Christmas in Marion, Indiana

hey Dad, it has been a crazy but good week. for the first half of the week, we had heard several days ahead of time when we would move, so we did the usual stuff and saw all the 'gators from Noblesville, all while having meetings with the Indy mission APs and their office elders. It was fun. guess what? Elder Hemuli, who graduated with me, the one who'll be playing Stanford football, is an Indy AP, so we got a pic together. that was super cool. we showed them around the area book, talked about the ward and had our ward mission leader involved in those meetings, so the change should go smoothly for them. sad thing is, they are getting rid of the barn we lived in, and won't be staying in it.

we moved here to Marion on Thursday and i don't even know where to begin to describe the area hahaha. it's the country, but it looks like inner city. it was once a booming industry town, that was left to who couldn't move out when the industry went south. the people here are friendly though, and have the famous Hoosier "gift of gab." They can talk your ear off hahahaha. 

we are on bikes full time, but luckily we live close to the church in a small house, a single floor up the street from the church. we don't know too many of the 'gators yet. it was kinda hard to have only one full day on Saturday, and that was Christmas Eve, so we did not get to talk to a whole lot of people. stay tuned to the next emails for info on the teaching pool i guess. i guess a lot of the ward is less active, so we will need to be helping a lot of those, as well as finding as many 'gators as we can get hold of. 

thanks for the advice on goals, i will definitely need a plan for the next few months of my mission, and for home after. i am  not looking forward to the adjustment hahaha. goals help us to achieve what the Lord would have us achieve, and it allows Him to fully reach out and help us get there. 

that is a crazy storm! i am glad you had a white Christmas, but that is too bad you did not get to make it to church, i am sorry.  my meeting wasn't a whole lot better though hahaha. that is good you got to help out the neighbors with their snow, that is a very worthwhile thing to do. i loved doing that when i was home. it sounds like you will  get a good rest of your holiday break, hopefully it is very enjoyable for you. 

so this bowl game between Utah and Indiana should be fun to hear about haha! that is so cool, Hoosiers against my home town team. the Hoosiers are good, too hahaha. should be a good game, but Utah will crush them hahaha! 

that is a very interesting thought about Mary and Joseph, thanks for sharing that. as i read the chapters in the Bible surrounding Christ's birth, it hit me that when Christ was in the temple teaching the old guys, when he was just a boy, and how in D&C 93:13 it talks about how he received grace for grace, to his fullness, or his glory and knowledge--he must have had some exponential growth and had to have really understood his purpose at an early age to be able to do that! that is so amazing. as children of our Heavenly Father we struggle to understand the purpose of life and how we get there, and gaining that knowledge of the plan and everything else, but Christ made it all possible. even though we struggle and we are not perfect, we can always turn to Him and he can help us learn and grow from our experiences to become better. 

i am so thankful to be able to declare the glad tidings of his birth around the Christmas holiday, thank you for teaching me what is right and being patient with me. i love you Dad, have a great day! and week, happy New Year's too i guess hahaha! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

hi Mom! it has been a crazy week. i wrote about all that happened in Dad's email. i wish i knew more about the area, but that will come in time. in Noblesville we did get to say goodbye the day before we left, and see a few of the members who had helped us a lot, so that was nice. 

the move was crazy cause they kept pushing the time back.  we moved at 5:00pm on Thursday and made it up here about 7:00, so that was a fun day. then we headed off early Friday to the Christmas conference. that was really good. they divided the mission in half and had games during the first part, then the Gilberts catered a lunch for us, and then we had a good devotional as we studied the nativity. that was really good. it was another good Christmas on the mission, and sadly my last. i so wish i had another! 

after we got done Skyping yesterday, we headed up with the ward mission leader from Noblesville to his family who lives in our ward here. we had a good lunch complete with fresh venison! yeah!!!!!!! then we came home and elder Nelson skyped with his family at the church, and then we came back to the house and did our puzzles and stuff. it was fun. 

that is crazy that you got so much snow, i can't even imagine that much snow here. that must have been fun to go to grandma and grandpa Ds, grandma makes good bread hahaha. i don't have any huge miracles to share, but just that we got here to Marion safely in the move, and having a bit of divine help with my diabetes hahaha! Marion is a fun place, that is for sure. it is actually the poorest area i have been in since inner-city Cincinnati, so that is a big change. the poorer areas always test me a bit, they make me kind of anxious, but not because it scares me or anything, it's just taxing, it's hard for me to describe why. 

my fave thing this week was the funny people in this ward. all the typical Hoosier things going on, with the accent and all haha. i love it! 

that sounds like a good tradition you have started with the Mary and Joseph dinner. i look forward to it. that is such an interesting thought you talked about. Mary and Joseph truly had to have been humble. they were totally willing to follow the commands of Heavenly Father and to do what they could to raise Jesus in the dignity that his life and the gift he gave to us so deserves. 

i know that Christ lives and that He did make everything possible, and He did it for all of us. i think about how much i lack, and what i have done, and what i could do better, and the reassuring knowledge of Christ and how He can help me become better always gives me peace and joy. because of Him i can become a better person. thank you for raising me on the gospel sod, i am so lucky to be your son. {I asked him if he was trying to make me cry?! ;)} thanks Mom for all you do! that's it for the week! haha

well, i got to go now, thanks Mom for all you do! i love you all so much! have a happy New Year's Day! not sure what we will do on that day yet. have a great week and i will talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

We are pretty much double agents, working for two missions

He got the bratselies {Swiss cookies} we sent him. A family tradition!

hey Dad, it has been a good, but weird week. we have not moved yet.... although they had the huge meeting to reorganize the boundaries at church yesterday with the whole Indy North stake, so we basically attended the Indy mission's stake conference. their whole zone was there, and of course they all ignored us hahahaha. we even saw their mission president up on the stand, it was crazy cause he wasn't ours hahaha. we are officially out of the mission as of 3:00 pm yesterday, but apparently the Indy office missionaries don't know a thing. they called us to set up a meeting so we can go over the area book, and our APs don't know a thing, they do think we will go on an exchange with the other mission though, and (hahaha) it gets even better, because for possibly two more weeks WE ARE PRETTY MUCH DOUBLE AGENTS working for two missions right now hahahahaha! if they move us soon, we will go to Marion Indiana, but who knows when that will happen. if it does, we will be re-opening an area, but i really don't want to. my comp kinda likes to control everything and he will milk that. 

no gators came to church yesterday, but it was a really noisy meeting. SD is finally reading the Book of Mormon! heck yes! and same with B. we have been reading with them, and apparently it worked at least a little bit. all the other investigators are doing the about the same as before. we did get T, our less active we've been working with, to come to church yesterday. that was nice, because it's been a couple weeks since he last came.

this ward is awesome, they are giving us Christmas gifts all the time. Bro A gave me a little Christus statue, it's so cool. that sounds like you are having an interesting week too! that is so cool you found the family history stuff, everyone always asks me if i'm straight from the Czech Republic. a few thought i was hahaha. 

sounds like the new Star Wars movie is really good, i am excited to see it haha. that sounds like you had some good church meetings. i wish ours weren't so noisy, but it was historic, and we helped carry chairs back at the end of the meeting. i broke a personal record--4 under each arm hahaha. 

i really like that thought, that really helped me feel the Spirit, thanks for sharing that Dad! it's true, no matter how far we wander, or how lost we think we are, the Savior is right there, we just have to choose to see Him, and then reach out for his lifting hand to pull us back to safety. we are never truly lost, ever. it's a pleasure to be able to share that message with the people of Indiana, even though they are the most stubborn people haha! they have a strong faith and it's nice to see that, even in people of other faiths. 

that's awesome about the Colts. i was surprised last week to see the standings, with your Cowgirls in the lead. the other teams must feel pretty sympathetic to them this year, letting them win. 

i have no idea when i will Skype, if i am still here in Noblesville, it will be in the afternoon or around 1:00 perhaps. i will have a member shoot you a text or see if i can still call to set it up. i will do my best to let you know as soon as possible. well thanks for emailing me Dad! you're the best! i love reading your emails. talk to you on Sunday! have a great week!

-Elder Sedlacek

hi Madre, so it has been a good week. i wrote all about the craziness of the meeting to announce the new boundaries yesterday, and about the investigators. so yep, we are pretty much waiting for the Indy mission to make their move. we don't know any more than our APs, or their office elders apparently, and it's kind of annoying. i like to know when we will be gone or if we stay for Christmas. i would love to leave after Christmas, not before. if we do move this week, we will go to Marion and re-open the area, together, which i really don't want to do, especially the week before Christmas. it's frustrating not to know what's going on sometimes, but i would feel bad if i just sat back and let it happen, cause it would feel like i am not doing anything. 

Brother Gilbert is awesome! he is a really good guy in the Connersville branch. that is awesome you were able to find that way to #LighttheWorld. that is a really good service, good job on making all that bread, i bet it was really good. that must be fun to have everyone home for Christmas haha.

the weather here has sucked haha, we had some freezing rain the other day, which makes biking impossible. it has been in the teens for the high most of the week. this morning biking over to the library, my boogers froze in my nose hahahaha! it's about 7 degrees and a bit of wind chill to spice it up. makes for a nice balmy, Indiana day. IT'S SO COLD! hahahahaha humidity really sucks hahahaha. i say Utah weather has a sting, but the Midwest cold has a bite from a rabid bull dog. it cuts right through hahaha. that is crazy weather you have had though, i am excited to have lots of snow, it won't snow more than two inches here.  but yes, i am staying warm most of the time. i have plenty of clothing to stay warm. 

my testimony grew through a song that was playing in the car the other day before we gave it up hahaha, i was kind of reflecting on how things are going and the tune of the song we had playing helped me to feel the peace and comfort of knowing that Heavenly Father is still in control, and these changes are for my benefit and the peoples' benefit. it really made me feel the spirit, it was cool. my favorite thing was probably the dinner appointment we had yesterday. we went to a family of all boys--three boys and they were crazy fun. they had us help them feed all their animals. the boys had us help them and their parents were mad when they found out they had us helped, but we told them we did it by choice hahahaha, so that was fun. i think that tender mercy was the song as well, it was at exactly the perfect time that day and your packages really cheered me up on Thursday, things weren't going well on Thursday morning, thank you so much by the way! the peanut brittle is really good! and same with the bratselies. oh, we sang that song (Baby, What You Goin' to Be?) in Batesville, when we were in the ward choir.  that's a really good song. thank you for sharing that! the Savior really does make everything okay. thanks for emailing Mom!

well got to go now Mom, thanks for emailing! i love you guys so much! i am excited to see you on Christmas! talk to you Sunday! love ya!

Elder Sedlacek

We are refugees

Emails from December 12, 2016

hey Dad! it has been a good week. i am glad you got the cards and stuff, and yes, there will be a boundary change for this stake. all i know right now is that i am leaving this area very soon. it turned out the Assistants were wrong about leaving last week so we did not leave yet, but sometime near the end of the week.  so you could possibly send the package this week, cause if you send it to the mission home, it might take a long time to get it. 

as  for how the week went, it went pretty well. we did a lot of less-active hunting and it was successful. we found a few new ones to stop by, so that is good. they were all friendly and hadn't seen missionaries around in a while so they enjoyed the visits. SD did not make it to church this week, and we don't know why yet, but we will hopefully see him tonight. B has been meeting us at the library lately. he finally revealed to us need, so now we can teach him more effectively. we have been reading the Book of Mormon with everyone so they can get motivated to get into it themselves. K is still doing about the same, same as the W family, except the cold temps keep them from coming to church for health reasons. she may have been healed, but still struggles in the cold air. pretty much everyone is doing about the same. it is kinda tough, i just wish they would read the Book of Mormon and be able to feel its influence. it is such an amazing book of scripture.

that is super awesome all that stuff happened and went well. and even better you are going to the gym! hahaha, are you gonna bulk up and be a buff Grandpa and squish me? hahaha i can't wait to go back to the gym hahaha. sounds like work is kinda  hectic, that is good though you get to stay busy, that keeps you from being bored, right?  

that must have been a good meeting at stake conference, here stake conference is like a whole zone meeting hahaha, so it's fun to see members i know and all my mission buddies. i saw Elder Hurst at the stake conference, one of the guys from the MTC. 

i really like that thought you shared, it's interesting Elder Causse said Christ's birth was secondary to his atonement. that was his whole purpose for this life, to save us all. he had one thing on his mind, serve the Father's children. we had a lesson surrounding this topic with Kristy this week, about always seeking after Christ. if we are not intent on coming closer to Him, all the harder our lives will become. we need the gift that enables us to become better--the atonement--as we utilize it more fully in our lives our happiness and joy will increase, as well as our knowledge and relationship with Christ and Heavenly Father. i know that Jesus is the Christ and that Joseph Smith is his prophet and revelator called to these latter days to usher in the restoration of the gospel and to bring us the Book of Mormon. as i have read the Book of Mormon to finish by Christmas, starting from Nov 8th, it truly has increased my testimony of its divinity of the book and my love for Christ and Joseph Smith. i am so grateful for this gospel and that we can live for eternity as a family. thank you Dad for the example you put forth, for serving a mission, pushing through college and for every day that you get up to go to work for us. it makes it possible for me to serve a mission and to gain a testimony of the gospel. i love you Dad! have a great week! you're the best!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey Mom, so you heard about the changes. sorry to scare you a bit hahaha! i am glad you enjoyed the cards, thanks for distributing them for me!  so i guess just send my packages hahaha. we will see where i go. we almost thought it was a joke, since we were supposedly moving this week and nothing happened. we finally texted the APs and they were like, "it should be announced today and the changes will me made this Sunday" and so they said we will probably leave near the end of the week. we are refugees! haha we need to jump ship. can you send me a pic of the new mission logo? we have not got it yet. 

