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

Hope, discouragement, and the changing of the guard

hey Dad! this was a good week, we had a lot of grace and we got to go to the Louisville, KY temple! it was awesome! we went with the Porters as a one last hurrah i guess. they met us in the celestial room after the session, and gave each of us a hug. it was funny because Sister Porter gave us hugs too (which never happened normally), so she reached out to give me a hug and my immediate reaction was internal screaming hahaha! my mission brain took over for a second haha. 

President Porter will be speaking the 10th of July, but he did not say what building it is. i am sure you can find out though. i really hope you can record it for me!!

this week, we were able to reach the leadership standards of the mission! we found a bunch of people and we were able to get a member's referral for her sister, J**, who has had some health struggles that caused her to move in with her member sister. J** had been meeting with the missionaries already, in Arkansas, and she says she already knows the church is true. she is not quite ready to be baptized, but it was a huge miracle! she was able to make it to church on Sunday. we had the mini missionary with us a majority of the week, and it was super fun, he is a funny kid. 

President Welch takes over today--it is crazy. it is weird to think that almost a year ago i arrived here. it is super weird to think about! i am excited to meet President Welch. in answer to your question, one family that really touched my mission so far is the Scott family who own that huge bull mastiff dog, they are so awesome! then another guy from Englewood who would come out with us a lot, and don't forget Frank & Sue and Jeff P! 

that is super cool that Asher and Sam got to speak on Sunday. i am glad Brother A is doing well, i am glad he liked the chopper from the Dayton air museum. holy cow, 600k people at the air show! that is cazy, i bet that would have been super fun to see, although you were actually doing what i did, moving people. hahaha 

we did get some of the new pamphlets, but it sounds like they ran out, so we didn't get a whole lot of them. our commissary will come soon though, so we will see how many we get this time. they are really neat looking. i loved that talk from Elder Holland, it was super good. we have to keep trying and keep believing to make things happen, we cannot afford to get discouraged. if i got easily discouraged, i would not be the missionary i am today! hahaha that correlates with one of my fave scriptures, 1 Timothy 4:7. i have definitely felt your prayers, and i know it helped us this week. we could not have had such a good week without it! thanks for all the support you give to me Dad! i love you so much Dad! have a great week! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey Mom, so we had a great week! i did get my package! thanks so much Mom! we will for sure enjoy those Slushees! thanks for mailing me some supplies! my insulin is good, i still have a few more vials i think. 

well, your prayers are being answered, we found a lady from a member referral the other day, and i wrote about her in Dad's email. then we met another lady named P** who seems pretty solid, we have an appointment with her on Tuesday. nope, we definitely don't judge success the way Heavenly Father does. i am too hard on myself, because i see lots of missionaries baptize a lot, and then i haven't had one in a long time. but i have to remind myself that people do have their agencies to act for themselves, and that as long as i work my hardest and try my best that i am successful. me and Elder Erickson are in the same boat, he has only had two baptisms as well, but he also works his hardest and tries his best, it was an awesome tender mercy to be able to share the same experience. 

my fave person this week was probably P**, she is just a cool person.  the most fun i had was with the mini missionary, we all three had a blast together. then on Wednesday we rode past a lady's house on our bikes, and i had a distinct impression that was not ignorable--hahaha--to stop by. so we stopped in and found that she had been struggling with some health issues, and we both had another impression to offer a her a blessing. the spirit was so strong! it was amazing. 

we had a great time at the temple--i wrote a little about it in Dad's email, so you will have to read about it there haha. i try my best! 

President Welch takes over today. we had a special conference call last night as a mission, and President Porter gave us a blessing as a whole mission. it was super cool! i heard about Finding Dory, i heard it was pretty good, i will look forward to it. that is so funny about Dukie learning not to bark so much, i love that story! 

that is super sad about the Romanian people not having any hope. people need to have hope, but i guess in some other areas of the world, the people don't think they need hope, they already have everything. so it makes it tough to teach them about the gospel before they can tell you they are already Catholic or Baptist or Protestant or whatever. 

i love being able to feel the spirit working through me and being able to be an instrument in the Lord's hands as well. with him, He can help me do anything so long as i let Him. that is cool you had a good experience studying, President emphasizes having spiritual experiences during your own studies that are even stronger than at meetings, and meetings are pretty dang cool! i am getting to that point. the Doctrine & Covenants are so awesome! 

well, that is about it for this week, President speaks on July 10th and so you will have to figure out what time it is so you can RECORD it for me, please! i would love to have a copy of it so i can listen to it. maybe i could sell it for $2 bucks a pop to all the other missionaries and earn a killing! hahahahaha no way, i would not do that for real hahaha.

thanks for all you do Mom, i have to go now. i love you so much! have a great week! i will talk to you later! love yah! good luck with my email hahaha

-Elder Sedlacek

We have to do our best, and then the Savior will give us the power to accomplish the tasks at hand

hey Dad, so i had a good week. my new comp's name is Elder Erickson, and he is a boss! he is a great missionary and it is really nice to have a hard working comp. the sisters' area was shut down, so now our district is combined with the Liberty elders and sisters and my comp was made DL, because he has been out one transfer longer than me. so now we have the sisters' old car and we cover the whole ward, it is pretty huge. the area is shaped like a u. we used to cover half, but now we know the full, so i pretty much just got doubled in twice. i have to know the old boundaries and the new ones, so that has been fun. we also got a mini-missionary on Saturday morning, he will be with us til Saturday morning. it has been fun, he is a good kid and just graduated. he is going to start his own mission papers soon. we are still trying to work with Mrs. J. she is being a little hard to work with though, i think she does not like me at all--i think i offended her when i asked her to be baptized a few weeks ago. so yeah haha. i think she is trying to spite me or something--i don't know, all i can do is try my best to love her! her son B is awesome though haha. 

we pretty much spent the week using the car half the time to go meet the sisters' investigators, and then we biked the other half to see ours. we don't have a lot of miles to use on the car, so we still have to bike a lot. i am glad you liked the father's day card, i hope you had a nice father's day. that must have been fun to visit grandpa H. it is way cool you got out the row boat and went fishing! that is fun. hahaha but it's too bad you didn't catch any fish! i am glad that work went pretty well this week. 

what you said about true greatness is so true--we all want that perfection and greatness at something. we won't ever achieve perfection in this life, but we can achieve it in the next life eventually, with the help of the Savior. because of Him we have that opportunity to achieve that greatness we so desire. I know that because of the atonement and the Savior, we can accomplish everything. we have to do our best and then He will give us the power to accomplish the tasks at hand. thanks so much for all the support you give to me Dad! i love you Dad! have a great week and keep up the good work. talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey Mom, so this was a good week. i wrote Dad about the investigators. i will tell you about transfers: so my comp's name is Elder Erickson, he is from West Jordan and is an awesome guy. he is 23 and an electrician. he has been out a year, so one transfer longer than me. that makes him DL. we took over the sisters' area because they got moved out. we got their car too, which is nice, although we can't really use it too much with the mileage limit. we still have to bike a ton. so we pretty much got doubled in again, that is twice in a row. hahaha the other half of the ward (the area the sisters had) is like another world! there are tons of Micronesians. they are great people and it is so fun to talk to them haha. i wrote pretty much all the other new stuff that has happened in Dad's email. 

we were able to see a bunch of grace this week. we found a few new investigators, but even Elder E says this is a tough area hahaha. we actually both served in Englewood, so we like to talk about that. he served there a few months before i did, just on the other side of the ward. i like having a bigger district now. one of my old STLs is in Liberty, so that is fun. one of the Liberty elders is one of my old ZLs so that is super fun too. we get along great. last p-day he roped me with his lariat. hahaha

those are funny pics of Brigham's hair haha. he is a cutie!  that must have been an awesome youth conference, it sounds like it went well. so i am guessing you enjoyed the Manti pageant, that must have been fun. did you go to the Palisades camp ground? that is fun one.  that is crazy that the B** brothers have already spoken together, seems like yesterday that Jake and i spoke! hahaha 

Mom, remember to go and record President Porter's talk for me please! that is such a cool story that Jeremy told in his mission talk. in this mission we have been promised we could all baptize in June. we are waiting for our miracle because right now it doesn't look like it will happen, but we are trying our very hardest and trying to exercise our faith. so keep praying for us! we will use that story, thanks so much for that Mom! that is awesome! well, that is mostly it for the week. i am hoping to send a package home this week, so if it comes don't scatter around all the stuff [Mom's note: worrying about his stuff being "scattered" is so Jared haha!] it should have some old planners in it, as well as the fitness watch.

i don't need anything sent with my strips, thanks Mom! i will watch for the package.

oh, Elder Hueman is in my district, so that is fun. i heard from one of the sisters who got doubled in to Englewood after i left that they are baptizing a few people i taught, so that was way nice to hear!

well, i have to go now Mom. thanks for emailing me. i love getting to email every week. thanks so much for all you do Mom! have a great week! i love you! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

The ability to choose is a huge blessing

hey dad, so it has been a good week. we did see some cool miracles. we had one day that was super hard--everything, everything, fell through! it was tough. the next day we went out to contact a referral, who was not home, so we 225'd the place and we knocked on a lady's door. she immediately said "oh, i have a church already" but we offered to share a message with her and she said no. so we gave her a card and then walked away. as we were walking away the door opened back up and she came out and told us to come back on another day! we were just like, "woah, that was sudden!" haha it was super cool. 

