I'm so thankful to be serving a mission. I have loved every day!

 

What's up Mama,

Sounds like you had a great week. How ya doing?

 

I am doing really good. I have been settling in to Milton. The ward is starting to catch a vision for the missionary work. This past week we met with the Bishop, and our Ward Mission Leader. 

 

Things are going good with Elder G. Things are good as DL. I love how often I get to serve the missionaries in my district. This week, one of the Sisters had a dog bite her leg, so I went over to give her a blessing. It was really good. Going in I honestly had no idea of anything I was going to say, but I just went in like I usually do to blessings, and just cleared my thoughts. It was cool. When I started, I just said a silent prayer in my heart that I would know what to say to give her some comfort. It ended up being a really good blessing. It just flowed right from the start. It must have worked because she cried. Isn't that how women work haha?

 

All afternoon Saturday I was doing baptism interviews in Pendleton. It was good, because it's all worth the time with baptisms. Those sisters up there in Pendleton do some awesome work!

 

The weather in Muddy Frogwater has been awesome. It couldn't be a better spring, honestly. It has had the perfect amount of rain and sun. Down here in Milton we get more rain than Tri-cities does, so its nice to see some rain for a change.

 

I am honestly doing pretty good. I don't really need anything at the moment.

 

Dallin is going to Bolivia?!?!?!?! That's awesome! Wish him good luck for me. That would be super cool if I got to see Dallin in the airport. That would be fun. So Dallin's mom is going to be the sad Mama, and you're going to be the happy one right? haha. Hopefully it's not the other way around haha.

 

Thanks for doing the school stuff for me. I don't have a clue of what math to take. I don't want to waste time and money taking a class that is too easy, but I also don't want it to be too hard that I don't know how to do it at all. What do you think I should do?

 

Mama: Son! Of course I will be the HAPPPPPYYYYYYYY Mama!!!!

Good job on the blessing. Yes, a woman crying in a blessing is probably a pretty good sign that you said something she needed. haha

 

I will think on the math and also ask Nicole.

 

Hey, there is news on Jared’s call this morning!! He's been assigned and is in the mail. Probably coming in the next day or two or three.....and don’t worry. Mamas have their ways of letting missionary sons in Oregon know asap. 

 

Elder Sed: Oh ok good. I was thinking it was that way haha.

I figured it was a good sign hahahaha.

Oh okay ask Micoe. She's "SMRT" with that kinda stuff.

OOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH BOY!!!!!! Jared's call is coming on its way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What is your guess to where he's going? 

 

Mama: It definitely is that way haha. I’m waiting for my hug and it better be a good one!

 

As for where for Jared.....I don’t really know. You are in Washington, and that is a place I had never even thought of for you, so it’s probably going to be somewhere I haven’t thought of. That being said, Jared REALLY REALLY REALLY wants to speak Spanish. I think he will be Spanish-speaking. My official guess is Washington DC South, Spanish-speaking.

 

Elder Sed: That would be cool for him to learn Spanish. I could see him going Spanish. It will be awesome to find out the big news. Oh you better believe I will give you all a good hug haha. Who wouldn't?

 

Yea, that will be interesting to see what he does and where he goes! My official guess is Wyoming, but what's wrong with Yakima or WKM!!!! haha. That would make me so happy if he really did end up going to Warshington. It would also be cool if he went to DC south Spanish speaking.

I have to get going now Mama. You're awesome for all that you do for me! Love ya tons! Let me know if there's anything I can do for you, even though there isn't much I can do at the moment haha but still. You get the point.

 

You're the best Mama! Keep being the best Mama ever!

Love ya!

-Elder Jake Sedlacek

 

 

Whaz up Dad,

This week was great! I will just start with the update of my week.

 

So this week we had zone training meeting where the ZLs and the DLs train the zone. It was pretty good. I felt like my training went really well. I talked a lot about building a vision with planning and goals. The vision needs to be our eye of faith, with our goals and daily and weekly plans supporting that vision we gain from the Lord. Everyone really liked it, so I guess it was good.

 

The next day after that we had interviews with President Ware. I got my new temple recommend that's signed by him so I will have to keep this one I have now. President is awesome. He's definitely called by God. I know that for sure.

 

This week I had the privilege of giving lots of priesthood blessings. Some to the members in the district I have, and some to members of the ward. I just love to be able to give people blessings by the priesthood of God. It's so cool how you can feel the guidance of God in what to say. I love to feel the love God has for them. I just love to serve His children!

 

As far as our investigators go, we had some good lessons with them this week. We now have two on date!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! F***** is on date for the 25th of April. It's probably going to be pushed back just because he is going out of town for his baseball team. We are just praying that we will be able to figure out a weekend where he will be free to be baptized. He is super excited! He came to church yesterday and guess what? He stayed for the whole block and the Spanish sacrament meeting too. He was just so excited to be at church.

 

The other on date is J****. He's doing awesome too. He is a guy who is kinda rough around the edges and not afraid to say what's on his mind. He's really cool. He told us this week that if he didn't have real interest in being baptized, he wouldn't talk to us. I liked that haha. We put him on date after he said that, for July. It's kinda far away, but he is just so busy every weekend and his wife is pregnant and due in May. I hope everything works out with him too.

 

Other than these two investigators, we do have a couple others, but we are working on finding a bunch more this week. Wish us luck!

Great job with work, Dad. Sounds like it's going good. Save the church some money haha.

 

Oh, you got lots of yard work done it sounds like. Trimming trees is a pain. I know that much. You're going to move the garden to the middle section? That sounds like a good idea. I like how the size of the garden has gradually gotten smaller and smaller as time goes on. I remember when it was the whole bottom section haha. I guess you're just getting old. ;) Just kidding, Dad. You're still super young, strong. Like Nephi, right?!

 

Sounds like you had a fun time just playing with the truck haha. That is super funny. It's like your brand new toy haha. That stinks the ATV isn't starting. I bet it is the carburator or something like that.

A brand new guy won the Masters? That's cool. He sounds like he's amazing! I would like to see him play.

