Every prayer I say includes asking for some more people to teach

Elder Sed likes this license plate, for obvious reasons. :) 

hey Dad, it has been a pretty good week. for the teaching pool, we are really just working with the same people over and over again, so it's kinda frustrating for me. i am trying my best to find new people, but unfortunately, it's really just me trying to find haha. so it's kinda difficult! 

we are still working with the amputee, G***, he is a nice guy and really likes us, but he told us he is only meeting with us for the friendship. my comp is refusing to de-focus from him though, so i am doing my best to be bold with G. hopefully we can help to get him to increase his desire. we are still working with a few other investigators that aren't really progressing a whole lot, so we are in need of a bigger teaching pool pretty badly. it seems like every prayer i say includes asking for some more people to teach! there is not a whole lot to update with the teaching pool. 

one of the recent converts has been struggling to pray out loud, so we have been trying to help her with that. i ran the area on exchanges last week, and on exchanges we were able to have her say a super awesome prayer, so that was super cool. 

it sounds like you have a lot to do at work. that is good you have been getting some exercise in. you couldn't mow the lawn 'cause of rain! hahaha here, when the grass is soaked and it's pouring outside, they still will cut the grass haha! i heard about those Utah tornadoes, that is crazy! of course when i go away from Utah to a place with tornadoes, i get none and Utah has three, that is just my luck. just kidding haha!  

it has been hot here this past week, but today is significantly colder, and they removed the suit season rule, so we no longer have to wear suits unless it's to church or meetings, so that is super awesome, i will be able to stay warmer in the winter i think, because the suit pants are pretty light. that is cool the Utes are doing so well, that is awesome! thanks for the sports updates every week Dad! 

i like that thought from the talk, that is a really good one. i especially like where it talks about how you can't just rely on the Spirit to guide your every decision, the Lord trusts us to make the right decisions by ourselves sometimes. it is pretty special to have the Holy Ghost help us in our lives, those big questions and conflicts can be resolved as we turn to the Lord in prayer and listen to the voice of the Spirit, it will bless our lives immensely if we do so with faith. i can't wait for General Conference, it is going to be super awesome. 

well, thank you for emailing me every week Dad, sorry the update on investigators and teaching is a little skimpy, but i am doing my best to change that. it's just due to some tougher circumstances, but i won't complain, because i have been sent to this area for a reason. thank you for all your support! i hope you have a great week Dad! you're the best, keep up the good work! love you Dad! talk to you later. oh yeah, last p-day we went fishing and i caught a 10-inch Smallmouth, it was awesome! Elder Bischoff was super mad cause he didn't catch anything hahaha! it was funny. well have a great week!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey Mom, i am doing good today! it has been a pretty decent week again. i did get the package, thank you so much for that! i have not been able to use the gift card just yet, but we will have the car this week, so there is a good chance we will get to. i know this month has gone so fast! i can't believe it is almost October. i am excited for the weekend, it will be really nice to watch conference. 

sadly we did not find anyone new. every time i tried to do finding things, my comp strait-up shot them down, so we did not really get to do a whole lot of finding at all. he just wants to work with the same people, who aren't really progressing, and it tests my patience hahaha. 

But one old guy we are working with, J, he lives with his son, and his son has met us at the door a few times. this last time he came out when we were teaching the plan of salvation, and at the end we asked him to do the study guide at the back of the pamphlet, so we will see what he says about it.  

i am getting the lay of the land pretty well, i am getting a pretty good internal compass too lately, like Dad hahaha. i can usually tell which direction is which even without the mountains. that is super cool you got your knee bend to 120, good work Mom! your leg should be good in no time. yep, no more knee problems most likely after i get home! wow, has it really been 10 weeks since your surgery? holy smokes, that flew by. 

did Sarah have a good homecoming date? it sounds like it was a good General Women's meeting. i like the quotes about faith. faith and diligence and hard work can qualify us for the Savior's grace (enabling power) and that makes miracles happen in our lives. faith is the substance of all things. to increase faith, we do good works, which motivates us to do more good works. faith without works is dead. faith is the basis of the gospel of Jesus Christ. everything we do is based upon our faith and willingness to serve and follow the Savior's will. i especially like the one about listening differently to increase faith. you can hear something twice and get two different things out of it. that is interesting to think about, thanks for those quotes Mom! that is a really cool lesson from President Uchtorf's talk {"fourth floor last door"} i have been trying to help Elder Bischoff to learn that. he said he is scared to try and find, because of uncertainty, basically. finding is an act of faith, so i want to help him to increase his faith enough to go finding. that is a super cool story. well, that is the update for this week, how are you doing?

