"Bionic Mama" and thoughts on grace and mercy

Took me a few times before I saw the flower tucked in his ear. haha!

Elder Sed and Elder R in a pretty awesome pose!

The Zone at the Columbia River temple. Elder Sed is third from the left. He looks so good! 

What's up Mama,

Sounds like you had a good week. This week has been pretty hot. It's basically going to stay above 100 for the highs for a while here haha. The heat isn't too bad though. It just makes me super tired in the middle of the afternoon. Speaking of, transfers are this week and I am staying and am going to be serving with Elder Christofferson. He's the Elder who me met his mom in the distribution center, who's from Bountiful and was going to the same mission as me. Remember that? Well, it should be pretty fun. I just really hope he's a good worker. That will be the absolute best if he is.

So you lost the SD card but then found it again haha. At least you found it haha.

I am sure Elder J would love to see you guys at his homecoming. He said he will put it on Facebook once he gets home tomorrow. It's so crazy that he is going home tomorrow! Seems like yesterday he wasn't even at 18 months yet. Time goes super fast haha.

I bet it was super cool for Syd & Tyler to go through the temple together. So they both took out their endowment then? 

A temple painting will be a super cool wedding gift for Nicole & Jeff. I love the Bountiful temple. It's so pretty. Cool idea for a gift.

I already knew how to pronounce Nephi in Spanish (haha) from Sunnyside. I know how to pronounce a couple more things too. I bet I would be able to understand Jeff when I get home. I can kinda understand some Spanish but I cannot speak it all, which kinda sucks haha. I want to learn it, though. He will have to teach me when I get back.

So Dad is also a wedding decorator haha. He is a man of many talents. He just might have a side job if he does a really good job. How did he design all that? That sounds really complicated to me. Dad is a smart man I guess!

So you obviously have been visiting Dr. R for your knee lately. Is your knee pretty bad right now? That is good that you are getting a brace thing for your knee. That would be sweet if it works out for you. I will be praying for you that it will be a huge help for you. Can't have my Mama not walking! haha. That would suck. So is it one that you will wear all the time?

Mom: Son! I can’t believe this transfer is over already! I hadn’t even thought about transfers and didn’t realize they were this week. That will be super fun to have Elder Christofferson. 

 

The card was sitting by the computer this whole time and I just forgot that I had never sent it back. Sorry!

 

Okay, hopefully we can make Elder J’s homecoming. We’d really like to. Yeah, Sydnie and Tyler took out their endowments. I haven’t gotten my new brace yet, hopefully the rep calls soon. I will try to wear it all the time, but certainly when I want to go walking or hiking, and I need it for camping. I will definitely need it the day of the wedding or my knee would be killing me by afternoon!

Elder Sed: I really hope you get your brace then if it will help you that much. You will almost have a bionic leg haha.

Mom: I just can’t get over that it’s been 6 weeks! And it’s crazy that we met Elder C’s mom, and now he’s gonna be your comp!

Yep, bionic Mama. That’s me. haha

Elder Sed: Yep, this transfer went by super fast. I only have like 9 more too. Crazy crazy crazy!

You are bionic Mama haha. You will have to video yourself doing parkour or something like that when you get your brace.

Mom: Parkour? Me??? Hahahahaha!!!! That one made me laugh out loud! 

Elder Sed: Yea, you, parkour with your bionic leg. You don't see it happening? haha

Mom: Um, I see myself walking and hiking in comfort. That’s about it haha.

Elder Sed: Well I guess that's acceptable still in my opinion. It won't get a million hits on YouTube, but hey. It's still good haha.

What's up Dad,

Sounds like you had a good week too, just like mom did. My week was pretty good, but boy was it hot haha. It really is like being a pioneer because I walk around all day in the heat. It's usually pretty hard once it hits 3-4pm. That's the hardest time. I am doing pretty good though. I am making sure that I am drinking lots of water. I don't want to get dehydrated at all. That is no fun.

The teaching pool we have is going well. We got dropped by F this week but we picked up a new investigator named C. She is pretty cool and somewhat interested in learning more about the gospel. She has some roommates in her apartment and I don't think they like us very much so pray for her to keep up the interest even though her friends might not want her to. The rest of the teaching pool is basically the same. We weren't able to meet with a lot of people this week. Seemed like lots of people are out of town. We are still working on going around to the members and teaching them the restoration. I really really really really really really really want this area to be successful. The members just need to realize that missionary work is fun and easy to do. I'm trying my best every day to get it to the point I want it. President Ware said it could be 6-8 weeks before any real changes start to happen. That's a lot of waiting haha. HF must really want me to learn some patience and diligence!

My studies have been pretty good this week. I realized that I had been pretty prideful in the heat and because of the weather. I was thinking about me me me and no body else really. I changed that as soon as I realized, and am praying for ways each day to look for the well being of others and for little service opportunities. I studied a lot on justice and mercy along with grace and mercy of the savior.  I have been dealing pretty justly with the members and not really being merciful to their situation. I am going to try my best to be more merciful to everyone. I also realized something cool about grace and mercy. Grace from the Savior isn't grace if we earned it. Mercy also isn't mercy if we deserve it. None of God's children, without the grace and mercy of the Savior, would be able to return to him. I am super grateful for the atonement. I have seen the miracles that come from applying it in our lives. It truly is amazing. I am sooooooo grateful again for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the atonement.

Elder J goes home tomorrow. Crazy! I can't believe it I know that. Can't imagine what he is feeling like. He would love to see you guys is what he has said. Just watch for it on Facebook.

Don't worry about me not writing down my experiences. I've got that covered haha. I would say my journal is pretty good. I usually will try to write down the cool stuff or what I learned during the day in my daily journal entry. I know if I didn't write them down I would forget them so I try my best to make the entries good ones haha.

I really hope you guys have a great week. I haven't gotten your letter yet so maybe I will today. Thanks for sending one. I am sorry for not being the best letter writer. You guys are awesome though. Have an awesome week! I love being a missionary!

love ya,

-Elder Sedlacek