I will never forget the people who have helped to change my life. It's a bonus to have helped to change their's.

Hey Dad! it was a good last week, it went by so fast! it feels like it did not even happen hahaha. it was really fun to have Jeff and Nicole and Brig at church with me. the ward just ate it up hahaha. Brig was such a funny little guy--he was running and screaming after church, it was fun to watch him. 

Sadly, we did not find anyone this week. we saw K & R, and we were planning to have to drop them, but we found out we are both leaving the area, so we did not do it. no investigators were at church yesterday. we were not able to do a whole lot of teaching, which stinks. I don't know though, it was still a good week. we got to talk to a lot of people, but everyone we talked to was uninterested or did not show up when we were schedule to come back. even still, I felt like I had a much greater appreciation for the calling i have. to be able to do my best to fulfill it has always made me happy, but it was more fulfilling this past week because i knew it was not for much longer. 

Hmm... i am not sure why you would be excited for Wednesday....maybe you drank some bad milk, or forgot a party they will have at work? you will have to pray about that one hahaha!! 

that is a cool story from church. it is really amazing to me that God reaches out to us in such personal ways, all the time. He knows us perfectly, so he knows exactly how we can feel or see His hand and realize that we do have a connection with Him. that is really interesting thought about the lesson on James 1, i haven't thought about connecting it with our baptismal covenant, that is neat. 

I really like Elder Rasband's talk. it occurred to me that the first step to having the Holy Ghost with us is living worthily, and then all the steps after that come from our efforts to look for God's hand in our lives, and to seek out those promptings that will come.  I am still learning new ways that the spirit touches me, and it amazes me sometimes the many different ways I feel the influence of the spirit. we have agency to make choices for ourselves, but God will always reach out to influence us, so we can learn to choose the good, and not have to go through as much pain. 

I am so grateful for my mission, and that I have had time to feel and to listen to the promptings of the spirit, so that I could come closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. the Spirit will guide us to all truth, and I know that the path I have chosen will lead me to become who God wants me to be. I know that God lives, and that He loves me and all his children. I know that all good things testify of our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ. I will never forget the wonderful things I have experienced on my mission, and I will never forget the people who have helped to change my life. it's a bonus to have helped to change their's.  Thank you Dad for all you have done to help me through the last 2 years! love you Dad! see you in 2...........days! hahahaha  

-Elder Sedlacek

Hi Mom! it was a very good last week. we worked hard, but we did not find the "fruit" we wanted. I know that there are still people out there to find. that was so crazy to have Nicole and Jeff show up to church! i was not expecting it, because Brother Gilbert is a cheeky little man, and told me she was not coming, so it was pretty surreal. haha I think it helped the ward, and they just ate it up, they loved it. everyone seemed to mention missionary work in their testimonies, so it was awesome. Brig was so funny haha, he is a crazy kid. 

this past week was a good way to end my mission. we even got out to one of the small towns in our area, and had a member drop us off there early in the day, and another one take us home at night. it was fun. we had a cool thing happen too. we were out on our deck, and we may or may not have been burning a shirt, but who knows?  and it may or may not have gotten a little smokey, so we may have shut the door and it may have latched shut and locked itself hahaha! I suddenly remembered Kelly teaching me how to break into a house with a sliding door hahaha, but that wasn't working cause the door was too tightly fit together.  i just kept trying, and then suddenly it opened. to be honest, we should not have been able to get it open, it was a miracle. 

that is good you stayed busy, busyness is happiness.  sounds like you had a fun week. that is good, because you're about to receive your little terror coming off a plane, you will need that rest. haha I did realize that i've had a few days beyond my two years, and I am lucky. pretty crazy that it has been over two years. it will be super weird to be home. it was weird enough yesterday to be hanging out with Nicole and Jeff at church. i was not even the slightest bit turned away from my missionary duties, or at least i tried not to be! I caught myself wanting to do that more than just visit with them hahaha, that was strange. it will be so weird to be home. 

yeah, Dad's full of talk, telling me that you might be at the airport. I would turn right back around if you did not show hahaha. here's my schedule for the next couple days: we leave here Tuesday morning by 7 am {wake up about 5:00 am} so we can get to transfers by 9 am, cause Elder Jasinski is training and has to be there early.  I get to just chill there, and then we leave for the temple. After that we go to the mission home and have a feast with President and Sister Welch. then Sister Welch has a bunch of stuff for us to do while we are at the mission home, like scrap booking and other things that women like to do. {haha just kidding}. Wednesday we fly out early, and i am SURE you have the time of when the inevitable happens hahaha. tonight we just proselyte from 6-9, so i have approximately 3 more hours to do really missionary things. 

true joy is what i have come to know on my mission. it is a gift from God, from serving Him with a true heart. that is the only way we can continue to progress, is to continue to serve with love.

well, i have to go now....for the last time. I will see you in 2................Days! hahaha 

I love you Mom! have a great 2 days! don't get too excited to see my beautiful face! haha

-Elder Sedlacek

It's not endure to the end, it's endure through the end.

Emails from June 19, 2017

hey Dad! it was another good week. we did not find many people this week, but we had some really cool experiences, or at least i did haha. to start off, B is probably going to have to have a "drop" lesson, he has unfortunately not been telling us the whole truth and it's plain to see. he also hasn't really been keeping all the commitments, so it will help him in the long run. these lessons can really help people see what they are feeling is the loving guidance of God, and that they need it. 

we had a mission tour with Elder Timothy Dyches of the Seventy this week, it was super good. they talked a lot about finding, and surprisingly marriage hahaha. afterwards, we had an appointment with a less active member who is striving to overcome some problems. she had her sister visiting with her, and so we taught the restoration. that has been the single most powerful and spirit-filled lesson i have ever taken part of. as i recited the first vision, i literally started choking up, and luckily i got through it all the way without, but it was amazing. she knows the Sister missionaries in Eaton Ohio, where she lives, and never had them come back, but is now meeting with them. it was so cool. then we had another appointment with another less active, and her friends were there. she was busy, so it had to be quick, but at the end she invited all her friends to take part in the lessons. one of them did accept, although we have yet to make contact again for a lesson, just brief chats. 

that is only part of the good things that happened. i had a lot of cool thoughts this week. C and W both are now passing the sacrament, although C was not there yesterday because he ate some bad food, poor guy. 

that is probably really cool to be down in South America and to speak with all the natives and church leaders. it sounds like you have had a really good time doing it, you are lucky hahaha. you are in my friend Jordan's mission, in Montevideo. maybe you will meet his mission president if he comes to the ward you attend. that would be so cool to have a tour of the temple, i bet it was an awesome experience! 

haha you saw a VW bug and rabbit race! that is super funny, i knew a kid who drove a rabbit in high school. 