i have interviews with President on the 10th i think, but he is aware of the situation, i have been emailing him and he is in contact with the ZLs. he said some nice things to me. today we are with the Elwood Elders and are going to a fun day in Anderson, and a few flee markets. Elder B wants to go blow all his money, so i'm like "alright." how is Jake doing?

okay, got to go now Mom, i hope you have a great week! love you Mom! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

We have some fishing to do

hi Dad, it has been a good week. it was still kinda slower from what i am used to, but it was better than last week. for the harvest update, we still don't have a whole lot of investigators, but we started teaching this guy who is in a wheel chair, named T. we tried to get him to come to church but he did not show. we are teaching another man who is an amputee. he loves to talk like they do here in Indiana--which is to talk without coming up for air haha.  he is a cool guy, and Elder Bosworth was the first to teach him way back when he was trained here. he loves guns and cars. we really reached out to serve him--we even trimmed his trees for him (my favorite chore hahah). i had fun cutting limbs off those trees hahaha. then we have a few other people that we are starting to work with. we did not get a whole lot of finding done this week, which i am sad about, so we will have to do a bunch this week. on Wednesday we had a lady from Kokomo Indiana come down to the hospital here in Noblesville. she was having some unknown health issues, so we gave her a blessing. that was a neat experience, especially cause after i gave the blessing, she was like, "you look familiar," and asked where i was from. turns out she actually attended our ward at home just before i left for the mish, so that was super cool! she just happened to choose our ward when she was visiting Utah. that is cool work is going well for you. it sounds like you are getting a good cool down, but it is still in the 80's here, but 60's in the morning and still super humid so it feels colder sometimes, it's nice. i bet that was fun to go duck hunting even though you didn't see much. there are still a lot of birds out here. sounds like all the teams played well too. yeah, i heard about the Colts game, i figured so. that is good the Utes and the Aggies both won. hopefully the Utes start playing better though, that should have been a higher scoring game. i like that talk from Elder Cook. he is a good speaker, i like to listen to his talks. the mission is all about helping young people learn to live to set goals and achieve them. if you set a goal with God you are accountable to that goal, which means you should be doing all that is in your power to achieve it. it is nice to be able to unplug from the world for two years and just focus on hitting those righteous goals with God's help, it really teaches you a lot as you know. i am becoming uncomfortable with worldly things, i am going to be a weird RM! hahaha  well, i know that the church is true, i know that through God's help, if we rely with faith on him, we can truly accomplish anything we desire. he will help us, we just have to ask in faith, and do all in our power to achieve that. thanks as always for all you do Dad, you're the best, i really appreciate your example you have set for me, i only hope to reach that. have a great week Dad, love you Dad! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

hi Mom, it has been a pretty good week. it was better than last week, we were able to get more done, so that was good. i can't stand not getting lots done anymore! hahaha and i am tired, and most people can see it i guess, because i have dark marks under my eyes most of the time hahaha! but i love being able to work hard. it makes me so happy to serve the lord with diligence. 

we did contact a few potentials that we found last week. i wrote about them in the email to Dad. so we do have at least two people to teach now, although they may not be the most solid, but it's what we have for the time being. the best part of my week was probably Tuesday, everything that we had planned worked out for the day and we were able to teach a bunch of lessons. it was awesome. the biggest tender mercy and faith-building thing was the blessing we gave that i wrote about in Dad's email, it was pretty cool to see that the Lord has ways to connect his children to bless them. my favorite scripture this week was D&C 27:15, about putting on the whole armor of God. if we sincerely do that, we will be able to hold up against all of life's challenges. yep, you can send my strips this week, that is plenty soon, thanks mom! i just started my last vial this morning, so it should work out perfect. thanks mom! especially for the gift card, that will be nice! 

everyone in this area loves to tell me how young i look. i am going to have to grow some facial hair when i get back or something, i don't know! hahahaha that is awesome that your knee is feeling better! it's good you have got more mobility with it, even though it hurts to get it there. it must have been fun to have a birthday dinner with Jake, and then to see Brigham. 