I did hear from Mom that Dallin got his call to Bolivia. That is super cool!!!!! You will have to wish him luck for me. He's going to do awesome I would bet. That's kinda funny that he leaves the day that I get home. Probably won't see him for a while then, unless for some reason we see each other at the airport, but I doubt that too.

 

I heard good news on Jared's call. That is exciting!!!!! You guys will have to let me know asap when you find out. I will be excited to find out where he's going! Hopefully in Washington somewhere. That would be cool.

I am so thankful to be serving a mission. It's been a wonderful time! I have loved every day! I love being able to devote all my time and attention to serving the Lord and his children. I love the Lord! I love his children I have been sent to help! I know this is His church! He leads and guides us as we let Him. I am grateful for the gift of the spirit and what it does to my life. I know the priesthood is on the earth to bless all others besides myself, but I know there are people who are able to help me when I need it as well. I know the Book of Mormon is true!

 

You guys are awesome for all the support you give to me. I know it's a blessing some don't have. I love you guys! You're all amazing! You guys keep up the great work at home! Talk to you later!

-Elder Jake Sedlacek

People do have questions about our church, and they should because it's the true church of Christ.

Milton-Freewater is known for its frog statues.

What's up Mama,

Sounds like your week was awesome! So was mine! I LOVED conference. I really loved all the talks, but my faves were President Eyring's in the priesthood session. (His was all about how the priesthood and the power of prayer are connected.) I also liked Elder Ballard's talk in the priesthood session. It was about raising the bar on RM's. It kinda applied to me haha, sadly enough, since I will be home before the next session in October. I just liked when he made the comment that RM doesn't stand for "Retired Mormon." We need to stay strong in our studies and focus even when we get home. I am going to stay on track. I have already made that decision. My most favorite talk was Jeffery R Holland's talk! Talk about AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just really felt the Spirit during the whole thing. It was just amazing. I am going to get the audio recording on that talk when it comes out so I can listen to it again and again. It was that good. 

Guess what this week entailed? I got the dreaded trunky call that the old missionaries get from missionary travel when they are getting the info together for your flight home. It was funny, because I got mine on Wednesday when I was on exchanges with Elder Nelson. He's the ZL for the Walla Walla zone and we came out the same time, so we both got our trunky calls on exchanges. It was pretty fun haha.

 

That is awesome that Jared's papers are in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is wierd that the calls are coming on weird days like Saturday haha. Makes it unpredicitable.

 

Sounds like you guys had fun on the trip to St. Geezy. That's good. I was assuming you guys would have lots of fun.

 

Easter was fun. This ward struggles with feeding the missionaries, but we did have an Easter dinner. It was some super good hamburgers. Ones like I had with the Hale family. The "juicy Lucys". It was soooooooo good. The miniute I bit into it I said out loud that they were like Juicy Lucys, which is what the Hales call them, and the whole family was like, "what the heck." It was kinda funny. I still remember those things though. They were super good at the Hales' and that was like 2 yrs ago haha. Must have been that good to remember what I ate 2 yrs ago huh? haha.

 

Thanks for the Easter package! I loved it and the shirt! You're the best Mama. Love ya tons!

Talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

 

What's up Dad,

My week this past week was great! I had my first district meeting with the district I am in now. I thought it went really well. I gave a training on how to teach to understanding using the pamphlets that the Brethren have made for us to use. I also focused on teaching to feelings rather than thoughts, because that is a huge help that I have learned in my teaching. At the beginning of my mission when I would teach a lesson, I would find myself asking the investigators questions that were something like "What do you think about that?" The answers were usually nothing inspired and sometimes even went way off in left field, but about a year ago I had an interview with President Ware. He and I were talking about who knows what, but he taught me something that I have never forgotten. He told me "It is always going to be about what they feel, before what they know." He told me the more I focus my questions on feelings rather than thoughts, the better the outcome is going to be. It's really true. I have seen time and time again. I have seen it even in conversation with people on the street who aren't interested, but suddenly you ask a great question and they are talking to you for a while. The power of questions to the feelings of the heart is amazing! When somebody truly ponders on the heart, it always brings the Spirit.

 

Our teaching pool is a bit interesting. This week we dropped basically everyone. We haven't been able to contact most of them and they weren't progressing at all. There are still some that are doing good. We have one on-date for baptism. His name is _____. He is a high schooler who is really cool. He's a Seventh-day Adventist, but is pretty interested in the church. He even came to General Conference and he really liked it. He is on date for the 25th of this month. I can really see him getting baptized that day. It's going to be sweet. 

There are some other people we are working with who are doing pretty good. There was a guy named R*** that we visited this week, and from the looks of the first visit it wasn't going to be much of anything, so when I was sitting in his house I really tried to listen to what the Spirit wanted me to say to him. All of a sudden I had the thought to testify of the Plan of Salvation. It was a complete change of subject at the time, but it was cool what happened. He actually listened. He even said to me "I really believe what you're saying. I really want to believe it, too." This was a guy who didn't want to listen to us and he went from just talking endlessly to really listening to what we had to say. He is reading the Book of Mormon, and he is asking great questions, so I know when he says he is studying, he really is. It's amazing what's happening in his life!

 

I mentioned the girl we had met last week when we got that referral, that turned out to be another referral for a different guy, which really turned out to be us finding the girl. Remember that? Well, we visited her this week and she's doing awesome! She and her boyfriend are looking to get into church. Her boyfriend is a member who hasn't gone in a while, and she is really interested in the message we have to share. She took a Book of Mormon and is reading it too. I hope everything continues to go well with her.

 

Other than those three, we are really trying to find some new investigators at the moment. We are re-vamping the teaching pool. It's going to take some work, but we are going to do it. Just pray for us to be able to find the prepared people in our path.

 

I really enjoyed conference. I shared my fave talks with Mama, so I am sure you're going to hear about it, but we had a lot of the same favorite talks. I really loved Elder Holland's. I loved the visuals he used in the story. I really liked the thought that the Savior is our brother who are the hands hanging down helping us. It's totally true. I also loved President Uchdorf's talk too. He really explained grace in a way that I thought was just perfect. A lot of church members needed that talk. Most don't understand fully how grace works in our lives, so that talk was perfect. I sometimes don't fully understand grace as well, so that's a talk I am going to be reading again soon. Both Elder Holland's and President Uchdorf's. We watched conference from the church building here in town. They like the missionaries to be at the church to watch conference. I like it though because it keeps me focused. It will help Jared to be in a chapel instead of on a couch haha. I guess that when there is a will there is a way with Jared haha. I am sure though that he is going to be too concerned about taking notes that he won't have time to play with toys haha. It's going to be fun to watch conference with you guys in October haha. It will be weird haha.

Hahahaha! Kentucky lost. That is so perfect. I was just waiting for that to happen. Duke made it all the way though. That's crazy. I bet they will win. I hope they do because it will make Utah look better, right?

How are the Jazz playing?

Well good luck with your lesson in primary. I bet you will do good. I bet it's fun being able to teach in there and really simplify the gospel.

 

I know that President Monson is a true prophet. I know the Priesthood is on the earth. The same power Christ used while he was on the earth. It was cool. This morning in Walmart this lady randomly came up to me and asked me if the Melchizedec priesthood was on the earth. I was like "What the heck?" in my mind, but I didn't say that of course. I just know that not everyone knows about that kinda stuff unless they have been really studying something about our church. I just testified right in the middle of Walmart that the priesthood is on the earth and I ended up having a lesson with her while Elder G was printing some pictures off. It was kinda funny. I haven't had that happen to me before but it was good. People do have questions about our church and they should because it's the true church of Christ. As we stand as an example where ever we are, people will be able to recognize that we are members of the church and we will be able to answer their questions. I just love the gospel!!!! I love my mission!!!!!!! Thanks for all that you do to keep this guy out here. I love you guys!!!!

-Elder Sedlacek

 

Being transferred teaches me to be patient with myself.

Emails from Monday, March 30th. 

Hey Mama,

I am doing great! I will be emailing from Milton-Freewater about this time, I would suspect. We email from the church clerk's office because there is literally nowhere else haha. Milton is pretty dang small hahaha. It's really weird for me to be going from a place the size of Kennewick to here. It was honestly kinda of a culture shock, but the people here seem to be pretty nice. 

Thanks for sending me a package! Glad the box got to you guys all safe and sound. I really didn't want to lose the stuff in there. Yep, the temple envelope was made by Mama Splatts. She is awesome! I loved living in her house. It's like the coveted spot in the whole mission, and I got to spend 6 months there. Lucky me huh?

Yep, I wore down those shoes haha. Believe it or not I will have two more pairs of shoes like that when I get home. I have a really nice pair of new shoes that I picked up at goodwill in Kennewick that I will wear @ home.

I didn't remember that Elder J served here a while ago, but now that you mention it I do remember him saying that he served here.

I am DL here over lots of sisters haha. I have 6 sisters, and three other Elders in my district. It's been really fun though, because they are all good missionaries. I am really looking forward to serving them this transfer! I really love to feel the love the Savior has for all his children, including missionaries in my district, so any chance I have to feel more of the Savior's love, it's amazing!

Elder G is a really great missionary. He is super humble and willing to learn. He is just awesome! Willing to work hard and everything. He doesn't really know much about what to do and all that, so it's kinda like I am training him at the moment, but it's good. If I get to help him like that, it's fine with me. I remember when I got Elder R, he was kinda the same way. He didn't have that much confidence, but by the end of our companionship he was doing GREAT! It's nice to help the younger missionaries out. I really enjoy it.

So I live in an apartment with us and 2 Spanish-speaking Elders. It's a pretty nice place. I was kinda nervous when I found out it was a four-man but it's turned out really awesome! They are all great missionaries!

Oregon is super weird haha. Just a dumb law they have is that we can't pump our own gas. They have people that do it for you. You can't even get out of the car to help them. But the good news is that I AM IN A CAR!!!!! It's super nice to finally be back in a driving area haha. It's been a long time. It had been such a long time since I had drove last that it was weird driving again but I am used to it now. We have the car to ourselves. The Elders we live with walk. They have a tiny area.

It is different to be in Oregon but it seems really nice. My area covers some other small towns, like Athena. We also have a small town of Weston. My district covers Pendleton, too, so I went down there this week to do a baptism interview. That looks like a cool place.

 Utes lost!!!! Oh no!!!!

Whaz up Dad,

I am doing great! I have really liked Milton-Freewater so far. It's a pretty nice place. The people here are super. It's just a typical small town environment I am sure I will have the chance to meet lots of interesting people.

The ward is really really huge, but a big percentage don't come. President Ware always tells me to go catch the ward on fire whenever I get transferred, so that's what I am trying to do. I fasted yesterday to know what to do, and I felt like we needed to have our Bishop study Preach My Gospel ch 13. So he is going to read over that and we are going to have a discussion of how to apply it to the ward. It's amazing how much I have learned on my mission. I have learned what helps and what doesn't, so I am just doing what I know worked, and we will see how things improve. I would assume this ward will be my dying area so I'm going to make the best of it!

The teaching pool here is alright. We do have an on-date for baptism who is super cool. His name is _____. He's a senior in high school, and is pretty interested in being baptized. He just struggles with coming to church. He is on date for the 25th of April so pray that he can hit that date! I will let you know more about the teaching pool when I know more.

One thing I love about being transferred is that it teaches me to be patient with myself. It's kinda frustrating for me to not know where I am or who so-and-so is, so it's good to just re-focus myself and work on where I know I can improve.

With being called to DL again, I am really realizing the importance of Christ-like love. I mentioned it in my email to mom, but I really love feeling the love of the Savior for all of his children. Being able to serve as a DL just enables me to feel that even more. It's going to be fun.

We had a cool experience yesterday that reminded me of how God leads us to people who are prepared.

So we were in Milton-Freewater and were just trying by people who the missionaries had taught before, and inviting them to take the discussions again. All of a sudden I remembered that we had a referral for a guy way out in a small town called Athena. It's about a 20 min drive to there, and so we went out there to contact that referral. When we got there, the guy that we had wanted to see was outside so we started talking to him. Turns out he wasn't wanting to talk to the missionaries personally, but he intended for us to come up and visit his friend who has been asking about the missionaries. I thought that was kinda interesting, but he gave us his friend's information, and we went to find him since we had already driven up there. When we got to the other guy's house, he wasn't home, but right when we knocked on the door his neighbor pulled up in a car. We started talking to her because that's what we do--we talk to everyone. Turns out she had never seen missionaries before and was interested in learning more about our religion. How cool is that?!?! We have an appointnment with her this Friday so I really hope it goes well. We really need some more YSA investigators, and that is what she would be. I'm super excited for it.

The name of the sister who brought you my package was Sister N. She just lived down the street from us and had asked me if I had anything to send home, so I put together the package of stuff I had inherited. Glad it got home safe. Yea you can bet that I got every last buck out of those shoes that I could. I wore them until they hurt my ankles to walk in them haha. The giant Rubiks cube I can't solve. It's pretty dang hard. It is fun to play with though. I just didn't have room for it, but I wanted to keep it. Another Elder gave it to me when I taught him how to solve the regular one. It's just something that I try to do with my comps. Teach them how to solve a Rubiks cube. I have been pretty good at it too.

It's too bad that the Utes couldn't pull off the win against Duke. I was hoping they would be able to do it. I knew it was going to be tough though. That's exciting that the Jazz are winning now. I was hoping that would happen sooner rather than later.

Good job on work stuff Dadio. Sounds like things are going super well right now.

Sarah driving? Sounds like I need to be praying for the innocent people of Bountiful Utah. haha.

I like your thought on the what and why Dad. Ironically enough, I was thinking about that same thing but only with my investigators. Lots of missionaries get caught up in teaching the what about everything. Over the course of my mission, I have come to realize that it's not the what that is important in the end. It's all about the why. If an investigator understands why we go to church every week, the simple fact of them possibly not wanting to go to church every week isn't going to matter if they truly understand the doctrine behind it. It's really something that Elder Arnold stressed when he visited the mission. Teaching doctrine (the why), and letting the Spirit teach the what. It's pretty cool how it works out like that.

I know that the gospel is true. It is so amazing how it applies to our lives. It makes me SOOOOOOO happy just thinking about it. I really do have such a love for the gospel. I am super pumped to listen to President  Monson this weekend and all the other general authorities. It's going to be SWEET! I know this church is true. I know the Lord loves his children in Washington and Oregon!!!!! It's amazing to feel it. I know Christ lives. I know our Heavenly Father loves and cares for us as his children.

I love you guys! You guys do so much for me. I hope that the vacation down south will be a blast for you guys. I'm sure it will be! 

Love ya Dadio, and all you other hooligans,

-Elder Jake Sedlacek

Transferring to Milton-Freewater, Oregon!

What's up Mama,

The past week went by pretty dang fast. With email on Wednesday it did just throw my head off a little bit. I woke up Thursday morning and I was thinking really hard as to what day it was haha. I remembered once my brain woke up a little bit though.

Transfer news. Over the course of my whole mission, I have had a streak of moving south. I started in Ellensburg, went south to Sunnyside, then I went south to Pasco, and south to Kennewick, and now I am going south to Milton-Freewater Oregon.  Pretty funny haha. 

 

As I mentioned, I am being moved down to Milton-Freewater. It's right by Walla Walla. I am going to be covering the whole city. It's kinda like Sunnyside, so it's rural like that. The ward boundary is the city, which is only two miles square and has 7,000 people, so it is pretty small. I will be covering the YSA ward or branch as well, so my area will be the whole stake for YSA peoples. That will be kinda fun. It's going to be interesting though because the Walla Walla zone is a sister zone, so the only Elders are the ZLs, the DLs and their companions. I think it will be fun though. I am going to be serving with Elder Greenburg. He's just barely finishing up training so I will be a greenie buster. He's from Tooele, and that's all I know of him.

That's awesome that Jared is getting so close on his mission papers, so with his interview on Wednesday, he could have his call pretty dang soon. That's exciting. I am predicting the WYM (Washington Yakima mission). His mission president will be President Taylor. He seems pretty cool.

Did Mia do good on her tryout? Runs to July 18th huh hahaha. I can see why you would want to be busy hahaha. Good one, Mama.

Mama: Milton-Freewater? I will have to look that one up. If it’s by Walla Walla then we will have to sing the Walla Walla Washington song. Have you heard it? haha If all the Elders are are ZLs and DLs, and your comp is a greenie, then what are you?

 

Elder Sed: Yeah, it's in the middle of nowhere I guess haha.I have heard the Walla Walla song if it's the one that you're thinking of.  I don't have a clue if I am going to be a DL again. They haven't told me yet. If I am, they are probably going to tell me tomorrow or Wednesday morning.

 

Mama: I looked up Milton-Freewater, and I see it’s in Oregon. You won’t be able to say you’re in WaRshington for a few months, will you? haha On its city page, it also says it’s called Muddy-Frogwater Country. haha! How does Elder R feel about being in charge after you leave?

 

Elder Sed: I had heard it called Muddy Frogwater haha. I guess they have statues of frogs all over the city. Guess I will have to take some pics with them. I think he is pretty excited. He realized the other day that I am going to be gone and the stuff I usually did, he is going to have to do. It was funny haha. He will do a good job though.

 

Mama: Yes, take some pics with the Muddy Frogs. That will be awesome.

 

Elder Sed: I have to get going now. Thanks for emailing me Mama. You're the best! Thanks for all that you do for me with school and everything. You're amazing! I love you guys!

-Elder Jake Sedlacek

What's up Dad,

The rest of this past week was pretty good. We had a good lesson with Phillip and the wards officially split into the new wards. Now the Union elders are going to cover two wards: Union, and Highlands which is the new ward. Pretty exciting stuff. The work is really hastening. It's super cool to see evidence of it.

Update of the investigators.........

