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

Adventures with fire

hey Dad, it has been a good week. we did not really find many new people to teach, but we were able to have some good experiences. there is not a whole lot new with the investigators, which is the sad part. T** has been busy, but we finally got back in contact with him last night, so that was good. his work has taken over his schedule. A has been avoiding us for sure. i'm not sure what happened, but we will try to see if we can get in contact with him again. it's always tough when that happens. T couldn't meet this week, but hopefully she will be able to in the next few days. as for T***, the less-active member we've been working with, we had some pretty powerful lessons with him this week. i think he is right on the fence about coming to church though, because he struggles to get there. we are re-going over the missionary lessons with him and we taught the plan of salvation and the impression came to me to relate it to boot camp hahaha, so we had a good lesson in that way, like earth life is like boot camp, where we get to try our hand at what kind of soldier we will be in God's army. it gave me some new insights on the plan. we were able to meet with SD, but as with all the 'gators right now, he is struggling to come to church. he did read out of the Book of Mormon though, so there is some progress there. The part-member family we're working with did make it to church, so that was super awesome. we had some good lessons with the mom, and we just need to help her with a few concerns. we were also able to get back in contact with another family that wants to start coming back to church, so we will be teaching their kids soon. 

i really like what you said about starting off your day and week just trying to listen to the Spirit, that is something that President Welch is having us focus on, by reading the Book of Mormon again by the end of the year. it has really helped me to feel the Spirit more. it truly is the Spirit that helps us with everything, not just gaining knowledge, but with every aspect of our lives. that is so true about feeling it, rather than hearing it, a lot more often. i find myself receiving very subtle promptings and i barely recognize it, but when i don't listen to them, it always comes back to me, and it is usually for the most obscure thing, like, "hey, maybe you should grab this right now and take it with you," and then bam! i need that thing later. the Spirit is such a great help and we really can become a tool in the Lord's hands when we listen to it promptly. 

that is super cool that Seth is leaving on his mission, he will do great. i am excited to get into family history when i get home, that will be awesome. that is super cool that all the Utah teams played well. and that is great for the Utes' win. hahah there is a member in our ward that just loves me and Elder Nelson, he is a young guy who graduated from USU and he heard that we are both going there and was like "yes!" he did mechanical engineering as well. that general conference thought is a good one, thanks for sharing. i find that it is the most testimony strengthening thing to share the gospel. i always, without fail, come out happier from a lesson then when i went in, the Spirit comes to testify in such a way that brings so much joy to my life. the gospel is meant to bring us a greater sense of joy. that is why the members out here love to have missionaries over, so that they too can feel of the spirit of missionary work. there is no greater call than to share the gospel. i know that as all of you try to be the example to those around you, that you too can see the joy of missionary work. not just missionaries can feel it, but you do have to share it to feel it. do your best to share your testimony through thought, word and deed, and pray for missionary experiences with the intent to act and they will come. thanks for all you do Dad, I love you too. have a great week, talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey Mom, it has been a pretty good week. i wrote all about the 'gators in Dad's email as usual. i could use the test strips soon, but not sure about anything else. 

we had a really good Zone conference this week, and i had some good questions get answers, and a new thing that i am working on right now. President Welch no longer wants anyone to get up early to do extra exercise anymore, so that was tough news for me hahaha. and we can't do any working out before bed anymore, either. i guess a lot of people were doing that (me included, as you can probably guess) so that was something that hit home, because that is what i love to do, as you know. i know that was for a reason, because i have noticed that instead of the extra exercise before bed, i can now spend more time doing better things, like writing a little more in my journal hahaha. that really strengthened my testimony that the Lord WILL show us our next steps, even if we don't want to take them, but i have already seen the blessings for being obedient. 

we got to meet with a bunch of people this week who have been tough to meet with, so that was super cool. although we did not find as many people as we would have liked, i know the Lord sees our efforts. it seems some days like we work so hard for nothing, but i know that there are people out there who may not accept the gospel now, but they will later. all we can do is give them a chance. i love being able to contact as many people as i can, it helps me to feel the spirit of missionary work burn a little brighter. 

that is awesome that Seth is leaving on his mission, he will do really well. that is crazy that Trump won, i was half hoping he would, because he can at least make a business decision hahaha. that is a good campground, that will be fun to be there for girls' camp. BTW, are we going camping or anything when i get back? just curious hahaha. 

that is good that your knee is doing so much better, that is awesome. funny you talk about TVs burning up, and raking leaves. so a little back story on the pictures I sent: the lady that is on the Mormon Message, "Refiners Fire" is in the ward here. we help her and her teenage son with some service sometimes, they live in the middle of nowhere hahaha. we were helping them rake some leaves on Saturday and her son was mowing them up with the riding mower. he had just finished the last pile when i looked over at the mower, and it was sitting at just the right angle to me so i could see flames under the hood, so i yelled and he jumped off, and then the mower burst into flames! it was crazy! we called a fire truck and they came out and put it out, but hey, we got lots of footage hahaha. i am putting the video on the Google drive so you can watch it on your account. luckily, they were already planning on buying a new one. 

some members took us to dinner this week at a restaurant that happened to have a magician in the house. he tied a gorilla balloon for me and did some really cool tricks. yep, what Skyler talked about has to become second nature, and it is imperitive that you do ask for phones to be shut off before teaching hahaha. the Spirit is the real teacher, missionaries are just there to create an environment that the Spirit can come into and teach everyone present. not just the investigator should be learning, the Spirit has also taught me so much! i know for a fact that as we listen to the promptings of the Spirit we will be able to be an instrament in the Lord's hands. that is the greatest gift i have been given in serving a mission, it is a wonderful opportunity. thanks so much for all the support and prayers you send my way!

oh Mom, i figured out i want some more blades for my razor for Christmas, it's the Gillette Fusion Pro-Glide flexball.

well, got to go now Mom, i hope work is going well. enjoy the pics i sent! i love you Mom! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

We corralled some cows while wearing our missionary clothes. It probably looked really funny, but it was fun.

hey Dad, it was a pretty decent week. i am glad you enjoyed the birthday card hahaha! it made me laugh.  so for transfer news, i am staying here and my new comp will be Elder Nelson--a different one. he is a good guy; i served around him in Englewood when he was trained in Dayton. so that is good news. 

we did find two new people at the end of the week, one a super awesome referral that wanted a Book of Mormon, and another a guy who just up and walked into the church yesterday! so we set a return appointment with him. we will see what he is like. that was a super awesome miracle to see both of those, i have tried so hard and Heavenly Father helped by putting them in our path. 

as for the teaching pool, B**** has started reading the Book of Mormon, so that is super cool. we did not get to meet with him this week though, so we will try in a few days when he is not busy. we had another appointment with the S family. that was super cool, they are a part-member family and hopefully they start progressing soon. the other new person we found two weeks ago, S*****, we got back in contact with him, and set an appointment, so there is still some ground to be broken there. i think that is mostly it for the investigators, other than another part-member family. the guy's wife is the non-member and they are starting to look more seriously into her joining the church. 

that is super cool you got to take Libby out duck hunting again. too bad you did not get anything though. hahaha you know what they say, anything you can't kill becomes smarter. hahaha  

we have been getting a lot of the recent converts to study the conference talks lately. i just wish i could get them more easily, it costs a lot to print them off at the library. it does help us to learn a lot from their words when we study them over and over again. you can always find something new. dang it sounds like the Utes are playing a lot better lately, that is super cool. and the Aggies having a bye, we will take it hahaha. i heard the results of the Colts game--hey it at least makes souvenirs cheaper for me hahaha. 

i like that thought, it really helps to benefit all of us to take a step back and focus on the bigger picture, so that we can gain a stronger relationship with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. it really helps to cement the gospel in our lives, and we can build everything else off of that. taking a step back is something i have to remind myself to do frequently, but i have noticed when i do i am in tune with the spirit a lot more, and my faith and testimony grow a lot faster. thank you for that thought Dad. thank you again for all you do! i hope you have a wonderful birthday Dad! enjoy it! i love you Dad, have a great day and week! talk to you later!

Elder Sedlacek III

hey Mom,  it has been a good week. for transfer news, i am staying and receiving an Elder Nelson, who i have served around. a different one this time--there are many Elder Nelsons in my mission! hahaha 

we did find two new investigators this week, it was a miracle. i wrote about it in Dad's email. it was super awesome to have! 

thanks so much for sending that stuff mom, you're the best! for the sweater colors, just a grey one and maybe a nice brown. whatever would look nice with black pants and stuff. have you been able to find the little plastic strips that go in shirt collars? if not that is okay. 

sounds like you have quite the job at the school hahaha, i bet it is fun to deal with those crazy kids hahaha. that is super cool about your knee, it sounds like you will be a new mom when i come home hahaha. i bet it will be as good as new when i get home! it will be fun to be able to hike the red rocks in the spring too, that is super cool. sounds like the ward is getting a lot of knee work done! 

that is also super cool that SG and AM are going on missions! that is awesome, they will both do great! that is funny you mention charity. i have really noticed an increased amount lately for those we teach, probably to prep me to lead the area. i was studying in 2 Corinthians this morning, and i came across a verse that said faith is motivated by love. everything that we have in the gospel, is motivated by love. the whole plan of salvation is a plan of love, the most basic doctrines of the gospel are centered on a love for the Savior and that love gives us the motivation to build our faith in Him and to be obedient to Him. i am truly grateful to be a missionary. to just be able to focus on what really matters and to help others to do the same is amazing. 

i am so grateful for this gospel, but that statement means so much more than what it meant when i started my mission. this gospel has blessed my life so much and i am so grateful for it, i know it is all true. 

now for a story, our ward mission leader owns some cows. he took us up to see his cows briefly while we were out teaching and we ended up corralling them while in our missionary clothes. it probably looked really funny, but it was fun. i may look into working on  a farm while i attend USU BABY! you can bet your bottom dollar i will go there! hahaha

thanks Mom for all you do! i love you Mom! talk to you later!

Elder Sedlacek

It is completely normal to have a tough week, I have them all the time; I won't tell you when though.

hey dad! this has been a great week. even though J** was not able to make it to church yesterday because of health reasons, we did have T** and M**** and her kids show up, so that was super awesome! M**** is gaining more and more traction in the church. we taught her about the temple and she wants to be sealed but she found out you need a husband to do that, so she was kinda sad not being able to be sealed to her kids as her situation goes right now, but we just told her the Lord will provide a way, we just have to trust him. 

one of my favorite verses--it applies to everything--is Psalms 34, i think  verse 19, it says "O taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed is the man that trusteth in him." it is a great verse. as we really rely on the Savior, and taste of his gospel, we will be able to see that the fruits of the gospel will be great blessings to our lives. 

T** has some problems with chew and alcohol, but he committed to work on those things, so we will see how that goes. as far as we know, J** is still on date for the 3rd, but we need to check in with her today on the smoking. it really does help our testimonies to grow as we share the gospel, it is a great principle of missionary work. i love it haha. 

man that is so crazy, i can't believe that Sarah is a senior and Mia almost in high school, and Libby in jr. high, that is crazy! it's cool that the girls are finishing their hunters safety stuff, hopefully they did well. that sounds like a very good talk, amazing how a mission changes your speaking capabilities so drastically, i know i can speak way better than i used to, rather than just reading off my talk, i just speak what the Spirit gives to me along with bulleted points i have prepared. 

i really like that analogy with the fence, that makes total sense to me. we must stay grounded with our faith on the Savior, just like Helaman 5:12, the Savior truly can become our rock if we let him and he is our salvation. the atonement is so amazing to me, i wish i could comprehend it all. that is so cool about the medals the US got. i saw a brief glimpse of part of the ceremony last night when we were walking out of a house we visited, it looked pretty sweet. that is funny, i thought the Dodgers lost, i was so stoked! hahaha but I guess not hahaha. oh well, they will play good some day hahaha. that is not fun to be the bad guy, hahaha, dad hahaha.

thank you for your testimony, i know that a mission really is the place for me right now at this moment. we are all foreordained to do a work that the Lord has for us individually, this is mine, if i will rely on him, i will see success, that is desire D&C 138:56. well thanks so much for all you do for me Dad! i love you so much, have a great week! i will talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey Mom! it has been yet another good week. that is ok you didn't send my strips yet, just send them today please hahaha. i wrote about the investigators in Dad's email, so you can read more about them there. 

me and Elder Erickson get along pretty swell haha. he is a funny dude and we compliment each others' strengths and weaknesses, it works out well. we did have a zone conference this week, there should be some pics up on Facebook, Cinci North zone, can you email me those today? please? thank you mom! 

it was a really good zone conference, i really enjoyed it. President talked a lot about our conscious and subconscious minds, and teaching more about repentance. the Spirit let me know I should stop thinking negatively about how well i can do missionary work, because i am doing a fine job. so that was a good tender mercy. 

the most inspirational investigator would probably be M****, though she has so much to deal with, she still just keeps trucking and is very Christ-like to her kids and everyone else. 

it did rain a crap ton this week, so that was fun getting soaked just about every day hahha. yep, we all go through a lot of crap hahaha, but just remember when all is said and done, it will all be worth it. it is completely normal to have a tough week, i have them all the time, i won't tell you when though hahahaha. you will get the knee back in order eventually, it will just take some work. hopefully the twice a week stuff will help with that. just remember the Lord told you specifically to get it done now, so i know it will all work out. 

i shared my fave scripture with Dad, Psalms 34: 19. you just have to keep going, and trusting in the Lord, and then eventually you will be able to say as Paul does in 2 Timothy 4:7. (now don't think i am some scripture wizard because i am not in the least hahaha, i have so much trouble memorizing scripture references, so i have to tab my scriptures so i can follow promptings in lessons hahaha!)

that is so crazy to think that Sarah is a senior this year, and same with Mia and Libby growing up. that is weird. hahaha yes, chubz! i am proud of that kid, he will do great as a missionary! and that is super cool R went too, that is awesome. hahaha i hope Nicole and Jeff had fun down back east, i can imagine the flight was cancelled, the rain out here has been a mess lately, i am sending a video of it today. it is insane compared to Utah. Utah doesn't know what rain is hahaha. well, that is pretty much all i can remember for the week, feel free to ask questions. 

well i have to go now Mom, thanks for emailing me! especially the pics, thank you! and i hope you have a great week! good luck with work! i love you Mom! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

We all have our own struggles; mine happens to be diabetes.

hey Dad, so this was a great week! this area is really starting to turn around. we found yet another super solid person this week, A**. we tried to contact her several weeks ago, and have tried multiple times since, but there was never any answer. we both felt inspired to see A**, but we were each thinking of different A**s. we went to both, and this A** answered the door, and then commited to come to church right then and there. she came and the talks were meant for her. it was perfect! she even wants us to come back tomorrow. 

J came to church this week as well, but P** was not able to make it so hopefully she will come next week. our teaching pool is really starting to grow; we are finding people on both sides of the ward and really gaining some traction. we hit 9 member-present lessons this week and also met leadership standards again! it has been a great week. 

i am so glad you got to go hear President & Sister Porter talk and meet them, they are so awesome! i will have to listen to their talks today! thanks so much for recording them! 

that is cool that RB and NR got to speak together, i bet that was fun. sounds like you had two awesome sacrament meetings, that is sweet! i am so glad to be serving right now too! 

that is fun you got to go camping with Brig, i bet that was really fun. did you go fishing with the kayaks? i will have to get one when i get home. hahaha i bet you catch a mess of fish with those things. that would be so cool to help clean the temple, i will have to do that when i get home as well, that would be a way cool experience.  i heard about that ark in Ohio, i will have to see where that is so maybe i can go to see it, that is cool. 

it is true, we all have our own struggles; mine happens to be diabetes. the Lord will bless those who serve him with a willing heart and mind with health and strength, i know that i have definitely been blessed as i have been serving my mission, to have lots of help controlling my diabetes. the Savior is truly there to help the whole way, He will never leave our side. 

thanks so much for all you do for me Dad, thanks for being such an awesome Dad! i love you so much, i hope you have a great week! i will talk to you later! 

-Elder Sedlacek

hey Mom! this was a really good week, i wrote about the investigators in Dad's email as usual, but i did not tell him that we had an awesome chapel tour with J on Saturday, and she was an emotional wreck because of losing her birth certificate. we did the tour anyway, and when we got to the baptism font, the Spirit was super strong, and she decided to put herself on date before we could ask her.  she chose Aug 20th! heck yeah! also, she is going to the church's version of AA for help to stop smoking, so that will be awesome to see her be baptized. i figured i would save that story for your email. :) 

so yeah, we had a really good week. we worked really hard and accomplished a lot. yesterday i had a tender mercy. we got a ride from another member to Sister H's last night (she fed us dinner) and the member's wife was sitting in the front seat. we had given them a Doctrine of Christ lesson a week and a half earlier, and she complimented my approach to teaching, she said it was spiritual and very motivating, because she feels rebuked most of the time when missionaries teach hahaha, so that was part of my blessing being fulfilled right there. for the first time in a while, i really knew that the Lord is very pleased with my service. i may not always be the most eloquent missionary, or the one who baptizes like crazy, but i am not sent here to be that kind of missionary.  the Lord qualifies who he calls and as long as i am being myself and following the Spirit, the Lord will be able to make me an instrument in His hands. 

i have not gotten my pump supplies yet, but i did get the insulin, thanks mom!  so the Porters said i look 17 now huh? hahaha good! i am so glad you got to meet the Porters, they are so awesome! and that is cool you got to meet Elder Holman's parents. he always tells me how much he misses me hahaha. i learned a lot from him. 