the best thing that happened this week was when we got a super sweet member refferal from a guy in the Indy mission for a person in our boundaries, so  she should be taught soon by whoever is in this ward. the ward will probably change its boundaries too, because they are reorganizing a new stake. i definitely saw small miracles throughout each day, but not any big ones to mention, just another week with an awesome ward. 

one tender mercy, a lady in our ward heard i have eczema and left a bottle of Ceravie lotion on the stairs in front of our apartment the other day, with some candy haha, that was super nice. she says it's the best for dry skin, and so far it's worked great. the Indiana weather has been in the 20s all week and snowing, but since it's Indiana it's gone within 24 hours regardless of how cold it is, and you don't get more than two inches hahaha, so that was nice. 

sister Murdock sounds like sister Welch. sister Welch used to walk a bit in the mornings and she set up a few appointments for us when i was in West Chester hahaha, they are both great missionaries. 

well, i know that this gospel is true. self change is a neccesary part of Christ's true church. we believe in continuing revelation, so God will always reach out to his children--that's a fact of life. i know that the Lord is at the helm of the Old Ship Zion and always will be. all things are done in wisdom and order, of God, who knows what needs to happen. as we approach this Christmas season we must always retain in remembrance the gift that Christ has given to us. i love this gospel so much, i am so grateful for the power of the priesthood and the temple in our lives. i love you all so much! 

well, got to go now Mom, thanks so much for all you do! i love you all so much! i hope you have a great day! talk to you later. you're the best!

-elder Sedlacek

You don't have to be the sharpest pencil in the drawer....

hey Dad, it has been a good week. our numbers and stuff don't indicate it so much, but that is not the important thing to remember, because we had a lot of good things going on this week. sadly, SD's son, who has health challenges, had a rough go of it on Saturday so SD did not make it to stake conference in Muncie, so he is no longer on date for December 17th. that's okay though, i think it was kinda tight for him anyway. there is not really anyone on our list who is super progressing other than him. we taught him the Word of Wisdom yesterday, and he has no problems with it, so that should go well. we will see how his church attendance plays out. he is still struggling with reading, but i think it's because of his reading skills, so we tried to get him on the app so he could listen instead. B is doing well, and he still wants to meet with us. he even wants to meet at the library now that it's getting cold cause he lives with someone else. the W family are doing alright. pretty much everyone struggles with reading though, which sucks, it's like "just read it, it will help you!" K is doing about the same as everyone else. it is frustrating when people don't want to progress. 

stake conference was super awesome, they changed the stake presidency and some really good thoughts were shared. afterwards, Bro. A., a super awesome member who helps us a lot, had us give him a blessing. he had me be the voice, that was an honor,  because he is a such an awesome guy. we also got to help out C, who is blind, he is very inspiring as well. 

right now it's getting cold to be on bikes as you can imagine hahaha! Saturday was a nice day, but man, i froze to death coming through an Indiana-sized canyon (haha--it's actually a valley between two knolls). so the "new" snowblower is getting tired huh? that is too bad, it has served well though, or allowed us to serve well. that is crazy that the Utes are going to play Indiana while i am here, what are the odds? the Utes will whoop them! they better! haha! 

sounds like you had a good church meeting. good news with the family history then, that's good you are finding things that need to be done. that lesson topic must have been inspired, that is awesome. thank you for sharing that. one of the thoughts given by the past 2nd counselor in the stake presidency talked about how you don't have to be the sharpest pencil in the drawer to serve the Lord, you just have to be in the drawer so He can take you out and sharpen you. i thought that was so cool, the Lord will do any means necessary to help us become an instrument in His hands. maybe that is why i have had some more interesting comps to work with, so he can sharpen me, cause man, i must have been a flat head hahaha! I know that selfless service is what allows us to become who God wants us to be. by doing so we come to know Christ and His infinite goodness and His plan for us, and we find eternal joy. thank you for founding me on the foundation of the gospel, so i too can use the framework therein to become like the Savior. thank you for all you do Dad! you're the best! love you Dad! have a great week!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey Mom! it has been a good week, i wrote about all the 'gators as usual in Dad's part. it was a good week, we had some good things happen. we got to give a few blessings, so that was awesome. we helped move a non-member lady, and that was good. she really needed help, she could not have done it herself. she is not interested right now, but she may be interested in the future, so that was some good fellowship too, because we had a member helping. 

we had to bike this week, so that was tough with it being really cold hahaha, but we made it through. one tender mercy was just feeling an increase of the Spirit, because my prayers have been much more sincere lately, and that always helps us. the hardest thing that happened was trying to improve our companion unity. i guess we both like to be in control, but we made some big progress this week. my favorite person was Brother A, and getting to help him with the blessing yesterday, that was so cool. 

now for a funny story: we met a super funny guy yesterday as we were coming out of the nursing home where C lives. this guy came out while we were waiting for our ride, and he was smoking a joint. he asked us about our name tags, and then he started telling us how he used to be the sun in the sky before he was born, and God told him to come here. not too weird yet, right? then he says he took all his rays and shot himself into what makes up a human body. then he was said, "hey do you guys smoke marijauna or tobacco?" and we were like "no," and he continued on, telling us how God told him to indulge in it. it was a crazy story and that was not even all of it! hahaha i almost lost it!

that must have been fun to have Briggy around for the weekend for sure, he is a cute one. it also sounds like you had some good service this week, with helping others, that is so awesome. i love getting to do service, it makes for such an increase in the Spirit. that is super cool about those golfers coming back, i remember them, it seems like yesterday! that must have been fun to hear from them again, it sounds like a good meeting.  we too had a great meeting with our stake conference in Muncie. there was such a great spirit there as they called a new presidency. that was fun to be part of. 

some mission news: we used to have 2 zones per stake, now they combined them, so there is one per stake. the zones are huge now. i will just testify of key holders--you know i don't like change (you even warned me remember? hahaha) but i know that President Welch is the key holder for this mission. i am so grateful for priesthood keys, and the ability to hold the priesthood. it's such a blessing in our lives. i know the power that lies within devoted service to the Lord, and i am so grateful for my opportunity to serve him. thanks for helping me to serve! 

alright, that's about it for the week. got to go now. thanks, Mom, for all you do! i love you guys so much! have a great week! talk to you later! 20 days 'til Christmas!

-Elder Sedlacek

Dad, you don't know how much of an example you really are to me.

hey dad, so this was a good week. it went slow but it was good. it was really rejuvenating to talk to you guys, and it was fun. i can definitely say that it was the best christmas i have had yet. i really got to know and feel the true meaning of christmas--it was awesome. that is sad about sister A, but it brings comfort to know that we will see her again. i  would not be suprised if she has checked up on me--hahaha--or if she will. send my condolences to bro A for me. that is cool you guys got to hear from jake and those others in sacrament meeting. i hope all the other missionaries from the ward are doing well--that is cool you got to hear about it. that is a really cool story from your mission, you always seem to know what to say to me because those always help me! thank you for that and for following the spirit. it definitely takes lots of faith in a area like this. you told me to pick a leader i admire and try to emulate them--that is something that i always strive to do, to pick a leader to take examples from and pick the characteristics that i like most. you are one of those people. you don't know how much of an example you really are to me. it always helps to look up to you, thanks for being that example dad! that sounds like such a good meal you had at the grand america! i bet you were stuffed hahaha. elder n is going to be going crazy about the denver-bengals game--he is a huge fan hahaha. for that game, since i like them both equally, i don't care who wins. it would be nice to see cincy get a super bowl while i am here though. i have heard a lot about how good the new star wars movie is. i can't wait to see it with you guys when i get home. that is a really nice thought from bishop davies, was that at work? i also like the one from president monson about loving others. loving everyone is something that does not come easily for me--i always have to constantly strive to love the people i teach. elder holman has realized this and told me that he would bet money i become a leader, but if i learn that trait fast, the faster the leadership will come. i hope you guys have a good time putting together the puzzle and everything, as well as the new year snowman. have a great new year's! i love you dad! have a great day and week! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

 

Hi mom! that is crazy that i only have one more christmas to go. it has flown by so far, can you believe i have been out for nearly five months? the best part of the week was christmas eve, that was so good to teach and talk about christ on his birthday eve, that was probably the best day out on the mission that i have had so far. the most faith-promoting thing that happend to me was on the day after christmas. we were walking up a hill to a  bus stop, and this man from nigeria stopped us and asked us to come into his house and teach him. he is a great guy! i love his accent. we have a return apointment with him this week. 

 

the hardest thing that happened this week was probably not having any of our investigators show up to church. that always sucks. christmas was awesome! so after we skyped, we hung out at the taylor's for a few hours, and then bro b picked us up to go to his farm. we had a really good dinner and egg nog over there. it was fun. while elder holman skyped with his family from the farm, i played around with the grandkids that are in high school. we played like foosball and shot some hoops hahaaha. their farm is pretty cool. 

 

your christmas sounds pretty good as well--i am glad. ben is getting huge! they sent me a christmas card and i saw him and i thought, "holy crap!" that is also crazy about tara having another baby so soon. i hope you all have fun on new year's eve. thanks for the puzzle for me to do--i already put it together. hopefully the snowman will work out hahaha. dang, it is cold in utah! sorry that i leave and the weather goes sour haha--i guess it just can't exist without me--jk! that is cool about getting to hear jake speak sunday, i bet you liked that. i don't remember bro C, but that is way cool, i am glad he is coming out to church. it will be awesome to see if he gets dunked. thanks for finding me a copy of that poem, but it is okay though if you can't find one. it is so important to have a companionship of three! that is what it is all about!

 

Mom: I am really glad that you had such a great Christmas! It sounds like you had a lot of fun and also felt the true spirit. That is all I can ask.

 

Good luck with the new Nigerian investigator! That is awesome news!

 

I am going to pick up your new strips today or tomorrow and send them, along with the card reader. Is there anything else you need? 

 

Elder Sed: if you could include my blue and yellow tie i left in my room by accident, that would be great. maybe a calendar if you want, but if not i can buy one haha. it really was a great christmas, i loved it, i felt the spirit A LOT. thank you for sending that stufff mom! you're awesome!

 

Mom: So what will your New Year's Eve and Day look like? Do you have to be in at a certain time? What do you get to do? 

 

Elder Sed: for new year's, we do have to come in early, and we have to deep clean the apartments, then we stay in until  a certain time on new year's day.

 

well, i have to get going now mom, it was great to hear from you! i love you guys all so much! talk to you later! have a great new year's and build the snowman well for me! love you!

-Elder Sedlacek

 

I am grateful that I have this opportunity to be out here

 Hey dad, so this last week went pretty slow, but it was good. we had a really good transfer meeting and we got to hear from president porter--he is so awesome! so my new comp's name is elder holman. he is from utah and has been out for 10 months. this area is doing well, except for what happend to a*** this week. i will write about that in mom's email. i will get to skype on christmas at around 10:30 am, although we don't get to call on christmas eve like jake did. they really enforce skyping for 45 mins, so no more than that. well, this week wasn't as tough as i thought it would be, it was still hard taking over though. elder holman was made district leader thankfully. i know i have been put here at this time for a  reason. i just have to trust in God. you must have had a fun day Sunday, it sounds like. those are some cool scriptures you shared with me, it is always nice to get those from you haha. i will definitely keep that in mind. that is cool you finally got to see the s family, how are they doing? tell the allreds merry christmas for me and i definitely felt their prayers. that is way awesome about the utes winning the bowl, but they always screw up for at least a solid quarter in all thier games it seems hahaha! that is great they beat byu though hahaha. hopefully usu can play well in their bowl! have fun at the work lunch--that is probably way good food. so you probably have a few days off this week then? thank you so much for sending the bratzeli cookies! i am sure they will taste good, i can't wait to make some when i get home hahaha. that must be an  awesome talk from pres.monson i will have to go and read it, i really like that quote and i know that to be true, that as i do give all my might to this work i will see miracles and help bless the lives of others. i am grateful that i have this opportunity to be out here serving the lord for another year and a half, i have already seen blessings from it and i am sure you guys have, too. thank you so much for all you do to keep me out here, i know it is a lot, thankyou so much. i hope you guys have an awesome christmas as well, i love you so much and i look forward as well to talk with you guys over skype, it will be fun. i will talk with you in a few days, love you so much, have a great week!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey mom! so this week was kinda crazy, my new comp's name is elder holman. we will see how this turns out. we get to skype for 45 mins on christmas, and we will be doing it at about 10:30-ish Ohio time so be ready anywhere from 8-9. sadly, we don't get to call on christmas eve like jake did, so i will talk to you on skype haha. so this week we didn't have anyone show to church, it was really sad. a*** OD'd on heroin and got in a car wreck, so he is probably going to jail. that really blows!! we were able to teach s*** and he seems pretty solid--we have a lesson with him tonight and he is making us dinner. we were also able to talk to w****, and he is having us back today. other than that, not much has changed. 

i was able to get my packages! could you tell ann & jim and gma & gpa h thank you for me?  tell them i will be able to use that, and it will come in handy! (they gave me a card and money). geeze louise, Syd's boy has gotten huge! holy cow! thank you so much for the packages! i can't wait to see what's inside on christmas! 

you are probably getting pretty busy with christmas it sounds like, i am sure all those parties will be fun! and were fun! that must be nice to have everyone home for christmas, i am excited for when i am back home hahaha. that was a way cool story about sister E, it is always nice to hear those stories about the holidays! i am glad i get to be a missionary during christmas too, i only get two of them. they are kinda tough, but it is cool to talk about Christ all day around his birthday! well, that is it for updates of this week, how have you been?

i am sorry i have no pics to send this week, i need to get a card reader so i can send them to you, so maybe next week i will be able to.

okay mom, i have to go now. it was great to talk to you, thank you for all you do for me, i love you all so much! i will talk to you on friday! love you!

-Elder Sedlacek

We live in a day of miracles, we just have to see them.

 

hey dad! so this week was pretty tough, it seemed like no one wanted to talk to us and there was just a lot of opposition. we hardly got to even extend baptism which was kinda tough, because that is what really gets me fired up and gives me such joy--to ask people to be baptized--because it is fulfilling my purpose as a missionary. but yesterday it all changed! A**** showed up to church! it was awesome! i had been having a hard morning, i was kinda down on myself, thinking stuff like "what am i doing wrong, why can't i just baptize more?" stuff like that haha and then we walk into sacrament and A**** is sitting there! it was a huge testimony builder for me that miracles really do come right after the greatest opposition, it was awesome. we did not get to visit with g***** or a**** this week sadly, that's part of why it was such a huge miracle to see a**** and his family at church. i have some grace to share in the general email to mom, so stay posted haha. but that is way funny about duke haha--that crazy dog. that is good about church, you must teach pretty awesome or something haha you teach often. that is good your shoulder is feeling better, so you got a lot of work done then, huh? good deal. do you get enough help around the yard? hopefully so. you must be getting pretty excited to have a grandbaby huh? haha thanks for all the bowl updates the other elders like it too hahhaha me and elder n KNOW utah will win hahaha!!  the fast meetings here are pretty good most of the time, i usually don't worry too much about investigators in fast meetings just because the spirit will testify to them what they need to hear. i know that to be true. that is an awesome quote thanks! well it was great to hear from you dad! i love reading your emails each week! i want you to know that. Well, talk to you later dad, I love you!

-Elder Sedlacek

 

hey mom! so this week was slow and tough, i wrote more about it in dad's email. we had interviews with president this week, and that was good. he said he is proud of me and that i am a hard worker, he is so awesome. we also took some recent converts to the temple on Saturday to the Columbus temple, it was way fun. so this morning, some awesome grace happend!  we went to look at macy's downtown to see if they had any clearance suits, no such luck. so then we hopped on the bus to get to the church, but we bought hot dogs before we got on, and the lady that was running the hot dog stand started talking to us, and now she is committed to church on sunday!!!! heck yes! then we got on the bus and this guy starts talking to us. i ask for his name to get his info, and he is like i will have to spell it out for you and so he says "R-I-C-K" i was like are you joking me? hahahaha he was serious too hahaa and so he is now planning to come to the ward Christmas dinner and church on Sunday too! heck yeah! and then boom! we got two media referrals right after! it was sick! so yeah, we are pretty much gonna dunk the world as elder n says haha. 

 

that is a cool story about the hopewell indians, no i have not heard about it yet, maybe i will. i am actually reading about Captain Moroni right now in the Book of Mormon. yes, the strips did arrive a few days ago, thank you for sending them. you will have to send the package soon, hahaha i really don't know if i am getting transferred or not.  idk. we will find out. mia's play must have been fun, then huh? that is cool you got to see the martins, they are awesome. haha i look forward to the day when i can finally do some yard work again everyday, that was so much fun to me haha. you guys really must be sore from working saturday! hahaha we helped r**** senior with his lawn care this week. it was 30 degrees outside, so it really felt like 20 haha but the lawns here still have to be mowed on a regular basis. they are perfectly green--about as green as Utah gets in the summer and that is yellow for here. we cut r****'s lawn and stacked his wood. that dinner for Sarah's dance must have been fun, it sounds like, you probably had fun cooking for all those teens huh? hahaha you probably killt it. did you make them warsh the dishes then? yep, sundays are the best, i really don't know how i get up every morning! i go to bed and like 30 seconds pass by and it is 6:30 a.m. already! hahaha i am pretty sleepy most of the time after about noon hahahaha that is mission life though. that is a great quote you shared, thanks for sharing that. we live the truth of that everyday, i definitely have a testimony of that!

 

Mom: Sorry you had a tough week! I remember that every time Jake had a tough week, miracles would soon follow. I'm glad your strips arrived! I'm pretty sure I put the wrong zip code on the package, so I was worried. I prayed it would make it! I'll be sending your Christmas package this week. Molly left her mark on it, but I'm not going to tell you what haha.

 

yep that is the way that it always happens, miracles are still here, we still live in a day of miracles, we just have to see them. yep, the strips arrived on time and i did not notice if it was a wrong zip or not. thanks for all the packages you send to me, it really means a lot! i would not be able to be out here if it weren't for you! i guess i will find out what mark molly left then huh?

 

i think i am growing...my suit sleeves are shorter and so are my shirts. 

 

Mom: So how are your blood sugars, especially if you are having a growth spurt? I can order more insulin at the end of the month, are you okay on that?

 

it is pretty easy to manage right now, my insulin is really good right now. i won't need much for a while, i will let you know.

well i have to go now, it was great to hear from you, i am excited to skype on christmas, then i can tell you a lot of stories and stuff i can't share over email. well, have a great week mom, good luck with everything, i love you all so much! talk to you Later!

--Elder Sedlacek

 

When you say good evening around here you don't. You say "have a blessed evening." {Lots of pics this week!}

11/30/2015

hi dad! so this week was good, we were able to have an awesome thanksgiving with a family for lunch time. the turkey was way good, and then the father took out all these whips and throwing knives and ninja stars, and asked us if we wanted to have a little fun before dessert. we were like "heck yeah!"  i will send a video of the whip, it was like 10 feet long and really heavy. 

our most promising investigators didn't make it out to church this week, they both had to work. we were able to get a less-active out to church, M. i paid for his bus fare. we always get passes from the church, and he didn't have one, but luckily i had enough change. he is a funny guy, he is black and about your age. he went through a stroke when he was 28 and so he is a little crazy haha. he was saying that he played byu basketball and football while on his mission to new jersey and california, and california was "180 degrees goin' on 200!" so we started messing with him a little bit and we asked him how it was like to play with jimmer fredette, and dwayne wade, and kyle irving and to have larry gelwix as a coach (highland rugby coach) hahaha it was funny. we had a few meals since it was the week of thanksgiving--they were all awesome! we are still trying to contact all those new investigators, that happens a lot here, you make contact for the first or second time and then they disappear. it really makes it hard. i passed off those scriptures that we have to memorize that i told you about to get that pin that you see everyone wearing on the mission Facebook page. the little white one, so hopefully the AP's can get one to me before we have interviews with pres.porter this week. yes, both stadiums are in our area, we went downtown this week and saw them both! they are massive! the reds' is smaller than the bengals' and the reds' dwarfs me! i have some cool pics to send you! sadly, you can't see the fields without a tour. it was fun, though. it is getting colder here, there is a constant slight breeze and the humidity makes 40 degrees feel like 20! it is crazy, but luckily our apartment is so warm we have to have the ac on at night! it is the weirdest thing, they keep the heat on 24/7 and we can't adjust it whatsoever, just the ac. that is crazy about your mission apartment!  well, as always i will send more in the general email, thank you for sending me your mission experiences, they really help me a lot, and the sports updates are always nice to see hahaha i hope all is going well for you! i love you dad! have a great week! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey mom! so this week went by crazy fast! i had a really good thanksgiving, we had a few meal appointments this week that i wrote about in dad's email, but we had one last night with bishop B. His brother is on the high council, and then a few of his other kids are in the ward, so like a 1/4 of the ward are all the same family. they all came to the meal and they have a crazy amount of kids hahah!! so it was way fun to watch all the crazy little kids, and they have this huge slide in their house from one level to another and they were just climbing up and down it and throwing stuff down it hahaha. we found a few investigators this week as well, one of them we met on the bus. this guy comes onto the bus and sits down near me, elder n is talking to the driver (a guy named eric who is really cool) and i get an impression to talk to him, so i start talking to him and come to find out he is interested in learning more. elder n told me they have talked to him before but he was never interested, so that was sick! there are also always drunk people on the bus and they always say the funniest stuff. we had a really good zone meeting this week, it was super revelatory and the spirit was so strong, it was nice to have it, i love zone meetings because you get to see all the others in the zone and have a great meeting with them. not really much else went on this week, just the usual stuff, people yelling and shooting, and smoking weed.  what do you want to know about cincy?