that is super funny to hear about that squirrel story, because there are so many HUGE squirrels in Indiana. i am not kidding they are so much bigger than Utah squirrels, i want to find a squirrel pelt or something hahaha. 

oh and before i forget, can you send more pump batteries? i am using my last one right now, if you could that would be awesome! that is cool Mia got a callback! that will be fun if she gets into that play. 

time is going by so fast, i seriously think back to a year ago, and realize i was in Batesville and i'm like, man, that's crazy hahaha. i do think back occasionally to the stripling warrior march we did, that definitely was inspired. i remember how they said it was going to change lives, and it did, maybe not for those who viewed it, but definitely for those who did it! the Lord works in very cool, interesting ways. 

sounds like you had a fun primary program as well, that's what we had in my ward, it was fun. although the whole time there was one cricket in the back of the chapel and it was chirping away, that was funny hahaha. 

i know that missions are inspired of God, just as young men, we can truly change the lives of others. we have been listening to a lot of Nashville Tribute Band music, it's like missionary music with country  sound. it talks a lot about the amazing things young guys on missions can do with the hand of the Lord, and i know that is true, that is the only way to do missionary work, is to rely upon the Lord for the strength and the words to say. if we put on the whole armor of God he can make us a sharpened tool to pierce hearts of stone, and bring many into the kingdom of God. well that is about it for updates this week, how are you?

oh, M**** and D**** and A*** all got baptized on Saturday! they wanted me to come, but sadly we couldn't make the 2 1/2 hour drive, so i got permission to call them and congratulate them. that was so good to hear, and T** is on date for this Saturday! the Sisters thanked us for the work we did there, that was nice.

some members out here own Papa Murphy's so they gave us a huge Chicago pizza, it was awesome! hahaa

well, we have to go now,  we have some fishing to do at a members house. thanks for all you do Mom! i love you guys so much! i hope you have a great week! i can definitely feel your prayers helping me, have an awesome day! love you Mom!

-Elder Sedlacek

By the way, we live in a barn.

hey Dad, it has been a very slow but good week nonetheless. i am in Noblesville Indiana with Elder Bischoff. he is from Texas.  it will be an interesting transfer.  i do really love the guy, he is a good kid. he has been out for nine months. i have to find out how to help him. he is very brash, but i am very nice to him and try to see things his way. i won't go into anymore specifics, but we do get along and don't argue, so that is good hahahaha. 

as for the area, we have a shared car and so half the time we are walking. Elder B doesn't like to bike. the area is a wealthier part of Indiana. it's like Bountiful, but spread out more. i love the area and the people, although we have no "real" investigators. i say real because the previous missionaries would just hang out with these people, so i am afraid they might have to be "dropped" or given commitment lessons. we are basically starting anew. 

the downtown area of Noblesville is a poorer area, and that is what we are limited to on foot. we pretty much saw the same four people this week: a recently re-baptized member named C**** who is blind, a recent convert named K*** and a less-active named T***. that is pretty much who we saw this week, it was tough going from high-octane with Elder Erickson to the slower pace in this area hahahaha. it's okay though, i know the Savior will help me to bring this area to life. plus, the ward is awesome and the bishop played football for Coach Wall at Bountiful back in the 80s, and played alongside Coach Boog! Small world! hahaha 

that sounds like a way cool conference you went to, i bet that was awesome to see. i really like the stuff you shared about Teaching in the Savior's Way. that is so true, that is the line that separates missionaries as being teachers and being tools in the Lord's hands. you have to love these investigators and focus so much on their needs. there is a reason why missionary work is so tiring, it's because it should and does take an immense amount of focus. that is the only way that you can truly have the spirit to bear witness of the truthfulness of this gospel and see rapid growth in the gospel. the spirit can always be there, but if you don't teach to the needs of the investigators, you will not see as much growth as could take place. 

we actually saw the score last night for the Colts game, that was sad to see hahahaha, and i heard about the Utah game, that is sad the way they played, they need to step it up it sounds like. poor USU, it sounds like they all had a bad weekend as far as sports go. i bet that was fun to go up the cabin, that is my favorite place in the world (other than the temple hahaha): Smith and Morehouse, the best lake in history! hahaha that will be fun to go next fall. sounds like fall is hitting Utah now too, the corn out here is going brown so it's about ready to harvest, and the soybeans are close behind, it's crazy to think i only have one more summer out here, and the last fall. fall is absolutely beautiful out here. 

well, thanks for emailing me Dad, if you happen to have any advice for me, that would be great. that has been the subject of most of my prayers lately, is helping my comp. well thanks for all you do Dad, i will talk to you later! have a great week, love you Dad!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey Mom! so it has been a tough week but a good one. i wrote a little about the area to Dad. i am not surprised you knew where i was. it was so fun to see the Cs at transfers! when F**** saw me he was sitting in his truck, but he stood up and gave me a big hug. hahaha i love that guy. they are going through the temple soon, and since i am so close to the Indiana temple maybe i will be able to go, i don't know. 

i am glad you liked the card hahaha, and the application hahaha. it is good to be back in the sticks, although it is a little more populated than Batesville but spread out. the ward is great, i love it. i love Indiana, you can always hear country music playing  in the background and people just chilling or playing corn pown ( bean bag toss haha). 

i wrote about my comp in Dad's email, he just wants to prove to me that he is "smarter" and "knows everything." yesterday he told me i am way too sentimental and take way too much value in everything, even in things that should not have value (i.e. just sentimental things) it is just stuff like that, but he can't really hurt me haha. 

if you could send some strips soon that would be awesome. that sounds like you had a good birthday, that is awesome. sounds like you had fun at the cabin and a good time watching the game, that is good. now i really will have to get a kayak, everyone had one in West Chester. Speaking of, West Chester was doubled out so Sisters could come in, and they are in training so that was why me and Elder Erickson were there, for J** and to set up the area for training :) hahaha. 

i did have some tender mercies this week. we had an awesome meal last night at a members house, they had way good food and the Olive Garden dressing, the Italian by the way, is the best i have had in my entire life. the dad called me Elder Ledzecki by mistake hahahaha! some challenges were just being overwhelmed the first few days, but hey, prayer is the answer to everything, that is true. 

by the way, we live in a barn, i will send pics hahahaha. it sounds like you had a good anniversary too, that is good. happy late one by the way! that sounds like such a good conf too. you did have a great birthday week! hahaha 

well i know this church is true, i am so grateful for the opportunity to be able to serve a mission. i know that the scriptures bring spiritual power that cannot be matched. if we hearken to the counsel of the apostles and the prophet we can do all things and achieve all that the Father has. i am so grateful for this gospel and the calling that i hold, with all the power and authority that goes with it. even me, a 19-year-old kid that looks like a 16-year-old and has not much scriptural knowledge on hand, can work miracles. the Lord allows us to have this calling and that  is so cool. thanks for all you do to keep me out here, it means everything! 

Pics: our church building is in Fishers Indiana, which is in the Indianapolis mission, so we see the Indi APs all the time at church, and it's their mission office hahaha crazy huh?

some members are doing our laundry for us this morning, and that is the view from their house. they are awesome!

well, i have to go now Mom. i am serious, i don't want you to spend a lot on a package. thanks for all you do Mom! i love you all so much! have a great day! and week! i will talk to you later! love you Mom!

P.S. -Elder Ledzecki hahaha! i carved accent lines into one of my tags as a joke, and people think they are real so it helps them get closer to pronouncing our name right hahahaha! 

Ohio bugs are huge and nasty!

hi dad, it has been a good week. it was a little bit slower week than normal, but it still went pretty well all around. all of our investigators are doing well. as of today, J** will still be baptized on the 3rd, i am so excited for her! her brother-in-law will be doing the baptism, and we will get to participate in the confirmation, so that will be cool. we had stake conference this week, and so we had J** and M**** come to the Saturday night session, plus J** came to the Sunday session. M**** was not able to make it to the Sunday session. T** did not answer his phone, so we don't know if he had to work or not, or whatever. 

J** is just as excited as ever and feels ready to be baptized. M**** had us over for dinner on Saturday, that was super cool.  her mom made the authentic Mexican food; it was really good. her mom can't speak any English, so she was asking us questions and i understood maybe a 1/4 of it hahahaha but when we left i said "gracias," and they looked at me funny so i was like "gringo!" and they all laughed hahaha! 

M**** is still keeping her commitments and is coming close to the decision to be baptized, we are just waiting for it to happen. T** is doing well and is working on his tobacco use, and is reading, so that is awesome. we are about to dunk all of our teaching pool here soon, so we are trying to find new people, and as you know, it is tougher in this area. we are starting to work with a few people, but it seems a lot of them just can't say no to us, so they don't always keep the appointment, which sucks. 

it is super cool that football has started up again. i almost bought a cool Bengals snap back the other day with my birthday money, but decided not to. that sounds like you are getting the job done at work. that is awesome they called you in to help them, you must be gaining a lot of trust. it is amazing how the Lord uses us to do His will. 

oh i miss those nectarines, the ones off our tree are so good! hahaha i bet you have had fun mowing the lawn this summer, just wait til i get back, that lawn will look gorgeous hahaha! people don't manicure lawns out here, they just cut it to keep it looking decent hahaha. that is good the girls did so well on the test, now we will have to get them both a buck or two. you will have to put me in for a tag next fall by the way.  

the Seventy who came to speak to us this past week, talked a lot about consecration. it truly is a very important thing to live by. the mission has taught me so much about consecration. we all have to work on our level of consecration at times, but as we follow the example of the Savior, the perfect example, we will always be able to learn and grow and gain more intelligence in this life, which prepares us for the life to come. the law of consecration is a celestial law, which means we must learn to live by that law in order to achieve celestial glory. i know that as we sincerely do the Lord's will, we will be blessed with more desire to do good, and recieve many blessings. thanks again for all you do Dad, you're the greatest, have an awesome week! love you Dad! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey mom, it has been a good week. last p-day we didn't have much to do, so we napped for a good solid two hours, that was AWESOME! hahaha i felt so much better! hahaha today we have a zone sports day in Hamilton so we will drive up there to play some games. 

our main investigators both came to church. we had stake conference, so Elder Hemula from the Seventy came to speak the mission on Friday, and then spoke at all the stake conference sessions. he did an awesome job. my favorite part of the week was probably having dinner at M****'s house, or having our old mini-missionary come out with us again. he is in the Hamilton ward. my favorite person was probably a really cool 96 year old man who we met yesterday. it was hot as all get out, and he was just sittin' out there. he is blind, and just calls out if he hears anyone coming, so we went to chat with him for a sec, he was super cool! a miracle was probably just getting some members out with us last minute a few times, that was awesome. the biggest challenge was probably the heat and the rain. like i said yesterday was hot as blazes, and we actually had what's called a heat alert, above 90 with very high humidity. i never sweat very much in Utah, but that was because it is dry, here it sticks to you, so you just keep adding to the sweat on your face til it drips.

it sounds like you had a good week with physical therapy and everything, that is good. i hope you also have a good week with work and stuff. i did get the strips, thanks so much for sending them! i got them just in time hahahaha. you could probably just keep the pump supplies there, and keep it for an emergency. could you tell the J family thank you for me! they are awesome! 

oh and could you tell Sister Elton thanks as well, i got the card that they sent, it was very nice! hahaha poor Jake and Jeff, back to classes. that stinks, i am not looking forward to going back to that, that's for sure hahaha. Brig looks so cute hahahaha, i loved those pics you sent! so does he like his new room? it is cool they got into a bigger apartment, mine is bigger than their old apartment, that says a lot hahaha. i can't believe we moved that piano in there in the first place!

that is so true about men's and women's roles, Heavenly Father knew what he was doing when he ordained marriage between man and woman. i can definitely say, from living with another man for a whole year, man and man are not meant to be hahahaha. i am so grateful for the opportunity we have to be married in the temple for time and eternity, that is one of the greatest blessings we have been given by Heavenly Father. i am so grateful for that. the roles definitely do compliment each other and are meant to be used together, as a whole unit. 

thanks for emailing me Mom, i  hope work is going well, maybe we will get to email back and forth.

the pics include some fun bugs we found. our apartment a/c was flooded this week. i heard a dripping noise and opened the radiator, and the cavity in the wall was full of water, so now the carpet is all wet around it. the maintenance guys won't do anything to really fix it, it's a mess. but we found the bug on the wall in our closet. Ohio bugs are huge and nasty!

thanks Mom, for all you do! you're the greatest! i hope you have a good week as well! i will talk to you later! oh, transfers are next week btw. love ya!

-Elder Sedlacek