Transferred again! This time to Anderson, Indiana.

The skinny tie Elder Sedlacek made from a fat one. He's pretty handy.

hey Dad! it has been a great week, so i kinda knew i would leave. it makes me really sad, this is probably one of the hardest areas/companionships for me to leave! it will be a good transfer though. my new comp is my old DL from Noblesville--it's Elder Hammond from Farmington. he is a super awesome guy, and we should have a great transfer. i went on exchanges with him a few months ago. he's the one who took that picture of us holding out our Trump ties. 

we found more people we could potentially baptize in Springboro this week. we went out finding, and found a less active member with a non-member wife who has been coming to church for two years now. she has not been baptized yet, but is considering it. we are both really excited for that. there is another family that has been bringing their adult son to church for a few weeks now. we are still waiting to set up an appointment with him, but he had said in gospel principles that he is getting that feeling that everything taught makes sense and matches what he believes deep down. this area is on the brink of a bunch of conversions, and i am excited for it! the miracles are starting to flow hahaha. 

so to tell you about Anderson Indiana, it used to be a Zone leader area, and it has a really awesome ward according to one of the old ZLs. we will have a full time car last i checked, and we also have a set of sisters, so i am excited. it should be a good area. everyone tells me i will end my mission there, but that's what they said about here hahahaha. 

sounds like you had a good Valentines, that's awesome. it will be crazy to come home to wood floors hahaha, you should be able to get it figured out, if not ask Kelly.  i wish i i could help with that, it would be fun. oh well! hopefully your schedule gets easier soon. that is super cool Hayward got to go to the All Stars, i really like him. Busch is one of my fav drivers. thanks for the sports updates Dad! 

that is so cool to hear about that fam you helped, so they are getting back into more activity. i love that guy, Brother Allred, he is a great guy. that is absolutely true about having the spirit to guide you, because we have no idea about who is ready and who is not ready to listen to us. it does all start with desire, but the cool thing is, that once you start to share the gospel and understand the Doctrine of Christ more in your life, your desire to share it will increase. there is no better way to get motivated to share the gospel then to experience the atonement working in our own lives. living the gospel of Jesus Christ will help us to share it, and become who God wants us to be. that is what i love about a mission, i get to grow my testimony and love of the gospel and become a better person. i know this gospel is true, and that as we all embrace it more and change the little things in our lives (repent) we will have more joy. thanks Dad, for everything! have a great week! love you Dad!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey Mom! it has been a really good week, just in time for me to leave. funny how that works huh? haha Brother Gilbert is a man you can trust. i was mad when i got the transfer call, but i had already known i was leaving, i could feel it, so i wasn't surprised.  i usually can tell when i will and when i won't. i love this area so much, and Elder Payne is my favorite companion, so we were both sad the next day. 

yep, i guess Heavenly Father wants me to get used to changes. there will probably be a lot of it in the future i am guessing. i think this will happen often the last few months of my mission. i definitely feel like i had accomplished my purpose in Springboro. i had a pretty good idea what it was. 

that is funny about the pump supplies, cause Byram has been sending me info about the bills. thanks for taking care of it. 

it was a good week, we went on another exchange with our zone leaders so i got to go with Elder Van Alfen, who also came out with me. {same as my new comp Elder Hammond}. that was a good exchange--we found some more people to see and teach so that was awesome. then on Valentines Day, a member took us to a Mexican place that was super good. Elder Payne took the other zone leader to PF Changs, just the two of them, it was funny. 

the most challenging thing was getting the transfer news, although it was bitter sweet. i just love the area. my prayers were answered in just having a good day while i ran the area on exchanges, that was awesome. that is awesome you got to help all those widows with those Valentines. service always makes me feel good. i still remember when you and Dad used to take us to get stuff from the store and take it to the Road Home in Salt Lake. and i also especially remember helping all the widows with snow removal at a young age. 

like i said in Dad's email, it will be so crazy to come home to wood floors. it sounds like it will be a fun project for Dad. i have not got the video yet of Mia answering my challenge. 

