Holy cow 2015. I never thought that would happen.

What's up Mama,

Hey Monday came fast haha. I am happy that I get to email though. It's fun.

The big transfer news is: I am staying in Kennewick with Elder Ro. I am happy with that. We work together well and have a lot of fun so it should be really good. We had a fantastic past couple days! We put two of our investigators, T**** and K, on date!!!!! That was super exciting.

Christmas was super fun being able to see you guys. Jeff was different than I was expecting, but he is funny so that's all good haha. I don't even know exactly what I was expecting...haha. It was good to meet him though. I'm sorry that all your kids are growing up on you haha. You can take comfort in that I am feeling good. I surprisingly wasn't even that trunky after, so it was easy to adjust back. You're an awesome Mama!  I would visit now but you're going to have to wait 7 months ;)

Christmas was super fun after we Skyped. We hung out and just had fun. Delivered cookies to our investigators. Ate some super good food. We went to a members' house and they had--no joke--about $200 worth of meat on the table haha. It was sooooooooo good! They were these huge sections of prime rib that was cooked soooooooooo good. Let's just say I was in heaven haha.

Hey, that's cool that we have some new neighbors. I will have to meet them when I get back.

I haven't gotten my glasses yet. I don't know when they are going to come in. I will take a pic. Don't worry about that.

You da best!!

Mama: Hey son!

Yeah, Monday did come kinda fast. This week will probably go fast too with New Year’s.

I don’t remember hearing about your investigator K before....have you told us about him?

I’m glad you did not get trunky!

Prime rib!! You lucky dog!

Our New Year’s snowman is going to be good this year—we got 11.5 inches of snow over Christmas, and last night we got about 8 more. The snow is finally showing up this year. And this year I should be able to make it up on the hill, with my new knee brace. yeah! 

 

Elder Sed: I totally forgot that this week was New Year's hahaha. Holy cow 2015. Never thought that would happen hahahaha.

I totally forgot about the snowman tradition too. I bet you guys are going to be able to make an awesome one. You have Jeff too, if he shows up, and he's super tall so you could even make the snowman even taller than before. That's awesome too that you're going to be able to make it up the hill.

That is A TON of snow! I wish it snowed like that up here. That would be sweet. I remember that one night when we got a snow day for school. Now that was a lot of snow.

 

I'm pretty sure I have told you about K before.

Mama: You probably have mentioned K, but I post to your blog every week and I know you always mention M****, L*****, etc., but couldn’t remember K. It’s all good.

Yeah, 2015! I never thought it would happen either. 

 

What do you get to do for New Year’s? Do you have to stay in with Sister S? Not that you wouldn’t like that....wink. 

 

Elder Sed: It should be fun getting to know everyone new when I get back, just hopefully my mission won't make me too awkward to be around haha.

What do we get to do for New Year's? We will have to be in at 6 pm. I know that for sure, so yea we will get to hang out with Sister S. It should be fun. I bet she will have family over or something so it should be fun. I will probably party it up though haha. I have to go all out right ;)? My last one in the mission field so I will try to make it fun as I can.

Well, it's time for me to go again. It was fun emailing today. Thanks for all that you do for me! Tell everyone hi for me. If you could, somehow on Facebook or something tell my RC and friends hi for me. That would be awesome if you did that. You do so much for me and I'm so grateful for it! Love you, Mama! Hope you have a great week!

-Elder Sedlacek

 

What's up Dada,

Sounds like you had a pretty relaxing week after Christmas. Mine was pretty dang awesome. I told you mostly what happened in the week before Christmas. It was pretty long. Now that Christmas is over we were able to meet with T**** and K. Guess what??? They both are on date now!!!!!!!! T**** is doing awesome. She was able to get some help from the ward for her daughters to have a Christmas, so I was super happy about that. Her girls are so dang cute, and they deserved to have some gifts for Christmas. Her baptism date is for 2/7/15 as of right now. She did tell us that she has some concerns about Joseph Smith, so we invited her to pray and to gain an answer from God about it. You guys could pray for her to gain that answer.