oh, we walked through over the rhine this week, which is the sketchiest place in cincy except for price hill, and man i thought i was going to get jumped. that was the most weed i have ever smelled and i didn't even want to take my gps or camera out of my pocket! hahaha

Mom: Well, I am glad you did not get jumped! haha Just tell me whatever you want to about Cincy, I'm interested to know how you like it. 

well, cincy is a pretty cool place, lots of interesting people and the skyscrapers are cool too.  that pic with the map, is all our area, and that's not all of it either, we have the rich part of town, and then all the hood up until downtown where everyone works, so lots of people ride the bus. all the rich people live just north east of us and you travel south east to get into our area and to downtown. i have learned lots of new words like "finna" which means i am going to or fixing to and they say learnt and kilt it, they always add t's to the ends of words like that haha and when you say good evening you don't. you say have a blessed or just have a blessed evening. people are always willing to talk, usually, and they will always tell you they have already been baptized, so i am getting pretty good at evading that excuse hahaha. As far as christmas i still need some sweaters, i can't find any here for some reason, the thermal bottoms would be nice and instead of like a desk toy like i said last week, if you go that route, just do a tech deck finger board hahaha. other than that, i think i am good. just stuff that you think i would like haha.

Mama: Cincy does sound like an interesting place! I am glad you are doing well. Watch for your strips to arrive this week. I am so, so proud of you! Keep up the good work! 

thanks so much for all you do! love you mom! it was great talking to you, have a great week and i will talk to you later

-Elder Sedlacek

Holy cow 2015. I never thought that would happen.

What's up Mama,

Hey Monday came fast haha. I am happy that I get to email though. It's fun.

The big transfer news is: I am staying in Kennewick with Elder Ro. I am happy with that. We work together well and have a lot of fun so it should be really good. We had a fantastic past couple days! We put two of our investigators, T**** and K, on date!!!!! That was super exciting.

Christmas was super fun being able to see you guys. Jeff was different than I was expecting, but he is funny so that's all good haha. I don't even know exactly what I was expecting...haha. It was good to meet him though. I'm sorry that all your kids are growing up on you haha. You can take comfort in that I am feeling good. I surprisingly wasn't even that trunky after, so it was easy to adjust back. You're an awesome Mama!  I would visit now but you're going to have to wait 7 months ;)

Christmas was super fun after we Skyped. We hung out and just had fun. Delivered cookies to our investigators. Ate some super good food. We went to a members' house and they had--no joke--about $200 worth of meat on the table haha. It was sooooooooo good! They were these huge sections of prime rib that was cooked soooooooooo good. Let's just say I was in heaven haha.

Hey, that's cool that we have some new neighbors. I will have to meet them when I get back.

I haven't gotten my glasses yet. I don't know when they are going to come in. I will take a pic. Don't worry about that.

You da best!!

Mama: Hey son!

Yeah, Monday did come kinda fast. This week will probably go fast too with New Year’s.

I don’t remember hearing about your investigator K before....have you told us about him?

I’m glad you did not get trunky!

Prime rib!! You lucky dog!

Our New Year’s snowman is going to be good this year—we got 11.5 inches of snow over Christmas, and last night we got about 8 more. The snow is finally showing up this year. And this year I should be able to make it up on the hill, with my new knee brace. yeah! 

 

Elder Sed: I totally forgot that this week was New Year's hahaha. Holy cow 2015. Never thought that would happen hahahaha.

I totally forgot about the snowman tradition too. I bet you guys are going to be able to make an awesome one. You have Jeff too, if he shows up, and he's super tall so you could even make the snowman even taller than before. That's awesome too that you're going to be able to make it up the hill.

That is A TON of snow! I wish it snowed like that up here. That would be sweet. I remember that one night when we got a snow day for school. Now that was a lot of snow.

 

I'm pretty sure I have told you about K before.

Mama: You probably have mentioned K, but I post to your blog every week and I know you always mention M****, L*****, etc., but couldn’t remember K. It’s all good.

Yeah, 2015! I never thought it would happen either. 

 

What do you get to do for New Year’s? Do you have to stay in with Sister S? Not that you wouldn’t like that....wink. 

 

Elder Sed: It should be fun getting to know everyone new when I get back, just hopefully my mission won't make me too awkward to be around haha.

What do we get to do for New Year's? We will have to be in at 6 pm. I know that for sure, so yea we will get to hang out with Sister S. It should be fun. I bet she will have family over or something so it should be fun. I will probably party it up though haha. I have to go all out right ;)? My last one in the mission field so I will try to make it fun as I can.

Well, it's time for me to go again. It was fun emailing today. Thanks for all that you do for me! Tell everyone hi for me. If you could, somehow on Facebook or something tell my RC and friends hi for me. That would be awesome if you did that. You do so much for me and I'm so grateful for it! Love you, Mama! Hope you have a great week!

-Elder Sedlacek

 

What's up Dada,

Sounds like you had a pretty relaxing week after Christmas. Mine was pretty dang awesome. I told you mostly what happened in the week before Christmas. It was pretty long. Now that Christmas is over we were able to meet with T**** and K. Guess what??? They both are on date now!!!!!!!! T**** is doing awesome. She was able to get some help from the ward for her daughters to have a Christmas, so I was super happy about that. Her girls are so dang cute, and they deserved to have some gifts for Christmas. Her baptism date is for 2/7/15 as of right now. She did tell us that she has some concerns about Joseph Smith, so we invited her to pray and to gain an answer from God about it. You guys could pray for her to gain that answer.

K is doing awesome, too. He has been reading and has really opened up to us this week. We met with him a couple times, and both of those times we were able to hear some of his concerns and address them. We had a super good lesson on the Doctrine of Christ and he committed to be baptized 2/14/15!!! I was super pumped about that. He struggles going to church just from an experience he had when he was younger, so pray that those concerns will be resolved.

M**** is doing awesome as well. She has been reading and also trying to get J**** to read as well. He struggles with reading, but once he starts reading everyday I am sure M's baptism date will be a lot sooner. Pray that J*** will feel the need to read everyday.

L***** is doing great too. This area is just being really blessed right now. I am so happy to be in here right now!