thanks for your prayers, they have definitely helped. all of our investigators made it to church yesterday, even M's son who does not like church. that was super cool. we almost got the meeting with President Porter--he was ready to come out and then one hour before, Ms J cancelled on us, it was discouraging. 

thanks for the advice dad, we will change that so we try to help people see what they can do for the church. that sounds like you had fun watching the baby! hahaha and you enjoyed your new kayak, that must have been pretty fun. that is too bad with the Utes losing, darn. that is so crazy that Sam and Jeremy are both home now, that is insane! hahaha i bet they enjoyed having a "companion" so they could feel some what "normal" hahaha i am glad mom got her answer for the surgery, it will all go well. that is super funny about you and Craig having grand babies at the same time, almost the same age! you two are pretty much brothers! hahaha. 

i like that talk from president monson. one of my companions believed in a set destiny, so you are already going where you are going no matter what. but that is not true, you have the ability to choose because of the Savior, he may know us perfectly but he still allows us to choose because he loves us. the ability to choose is a huge blessing, you can learn so much and learn a lot about Heavenly Father. the plan of salvation is the best. thanks for all your support, I love you dad! keep up the good work, grandpa dad! talk to you later! have a great week!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey mom, so this was a good week. we worked really hard. we didn't see as much success from it as we would have liked, but that will come soon enough. i wrote about church in dad's email. we did not get to meet with M this week because no members were available to come with us, so we didn't have a third male. our plan is to meet with her this week and we will be giving her a baptism date. 

i can't believe i am almost 19 either, you and me both. it is weird to think. i wrote about a miracle that happened this week in dad's email. it was super grace. my favorite person we talked to was the former member we are teaching, brother R. he is a cool guy. i have seen the prayers helping, thanks so much! 

that is good the girls are out of school now, i am sure that they are happy about that. that is super cool that you got your answer about the knee surgery, the Lord will take care of everything. see, you will always, if you go in the right mind set, get an answer that you need in sacrament meeting. it is the most important ordinance we do in the church--the only one we do for ourselves, over and over and over. 

i am sure you have loved being with the baby and Nicole, i bet that is fun, i hope you enjoy your drive today. that will be cool to have GAs at stake conference, that is awesome! it is super crazy that Sam and Jeremy are home now, that is weird! and super cool that Seth got his call. 

well, this week is already going great, we went to get our groceries and we were walking back with them and some random return missionary pulls up in a HUGE F350 with lift and everything. he let us in and gave us a ride to our apartment, so that was super grace as well, because we were already running late. the Lord is like, happy birthday Elder Sedlacek! hahaha

enjoy the pic of this country! sorry, i forgot to take a lot of pics this week. hahaha that is pretty much what most of my area is like, it is beautiful! and yes, that is how most of the roads are as well. hahaha

so how are you doing?

Mom: I am doing great! We are at Brig's two week check up, waiting for his turn. He's so cute!!

Elder Sed: that is good, he is looking pretty healthy!

Mom: Yep, he's doing great. 

What are you doing for p-day? 

Elder Sed: we have a zone p-day today, so we will be going to Hamilton to do something that supposedly costs only $5 bucks to do, so it should be good hahaha and guess what? i am enjoying a salad hahaha, they are pretty nice to eat, those salads. hahaha who would a thought?

well, i have to go now mom, thanks for emailing me, thanks for the birthday wishes and everything else! i love you guys so much, have a great week and day! love you! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

Four flat tires in one day

Hey Dad! it has been a good week. i got the text about Brigham from Sister Porter almost immediately. that is so awesome, and i can't wait to meet him! you should get that boy some cammo! hahah 

Our investigators are doing well.  we started teaching the Hispanic family that just came back from vacation. it is a single mom with four crazy little boys, and they are awesome! the little kids love to tease us and stuff. their mom has been to church a few times before and was going to come yesterday, but got stuck in downtown Cincy with her sister, who she was driving around, so that really stunk. But, Miss J and her son B came to church, so that was good to see them there. we are still trying to get a meeting set up with President Porter so he can interview Miss J, but both sides are busy and hard to have available at the same time. 

we did find a new investigator this week who we will be going back to see in the next few days--that will be good. we are having a hard time finding in this area! we talk to everyone, but they are not always interested. however, we did have a miracle this week. the past Elders met this guy at a home down the street from us, and he talked with them a little so they gave him their number on a card. Last Monday he called us just after we got in and said he wants to feed us, so he called again this morning and is having us over on Saturday for a BBQ. that was awesome, we will see how his interest level is and everything, but that was way cool. 