K is doing awesome, too. He has been reading and has really opened up to us this week. We met with him a couple times, and both of those times we were able to hear some of his concerns and address them. We had a super good lesson on the Doctrine of Christ and he committed to be baptized 2/14/15!!! I was super pumped about that. He struggles going to church just from an experience he had when he was younger, so pray that those concerns will be resolved.

M**** is doing awesome as well. She has been reading and also trying to get J**** to read as well. He struggles with reading, but once he starts reading everyday I am sure M's baptism date will be a lot sooner. Pray that J*** will feel the need to read everyday.

L***** is doing great too. This area is just being really blessed right now. I am so happy to be in here right now!

That's funny that you guys remembered that you didn't take a pic while we were on Skype. I thought the same thing right when I ended it. I guess I could have called you back real quick and taken a pic, but oh well. Grandma is just going to have to be a little mad for the months in between Mother's Day and now haha. It was awesome to see all of you guys. You're one awesome family!

Duke that dumb dog, eating all the bretzlis. He was probably just mad that you haven't taken him duck hunting ;) . I am sure he is already back to loving you again haha. I have gotten PLENTY of treats. I live with Sister S. She has every Christmas treat under the sun in her house, except bretzlis.

Well, I am grateful for all that you do for me. You're one awesome dad. You're an even better example to me than I am to you, I am sure haha. I am grateful to be serving a mission. It has blessed me so much. I have learned and grown so much in just the time I have been out. I know the gospel is true. Since you sent me that DVD of the bible videos I have been watching some of those. Christ's life never ceases to amaze me. He did live a perfect life and set a perfect example for us. I know the atonement is in place for a reason. I know Christ can heal our lives.

I love you guys. You're awesome!

-Elder Jake Sedlacek

 

 

 

Out of the hardest days, come the biggest moments.

What's up Mama,

How the heck have you been? I had a pretty good week. This week should be really fun with Christmas and all that. I actually got my packages on Saturday so they came faster than expected I guess. That's cool. You will be happy to know that I am saving them til Christmas morning to open, by orders of Sister Ware haha. She doesn't want any missionary to have to sing "I'm getting nothing for Christmas" haha. She's funny sometimes.

You like Sister S? I am glad you got to talk to her. I like her too, she's awesome. You should have gotten a couple texts with pictures this week. When we have dinner with families who have missionaries out, they always want to send a pic it seems.

I am staying healthy. The past couple days I have had some allergies so I don't know what the heck is up with that. My right eye has been bugging me because I can't see as good in it. I am going to the eye doctor tomorrow though, so I will see if I am actually blind or going crazy haha.

Amazon is amazing haha. Now that you have free 2 day shipping it's even more great!

Jeff is going to have a hard time competing with your fave son huh haha. ;)

Our investigators are doing well. It was a good, busy week. I had some cool experiences too, so it was awesome.

Mama: Hi Son! I’ve been great. I’m glad you have had a good week. Sister S said she is taking you to the doctor tomorrow. You’ll have to let me know what happens when we talk to you this week.

I did get three pics of you this week! Two from the M family and one from the Ns. They are all great!

You’ll always be my favorite son. Wink!

I forgot to tell you that Brother and Sister B gave you another $25 this Christmas. I will put it in your account.

Elder Sed: Yep, she is taking us to the doctor bright and early. 6:40 in the morning hahah. When I heard what time it was, I was like holy cow haha. It should be fun though.

Hey it's good that I'm still the favorite.Tell the Blacks thanks for me!

I am thinking about going and getting my grey suit tailored this week because it is huge on me and looks terrible. Mr Mac does free alterations but I am not in Utah and they don't have Mr. Macs here so I might just take it to a place and have them do it. I heard though that it would be somewhere around $40. 

Mama: Oh yeah, you’re still the fave. Yesterday all the kids were telling me, “But you said I’M your fave!” haha! I may or may not have told them all that.  

Yeah, I think you should get your suit tailored. I could tell it’s huge in that pic you had taken for a cutout. 

Elder Sed: Oh so the truth comes out huh haha. ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

You can be sure that I am the favorite--just an fyi.

I will be calling sometime Christmas Eve to set up the final details on the Skype. Should be fun!!!!