that is a cool thought about the growth of the church. the Lord is truly gathering those people who are ready to receive the gospel. He knows where they are at, and we have the blessed opportunity to participate in helping the Lord fulfill his promise to us that everyone will have an opportunity to receive the gospel {3 Nephi 16:11}. it is to teach us faith, and to strengthen our understanding of the doctrines that we cherish. as our own testimony grows, the flame of our testimonies grows brighter to share it, which means the work with members is a work to strengthen their faith to give them a greater desire to share what they know. i am so grateful for the blessing of being a part of this work, i know this gospel is Christ's true gospel. thank you for emailing me Dad! i have a letter for your Father's Day gift in the mail, happy late Father's Day! i sent it late since you would be gone. love you Dad! have a great rest of your trip!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey Mom! it has been a good week. we did not find many new people, but did have some great things happen. i wrote about some cool miracles in Dad's email. we had a really good mission tour with Elder Dyches of the Seventy. BTW, could you send the pics from FB of it please? they all talked a lot about finding and developing our skills as a missionary. we are coming down to the time when finding people is truly like the scripture in Joshua that talks about fishing in the holes and the rocks. prepared people are everywhere and we have the great job and blessing of finding them and witnessing the changes they will make. 

there is a lady in our ward who recently decided to return to activity, and from the first week a few weeks ago that she came back, to now, is a world of difference. she is wearing the same clothes, but you can see how much happier and brighter her countenance is. the gospel changes lives, and we need to share it. it says something profound in D&C 123: 12-13. it talks about "wasting" our lives for sharing the gospel, it would not be a waste obviously, but we should always have Christ on our lips. 

sadly did not have anyone show up to church, but next week we will for sure. we had a cool experience with Bro. E. he wanted to give up on church last week and has been struggling, so we shared a scripture with him out of the Bible--Romans 8: 11 i think it was. and it totally changed his view of the gospel right quick. when we came back a few days later, the spirit in the home was a lot more peaceful, and he had changed, he was a lot kinder to the children. it was super cool. 

the best part of my week was the lesson we had after the mission tour with a less active member and her non-member sister. as for a goal to finish my mission with--i want to finish my mission stronger than i have been and at a quicker pace than ever, sprinting through the finish! haha. it's not endure to the end, it's endure through the end. run Jack! 

my strips are okay, luckily i have been blessed to accumulate 2 emergency vials, so i have been on one of them the past couple days. i sent dad a card for Father's day, or a letter i should say, it will get there in the next couple few days. i bet it was interesting having him be gone so long hahaha. school crap again, great hahahaha. fun fun fun. thank you for doing that stuff for me! and for the strips too! 

that is so funny about Brig and the way he says y'alls names, i can only imagine what mine will be hahaha. he will probably be scared of me haha, i could see that. we have had some good weather lately. we have had some rain, and then some super hot days. the weather here is super unpredictable this time of year. 

Elder Dyches had President and Sister Welch leave the room for a minute, and we all thought of words to describe each one of them, wrote them on the board, and then had them come back in. President almost immediately said, "You didn't put sarcastic!" he does a really good upset voice even when he's not, so it was really funny. he told us to focus on finding qualities like that in our spouses, so like Sister Welch for Elders and President Welch for the Sisters. 

we also had really good talks and lessons on Fathers at church. the family is ordained of God, we are sent to each of our families for a divine reason. i am so blessed to have Dad as my Dad, and watch and grow from him. he is the next best example to me than the Savior and the prophet. i am so blessed to have both of you! we don't have the kind of family the world is pushing us to have--we have a family that is based upon the principles in Christ's restored gospel, and that is how we keep our families grounded, is upon the principles of righteousness. i could not ask for anything better in my family :) you have both taught me well, and continue to. thank you both for your righteous examples. wow, that's a long email for little old Elder Sedlacek hahaha you get lucky this week! :)

well, thank you for handling all that diabetes stuff for me Mom! i am of course Dr. Lindsay's patient, i am his diabetes prodigy! hahaha you're the best! i love you guys so much! love you Mom! i hope y'all have a great week! 

Elder Sedlacek

It's amazing to see people pick themselves up and show a desire to do hard things.

Found on the curb

Spend some time waiting on trains most every day

This is how much Elder Sedlacek likes waiting for trains

hey Dad, it has been a good week. we really did not find any one new this week, but that's how it goes sometimes.  B is doing a lot better this week. he started to read a lot more, so he is now past chap 12, which is great. he started devoting an hour a day to reading, and he started to go cold turkey yesterday on living the Word of Wisdom. the fire is starting to really burn for him, it's amazing to see people just start to pick themselves up like that, and to show a desire to do these hard things. commitments are kept, or should be kept, out of love for the Savior. to grow that love, investigators have to read and have an understanding of the atonement and the scriptures. i find it so amazing to see the drive in people to completely change their lives around for and through Jesus Christ. 

we have not been in contact with D lately, he has kinda disappeared. and the other people we found last week did not really keep their appointments, so we have got to find them again hahaha. one guy 'suddenly moved' and they don't have an address, just a street. so that is a little fishy hahahaha! 

we taught L a few lessons, but his parents are struggling to come to church, therefore he did not come, so we have to get that situation straightened out. the progress that B has made has been pretty cool to see this past week, so that puts the cherry on top for me. some people take years for a true conversion to happen, and some others it takes only a matter of months or even weeks. it is so cool to see that everyone is different. i am very blessed to have seen these conversions take place. and it's only upwards from there! 

so you're going international Dad, now you have to learn like 100 languages. you should go to the MTC again hahaha. that's so crazy the girls are graduating, that is just weird. it's been into the 90 degree weather here too, or close to it, and we had to bike half the week 'cause our car is in the shop. Elder H acquired some damage to it by cutting a corner too tight--it pulled off the running board. so we got some nice tans this week by biking hahaha. we turned all red, 'cause white guys don't tan. ;)

thanks a ton for putting me in for a tag! hope i get one, that would be fun. i would love to go with you and Jake, so i need to start getting into archery now too.  i will have to start lifting again. that is cool Ethan and Adam got to speak. we had Fast Sunday this week, and we also had some good lessons. we talked about the life of the Savior in Sunday school, it goes along really well with Elder Holland's video. i really liked how he talks about how it's extremely personal to work our our own salvation. 

i am one for working on things by myself, cause it's all me. but the beautiful thing about the plan of salvation, is even when my best is not good enough, Christ has already paid the price, so i can become better, and come closer to him in a personal way. trials and lessons are not always easy to learn, but i have never looked back at a trial with regret, unless i did not really learn the lesson being taught. it is always worth it to go though hard things. we always have a helping hand, Jesus Christ, and he will carry us when we can't go any more. i love being able to be on a mission to learn that it's me and Christ, and he is my personal trainer. if i follow him, i will do what's right, and what needs to be done. i  know this gospel is true, and i know it is only through the Savior that we are saved. thanks Dad for all you do! have a great week! love you! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey Mom! it's been a good week. we stayed busy and even got to bike half the week. so it was nice to get some good exercise, but man, i am a lot more tired than last summer hahaha! it was fun to get to bike around Anderson, but let's just say i now know why Anderson has a car, and i am a lot more grateful for it. I will have to tell you why later ;) 

i have learned a lot about love this week, because i have been praying for more and more of it, and prayer does work, just like always hahaha. this work is based upon love for people, and love for the Savior, most of all the Savior. every week brings new challenges that test my spiritual strength in different ways, and sometimes it takes a spiritual thump on the head for me to understand. eventually, i get it hahaha. i love that so much about a mission. you grow so much closer to Jesus, and the gospel is the doctrine to get us closer to Him. 