i love talking about adversity, and i really like D&C 122 and 123 for adversity, as well as 121. it talks a lot about the Prophet Joseph's adversity. there is a super good promise given at the end of 122, that all the adversity we face is only given to us out of love, so that we can grow. i hate adversity going through it, so i always have to remind myself that it is for me to become a better person. all things testify of Heavenly Father's love for his children, you just have to see it the right way, and focus on the bigger picture. He will not give us anything to hurt us, ever. it may hurt temporarily while we are going through it, but in the end, if we endure well, it will make us stronger. 

so my AP called last night, and he had baptized someone else of Jennifer's family! so he got to see her at the baptism, and she had mentioned how we are her missionaries. she is doing awesome! that was super good to hear!

that is really nice about Bryant too, i really like that kid. he is super funny. that would be so cool if he would come to my mission before i get home, and i could train him. that would be sick!

thanks so much for everything you do Mom! i love you all so much! have a great week! talk to y'all later!

-Elder Sedlacek

We can only change ourselves

hi Dad, it has been a good week. we don't have much to update on the status of 'gators, but there was some cool stuff that happened. S is finally feeling better, so we have a chapel tour with him on Wednesday. we plan to put him on date for baptism at that time. most of the other 'gators are not really meeting with us because of their schedules, or they are "eternigators" that we don't see too often. we had an appointment with one named M yesterday, but that fell through. 

the missionary department came out with a new training that was given to mission presidents, and they shared some statistics with us. out of a room of 300 general authorities, 28 were converts when they were over 30 years old, and 144 of them were baptized in between the ages of 9-25. because of that, they want all the missionaries really focusing on youth and young adults. so this past week we had been visiting the young men in the ward and getting them in on some activities we want to do to invite their friends out. i am really excited for it, i really think it will help us in this area. we have a lot of young men that are strait-up studs.  

other than that, we don't have much to write about. hahah that sounds like you had a "Fun" time with that meeting, that's too bad you had so little time to share your info. that's too bad USU is not playing very well right now, but it's still super cool that Sam is getting playing time on first string. 

the weather here has been really warm, like in the 50-60 degree range--it was in the 60's the other day. it's really strange, this is when Ohio winters are supposed to hit the hardest, just before they end. hopefully the flooding around Logan doesn't get too bad. so is Jake staying in the same place for next year? sounds like i will have a good ward. 

i used to have a really hard time comparing myself to others. i was really thankful for some things that happened to help my comp with this, he struggles with it. i had an interview with Pres. Welch on Friday, we talked about how i had learned a lot about this recently (past 6 months) and i am so grateful to have learned this lesson. we can only change ourselves and make ourselves better, so why spend so much time worrying about what others are doing? we just have to do our best, and the Lord will help with all the rest and make our best enough. i love how a mission gives us time to make our weaknesses into strengths. i don't have to worry about being the same person when i get home as i was when i left--the Lord will make me a changed person if i simply rely on Him and do what He says. we all can experience this. the atonement is a great blessing we have. 

thank you Dad for all you do! i hope you have a fantastic week! love you!

-Elder  Sedlacek

hey Mom! it was a good week. we did not have anyone come to church this week, sadly, and we are doing a lot of finding still hahaha. i wrote to Dad about our new plan to get some more referrals, and about the rest of the 'gators. we did not get to teach a lot of people this week. the one lesson that stands out to me was when we contacted a part member family and met the husband. the wife (a member) was not home, so we just asked to sit down and had a good lesson and chat with him. maybe it will go somewhere soon. i hoped you liked ------ calling you hahaha, he is funny haha. 

thank you for the pics! transfers are next week, so we will know this Saturday what happens. some cool things happened this week. today we drove to Western Hills (to the mission office) to get Elder Payne's tooth fixed at a dentist, and then we stopped in to the mission office and said hello to guess who? Elder Holman! we talked a lot. we are great friends. in talking with him, i did learn a lot about my purpose as a missionary, i mean my personal purpose, it was awesome. i realized a trend in my areas and comps, it was cool. i've been told that a lot of my old companions have really loved serving with me supposedly, so that's good. and humbling! haha

i have really strenghthened my testimony this week, concerning the restoration, since we have been teaching it so much! haha i love the principles that were restored by Joseph Smith. this gospel is such a blessing to the whole world. 

another thing that happened--so yes, less actives do teach missionaries a thing or two, and yes, it does happen by the spirit. we visited a less active while my companion was having a hard day, and the less active member strait-up talked about everything my comp was going through and how to get through it, without even knowing. it was awesome! 

yay! i am excited to live by my good friend Brigham next year! that will be fun to live so close to my siblings and be in Logan hahaha.  that is funny about Dad having to  dance with you hahaha. he hates it just as much as i do hahaha. that is fun you got to go to the temple night, i bet that was nice. it is crazy that Carli is coming home already! it's weird to see all the sisters i came out with going home. 

it's true, we are too hard on ourselves, and not positive enough. we have to expect blessings from the Lord, and expect to become better people. if we only focus on what's wrong, in a not-constructive, "i am going to fix this" sort of way, we will only hurt and tear ourselves down, and prevent ourselves from becoming who God wants us to be. i had to learn this while i have been on my mission, we can't be beating ourselves up, it only makes things worse. every day we step out of the apartment, is a step of faith, and if we don't expect things to happen, they won't. expect the best and God will make things happen, as we do our best and work hard to make those expectations become a reality. 

that's about it for the week! haha i don't think i need anything as of yet, maybe some more pants soon, the Dickies i came out with are wearing out. 

well, i have to go now Mom, thanks for emailing me, i love you so much! have a great week mom!

Love,

Elder Sedlacek

We are refugees

Emails from December 12, 2016

hey Dad! it has been a good week. i am glad you got the cards and stuff, and yes, there will be a boundary change for this stake. all i know right now is that i am leaving this area very soon. it turned out the Assistants were wrong about leaving last week so we did not leave yet, but sometime near the end of the week.  so you could possibly send the package this week, cause if you send it to the mission home, it might take a long time to get it. 

as  for how the week went, it went pretty well. we did a lot of less-active hunting and it was successful. we found a few new ones to stop by, so that is good. they were all friendly and hadn't seen missionaries around in a while so they enjoyed the visits. SD did not make it to church this week, and we don't know why yet, but we will hopefully see him tonight. B has been meeting us at the library lately. he finally revealed to us need, so now we can teach him more effectively. we have been reading the Book of Mormon with everyone so they can get motivated to get into it themselves. K is still doing about the same, same as the W family, except the cold temps keep them from coming to church for health reasons. she may have been healed, but still struggles in the cold air. pretty much everyone is doing about the same. it is kinda tough, i just wish they would read the Book of Mormon and be able to feel its influence. it is such an amazing book of scripture.

that is super awesome all that stuff happened and went well. and even better you are going to the gym! hahaha, are you gonna bulk up and be a buff Grandpa and squish me? hahaha i can't wait to go back to the gym hahaha. sounds like work is kinda  hectic, that is good though you get to stay busy, that keeps you from being bored, right?  

that must have been a good meeting at stake conference, here stake conference is like a whole zone meeting hahaha, so it's fun to see members i know and all my mission buddies. i saw Elder Hurst at the stake conference, one of the guys from the MTC. 

i really like that thought you shared, it's interesting Elder Causse said Christ's birth was secondary to his atonement. that was his whole purpose for this life, to save us all. he had one thing on his mind, serve the Father's children. we had a lesson surrounding this topic with Kristy this week, about always seeking after Christ. if we are not intent on coming closer to Him, all the harder our lives will become. we need the gift that enables us to become better--the atonement--as we utilize it more fully in our lives our happiness and joy will increase, as well as our knowledge and relationship with Christ and Heavenly Father. i know that Jesus is the Christ and that Joseph Smith is his prophet and revelator called to these latter days to usher in the restoration of the gospel and to bring us the Book of Mormon. as i have read the Book of Mormon to finish by Christmas, starting from Nov 8th, it truly has increased my testimony of its divinity of the book and my love for Christ and Joseph Smith. i am so grateful for this gospel and that we can live for eternity as a family. thank you Dad for the example you put forth, for serving a mission, pushing through college and for every day that you get up to go to work for us. it makes it possible for me to serve a mission and to gain a testimony of the gospel. i love you Dad! have a great week! you're the best!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey Mom, so you heard about the changes. sorry to scare you a bit hahaha! i am glad you enjoyed the cards, thanks for distributing them for me!  so i guess just send my packages hahaha. we will see where i go. we almost thought it was a joke, since we were supposedly moving this week and nothing happened. we finally texted the APs and they were like, "it should be announced today and the changes will me made this Sunday" and so they said we will probably leave near the end of the week. we are refugees! haha we need to jump ship. can you send me a pic of the new mission logo? we have not got it yet. 

the best thing that happened this week was when we got a super sweet member refferal from a guy in the Indy mission for a person in our boundaries, so  she should be taught soon by whoever is in this ward. the ward will probably change its boundaries too, because they are reorganizing a new stake. i definitely saw small miracles throughout each day, but not any big ones to mention, just another week with an awesome ward. 

one tender mercy, a lady in our ward heard i have eczema and left a bottle of Ceravie lotion on the stairs in front of our apartment the other day, with some candy haha, that was super nice. she says it's the best for dry skin, and so far it's worked great. the Indiana weather has been in the 20s all week and snowing, but since it's Indiana it's gone within 24 hours regardless of how cold it is, and you don't get more than two inches hahaha, so that was nice. 

sister Murdock sounds like sister Welch. sister Welch used to walk a bit in the mornings and she set up a few appointments for us when i was in West Chester hahaha, they are both great missionaries. 

well, i know that this gospel is true. self change is a neccesary part of Christ's true church. we believe in continuing revelation, so God will always reach out to his children--that's a fact of life. i know that the Lord is at the helm of the Old Ship Zion and always will be. all things are done in wisdom and order, of God, who knows what needs to happen. as we approach this Christmas season we must always retain in remembrance the gift that Christ has given to us. i love this gospel so much, i am so grateful for the power of the priesthood and the temple in our lives. i love you all so much! 

well, got to go now Mom, thanks so much for all you do! i love you all so much! i hope you have a great day! talk to you later. you're the best!

-elder Sedlacek

The humidity is something I won't miss!

August 1, 2016 Emails

hey dad! this was a good week as well, it is always a good week hahaha. our investigators are so promising right now, M** and her kids have said they want to be baptized already, and she is progressing so much, they read the Book of Mormon everyday as a family, and the Book of Mormon story book for the kids. we extended a date to her of the 13th of Aug, but she was  thinking along the lines of January. Nah! haha so we still had her pray about the 13th, and we have been fasting for her to move up the date. hopefully she can realize how important it is for her to do it as soon as possible. she is so solid! she signed up to feed us this Friday, and i was looking forward to some authentic Mexican food, but she texted us and told us she is horrible at cooking so she is taking us out somewhere, which is good too. hahaha. J*** is still working towards the 20th, but she has to be living the Word of Wisdom by this Saturday. she still has a little to go before she is fully living it with the smoking, so we gave her a blessing and she is still 100% committed to it, so we also fasted for her. keep them both in your prayers. we have been teaching another guy named T**, we had a chapel tour with him this past week, sadly he did not come to church though. i think he might have been working, but he is a pretty cool guy. we are still deciding his commitment level, so we will see where he goes. we were also able to find a few more new people, so we will be stopping by to see them this week, and we will see how they turn out. no word from P**, although she is still keeping in contact with one of the members, so there is still some fellow-shipping going on there, which is awesome. i am sure she will be baptized some day. 

we have a few members that help us out pretty regularly, there is a guy, Bro Darling, he is awesome. he helps us out a lot. then J**'s brother in law, that she lives with, loves to help us teach M** and her kids. he is an older gentlemen, and loves kids. he is awesome. there are a few more that help us out regularly, so it is nice. 

that sounds like it was a good sacrament, that is awesome. good job on the family history stuff!  i hope the court of honor went well, hahaha i don't think you will ever get away from the scouting program hahaha. sounds like you are going to be swamped at work pretty soon hahaha that stinks, but that is also good, it sounds like you got all caught up with the quietness. i bet that will be fun to watch the Olympics. wow, so the girls are going to actually take hunter safely? who knows, i could see Mia hunting a little for some reason hahaha, maybe they will, that is cool. 

yeah, the Reds are doing terrible, hahaha there was a lady that was like, "of course they are losing, they are terrible!" hahahaha that made me laugh. that was a good conference talk, i read a talk titled "why 1820?" and it really explained why the restoration happened when and where it did. the Lord knew that was the perfect place, a perfect evironment to have a young man grow up in, so he could ask the right question at the right time, and do what was necessary with the answer he would receive. it is truly remarkable that the plates were buried in a specific spot, just behind where a young man would live more than a thousand years later. that is amazing. i do know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and that because of what he did we truly can live with God and Jesus Christ again as well as our families. what a promise to be able to live as a family for forever, that is perhaps what i look forward to most in the eternities. thanks so much for all you do for me Dad! i love you so much! have a great week, good luck with work! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey Mom! so this has been a good week. i have written about all the 'gators in Dad's email for the week. but hey, we had six gators at church this week, it has been awesome! i can believe i've been out a year, and yet i can't, it is weird, it doesn't seem like a year and that i should not be able to say that yet, but it has at the same time. weird feeling. that is crazy i fly home on the 31st, weird, so that means that 4 years from when jake left, both our missions will be over! aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh! that is gross! terrible! haahaha. 

we have been seeing the success lately, we had a bunch of members out with us this week and we on average hit about 7 member-present lessons, it's awesome.  we work hard together and we get along well too. it has been super hot lately, been around 95 or so, and with 80-90 percent humidity, usually 90, it feels like over 100, it is weird. the humidity is something i won't miss! hahaha it feels like a rain forest. 

one tender mercy we had was being able to do a chapel tour with T**, i wrote about it in Dad's. that was cool, we knew we needed to do a chapel tour, so we just altered our appointment with him and it worked out great. my favorite investigator is probably M**'s five year old son, he is hilarious, he was hanging around me the whole lesson we had and was trying to show me stuff while we were teaching, he is a little ball of energy! hahaha they have some sheep in their yard that their Grandpa takes care of, and he ran up to one of the sheep and it butted him and knocked him so hard one of his shoes came off. he just got up like nothing happened and started chasing after it hahahaha it was so funny. 

my favorite part of the week was getting to help at the food pantry on Friday. i heard Bro. P was heading to the temple soon, so that is awesome he made it! that is so cool! good for him! 

it is good you have been getting better sleep at night, but i am not surprised the tourniquet area is sore though haha. it sounds like you have a full recovery ahead of you then, that should be fun (sarcastically). i will keep you in my prayers for sure! that is awesome you were able to make it to church, that is sweet. i am glad you got to hear Madi speak and get to take the sacrament. i find the atonement more and more amazing everyday. it can help us do anything, even if i get bored in studies, i can pray to have the motivation to keep studying hard, and He will give it to me. the atonement truly does make everything possible, all because of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He can command the winds and the rain, the mountains to move, and He listens to our every cry for help and is there at every step, helping us along the way, because He made it possible to return to his presence. i am so grateful for our Savior, i know how much we can do if we just rely on his infinite mercy and his guiding hand, we truly can accomplish everything. the mission is a gift from God, and i am so grateful i chose to open that gift, because of my mission and the Savior, i am changed and i am a better person. 

well i have to go now, have a great week as well, good luck with the PT! i love you so much! i shouldn't need anything else, thanks Mom for all you do! talk to you later!

Elder Sedlacek 

Wimpy Utah rain

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

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

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

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

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

-Elder Sedlacek

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

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

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

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

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

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

-Elder Sedlacek

If you do the same things, you will get the same results

hey Dad, this was a good week. we didn't find a whole lot of new people this week. we were mainly working on getting our existing investigators to church. we would love to hit our baptism goal for this transfer, but sadly a lot of our people were busy so not a whole lot of them came to church, just the usuals. we had a really powerful lesson with V***** the other day, and we were able to distinguish his need and share what would help him, but we didn't have a lot of time with him so we are going back later this week. he is going to bring his whole family to church! I also had a way strong impression to extend a baptismal date to him of May 7th, so he is going to be working towards that date. since he has not been to church yet, after this week he will be on date if he makes it to church! we got a few referrals this week and we were able to 225 around them because they didn't answer, so we found a family while doing it and that was pretty awesome. there is a new guy who moved into our apartment complex that we helped move in. his gf that he is living with is the sister of a member, so after we and the other elders helped him move in he invited us back to talk to him. it was crazy, he is a welder so he is super strong--we tried to pick up a couch but before we could he came and put it in one arm and hefted it into the storage shed by himself! hahahaha the guy is huge. it was a cold wet week, in fact it is raining right now hahahaha, but luckily we had the car this week so we stayed pretty dry. we are currently trying to work with our less actives, that is what the bishop wants, but what you said is true--if you do the same things you will get the same results. thanks for reminding me of that dad, we will definitely try something new this week. i am glad that bro. A is getting better. that is cool you got to go to the Bees game, hahaha that's just like Mom and Sarah to get bored of it. don't worry dad, you will have guys to hang out with again eventually! hahaha  so the jazz might make the playoffs then? that would be really cool, and i am glad the Reds are doing well, that is super cool. that must have been a good lesson in priesthood, and in Sunday School, that is good. we had our testimony meeting as well, and it was super awesome. the spirit was super strong and a bunch of the members who help us out a lot by coming teaching with us bore their testimonies. i realized that even if lessons with members fall through, we are not only allowing them to receive blessings from coming but we are helping to strengthen their testimony. that was an awesome revelation. it is cool we have even more pioneer ancestry, that is good you got those straitened out. i like those thoughts from conference, that is definitely true we need the temple to help all of God's children to be able to receive salvation. the temple is such a huge blessing, i can't wait to be able to go at least once a week when i get back--looks like you will have some work for me as well hahahaha. the temple truly makes it possible to have eternal families. thanks for your advice Dad, i will definitely try something we haven't tried yet. thank you for your testimony and the thoughts you always share with me to help me. thanks for always being there for me; missions are not easy and it definitely makes a world of difference to have your example and words of advice! well, thanks for emailing me Dad, i  love you! have a great week, talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey Mom, so this was a good week. i wrote a lot about it in Dad's email, well a lot for me hahahaha. it it is cool you got to talk to JBell. i am doing great, loving the mission. we had a pretty good week--all was pretty good, just not any of the new people came to church. We did have a miracle, a member girl brought her friend to church that we talked to previously. she lives in our area and she is going to see if her mom is okay with her taking the lessons, so that was super sweet. we were able to get a lot of members out with us this week, and that was awesome! 

wow, your weather has been better than ours, as soon as the suits come off, it goes cold again, although it is still nice to just wear sweaters and stuff. wow, the deer haven't eaten your tulips? they must be sick or something! hahaha that is crazy; i am still not used to seeing almost no deer. i saw one yesterday, and a small coyote as well, a few days ago in a farmer's field, but that has been the most i have seen in weeks! 

elder Sutton and I are are doing well. we get along pretty well and work together well. the most challenging day was probably Wednesday, we had a scary encounter and elder Sutton was freaked out a little bit. i helped him feel better then it was alright. Wednesday was also just a slow day in general, and a less active refused to come teaching with us even though we had such a strong spirit in our lesson and that was the most powerful testifying i have ever done. 

that is cool the Laurels are getting to go to mission prep, that is a useful class. that is good you are staying busy hahaha. that is good Nicole and Jeff are getting stuff for the baby. i am excited to see the pics! haha Jeff probably will ball his eyes out when he's born hahaha, same with Nicole hahaha. that would be cool if he shared Grandpa Sed's birthday. 

that must have been a cool lesson you had in Young Women. that is super cool the spirit was so strong. we taught L*** yesterday, and the spirit was pretty strong when we talked about Joseph Smith and the restoration. i have been studying that a lot lately. JS is really amazing, he definitely was a true prophet of God, i have really strengthened my testimony of that while on my mission. the heavens have truly been opened, i am so grateful for this gospel and all that the Prophet Joseph did to restore it, i know this is all true. well Mom, thanks for emailing this week! 

it was great to hear from you mom, I love you, i love all you guys so much. have a great week and i will talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek