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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-Elder Sedlacek

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-Elder Sedlacek

Staying in West Chester

Emails from July 25, 2016

hey Dad, so this has been a good week. we got a wonderful surprise on Friday.  M**** no longer likes being taught by the Spanish Elders, so we are teaching her and her kids again, and she is just as excited as ever to learn. she was so happy to have us back teaching her, that was awesome. so all of her four kids came to church, as well as her and J**. it was a full Sunday again. 

we really struggled with finding this week, but we are still working hard, so they will come. we moved into the former Sisters' apartment on Friday. that was super stressful cause Elder Erickson was sick with the stomach flu on Thursday, so i had to pack up all the stuff myself. the move still went great nonetheless, and the new apartment is super nice! sisters live in high class! haahaha it kinda sucks we don't have our track to run on anymore, so we can't run like we used to, so i have been doing pretty much football conditioning in the parking lot for my exercise. it is fun haha. 

i had the Liberty Elders give me a blessing when Elder Erickson was sick, to help to keep me from catching it and it worked, so that was super cool. {Note: stomach flu and diabetes is a tough combination to deal with, this is why Elder Sedlacek was so proactive}. there was some cool stuff said in the blessing. the miracle for our investigators is how M**** is still interested, i am so mad still that the Spanish Elders took her in the first place hahah, but when they took her over, it offended her and they really did not teach her. it really made me mad, but all is well now! haha she is happy to have us back to say the least. 

P** talked with her husband who is overseas working with the military, and he does not want to have us teaching her, so we can't stop by anymore. she was really sad, i felt really bad for her, so we have been fasting for her, keep her in your prayers. i did get the message from the office about Mom's surgery, thank you for that! it was good to hear! and i did get the strips, thanks! that is so awesome that her surgery went so well, i liked the note she put in the box. hahaha 

you've been cooking? so you didn't poison them hahaha just kidding, you're a good cook too. hahaha that is good you have been getting fed so many meals, it's like you're a missionary again Dad! hahaha just kidding haha. we have a joke in the mission from a funny video we have and there is a coach always yelling "one more! one more!" in it, that is you Dad. hahahaha that is super cool you have a good directer, hopefully he gives you that growth that you desire, that is awesome. 

i heard the Dodgers are playing the Reds in a few weeks, sounds like they are going to get killed hahaha NOOOO!!! thats too bad. that is so crazy that Antelope island is on fire, i bet there was a lot of smoke every where, that is crazy. i bet the Olympics will be fun to watch. 

it really is the atonement that makes everything that we have possible. the atonement even covers the effects of sin before it was performed. Alma was able to experience the healing power of the atonement before it happened, that is so amazing. the atonement is all-encompassing of the plan of salvation, what a gift that is! i know that because of what the Savior did for us, we are able to accomplish everything. we just got the transfer doctrine {news}, we are both staying, we will baptize! yeah! well, i will talk to you later Dad! i love you so much! have a great week Dad! love you!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey mom! so this has been a good week. we are both staying in West Chester for another transfer. as you know we moved this week. President Welch has not made a lot of changes, but we will continue to see. i wrote about the investigators in Dad's email, so you can read it there, but suffice it so say we are teaching M**** again and they are all doing well. 

i am glad you are recovering well, that is awesome! It was nice to hear that message. hahah--Dad is your coach! haha. i am glad you are getting your meds under control.  that is also really cool that you have been blessed with those meals, that is really cool. 

yep, i love the Doctrine & Covenants, they are so awesome. we have like five baptisms lined up this transfer! heck yeah, me and Elder Erickson have each only baptized twice and been out pretty much the same time, so we will end our "fast" together hahaha, this will be the first area i have been in more than three months, that is weird. 

well, i have to go now Mom, thanks for all you do! i love you so much! you're awesome! have a great week! i will talk to you later! love you Mom!

-Elder Sedlacek

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-Elder Sedlacek

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

love you!

-Elder Sedlacek

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

Leaders change patterns

Elder Sedlacek snapped this pic of a double rainbow.

hey Dad, it was a good week. we were able to find some new people to teach this week, and that was super cool. as for all the other investigators, Miss J came to church with her son B, and then no one else made it. it seems like the elders before us hadn't really been finding, so we have had to really put a lot of effort into finding and getting referrals. all the investigators we have that we didn't find our selves are eternigators, so right now we are working the lists and stuff. we biked a lot this week! we went all around to the edges or our area, and it was pretty fun. hahaha the hills here are nothing like the hills in Utah, as far as length and grade, but man! they are rolling, so it is just one after another! hahaha it really gets you a good workout. 

we have been trying to find some Less Actives to work with as well, and we have found a lot of people who don't want to be contacted. it's pretty sad. that is pretty much all that is new for this week--we are just getting the lay of the land figured out--i have the area mapped out pretty well now just by biking most of it. that helped so it is pretty nice. 

you drove to Washington? that is a long drive! holy cow! i bet that was fun though. did you do it in the truck? that is awesome. hopefully, i will get to go back to visit some areas here later on. the scripture you shared is one of the scriptures we have to memorize to get our pins. i like that scripture, you can apply it to so much. the Lord will always be with us, we don't need to get discouraged, things will work out. 

like Jake, i hope i can go with my investigators to the temple as well, but first i need some more baptisms! hahaha i am trying so hard to get some, but it just doesn't always work out that way. i will get some more though. well, i hope your work catch-up day is going well, that was some time worth spent, hopefully you can get caught up fast. don't worry about the sports update, if you don't have time you don't have time hahaha. that is cool thought the hockey playoffs are coming up. that will be fun for you to watch. that is sweet Jake got that kayak. i have always wanted one, that is super cool. that is awesome! i will have to get one as well. 

that is true about members doing the finding, that is the way it should be done. i should not be a good finder, but unfortunately that is the way it is here for now, but we will change it. haha leaders change patterns, and President wants me to lead, so i will do it. it makes the work so much easier. the members are good about coming with us in this ward, we just need to get some referrals coming. well, that is about it for this week. oh yeah--so every morning we run around a track in our complex, i have been able to run 4 miles in around 20 mins every day the past week, it turns out jumping rope makes you quicker as well! hahahaha tell Jeff to beat that! hahaha well, i will talk to you later Dad! i love you Dad! have a great week!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey Mom! so this was a good week. we worked hard and it paid off. we found a few new people to teach and got a lot done. we are getting the lay of the land all figured out and everything, getting lots of biking done! hahaha my metabolism is speeding way up (hahaha) i also need to adjust my basal rates because i keep running low {blood sugars} with all the biking up hills and whatnot. 

the weather has been good. the other day it was kinda cold and we were biking so it gave me a slight cold. i am just getting over it now.  i told Dad, but also every morning we run around the lake at our complex and it is a mile long. i run 4 miles every morning in about 22 mins, it is awesome. i even ran a 5:30 mile the other day, i have decided i might run when i get back. :)  hopefully, the baby comes soon, you will have to let Sister Porter know. that will be good to get some plants in the ground, so you can have a garden this year. 

i will let you know when i need more diabetes stuff, thanks Mom. that is cool all those kids in the ward are graduating. I am glad you got to see the dance stuff and the concert, i bet that was all pretty fun. i am sure that it was fun for Jake to visit his mission. i am glad your week went well! that is about all for my week, we are just working hard and trying to baptize. thanks for your example! 

Mom, by the way, when is my next pump coming? the screen on this one is getting hard to read, the screen is darkening. i'm not sure why.

i have to go now mom, thanks for emailing me, i love you! have a great week! grab life by the horns!

-Elder Sedlacek

I know that as we continually strive to be better that we will become better, despite what the adversary tells us.

hey dad! this was a good week. but before we start, we are getting "white-washed"--doubled out! it kinda stinks, but i know the Lord has His reasons and it is what the area needs. we had a ton of grace this week, we had members out with us almost every day! it was sick! V and his daughter and brother came to church yesterday! they were late, so we thought no one was going to show, but then just when we had given up, he walked through the door! it was awesome! M's boyfriend (G) started in on the lessons as well, he is the most prepared person ever! he committed to live the Word of Wisdom the first lesson, and also the law of chastity. he went from smoking 9 cigarettes a day to 2 within 3-4 days! he said that they will either separate or get married asap! it was a huge miracle. they are for sure getting baptized! 

a few less actives have promised to come to church this Sunday, this area is rocking it! i am so sad to go, but i know it will pull through. we just have to trust in the Lord and get all the records spic-and-span today. we have a lot to do! hahaha not so much with records, but packing and such! hahaha 

yep, we had to officially ''drop'' a few people this week, but as you said they will have their chance to accept the gospel, whether that be in a few weeks or years or even later, they will thank us for doing our best. that is good you had a good Fast Sunday, ours was good as well. it was not as good as the last one, but it was still very good, especially to have a few investigators there! 

hahaha so you're not so tech savvy there, huh Grandpa?! hahahaha just kidding Dad, that is good you got it figured out in time for your lesson. i probably would have struggled as well. 

that was crazy, you had another wind storm! last night we had the biggest rainstorm i have ever beheld! i woke up to the thunder, it literally sounded like it was echoing from about 15 miles in each direction, it was so loud! think of the largest sea storm you can imagine and take the thunder from that and imagine that, it sounded like that! no kidding, it was insane. i was too tired to get out of bed, so i just listened to it before i passed out asleep hahaha. 

wow, A&J are moving! good luck to them! that is way cool USU players are going to the NFL, and that is too bad the Reds lost. thanks for the awesome update! 

i love that talk you shared. none of us are perfect, but we are working towards it. we may not always feel like it, but as long as we are utilizing the Doctrine of Christ in our lives, we are moving towards Christ, that is the goal don't ya know. i know that as we continually strive to be better that we will become better, despite what the adversary tells us and tries to convince us that we can't. well, we are short on time today, i will write more to mom. i love you Dad, have a great week! talk to you on Sunday!

hey Mom, so this was a good week. we had a few investigators at church this week, i wrote about that in Dad's email. Today i am short on time, so you will have to refer to that one for investigator news, I'm sorry. 

well, Elder Sutton and I are both being transferred out, it sucks, but i will trust in the Lord and it will all work out. i love this ward and area so much, it will be hard to leave. 

my week has gone by crazy fast as well. on Thursday we had a Zone meeting, and it was super awesome. i got some awesome revelation for myself. I was told to stop beating myself up for things i mess up, stuff like that, and to focus on how the Lord qualifies who He calls and how much He loves us. 

i did get the strips and batteries, thanks! so much! my favorite person was G. i wrote to Dad about him. the hardest thing was probably one day, can't remember which, we were not able to get any members out with us and all our appointments fell through, but it worked out at the last minute because a member suddenly decided to come with us. so we were able to see some people in the far reaches where the bus doesn't cover. it was awesome! 

when the baby is born, you could probably just call the mission office, they will probably let me know. thanks for thinking of that! well, i hope it all goes well, wish them luck for me! 

that is good the windstorm wasn't bad enough to cause any real damage. For Skype just plan on about 4-5 pm your time, but i have no idea since i am getting transferred. i think we can call to set it up the day before, but we will see. just keep an eye out, maybe i will get a member to text you. we will figure it out. 

i love that thought from D&C 11:20, that is awesome and a great scripture, thanks mom! it is true, when you think about it, as a missionary, we just have to keep the rules and do what we are supposed to and we will still see miracles, at least that. it is awesome, our life is simple when you think about it, easier said than done, but simple all the same. well, that is it for this week, how you doin? oh yeah, this week, that day when we had no members to come with us we spent in the 'hood where we could access, and by the end of the day, when i called a member, i literally without even meaning to said "How you goin'?"​ hahaha! 

Mom: Hey son, good to hear that you had a great week. I’m happy about all the success you had!

Transferred eh? I suppose you don’t know where?

When the baby is born, I’ll call or text Sister Porter. I have her number.

I wish you the best of luck tomorrow for transfer day!! I’ll be praying for you!! I Love you!!

nope, i don't know where I'm going yet, i will know tonight. even though i'll really miss the people and area here, i do feel very good about this transfer. i pray about every transfer and i feel like we did accomplish what Heavenly Father wants us to accomplish to the best of our ability. thanks for texting Sister Porter when you do, Mom!

i have to go now mom, sorry we could not talk more. i love you Mom! expect a card in the next few days, and have a great week! you're the best! talk to you on Sunday!

-Elder Sedlacek

Some people think they can discourage us, but they are wrong

hey Dad, so this was a pretty good week as well. it absolutely FLEW by! by the end of the week we had 7 people committed to coming to church and we had followed up with them throughout the week. then Saturday night took a turn for the worse, every single person did not come because of bad stuff happening--one even had their apartment flood. we started getting texts as soon as Saturday night telling us who would not be able to make it. we only had the eternigators at church, and that is awesome, but we had only about half of those people who had accepted dates for baptism. they just needed to come to church to be on date. it was tough, but that only means the miracles are coming soon! 

so we found a few new people this week. one of which is M. she is 18, living with her boyfriend and is a very solid investigator. we found her on Monday night and had taught her the restoration on Wednesday. she really liked the lesson, and even had tears in her eyes. she was way excited to come to church, but hers was the apartment that flooded, so she was not able. we will get her next week though. we gave a few commitment lessons as well this week, those are always tough, they are commonly known as "drop lessons", they decide if you drop people or not. sadly we have not really "dropped" J & A, but they have one more shot to come to church without any help. 

it is tough to stop teaching the people you love and can see so much potential in! all the rest of the investigators are doing pretty well, we just have to get them to church for pete's sake hahahaha. you would think that living in the top of the Bible belt, it would be easy to get people to church, but not so. that is way cool you got to go see the Utes play already, do you have tickets for the season? you must have gotten up pretty early to get those chores done, that is awesome. good work Dad. that is good you are doing well at work, saving lots of money hahaha. 

that is a lot of rain for Utah, that is crazy, hahhahaha, i am going to be like a fish out of water when I step off that plane hahahaha, "water! water!" hahaha. The lesson on the gold plates must have been a cool lesson, they really must have kept such good care of the plates to have them last that long and not tarnish. the Lord definitely protected the plates. it is truly amazing to see how the Nephites only recorded 1/100th of what happened to them, and yet to see how that small portion testifies of Christ so well--think about the other 99 parts. that is way cool you got to go to the temple on Thursday, we should be going soon as a mission, i am excited. don't sweat it about the sports update, whatever you have is fine by me. thanks for the all the other awesome updates you give me though, they are always awesome. 

that talk you shared was awesome, he came to speak with Elder Neil L Anderson when he visited this mission, he is a cool guy. I took some pretty diligent notes during his talk. it seems like I am always wanting to find better ways to remember the Savior at all times and to always have him on our lips. we can't ever let ourselves go through a gospel discussion and not testify of the Savior. all things are possible through Him and because of Him, we must always include Him. I am so grateful for the mission that i have served so far, it has been tough, but it has been the greatest blessing in my life. I know that because of the Savior i am still out here serving and I can continue to serve and help bless others' lives. it is a great opportunity to be able to defend the faith and the Savior every single day, it is awesome! I love you Dad, it was great to hear from you. thanks for being an awesome Dad! talk to you later! love you! have a great week!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey Mom, this was a good week. i wrote a lot about what happened with church in Dad's email. as for the rest of the week, we had found a few new people to teach who seem pretty nice. i wrote about one of them, M, in Dad's email. M shows a lot of promise, that is for sure. 

the best thing that happened this week? hmm...that is actually a tough question. we had a lot of miracles this week as usual, but it was probably teaching M the Restoration, or teaching another investigator, L, the restoration as well. he is really excited to be baptized and thanked God in his prayer at the end of the lesson for "guiding him to Mormonism." when we recited the first vision, he was acting like he had heard it before and was just smiling and super happy. then he said he was feeling the spirit and described it to us. that was sick! 

the most challenging thing was probably not having any of those people who had accepted dates for baptism come to church. that was tough. it was also really funny--we were 225-ing a referral and we bumped into this guy who had supposedly been a missionary for another church. we approached him and he just let out this huge sigh. he then just looked back to what he was doing. we started asking him if he would be interested and he just said, "NEVER." we said "do you know anyone who could use this message?" and he was just like "NO," and so we were like, "well hey, have a nice day sir." he immediately replied with "You have a bad one!" we got back to the car and just started laughing. it is so funny when people do that to us! hahaha they think they can discourage us, but they are wrong. hahaha 

that is crazy, you had a busy week then huh? good job Mom, you got a lot done. that is awesome. i am excited to meet my nephew! maybe we will get to Skype with him if he is born in time. that is way funny about Elder Hale looking like a native. i figured he would--that dude tans like nobody's business. that is good he is doing so great. 

i really like that analogy for women and the priesthood. i might have to use that some day, thanks. it is true, we do everything because of the priesthood. i am so grateful to be able to use that power. it is truly amazing to be able to bless people who are sick or need comfort. you truly can feel the love that Heavenly Father has for those individuals when you give blessings--it is amazing. that must have been a great lesson. 

if you could mail me some strips this week before transfers next week, that would be great! thanks Mom! that is so cool A.P. got his call! that will be such a cool mission, he is going to love it. the people from that area who live here all have such a strong faith in the Savior, it is sweet. 

i am excited to Skype on Mother's Day. today we realized this next transfer is President Porter's last. i have 3 months til my year mark, and we get to Skype very soon. time is going by way too fast, it is ridiculous! well, that is what i have for this week, how you doin?

Mom: I am doing great! What are you doing for p-day today?

we are heading to Dayton and touring a Masonic temple with the Zone Leaders. it should be fun. i have to go in a minute, is there anything else Madre?

Mom: Do you need anything else besides strips and lithium batteries? 

nope, i am good on everything else. well, i have to go now Mom. thanks for emailing me! i can't wait to Skype with you guys! have a great week, i love you Mom! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

It is amazing how the Spirit works through us to touch other people's lives

hey dad! so this week was pretty good. well for this week we did have a lot of success. we put  L*** on date for April 1st (no joke hahaha). we also put R******* on date for the 26th of March! we are working on getting more support from her family. her mom loves the church, but has a lack of motivation to actually come, so we are working with R's aunt, who lives in the ward, plus all her cousins to help us. we found a few new investigators and had to drop some others, but overall we are doing well and hit our leadership standards this week. we are still working with lots of LA's. the zone conference this past week was sick! president porter talked about Joseph Smith, and some anti-theories for about an hour of it, and he totally disproved each theory and taught us a lot about his life so we could get a better understanding of him. it was an awesome meeting!  that is good you are getting so much finished up at work and that the weather is starting to turn around. the weather here is going to be in the 60's all week. like is said of Ohio (and Utah) we have all four seasons and if you don't like the weather stick around for a minute hahaha. so Manning is finally retiring then? i saw that race going in a few windows yesterday hahaha i bet it was a good one. that is good the jazz won again, it sounds like they are doing pretty decent. that is super cool that the utes are playing good basketball again. hopefully they do well this year, i REALLY hope Louisville does well, also Xavier, they are both local as you know. i don't  care much about Xavier but they were just outside of my area in Cincy. that sounds like you had a good church yesterday. R came to church yesterday, and so did her sister who had a baby--we got to help bless the baby. it was a good meeting for them, it really focused on families and stuff which is what they need. in sacrament meeting, i like to focus on the temple and the covenants i have made and how much of a blessing it is, and of course I like to focus on the savior as well, and all that he has done for me and all of us. the sacrament is an awesome blessing, you can receive so much personal revelation. i have really come to love sacrament meeting as i have been out here. well, it was great to hear from you dad! i love reading your emails and all the stuff you are doing. thanks for being such an awesome dad! i love you dad! have a great week!

-Elder Sedlacek

hi mom! so this week was pretty good, we did have a lot of grace and miracles! i am glad your week was the same! You asked if my comp is a lot taller than me--elder parker is about 6'3" so he is pretty tall. that is way funny about Dallin having a comp way shorter than him. 

you can probably send the strips but keep the pump stuff if you can, if not just send it. thanks for sending that stuff! 

the best lesson i taught this week was probably with R when we put her on date, i wrote about her in dad's email. she is literally the spitting image of Mia hahaha. we also put L*** on date and i was so proud of her! she has trouble memorizing stuff, but she has memorized that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that he translated the Book of Mormon. i was so happy hahaha. it truly is an  awesome experience getting to teach her! also, in testimony meeting, a little kid who had been taught by some sister missionaries a few months back got up to bear his testimony, it was so simple and sweet. he is only 9 but he also thanked all the missionaries for teaching him the gospel. it was the cutest thing i have seen on my whole entire mission hahaha. 

that is cool that Mia's play is starting up. that is funny that now Libby needs glasses, so 3 of us kids are down for the count and the other 3 are still standing. i hope to never have to have glasses! hahaha. that definitely is a blessing that the insurance is good enough to pay for everything. 

that must have been nice to go the temple the other night. can you believe it has almost been six months since my last visit? we get to go in the next few weeks, i am excited! that must have been fun to have Jake at home for the weekend. Hopefully his spring break goes well. i am glad you had a good time at church as well, and i am glad you were able to use what i said last week. it is amazing how the spirit works through us to touch other people's lives. I really mean what i said, too. that sounds like a good lesson, it sounds like you are really trying to follow the spirit when you prepare your lessons. if nothing else you will be able be a tool in the Lord's hands as you do that, that is awesome! thanks for all you do mom! 

I sent a picture of me with one of the member's dog--he is huge and stands up to my shoulders. The members are always telling me how young i look too. They like to tease me that i was just in the womb a few days ago! haha I've gained a few pounds so most people think i am 14 or 15 now. 

Mom: Well, that means you have aged to a Teacher instead of a Deacon, so that is good. ;) 

Elder Sedlacek: Yep! haha Is there anything else mom? I have about 10 minutes left.

Mom: Yes, did you find out what your A1C was?

Elder Sedlacek: Yes, it was 7.8, so not very good, but that is what happens when you go from walking everywhere to driving in a car. i've been adjusting my basals so hopefully it is lower next time. my averages recently have been 150 and below, so i think it is helping.

well, i am out of time. thanks for emailing me mom! i love hearing from you! i love ya'll! have a great week!

Elder Sedlacek

I am so thankful you and Mom raised me the way you did.

hey dad! so this was a awesome week! we had several member-present lessons, and found a few new investigators that seem pretty promising. we went to see an investigator that elder anderson (my disctrict leader) and I found on exchanges. he was not there, so we looked around and in the parking lot of the complex there was a man who had just pulled in. i went to offer him a pass-along card (that is my usual approach) and then we started talking to him, and he invited us back for another discussion this week. then on friday, that girl (who reminds me of Mia) who we are working with in a less-active family, had a powerful lesson with us. she told us that every time we come over,  it feels like HF and Jesus Christ are in her house. we told her that was the spirit, and she said she wants to be baptized! so we will start teaching her regularly now and put her on date. they invited us back for dinner tonight! heck yeah! (that is what the Bishop wants in this ward, to have meals at LA's homes). we had an awesome week, we even made contact with the guy we were trying to see when we found the new guy in the parking lot. we were trying to see a guy named ED, and he is promising as well. the girl's name is R____. she even made it to church with her mom and sister, who are less-active. i am glad you had a good week at work, that is awesome. it sounds like you had a good leadership meeting. that is what being a leader is all about, providing counseling and helping to change patterns and help others through loving them. it is good you are getting some exercise in, i have gotten a little more lax with my jump rope routine and so i am now working out hard again! hahaha it is almost all i can do to just jump rope in the mornings, because i am so tired! i have more motivation now that it is getting warm. that is way cool you saw a bald eagle, i see ducks and geese all the time and elder parker is like "wait, where are they?" hahaha  it sounds like it was a good concert and fun date with mom. i love the sports updates--those are all great, thanks dad! i bet that was a good ward conf. i had no idea that sarah was on the stake youth council, that is cool. Family Home Evening is important, that is for sure! i am so thankful you and mom raised me the way you did, with regular FHE. i may have given you crap for it and been a little snot {May have?--Mom (wink, wink)}, but now i am so grateful you stuck to it. thank you!! i see all these broken homes and stuff, and i just want to help them be happy, because that is how our family is, happy and centered on Jesus Christs' teachings, thank you! boy dad, you are really going ham on all that family history, nice job! i saw that the Fiji temple was dedicated, that is cale's temple right now--he went through that hurricane, crazy huh? i love that talk with elder bennett, that is a awesome talk, and that is definitely something president porter wants us to learn for sure, he always tells us to go to the edge where miracles happen, which requires lots of faith. i just love this gospel so much, it makes me so happy, i can't wait to have my own gospel centered home, just like i was raised in!  thank you so much for the example you are to me dad! i think about you and your mission a lot, it gives me lots of motivation to be better and to try harder. i love reading your emails every week, thanks for always sending them, i love you dad! have a great week and day, i will talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

hi mom! so this was one of the best weeks on the mission so far, as far as lessons and finding new gators and being led by the spirit goes. i still had some challenges but they are always there in every step. i wrote about some of the miracles from this week in dad's email, but the best part of my week was probably yesterday--or a dinner at my favorite members' house on friday. 

sunday afternoon the weather was awesome! i got to take my suit coat off and i had my brown loafers on and a brown belt so i looked pretty hipster with my black and rose tie hahaha. 

my favorite 'gator is not mine but the other elders, a 19 year old lady who already has a daughter. she is a way funny black lady who loves to give the missionaries heck, and she is getting baptized! i have taught her a few times on exchanges, and did again this week at the members' house. my own favorite is probably C___, who we found this week. he is a cool guy. 

it is also good you are finally getting your porcelain crown. how bout my porcelain vase, is it still on display? hahaha 

these days it is even hard to wake up in the morning, harder than you would believe, it is literally like i lay down and then the alarm goes off half a second later!  hahaha that sounds like another fun date night, that is good. i bet that was a fun concert, i like that guy's music, it is really good. if there is one thing that i have learned to love, it's conferences, they are always so inspired and awesome, you can get so much inspiration from them. i will have to keep up trying to help others even after the mission, missions are not two years, you get to be a missionary for two years strait, but you get to be a member missionary for the rest of your life!  we really don't have a choice to set an example or not, and for me that is amplified, i am constantly being watched when i am outside of the apartment--i have to represent christ well, and the church too. it is a miracle they let 18-20 year olds do it hahaha because we are not always the best at being good examples, but we have to do our best. 

i wrote Bro & Sister Black a letter this morning and sent it so they should be getting that this week. i might write you one hahaha just kidding i will soon, i just have to find the time hahah i am either sleeping, working, studying or eating hahaha. i will get you one though. well how is everything else going?

Mom: Sounds like you had an awesome week, that is great to hear!

Everything is good here. I just need to know: WHAT IS YOUR A1C? and how many sites do you have? How many strips?

Elder J: i still have plenty of everything, like 4 boxes of strips left and 2 boxes of sites and i don't know what my A1C was. sister w never called back, and i keep forgetting to call her so idk. hahahaha i will find out asap. that is good everything is going good!

hey, watch out for pics on the facebook page this week. we are having a zone conference, and i am in the dayton zone.

okay mom, i have to go now, but it was great to hear from you! i always love to read your emails, I love you all so much, have a great week as usual, talk to you later! ps i am thinking of getting that grey suit refitted soon--within a month or two--what do you think?

-Elder Sedlacek

Transferred to Englewood, Ohio.

Email didn't work well for chatting back and forth again....my emails weren't getting through to him for some reason--dang system. :)  Oh well. Hopefully next week!

hi dad! i am doing great, i am in englewood ohio, it's just outside of dayton, so we have a mix between small town and some "ghetto" inner city. it is not really ghetto to me at all since i have been living in the real ghetto for the last 3 months hahaha. it is a lot like batesville, mixed with cincinnati's size. i love it! my new comp is elder parker, he came out with me as well and we sat on the plane together, crazy huh?  i heard the broncos won, so i am wearing my orange and blue striped tie today.  i was so happy to hear that! i finally won a prize in your scoring grid when i was gone hahaha, i knew it haha! update me on anything like b-ball or stuff like that, whatever you want, i like to hear about it all hahaha. a summer job at cabela's would be way cool for jake. i would love that--outdoors here is putting on a flannel shirt and hunting deer in your backyard hahaha. enjoy the mountains for me! that is awesome that you were able to get so much work done on family history! that is crazy the ward is growing so much, i don't even think i would remember anyone's names now hahahaha So what is the church's new Easter campaign dealing with, like pamphlets and stuff or is it electronic?  i will look forward to it. i know it to be true, through the Book Of Mormon we can come to know jesus christ on a more personal level, if we read from it with an open mind and if we focus on the over-arching message of hope in Jesus Christ.  i also know that God really does know each and every one of us personally, and that he loves us all more than we can even comprehend. i know for a fact He knows who each and everyone of us is, and he knows how to help us the best way possible to return to Him. through Christ it is made possible, with the atonement--the best gift we have ever been given. well, it was great to hear from you! i love you so much, thank you so much for all you do for me to keep me out here. i love my mission and i love sharing the gospel, it brings me a lot of happiness and joy. i will talk to you later dad! have a great week!

love you!

-Elder Sedlacek

hi mom! so my new address is in Vandalia, Ohio. thank you so much in advance for the packages! so my area is Englewood Ohio, we are just northwest of Dayton. Dayton is awesome, it is like Salt Lake City, but with taller buildings. it is cool, i love it. although i am not in Dayton, my area is the suburbs of Dayton and and we live in Vandalia. my whole area is like Batesville mixed with the size of Cincy, it is awesome.  i am seeing a lot more rebel flags, just like in Batesville, i love it hahaha! 

My new comp is Elder Logan Parker, he came out with me from the MTC. he is a good guy, it is nice to have an obedient comp! we have a car full time, but we do use the buses occasionally.  we drive a ford focus, and  it is nice to have a car, although i am going to get fat in this area with the way the members feed us hahaha, every night (almost) and they really give us tons of food. the ward is awesome! so we have a few people we teach, and we just picked up a miracle 'gator on Saturday. H is her name, she is 19 and just moved from Indiana. she grew up going to church every week, but her family are not members so she never got baptized. amazingly enough, she contacted the ward through their Facebook page, and had us sent over to meet with her. she came to church yesterday and bore her testimony about the church and everything! she is going to be our next baptism! she just is waiting for her uncle to come out here to do her baptism. he is always busy with work so we don't know when that will happen. 

we are also teaching a girl who is autistic. her parents adopted her and they now believe that she is fully accountable and able to understand everything, so we are teaching her the lessons. we have a few other "eternigators" we are teaching who could be baptized any day, so yeah, we have a pretty decent teaching pool. our goal is three baptisms for this transfer, and we will make it happen! 

that is good you are enjoying your job, hopefully jake can get a summer job, then he can help me get one when i get home haha!. It is so awesome that J Hale left on his mission, he will be blessed so much for it. 

thanks for putting my name on the Superbowl scoring sheet, i totally forgot about that haha. thanks for the treat! that sounds like you had an awesome Sunday. mine was good too. in my district, we have just us and another set of elders.  my DL came back from medical leave just a week ago, and man, he is hilarious! he is so funny, he is a riot hahaha. we have meal appointments together with the members so they are always a lot of fun. so did you get the pics from sister connelly? i saw them at transfers and they are doing great, frank seems to be more solid than ever! i love them so much, they are literally my grandparents away from home!  that is a cool promise from the family history work, i am glad you are getting so much done, that is awesome! 

i am glad you didn't get driven insane not knowing where I was for a week hahahahaha.  so what is new?

by the way, i can now hold the flag postion for twice as long at least, in my coat! and my church clothes! so yeah the pullups are working, and i am getting stockier. i don't know how much weight i have gained, but i know i have gained muscle 'cause my shoulders are fuller.

okay, i have to go now mom, it was great to hear from you! sorry the email didn't work that great this week, again. i love you all so much! have a great week, i love you  guys, talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

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

11/30/2015

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

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

-Elder Sedlacek

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

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

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

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

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

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

-Elder Sedlacek

I got to try turkey "fries"....

 

hey Dad! oh heck yeah! that is awesome how well the utes are playing! and usu! that is awesome, thanks for the updates! we had an awesome week! we saw a lot of grace and miracles. you can read more about those in the email to mom, but we found 8 new investigators! two of them already want to come to church! one other asked for the church address and is thinking about it! who knows how many of the 8 will still be around next week, but we will do our best. the  less-active we are teaching, A****, is still the same, we may need to drop him for a while. he really likes us, but doesn't have a whole lot of interest in actually learning about the gospel. we will have to see how he keeps the commitments. r******, the guy who asked for "the book" last week has been really busy so we were not able to contact him, hopefully this week. same with JG, and RD. we will see how this week looks.

 

i got to try "TURKEY FRIES" at the masonic lodge annual chicken dinner.  just see if you know what those are before you read the other email, you will find out hahaha. that is good you listened to the spirit, you never know why it tells you to do things sometimes, but it is always for the best. you will hopefully be blessed with some nice deer. you will be blessed though for listening, i guarantee it. i am always trying to follow the spirit and it helps quite a bit. we can't do this work without it! there is more in mom's email, i am short on time today, unfortunately. we have a zone fun day, so that will be good. i love you so much! keep up the good work and have a great week!

-elder sedlacek

 

 

hi mom! this week has flown by, but went slowly as well hahaha! it is weird like that. we have had a very successful week! we received so many miracles and a ton of grace! i also got to give my first priesthood blessing, and my second as well. one to help a sick lady of the ward and one to counsel a  member in the ward and help her to stop smoking. it is an amazing experience! we took J**B to the louisville temple (louivul) that's how they say it here. he received his endowment. that was awesome, i had a very cool experience that is pretty hard to explain. it was awesome. i will tell you about it when i get home! 

 

we also helped out f****'s masonic lodge group with their annual chicken dinner. suffice it to say, it was good and i got to eat "turkey fries" or in other words, turkey nards. that's right....turkey balls. they come in pairs. {Picture Jared's mom about falling off her chair laughing}  it was pretty good, actually hahahaha. they come deep fried.

 

other than that we found 8 new investigators! who knows how many will still be around this next week? but hey! it was awesome! we have not contacted r***** yet. he is the one who asked for "the book." he is going through some medical stuff and was very busy with doctor's appointments, but we found a lot of people in the park this week. get this, yesterday at church, a lady came in during classes and said that she needs a new church to go to! she decided to come to ours. she slipped out before we could talk to her, but before she left she said she would be back next week to help with the primary program! it was awesome. then we had a guy (a boyfriend of the less active lady that i gave the blessing to) have us over and he is already thinking of getting baptized! his name is R. another lady we met in the park, A***** and her young daughter  who is probably 12, said she is probably coming to church this next week! JG was busy with family that is visiting, so we were not able to visit him. RD was very busy with school so we couldn't visit with him either. we hope to meet with them both this week. 

 

the holy ghost is definitely helping with my blood sugars! i like pres.porter, he is awesome! he is an amazing guy. he is very nice and hugs all the elders everytime he sees us. sister porter does the same for the sisters and is the definition of mission mom hahaha. she is very nice, but can be very serious and very sweet most of the time. i did get the insulin a few days ago, and i have a lot now hahaha. i don't think i will need the sites for a while, i am still using the first layer of that box you sent to me when i got out here! so i will let you know when to ship them, but i would wait a little longer. do you need the shipping receipt for the insulin? i could mail it to you, if you need, i am sending dad a birthday letter very soon indeed. that is awesome that your lesson went really well. anytime you go by the spirit, it goes well!

 

i sent you guys a pic of the louisville kentucky temple! it is tiny! no bigger than a church. it was great hearing from you! I love you guys so much! have a great week mom! love you!