the zone conference was awesome, i will write more about it in mom's email. that is a good idea we could use for Miss J, thanks Dad! we will have to try that. that is a cool thought from your meeting, i bet it was really good. I like that thought from President Eyring, it is so true that as we forget ourselves and get to work, the Lord will change us in ways that we never thought possible. it is not because we are focusing on just ourselves, but when you forget yourself and serve others diligently, you are serving the Lord, and He will send the blessings your way to help you. in turn, you start to change and apply the Doctrine of Christ in your life more, which causes us to change and become more like the Savior. missions are beautiful things, i am so grateful for the time that i have left to serve! this is the time when i will be growing the fastest spiritually, and I want to be able to utilize that time. well, it was great to hear from you Dad, thanks for all you do, it means a lot to have me out here.  I love you Dad, have a great week! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey Mom! so this was a good week. i am glad the baby came well! i did get both texts from Sister Porter about the baby and my pump. she actually forwarded the text about the pump, so i got your text! hahaha that was weird. 

i told dad about the investigators, so you can read about them in his email. the biking is fun--i like it. i am getting in good shape again between running and biking every day. it is awesome hahaha. 

so the most challenging thing that happened this week was either having the last Zone conference with President Porter (i did tear up hahaha), or having to fix 4 flat tires all in the same day! it was a funny story.  we rode to the library that morning, and when we came out afterwards, my tire was completely flat. i pumped it up and then i told Elder B "the race is on boy!" so we hauled on up the hill to a bike shop a few miles away on the way to our apartment. i bought a new tube and put it in and it all looked good so we started home. halfway there it went flat again! now it was getting late so we just walked the bikes the rest of the way.  then we went back after lunch and the bike shop owner fixed it for free, which was a miracle, but not only that, he tuned my breaks and my wheel hubs for me for free as well! so we started off, and 10 minutes later it is flat again. i am not kidding! we took it back and the owner found a microscopic piece of glass in my tire, then then fixed it again for free. since then, i have not been back! hahaha knock on wood! 

the biggest tender mercy was Zone conference and the impressions i had, it was awesome. we talked a lot about the sacrament and President even got permission to give us the sacrament. it was a neat experience, and i got to help pass it, it was cool. i learned some cool stuff. i will miss President Porter so much, I love that man. you will have to go to his homecoming for me and record it, that would be sick!

Also at Zone conference, i learned the significance of consecrated oil. when an olive is pressed for oil, it is put under immense pressure. the Savior was also put under immense pressure when he suffered at Gethsemane, and he bled through every pore. the oil that "bleeds" from the olive is like the blood the Savior bled for us. the consecrated oil represents the healing power of the atonement and will give power to heal. that was a cool lesson from talking about the sacrament, that was one of the thoughts that i had. 

that is funny Dukie had a vacay at the boarders' while the baby came. hahaha wow, an hour of sleep, you were tired i bet! hahaha almost as tired as me! hahaha just kidding, mom. that is so crazy about the Angel Moroni getting struck by lightning! a cool thought about that--the statue protected everyone just as Moroni will give the call to let everyone know when the Savior comes--he has got our back. 

i also had a cool experience when riding up a really steep hill this week. i was praying and asking for strength to make it, when suddenly i felt like i did have angels around me helping me and cheering me on. it was super cool! you know who those angels are don't you? family and future family, it was super cool. 

So yep, Animas said they will replace my old pump for free, it is the same exact pump, so it wasn't hard to program it. now i just have to send the old one back. they gave it one day shipping so that was cool. well, that is all for the week, how are you doing?

Mom: I am doing great!!! I am heading up to Logan later to help Nicole, Jeff, and Brig settle in at home. I will be there overnight and Tuesday. It'll be fun. 

I am glad you got your pump set up and all is well with it. Don't forget to send back the old one asap....they like those back so they can figure out why it failed and prevent it in the future. They are serious about those things! :) 

We will definitely go to pres porter's homecoming, you can bet on that. 

Elder Sed: sweet! just remember to record it for me so i can listen to it. i am really going to miss that man. for my birthday, i would love the Nike socks, just like the ones i have that go halfway up your calf--size 6-8, or the mediums. i need a new backpack, but i want to wait to see if i get a gift card or something. i would also like a fitness watch that measures steps, distance, calories and things like that, but those are kinda pricey so if I don't get one then that is okay. other than that i don't know what i want. hahaha

oh, i am mailing that old pump today.

Mom: Okay, good! How are your numbers? Did you adjust your basals with all the exercise? 

Elder Sed: yes i did, so i am fine tuning them now. it took some getting used to, but they are doing pretty well now.

well, i have to go now Mom, it was great to hear from you. enjoy seeing the baby! give him a hug for me. i love you guys so much! have a great week. thanks for all you do for me! oh--please send me my test strips this week, i need some more. thanks! 

-Elder Sedlacek