B is doing awesome, and getting super excited for the baptism. he is telling everyone about it! we also got to help C be ordained to a priest yesterday, that was awesome. it was a great week at church. i cannot complain. 

that is cool about the girls doing well in honors and grades. hahaha, i read that about what Nicole said about Cincy being wild, and it's true. she probably did not even see the worst part if she only went to the zoo! it's an interesting city to say the least hahaha. 

it's been warm and we have had the a/c on for weeks, but luckily we don't have to pay for air out of our own pocket. 

the one thing i know is that when the Lord has a lesson for us to learn, if we are doing the right things, such as serving a mission the right way, we will learn it, but it will not be easy, just as you said. that is really cool about Ethan and Adam, they will both do great. 

i am starting to feel the way that Jeff described the end of his mission hahaha, like he wanted to scream half the time, because of the mixed emotions etc. it was good for me to bike, because it really cleared my head. exercise always makes me a happier person, so that was a great tender mercy. it helped me blow off some steam hahaha. 

another cool thing that happened this week was how we got in contact with a less-active teen. he was baptized a few years ago, the only one in his family. we helped to remind him of his baptism, and he started crying as he did so, and truly felt the spirit. we talked about how only the gospel and Christ can bring us that kind of peace. he wants to come back to church, and even biked the whole 7 miles back to our place with us on his own bike. he is a great kid. it is so cool to see the spirit work in people like that. i love the scripture where it says his sheep hear his voice, and they follow him, and they know his voice. the spirit speaks to each of us differently, and in a way that God knows we can understand. we just need to listen. 

i am so grateful for the knowledge i have of how God knows each of us personally. i love the gospel, i don't have to worry about anything else but where i stand, and do my best to share my own testimony with others, and live in a way that i can take the spirit into their homes. i love it so much. 

that is so cool about Dad and his floor work, hopefully he wins! that is awesome! thank you so much for the birthday packages and stuff in advance! i love you guys so much!

well, i have to go now Mom, thanks for emailing me! and for all the birthday wishes and packages! you're the best Mom! i love you guys so much! have a great week!

-Elder Sedlacek

A double header

May 8th Emails

hey Dad! it was a good week! C is doing great, and he is getting baptized on Saturday! he is having his baptism interview on Tuesday morning. he was not able to make it to church yesterday however, because he was called into work. so we will have a busy week--very morning this week we will have a lot to do with C to prep him hahaha. that is nice since mornings are usually pretty slow. we had one of our new investigators, B, show up to church with a member who got along really great with him. that was awesome. he had a great time and seemed to enjoy it. 

yesterday was a special Sunday too, cause we had Fast Sunday last week since this week we were having a regional broadcast covering from Indiana to Nova Scotia with Elder Oaks and Elder Gong (who is the area Seventy). it was really good, and they had a bunch to say about how to use the missionaries more effectively. it was good. 

we were also able to find a new guy named D who was referred to us by a member. he has some really solid potential. we had taught the restoration and that went super well. we are also gonna start working with that member's boyfriend, who comes with her to church every week, but has not been baptized. hopefully we can start changing that. 

we are working with a bunch of potential Elders lists to help us find some part-member families, so hopefully that will bring some results. the ward will help us, we just have to really try to get them to do it haha. 

oh yeah, the guy who showed up at church a few weeks ago, the brother of a recent convert, is getting baptized with C, it was super awesome to watch that happen. he knew instantly this is what he has been searching for, and now he is a doing really well. so we will have a double-header on Saturday if all goes right. 

sounds like you're having fun at work with all the mess from the orders. hahaha, does it ever end? probably seems that way sometimes, but hey, when it comes to covenants, the opposition will come i guess. i am glad Indiana does not have sprinklers, otherwise i would probably have been asked a billion times by now to help dig some up. hopefully you get them all running quickly.  well, the Jazz will always choke when it comes down to it, happens every year haha.  that's a super cool story about Karl Malone. those random acts of kindness really do help so much to bring people closer to the Savior, maybe not that one directly, but i find that in missionary work and reactivation, those random acts and friendships are everything.  

the scripture in the Book of Mormon that talks about how when the children of God were baptized and had their names recorded, they were commanded to "meet together oft" and to fast, pray and worship together. i find that especially important. i love church cause of how we get to listen to each others' thoughts and takes on different things in the gospel. it helps us all to learn and to be edified. when you have someone coming with friends, even if it is just for friends, most of the time they will start to feel the Spirit working in their lives and it will help them to grow a testimony of the restored gospel. i really like those chapters in Mosiah, and the first several in Alma, because they teach us so much how to be a true disciple of Christ in inviting others to see for themselves the blessings that the gospel brings. i am so grateful to be a missionary, you have to put up with a lot, but i know it is all a blessing that will help us grow as we share the gospel with others to help them grow as well. 

thank you dad for emailing! love yah! see you on Sunday :) have a great week!

Elder Sedlacek

hey Mom! it was a good week. it did go by fast, they just keep getting faster too haha! i got to go on another exchange to Elwood this past week with Elder Blanchard from Idaho. that was a good day. we had some dinner with an investigator couple; they fed us some dank ribs and chops, it was awesome. then they told us after dinner how they felt about how his father had died, and that man's wife was there too. they were very upset, because it happened just a year ago. as we listened to the thoughts and feelings being shared by this couple and the man's wife, thoughts of the Savior started coming to mind about how much he loves each of us and how families can be eternal through Heavenly Father's plan, and through the Savior's atonement. then something cool happened--so i am awful at remembering scripture references, i remember the words, but not good enough to recite them--but i had scriptures just start flowing into my mind, and i recited a few perfectly, and then explained them. it was really cool. the Spirit was super strong as we shared about Christ and the plan of redemption. it was an awesome experience. 

that was probably the best day of my week. it rained a lot and it was pretty gloomy the next few days, and it can make me feel sad sometimes when we don't have sun for three days strait. we were working with a poorer part of town most of those days. those days like that are always the harder days, for me at least, but one thing i had come to mind, that i learned about is how Christ spent his days with the "poorer parts of town." he loved them perfectly, and was devoted to helping them feel peace and assurance. he taught them and spent time with them, just because he loved them, and then i got chastened a bit i guess you could say. Because in order to be a true disciple, it doesn't matter what situation i am in or how uncomfortable i feel, God's children need help to find the truth. so i will be praying for more charity now hahaha. 

as of right now, i won't need any pump supplies for a while, i have a bunch right now and i think i will try to use it all up, it may even last so i won't need a whole shipment before i go home. 

as of right now, i am not sure when we will Skype on Sunday, but it will probably be in the afternoon time before 6 out here, so around 4 your time. i will try to have a member text you or something. that is cool you're almost getting done with school stuff, it will probably be nice to get a "break." i say that, but the girls will be home, so that will be "fun" hahaha. that is crazy the school year is almost at an end. 

i had been reading in the Bible Dictionary a few days ago about prayer, part of what it says is that prayer is not forcing our will on God, but rather to secure blessings the Lord sees fit to bless us with, for things we need help with. Heavenly Father does truly love us so much. he wants us to have all his blessings, but we do have choices, so sometimes we miss out on those blessings. any time he can bless us, according to our efforts to follow him, he will. we are so blessed just to have the gospel.  it's a major blessing to share it, i am so grateful for that.

well, i have to go now Madre, thank you for being such a support! and for all your prayers! have a great week! i look forward to getting to talk on Sunday! love you all so much! 

-Elder Sedlacek

My diabetes really is a blessing

Giant ice cream sandwich! 

April 10th Emails

hi Dad! it has been a good week. i got over the food poisoning, although it was rough for a few days, but now i am feeling way better! we did not find as many new investigators this week, but we did find a few. C is doing really well, we had a lesson on the Book of Mormon with him, and in 2 days he read the first 8 pages. then he came to church and loved it. he told us about a spiritual prompting he had at work, and the elders quorum lesson was supposedly really good and tied in with his own experience, so he really liked that. J has still been super busy, he was going to come to church and we had someone to bring him, and then last minute he got called into work. the person bringing him still came though, so that was good. Jk is kinda loosing steam a bit, he has not been reading too much, and won't really come to church, 'cause the one he goes to is right across the street, so that is kinda tough. 

we found a new lady, D, she is a young mother who is having a baby soon, and she seemed pretty adamant that she is getting baptized very soon, and liked the message of the restoration. we will be teaching her. we also got word that there are quite a few unbaptized kids wanting to be baptized, so we will be teaching a few children. that should be fun. it looks like a good transfer already. 

yesterday at church we taught the youth with the sister missionaries. teaching in a foursome is kinda weird hahaha. the lesson went really well, it was about missionary work, of course hahaha. we  had a bunch of scriptures and quotes that we shared with them, and then a video about some youth in a hood of Florida and how they are an example to others. 

i like that t-shirt, that's a pretty good one. sounds like you had a good trip, the pics look really good. that stinks you got the snow back. it has been almost tropical here, there is a good amount of humidity already and it's pretty warm and super green now. now back to real life then huh. so North Carolina won? that's cool. how did my bracket do? 

that quote reminds me about a song i have been listening to, all about turning your life to the Savior, and living like him. the thing i love most about the gospel and the scriptures, is that it's all about turning towards Christ. the gospel and everything we have in this life from Heavenly Father is meant to help us better our lives, and to find true joy and lasting happiness. i love reading the Book of Mormon. it helps me to spiritually ground myself each day, and i know it helps me not make so many mistakes all the time hahaha. i am grateful for the gospel and the chance we have to repent of all our mistakes. i gives me such peace and joy to know that i can become a better person each time i repent. thank you for emailing me Padre! love you Dad! have a good week!

hey Mom! i am doing much better, and i did have a lot of help with my diabetes. my numbers never reached over 250 while i was sick. Heavenly Father definitely took care of me. it really dawned on me, the morning i woke up sick, that i woke up a few hours before and drank some juice because  i was low and already feeling sick--but if i had not ran low, i probably would have been much sicker. my diabetes really is a blessing, cause i get to see miracles happen all the time with it, it really has given me so much greater an understanding of Heavenly Father than i would have. 

we did find a few more people, plus a a few children. i wrote about most of it to Dad, but one other guy we found, named T, he is a super funny Hoosier, and says all the Hoosier type stuff--like calling a grocery cart a buggy haha. he is an interesting guy and he already is talking to his friends about the church, and he has only been taught the restoration. 

we had C come to church, and that was really awesome. he enjoyed it thoroughly. i got to give a few blessings this week, that was cool, those are always highlights. i was giving a lady a blessing yesterday, and at the end i felt to express Heavenly Father's love for her and her family once again, and it came really strong, i could actually feel it, way more than usual, it was super cool. He really does love all his children so much. 

it sounds like you had a really good trip, and enjoyed nice weather, that is good. the weather has been great today, we had a really good run this morning with our member that takes us, i beat my time by 30 seconds, it was awesome. not really sure when my next interview is, it should be around the end of April or beginning of May. i really like flying, it feels really cool when the plane takes off. that is too bad you had to come back to snow. seems like it always happens that way, we go on a trip to warm weather, and bam! it snows hahaha. 

that thought is interesting. one thing Elder Holman really taught me, was about doing our best for the Lord. the early apostles may have been struggling, but they may have been doing their absolute best as well. that is why Christ is the perfect judge, he knows our efforts and our hearts, i find great comfort in that. i know that if we are always trying to be better, the Lord will bless us with power and strength to do better. he will change our hearts and lift us up, and make anything possible. i am so grateful for the Easter season and the gift of the atonement Christ has given us, to become better sons and daughters of God. 

thanks Mom for emailing me! love you! have a great week!

Elder Sedlacek

I am excited to see what happens

"They actually say 'set' here instead of 'sit'! :) 

Brand new puppies! 

hi Dad, it has been a good week. General Conference was super awesome. i received so much revelation for mission life, and surprisingly post mission too. just some things that i will do to help keep me grounded and safe. we did get a new investigator, named C who came to watch the second session on Saturday. he is super into scouts, like HUGE into scouts. he is 21 and helps out with Anderson's local troop a lot. we are excited to help him see the fruits of the gospel, and he will have many friends for us to teach. he seemed to really like it, and was excited to meet with us again. he even biked to the church to get there because he doesn't have a car. 

we did not find a whole lot this week, but we went back to see M & L, and their husband/Dad is NOT fond of missionaries, so we have to stay clear of there for a while. we were kinda bummed about that. we saw D & K yesterday, and really helped them learn more about the Book of Mormon, so we hope they are reading it. we have not been able to see J, he has been busy and also sick.  we watched all the sessions at the church. 

that is really cool to see all those people from different backgrounds around the world. we really are blessed, i have really come to know this from the areas i have served in. it's so nice to be able to live around so many people with the same standards. 

that is cool you're getting so much finished with the floors and everything. hopefully, you will have fun in San Diego! 

i don't know if i have a favorite talk, i really liked how all the talks flowed from the nature of Heavenly Father and his plan of happiness, to spiritual improvement and listening to the guidance we receive. i will think of a favorite for next week. sorry, i can't think much right now, i have some food poisoning or some bug that i picked up last night. i feel a lot better but i am still really weak. well, thank you Dad for all your support! i love you so much, have a great time on vacation!

-Elder Sedlacek

hi Mom, it was a pretty good week. i wrote about investigators to Dad. we did get one to conference-- that was super cool, especially since we had just barely taught him the restoration a few days ago. 

time is going by so fast, it is crazy! i got a lot of direction for the rest of my mission and some guidelines and rules for myself after the mission. the rules i have won't be easy, but i know i have to have them, 'cause God told me to. my favorite quote: "I never said it would be easy, I said it would be worth it."  

i absolutely loved General Conference, i felt the spirit so much! it is always humbling to feel the spirit confirm that God is proud of me and i am doing the right things. it was an interesting experience. we got to watch all the sessions at the church, it was nice. 

i did get the test strips! thanks so much for the treats! yes, i got the blue pair of pants. i did not have a return address thingy for the other pair, but i have been slimming back down, so they should fit better pretty soon. 

i actually don't have a favorite talk yet, although i really liked  S. Mark Palmer's! i have had a similar experience as those missionaries, just not with obedience issues. the rich young man parable was referenced a lot, i really like that and the story about when Jesus calls his apostles. they literally just dropped everything, and ran. the Bible video of it is amazing by the way. there were a lot of great talks, but the one thing that really stuck out to me from the first, was when Pres. Eyring was speaking. it finally hit me, that i am a true extension of Him to declare the truth. i made me sad to think i will be done soon. it has reinvigorated the missionary spirit in me. i am so grateful to have the opportunity to serve as a missionary and to feel the spirit all the time, and to see so many blessings each day, and best of all to teach the gospel. thank you for sending me on a mission!

that must have been cool to have some food cooked by Carli, i always like the South American desserts like flan and stuff. she's right, it is so important to communicate! the reason me and Elder Payne got along so great was because we communicated so well. 

that must have been really fun to have everyone home for conference. that is always a fun experience. hahaha that is so funny about Molly, she is such a diva, but she is not assertive about it at all except to us hahaha. that is funny. 

Elder Hammond and i are staying put this transfer! i am happy to stay another transfer. in the blessing Elder H gave me to help me early this morning when i was really sick, i was promised success and that i have been prepared for this, it was super awesome. i am excited to see what happens.

well, got to go now Mom, thanks for everything! love you all so much! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

Gratitude is a mind set.

Emails from March 20, 2017

hey Dad! it was a good week. we did find more people to teach again, which was awesome. S and W dropped us, that really stunk, but they are obviously not ready right now. we did find an awesome guy named J. 

we saw a house with a mustang II out front, like an old one that is still original, it was cool! so we decided to ask the owner about it, and he came out, we asked a few questions and introduced the gospel to him, and set a return appointment. we went back and taught the restoration, and he had lots of good questions. he plans on coming to church, hopefully this week. we have another appointment tonight. we found a bunch of potentials (people who have appointments with us) and that was super cool, so hopefully those go well. i really do enjoy finding, but it can be tough when people don't keep the appointments. 

we did not get anyone to church--J got a new job, and we are passing D to the sisters cause it's so hard to meet with her since she is a single lady, we thought the sisters would have an easier time meeting with her. 

that is super cool Mia sang in church, is that her first time? that sounds like an awesome talk Carli gave, the atonement is an awesome topic. part of why i love the Doctrine and Covenants so much is cause it's all about missionary work and service in the church, and it has lots of cool deeper doctrine hahaha. i think of missions as the boot camp for life, they help you ground yourself and train yourself spiritually and physically to survive. we also learn how to endure and serve in the church. 

nice work on the floors, they look really nice! i bet that was fun. we moved a guy this week, who had tons of chunks of black walnut wood. that would be perfect for turning huge bowls. it made me laugh, 'cause i was the only one who knew what wood it was--cause of you hahaha.  

gratitude is a mind set. i have to always work on that. the joy and happiness we feel and the love for our Heavenly Father is a choice. we have to try to be thankful to feel thankful. when i am looking for the blessings and God's hand in my life, i see a lot more of it, and that helps to bring me closer to God. i am so grateful i have the opportunity to teach others about the restored gospel. the gospel makes so much sense, and it has brought me closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. i am so grateful for them and all they do to bless me. thanks, Dad, for everything you do, too! love you Dad!

-Elder Sedlacek

hi Mom! it has been another good week. i did get the pants, and about the other ones, they did not come with a return label, what should i do? i have maybe two more vials of strips i think, not sure i really need anything right now, thank you Mom! 

we did find a few more people this week, that was awesome. our efforts are starting to pay off a little more. we have been working lists like crazy, we even had an Elder who went home 'a minute ago' send us some names of the people he used to teach. we  are finding that some of the people who weren't ready back then, are more prepared now. it is so cool to see the Lord's timing work like that. 

we did not get anyone to church again this week, that is the real struggle we are facing, we are trying to get some chapel tours set up so we can help them come to church. Elder Hammond and I get along pretty well, we are working together well, so that is good. he is a really good guy. 

one tender mercy: i had a bad earache through the middle of the week, so i had to spend a bunch of my funds on medicine for that, and that took a chunk out of my food money. then i randomly happened to find a bunch of money the other day, so i was able to still get all the stuff i need--that was awesome!! another cool thing, a guy from Noblesville came to church yesterday because his son is in our ward, and that was cool to see him. there are always the daily answers to prayers i get. the best part of the week was probably the last few days before the weekend, we were able to talk to a lot of people. my favorite person was probably J, who we found this week. 

the atonement really is such a great gift we have been given, and it's free, we just have to accept it. we can receive so much strength from it, it gives us the power to do anything we need. Christ loves us so much and you can really feel that love for others if you understand your role as a missionary. i am so grateful to be able to witness Christ's love being manifest through the gospel to others every single day. thanks Mom!

well, i got to go. thank you for everything you do Mom! i hope you have a great day! and week! love you so much!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey Dad! it was a good week. we found someone new to teach this week, a nephew of a member who was baptized a few years ago. her nephew is awesome! we showed up to our appointment with her and he decided to just step in and listen to the lesson. he is in his 20s and i think he is going to be pretty solid. we have already taught him twice, so that is going well. we are just working on getting people to church. we did not have anybody show up this past week which was sad, but there is always next week. 

we taught D again, and as you can infer, she did not make it to church again this week. the ever present struggle to get people to church hahaha. she is getting pretty far into in the Book of Mormon, and really likes it, so i am not too worried about her. she already has a growing testimony of it helping her--she even loves it more then the Bible, which is big news out here! it is practically Bible belt country. we are pretty much trying to just do all the missionary stuff--finding, teaching, getting people to church, and baptized. that pretty much sums it up right now. 

we did have some weird weather this week. it got cold for a few days but it's starting to get really warm again. we have had an extremely mild winter, which i am grateful for, it was bad enough as it is hahaha. we did get to go running again on Thursday when it got really cold, but i stayed pretty warm so it was good. i  actually did not hear about the tornadoes, and they don't happen too much around Cincinnati, though they do happen in sometimes in Indiana.  

that sounds like you're having an interesting time at work hahaha, and the hallway looks really good from the pics Mom sent, awesome job Dad! hahaha i wish i could have stayed awake during our Fast meeting, i literally could not keep my eyes open to save my life, so i fell asleep. i was pretty mad at myself hahaha. i think i have hit the peak of my tiredness, i don't drive much anymore, i just start falling asleep because it lulls me to sleep hahahaha, it's not good! haha. 

it's so true though about loving others. that stuff bugs me really bad, everyone has to be loved and know that they are loved, cause for a lot of people that is what keeps them coming to church. this gospel is based on love. the gospel is just to help us become better, and we are meant to do that together. i think that that is so amazing that Heavenly Father has designed it that way, just cause he wants us to be happy and successful. i also like the thought from Pres Eyring. i have really started learning a lot about the temple lately, not because i am studying about it or anything like that, it has just been coming to me for some reason. i have realized a lot about symbolism and a lot about the priesthood. it is really cool stuff, it just blows my mind hahaha. 

oh man, i am excited for the March Madness bracket. it will be fun to get it, thanks Dad! thank you for all you do, i love you Dad! have a great week and good luck with the living room flooring! :)

-Elder Sedlacek

hey Mom! it was a good week. read Dad's email for the teaching updates hahaha. i can't believe it's March either, but i am glad cause it will get warm really soon. out here, the bushes are starting to turn green in the clumps of trees and the trees are budding, it is starting to get really green again. i love it! it has been snowy this week, but every time it melted within a couple hours, instead of two days, so that was nice. we did not really hear much about tornadoes, but a cool fact is that in the Muncie and Anderson area, supposedly an Indian a few hundred years ago blessed the area that tornadoes will never come here, and so far it has stayed true which is pretty cool. i would love to just see one someday. 

we sadly did not have any investigators to church, but we have a pretty cool guy we started teaching this week, so that was awesome. my favorite person was probably him, his name is W. i definitely saw prayers answered with getting over my sickness. it started to get bad again on Wednesday, but turned around pretty quick after that. that was cool. i got my insulin, yes, thank you for sending it. it was funny cause we were studying and a lady came to the door, and in a really sweet grandma voice, said,"i have a box for Jared", and she handed it to me and was like "oh yes, there we go." and it just made me laugh. i don't know the Boyces personally, but i know who they are. i have stayed at the animal house on exchanges, that was pretty fun. it is super huge and really nice, and it's a four pad. it was fun. they have a super nice weight set with all the Olympic stuff, so that was a treat. that is cool you know his sister. some of my mission buddies have lived there, they would go down and play with all the animals and even bring them up to play with them in the apartment hahahaha. i am in the Muncie zone, yes. 

the floors look really nice! that will be fun for Jake, Jeff & Nicole to all to head to Zions, a fun camping trip would be nice right now hahahaha. 

it is amazing when i look back and see all that Christ has done for me and my own trials, as well as the others that i have taught. he really does love us so much. we just have to reach out for him. i have been blessed in so many ways, and when i didn't feel like it, it was because i was being ungrateful and was to focused on me. the Lord will always bless us, but sometimes it takes time for him to get everything else in place, and then it's even more amazing cause it makes it blatantly obvious. i love this gospel and the Savior so much, i have changed so much because of it. 

thanks for everything you do for me Mom!

We have been playing a fun joke on the members since I look so young...

hi Dad! it was a good week. i am enjoying the new area and my comp is a great guy, and an awesome missionary, so that is awesome. we have a lot more people to teach in this area. we have a few investigators that come to church and we almost got one there yesterday {D, she is awesome!}. we had a pretty good lesson with her and her daughter, and she seems to be pretty solid, but skipped out on church yesterday.  we did not get to meet with all of our investigators this week, i guess some were busy. we have a bunch of less actives and returning members to visit too, so we are always having a full schedule and i really like that.

i am glad Kyle Busch at least one the first stage of the Nascar, that is weird that they run it in stages now.

too bad you have snow now hahaha, we have been in the 60's and only got two cold days this week in the 20's, but the temps jumped back up today, and we went on a run with a member this morning. that was nice. it sounds like the wood floors are going to be pretty nice, that will cool to see. i like how you have related your job to the purpose of helping others keep covenants, that is so cool.

i had assumed we would get a new pass along card like last year, that will be cool. i always like using the specialized cards. i bet it was fun to watch the weekend sports with Jake haha. it is really cool that Sam is starting now!  i am excited for the March Madness bracket.

i like the new youth album they have released about the youth and asking God, it is pretty good. some of the missionaries think it's cheesy but i like it, it has some good messages. we are literally in the mist of darkness, it is a crazy time we live in. if people just understood more about Heavenly Father and utilized his help, the world would be a lot better place.

i am thankful for being raised in the gospel, and that i get to learn and grow on a mission. my testimony has grown a lot lately, and i am thankful for that. if nothing else, i have a testimony and that's what counts. thank you Dad, you do a lot for me, it means so much. i hope you have a good day! love you!

-Elder Sedlacek

hi Mom! it has been a good week, and i am liking the new area and all the people we teach. my new comp is a funny guy, we already have plans to go to Betos and Vasa when we get home together hahaha. he went to Viewmont, unfortunately hahaha! 

we have been playing a fun joke on the members, since i look so young. we have tricked a bunch of them into thinking i am in training hahaha. we had a meal last night, and we told them i'm training, and then we busted out the restoration lesson and they were like, "wow, this greeny can teach good for being out 3 weeks!" hahahaha! it was funny. i wrote about our teaching pool in Dad's email. 

this week i had some flu-like symptoms start on Wednesday morning--headache, chills, fever, body aches, and cough. it was terrible hahaha. my fever was all over the map and so that stunk, but now i have just a nagging cough left. it is so annoying hahaha. i took some Nyquil the other night, and just passed out immediately hahaha. i am getting over it now, so that is good. 

the time has flown by for me, like i have all the memories of all this time, but it still seems like yesterday i got dropped off at the MTC. it is so weird. hahaha i will be home soon enough hahaha. 

it is crazy that Jessie and Carli are so far along, home and half way? that is crazy. at transfers i got to see the Connellys and that was super good. they are doing well. they seemed happy to see me and Elder Heumann, and it was really nice to see them again. 

Anderson is huge, but we only cover downtown. the sisters get the other part, all the country. bleh, i wish we had country! hahaha. Anderson is a Hoosier town. i like it. we have tons of 'hood people to teach hahaha so that makes it fun. 

when i was sick, i got a blessing from my comp. that itself was a tender mercy from what the blessing said. i definitely have a purpose in this area, and i was promised success as i do my best to accomplish it, so that was cool. 

i have 1 1/2 vials of insulin, so i will need more soon.  

that must have been fun to have Jake come home for the weekend. and i'm excited for the wood floors. 

i have been studying about our purpose and learning more about my purpose, it always helps strengthen my testimony. i printed off some talks to help me study it, it is super awesome. same with our gifts, i am still figuring out my gifts hahaha, it's so rewarding though to see them at work. to me that is a sign that Heavenly Father is proud of us, so that is good indicator when you see them working through you.

thank you so much for the package! i loved the beef jerky, it is so good! it was nice to get the package when i wasn't feeling too well. 

Mom: I'm sorry you were sick! Did you stay in any days because of it? Did it mess up your blood sugars too badly? And how was your last a1c?

no, i didn't stay in any days even though i could have. i just didn't want to. it didn't mess me up too bad, and my a1c was 8.3. i think i have better control now though, so it should be better next time.

okay well, i have to go now Mom, thanks for emailing me, i hope you have a great day! i love you Mom! talk to you next week!

-Elder Sedlacek

Missions are such great life preparation!

hi Mom! it's been a good week. i wrote about the teaching pool and stuff in Dad's email. that member who sent you pics has a son on a mission, so she feels for you hahaha. 

thanks for the laundry tips! i am doing all of that stuff with my whites--i never wash my whites and colors together and always with hot water hahaha, i guess they are just old. i will need new ones when i get home for sure.  West Chester biking really did them in i guess! hahaha 

i know of at least one guy who is going to USU, but i can't talk to him, so i don't know about rooming. probably just put the luck of the draw down i guess hahaha. thanks for taking care of that! 

i do have plenty of pump supplies left--actually i have a little over half a box of sites. everything else is good for a minute. 

sadly, we did not find anyone new this week, but we are working on it. no one we are teaching came to church. lately we are working on prayerfully visiting members with the intention of teaching the restoration and asking for referrals. that is why we are getting so many--it really works, and i love doing it. 

one big tender mercy {and miracle} was finding money that just appeared in my wallet somehow, that was awesome! the spirit and i have such an interesting connection, it is usually so subtle that i think it's just me thinking, but whatever i thought works out miraculously and then i know it was the spirit, cause my ideas don't work in missionary work hahaha! it's all about God's ideas. 

that is good Mia got back into the swing of things this week, and your spring-like weather is what's nice about Ohio, Spring is just about to hit here for real. it will be getting warm in about 2-3 weeks, i am excited. 

i love the book of Alma, it's such an amazing missionary book, that and 1 Nephi are good for missionaries. they completely sacrificed their lives for God, and He made it worth it. they gave up a worldly kingdom, but He gave them a real kingdom, and more happiness then they could ever imagine. miracles occur after the trial of our faith. their trial was going to teach the Lamanites, not knowing if they would live or die. i love the story of the waters of Sebus, with Ammon, he was such an amazing servant, that is how i want to be. God has given me so many blessings, i am so grateful for what He has blessed me with--i could list off stuff all day and for the rest of my life, but we have to show that gratitude by obedience. 

thank you so much for all you do for me Mom! oh yeah, funny story--so in our apartment, our neighbors' and our pipes started leaking really bad from the upstairs sink, and the kitchen sink downstairs. so we thought we could not even shower, so we had gotten permission to stay Saturday night at the Middletown Elders' apartment, so i had my first sleepover (pover as missionaries call it) on the mission hahaha. but turns out we can shower, we just had to ask some members for some water jugs to drink with and wash dishes til the leaks are fixed. that's all for the week.

well, I have to go now Mom. Thanks for all you do! I love you all so much! talk to you later!

--Elder Sent-the-check

hey Dad! it has been a good week. sadly, we did not find any new people this week, and the referrals went south on us, so that was crappy. but yesterday the relief society president gave us a whole list of people, so that shows we have trust and that God is still providing for us! 

it seems like everyone was sick here, so we were not able to meet with S cause he had the stomach bug, so that pretty much destroyed the chapel tour we set up. hopefully we can have it this week when he feels better. we still have pretty much no teaching pool, but that will change. i was just talking to my comp yesterday about that, he feels pressured since i have been out for so long now, and it's his first time taking over an area, so he feels like it's his fault if we don't have anyone to teach, or if people reject us. that has taught me a lot about how Heavenly Father and Jesus must feel about us. they have experienced what we go through and they know what will come. i remember feeling the same way when i was at his point in my mission, it really makes me think. i try to help him understand, and he does not quite understand it yet but he will in time--just as with every other missionary. missions are such great life preparation! 

my diabetes has been getting better, my blood sugars are not quite so high so often, thank you for the prayers! i have an A1C coming up in about a week, so we will find out what it is this time hahaha. 

i will write about a funny story that happened this week in Mom's email. that is too bad that Mick had to come home, i hope his health is better. i would be so sad to have to come home early. i am sure he did a great job! 

that is crazy about the Super Bowl, we hardly got anyone to answer the door last night, so we figured it was a good game. hahaha  we also had good meetings all around, we even presented the 40 day Fast in Elders' quorum, so we are hoping that brings in a lot of referrals. it should be starting soon. 

that's funny you say that about wearing a suit to work, i actually enjoy it now. non pros clothes just feel wrong to me hahaha. speaking of, i got my blue suit fitted, so it fits well now, it's not too big anymore. it was only $35 to do it all, it was a good price. 

it is cool to see the growth of the church in the world now, it really will fill the whole earth, and you see that now in your job. i guess world wide the missionary efforts have changed, cause at least the US is starting to see different patterns in effective activities. it's cool to see it happen. the Second Coming is coming soon. 

i love that conference thought, i have been really working on how i ask questions when i am teaching, like using questions such as "how do you feel about...."  so you can get more of what they are thinking, not what they think you want to hear. there was a really good article about that on the church website about two months ago about asking questions. questions allow the one being taught to really ponder on what is being taught, and that makes room for the Spirit to touch them in such a way that rings true to them. it resonates with what they actually need to hear at that time. all teaching in the gospel should be based out of love. Elder Payne has really helped me to improve on that this transfer.  i know that as we follow the Spirit and involve God, and get out of the way of His will, we will see miracles and blessings in our lives! i see it every day. 

thanks for everything Dad! i love you! talk to you later! have a great week as usual!

-Elder Sedlacek

Beating the odds

hi Dad, it has been a really good week. it was long though as most first weeks in a new area are haha. Springboro is affluent, and is a lot like West Chester and Englewood, in fact it's right next to Mason, in West Chester, so it feels like home hahaha. i love it! 

Elder Payne is a boss, he has been out for 4 1/2 months and knows a lot and teaches really well. he loves giving gospel lectures in comp study, so those are on point hahaha he is really funny too, and i am pretty sure he had fulfilled part of my setting apart blessing with the part about new missionaries. we have a full time car, a really nice Malibu, so that is nice. 

they just baptized the most solid kid ever, so we have to get a new teaching pool, which might take some time, but we have been getting some really good referrals this week. one for a guy named C, he is cool. we have a return appointment with him this evening. another referral we got was for a lady who was supposedly 39, so we show up to give her the Book of Mormon and she turns out to be 13! so i said "oh, are you _____?" and she was like, "yes", i was all "okay then..." hahaha she is pretty intent on finding the right church, although she is scared of us i think, or intimidated, so she seemed nervous about a return appointment. so we will follow up by phone soon. this ward focuses on the less actives, so we have a lot of those to work with. 

that is good you are staying busy and working hard at work and at the gym hahaha, that will really help you a lot. 

it is true, we think we can sometimes know God better by "head" knowledge, and not turn it into heart knowledge. we have to earnestly seek him through study and apply the teachings we learn to make it heart knowledge. i mean, if it's spiritual it has to deal with how we feel things, so naturally if we want to understand and know God, we have to feel him. we have to establish a prayerful relationship with Him and apply the atonement. 

Bro. A really does love the air museum! hahaha Dayton stake is the best! sounds like some good games are going on, i also heard about the Raiders pending move. that would be super cool hahaha. speaking of cars, we have a Ford dealer outside our apartment with the coolest lifted and modded F150s! i go crazy thinking about driving them hahaha. 

i think of D&C 93 with that conference talk, we have to receive our understanding and knowledge line upon line, grace for grace, just as Christ did. i know that as we seek through study, prayer, and action, we will continue to grow our knowledge of the gospel. thank you Dad! i love you Dad! i hope you have a great week! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey Mom! it has been such a great week! Springboro is the best! i wrote some about the area to Dad, but it is a rich area, and has some country in it too--i really like that. the ward is super awesome and supportive, they feed us a ton! Elder Payne is from Gilbert Arizona and is a boss! this is his second area, and he had a rough time with his past companion, so he has thanked me up and down for how i am. we do work well together, and teach equally so that is really nice. 

i saw Bro Gilbert and Bro Pawlik at transfers, so that was super nice. another perk of the area is that Elder Nielsen from Cincy is my District Leader. he is awesome, so that is cool. one tender mercy was getting permission to go to the Columbus temple with another set of Elders. i learned so much and got to spend time in the Celestial room, and it put me on a spiritual high for the rest of the day! it was great! 

one cool experience, we were trying to contact a less active, and decided to "225" and so i said a prayer just silently, "i know there is someone here, and so tell me where to go," and i felt inspired to knock a certain door and a teenage kid answered the door and invited us back, so that was awesome. 

a funny story--so on Wednesday after district meeting we went out with our DL and his greenie to eat at Steak n Shake, i don't know if you have heard of the 7x7, but it's huge and i lost in "what are the odds" to eat it {meaning Elder Sed's "odds" to eat it all were "not good"}, and man that thing was hefty hahahaha. but i did eat the whole thing, and it didn't destroy me haha! 

hahaha poor Dad, got shopped to death with all the girls....did he pass out? hahahaha i will save him soon hahahaha. i do not remember J.T., but that is a really cool story.  that is a cool story from you, too. it really is when we lose ourselves in the service of others that we find ourselves and that is where the miracles are. 

one thing i am really focusing on this transfer is to not let the things i can't control that make me stress out, not bother me in the least. it has really helped me to stay positive, since i was told to when President Stuart set me apart as a missionary. i really do feel that is my example that i am supposed to set, it has helped me to really understand the purpose that God has for me a lot more. i may not be a District Leader or anything like that, and that's ok, i don't need to be. but i am sure as heck trying my best and doing everything in my power to grow my own testimony and the testimonies of the people we are teaching. this is God's work, and He will make it all possible. i know this will be a good transfer, we are gonna baptize all of Springboro! hahahaha. 

thank you Mom for all you do! i have to go now, it was great emailing as usual! i love you all so much! have a great week! love you Mom! keep being such an awesome Madre!

-Elder Sedlacek

The two-week shaft!

Mom, i am getting transferred! this is what you call a 2-week shaft, unknown to missionaries before this date! hahahaha when you only spend one transfer in an area it's a shaft, but yeah, i've been here two weeks hahaha. i am going back to the Dayton stake, in another nice area, Springboro Ohio, with a guy who just finished greenie breaking, Elder Payne.

hey Dad, it has been a good week. first off, i am getting transferred, and i am going back to "Ahia," to Springboro. it was super funny, our bishop said to me, "you just got here," and he told one of the members to stay close to me, cause he thought i would finish my mission here. hahahaha guess not! still a chance though, i guess. 

this week we had an investigator, T, who was going to come to church but he bailed on us i guess. he did not show, although he seemed really solid. he has been taught in the past, and seems to have a strong desire to change. we had a really good lesson with him and helped him get back into the "swing" of where he left off, and helped him understand the importance of the Book of Mormon and the priesthood. 

we did not see G at all, he was never home. we did not find anyone new other than T and an old guy who does not seem too interested, but Elder Nelson was fond of him, and sees potential in him. he told us he did not want to commit to any religion, because he is set in his ways. that is why i was doubtful, but i guess we will see if they continue to meet with him after i am gone. we had some good lessons with R. his family has disowned him, and so he struggles. we have been helping him with some of that stuff. he is doing better and getting more motivated to grow his testimony. 

that topic of always having spiritual experiences is something President Porter really instilled in me. everyone in the gospel needs at least one spiritual experience each and every day, and most of the time it's up to us to create those by reading the scriptures and studying. when we do that, we are a lot better off spiritually and will be able to be much more in tune with the Spirit. that will increase our ability to live the Doctrine of Christ to help make us truly repentant.  

President Welch rebuked me in my interview on Friday, for being frustrated with how things were going. he explained to me that it's not about the work when we are frustrated, it's about ourselves not wanting to change. i realized that as he was talking to me. as we focus on others and improving ourselves, and what we can do better, rather than on the things we can't control, we lose ourselves in the work of the Lord and unlock our potential. i thought that was a good thought hahaha. 

that is really good with how you have been feeling healthier, i love the benefits of exercise! that is cool Jake is getting into it too hahaha.  that is super cool the Utah teams played well. for hunting next year, i think deer and maybe elk or something like that. whatever you want to put me in for is good with me, just get me out hunting hahahaha! just kidding, if nothing else duck hunting will be perfect. 

thank you for the affirmation of your answer to your prayers, i try to always ask if i am doing what is pleasing, i always feel at least good about it, you affirmed it though, thanks Dad! thank you for the article too, i will print it out to read, thanks for all you do Dad! i love you Dad! have a great week! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey Mom, it has been a good week. we did not have any of our 'gators show up to church, and neither any of the less actives we have been working with. we have found some new less actives to work with, so that was really good. 

it has been cold, but it's better than having the cold rain, which we get tomorrow, yay! {not!} i have been staying warm, the only part of me that does get cold is my face and my hands and feet. i am discovering more and more that diabetics do have poor circulation hahaha! but those hand warmers do the trick. we still bike i think, even if it's negative temps. there are not many guidelines about it, so we just do it any way. it was -6 the other day, that was fun hahaha. 

we did not see many 'gators unfortunately, we are still having trouble finding new people. we started trying to find off of less actives more, so that might bring us more luck. we are also trying to get the ward more involved and bring in more referrals. 

that is a good idea about those zip ties on my tires. i might have to try that, since i have road tires on hahaha. that is crazy about the Utah weather. it's good for me, hopefully it's not so dry this summer when i come home, so it's nice and wet, what i am used to now hahaha.  

i will miss Marion, it's a fun little town. that is good you are getting back into the swing of things again, back to real life hahaha. sounds like Libby and Mia can ball up better than me, hahaha i am terrible at basketball! is Bryant gonna leave this summer? it also sounds like you had a good lesson at church. 

they almost had me give a talk in church, but i scraped by hahaha, i was scheduled to speak on the 15th. nevertheless, i still studied for my talk, which was on goals and planning. it really applied to my situation, because we can always improve our goal setting. goals and effort combined with vision, is the driving force for us to try our best and receive God's help to make those goals a success. the better our planning, the better our ability to involve God in the work and in our lives. i know that Christ is always there watching out for us and helping us to succeed. when we have faith, anything is possible, because He is always on our side in our righteous actions. thank you for always supporting me, it gives me the drive to keep pushing on, thanks Mom!

R gave me a temple book about the Indianapolis temple. they came out with these limited edition for the dedication, they are way cool and have a lot about Indiana. 

well i have to go now Mom, thanks for everything! i love you so much! have a great week! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek