Some people think they can discourage us, but they are wrong

hey Dad, so this was a pretty good week as well. it absolutely FLEW by! by the end of the week we had 7 people committed to coming to church and we had followed up with them throughout the week. then Saturday night took a turn for the worse, every single person did not come because of bad stuff happening--one even had their apartment flood. we started getting texts as soon as Saturday night telling us who would not be able to make it. we only had the eternigators at church, and that is awesome, but we had only about half of those people who had accepted dates for baptism. they just needed to come to church to be on date. it was tough, but that only means the miracles are coming soon! 

so we found a few new people this week. one of which is M. she is 18, living with her boyfriend and is a very solid investigator. we found her on Monday night and had taught her the restoration on Wednesday. she really liked the lesson, and even had tears in her eyes. she was way excited to come to church, but hers was the apartment that flooded, so she was not able. we will get her next week though. we gave a few commitment lessons as well this week, those are always tough, they are commonly known as "drop lessons", they decide if you drop people or not. sadly we have not really "dropped" J & A, but they have one more shot to come to church without any help. 

it is tough to stop teaching the people you love and can see so much potential in! all the rest of the investigators are doing pretty well, we just have to get them to church for pete's sake hahahaha. you would think that living in the top of the Bible belt, it would be easy to get people to church, but not so. that is way cool you got to go see the Utes play already, do you have tickets for the season? you must have gotten up pretty early to get those chores done, that is awesome. good work Dad. that is good you are doing well at work, saving lots of money hahaha. 

that is a lot of rain for Utah, that is crazy, hahhahaha, i am going to be like a fish out of water when I step off that plane hahahaha, "water! water!" hahaha. The lesson on the gold plates must have been a cool lesson, they really must have kept such good care of the plates to have them last that long and not tarnish. the Lord definitely protected the plates. it is truly amazing to see how the Nephites only recorded 1/100th of what happened to them, and yet to see how that small portion testifies of Christ so well--think about the other 99 parts. that is way cool you got to go to the temple on Thursday, we should be going soon as a mission, i am excited. don't sweat it about the sports update, whatever you have is fine by me. thanks for the all the other awesome updates you give me though, they are always awesome. 

that talk you shared was awesome, he came to speak with Elder Neil L Anderson when he visited this mission, he is a cool guy. I took some pretty diligent notes during his talk. it seems like I am always wanting to find better ways to remember the Savior at all times and to always have him on our lips. we can't ever let ourselves go through a gospel discussion and not testify of the Savior. all things are possible through Him and because of Him, we must always include Him. I am so grateful for the mission that i have served so far, it has been tough, but it has been the greatest blessing in my life. I know that because of the Savior i am still out here serving and I can continue to serve and help bless others' lives. it is a great opportunity to be able to defend the faith and the Savior every single day, it is awesome! I love you Dad, it was great to hear from you. thanks for being an awesome Dad! talk to you later! love you! have a great week!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey Mom, this was a good week. i wrote a lot about what happened with church in Dad's email. as for the rest of the week, we had found a few new people to teach who seem pretty nice. i wrote about one of them, M, in Dad's email. M shows a lot of promise, that is for sure. 

the best thing that happened this week? hmm...that is actually a tough question. we had a lot of miracles this week as usual, but it was probably teaching M the Restoration, or teaching another investigator, L, the restoration as well. he is really excited to be baptized and thanked God in his prayer at the end of the lesson for "guiding him to Mormonism." when we recited the first vision, he was acting like he had heard it before and was just smiling and super happy. then he said he was feeling the spirit and described it to us. that was sick! 

the most challenging thing was probably not having any of those people who had accepted dates for baptism come to church. that was tough. it was also really funny--we were 225-ing a referral and we bumped into this guy who had supposedly been a missionary for another church. we approached him and he just let out this huge sigh. he then just looked back to what he was doing. we started asking him if he would be interested and he just said, "NEVER." we said "do you know anyone who could use this message?" and he was just like "NO," and so we were like, "well hey, have a nice day sir." he immediately replied with "You have a bad one!" we got back to the car and just started laughing. it is so funny when people do that to us! hahaha they think they can discourage us, but they are wrong. hahaha 

that is crazy, you had a busy week then huh? good job Mom, you got a lot done. that is awesome. i am excited to meet my nephew! maybe we will get to Skype with him if he is born in time. that is way funny about Elder Hale looking like a native. i figured he would--that dude tans like nobody's business. that is good he is doing so great. 

i really like that analogy for women and the priesthood. i might have to use that some day, thanks. it is true, we do everything because of the priesthood. i am so grateful to be able to use that power. it is truly amazing to be able to bless people who are sick or need comfort. you truly can feel the love that Heavenly Father has for those individuals when you give blessings--it is amazing. that must have been a great lesson. 

if you could mail me some strips this week before transfers next week, that would be great! thanks Mom! that is so cool A.P. got his call! that will be such a cool mission, he is going to love it. the people from that area who live here all have such a strong faith in the Savior, it is sweet. 

i am excited to Skype on Mother's Day. today we realized this next transfer is President Porter's last. i have 3 months til my year mark, and we get to Skype very soon. time is going by way too fast, it is ridiculous! well, that is what i have for this week, how you doin?

Mom: I am doing great! What are you doing for p-day today?

we are heading to Dayton and touring a Masonic temple with the Zone Leaders. it should be fun. i have to go in a minute, is there anything else Madre?

Mom: Do you need anything else besides strips and lithium batteries? 

nope, i am good on everything else. well, i have to go now Mom. thanks for emailing me! i can't wait to Skype with you guys! have a great week, i love you Mom! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek