Sounds like you guys had a great week! And a fast one, too! That's good. It will keep you from getting trunky haha ;)

Hey Mama,

First off thanks for putting more money on my home card! You're the best!

We had a really good week. It went by super fast! F******* is doing amazing! He's going to be baptized on Friday this week and he's super pumped. He even shared with us that a year after he's baptized, which is when he can, he wants to serve a mission!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOW AWESOME IS THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We actually did find a less-active lady who wants to come back to church. She just really needed to be invited. We are going to be teaching her the missionary lessons, so I hope it goes pretty well. I actually haven't even met her yet. Elder Bowen and another missionary met her while I was up in Tri-Cities at a leadership meeting all day last Friday. She sounded really solid though.

Hey, last week it was totally fine that you couldn't really email back-and-forth. This week it will be fun though.

That's awesome that the insurance stuff worked out in our favor. 

That's crazy that Jared has been to the temple now. Time is just flying. 

Jared should get a blue suit with a brown belt and brown shoes. That would look really good. That's just my suggestion. Mission brand belts are amazing. They have worked great for me. Elder B was blown away when I showed it to him. He liked them.

A new bishopric huh? Is dad in the bishopric??????????????? I guess I will find out in a minute.

HOLY COW I bet Justin and Josh are super tall hahahahaha. That's crazy!

I haven't seen the new Zion bags. Are they from Mr. Mac?

Mama: Hey!

You are welcome for the money. I put $50 on it.

That’s really cool that F******* wants to serve a mission. It’s really cool too that he is your 2nd baptism with that name. Good work on the LA sister you guys will teach.

Time is flying so fast! Can’t believe that June is pretty much over.

Jared says he will see which looks better, a gray suit or a blue suit. He was planning on brown shoes and a brown belt.

The Zion Bags are made specifically for missionaries. They are messenger style and have tons of pockets and even a cushioned area for a laptop or ipad. They have a light on them too for if you’re on a bike. Jared really loves his.

Elder Sed: Hey, thanks a bunch. That will help alot. I was completely broke haha.

Yea F******* is solid. He's a way good kid. I'm super happy for him.

Time is flying by. It's sooooooooo crazy. Guess what the members of the YSA branch are calling me? Short time Sedlacek. Tell Jared both of those would look good. Keep in mind, Jared, that you're going to be out in whatever you choose when it's 100+ degrees outside so choose light. Gray may be better. Whatever you do though always make sure your belt matches your shoes. That's the number #1 rule haha.

That sounds like a pretty nifty bag he's got. Hopefully it will hold together. 

What brand of shoes does he have?

Mama: Short time Sedlacek eh? That’s pretty funny.

Jared says “Yep” on the belt-shoes rule.

So far this bag has great reviews. Grandpa doesn't buy unless he thinks it's quality stuff. 

Jared has Johnston & Murphy shoes. He wanted to get some nicer shoes that will last.

Elder Sed: Yea all the members think it's pretty funny too. We had the classic YSA lesson on marriage this Sunday, too hahaha. They were all having a good time cracking jokes about that haha.

Oh ok good. I'm glad Jared knows about belts and shoes. I just wouldn't have known that before my mission. I didn't care the least bit about fashion rule crap before my mission haha. You already know that though.

Ok. Those are good shoes. They should last a long time if he takes care of them.

Well Mama I gotta go. Thanks for emailing today. You guys are awesome! I love you guys! Thanks for all that you do for me.

I love you guys!

Have a great week!

-Elder Jake Sedlacek

 

Hey DAD,

This week was great!!! We had a bunch of good stuff happen. F******* is still doing amazing! He's going to be baptized on Friday. I'm so pumped. He is too. He even wants to serve a mission as soon as he can! How awesome is that! 

We had some good success this week, which was awesome! Last night we had a lesson with a YSA former investigator named J*****, and the lesson was bomb! We had a super good restoration lesson, and man! this guy was changed. He was an investigator when I first got to this area, but he told us then that he wasn't willing to study or go to church, so we hadn't stopped by since. But earlier this week, we felt like we should go by with a member of the branch. We set up an appointment for last night and the appointment happened. Well, long story short, he's had some life-changing events happen in these past couple months, and he felt one day that he should pick up the Book of Mormon and read it. He is now in ALMA!!!!! I couldn't believe it! He recently got a mentor too, who ironically enough is a member of the church. He really felt like God is leading him. He's working on getting an answer from God, but he did commit to be baptized on the 25th of July!  It was an amazing miracle. God prepares people all the time, and at different times too. 