P***** is doing pretty dang good. I was super impressed with him this week. We met with him, and had a really good lesson based off of Alma 32 and faith. We had given him the commitment to read and pray in the Book of Mormon, and he didn't do it. With President Ware's focus on using the commitment ladder, that means if they don't keep the one commitment you don't move on and leave them in the dust by giving them another one they can't keep, so we kept the focus on scripture reading. We had a really good spiritual discussion on how his faith is like a seed and it really applied to him. He made the decision himself that he wants to strengthen his testimony so he's going to talk to his wife and see if they can read as a couple. He also made the comment that he's feeling a good feeling come from the teachings of the Book of Mormon, and he believes it. It's only a matter of time before he gets baptized. I am totally positive about that. It may take a lot of time, but I am positive it is going to happen.

C***** had some great news this week. Guess what? Her family is wanting to take the discussions!!!!!!!! Her dad had been noticing that she reads her scriptures everyday in the car before school, and he asked her why she does it EVERY morning. She then bore her testimony of how much it blesses her and how she knows it's true. She invited him to take the discussions and he said yes. I wish I would be able to be a part of the teaching of her family, but I am going to be moving on. Guess we are going to have to come back and visit haha. She has an awesome family. It's so awesome how the Lord has prepared one person, and in turn it prepared the rest of the family too. The teachings of the church really do bring families together!

This past little while I have been trying to focus my personal studies on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Jesus the Christ has been a huge help in that and it's given me some pretty good insight. I really want to focus the rest of my mission on the primary song "I'm Trying to be Like Jesus." I really want to become the most Christ-like missionary I can be these next months. Christ teaches/testifies so powerfully, with love, for all people. It's amazing. It is the reason he is the best missionary that has ever lived. It reminds me of a quote that I really like from another missionary. It goes like this: "God loves all his children so much! He would LOVE to have all of them return to Him. God sent Christ to this earth to teach us how to teach, lead and live. He was THE best in teaching and leading God's children back to Him. Of course, God would want the best missionary to teach all of His children so they would come back to Him, but Christ has other duties so God sent the next best he had. The next best thing is me, you, mom, and the rest of the family, as well as the church." As we strive to be the "next best thing" to Christ, we are going to be that much more effective in leading others back to the fold. That is why I love being a missionary so much. It brings constant change of good into my life. A constant striving to become like Him  is what everyone needs in this life. Imagine what the world would be like if everyone were like Christ. It would be pretty dang amazing.
 

Well, I am looking forward to working in Milton-Freewater with a new companion. It's always interesting getting transferred to a new area, but it will be fun. It could be my last transfer, too, which is kinda weird. I'm going to keep working hard til the very end. You can know that for sure!

I'm happy for Elder R though. He's going to be taking over the area with a younger missionary. He's going to do great!

Thanks for the bracket. I filled it out and sent it home for you to keep track of for me. You should get it today in the mail. GO UTES!!!!!!!!!! That's all I can say haha.

LOSING HAIR ON THE TOP OF MY HEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My hair is still the same from when I left. I'm betting you're just jealous haha. I didn't get a haircut dad. I got my HAIRS cut haha. My luscious, thick and full hair ;) Baldness is passed down through the mom though, so even if you're bald, I don't have to be...but because grandpa H is bald I guess I will eventually haha. I will just have to enjoy the hair while I have it huh? haha.

You can be sure that I am getting enough to eat haha. I don't really have a clue if I am losing more weight. I would think that I am. It's a good thing though. Working out everyday and walking does the trick I guess haha.

Well thanks sooooooo much for all that you do for me Dad. I like the thoughts of your training you gave. They are exactly right.

I know that this gospel is true. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet. I know President Monson is a prophet in these days and guides Christ's church. I am so pumped to hear from him  in a couple weeks. It's going to be so fun. I know a mission is where I am supposed to be. I love my mission! I learn so much everyday. It's awesome!

You are awesome Dad. Love you and your example of a great Dad and priesthood holder! Love ya dad!

-Elder Jake Sedlacek

 

The joy of missionary service is like nothing I have ever felt before in my life.

 

 

Hey Mama,

The temple was awesome today. It was soooooooo good. I realized today that everything God created, be it dogs, bears, birds or flowers was created so they could have joy. What a great plan of true happiness for everything!

This past week and a half was crazy. I don't really like the weeks where we email on a day like Wednesday. It just throws off the rest of the week for me.

I had a really good day today. 

I am glad that you liked my letter I sent. I just for some reason had the thought to share that with all of you. I really liked it when President Ware was sharing some of the line of thoughts that I shared, so I am glad it made sense to you too.

Mama: So Jared had his dentist appointment and he heard all about the parable of the dentist. He said he liked it, and he really seemed to. He also has 4 wisdom teeth, and they are all impacted, so he’s going to have to have them removed before he leaves. We are getting his pictures taken Saturday and then he will be submitting his papers! 

 

Elder Sed: Hey, that's exciting!!!!!! That will be cool to see where he is going to go. I am sure he LOVED the parable of the dentist ;) You can tell Dr. T that I do floss everyday haha. I don't want no cavities!

Mama: He really did like the parable. He answered all the questions and Dr. T said he’d never heard some of Jared’s answers before. Afterward he said to me, “He is a happy boy! He’s excited, and he really WANTS to go!” It’s really true. He is still the same Jared in some ways, but he is very, very excited to turn in his papers and go. I know you were happy to go, but he is even more vocal about it than you were. So that’s good.

 

Elder Sed: That's really cool that Jared has already felt that burning desire to share the gospel. I felt that before my mission, but probably not as much as I could have. I went on a mission because I knew the church is true and all. As I have been on my mission though, I have felt that desire just grow. It's crazy how a mission helps you grow, not only in the gospel, but as a person too!

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey Dad,

This past week was crazy! It felt long just because it was 9 days ago since our last p-day. I don't like when the schedule is thrown off, but it's all worth it getting to go to the temple. It really is a blessing that there is one in the mission. I love to go and just feel the peace that comes to my mind when I am there. There is constantly something going through my mind, but in the temple it's like it all goes away for about two hours. It's nice haha.

Well, this week we did have some success finding. It was pretty cool. We found this guy named B. We had been in the area of his house and figured we should knock on his door. Turns out that his ex-wife is meeting with missionaries wherever she is at, so that made him interested. We shared a little of the restoration with him, and he really liked it and committed to read from the Book of Mormon. It was awesome to find him. I will have to update you on Monday. We are hopefully going to have a lesson with him tonight or later this week.

We found another guy named D. He is a pretty cool guy. We found him while we were tracting in an apartment complex. When we first talked to him, he really didn't know what to think of us. He had grown up Baptist and hasn't gone to church in a while. He was kinda interested in learning more about our beliefs, so we had a restoration lesson. The whole time, he was smiling because he just likes to hear about God. That was fun haha. At the end of the lesson he prayed, "Thanks for teaching me the truth," so I think he got that point of the message haha. He said he would be baptized when he finds out it's the truth. The bad news with D is that the wards are splitting at the end of this week, so we are going to have to give him to another set of missionaries. We are going to cover two wards for a little bit so that may be fun. It has been awhile since I did something like that.

We met with P this past week. That was cool. He has  been doing really great. He is really starting to recognize the Spirit in his life teaching him. He has been making the effort to read and pray, which has been awesome. His wife is a less active member who isn't really on board yet about coming back to church. She  needs the prayers that she will get ready for that. Until she does, P probably isn't going to progress as fast as he could.

My cool thought for this past week came from when I was reading Jesus the Christ in my studies. It was on the miracle of when Christ walks on water, and I really like it. So the background of the story is that Christ has just gotten through with feeding the five thousand and has just sent the multitude away. I am assuming it's night time or just approaching that time. So Christ sends his apostles back to the other side of the sea and while they are going back, a HUGE storm comes up and is just beating them up. They have to work super hard to row the boat so it stays straight into the waves. I was just thinking about how tiring that would be. They have been battling all night to keep their boat from sinking. Water is probably crashing down on them. It would have been really freaky, and they were scared. So later on that evening, Christ comes out to help them and he's walking on water! All of the apostles were freaked out. I just thought it was interesting how well it relates to all of us. As adults we sometimes have storms of life that are super hard to battle. We get tired, and and in need of desperate help, but when help does come that was sent by God, sometimes it seems scary. We may not understand everything that can help us. The help may seem terrible at first, but when we realize the true nature of it and what it has done to change us, we can be truly grateful for the experience. Does that make any sense at all? haha

I have loved being on my mission and studying about the life of Christ. It has really helped to fulfill the promise in my blessing that through study and prayer, I will come to know more about the divinity of Christ. I know there was a purpose in Him coming to the earth to die. The law of sacrifice for us is such a blessing. It enables us to feel the joy of overcoming the effects of sin. I am so grateful for the atonement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I like all of the family's thoughts on the scriptures that I sent home. I am glad that they made sense to you guys. I thought they were super good. It really is all about faith. I never realized just how faith has been involved from the beginning. Even God had to have had some level of faith to create us. Kinda cool to think about!

This week it was kinda funny--we were tracting and guess who I ran into? A lady from Birmingham England! She was pretty fresh out too. She knew where Coventry was, too. Their accents are kinda cool. I thought it would have been cool if you had come across her when you were on your mission. She was older than you, so it's a possibility haha maybe???

Cool sites in Warshington??? Not really. There's Hanford I guess but you can't just go out there. It's guarded so I haven't seen it up close. Besides that, I wish there was more but there really isn't. We just usually play some basketball or football or something like that on p-days. It's pretty fun.

Have you sent the brackets yet???? That's awesome that BYU and UTAH both made it to the tournament. I hope Utah can do pretty good. I don't know how far they will go, but it will be fun to find out.

Well Dadio, I am so happy to be serving in the best mission :)

It's been awesome! I truly do love serving the Lord. What a blessing it is. I do know that faith is the power by which we can create in our life. As we apply the gospel in our life it can change our lives even more than we can ever realize. The gospel of  Jesus Christ is the way the world was created. Amazing! I am so grateful for the principles of faith and repentance which help us to feel true joy. The gospel certainly is the gospel of joy! I feel it everyday. The joy that comes from missionary service is nothing like I have ever felt before in my life. I know this church is true. I know the work of  Joseph Smith was inspired by God. I know the Book of Mormon is the Word of God. I know Jesus Christ lives and guides His church through revelation given to President Monson. I love this gospel!

 

I love you guys! Thanks for all that you do! I am truly so grateful for all of it. For your examples. Everything!

Have an awesome week!

-Elder Jake Sedlacek

 

 

The Miracle of the Lost Keys

 

Hey Mama,

How is it going today? It's good to hear that everything is going good. That's great that Jared passed his physical. Now on to the dentist stuff haha. That might be fun. You should take him to Dr. T and let him hear the parable of the dentist hahaha. 

We had an interesting week. It was a huge learning week for me. I literally learned lots, so it was good. As far as our investigators, it was a bit of a tough week there. We got dropped by I***** and M***** :(

That was quite the story. I am pretty sure M***** was just having a bad day and is super stressed right now. She didn't say that she is done meeting with us, but just to give her some time right now. I was wondering if you could put her on the prayer roll. It worked miracles last time you did. She needs all the prayers she can get.

We are still working on finding some new investigators to teach. It has been work, but that's what missionary work is haha. I figured that out a LONG time ago. I remember I went into my mission at the beginning thinking that it was going to be a cinch. I think that is why in my setting apart, President S said what he did: To quickly learn that missions are hard, and then work through it. There was a cool thought given at church yesterday which was one of the things that I learned this week. I don't remember who said it, but they said something about discouragement and courage. What do you think of when you hear the word discouragement? I think of sadness and despair. Maybe depression. When you think of courage though, what do you think of? I think of action. Bold action and standing up for what's right. I would assume that's  along the lines of what you will think of. He then said discouragement is the opposite of courage. We can be disappointed, but never be discouraged. I can say that I am disappointed in M's decision to turn away from the church when her life is crazy right now, but I am going to never be discouraged. I am always going to be doing my best all the time. I have learned that this week. I just thought I would share that with ya Mama.

That's crazy you got a foot of snow this week. Up here the weather has been AWESOME! Seriously like 60 degrees every day. It's been a super nice winter this year. It's been good since my coat isn't working anymore. The zipper doesn't zip. I think it bit the dust, but hopefully the weather stays nice and I won't need the coat. If it ever comes to where I need it, I will just wear it not zipped up.

