"I want my mission to change me forever."

What's up Fam and Mama,

 

Hopefully it works to email today, but if it doesn't, I will be okay haha. I figured you guys would be doing something fun for Memorial day. 

That is good that the week went by super fast for you guys. It was super slow for me. Really a humble week as I will call it too.

One family contacted us early this week saying that they are done investigating and so they dropped us. That really really, really sucked. We also had to drop ___ because she wasn't willing to change. That kinda sucked too. All of them just decided they don't want it, which is hard. Like it says in my blessing though, people who are looking for the truth will accept my words. I guess it just wasn't time for either of them.

The rest of our investigators are doing good. They all have their own concerns and trials, but they can get through it with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

There really isn't much new with me and my comp. I have been trying to be more patient and understanding. Zone conference was this week and Pres. Ware really talked a lot about changing our own personal desires and applying the gospel into our own life so we can have an amazing change of heart. He used the story of Enos in the Book of Mormon. Enos had the desire to  be forgiven and he acted on it and was able to have that change of heart. That is what I want for my life. I don't want to go home the same man I was before. I want to be changed, and changed for the better. I have been praying for that change of heart and I really think it is helping me become more involved in the work. It's awesome.

That is crazy that school is over basically. I bet summer will go fast for the kids though. What are you guys going to do for the end of the school year?

Oh no, Homework for when I get home????? haha {Mom has a book for him to read}. I have a couple books I want to read already when I get home. Should be awesome.

That is exactly what I would have expected from Laurie that she would bear her testimony in the language even before going out haha. She is a genius. She has been her whole life.

Hopefully email works a little bit today. Well, if it doesn't thanks for everything Mama. You da best

Love ya

-Elder Sedlacek

What's up Dad,

That is great that you had a good week and that work is going good for ya too. That is crazy though that they prepare the 2015 curriculum already. I guess they would have to, with all the stuff it takes. Lots of work I am sure.

This week for me was pretty hard. It was a humbling week, that is for sure. It was great though because we had zone conference on Friday and it really helped me to learn a lot I think, being all humbled and stuff. Mainly the thing I learned is that I want to have a change of heart on my mission. I don't want to just float right through it and have great experiences and never learn from them. I want my mission to change me forever. I think that is one thing that I really needed to hear at Zone Conference. Basically everything Pres. Ware said was an answer to my prayers. It was really kind of cool. I know I was sent to Pres. Ware for a reason. I learn so much from him.

Anyway, definitely the highlight for the week was having Zone Conference. Like I said in my email to Mom, the D's dropped us and we also had to drop M. It was good to teach them, but it isn't the purpose I am out here for. We are to find, teach, and baptize. It was hard to give them up but they will come around sometime. 

We picked up a new gator named E. She is the mother of one of the members of the ward. She had some interest in the church so she started to read the Book of Mormon. Turns out she picked it up a couple weeks ago and is already to Alma! That was GREAT to hear. She is solid. I was glad to start teaching her. F and A are doing great too. They are reading the Book of Mormon every night together and it's really starting to help them out. Our other investigators are doing good. They are all working towards keeping their commitments.

How are you guys doing as a family at having daily missionary experiences? That is one thing that is super important that I have come to realize.

That's way cool the Braves won state in baseball. It's been a long time since that happened so that's cool. They did pretty good this year it sounds like.

That is good you guys will get the package sent off. Just remember that this next upcoming week is transfers, so just make sure it gets here before then.

Thanks for all that you and the family do for me. I love you guys! I will try to get a letter sent off this week. I have been bad at that. Well, thanks for all the compliments you gave me. I am glad that you guys are in mi familia too. Have a great week!

-Elder Sedlacek

Dang--missions go fast!

Just realized that I didn't post Elder Sedlacek's emails from last week, but that's probably because we Skyped with him the day before and there wasn't as much to email about as usual. Anyway, he's doing great and we're so proud of him! 

What's up Mama,

Today I emailed pretty late obviously. I kinda like it better though. Hopefully it works for you too. Glad you are doing good. That is crazy that school is already over. That went super fast. Probably not for the kids, but it did for me. Just think, I was out when school started and now it's pretty much over. That is crazy too.

That is great that Nicole did so well on her marathon! She looks good at the end too. I like her shirt she's wearing in the pics. It looks pretty cool.

You will have to tell Bro. H. thanks for the Conference Ensign stuff. He's awesome. On the package, I wanted a couple short sleeve shirts if you could. Don't buy nice ones though because they get destroyed. Just the regular shirts are perfectly fine. Then the soap for my face and that's about it I think. Thanks for all that you do for me Mama. You're the best!

How long has Jordan B been home? That is crazy, but I knew it was anytime now that he was going to be coming home. I bet he was a great missionary. Now he gets to the fun part in life haha. So did Nate speak with Jordan like I did with Nick? I bet that is the way it's going to be when I come home. I will probably speak with someone going out while I am coming home. That will be weird.

Well, I am doing good. I will give more of an update in the email to dad probably. It seems to work out that way most of the time anyways haha.

Hopefully it works out to email today!

What up Dad?

Funny that you mention that it seems like forever since we last talked, because it does for me too haha. This week was pretty slow. Yesterday was really good though with church and everything. We invited a lady who showed up at church to take the discussions, and she accepted so we will have a new investigator. We also put our investigator Felicia on date for June 14th. That was a pretty good lesson too. The D family is doing great, but they still are working on coming to church. That's what patience is for. I just really hope they will come to church eventually. That's what they need. We are also teaching Denise's daughter and that is going really well too. She is really starting to progress and it's awesome. We have given her a blessing and it really helped her. We also gave one to Denise and her daughter got to watch so she really knows the power of the priesthood. She is going to get baptized on the 31st so that is a little less than two weeks. Its going to be sweet!!!!!!! 

We are also teaching our RC Sydnie's sister. She is going to be baptized, too, and she is really starting to realize that the church is the true church. She felt something different at the baptism and she really liked it. You can pray for us to find new investigators, pray for the D family to have the desire to come to church, Felicia that she will be able to get married, and Denise and her daughter that they will be able to stay healthy and strong in the gospel, that Lexi will continue to feel and know that the church is true, and also for the baptism goal for the district of 15 by May 31st. The prayers I am sure will help out each one of them and will also help us to find new people to teach. That's basically the main people of our teaching pool in a nutshell.

Thanks for the sports updates. The ones you threw in are just fine for me.

What does the journal you picked up look like? Is it a good quality one that is going to last? That is really the biggest thing I want. It would be nice if it matches my other one, but we will see.  Thanks for picking it up for me.

That is funny that you like my stories better than the other RMs from our ward haha. I am sure they are both pretty much the same. It's the same work, just different places. I bet it was cool though to hear Jordan speak. He seems like he would have been an AP or something like that, or in other words an awesome missionary. 

It is crazy that the boys a year younger than me are already starting to give their farewell talks. It does seem like yesterday when I was giving mine. Dang missions go fast! haha. I never believed people when they said things like that, but it's really true. It does go super fast.

I am glad that work is going good for you Daddio. Keep up the good work!

Thanks for everything you do for me. It's really awesome what all you guys do for me. It means a ton to me! I love you guys and its super fun to be able to email you and hear what's going on back home. Keep on keeping me in the loop. Again, I Love you guys!

-Elder Sedlacek

Learning some new tricks

What's up Mama,

I didn't get your letters yet so maybe today I will. I did have a good week. Sadly, J.D. can't be baptized for a couple weeks but Becky is having an interview for baptism tonight and Sydnee is still on for Saturday too. It is going to be at least two baptisms on the 10th hopefully. That will still be awesome! 

 

The ward is great up here. Sunnyside, for me, has been very successful. It has been great! Things with Elder A are doing good. He is stubborn, so it's his way or no way, but I just cope with it and we get stuff done. It is not easy, but we have to get along if we want success. I have just been working on my individual relationship with the Savior, and it has been helping a lot. 

That is awesome Nicole is graduated now! You guys need to watch the Princess Bride soon. That seems like a good movie to watch right now for you guys haha. 

 

That is crazy that Alyssa and Liz are getting married and are. That went fast!

 

On Mother's Day I will get to call home. I get to call on Saturday, too, to set it up with you guys. It will be in the evening, probably around 7:00 Utah time. It is going to be fun!

 

I do like the pics you sent. Thanks for all that you do, Mama. You da best!

 

 

What's up Pops,

I didn't even realize that date yesterday haha. {May the Fourth be with you!}  Being on the mission just makes you forget that stuff haha. Oh well, it is Cinco de Mayo here and Sunnyside has had a big party the past couple days. It was fun to walk around and talk to people. There is good food there too haha. Sounds like you had a good week though. I did too. 

 

For this Saturday, we have two people on date for baptism. Sydnee and Becky. Sydnee is really pumped to get baptized and so is Becky, she just needs to have her interview tonight. I am sure it will work out for the best. It is going to be awesome to have multiple baptisms on the same day again. I really love when that happens. The rest of our teaching pool is doing okay. Only Eric came to church so he is doing good, he just won't commit to a date yet. Marie is doing good too. She wants to come to the baptism on Saturday to check it out. I think we can get her baptized this transfer, hopefully. We have been working to find some new investigators and have some good potentials because of it, but I will tell you about them once I know a little more. That is really our focus right now is finding new people who are solid to teach.

 

With planting season going on up here I have been learning some tricks for gardens, one of which I think we could use on our fruit trees. They have what they call bird scare tape that you put in trees, and the birds don't eat the fruit because of it. It is pretty cool stuff. It just is super shiny and that is what they use on all the fruit up here. It seems to work well, too. Another trick is when you pick the apples, make sure that the stem is on the apple, otherwise it hurts the tree and it won't have as much fruit the next year. So there's a couple tricks that I though you would like haha.

 

That is funny that they have you doing the food for Dirt and Dogs! You must be good at it or something. You will have to let me know what new calling you get when you get one. 

 

You will have to get your head in the game haha. Geeze dad, haha just kidding. You're doing fine with the updates. It's fun to hear the latest news on the sports stuff.

 

Sprinklers are a pain and believe it or not I have done some on the mission haha. Lots of fun every year. I bet you will have loads of fun mowing the lawn. You should get a riding lawn mower and then it would be super easy.

 

Today for p-day should be pretty fun. We are going to a member's place up in Yakima and playing all sorts of games. It is going to be awesome. They have all sorts of stuff like air hockey and ping pong, really just a ton of stuff to do. It should be fun.

 

I hope you guys have a great week. You are seriously the best. Thanks for all that you do for me! Keep praying for our baptism goal of 15 baptisms before May 31st too. Love you guys!

-Elder Sedlacek