We also had some success finding new investigators this week in the Milton ward, which was amazing. The ward needs it so bad. We really had no one in the ward we were teaching until we found T**** and A*** this week. T**** is a single mother and is pretty interested in the gospel. We are hoping that she has read some in the Book of Mormon, so that when we go back she will have received an answer. A*** is a teen who already knows the church is true! The whole lesson he was sharing his testimony of the church and how he already knows it's true. The only hold back is that when he wanted to be baptized before, his parents wouldn't let him until he's 18. I really hope that their hearts have softened to the idea of him being baptized,  because he really, really wants to be.

 

Miracles are happening all over our areas! It's crazy. I know God is at the head of His work, and I'm just blessed to be along for the ride.

Sounds like you guys had a great week!! And a fast one too. That's good. It will keep you from getting trunky haha. ;)

It is crazy that Jared has gone through the temple now. He's a good kid. He will do awesome out in the field. I'm excited to see how he does and hear the experiences that he will have in Ohio. 

Wow, a new bishopric. That's exciting. I loved Bishop Beynon. He was awesome. It's only been five years though? It seemed like way longer than that, but I guess not. Bishop Butterfield will do a good job, along with the new councilors. 

Jared hauled 450 lbs of concrete up a ladder???????????????? Talk about a mini rhino hahahaha. He's a truck. He seemed pretty happy that he's passed you up pound for pound in lifting from when you were in high school. Too bad you can still crush him huh? haha. I guess you can let him feel good about himself though hahaha. When do you get to take off the forms that you built for the chimney cap? You will have to take some pics of it. I bet you did a great job. Yet another thing you can do--Cement work. You should just make a huge list of things you have done in your life.

This week in church, I realized something that I thought was awesome. For some reason I am really interested in any scripture or anything that talks about light and God. It's just been interesting to me my whole mission. Well this week I realized something cool to that point. It was a guy talking in sacrament meeting and he was talking about how the atonement brings light to our life. He then talked about the fruit that comes from that light. He related it to in the earth in an analogy I thought was really cool. In the summer, the earth rotates around and is at its closet point to the sun--meaning more light and more heat. In the summer, think of all the fruit that comes from that excess of light. We get peaches, watermelon, cherries, etc. You name it, it's because of more light. Our life works the same way. As we have more of the light of God in our lives, we see the fruit of God come to us. We are forgiven, our lives change, etc. Lots of good stuff can happen to us when we truly apply the atonement of Jesus Christ in our lives. I am always going to be a person who seeks for that light of God, and so is my future spouse. I know that the light of God is the only truly happy way to live our life. Satan thrives in spiritual and physical darkness. As we work daily towards the light of God, we will have the spirit of God to be with us and protect us.

Well, I'm so happy to be serving a mission right now. I learn cool stuff like that every day if I really try to notice it and remember it as well. I can't believe I'm on the last month of my mission, but I'm going to make it great! I'm going out with a bang for sure! I love the gospel. I love my savior Jesus Christ. I know He lives. This is His church. I know it! I want to share that with everyone. 

Thanks for all the support you guys have been . You have been constantly behind me the whole way. I really appreciate it! I love you guys!

-Elder Jake Sedlacek

I really have been the happiest I have ever been.

Elder Sedlacek captioned this "Gotta love Oregon!" 

What's up Mama,

Wow! That's some big news haha. {we had a nasty car wreck in the family} Luckily no one was hurt! I'm happy Jeff is okay. Sounds like that guy who pulled in front of him made a dummy move. Hopefully, that guy's insurance gets us a new car haha. 

I did have a good week. You will never believe what happened this week! Monday evening, we found the most "golden" guy ever. We met with him every night this past week, and he is so ready to be baptized! He is on date for the 3rd of July. It is going to be awesome!

Gavin is home now??? Wow haha. DButters is still at home too? Where is he going to school, do you know? What about Gavin? That's crazy that he's home now. I didn't remember that he had left just before me. Jordan gets home in a couple more weeks. You're going to have to keep an ear up so you can see his home coming talk, if you're interested in that.

Sounds like an awesome week ahead! I will give a more detailed update of my week in my email to Dad, that way I don't have to type it out twice.

Mom: That's awesome about the new guy! I am in Logan with Nicole. She says hi. :)

Elder Sed: Hey, tell her hi for me too. I want to see a pic of the Toyota. Oh, and before I forget. I got the suit and it fits great! I really like it. Thanks for sending it!

{a little later}

Well hey Mama,

I have to go now. I bet you're having fun in Logan with Nicole. I hope you have a great week!

Love ya!

Mom: Hey son, sorry I missed you today. We ran into the insurance guy at the car lot, so then I couldn't answer you again, but it was good to talk to that guy. They valued the Toyota more than expected, so that is a blessing! Love you, Mama

{later}

Elder Sed: Hey Mama, that's great about the car. I figured since I'm out of money on my personal card I should send you another email. If you could put some more on that would be awesome! You're the best! Love ya!

What's up Dad!

This week was really good! We had an awesome miracle find this week. The guy's name is F*******. He is YSA and we met him on Wednesday officially. (Monday we were given a referral for him). The referral came from the Sisters in Walla Walla. They met with him on Monday and had the first lesson, and he was just soaking it up like a sponge. In between that time and Wednesday, he studied literally everything he could about the Mormon church, then told us on Wednesday when we met with him for the first time, that he knew it was right for him! Ever since Wednesday, we have been teaching him the lessons every night. He is just so elect!!!!!!!! He reads, he came to church, he gets answers to his prayers, he is just all around solid!!! It was really crazy. We gave him one of all the pamphlets that we have, thinking that he could study them here and there, but he read every single one that night hahahaha. He's just awesome! He even prayed to know that he was forgiven of his sins, and he had a super spiritual experience. Afterward, he told us that he knew that this is the path God wants him to take, even more than he did before.  He's going to be baptized on the 3rd of July, which is a little over two weeks since we first met him. That is also just about the soonest he could be baptized! I know the Lord prepares people every day for us to find and teach and baptize! Without the Lord's help, this work would be impossible!

We are unfortunately, having some trouble finding people to teach in the family ward though. The YSA has been awesome. It's been no problem there, but the other ward has been difficult. We are thinking about putting more of a focus on the less-actives of the ward and getting them to come back to church. That is kinda sketchy ground for a missionary. LA work is the hardest work ever. Often times, they have a hard time keeping lessons in focus, and disobedient missionaries tend to go to them and just hang out instead of working. It's pretty unfortunate that it ends up that way, but Elder Bowen and I are determined to teach the elect ones and get them to come back to church! Our ward is about 50% less active, so that needs to change. Pray that we can find those who want to come back to church, but just need the invite.

This past week, I restarted my in-depth study of Preach My Gospel. I had been doing it pretty much every day at the beginning of my mission, but as time went on I got distracted from it. PMG is such an inspired book. You can learn so much from the spirit in that book. In doing it, I found probably one of my most favorite scriptures now in the D&C. It's D&C 68:5-6. It says:  

5Behold, this is the promise of the Lord unto you, O ye my servants. 

6Wherefore, be of good cheer , and do not fear , for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was , that I am, and that I am to come. 

I really liked it, because as a missionary all I have to worry about is to testify of Jesus Christ. I don't have to worry, and I can be happy all the time. I have really felt this promise from the Lord on my mission. I really have been the happiest I have ever been. My mission has been amazing! I love being able to serve the Lord with all my heart, might, mind, and strength. It's truly a blessing.

Sounds like you guys had an awesome week!  Except for the car wreck, but at least Jeff wasn't hurt, so it's still a good thing.

I bet Nicole and Jeff did great in the Ragnar. Did you go up all night and watch them or something? that would have been cool. That race is pretty awesome it sounds like. I always remember seeing the really cool stickers about it everywhere. Not here, but in Utah.

You wrote me a letter? Cool. I will look forward to getting it. I'm glad you liked the Father's Day card too. I saw it and had to get it. I thought it was hilarious. Sounds like you had a good Father's Day load of gifts. I bet you will enjoy all of that. You probably had some good food at grandpa's too,  I would bet. Well I'm happy you enjoyed the day. 

That is crazy that Gavin is already home. I have a bunch of friends who are home now. It's insane. Life just goes way too fast. You guys will have to watch for Jordan's homecoming talk. He gets home about the first week of July, so it's coming up pretty quick.

Sarah is already going to be driving now? Wow that's crazy. You better call the news and get a notice put out that everyone needs to stay off the roads. We don't want anyone to get hurt. 

The weather here has been amazing. It's supposed to get up to 110 or 115 this week though, so I'm not looking forward to that. It has been in the 80s this week. Really, really nice. We haven't got much rain but it's pretty typical for here. It really doesn't rain that much on this side of the state, but it rains more by Walla Walla because of the mountains, so since serving here I have had more rain than I have had during the rest of my mission combined. It has been nice though. Sounds like everywhere is in a bit of a drought. Hopefully that ends soon.

Well,  I really do hope you guys have an awesome week! I love serving a mission and being able to hear of you guys being blessed back at home. I love the gospel! I know it's true! 

Love ya Dad! You're amazingly awesome! Have a great week!

-Elder Jake Sedlacek

I am going to make these next few weeks the best yet!

 

Hey Mama,

It sounds like everyone had a good week! That's awesome.

I bet Jared was hilarious hahah [After getting his wisdom teeth out last week]. Videos will not even send to my mission email as far as I know, so it probably wouldn't have worked to send to me, even if it wasn't too big. I will be pumped to see them haha. Good thing I didn't get very loopy after my knee surgery. Did Jared take after Nicole and get super barfy when he woke up? How is he doing now? I would assume pretty good if he went to church and got the Melchizedek priesthood on Sunday. That's way exciting! 

 

Time just flies. We had my last transfer call, and I am staying in Milton-Freewater with Elder Bowen for my last. It's so crazy that I am already on my last transfer. Exactly six weeks from today, I will be in the mission home preparing to fly home on Tuesday. That's just insane to me! Totally insane.

Hey, that's awesome that my new suit is almost done. Thanks for doing all that for me. You're the best Mama.

THAT IS SO GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT NICOLE IS ALL GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't doubt one bit that you filled up the truck bed with all your old clothes hahahahaha. Your closet was PACKED!!! You probably will clothe a whole country hahahahaha.

You're awesome Mom. Keep up the good work!!!!!

I'm leaving now. Thanks, Mom, for emailing with me. I hope you all have a great week! Love ya all!

Talk to you next week!

Hey Dadio,

My week was pretty good! We have been focusing hard on finding some new investigators. This week was pretty interesting. We really didn't have much luck finding, but we have been talking to so many people! I know the Lord will bless us with people to teach when they are ready. 

 

In the meantime, we are just going to keep going out, hitting the streets and finding those who are prepared. I told you guys last week about a ton of referrals we got. We were going to contact them all this past week, but unfortunately we weren't able to contact any of them. Everyone was gone every time we went by to see them. 

 

We did have a pretty good lesson with a new investigator this past weekend. Her name is A*****.  I mentioned finding her last week. She's 16 and really searching for the truth. Her family goes to an anti-Mormon church here in town, so it could be interesting, but she is willing to learn things for herself. She wants to know the truth for herself.

R**** dropped us this week. That was kind of a bummer. He said he is done with learning more. I really think it was because he is scared of change. He will come around though.

The rest of our week, we had lessons with lots of people who are just potentials at the moment. I really hope some of them will have genuine interest in learning more about the gospel.

The biggest news of the week was that the ward leadership changed! We have a new bishopric and are going to be getting a new ward Mission Leader. I'm so pumped for the change. One of the new bishopric is a member missionary fire-ball. It reminds me of how the leadership was back in Sunnyside. This change will help the ward get fired up on missionary work! It's only going to be a matter of time!

This week we had transfer calls, but just like I thought, I am staying here with Elder Bowen. He is a stud!  We are both older than 18 months in the mission, so that is kinda weird. It makes it hard sometimes to stay focused all the time, but we are working hard every day. I know the Lord is going to be blessing this area a lot over the next six weeks! I'm super pumped to see what comes!

