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| Jared decided these shoes were pretty worn out..... |
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| ...only Jared would then tear off the leather so he can make something with it. |
hey dad, so this was a good week. it was tough, but good. we had
a lot of grace and miracles at the start of the week, but by the end we experienced
lots of opposition. at the beginning of the week we were working the bottom of
our area. we were 225-ing a lot of people and working really hard, but no one
was interested. we even had a guy tell us we were in the 'hood and that we needed
to carry some weapons like nun chucks and guns. that was pretty funny. then he
took a card with Jesus on it and was like, "oh i like that! i will keep it." on our way back to the bus stop (we ride it here occasionally) this guy came running out of his house calling, "hey elders!" he brought us some pepsi
and told us how he had met with missionaries before but did not have the time with working two jobs to pursue it then, so he invited us back to teach him and his family!
it was awesome! his name is V*****, so we will follow up on him soon. i will
write about some more miracles in mom's email. as for R******, we are no longer able to
teach her because her dad (who is a non-member) is not liking us there and is giving his
wife heck about it. it is causing some family issues that the Bishop and ward mission leader don't want us to be involved in, so they are pulling us out for now. it was really sad news to hear. she is so
excited to be baptized, but unfortunately, other people's agency can get in the
way sometimes. L*** is still doing well and progressing towards baptism. that is good you are still doing well at
work. i am glad the weather is good over
there, here is awesome too! it is weird--since it is so rainy, the moss grows on
the trees before the leaves do, so literally every tree is green on the trunk
but not the tops hahahaha. that is too bad the garage door opener quit on you, hopefully you
get it all resolved. always remember the saying you used to tell to me about Lowe's/Home Depot hahaha. "measure twice cut once--buy once in this place." hahahaha. i love the D&C, it is such a good book of
scripture and you learn so much about the church history and how the church
works from reading it. i am reading it for the second time now, i'm at the beginning
currently. i love learning about Joseph Smith too. one cool thing is that where
they were living was the equivalent to the Yukon homesteads these days--the
middle of no where. a young man in the middle of nowhere can influence the
whole world by asking one simple question, "which church is right?" that is so
amazing to me. Joseph Smith, a young farm boy, can influence the rest of time and
eternity. that is super cool to think about. that is way cool Casey B got his call! you will have to tell him congrats for me. he will do great, he is way prepared
already. your new {teenage} home teaching companion sounds a little like how i was hahaha.
just keep helping him keep those commitments and he will see why you do those
things and he will learn a lot from you. i am so grateful for how you made me do
those home teaching things. now i understand the importance of it, thanks dad!
that is true, about that quote--once you realize it is not about you at all,
your whole perspective changes and you are a lot more willing to be humble and do
what is necessary. that second one is very good as well, it is not about the
numbers you achieve, it is about helping others to come
closer to Jesus Christ, whether that be a wave or just a smile or a
baptism, all are at different levels in their lives. they may be
ready for baptism or the temple or not, but eventually they will have a full
understanding of the gospel in this life or the next and have an opportunity to
accept it or not. it is our job to help find those people who are ready, we have
to be grateful for who the Lord puts in our path and do our best to help them,
i definitely know that is true. well thanks for emailing me dad, it was great to
hear how you are doing! have a great week and i will talk to you later! love you
dad!
-Elder Sedlacek
hey mom, so interesting thing is i was actually going to mention that we
received a lot of grace and miracles this week as well hahaha. i will write about
what i mean later.
i wrote about V***** in dad's email so i will tell you
about N*****. on thursday, we went on a day exchange, so i took over the area
with my Zone Leader and we 225'd a lot in west Milton, a small town at the top of my area. BTW, did you know i am way close to Brookville right now? Sister Hyer is close to
me. i think she is in the Eaton ward. anyway, it was tough and it rained all day, so we knew
blessings were coming (hahaha) so we knocked on a door and this lady with
kids came out. we immediately saw her need (what
she is struggling with)--she is worried about her kids being raised well in this
world, so we taught to her need and so she invited us back. we found a
family! heck yeah! her schedule is tough so she tentatively invited us back
for Tuesday.
my package did come, thank you! the hardest thing this week was with R******,
i wrote about that in dad's email. the funniest thing that happened was just elder
anderson's shenanigans hahahaha. that guy is crazy--he is the energizer bunny and
makes really funny jokes that we laugh pretty hard at hahaha.
that is good Jake
got to come home, i bet that was fun. i am glad Mia's play went well. i hope Libby's goes
well too. that is so crazy that the little dude is almost here! have they named
him yet? tell them i have some really good names for them--like Omega
and Styles hahaha. i can't believe i have been in Englewood 6 weeks either, the mission
is literally going so fast these days! this was the last 7 week
transfer, so we have one more week. next week we will know by the time i email if
i will leave or stay.
that is crazy Casey has his call! can you believe i got
mine almost a year ago? holy crap! well, tell him congrats for me. he is way more
prepared then i was hahaha! he will do awesome.
to answer your question, to me grace is the power to do
things beyond our own capability, with help from God. that help comes when things "work out" and the impossible happens. you can also refer to those times
as miracles. now this is gospel according to elder sedlacek, so don't quote me on
it, but i think of grace and miracles as going hand in hand a lot of the time. grace can help
us to work miracles in the savior's name. it enables us to do things we otherwise
could not do on our own. President Porter does talk a lot about how if we are
obedient, diligent, and have faith, that we can receive grace to do things. that is also when power comes in to your teaching, as long as you have the
spirit with you and you love the people you teach. i definitely know that to be
true. we cannot do any of this work on our own, we need the savior's help. because of the power of the atonement we can receive
heaven's help. well, that is all for this week. hahaha
there was a black lady who we talked to in the hood this week who told us that Donald Trump is the beast himself (the devil hahahaha) and that he
is going to take away all the poor people's rights. that was an interesting conversation haha.
okay, i gotta go mom, we have to go to a zone fun day in Dayton. it was great to hear from you mom! i love you all so much! talk to you later!
-Elder Sedlacek
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