Elder Erickson is a great companion, he teaches well, and loves to talk to people and we get along really well, he helps me a lot with things that i am not necessarily good at, and i help him with things he struggles with, so we mesh pretty well. i am most grateful for my loving Heavenly Father who really does listen to me and who really does care when i pray. that is when i feel the Spirit the most and the strongest, and i know that when we pray we truly are having a conversation with our Heavenly Father. i know that He will be watching out for you as you go through your knee surgery. He loves you enough to help you with your stuff and to bless you with a million kids and a little grand baby. i know the surgery will go well, Heavenly Father blessed you with that surgeon and the time to do it, He will surely help it go well. 

that is crazy that Libby is in young women's now and that the twins are 16, the time is flying by! crazy! 

what you said about faith is true, you have to step out on the edge where miracles happen. you can call down miracles with faith. faith is the substance of it all. as we increase our faith, our capacity increases to do good and to work miracles. faith is so important in the lives of God's children, it is the first step to changing our selves and in following the Savior. i know that with faith in the Savior we can accomplish everything we set our minds to. rely on your faith to help the surgery and your healing go well, and you will be blessed from doing so, i promise you that.

well, that is all for my week, how are you?!

Mom: I am great! I am really happy that you had such a great week!

oh, and our music ban has been lifted. we can now listen to anything that invites the Spirit rather than just lds.org stuff, so feel free to send me some Josh Groban, and if you could send me the Nashville Tribute Band song, "i was born," that would be great!

Mom: So President Welch is making some changes huh? What else has he changed?

he has not really changed anything else yet, so we will have to see. Elder E and i have our first interview with him on Friday, and i am excited.

well, i have to go now Mom. thanks so much for all you do for me! i love you so much! you're the best! have a great week, i will keep you in my prayers! good luck with the surgery and i hope the recovery goes well! i will talk to you later! 

love you!

-Elder Sedlacek

Wimpy Utah rain

hey Dad, it has been a  good week, but tiring! hahaha it seems everyday now i wake up like i have not even slept five minutes. the badge of a missionary! hahahaha that is pretty cool about those fireworks, i bet that was fun. they were going off like crazy last night in our complex, it made it hard to sleep. 

we did find just a couple of people this week, not too many though. we are really progressing with J**. she wants to be baptized in September. i was like, "not so quick hahaha" we are trying to get her to accept July. she just wants to be sure that she has quit smoking fully before she is baptized. she is so awesome! we are going to get her into the AA program the church does. she is super excited to learn and loves to have us over. P** is doing well, we had an appointment she had to cancel last night, but we are working on getting through the first few lessons with her. she has read the whole plan of salvation pamphlet that we committed her to do, so she is working at it! other than that, we are still building up the teaching pool. we are giving Miss J a break for a while. 

President Welch is the perfect combo of Pres Stuart and Murdock. the seriousness of Pres Stuart, and the down-to-earth attitude of  Pres Murdock. he hugged us at our first meeting and was grabbing our fists and giving us bro hugs like "whuts's up brutha!" it was super weird to have that funny thing happen compared to Pres Porter, but he is awesome. it is different having a brand new president, you definitely see the difference in how they mature as well. 

you're right Dad, that is important to remember that the Lord needs even the "smallest" calling to do their best to help build up the kingdom. that sounds like you are a little swamped at work! hahaha well, i hope you can get all that inventory sorted out. it is crazy that the football is getting so close to starting up.  i am glad you got a lot of cherries off the tree this year, that must taste a lot better than my walmart fruit hahaha. so Mia is cutting the lawn now? good good! hahah Brother F, the guy in our ward that i love, he told me he is going to talk to President to get me to stay here so i can keep cutting his lawn. hahah he loves the way i cut it. 

i like that thought from Pres Monson, is that from a recent conference? i need to read that one. the Savior really is the way, the truth and the light, it is He who has shown us the way, all we have to do is to follow Him and do the things that He has done. i find it amazing that we are able to stand in His place and do the things that He would do. i love being out on a mission with the Savior by my side, helping others to gain a stronger testimony of Him and the restored gospel. they may not know it yet, but they will be so thankful for the prophet Joseph Smith and all that he has done for us and for restoring the true gospel back on to the earth, so that we can be truly happy and true disciples of Jesus Christ. i am so grateful for the pioneers and for all they did, settling Utah. Utah is the greatest place on earth. thanks for all you do for me to make my mission possible. i know that without you, i would not be here today. thanks for being a fetchin' awesome Dad! I love you Dad! have a great week, keep working hard and doing what's right! i will talk with you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey Mom, so it has been a good week. i wrote to Dad all about the teaching pool, so you will have to read that one. yesterday, we had a finding day, and as you know, it was tough. it rained all day, but it was only the wimpy Utah rain, so that was good haha. (Utah rain is not real rain to us here in Ohio hahaha just kidding!) we had a wet day, but we had to be out finding so we were out personal-contacting most of the day. almost everyone we met was being kinda snotty to us though, so no one was really wanting to listen. it was still a fun day though. we had to be in at 6 pm, unless we had a specific appointment to go to and a member to go with us, so we had dinner at a member's and played some games before we went home, it was fun. 

Pres Welch is awesome. he is very successful and loves sports and stuff. i like him hahaha. we had a meeting with him on Wednesday. i was able to get to a JC Penney on Monday and i got a sweet deal on a NICE blue suit. it looks really great, and it is slim fit, so it fits me super good. so i was able to have a nice "meetings only" suit to wear to meet President.  that is too bad about the truck tire, but i am glad that you were able to get it fixed. that is what's nice, i actually already knew the truck had a full size spare. it makes it nice to have it. that is good Nicole & Jeff were able to move in smoothly, did dad truck down that piano again? hahaha. and Brig sounds so cute! i can't wait to meet that little stud. 

Elder Butters! that is cool that he is home. that will be fun to hear them speak if you can, just remember to record President Porter's talk. i am guessing you will want to anyway. there is no wonder that he upstaged a visiting Seventy while he was mission president. he comes up with every single one of his talks on the fly. that is something you won't want to miss. he is great at speaking! 

i like what you said about covenants. they are what prepare us for the celestial kingdom. commitments lead to covenants, which eventually lead to living celestial laws. they not only allow us to receive blessings and the companionship of the Spirit, but they allow us to come closer to the Savior and to fully apply the Doctrine of Christ and the atonement in our lives to invoke change and growth. the gospel is a beautiful thing! we just have to do our best to do what we have been asked, and we will be changing and growing more like the Savior. i am going to prepare a sweet talk for when i get home hahahaha. well, that is pretty much all for the week, how are you? oh, by the way, i need more insulin now--this week--i am on the last vial.

we found out that Elder Erickson and i are moving to the apartment that used to house the sisters at the end of the month, so now we have to purge a three-year-old missionary apartment. ask Jake about how much work that is! hahaha

i have to go now Mom, thanks for emailing me! thanks for all you do. i love you so much! i will talk to you later! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

The atonement is truly our greatest gift.

Emailing Elder Sed was weird this week, because we weren't getting our emails in order when we tried to chat back-and-forth. Hopefully it's better next week! 

 

hey dad! so this was a pretty good week. we did find a new investigator from a referral who lives downtown, he is a older man named LC. he is super solid. he has already read over 150 pg's of the Book of Mormon. we have a follow up appointment on wednesday, i am excited for him. the other new investigator, p, we took a member with us to see him on saturday and he bashed us! hahaha he wants concrete evidence that the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith story are true, so we told him to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. he was just like"i won't find if it is true just by reading it, because i read the Bible and i believe it is the only true word of God." so yeah, I was just trying to bear a simple testimony and invite him to read it, so he said he would read a little. hopefully he gets a witness of it by our next appointment. so yep that is the news for 'gators this week. the others we are just trying to get them to keep commitments. i like the thought you shared about helping people see they are needed. it is true though about that. the latest mission training was good. we had to do a few role plays. i am excited for the Broncos, hopefully they play well, then payton can get one more under his belt before he retires. i am sorry you are so swamped at work, it is good that you are feeling better though. i will pray for you! it will all work out. i am glad brother allred is doing well, i wish i could visit him myself. it would tough to be lonely like that. that is good you were able to help everyone with snow removal. i loved doing that as you know hahaha, that was one of my favorite parts  of the winters in utah. here the snow melts off in a few days and we only get about 2 inches on average--it is nice. i am glad about the family history work, i am excited to get into it when i get home, and thank you for the talk this week! i will keep all that in mind, that definitely helps! well thanks for emailing me dad! i love you so much! good luck with work and have a great week! i will talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

 

hi mom! so this week was good. it went kinda fast except for the last few days. the meetings we had this week with the broadcast and the training you got a pic from were awesome, i love those types of things. the hardest part of the week was yesterday, my comp was feeling sad the whole day. to make matters worse, i went through a less active list to visit a few of them, and we spent all afternoon trying to contact those and not one was a legit address! it was a rough day hahaha. 

 

LC was my fave person of the week, his lessons were awesome! you can read about him in dad's email. i am sorry about your tooth, that must have been severely painful! i am glad you are feeling better, i prayed for you, hopefully it helped. that is funny about what libby said about your numb face. she is hilarious, she is my young humor padawon! hahaha that is awesome you relied on the atonement like that, it truly is our greatest gift, the only way i have survived thus far is with that power of the atonement. you can literally rely on the atonement to help you with everything, the savior really did truly suffer for everything and he DOES know all of us way more than we can even comprehend! it is mind boggling and amazing! 

 

i have 4 vials of insulin left, and a lot of strips as well, so if you could wait like a week or two longer before sending them, that would be great. thank you though mom! that is cool Jessie got her mission call, you will have to wish her luck for me, she will do great. that is really crazy, it has already been 6 months! wow!

 

Mom: You sure I should wait on sending your stuff? If you get transferred next week it'll be another week before I have your new address.

 

Elder Sed: i have a lot of extra strips and i knew you would not know until the week after.  i already have a lot of supplies, so if i get transferred i don't want as much to pack up haha.

 

Mom: Any thoughts on whether you might be transferred? I loved the picture Bro. P sent of you from your mission conference, that was really nice of him!

 

Elder Sed: i think i might be, but then again, anything can happen hahaha. yep, bro.p is nice! love the guy. well, i have to go now, it was great to hear from you mom! i love you mom! love all you guys! hopefully the email works better next week. talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

 

For New Year's, I read the entire Book of Mormon in 15 hours.

Elder Sedlacek after reading the Book of Mormon in one 15-hour period.

 

hey dad, so this week was pretty good. for new year's we had to stay in from thursday at 6pm until saturday at noon! i will talk more in mom's email about what we had to do during that time, but it goes along really well with the thought you had about the Book of Mormon. so we were not able to contact the nigerian man this week. hopefully we will in the next few days. we are still seeing g*****, m.j our less-active and s***. there are a few others that we see, but we haven't seen them long enough to know how they will pan out yet. we are still working with a lot of less-actives. we got s*** to come to church yesterday and he really liked it. he fits in pretty well and his off-the-wall personality makes elders' quorum fun hahahaha. then we got another less active named j*** to come back to church yesterday. it was a good sunday. my new year's eve was pretty good, you will hear more about that in mom's email, it is worth the wait haha. i am glad that you had a good one as well. i figured the snowman would end up as another snow zit without me there hahahaha--just kidding. the snow always seems to not want to cooperate these days. we got a light dusting of snow here last night so there was some snow on the roofs and on the cars, but no where else. it was nice to see at least a little snow. that is really awesome about your experience from fasting. fasting really works. i fasted to help me recognize the spirit faster and stronger this week and i immediately saw results--it was cool. yesterday we were walking along this super busy road to contact a referral, and this guy drove past us and was making fun of us. in my head i thought, "this is it, the trial of my faith before a miracle" and  about 10 minutes later this random non-member pulled up and gave us a ride to the referral's house! it was awesome, the driver wasn't even interested but it was great to have that miracle. that always happens, after the trial of our faith, we receive a blessing. thanks for the awesome thought this week dad, it will tie in later in the emails. i hope you have a wonderful day and week. I love you dad! thanks so much for all you do! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

hi mom! so this week flew by! i did get the package on new year's eve, thank you so much for it! i LOVE those paisley ties that you bought for me! they are awesome! thanks mom! 

so for new year's we had to stay in from thursday at 6 pm until saturday at noon. it was a long time. we had to do some packet work and part of the packet was to read the Book of Mormon in one day--on new year's day from 6 am to 10:30 at night! i was so drained mentally by noon hahaha but i finished at 9:05 pm. it was so hard hahaha. when i finished, i was talking to my comp (who is a speed reader and finished at noon!) but i started mixing up words because i was so tired hahaha. then i went to bed. other than that we did the packets which were really good. one made me cry hahaha i am becoming  such a baby when it comes to spiritual stuff hahaha.

as for church this week, i wrote all about it in dad's email. i also wrote about all the 'gators so you can read about that there. we did get s*** and one of our less actives to church. it was great to see the fruits of your fast! thanks so much!

i agree with your view on new year's goals, they are great and all but i too want to continually improve, so i am always working on something hahaha. that is good bro A is doing well, he is a cool guy. it is sad about sister A, although i am sure she is happier where she is. i am glad you did the traditional stuff for new year's, i could picture you guys doing all that stuff, good news is there is only one more to go hahaha (not trunky hahaha). that fruit "salsa" & chips sounds good that they made. maybe i will make some haha. that is too bad jake and jeff were sick, that is no fun. 

my blood sugars have been good. i loved how in the package you wrote the amount of carbs in the chocolates hahaha. i was like "mom is going through diabetes withdrawals" hahaha. that stinks about the 1-4pm block. we have the 9 am block now, we did have the 11. what are you talking about i never even said a word about being hungry when we'd get home from church after 4pm! hahaha jk. i did not know what having no food meant back then hahaha. that is cool you are still teaching piano, and the tutoring too, good luck mom! 

for today, we have a zone fun day at the church, so it will be fun to hang out with elder nielsen and huemann again. me and my comp are getting along, but as always when one obedient missionary and one that is not quite as obedient are put together, there are usually some disagreements. he wanted to start p-day early today and i told him no, so he yelled at me at the top of his lungs hahaha. things are going well though, and we do have fun together.

Sedlacek, Jared Logan

Hey President, sorry i didn't email last week, there really isn't an excuse, but the computers at the library had a malfunction so I was not able to get all my emailing done. this week was awesome, it was probably the best christmas I have had in my whole life. it was so awesome to be able to talk about christ for his birthday. I felt the spirit so much, it was great. we found a few new investigators this week, and so hopefully we can stay in contact with them and help increase their faith. My comp isn't the easiest companion to get along with, but he is a great elder and he knows a lot. he may not be the most obedient, but I am trying to work on that. I have already learned so much from being with him and I know i will learn a lot more. Well, I hope you have a great holiday this week. thank you for all you do, president! love you!

-Elder Sedlacek

03 Jan 2016

President Porter

That is why you are there. Help him become who he can be. I am proud of you

-that was my email to president last week, and his answer.

well , i have to go now mom, it was great to talk to you. thank you so much for all you do for me! i love you so much! have a great week and day! talk to you later! love you all!

-Elder Sedlacek

It will all work out, I can promise that!

Elder Jared's rendition of the Plan of Salvation.

 

thanks dad, for the updates! that really sucks about the car wreck! i am glad no one got hurt! this week has gone by so fast! the weeks are already flying by! F**** is going to be baptized on the 18th! this Friday, when i first taught him, after we left i said, "he is getting baptized this transfer!"  lo and behold! that was cool. Dad, there are so many more hunters out here than Utah--it's crazy, they all drive trucks down here! outside of Batesville is some rich people, but other than that, it's all people who barely make it, it's sad. i still have yet to see the huge cornfields, that is in northern Indiana, so hopefully i will go there! it would be cool!  thank you so much for all you do, I know it's a lot, i love you Dad! keep up the good, hard work! and good job with the yard work!

Mom, i sent some letters, but they got sent back because of size, so i fixed it and they should get there soon! i am sorry about the car wreck! glad no one got hurt! it will all work out, i can promise that! 

 

i had my first exchange this week with one of the Zone leaders. we went to Norwood Ohio. it is the hood of Cincinnati! it was crazy but i have some fun stories now for later. that was fun, the Zone leader complemented my teaching, he said it was good. 

 

this week has gone by fast! although we only met with 2 investigators, because they all had work! it sucked, but we talked to a lot of LAs and did a lot of 225ing. it was just a slow teaching week, and we are purging our teaching pool again. hopefully we find some more 'gators we can really teach. on Saturday was our social media split, so if you look up #ohiocincinnatimission you will find some picks of me doing service and lessons. we did a service project with Bishop P and he complemented my work ethic! that doesn't happen, he is a very intense man! he is a nice guy though. we met a really interesting guy this week and that gave me some good stories too, hahaha.

elder h is getting better, i started setting more of an example. F****'s baptism is this Friday, it was moved up one day.  i am excited, he is growing a lot! it's cool to see! he is such an awesome guy! my blood sugars are doing well, i am being blessed, it is awesome. how is everybody else at home? i am just doing the same old missionary routine, trying to share the gospel.

 

one of the crazy things i saw in Norwood was a guy who had a turban on his head, a huge robe on that went from his shoulder to the ground, and he was holding a Bible in his right hand, holding it out above his head, and a shepherd's crook that was as tall as he was in the other hand! he was shouting stuff i couldn't hear because we were in the car! today we are going to the creation museum for free with our district, it should be fun.

 

i have to go in 5 mins, thanks for talking with me! it's good to hear about how everyone is doing, tell them i love all you guys and keep up the hard work! can you send me those trek picks for next week?

 

Trading one Elder Sedlacek for another

Well, Elder Jacob Sedlacek arrived safely home on July 28th! He served to the best of his ability, and we're so proud of him! Thanks to everyone who followed along with Jake's experiences in the Washington Kennewick Mission!

Then exactly 8 days later, Elder Jared Sedlacek went to the MTC before heading to Ohio in a few more days.

This blog is going to transition from one brother to the other. Stay tuned for the experiences of Jared in Ohio!

I can't believe this day is already come.

What's up family!!!!!!!!!!!!

Man. Time just flies by!!!!! I can't believe this day is already come. It was a pretty good last week though. I really enjoyed it. I was able to do one last baptism interview on Saturday, and we did a bunch of service in Milton-Freewater. I got a shirt for doing it too! I was pretty happy about that, since I hadn't yet bought a shirt from this area for my mission collection. The service was really fun. I got to dig in the dirt and that was therapeutic. I just love to dig in the dirt haha.

 

Today and tomorrow are going to be fun days. Today, in a little bit, I leave to travel to the mission home and have dinner with President Ware, and then a devotional. It's basically a party with President Ware haha. Then tomorrow you know what happens haha. I am super excited to see you guys! You all better not be emotional wrecks haha.

 

That will be fun Dad {to report to the high council}. Jared's already reported? That's insane. Time is getting close for him now. Camping with the family will be fun. I just hope I can sleep alright, because I am soo tired. It will be nice to relax, but it may drive me bonkers.

 

It's nice to finally have my speaking topic for my talk.  Thank you for getting that for me!

Dinner on Tuesday? I have nooooooooo clue. I don't remember what's even there any more. I trust ya to pick something good.

 

Wow. Blessings about serving a mission. That's awesome that I already got a job offer. What a blessing!

 

Sarah 16 now?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! uh-oh. Better stay off the roads.

 

Dad, your kids are getting old!! You know what that means! You're old! haha

I have to go! I love you guys! See you tomorrow!!

~Elder Jake Sedlacek

This was probably one of the most fulfilling weeks of my mission!

 

 

Hey Mama,

Sounds like you had a great week! That's awesome!

It is good you got my package. I was kinda expecting you guys to look through it, even though I really didn't want you to haha. It was my fault though, because I forgot to tell you that last week. I am glad you liked all the stuff though. 

 

Coming home is kinda surreal for me too haha. I got my travel itinerary this week, which was interesting, and with this P-day being my last legit one, it is going to go by so fast. Next Monday I will be in the mission home, but I should be able to email for at least a little bit, but you will see me the next day so hahaha.

You will never guess what I got to go to this week!!!!!!!!! On Tuesday I got a call from the mission that D***** {one of the converts Elder Sed taught back in Sunnyside} was going through the temple and had asked me to attend that Saturday!!!! IT WAS SO AWESOME!!!!! It was fun to be able to see all the members from Sunnyside who I came to love, for one last time on my mission. D***** was so happy that I was able to make it. I was happy too! It was my last time as a missionary going through the temple, so it was pretty great if you ask me!

I bet Chaz's talk was great haha. He's a great guy. I'm sure an awesome missionary as well. It's good you'll have people to help you out with food and what not when Jared and I speak!

Mama: Hey!

I didn’t look through your stuff in detail....just glanced at it really. I hope that is okay. And I didn’t read your planners at all. It would take a long time to really look at all of it!

 

I’ll bet this is all really surreal for you. I just saw Jordan’s mom at Smith’s. 

 

That is SO awesome that you got to go to the temple and support D*****! It is even more awesome that she made it to this point!! She must have been so happy. I’m really glad you got to see some of the people from Sunnyside who you love. That is cool.

 

Yeah, Chaz gave an awesome talk and it’s obvious that he was an awesome missionary and worked hard. 

 

 

Elder Sed: Oh, you're all good Mama. I don't care if you looked at my stuff. It would take a long time to look through it all! You saw Jordan's mom at Smith's? How is she doing?

Yeah, it was amazing to go to the temple!!

Well Mama, I got to get going. I will email next week for a bit. Probably not very long though. I don't know how much time I will have.Thanks for all that you do Mama!

What is my homecoming talk topic? If you know it you should send it to me somehow haha.

Talk to you next week Mama!

Love you!

Hey Dadio!!!!!

This past week was amazing! Probably one of the most fulfilling weeks of my mission. Even though we didn't have a baptism or anything like that, I did get to feel a little bit of what missionary work is all about when I got to go to the temple with D***** when she was getting her endowment. Talk about an awesome experience! It was so fun being able to get to see all the amazing members from Sunnyside. D***** was super happy to see me there. It was kind of a surprise for her since she didn't know if I had got the message about when it was happening or if I was even able to go, but I did get permission so that was awesome!

We had a pretty good regular week this past week. We did a bunch of service at this place in Athena Oregon. It was pretty fun, but man, I met one of the craziest men I have ever met up there hahahahahahaha.

We got J***** back on date!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is on date for the 15th of August. He didn't come to church though. We didn't have anyone at church even though we have two people scheduled for baptism. The other person we found this week out of the area book. Her name is M. She's on date for Aug 8th. I have a feeling that getting our investigators to church is going to be a struggle. Just keep praying that they come to church!

Other than that, I am just trying to keep building up the teaching pool before I leave. I can still make a difference every day of my mission.

This week, I've been thinking a lot about goals and what-not for the post-mission stuff. I even fasted about it, so hopefully I gain some thoughts on all that. I've got some ideas tossing around up in my head, so we will see what happens haha.

Service at the cannery from 8pm to 12:30 am? That's a crazy shift hahah. Yeah, I wouldn't mind doing that though. Sign me up.

Sounds like there were some good RM talks and outgoing missionary talks yesterday. It will be interesting to see how mine goes. I would hope it's a good one obviously haha. Did you guys get my topic yet?

