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