I bet you're having fun driving the red truck around. I am going to also in 5 months ;) right????

Mama: Jared is going to go to Dr. Toone haha. Sorry about M*****. Yes, I will get her on the prayer roll. Thanks for sharing what you learned about courage and discouragement. That’s a good thought. Yes, I think you will get to drive the red truck around when you get home. At least once anyway. ha! 

 

Elder Sed: Man Jared is going to have fun listening to Dr. T haha. He's a good man.

Thanks for doing that for M*****. I am sure she will appreciate it. I am going to put her on the prayer roll next week too. We go on Wednesday of next week so that's when I will email too. I just wanted to make sure and tell you before I forgot. 

Mama: I am happy that you get to go to the temple! Ours has been closed since mid-February and is opening up again tomorrow. With the girls’ plays in the evenings this week I will go sometime during the day and I will put her on the prayer roll. Are you going next week because transfers are the week after?

 

Elder Sed: Wow, that's a long time for it to be closed. I think our temple is closed right now too. We are going the day it opens, which is Wednesday of next week. Thanks for doing that for me Mama. You're the best. I don't think it matters when transfers are and when we go to the temple. I think we just go when we can every 3 months.

Mama: Do you need anything? 

Elder Sed: Do I need anything? Um, I think I am good. If you happen to come across some smaller long sleeve shirts, that would be awesome if you sent some. The ones I have now are really baggy everywhere except my neck. The neck is still the same size. I just would like a more fitted shirt. That's pretty much it though.

Mama: That's kinda funny that you are smaller everywhere but your neck! haha

Elder Sed: Yep, I think my neck and shoulders are pretty much where they are at haha.

Well, I am leaving now Mama. Hope you have a great week! Thanks so much for the school stuff you're helping me out with. I know it's probably not easy, but thanks for helping me out with all of it. I am guessing I will need another roommate right?
You're awesome Mama! Love you! Talk to you next week on Wednesday!

What's up Dad,

This week was great. We had some interesting things happen. For starters, M***** dropped us. That was a major bummer. She needs prayers right now. She said she isn't all the way dropping us, but wants time to think about it all and doesn't want to meet until she gets things figured out. I hope she realizes sooner rather than later. 

 

I***** dropped us as well. She and M***** are ironically in the exact same boat. They both like the gospel, but just don't want to meet right now because they want to think about it. I just don't understand women haha. They confuse me.

J***** is doing awesome. It is a really long story, but we haven't been able to meet with him because of the situation he's in. He has a lot of time on his hands though, so he has been reading the Book of Mormon like mad. In just the three weeks that he has been reading it, he is already in 3rd Nephi. Probably done with it by now too. He told his wife that he wants to work to be sealed in the temple and when he is able, he wants to be baptized. It was AWESOME to hear that. He is being prepared right now.

 

The new investigators we found last week, the _____ family,  and I think P******, are doing good. They are all working on keeping the commitments we have given them. We have been working really hard to find new investigators.

This past week was mainly a learning week for me. It's crazy how much that I have learned while being a missionary. Lessons that I probably wouldn't have learned if I hadn't come on a mission, so all you younger siblings--I am speaking to you. GO ON A MISSION! It seriously will help you so much! I am sure Mom and Dad enjoy the blessings of it too ;)

We had some cool stuff happen this week. One of the things was me learning what I told Mom in my email to her. If you listen at church, I can promise you things will be said that you need to hear. It's happened to me soo much on my mission.

This week I also learned something cool from my studies. I have been reading Jesus the Christ a lot, so earlier this week I was talking about it with another missionary, and he asked a question that I thought was super good. He said, "What was it at the time of Christ that kept the Pharisees in spiritual darkness?" I thought about it, and I didn't really know. He then said that it was because they weren't willing to accept any more than the Law of Moses. It sounded so familiar to many people today. Many aren't willing to accept any more than the Bible. If you relate them to the people today, the Pharisees had been taught something good in the Law of Moses.  They loved it and tried hard to live it. When Christ came, he came to fulfill that law and give them a new law to follow. That new law can be like the Book of Mormon. The Pharisees had such a hard time accepting the new law, that they killed Christ rather than accept it. The Book of Mormon is the new law (scripture) the Lord has given in this dispensation. We as members need to do all we can to help others accept that it is the word and work of God to give us the Book of Mormon. We may be put down because of our beliefs, but I know that as we stand strong, the church has given the promise that truth will win in the end. What a great promise!

Another cool experience that wasn't so cool at the time was something I am going to call the Miracle of the Lost Keys. It was pretty dang stressful. What happened was exactly what it sounds like. We lost our keys at the beginning of our week, so we lost our church keys, our house key, our mail box key, everything haha. Elder Ro and I had "lost" our keys before, but they were just in our house somewhere and we found them. This time it was completely different. We had absolutely no clue where the heck they were. We looked everywhere in our house and everywhere we had been, with no luck. We couldn't find them, so we decided to say a prayer. In the prayer we asked if HF could help us find our keys. We went on with our week, doing everything we could to find the keys when we had time, with no luck. After a couple days went by, we had the thought to ask the Bishop of our ward if he had seen them, and guess what? Somehow he had had somebody come up to him and give him the keys. He had our lost keys that we had been looking so hard for! It was cool to see that HF helped us find our keys haha.

 

Another cool thing I learned this week was in our lesson with C*****. We had just finished up giving her a super good lesson about the scriptures, and in my testimony I taught myself something that I won't forget. I said something to the effect of "if you ever feel like you are in a low spot in life, wherever you are, turn to the scriptures and the spirit of Christ will turn that low into a high."  I just love it when the Spirit teaches me when I am teaching someone else. It's like teaching inception haha. I really do believe it though. The scriptures are there to aid in us feeling the Spirit. I love them so much!

Well, those are some of the experiences I had this week. Hopefully they make sense. I was just typing what came to my head. Let me know if I confused you in any way haha.

I actually haven't gotten your letter yet. Maybe it will come today. We will have to see. Thanks for sending one Papa.

I like your new specs. They look good! I am glad they are working out good for you. My glasses are working out great. They have been good ever since I got used to them, which only took a couple days. They help me see lots better. I like looking not through my glasses at stuff and having it be all blurry, and then looking at it through them to see the difference. It's pretty nice being able to see. Who knew? I didn't before my glasses haha. I do now! You haven't seen a bill for my glasses because the eye doctor I went to paid for them. He likes to do that for missionaries.

Well, it is good to be able to email you guys my experiences and hear back from you the same day. It's a lot better now than how you had it Dad!  I am happy that you guys are doing well. I am doing well too. I am just loving the missionary life. I know the gospel is true. I know the Spirit is everything in missionary work. It teaches me so much every week. I know that we can improve each and every day through the atonement. I know Jesus Christ lives. I know that this is His restored church on the earth. God still speaks to us. The heavens are continually open to us. God seeks to guide us, if we will just listen to His word. I am excited in a couple weeks to listen to the prophets again. It's going to be awesome!

Thanks Dad for all that you do. You're a great example to me!

love ya!

-Elder Jake Sedlacek

I wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now

Hey Mama,

This week was pretty good for us. Finding actually went really well. We were able to find three new investigators this week, which is the weekly goal President Ware has for each companionship. I was really happy about that.

I am doing great! It's good to hear that all you guys are doing good too.

Can you believe that February is already gone??!! Holy cow. I can't. I know that for sure. It's going by so fast!

College stuff, huh? Sounds fun. I would be happy to room with Hunter and his friend. One bathroom though?  It's nothing I haven't done on my mission, so it's doable. That would be awesome to room with Jordan too. I don't know if any of my other friends are going up there or not. I wish there was a way I could find that out.

Yesterday at dinner I actually found out that Bountiful had won their state game. We had dinner with a high school basketball coach who is from Salt Lake, so he knew the score and told me when he found out that I went there. That is super cool!

That is funny that the Bishop had noticed that I had lost weight. That is a good thing though haha. Funny thing is that Sister S is fixing my pants to make them fit better. The ones that I originally bought, she took two inches out of the waist, and one inch out of the legs. Now they fit much! better. They aren't so baggy and ugly. Glad you liked the thing that I sent in for the ward Chirp. I don't even remember what I wrote haha.

Sounds like you had a super busy week. I bet it was fun. We were pretty busy too, so p-day is going to be nice to relax a little bit.

I am glad that you guys are doing great and being blessed. I didn't get the chance to email Nicole, but you can tell her and Jeff I said Hi if you want. Wish her good luck for me.

 

Thanks for figuring out all the college stuff. I am sure that is a major pain in the hiney. You're awesome for doing that for me. Love you Mama!

I am so happy to be serving a mission right now. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now. I know this gospel is true!

Thanks again for everything!!!!!!!!!!

Talk to you next week!

-Elder Jake Sedlacek

Hey Dad,

I guess I will start by giving the update on our investigators and what happened this week. It was a good week! To start off, M***** IS BACK ON THE MAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We finally were able to talk to her face-to-face, for the first time in a month and a half. I thought she was gone for good. She is back on date for baptism and came to church this week, too. We are going to start meeting with them again. I know that was a miracle.

This week we found three new investigators. Two of them are a dad and daughter of a part member family in the ward. They are pretty cool. We went over and shared a spiritual message, and then invited them to take the discussions and they agreed. They are a pretty cool family. The mom came to church yesterday. It was pretty cool to have her come to church. Pray for D** and S*****. 

The other new investigator we found this week is a guy named B. He is a retired Iraq war veteran, so he has some views that are pretty interesting, but he is good guy. We had a super good restoration lesson with him and he felt the Spirit, and agreed to read the Book of Mormon.

We have been having some great finding though as of late. It's been really awesome. This week we had a cool experience when we went in and bought some hot chocolate at 7-11. We were cold, so we went into 7-11 and got our hot chocolate. We were checking out and the guy at the register was like, "I thought Mormons weren't supposed to be drinking coffee." He thought we had coffee, so we told him it was hot chocolate, but we immediately knew he either had talked to missionaries before, or knew Mormons, because random people just don't know those things haha. So we started having a conversation with him about the Word of Wisdom, and we asked him if he had met with missionaries before. Turns out he had when he lived over by Seattle. He had recently moved over here and had requested for missionaries to come over to his house and teach his family, but the info either got lost or didn't get sent, so he hadn't seen any missionaries at his house. He had been hoping that he would see some. So long story short, we got his info and sent it to the missionaries in Pasco for them to teach him. Pasco is where he lives. It was just cool to see an instance where the Lord led us to him because he was looking for the truth.

You asked about C***** and she is doing awesome! We met with her yesterday, and she even got up during Sacrament meeting and bore her testimony in front of everyone. She told us that her family was wanting to come to church but weren't able to make it, but it's only a matter of time!!!

Well, that was pretty much the highlights of my week this week. Sounds like you had a great week. That's  super exciting that the Braves were able to pull out that championship twice in a row. It's good that Sarah went with all her friends. 

It will be fun to fill out a bracket for March Madness. Are the Utes guaranteed a bracket spot? I would bet they are, being 2nd in the conference.

That is rough news for Sister M. I hope everything improves there. That would not be fun to have to go home on medical after you just got there. Yeah, I have been watched over lots of times on my mission. I can even tell you that haha. It's good to be kept safe.

You washed the truck???? I think you meant to say that you "warshed" the truck haha. I guess you are a Utahn though so it's okay haha.

Well, thanks Dad, for all that you do. You always have something good to say it seems. I liked your testimony. I do try every night to write down the spiritual experiences that I have throughout the day. I think I do a pretty good job at that. I haven't missed one day of writing in my journal, so I think that's pretty good haha. I do know that I am doing the Lord's work. He leads me and guides me to where I need to be. Without God, this work would be impossible. I know that this is His church. I feel it everytime I teach the restoration and bear testimony of the work of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. I know it is true. As we read the Book of Mormon, we can know that God has called prophets on the earth before. Prophets are essential. Without a prophet we have no priesthood authority because it is delegated from the key-holder, who is President Monson. I am so grateful to have a prophet on the Earth at this time! What a blessing that is!

Thanks for all that you do for me, Dad. You're awesome! Love ya!

-Elder Sedlacek