Jared on pain drugs! Oh, that is soooooo funny. I'm excited to see that wisdom teeth video. I just can't imagine him saying any of that stuff, so that makes it really, really funny. I was seriously laughing out loud as I was reading about it. I bet it was super funny to mess with him. I would have had way too much fun with that.

I bet stake conference was amazing with the visiting Seventy. Those guys are just such powerhouses. It's crazy. So Jared would have got his name read and then ordained after it was over...that's crazy. It will be cool for him to be able to use the priesthood now. I remember when I was just starting out, I was so nervous giving blessings, but now it's not bad at all. It's just awesome to be able to feel complete guidance from the Holy Ghost. I almost never know what I'm going to say when I start a blessing, but it just flows. You know how it feels. It's just awesome. The priesthood is such a blessing.

The chimney cap is broken? That's no good. Man, you're a man of all trades. I don't think there is something you're not willing to fix haha. Nice job on the sunburn, though. I guess sometimes we have to learn the hard way huh? Sunburns are no fun. You should just get some aloe vera. They even have aloe vera drinks. They are really good. You'll only find them in Mexican stores though. There is a really good mango one that I like. I wonder if that would help with sunburn??? The Mexicans here probably have some home remedy for sunburn. They have solutions to everything. They all have something to do with lime, too. Kinda interesting.

Man, I got some good family. I have awesome siblings who are all doing the right things, and awesome parents. You guys are awesome. I hope you have an wonderfully awesome Father's Day this Sunday Dadio. I bought you a card you're going to get a kick out of...........hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Well, I'm so happy to be serving a mission. I am going to make these next few weeks the best yet! I know the Lord is with me and all the other missionaries throughout the world. This is His work. I know that He lives! I love my savior Jesus Christ. I know this is the true church on the earth. The world needs the truth we have. All children of our HF have a natural desire to seek for truth, and it's our responsibility to share it with them. As they hear truth, the spirit will testify to their hearts that it is true. Keep up the great work sharing the gospel! I know you all have awesome experience every day where you share the gospel, whether with words or not (hopefully with words though ;) ). I love you guys tons! You're all the bomb.com. Love ya dad! Have a beast of a week!

-Elder Sedlacek

I can literally change the world around me. We all can! It's amazing that we really can make the world a better place.

They don't get many good thunderstorms in eastern WA. Elder Sed was excited about this one!

Hey Mama!

Hey hey hey! It seems like just yesterday we were emailing. The week went by crazy fast. Thanks to all of your prayers and the mission fast, we found two (!!!!) new investigators last week. It was awesome! One of the new investigators is on date for a July 11th baptism, too. It was a pretty good week.

YEAAAAAAH for a package hahaha! I will be excited for it. I won't get it until tonight when we go back to Milton though. Thanks for sending it!

That is seriously so cool about the suit you found for me. Does it look nice? Yeah, you should send it up. Guess what I bought last Wednesday at Goodwill  for $7 after we emailed? I bought a pretty much, brand new size 42 suit jacket from Pronto Umo. It's a really nice jacket, I just don't have the pants. I have some pants that are close, but I got the info on the color and everything from the jacket label, so I was hoping you could look it up on Google or something like that to see if it's possible to get the matching pants?

That is crazy that Jared is graduated! He is sooooo tiny hahaha. He doesn't look like it. Are you enjoying school being out yet? Or do you want them to go back haha?

Haha Duke is really funny. He could be like a diabetic dog. I wonder if he can tell when Jared's blood sugar is low? I know a member in the Milton Freewater ward who has diabetes, and he has a dog that will let him know when his blood sugar is low. He's trained specifically for it. It is really kinda cool they are able to do that.

That sounds way cool about the Puzilla site. You are going to show me the tricks of the trade. I can guarantee I am not going to have any clue what I am doing with computers/phones haha. That is going to be super weird.

Thank you so much for the prayers this week. I really felt the support keeping me going. You guys are the best!

Mama: Hey Son! You sound great! It’s so good to hear that your week got better! What is the info for the suit pants you need? That was a good find! So far, school being out is okay. It’s kinda nice to have piano students in the morning and then have the rest of my day to myself. I wonder if Duke can sense stuff like that. Remember when you had your knee surgery and he wouldn’t leave your side for an entire day after surgery? 

Elder Sed: Well, I am doing great so it's good to sound great too haha.

The info for the pants: The RN # 77219

                                        BC # 159250

I don't really know which one is the color code so I just got them both.

I bet it is nice to have the day kinda to yourself.

I wouldn't be surprised if Duke can sense that stuff. I do remember that. He's an awesome dog! You will have to give him a hug for me hahaha.

Mama: I will see what I can find on the suit pants.

Elder Sed: Hey by the way, I got some trial contact lenses from a member in the ward here and I really like them! Contacts are so much better than glasses. 

Mama: You got some trial contact lenses? That’s good. It’s good to have both around, because sometimes you don’t wanna mess with glasses and sometimes you don’t wanna mess with contacts. 

Elder Sed: Yeah, I would agree with that! They are lots better, because I don't have to deal with something on my face. I will probably get a prescription for them. I know the member can give me a discount on them in July when he buys the practice, so I will wait until then.

I do have to get going now though. Thanks for emailing today! You all have a great week! I love all you guys! Thanks for sending the package! Love you Mama!

-Elder Sedlacek

Hey Dadio,

Sounds like you all had a great week back at home base. That's awesome, because I had a good week too. We of course got to go the temple, and that was amazing, but you guys already know about that. 

We saw some pretty good success the last half of the week. I know it was because God was answering prayers. We found two new investigators. One named J****, and the other is A*****. They are both doing amazing. It was also a huge blessing this week that we got a TON of referrals. It seemed like everyday we were getting a way solid referral, so we should be getting a whole new teaching pool again. That will be amazing! I know God blesses us for our hard work. 

WE HAVE AN ON DATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We put J**** on date for the 11th of  July and he is pretty excited to be baptized. We took him on a tour of the church bldg and those are always so powerful. The spirit is always in the church buildings so strong. It is the whole reason he accepted a date for baptism. He sadly wasn't able to make it to church yesterday but it's okay--he had some family stuff already planned. We are really hoping to teach his whole family as well. That would be amazing!

We found A***** just by going through our phone contacts and calling the ones that said investigator next to them. There are a ton, since missionaries just have so many numbers saved up. We called her and she was really wanting a copy of the Book of Mormon. She is really wanting to learn more as well. It's amazing that God will always lead us to people who are prepared. I know that for sure!

Well, like I said we have been getting a ton of referrals. One of them we got just a couple days ago named Mark. He was really excited to read the Book of Mormon and meet with us. We are going to contact him today and we will hope that everything works out with him. We are going to put him on date! You better believe that hahah. I'm so pumped.

Those are some pretty good questions about what I've learned Dad hahaha. Thinking back on my mission, I really have learned a lot. I have learned that I have a love for the gospel that I really didn't know I had before my mission. I really do love the gospel. All I really desire right now is to serve the Lord--that's really all I care about. If you are truly serving the Lord, you are going to have all the Christlike attributes, and be the best missionary you can be. I have also learned that I have great potential as a son of God. I can literally change the world around me. We all can! It's amazing that we really can make the world a better place. What better way to do that but share the gospel as well. I love to share it with everyone! I have also come to know my Savior more than I ever thought was possible. He has been with me through the rough. The good. Everything. I know He lives. I know he atoned for our sins. Every single one of us.

 

These things are all meaningful because they make me who I am. Who God wants me to be. 

We didn't get to see any of Elder Perry's funeral but I heard it was good. There were some testimonies yesterday that mentioned it and that it was good. Good thing we have a living church with living apostles, so no matter what happens there will always be prophets and apostles on the earth. It's going to be exciting to see who the new apostle is going to be. 

That is sooooooooo crazy that Jared is graduated. Yeah, he better watch his back side so he doesn't get in any trouble haha. He's a good kid though so I am sure he will be fine.

Thanks for that quote on love. I really have realized how important love is. It goes right along with charity. That is something that I continually have to work on. I struggle with it sometimes. If I'm not careful I catch myself just being my stubborn self, when really I need to put others first. It makes life sooo much better when we do. It's way more rewarding. 

I know that this gospel is true. Thanks for all the support you offer me Dad! You're the best! I love my mission! I am going to enjoy til the end. Love you guys!

-Elder Sedlacek

 

It's hard sometimes but it's the hard that makes the good that much more worth it.

What's up Mama,

Hahahahah that is super funny about when Sister Sousley called you. She is awesome. I called her and told her who I was and she was like, "Oh I know you" because she is the one who makes the "trunky" calls to the missionaries to give us all the info for our flights home. 

That's crazy that you guys had felt like you needed to pray for me. It's probably because this week was one of the toughest I have had on my mission. Literally nothing worked out. It was really, really frustrating. We have about zero investigators who are progressing right now, so we could use all the help we can get on finding investigators. Speaking of the mission, we are having a mission-wide fast with everyone and their families this Sunday, so if you guys would want to join in on that, that would be sweet! The power of fasting is super real.

The temple was awesome! I loved it. It's always good to go and re-charge in the peace that is there. These past couple weeks have been stressing me out, so it was nice to go and just feel peace. I just love that most about the temple. I would go just because of that. Good thing there is a temple in Logan.

 

That is way exciting that Syd had her baby!!  I Guess that's not really that fun to have to recover from a c-section. Wish her luck for me and tell her congrats for me and thanks for the letters, too.

 

Do I need anything from home? Um haha. I told Elder Bowen about Costco jerky and he wants to try it. Could you send some of that? That stuff is really good. The cleanser you sent seems to be working pretty good. Thanks for sending that. I like it.

Well Mama, I got to get going. Thanks for emailing today! You guys are all an awesome support to me! The mission is so worth it. Just know I'm working hard right up until the very last day. Just keep praying for me! Thanks for all that you do.

Love you guys! Have an awesome week!

-Elder Sedlacek

Hey Dad,

This week was a rough one. We have been really struggling finding people to teach. The investigators we have had, we have had to drop most all of them because they don't want to do anything. It's been REALLY frustrating. To answer your question about the two new families, it's been so tough scheduling with them that we haven't even met with both of them yet. We are really going to be praying for a miracle there that we will be able to meet with them. The rest of our teaching pool is kinda dwindling right now. We are still teaching R****. He has had health struggles this week so we weren't able to meet with him. We are really hoping that it's been helping him reach out to God and praying. That is the one thing he needs to do right now.

 

We are also teaching R** in the YSA ward, but he hasn't been reading at all, so we are considering dropping him. Can you guys pray that he will read and come to church?

This is really all we have right now. It's going to be a major finding week. We fasted on Sunday for guidance in what to do, and with the mission fast on this Sunday, I am sure we will be seeing some miracles come along soon enough.

The temple was awesome. I realized the importance of staying in spiritual light. It seems like every time I go to the temple, I learn something different or just realize something different. The temple is great to give that spiritual re-charge. Trust me. I have needed it after these past two weeks hahahaha.

Sounds like work is going good for you. That's awesome.  It seems like the church is always doing something to grow or improve. I just think that's sooo cool.

This is the last week of school already??? That means I have been graduated for two years already. It doesn't feel like that. I bet it doesn't feel like around 100 yrs ago for you either huh haha. What do you mean you're too old to party all night? You best believe we are going to party all night when I am back. You will do it. You will stay awake. You will have fun. hahaha. You are funny Dad. Have fun holding down the fort while Mom helps at the all night party though. 

That is fun you got to take part in blessing the sacrament. I always love being able to help out with the sacrament. Being in a small ward, we get to participate sometimes in the ward and almost always in the branch. It's cool.

Sounds like church was fun for you guys. Church was good here too. I had the opportunity to speak in sacrament meeting for the first time on my mission. I made it so close without having to speak! Some of the times were by the skin of my teeth. Well, it had to happen eventually hahah. I spoke on conversion and missionary work. I had to speak for 15 mintues and I went 15 and still hadn't covered even half of what I wanted to say. Oh well. Time flies. It ended up being really good though. A lot of people liked it.

I'm so happy to be serving a mission. It's hard sometimes but it's the hard that makes the good that much more worth it. It's going to be amazing to be able to look back on all the good I have done. The good thing is that I have more time to do even more good! I love that! I know the gospel is true! It's amazing!

Love you guys! You're awesome Dad! have a great week!

-Elder Sedlacek