That's funny that you guys remembered that you didn't take a pic while we were on Skype. I thought the same thing right when I ended it. I guess I could have called you back real quick and taken a pic, but oh well. Grandma is just going to have to be a little mad for the months in between Mother's Day and now haha. It was awesome to see all of you guys. You're one awesome family!

Duke that dumb dog, eating all the bretzlis. He was probably just mad that you haven't taken him duck hunting ;) . I am sure he is already back to loving you again haha. I have gotten PLENTY of treats. I live with Sister S. She has every Christmas treat under the sun in her house, except bretzlis.

Well, I am grateful for all that you do for me. You're one awesome dad. You're an even better example to me than I am to you, I am sure haha. I am grateful to be serving a mission. It has blessed me so much. I have learned and grown so much in just the time I have been out. I know the gospel is true. Since you sent me that DVD of the bible videos I have been watching some of those. Christ's life never ceases to amaze me. He did live a perfect life and set a perfect example for us. I know the atonement is in place for a reason. I know Christ can heal our lives.

I love you guys. You're awesome!

-Elder Jake Sedlacek

 

 

 

Out of the hardest days, come the biggest moments.

What's up Mama,

How the heck have you been? I had a pretty good week. This week should be really fun with Christmas and all that. I actually got my packages on Saturday so they came faster than expected I guess. That's cool. You will be happy to know that I am saving them til Christmas morning to open, by orders of Sister Ware haha. She doesn't want any missionary to have to sing "I'm getting nothing for Christmas" haha. She's funny sometimes.

You like Sister S? I am glad you got to talk to her. I like her too, she's awesome. You should have gotten a couple texts with pictures this week. When we have dinner with families who have missionaries out, they always want to send a pic it seems.

I am staying healthy. The past couple days I have had some allergies so I don't know what the heck is up with that. My right eye has been bugging me because I can't see as good in it. I am going to the eye doctor tomorrow though, so I will see if I am actually blind or going crazy haha.

Amazon is amazing haha. Now that you have free 2 day shipping it's even more great!

Jeff is going to have a hard time competing with your fave son huh haha. ;)

Our investigators are doing well. It was a good, busy week. I had some cool experiences too, so it was awesome.

Mama: Hi Son! I’ve been great. I’m glad you have had a good week. Sister S said she is taking you to the doctor tomorrow. You’ll have to let me know what happens when we talk to you this week.

I did get three pics of you this week! Two from the M family and one from the Ns. They are all great!

You’ll always be my favorite son. Wink!

I forgot to tell you that Brother and Sister B gave you another $25 this Christmas. I will put it in your account.

Elder Sed: Yep, she is taking us to the doctor bright and early. 6:40 in the morning hahah. When I heard what time it was, I was like holy cow haha. It should be fun though.

Hey it's good that I'm still the favorite.Tell the Blacks thanks for me!

I am thinking about going and getting my grey suit tailored this week because it is huge on me and looks terrible. Mr Mac does free alterations but I am not in Utah and they don't have Mr. Macs here so I might just take it to a place and have them do it. I heard though that it would be somewhere around $40. 

Mama: Oh yeah, you’re still the fave. Yesterday all the kids were telling me, “But you said I’M your fave!” haha! I may or may not have told them all that.  

Yeah, I think you should get your suit tailored. I could tell it’s huge in that pic you had taken for a cutout. 

Elder Sed: Oh so the truth comes out huh haha. ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

You can be sure that I am the favorite--just an fyi.

I will be calling sometime Christmas Eve to set up the final details on the Skype. Should be fun!!!!

I will probably have my suit done then. I like that suit, just not right now because it's huge. Even the pants on my black suit are big, but the jacket fits better than it does on my grey suit so I will probably not worry about that one.

Mama: Can't wait to hear your voice!: it will be awesome. We will all be at grandpa Hilton's house.

Elder Sed: I have to get going now. It was great to talk to ya. I am glad everything is good back at home base. I hope you have a great week! Talk to you on Christmas! Love ya!

-Elder Jake Sedlacek

What's up Dad,

It was weird because when I started to read the email you sent, I was reading it as Mom sent it and I was thinking to myself  "Why is mom going to Cabela's to spend her birthday stuff???" haha!  I realized after that though that I was reading your email instead haha. That's awesome you were able to pick up a case of shells. Is that all you bought? It's going to be fun to use those next year. Jeff is going to have to come along too. If I remember correctly he hasn't duck hunted before, right?

This week for me was a great one. We had lessons with most of our investigators. I had some cool experiences too, with finding and gaining answers to prayers. I am going to give a short update of where most of our investigators are at.

M**** is still doing well. She came to church yesterday and really liked it. Like our ward back home was, our church was on Christmas in every class. It was fun. She still is having a hard time studying, but in this crazy, busy world who isn't? I think that is one of the most used tactics by Satan. He tries to convince us that we are too busy to study the scriptures, which is absolutely false. Dang Satan. Stop messing with our investigators.

L**** has been slammed with work with Christmas coming up. He is busy all this week too, which is just crazy. He still tries to find time to read each day somehow. He's awesome.

D*** we lost contact with. He got kicked out of where he was living and we have no clue where he's at now with his phone not working anymore. I hope we are able to find him soon. Miracles happen.

T****** is really busy with work too. (See the common theme with all our investigators?) The bishop went over and visited with her to see if she had any Christmas needs, so that was great. She is really awesome. Sometimes I just wish I could buy the things that she needs. It's really tough for me sometimes that way. I care about them so much and want them to have the things that they need.

C***** unfortunately got anti-ed by her boyfriend and dropped us this week. That was a tough day, but I did get a way sweet answer to my prayers immediately that day. When we got back inside that day, on Wednesday of this week, we had had a really long day and I was just ready for bed. In my night prayers to Heavenly Father, I always just try and relax and go over my whole day. I was just thinking about the days on my mission where it seems like nothing is going my way, and then all of a sudden I had a distinct thought in my mind. It went like this: "Out of the hardest days, come the biggest moments."  My thoughts went right to the Savior after that. I was just imagining the morning of the atonement and what or how Christ would have felt. He must have known that the day was going to be the hardest experience of his mortal life, but in reality the hardest day of all human history brought the biggest moment in human history as well. Out of that garden came salvation for human kind. How grateful I am for it this Christmas season!!!!!!!! It's so awesome to be a missionary this Christmas season. It may not be a "White" Christmas for me per say, but I have learned some meaningful lessons.

That answer to my prayers was just one of the cool things that happened this week. It was just a great week. I'm looking forward to this week, too. It's going to be fun to be able to see you guys over Skype.

I have got to say GO UTES!!!!! Oh yea, I am so happy they had a great game. I would have loved to see that trick play they did to score at the beginning. I bet it was awesome! I hope they can finish in the top 20 this season. That would be the icing on the cake. Now they just need to do amazing next year.

Well, I know the gospel is true. I am so grateful to be able to serve a mission. I love it! I know the Book of Mormon is true. I know the Savior lives. I know Joseph Smith is a prophet that god has called in these days. I know the priesthood is on the earth as well. What a blessed life we live. Thanks for all that you do for me Dadio. Your awesome! Love ya!

-elder jake sedlacek

I didn't always make the best decisions, but it led me to be who I am today.

 

 

Hey what's up Dad,

My week was pretty great. We were able to get some awesome work done. God is certainly blessing the  ward right now. This week we found a very promising new investigator. Her name is C****. She is in her 20s and has a couple kids and she is awesome. She was raised Christian. She is super open-minded. The first lesson we had with her, we went over the restoration. It was SUPER good. The spirit was really strong. I know she felt the spirit teach her truth!!!! Later this week, she texted us and that brought some not good news. She has a BF who is anti-Mormon and he had given her some stuff. I was able to resolve most of the concerns. I just hope she will want to continue to meet with us. Pray for the spirit to help her know real truth from God!!!!!!!! She NEEDS this right now!!!

L***** is doing great things as well. We had a lesson with him that was super good also. At the end of the lesson we had asked him to say the prayer and he didn't want to, but amazingly his girlfriend stepped up to the plate and was like, "I will do it." Ever since then, L***** is completely comfortable praying. He even volunteered to give the opening prayer in our latest lesson with him. He is praying for some guidance as to what to do about his living situation. Pray for him to be able to gain an answer he is comfortable with so he can be baptized. He wants it so bad! It has been an amazing experience teaching him and bringing him closer to Christ.

M***** has been doing great, too. They are still working on progressing towards marriage. Pray for them to be able to continue to make progress.

T****** is doing great things as well. She came to the ward Christmas party this week and really enjoyed it. She was able to meet a lot of the members of the ward. She is really struggling this holiday season though. Pray for her to have the comfort she is seeking.

The mission had a Christmas Devotional this week. That was fun. They gave out temple recomend holders that President Ware had made up for each missionary. They are super cool. I had been secretly wanting and hoping that they would do that. Lucky me! They did haha.

I am glad that the wedding was a huge success. It looked really good in the pics Mom sent. You should do it for a business. On a scale of 1-10, how stressed out were you on Friday? haha I can't even imagine how you felt. You're awesome, Daddio!

I like your idea to set some goals to stretch myself for the rest of my mission. I bet it would help me to stay focused on my purpose. You know I will do that. Good thinking Dad. I always want to be the best missionary I can be.

I don't have a clue when I will be Skyping on Christmas Day. We are going to be Skyping from our house, so we can whenever pretty much. When is the best time for you guys? I can probably plan on doing it then.

Well, I know the gospel is true. I know Jesus Christ lives and He watches out for us and leads us to where we need to be. Psalms 23:1-2. I know that all my life, I have been lead and guided by my Savior Jesus Christ. I know that is why I was sent to you and Mom. He knew that we would help each other the most. I am so grateful for you and Mom helping me and raising me to go on a mission. I didn't always make the best decisions, but it led to me to be who I am today. I know the atonement is real. God loves us and I KNOW He lives!

I love you guys tons! Thanks for all that you do!

-Elder Sedlacek

I get to spend two years just thinking about others, and I get blessed for it.

Hey mama,

How are you doing?? Sounds like you're one busy, busy mama haha. I bet with the wedding being this week that this week is going to fly by for you guys. That is exciting about the wedding. I bet it's going to be super fun. 

 

We had a pretty good week. Things are going good with Elder R. He is pretty fun. I would say we're pretty good friends. I try my best everyday to serve him. Serving someone is how you come to love them.

Hey, thanks for praying for M, L and D. I am positive it's helping them. They are all doing great. L*** did fall off date though. M**** is still looking at getting married in April. She has been reading everyday which has been GREAT! D**** is still doing good. He, like L***, has a crazy work schedule so he needs to get that cleared up before he is baptized so he can come to church.

I really liked the Christmas devotional. I totally agree that Elder Christofferson is my fave too. He always has something awesome to say. His whole talk was super good. I would say the whole meeting really helped me to get in even more of the Christmas spirit.

I hope Nicole's neck starts healing. That would suck if she has to go back in for surgery. I hope everything goes ok with her. I bet she isn't too worried about it right now haha.

You will have to tell Jeff good luck for me on all his finals. I bet he is having a blast ;) doing all that studying.

You're going to let the kids ditch though haha. I never thought that would happen. haha. Good luck also with all the wedding set up. 

I hope this week is totally awesome for all of you. I would of course love to be at the wedding, but I can't right now. I am sooo happy for Nicole that she's getting married in the temple. You guys are awesome parents! I love you guys sooooo much! Thanks for all that you do for me!

-Elder Jake Sedlacek

Dad.

I am doing great. This week was pretty good. It was fast and slow at the same time. We were able to get in contact with most of our investigators. Weren't able to have lessons with all of them, but we were able to get in contact with them. Pretty much all of them are doing great things. I know the Lord is in their lives blessing them as they allow him to by keeping their commitments. Thank you guys for praying for them. I pray for them everyday too of coarse haha. That is one thing that is great about the mission. I get to have two years to just think about others, and I get blessed for it. That is what is so great about the mission. I love it! I know the Lord is with me all the time as well. What a privilege to be able to represent Jesus Christ this holiday season.

I gave most of the updates so far to mom, but we did have a lesson with T**** this week. I don't know if you remember her, but she is a single mother works two jobs and has two kids under five. Crazy life huh? haha. I don't know how she does it. She also finds time in her busy day to read the scriptures too. She is doing great. The lesson was awesome. When Elder Arnold came to visit the mission he had taught us a new way to invite someone to baptism using the Book of Mormon, and it works so good. We invited T**** to be baptized and she said she would when she gets an answer that the Book of Mormon is true! It was a miracle, definitely. Those experiences are what the make the mission such a awesome experience. Take note little bro and sisters ;) GO ON A MISSION!

Congrats on the new calling dad. {Teaching in primary}.  How big is the teaching pool ;) You have pretty good odds that you will have 100% baptism rate as well haha. Now that is what I call missionary work haha. Our church was pretty good too. 

Hey, I wish you luck on setting up the wedding stuff. If it goes well, you should start your own business doing it. How cool would that be? You would be super busy but I bet it would be fun.

That is awesome that the UTES are going BOWLING! I hope they have a team show up just like you said. It wouldn't be cool to go and lose a bowl game. I had heard that Urban Meyer is back coaching at Florida? Is that true?

Thanks for your testimony dad. You're awesome! I also have a testimony of the gospel. As we allow the Gift of the atonement to penetrate our lives, IT WILL CHANGE US! The power of the atonement is real. It is infinite. I read in 3rd Nephi this week in chapter 1. There were some verses that stuck out to me too. Verse 4 which is where the wicked people were going to kill the believers if after a certain time the signs didn't show up, but in verses 15-25 it explains all the wonderous things that took place and the wicked people that were originally going to kill the righteous were converted. Christ was saving people the moment he was born. His life was all about salvation for us. Because he was born and died and rose again, I know we will all live again as well. I am so grateful for Christ's sacrifice for us!!!!!

I hope you have a great week dad. Have fun with the wedding this week. Don't forget to put on the grumpy pants ;)

Love ya,

Elder Sedlacek