I will probably have my suit done then. I like that suit, just not right now because it's huge. Even the pants on my black suit are big, but the jacket fits better than it does on my grey suit so I will probably not worry about that one.

Mama: Can't wait to hear your voice!: it will be awesome. We will all be at grandpa Hilton's house.

Elder Sed: I have to get going now. It was great to talk to ya. I am glad everything is good back at home base. I hope you have a great week! Talk to you on Christmas! Love ya!

-Elder Jake Sedlacek

What's up Dad,

It was weird because when I started to read the email you sent, I was reading it as Mom sent it and I was thinking to myself  "Why is mom going to Cabela's to spend her birthday stuff???" haha!  I realized after that though that I was reading your email instead haha. That's awesome you were able to pick up a case of shells. Is that all you bought? It's going to be fun to use those next year. Jeff is going to have to come along too. If I remember correctly he hasn't duck hunted before, right?

This week for me was a great one. We had lessons with most of our investigators. I had some cool experiences too, with finding and gaining answers to prayers. I am going to give a short update of where most of our investigators are at.

M**** is still doing well. She came to church yesterday and really liked it. Like our ward back home was, our church was on Christmas in every class. It was fun. She still is having a hard time studying, but in this crazy, busy world who isn't? I think that is one of the most used tactics by Satan. He tries to convince us that we are too busy to study the scriptures, which is absolutely false. Dang Satan. Stop messing with our investigators.

L**** has been slammed with work with Christmas coming up. He is busy all this week too, which is just crazy. He still tries to find time to read each day somehow. He's awesome.

D*** we lost contact with. He got kicked out of where he was living and we have no clue where he's at now with his phone not working anymore. I hope we are able to find him soon. Miracles happen.

T****** is really busy with work too. (See the common theme with all our investigators?) The bishop went over and visited with her to see if she had any Christmas needs, so that was great. She is really awesome. Sometimes I just wish I could buy the things that she needs. It's really tough for me sometimes that way. I care about them so much and want them to have the things that they need.

C***** unfortunately got anti-ed by her boyfriend and dropped us this week. That was a tough day, but I did get a way sweet answer to my prayers immediately that day. When we got back inside that day, on Wednesday of this week, we had had a really long day and I was just ready for bed. In my night prayers to Heavenly Father, I always just try and relax and go over my whole day. I was just thinking about the days on my mission where it seems like nothing is going my way, and then all of a sudden I had a distinct thought in my mind. It went like this: "Out of the hardest days, come the biggest moments."  My thoughts went right to the Savior after that. I was just imagining the morning of the atonement and what or how Christ would have felt. He must have known that the day was going to be the hardest experience of his mortal life, but in reality the hardest day of all human history brought the biggest moment in human history as well. Out of that garden came salvation for human kind. How grateful I am for it this Christmas season!!!!!!!! It's so awesome to be a missionary this Christmas season. It may not be a "White" Christmas for me per say, but I have learned some meaningful lessons.

That answer to my prayers was just one of the cool things that happened this week. It was just a great week. I'm looking forward to this week, too. It's going to be fun to be able to see you guys over Skype.

I have got to say GO UTES!!!!! Oh yea, I am so happy they had a great game. I would have loved to see that trick play they did to score at the beginning. I bet it was awesome! I hope they can finish in the top 20 this season. That would be the icing on the cake. Now they just need to do amazing next year.

Well, I know the gospel is true. I am so grateful to be able to serve a mission. I love it! I know the Book of Mormon is true. I know the Savior lives. I know Joseph Smith is a prophet that god has called in these days. I know the priesthood is on the earth as well. What a blessed life we live. Thanks for all that you do for me Dadio. Your awesome! Love ya!

-elder jake sedlacek

I didn't always make the best decisions, but it led me to be who I am today.