Jared tried to go cow tipping! Like actual cow tipping? Wow hahahahahaha. That does not surprise me one bit.

I bet you and mom had fun on trek, even helping with food. It's fun you guys got to go. I wonder if next time you're going to be a Ma and a Pa? By then you probably won't have too many kids at home.

The haven't been mentioning anything about iPads here. There is no chance that I will get one before I leave haha. That would be cool if Jared gets to use them. They seem like they would be an awesome help. I would have liked to have one, but oh well. Now I can just be one of those "old" just  PMG missionarys.

Well Dad, you're awesome! Thanks for all the support you've been to me. I know this gospel is true. I know that with all my mind and heart. I have felt the true meaning of joy on my mission. I love the gospel! I love my mission!

Love you all!

-Elder Sedlacek

I may be leaving the mission field soon, but the principles that I have learned on my mission will never leave me.

Elders Sedlacek & Bowen having fun on the 4th of July

The Walla Walla Zone leadership

What's up Mama,

This week went pretty dang fast, but it also felt pretty slow, which was kinda hard. It's all good though. J***** fell off date for baptism yesterday because he didn't come to church. That was a bummer, but oh well. It will be alright. It will happen the exact time it's supposed to happen.

Wow! That's an exciting week you guys had. I bet you're going to have fun on the trek. Are Jared, Sarah and Mia going?

So it sounds like they are going to move Fast Sunday then. That will be interesting haha. I get to speak with two out-going missionaries??? The church bldg is going to be PACKED! How much time does that leave me to speak? About 20 mins?

Mama: Hi!  That's too bad about J*****. :(

Sarah and Jared are going on trek. Mia can't because she isn't 14 yet. Oh well!

Yep, you're speaking with two out-going missionaries! They announced yesterday about moving Fast Sunday to the the 9th, so it is set. You should have 20 minutes, yes. Maybe 25, because Jared doesn't want to speak for too long. haha! I will let you know your topic when I find out.

Elder Sed: Thanks for all you do for me, Mama! Hey, I have to go unfortunately. We have a short emailing time this week! Love ya! Talk to you next week!

Hey Dad!

Sounds like you had a super fast busy week! 

Our week here was pretty good. It was kinda slow for some reason, but super fast at the same time. I just can't believe it is Monday again already. Time just flies!

As far as our teaching pool goes, it's been kinda dismal this past week. J fell off date, sadly. He has been going thru some struggles, and wasn't able to come to church. It was kind of a bummer to not have him there. He will be baptized when he is ready for it though. It's just a matter of commitment really.

We have been really working hard to find new investigators this past week. It's been a struggle for some reason. Just pray for us that we will be able to have success this week. Sadly, our car had to be taken to Tri-cities to be fixed so we are without a car this week and our area is huge. Lots of walking! I'm okay with that though. I like walking, it's just you can't get as much done in a day with walking.

This week we had interviews with President Ware. It's my last legit one. The next time I see President will be in the mission home. That's kinda sad :(  He's so awesome! I already asked him for some advice about how  can prepare to go home, and he just said to write down the impressions that I get about home. I'm not really sure what that means exactly, but I have been doing it. He wouldn't give me any other advice because he doesn't want to ruin my departure interview hahaha. He's funny. I have learned so much from him. He mentioned how much I have grown on my mission. It has been cool to see the changes in me for myself. I love President Ware!

I also had my last Zone meeting ever. That was kinda sad too, but it's alright. Time is just flying by. I can't believe how fast it's going. It's soooooo crazy haha.

The teaching method you talked about is ironically the same way we already teach our investigators, and we are supposed to teach the less-actives the same way. So I've been using it for a while haha. It works wonders! There's a reason that the apostles instruct us to teach that way. It enables them to teach to each individuals concerns and by the spirit as well. The spirit is always the best teacher!

Mom made it sound like the car hunt is going pretty well. I know you guys will make a good decision. The Brave Mobile hahahahahahahahahahahahaha! I had totally forgot about that! That would bring back some great memories! Sadly, I don't think I can afford the gas for it haha. I may have to live without the brave mobile. {The Brave Mobile is an ancient motor home that Jake's little league football coach used to drive his team to their away games in. It just happens to be for sale now!} It's really a huge blessing just to be able to drive any car. Thanks for all that you guys do for me! I love you guys!

Libby is going to be 11!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????????????????????? I still thought she was 9 and turning 10. Man, she is getting big. Your kids are all growing up before your eyes haha. 

That's awesome that you guys were able to see Jordan's homecoming talk. It's going to be sweet to see him at the airport, and all you guys as well! That's going to be a fun time! He told me he thought he did pretty great so I'm sure he did great! I just hope my talk will be good too haha. There is going to be so many people there with three missionaries speaking. Hopefully everyone will be able to fit haha.

Tell Jared I would love to go to the temple with him. That would be fun. The temple is amazing!

I didn't get to watch the funeral for Elder Packer, but I bet it was good. It is going to be interesting to see who will be called to fill in the spots of those great apostles! It's so greats to have a living church, that no matter what happens, there will always be men called of God to be leaders of Christ's church under His direction!

Thanks Dad, for all things that I can ponder about. Oh, I know you and Mom are always there for advice and help when I need it. You guys are great parents! I love you both! I will for sure be thinking about goals that I want to accomplish. The last thing I want is to go home and lose the daily progression, and it takes plans and goals to keep that going.

Thanks Dad, for the great example of missionary service and service in the church as well! I look up to you a lot! I always knew when times got hard on my mission, that I could do it, because Dad did it. I love ya, Dad!! I know the gospel is true! I know it without a doubt! I love to serve the Lord and for the rest of my life that is what I want to do. It doesn't have to be full-time missionary service for the rest of my life, because I can serve the Lord on a daily basis. I may be leaving the mission field soon, but the principles that I have learned on my mission will never leave me. I love the gospel! I love Jesus Christ. I know He lives!

-Elder Sedlacek