm the past couple days which is what I like. Surprisingly though with the name like Sunnyside you would think that you would get good sunsets. We practically don't even get sunsets here. It's weird. The sun just kinda goes down. I miss the Utah sunsets. They are always super pretty. I think only a couple times on my mission so far have we had a okay sunset haha.

Libby is funny haha. I haven't really had that many doors slammed in my face except for maybe like 10. Most people are really nice, but just tell us to get out of there. I have knocked tons of doors and most of them have been polite to us. I guess that is a blessing of serving in the states.

That is exciting about the new missionary news in the ward. That is going to be cool for the ward to have that many missionaries out serving. This July is going to be a crazy time for the WKM with all the leaving and coming missionaries. 20+ missionaries are leaving, so there will probably be some calls to Kennewick from your area I would bet. You guys will have to let me know if you hear of any from our stake that will be coming to the WKM.

I love you guys soo much and thanks for all that you do for me. I say it every week but I really mean it. You guys are the greatest! Thank you for praying for our investigators, too.  I love you guys! 

-Elder Sedlacek

All we need to do is become as a little child.

 

How is it going Dad,

This week was great! The baptism went super good. It was almost too easy. I didn't know baptisms could come that easy haha. We just met him 3 1/2 weeks ago! He was golden and he was super excited for his baptism. It was fun to see him that excited. He already told us that he wants to be a missionary someday and he is only 21, so he easily could. As for the baptism coming up this week we have Denise getting baptized on Saturday. She is awesome too. She is so ready and has a strong testimony of the gospel. She is even starting to do missionary work in her own family. Three words to describe her: She is awesome! For the following Saturday, the 22nd, we have three people on date. Nick, who is the boy friend of a member who is progressing really well. He wants it for himself and even goes to early morning seminary each day. He is going to do great. The other two on date for the 22nd are Becky and Jackie. Becky's mom just passed away on Thursday so I am sure she could use some prayers. They are still doing great, besides the fact that they are grieving the loss of their mom and grandma. They told us yesterday that they are gaining a testimony of the gospel. Marie is also doing really well. She came to the baptism for Myron and she really liked it. We have her praying for an answer if she should be baptized on March 8th, so pray for her too that she will be able to make the correct decision for her.

I had a miracle story that happened to me this week from following a prompting that I got. I'm not going to tell you in the email though haha. I need something to write a letter about, so you will just have to wait. I really do try to follow every single prompting I get from the spirit. It really helps out in missionary work. Like an experience I had this week: Our district has a goal for 15 baptisms this transfer for all of us 6 Elders. We had been meeting and discussing how we were going to achieve the goal because that is a number we felt like we needed to set, but the district has never pulled a number like that, so we really needed a plan of how we were going to get there. We had several ideas of what we needed to change to achieve the goal and some of those were prayers, personal sanctification, and trust in the Lord. I chose to study sanctification and really had a lesson from the spirit. I turned to the index and started reading all the scriptures on sanctification. There are several ways we can be more sanctified, like through the atonement and yielding our hearts to God. I came to one in D&C though that really stuck out to me. It teaches that we are sanctified through magnifying our calling. I had known that our calling as missionaries is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. Our calling is the Doctrine of Christ. I realized that the district was getting away from the purpose, by trying to set all these complicated ways of achieving the goal of 15 baptisms when all we need to do is become as a child. Submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to the will of God,and apply the Doctrine of Christ in our own lives and we will have success. The whole district was amazed at what I thought of and they all really loved it. They are convinced that I am going AP now too haha. We will have to see about that one haha! Well anyway, that was one of the many experiences that I had this week.

That is super funny about you and the hula dancers hahahahhahahahahah. I want to see a video of it. I bet you had fun though even though you were embarrassed. I never though you would dance or even could haha.

Yep, I had heard that the Olympics were starting up again. I was kinda bummed that they were the winter ones when I heard, but it doesn't bother me now. I just have to deal with it haha. That is sweet that the Jazz were able to beat the Heat. I wonder if the Heat were trying though? haha. That is good that Utah is doing good. They need to keep winning.

Well, I love you guys and am so excited to be one of those 66 missionaries from our stake. That is exciting that I am not on the bottom row anymore haha. Time does go by fast. Keep me updated if I move up anymore haha. I am grateful for all that you and the whole family do to support me while I am on my mission. You guys are the best family I could ever have! I really do love you guys tons!!

-Elder Sedlacek

Enjoying every moment!

February 3, 2014

 

What's up mom,

I am doing great! This week was another good one. It was kinda slow at the beginning ( I don't know why) but it picked back up the rest of the week. How was your week? Good to know that I will be getting a package. I have been wondering where it was haha. That was nice of you to put goodies in for kids. Good thinking haha. Yep, yesterday was the Superbowl. It was fun. I actually got to watch a little bit of it at the member's house that we had dinner at. We had all this Superbowl food and played with the family. It was lots of fun. The city wasn't as crazy as I thought it would be. There were some fireworks going off but that was about it. Well, the work is going great. We had 5 investigators at church which was great, and we have 5 on date for baptism, one of them being Myron for this Saturday. It is going to be sweet to see him get baptized. He is soooo excited. We had lots of lessons this week too. That is a cool story about the girl in Florida. That is really all it takes to share the gospel. Let the missionaries do the "hard" stuff haha. The Lord wants you and everyone else to share His gospel. He will help you with it. All you have to do is ask Him, and I am sure you know that already. 

The bathroom looks super good! Kelly did a great job. I bet it is super nice to use now. It is good that Heavenly Father blessed you guys to be able to have it nicer. He is the The Best!

I love you guys sooo much. That is funny that Nick is jealous. He should be haha. It is awesome right now. I am trying to enjoy every moment because it is already going faster than I though it would. 

You guys are the best!

 

What's up Dad!

Yep I found out the score pretty much right when it ended. The Seahawks did awesome. I bet it wasn't even much of a game. I got to see a couple minutes of the last of the 4th quarter because we were at a member home eating dinner and playing games. It was a fun night. That is fun that you guys did a score guessing game. So does that mean that Sarah actually watched football for once???? That would be crazy haha. Sounds like it was a fun time though for you guys too. I also heard about Groundhog Day yesterday and that he saw his shadow so more cold weather. Funny, because it has been snowing up here ever since I found out. There is practically no snow on the ground though, which is weird. It isn't Utah snow up here. It is crappy Washington snow haha!

My week was great! We had 12 member present lessons which is awesome. That is the 3rd week in a row that we have had awesome member present numbers. It is showing in the success in the other numbers as well. Members are so important in getting investigators baptized. We have a huge teaching pool still. We lost two investigators because we baptized them, but it seems HF just gave us a couple more new ones, so yep, we are keeping it up. Sunday was great. We had 5 investigators there and it was a good testimony meeting so that was good. Testimony meetings are always so sketchy haha. The investigators we had at church were Myron, Nick, Becky and her daughter, and Steve. They are all doing great. They are probably the most solid investigators. We have a couple more like Denise, Michelle, Sydnie, and Marie who didn't come, but we are going to check on them. It was a really good show to sacrament meeting anyway. Myron is going to be getting baptized this Saturday.  I think Denise will be getting baptized the week after. Becky and Jackie are doing really well. We weren't able to meet with her husband because he was on the road all week driving his truck. They are awesome people. We had a awesome lesson this week with them. The spirit was super strong and they learned a lot and committed to be baptized on the 21st of this month! And to think we just found them and Myron three weeks ago! The work is progressing so fast. It is awesome to see and be a part of. 

Sounds like church was great for you and the family. That is great. I love meetings like that where you just feel the spirit so strong. They feel like they just re-charge the spiritual tank. That is probably what the sacrament is partially for. It always seems like it helps me to re-charge. 

That is good that work is busy for you too. 10-12 hours a day, think back to when you had 16 hour days on the mission haha. It is not the same work though for missionary work and a regular job so I feel for you dad haha. It will be cool though I am sure when you finish up the project that you guys are doing and look back on it and see what you have done. I am sure you are having fun though doing all that work.

You are right, the bathroom does look super nice. It is way nicer than the bathroom I use everyday haha. I bet it is nice to use. You guys are lucky! haha

It is fun that you guys are putting in for hunts. If you want to put me in for points, by all means go for it. I don't mind either way. It would be nice to come home and have bunches of points that I could use. But like I said, I don't mind either way. That would be cool if you guys can draw a tag for something. Just make sure you duck hunt haha. That is the most fun type of hunting of coarse haha. Don't worry, it won't get me thinking too much about home.

It's funny that you went and bought a Hawaiian shirt haha.  You should get a big straw hat to go with it. That would be funny.

I am glad that you guys were able to use the card I sent. You deserved it. I love you guys sooooo much. Thank you for all that you do for me. It is awesome that you are helping me out. I didn't get the package yet but I should  real soon. Thank you for it in advance.  I hope you all have a fun Valentines day and month too. Thank you for all the support! I love serving a mission!!! The people and experiences are awesome!

Love, Elder Sedlacek