 

 

Hey what's up Dad,

My week was pretty great. We were able to get some awesome work done. God is certainly blessing the  ward right now. This week we found a very promising new investigator. Her name is C****. She is in her 20s and has a couple kids and she is awesome. She was raised Christian. She is super open-minded. The first lesson we had with her, we went over the restoration. It was SUPER good. The spirit was really strong. I know she felt the spirit teach her truth!!!! Later this week, she texted us and that brought some not good news. She has a BF who is anti-Mormon and he had given her some stuff. I was able to resolve most of the concerns. I just hope she will want to continue to meet with us. Pray for the spirit to help her know real truth from God!!!!!!!! She NEEDS this right now!!!

L***** is doing great things as well. We had a lesson with him that was super good also. At the end of the lesson we had asked him to say the prayer and he didn't want to, but amazingly his girlfriend stepped up to the plate and was like, "I will do it." Ever since then, L***** is completely comfortable praying. He even volunteered to give the opening prayer in our latest lesson with him. He is praying for some guidance as to what to do about his living situation. Pray for him to be able to gain an answer he is comfortable with so he can be baptized. He wants it so bad! It has been an amazing experience teaching him and bringing him closer to Christ.

M***** has been doing great, too. They are still working on progressing towards marriage. Pray for them to be able to continue to make progress.

T****** is doing great things as well. She came to the ward Christmas party this week and really enjoyed it. She was able to meet a lot of the members of the ward. She is really struggling this holiday season though. Pray for her to have the comfort she is seeking.

The mission had a Christmas Devotional this week. That was fun. They gave out temple recomend holders that President Ware had made up for each missionary. They are super cool. I had been secretly wanting and hoping that they would do that. Lucky me! They did haha.

I am glad that the wedding was a huge success. It looked really good in the pics Mom sent. You should do it for a business. On a scale of 1-10, how stressed out were you on Friday? haha I can't even imagine how you felt. You're awesome, Daddio!

I like your idea to set some goals to stretch myself for the rest of my mission. I bet it would help me to stay focused on my purpose. You know I will do that. Good thinking Dad. I always want to be the best missionary I can be.

I don't have a clue when I will be Skyping on Christmas Day. We are going to be Skyping from our house, so we can whenever pretty much. When is the best time for you guys? I can probably plan on doing it then.

Well, I know the gospel is true. I know Jesus Christ lives and He watches out for us and leads us to where we need to be. Psalms 23:1-2. I know that all my life, I have been lead and guided by my Savior Jesus Christ. I know that is why I was sent to you and Mom. He knew that we would help each other the most. I am so grateful for you and Mom helping me and raising me to go on a mission. I didn't always make the best decisions, but it led to me to be who I am today. I know the atonement is real. God loves us and I KNOW He lives!

I love you guys tons! Thanks for all that you do!

-Elder Sedlacek

I get to spend two years just thinking about others, and I get blessed for it.

Hey mama,

How are you doing?? Sounds like you're one busy, busy mama haha. I bet with the wedding being this week that this week is going to fly by for you guys. That is exciting about the wedding. I bet it's going to be super fun. 

 

We had a pretty good week. Things are going good with Elder R. He is pretty fun. I would say we're pretty good friends. I try my best everyday to serve him. Serving someone is how you come to love them.

Hey, thanks for praying for M, L and D. I am positive it's helping them. They are all doing great. L*** did fall off date though. M**** is still looking at getting married in April. She has been reading everyday which has been GREAT! D**** is still doing good. He, like L***, has a crazy work schedule so he needs to get that cleared up before he is baptized so he can come to church.

I really liked the Christmas devotional. I totally agree that Elder Christofferson is my fave too. He always has something awesome to say. His whole talk was super good. I would say the whole meeting really helped me to get in even more of the Christmas spirit.

I hope Nicole's neck starts healing. That would suck if she has to go back in for surgery. I hope everything goes ok with her. I bet she isn't too worried about it right now haha.

You will have to tell Jeff good luck for me on all his finals. I bet he is having a blast ;) doing all that studying.

You're going to let the kids ditch though haha. I never thought that would happen. haha. Good luck also with all the wedding set up. 

I hope this week is totally awesome for all of you. I would of course love to be at the wedding, but I can't right now. I am sooo happy for Nicole that she's getting married in the temple. You guys are awesome parents! I love you guys sooooo much! Thanks for all that you do for me!

-Elder Jake Sedlacek

Dad.

I am doing great. This week was pretty good. It was fast and slow at the same time. We were able to get in contact with most of our investigators. Weren't able to have lessons with all of them, but we were able to get in contact with them. Pretty much all of them are doing great things. I know the Lord is in their lives blessing them as they allow him to by keeping their commitments. Thank you guys for praying for them. I pray for them everyday too of coarse haha. That is one thing that is great about the mission. I get to have two years to just think about others, and I get blessed for it. That is what is so great about the mission. I love it! I know the Lord is with me all the time as well. What a privilege to be able to represent Jesus Christ this holiday season.

I gave most of the updates so far to mom, but we did have a lesson with T**** this week. I don't know if you remember her, but she is a single mother works two jobs and has two kids under five. Crazy life huh? haha. I don't know how she does it. She also finds time in her busy day to read the scriptures too. She is doing great. The lesson was awesome. When Elder Arnold came to visit the mission he had taught us a new way to invite someone to baptism using the Book of Mormon, and it works so good. We invited T**** to be baptized and she said she would when she gets an answer that the Book of Mormon is true! It was a miracle, definitely. Those experiences are what the make the mission such a awesome experience. Take note little bro and sisters ;) GO ON A MISSION!

Congrats on the new calling dad. {Teaching in primary}.  How big is the teaching pool ;) You have pretty good odds that you will have 100% baptism rate as well haha. Now that is what I call missionary work haha. Our church was pretty good too. 

Hey, I wish you luck on setting up the wedding stuff. If it goes well, you should start your own business doing it. How cool would that be? You would be super busy but I bet it would be fun.

That is awesome that the UTES are going BOWLING! I hope they have a team show up just like you said. It wouldn't be cool to go and lose a bowl game. I had heard that Urban Meyer is back coaching at Florida? Is that true?

Thanks for your testimony dad. You're awesome! I also have a testimony of the gospel. As we allow the Gift of the atonement to penetrate our lives, IT WILL CHANGE US! The power of the atonement is real. It is infinite. I read in 3rd Nephi this week in chapter 1. There were some verses that stuck out to me too. Verse 4 which is where the wicked people were going to kill the believers if after a certain time the signs didn't show up, but in verses 15-25 it explains all the wonderous things that took place and the wicked people that were originally going to kill the righteous were converted. Christ was saving people the moment he was born. His life was all about salvation for us. Because he was born and died and rose again, I know we will all live again as well. I am so grateful for Christ's sacrifice for us!!!!!

I hope you have a great week dad. Have fun with the wedding this week. Don't forget to put on the grumpy pants ;)

Love ya,

Elder Sedlacek

I do believe my mission has changed me for the better for my whole life.

 

What's up Mama,

We just got back from eating lunch and the temple so now it's time to email. Yay haha. Emailing is fun though.

I had a good week. Funny that you ask if I stayed dry this week and I didn't a couple days haha. We had some surprise rainstorms and we got soaked, but it was really fun. I just really have had tons of fun this week. We got some snow later on in the week too, but now it's back to being super cold after almost 70 degrees on Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving was fun. We went to some members' homes and ate, of course. It was good. Everyone did a ham, so there was not a lot of turkey. It was good though. Really yummy. I bet it was really good food at grandpa's.

I need addresses of our imediate family for Christmas cards. Can you send them all to me if it's not too much trouble? I am working on this year's Christmas card and it's looking to be pretty good so far ;)

That's awesome the wedding stuff is looking like it's going to work out. I hope everything goes great with the wedding. I bet it's going to be stressful but super fun!

That's super funny that Mia is dibbing taking "me" {his cardboard cutout for the wedding} around hahaha. You will have to keep that cutout around afterwards. Maybe Duke will destroy it though haha.

I like that you can see progression in me just from the time I have left. I really do believe my mission has changed me for the better for my whole life. I have loved it and still continue to every single day.

Mama: Son, yay! There you are! I have been waiting for you. ;) 

It is so good to email each week. My fave time ever. It is no trouble to send you addresses. Who would you like them for?

Shoes. What is your shoe situation?

Elder Sedlacek: It's good to email you, too haha. First of all, I like Nicole's bridal pics. They look super good. I need addresses for basically everyone. 

Shoes: I have shoes that will work. It was just an idea for Christmas. I had another gift idea for me but I just can't remember it right now. I will get back to you on that one if I remember what it was eventually.

Mama: One good thing about having a wedding was that we had to compile a bunch of addresses in an excel file, so now any addresses you want, I’ve got haha. 

 

Did you enjoy the temple today, and your lunch? Did you eat in the temple? The temple usually has really good food. I’m a fan of the temple’s tapioca pudding.

Do you get to watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional this Sunday?

 

Elder Sedlacek: I did enjoy the temple today. It was awesome as usual. Lunch was good too. Lunch in the temple????? psssshhhh that's a funny joke. The temple here isn't that big mama haha. We get a 60% off deal at Costa Vida once a week because a member owns it, so that's where we ate. You are right though that the temple does have good food. We do get to watch the devotional on Sunday. I am going to try my hardest to get our investigators there. It should be fun. I would assume you're going to watch it with the fam?

 

I have to get going now Mama. It was super fun to be able to email today. I am glad to hear you're doing well, as well as everyone else too. I hope this week is awesome for you all! If you haven't watched the new video the church has, "He is the Gift" you need to watch it as a family, and then #sharethegift. It's a awesome video about the true meaning of Christmas. I know Jesus Christ lives and he knows me and you and everybody else. The Book of Mormon is true. It brings the Spirit so much into our lives when we read it. I hope you have a great week again! Love ya!

-Elder Sedlacek

Whatz up Dad,

Hey papa. Sounds like you guys had a good Thanksgiving. Mine was good too. We had lots of fun. We went to a member's house and ate lunch/dinner for Thanksgiving. It was just the usual stuff, except it was ham. It was really, really good though. Next year is going to be fun ;)

The teaching pool has been doing good. Because of the holiday we didn't get to meet with most of our "on dates." The big news is that M**** and J**** are engaged. That was exciting news. They are working on getting married. It is weird to council somebody on marriage and I haven't been married haha. It ends up working out okay though most of the time. The Spirit does help with that, of course. M**** is still doing great. She made my day on Sunday. She got up in front of the gospel principles class and told how the Book of Mormon affects her. She shared how she can't read it out loud or her voice gets all shaky and she starts to cry. It was just cool to be able to explain to her that that is how the Spirit speaks to her. She is still doing great on the Word of Wisdom too, which is awesome.

D**** and L***** were both super busy with work this week so we didn't get to meet with them. They are both reading the Book of Mormon in the free time they do get. The rest of our teaching pool has been pretty busy as well so we are working on finding. We have been handing out tons of Books of Mormon so I am sure we will be increasing the size of the pool very soon. The new video the church has put out "He is the Gift" is way cool. It's been helping a lot to just get to talk to people about Christ instead of them just shutting the door on us.

Hey good to hear the Utes were able to pull out the win. It may have not been pretty, but it's still a season ending W, so that's good haha. The Jazz need to put their game face on and actually be good for a change haha. Maybe they are just waiting for me to get home haha. If they keep tanking it they should just try to get a lottery pick.

You will have to pet Duke for me to tell him I said hi back haha. Don't forget Molly too.

That's awesome that your wedding planning is going to work. What would you have done if it hadn't worked???? That would have been way stressful haha. Good job Dad.

As far as school, I would love to go to the U. I just don't know if I can get a scholarship there or not. That would be a major factor in the decision of where I want to go. I don't want to go pre med. I want to go PA at the moment, but I have also thought about history or something like that. Who knows haha. That's what generals are for right??

I am grateful for the chance to serve a mission. I know the plan of salvation exists for a reason. God does have a plan for each one of us. I know Jesus Christ lives again, and because he does we can too. I know our loved ones who have passed on are here to help us out in our moment of need, but we may not realize it at the time. I know the gospel is true. Thomas Monson is a prophet of god. The Doctrine of Christ is amazing! I love the gospel.

Hope you have an totally awesome fantabulous week ahead! Good luck with work and the wedding!

Love you all!

-Elder Sedlacek