We all have our own purposes, and when you figure out why you are where you are, life becomes a whole lot simpler.

A golden camel marked Elder Sedlacek's "hump day"

August 8, 2016 emails

hey Dad, so this has been another great week. first off i have a funny story about J**. so the other day we got a text that two Baptists showed up at her door with tracts, a particular church that hates Mormons, and they tried to bash her. she went off on this guy and totally disproved him to the point of him putting his head down and walking away! hahahaha i know it is bad to tear someone down like that, but he tried to bash our promising investigator, who is so excited to be baptized that she announced it at church to everyone she saw, so it was super funny to hear that, all she says is, "i won" hahaha. 

J** quit smoking and is living the Word of Wisdom as of now, so she can be baptized. she tried to smoke a few days before she quit, and said that as soon as she tried she couldn't even breathe, so she ripped up the cigarettes and threw them on the ground. that was an awesome miracle. i am so excited for her. M**** is doing well, she is still just as committed as ever, she actually took us and her boys out to eat at a restaurant, Mexican food, that was super cool. she still won't commit to a specific date for soon, but wants it to be a few months down the road. so we have been fasting and praying for her to pick a date sooner than later. her boys all want to be baptized, and she has quit using coffee at work, just brings milk and hot chocolate. 

we also found a few new 'gators and had some good lessons with them. one a new couple, they really seemed to like the Restoration lesson, so we are bringing them a Book of Mormon tomorrow, and another young guy, A***, that lesson was so powerful, let me tell you! the spirit was so strong when he read James 1:5 to us that it felt like it was going to knock me on the floor, it was awesome! so we will continue to stop by with both of them and assess their commitment level. that is mostly it for gators, we finally were able to make some contact with a few less actives we have been trying to meet recently. so it was a super good week. 

that is a super cool story from Bro W., that is awesome. it is cool to see the Lord's hand in our lives like that. seems like you had a meeting focused on love, that is good, because love truly is the one of the most important things in the work of salvation. the plan of salvation is completely encompassed in love. it does make a better world to live in that is for sure. that sounds mushy but it is true. that is super cool that mom is doing so well with her recovery, that is awesome. it sounds like fun with the Olympics, and with the Red Sox, hahaha you like both teams i forgot, well that makes it easy. that is cool about the girls and getting into shooting, they must like it. precision shooting, that sounds like my kind of event other than the Olympic lifting hahaha, that is cool too. that's so cool the Philly temple is going up, that is awesome. that is so true about leaders. a leadership calling does not make you a leader. you must live worthily of the priesthood authority you carry and you must love the people you serve and be focused on how to help them learn and grow. a leader is someone who changes patterns for the better and leads by example in a way to motivate and lift, just like the conference talk, lift where you stand. and the scripture that talks about presiding well over a few things and then the Lord will give you the stewardship over many things. i like that thought. thanks Dad, for all you do, i say it all the time, but it means so much to me. you're the best Dad! i love you! have a great day! and another great week! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey Mom! so it was a great week, i wrote all about the 'gators and teaching pool in Dad's as usual, but suffice it to say, it was a spiritual week, so you will have to read through those. hey a package! thanks Mom! that will be awesome, i will look forward to it. 

i love the new apartment, it is nice and spacious and plenty of room to jump rope! hahaha although we usually go outside, but then i do it while Elder E showers hahaha. there are so many people from India here. oh my gosh! you would think i live in the Middle East. they don't believe in Christ as the Savior, so it is super weird to teach them when they let us in. It is a big change from teaching Catholics and Baptists my whole mission, who already believe in Christ.

i wrote about some tender mercies in Dad's email and the miracles that happened. but i guess one specifically for me would be being able to get back into good shape again, my six pack is back, jack! hahah More important, being able to feel the spirit testify through me to touch the hearts of others. i received an impression that part of why i am still in this area is to help J** specifically. 

it sounds like you are making a lot of progress with your leg, that is awesome! hahaha that workout dialog of what you do in PT made me laugh out loud. hahaha that was funny, thanks for that hahaha. now you know how i felt after lifting and why i would eat so much just before i left hahahaha. 

it sounds like a good lesson in YW, i am glad you got the help you needed and that it went so well. isn't it amazing to see how the Lord impresses people and uses their experience to bless the lives of others? when the Savior is giving the sermon on the mount, and he is talking about he salt losing its savor, and then it is cast out because now it is worthless and of no use, we are like the salt. all of our unique personalities and traits that we all have, they are all very vital to the Lord's work. that is what makes up our savor, or flavor hahaha, in other words, we have to be ourselves and the Lord will place us where he needs us and can use our gifts and talents best. he didn't put me on the earth to be the highest baptizing missionary, or the best teacher, but to help motivate and to lift others, to help others be themselves, and to help comfort others. i have thought about this a lot and i really do believe that is what the Lord wants me to do. we all have our own purposes and when you figure out your purpose for why the Lord sends you to where you are, life becomes a whole lot simpler. all we have to do is follow Him. i know that is true. thanks for raising me right Mom and Dad! thanks for all you do for me! you're the best! 

thanks for the pic of your knee! it looks good though, i would not have thought you had gotten surgery a few weeks prior! my blood sugars are doing well, i have had to do a whole bunch of adjusting on my basals at night, but they are doing well now.  i should get another A1C within a few weeks, the mission doc will have to order me one soon.

well, i have to go now, thanks for emailing me Mom! you're the best! i am excited for the package! thanks for that in advance! today we are going to get air! yeah! well i hope you have a great week! i love you Mom! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

Trading one Elder Sedlacek for another

Well, Elder Jacob Sedlacek arrived safely home on July 28th! He served to the best of his ability, and we're so proud of him! Thanks to everyone who followed along with Jake's experiences in the Washington Kennewick Mission!

Then exactly 8 days later, Elder Jared Sedlacek went to the MTC before heading to Ohio in a few more days.

This blog is going to transition from one brother to the other. Stay tuned for the experiences of Jared in Ohio!

I really have been the happiest I have ever been.

Elder Sedlacek captioned this "Gotta love Oregon!" 

What's up Mama,

Wow! That's some big news haha. {we had a nasty car wreck in the family} Luckily no one was hurt! I'm happy Jeff is okay. Sounds like that guy who pulled in front of him made a dummy move. Hopefully, that guy's insurance gets us a new car haha. 

I did have a good week. You will never believe what happened this week! Monday evening, we found the most "golden" guy ever. We met with him every night this past week, and he is so ready to be baptized! He is on date for the 3rd of July. It is going to be awesome!

Gavin is home now??? Wow haha. DButters is still at home too? Where is he going to school, do you know? What about Gavin? That's crazy that he's home now. I didn't remember that he had left just before me. Jordan gets home in a couple more weeks. You're going to have to keep an ear up so you can see his home coming talk, if you're interested in that.

Sounds like an awesome week ahead! I will give a more detailed update of my week in my email to Dad, that way I don't have to type it out twice.

Mom: That's awesome about the new guy! I am in Logan with Nicole. She says hi. :)

Elder Sed: Hey, tell her hi for me too. I want to see a pic of the Toyota. Oh, and before I forget. I got the suit and it fits great! I really like it. Thanks for sending it!

{a little later}

Well hey Mama,

I have to go now. I bet you're having fun in Logan with Nicole. I hope you have a great week!

Love ya!

Mom: Hey son, sorry I missed you today. We ran into the insurance guy at the car lot, so then I couldn't answer you again, but it was good to talk to that guy. They valued the Toyota more than expected, so that is a blessing! Love you, Mama

{later}

Elder Sed: Hey Mama, that's great about the car. I figured since I'm out of money on my personal card I should send you another email. If you could put some more on that would be awesome! You're the best! Love ya!

What's up Dad!

This week was really good! We had an awesome miracle find this week. The guy's name is F*******. He is YSA and we met him on Wednesday officially. (Monday we were given a referral for him). The referral came from the Sisters in Walla Walla. They met with him on Monday and had the first lesson, and he was just soaking it up like a sponge. In between that time and Wednesday, he studied literally everything he could about the Mormon church, then told us on Wednesday when we met with him for the first time, that he knew it was right for him! Ever since Wednesday, we have been teaching him the lessons every night. He is just so elect!!!!!!!! He reads, he came to church, he gets answers to his prayers, he is just all around solid!!! It was really crazy. We gave him one of all the pamphlets that we have, thinking that he could study them here and there, but he read every single one that night hahahaha. He's just awesome! He even prayed to know that he was forgiven of his sins, and he had a super spiritual experience. Afterward, he told us that he knew that this is the path God wants him to take, even more than he did before.  He's going to be baptized on the 3rd of July, which is a little over two weeks since we first met him. That is also just about the soonest he could be baptized! I know the Lord prepares people every day for us to find and teach and baptize! Without the Lord's help, this work would be impossible!

We are unfortunately, having some trouble finding people to teach in the family ward though. The YSA has been awesome. It's been no problem there, but the other ward has been difficult. We are thinking about putting more of a focus on the less-actives of the ward and getting them to come back to church. That is kinda sketchy ground for a missionary. LA work is the hardest work ever. Often times, they have a hard time keeping lessons in focus, and disobedient missionaries tend to go to them and just hang out instead of working. It's pretty unfortunate that it ends up that way, but Elder Bowen and I are determined to teach the elect ones and get them to come back to church! Our ward is about 50% less active, so that needs to change. Pray that we can find those who want to come back to church, but just need the invite.

This past week, I restarted my in-depth study of Preach My Gospel. I had been doing it pretty much every day at the beginning of my mission, but as time went on I got distracted from it. PMG is such an inspired book. You can learn so much from the spirit in that book. In doing it, I found probably one of my most favorite scriptures now in the D&C. It's D&C 68:5-6. It says:  

5Behold, this is the promise of the Lord unto you, O ye my servants. 

6Wherefore, be of good cheer , and do not fear , for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was , that I am, and that I am to come. 

I really liked it, because as a missionary all I have to worry about is to testify of Jesus Christ. I don't have to worry, and I can be happy all the time. I have really felt this promise from the Lord on my mission. I really have been the happiest I have ever been. My mission has been amazing! I love being able to serve the Lord with all my heart, might, mind, and strength. It's truly a blessing.

Sounds like you guys had an awesome week!  Except for the car wreck, but at least Jeff wasn't hurt, so it's still a good thing.

I bet Nicole and Jeff did great in the Ragnar. Did you go up all night and watch them or something? that would have been cool. That race is pretty awesome it sounds like. I always remember seeing the really cool stickers about it everywhere. Not here, but in Utah.

You wrote me a letter? Cool. I will look forward to getting it. I'm glad you liked the Father's Day card too. I saw it and had to get it. I thought it was hilarious. Sounds like you had a good Father's Day load of gifts. I bet you will enjoy all of that. You probably had some good food at grandpa's too,  I would bet. Well I'm happy you enjoyed the day. 

That is crazy that Gavin is already home. I have a bunch of friends who are home now. It's insane. Life just goes way too fast. You guys will have to watch for Jordan's homecoming talk. He gets home about the first week of July, so it's coming up pretty quick.

Sarah is already going to be driving now? Wow that's crazy. You better call the news and get a notice put out that everyone needs to stay off the roads. We don't want anyone to get hurt. 

The weather here has been amazing. It's supposed to get up to 110 or 115 this week though, so I'm not looking forward to that. It has been in the 80s this week. Really, really nice. We haven't got much rain but it's pretty typical for here. It really doesn't rain that much on this side of the state, but it rains more by Walla Walla because of the mountains, so since serving here I have had more rain than I have had during the rest of my mission combined. It has been nice though. Sounds like everywhere is in a bit of a drought. Hopefully that ends soon.

Well,  I really do hope you guys have an awesome week! I love serving a mission and being able to hear of you guys being blessed back at home. I love the gospel! I know it's true! 

Love ya Dad! You're amazingly awesome! Have a great week!

-Elder Jake Sedlacek

My #1 goal is always do my best.

The rainbow of ties Elder Sed has collected so far. He needs to change the year on his camera :)

Hey Mama,

Hopefully you actually get this email on time. I did get your letter this week, and that is what I figured was going on. Oh well, what can you do? haha.

This week was great. It has been super warm here too. That is insane that it's been almost 70 degrees in Utah in February. I am kinda wondering when winter is going to show up here too. It's been right around that temp here all week. It's like summer. Crazy! It has been super windy, so this week we actually got to see the sun for the first time in I have no clue how long. It was nice. The fog and clouds just stick around here in the winter till the wind will come along and blow it out. Good news, the sun is still in the sky!

Guess what happened at transfers? I will make you put in your guess before I tell you, how bout that? haha.

C***** is still doing amazing. She is all set for baptism on the 14th and super excited for it, too. Last night it was kinda cool at her interview. Her dad came to the church and signed the record so she could get baptized, but the cool part about it was that he did it even though he isn't at all interested for himself at the moment. He did say how proud he was of her for making a decision that is going to make her happy. He has noticed a huge change for the better in her at home, so I think he will come around sooner or later. It's going to be so cool when he does!

That's great news that Nicole is healing up good. I was hoping to hear that. Tell her to keep up the good work on it from her bro.

Heard anything back from Utah State?

That's crazy that little Nora is 2 already. That has flown by haha. And Syd having a kid? That's just even more crazy haha!

That is a cool thought about the miracle of Jesus healing the blind man Mama. Good thinking on that.

I also had a pretty cool thought this week. I was reading in Ether ch 13, and came across a really simple verse, but it caught my eye because I have seemed to be focusing on sacrifice this week for some reason. It was v. 16 that originally caught my eye. It's about Coriantumr and how he had spent all his life studying war. Imagine how much love he had to have had for war to to spend all that time studying about it. Pretty much his life to that point.  Ether then comes along and tells him the Lord wants him to repent and change completely away from war. I was just thinking of myself in Coriantumr's shoes. The Lord is always going to ask sacrifice of His children. That's the way it has always been. Later on in the chapters, Coriantumr almost repents and changes TWICE. I just thought that was interesting. Hopefully what I am saying makes sense.

Mama: Yay! It's working today! I am really happy about that!

Well, if I had to guess, and you are getting transferred, I'd say you are going to Prosser. But maybe you are staying put! :)

That's cool about your sacrifice thought. I like that, and it's true for sure. 

Elder Sed: Wha hooo. Prosser! wow haha. talk about the middle of nowhere haha. Good thing I am staying in here with Elder R! I was super happy to hear that. I will get to be here for C's baptism! I am super pumped for that. How you doing today?

Mama: I am doing good today. I ran a couple of errands already, and then I have a webinar for work. Some new writing project they want to introduce so I will get on and see about it. Then I get to go “see” how my eyes are doing lately. (How was my “dad” joke? haha) My progressive lenses don’t work anymore...the contacts not at all, and my glasses I have to take off to read up close. So we shall see. ;)

Elder Sed: Hey that's good. You're going to be able to see again. Yeah, I did like your dad joke haha. Sounds like you need some new glasses haha.

Mama: So here’s a couple of questions for you:  What was your biggest challenge this week? What was your most faith-promoting experience? 

Elder Sed: Questions for me huh? haha. I can try to answer them. My biggest challenge this week. Hmm. That's a tough question. Every day has it's challenges, but probably the biggest challenge for me is worrying about my investigators all the time and what I can do to help them the most. Sometimes it takes quite a bit of thinking to get the answer that I need, to help them the most.

My faith promoting experience? Finding a new investigator who was on date. I had been praying for a long time to find new investigators who are prepared for the gospel. I still pray for that everyday, but it's nice to see HF answer my prayers.

Mama: Okay, great job. :) Two more: Who was your favorite person this week? Why?

What is your #1 goal this week? 

Elder Sed: why all these questions haha? Fave person this week?  I don't have a clue haha. My mom. She's awesome! My #1 goal is always do my best. Make the most of the time I have to serve the Lord. Teach and baptize is always good too ;)

Mama: The questions were just for fun. To get a closer look inside my son’s mission brain haha. Thanks for answering them. I’m glad I’m your favorite! 

Elder Sed: I have to get going, Mom. I am happy email worked out today. You will have to let me know when you hear something back from USU. Thanks for all that you do for me. You're seriously the best. Keep being awesome! I'm super happy to be serving a mission. It's been so fun and every day is still fun. I love it! Love this gospel. Love you guys too!

Talk to you later!

-Elder Jake Sedlacek

What's up Dad,

That was weird last week how it took so long for my emails to get to you guys. I wouldn't think it would take that long.

This week was great. The weather has been amazing in Tri-Cities this week, although its been raining off and on for the past couple weeks. It's raining right now even as I am sending this, but it has been super warm, which is nice. 

I am staying here in Kennewick, or "Disneyland" as President Ware calls it haha. I am excited. I would bet this is my last transfer here, then I will be transferred to my last area. That's going to be crazy. Time is flying by. I can't even believe it. Can't imagine how all you guys feel. I have loved every minute though, and I am happy I still have about 5 months left. I am going to make the best of it. I can promise you that.

Our investigators are doing great! We found a couple new ones this week, and one of them is already on date for baptism! J***** is the one we found this week who is on date. His wife is a member and they were a referral from the ward. They are a super cool family. He grew up with a Dad who is against the church, but because of that he has lots of questions. He is super open minded. We have already had a couple of lessons with him and they have been awesome!

The other new investigator is a lady named _____. We came across her info in our area book. Missionaries had been visiting her a while back, but for some reason stopped going by. She is pretty interested in coming closer to God but doesn't know how she wants to do that. She was married to a member, but a couple years back he died unexpectedly. He was young and she is still upset about it. You guys could pray for her. I am sure it would help.

C***** is doing awesome. It is going to be fun to be here for the baptism on Saturday.

I love serving a mission. It's so fun leading people to Christ. This week is going to be super fun with the baptism. It has been too long, but we have a companionship goal of two in February. Start praying for us that we hit it! I know we can! I am so blessed to be serving in this area. I know the Lord knows me and my personal desires. As we live the gospel to the best of our ability we are blessed so greatly. I know the priesthood is on the earth. I know that this is the church of Jesus Christ. He lives! I love to represent Him!

Love you all! You're awesome!

-Elder Sedlacek

A mission is 10% of the life I have lived so far....but the blessings far outweigh the sacrifice.

What's up Mama,

This week was great. The weather has been a lot like Seattle would be. It has been misting, but not raining, like everyday. It feels good. The air is really humid, but it's cold, so it's all good. I like it.

This week was pretty good. We had interviews with President Ware. Those are always so cool. He is pretty dang awesome! I asked if there was any chance of me going to the other mission, and he said he's 99.9% positive that I am going to stay in the WKM. I was happy to hear that! I don't think it would be as cool to have my exit interview with a guy I hardly know at all.

My most fave thing about Kennewick?? I really like the area. It reminds me a lot of Utah except it's not quite as pretty. The people are really nice, and it's mostly Christian so everyone has some good intentions. But yeah, other than that there isn't much to see or do in Kennewick, but I love the people!

 

Our investigators have been doing great. We got another baptism scheduled last night for February 7th, so it's pretty close! I am excited for C***** (that's who we put on date).

I didn't get my glasses yet. I would bet they come this week. If they don't I will be super surprised. Sounds like you should go to the eye doctor too, Mama. You're probably as blind as a bat haha jk.

That's way cool that Sister M has left now. I bet her mom is feeling like the house is empty with just two kids left haha. You're going to be feeling the exact same way here pretty soon haha. That's crazy that Jared already got his suit picked out. He doesn't have it back yet, though, I would presume.

Sounds like you have a busy life right now with school for the kids, and plays and whatnot for everyone else. You're one busy mama!

That's so crazy that Elder _____ got hit by a rock. Is he doing alright? Luckily I haven't had anything like that happen. Satan is real. I have figured that out multiple times. We just need to try that much harder to fight back.

Jared and his ego, thinking he's better at ceramics than I am.....He will quickly realize that he's not as powerful as he thinks he is when I get home and teach him who's really the boss still haha.

What's up big Papa,

I am having a pretty good week. We got a lot done. It went by super fast. All of our on-date investigators are doing really well. Besides C**** who we put on date last night, M***** is doing great too. Sadly, we only had C***** at church on Sunday. That has been THE hardest thing with our investigators. They say they want to be baptized, and we get a sure commitment that they will come, and then something else gets in the way. L*****  has been really busy with work, but he's still reading when he gets the chance. 

T*** has been super busy this week as well. I don't really know what is going on. She has no phone and is never home, so we will see if she stays on date for baptism.

K**** was out of town the beginning of the week and then busy catching up on work the rest of the week. He's been reading though, so that was AWESOME! He and his girlfriend have a lot of potential. They made a deal that they will help each other read every day.

 

We had a super good lesson with C*****. She is a minor, so we had her talk to her parents about being baptized and they gave her permission. She prayed to know if she should be baptized, and she really wants to be baptized on the 7th of February. Guess what????? She is already enrolled in seminary and she isn't even a member yet. How golden is that hahahaha. Anyway, she is awesome!

I know the Lord is blessing this area. We have been finding lots of people who are interested in learning more. We just haven't gotten back to teach them yet because we have been so busy. I will let you know more about them next week.

This week I had my interview with Pres Ware. He is awesomely inspired! I know it! He shared with me that his focus for the mission in 2015 is going to be on faith. He shared a quote from Joseph Smith that says something like, "God requires the sacrifice of all earthly things to be able to build a faith that will be able to withstand." I got thinking about just how much sacrifice a mission takes for me, for you, for the family, for the whole ward. A mission really is a huge sacrifice. It's 10% of my life that I have lived so far. A long time, but really, the blessings far outweigh the sacrifice. I have loved my mission so much. Pres Ware shared another quote with me that I felt really hit me. It was "The Lord prepares each of us for the purposes He placed us on this earth to complete. Moments are set before each of us that if we give all that is within us, will bring us to an ability and power we have not known before" (Brigham Young).  I know that my mission has been one of those experiences for me, and because of it, I have been changed and know just how much I can do.
 

That's way cool they announced the new mission presidents. The mission president of the Utah Logan mission is going to be President Allred, who is from the WKM mission presidency. He is a way cool guy. Whoever goes to that mission will be lucky. I bet Pres. Lewis will do awesome! It's pretty much for sure I stay in the WKM. I was happy to hear that.

Well, thanks so much for all that you do for me Dad. You're awesome! Love ya! I am so happy to be serving a mission. It's such a blessing and so fun as well. I know the church is true!!!!!!! I know it! Thanks for the letter and all that you and mom are doing to help me out with school and stuff.

-Elder Jake Sedlacek

Out of the hardest days, come the biggest moments.

What's up Mama,

How the heck have you been? I had a pretty good week. This week should be really fun with Christmas and all that. I actually got my packages on Saturday so they came faster than expected I guess. That's cool. You will be happy to know that I am saving them til Christmas morning to open, by orders of Sister Ware haha. She doesn't want any missionary to have to sing "I'm getting nothing for Christmas" haha. She's funny sometimes.

You like Sister S? I am glad you got to talk to her. I like her too, she's awesome. You should have gotten a couple texts with pictures this week. When we have dinner with families who have missionaries out, they always want to send a pic it seems.

I am staying healthy. The past couple days I have had some allergies so I don't know what the heck is up with that. My right eye has been bugging me because I can't see as good in it. I am going to the eye doctor tomorrow though, so I will see if I am actually blind or going crazy haha.

Amazon is amazing haha. Now that you have free 2 day shipping it's even more great!

Jeff is going to have a hard time competing with your fave son huh haha. ;)

Our investigators are doing well. It was a good, busy week. I had some cool experiences too, so it was awesome.

Mama: Hi Son! I’ve been great. I’m glad you have had a good week. Sister S said she is taking you to the doctor tomorrow. You’ll have to let me know what happens when we talk to you this week.

I did get three pics of you this week! Two from the M family and one from the Ns. They are all great!

You’ll always be my favorite son. Wink!

I forgot to tell you that Brother and Sister B gave you another $25 this Christmas. I will put it in your account.

Elder Sed: Yep, she is taking us to the doctor bright and early. 6:40 in the morning hahah. When I heard what time it was, I was like holy cow haha. It should be fun though.

Hey it's good that I'm still the favorite.Tell the Blacks thanks for me!

I am thinking about going and getting my grey suit tailored this week because it is huge on me and looks terrible. Mr Mac does free alterations but I am not in Utah and they don't have Mr. Macs here so I might just take it to a place and have them do it. I heard though that it would be somewhere around $40. 

Mama: Oh yeah, you’re still the fave. Yesterday all the kids were telling me, “But you said I’M your fave!” haha! I may or may not have told them all that.  

Yeah, I think you should get your suit tailored. I could tell it’s huge in that pic you had taken for a cutout. 

Elder Sed: Oh so the truth comes out huh haha. ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

You can be sure that I am the favorite--just an fyi.

I will be calling sometime Christmas Eve to set up the final details on the Skype. Should be fun!!!!

I will probably have my suit done then. I like that suit, just not right now because it's huge. Even the pants on my black suit are big, but the jacket fits better than it does on my grey suit so I will probably not worry about that one.

Mama: Can't wait to hear your voice!: it will be awesome. We will all be at grandpa Hilton's house.

Elder Sed: I have to get going now. It was great to talk to ya. I am glad everything is good back at home base. I hope you have a great week! Talk to you on Christmas! Love ya!

-Elder Jake Sedlacek

What's up Dad,

It was weird because when I started to read the email you sent, I was reading it as Mom sent it and I was thinking to myself  "Why is mom going to Cabela's to spend her birthday stuff???" haha!  I realized after that though that I was reading your email instead haha. That's awesome you were able to pick up a case of shells. Is that all you bought? It's going to be fun to use those next year. Jeff is going to have to come along too. If I remember correctly he hasn't duck hunted before, right?

This week for me was a great one. We had lessons with most of our investigators. I had some cool experiences too, with finding and gaining answers to prayers. I am going to give a short update of where most of our investigators are at.

M**** is still doing well. She came to church yesterday and really liked it. Like our ward back home was, our church was on Christmas in every class. It was fun. She still is having a hard time studying, but in this crazy, busy world who isn't? I think that is one of the most used tactics by Satan. He tries to convince us that we are too busy to study the scriptures, which is absolutely false. Dang Satan. Stop messing with our investigators.

L**** has been slammed with work with Christmas coming up. He is busy all this week too, which is just crazy. He still tries to find time to read each day somehow. He's awesome.

D*** we lost contact with. He got kicked out of where he was living and we have no clue where he's at now with his phone not working anymore. I hope we are able to find him soon. Miracles happen.

T****** is really busy with work too. (See the common theme with all our investigators?) The bishop went over and visited with her to see if she had any Christmas needs, so that was great. She is really awesome. Sometimes I just wish I could buy the things that she needs. It's really tough for me sometimes that way. I care about them so much and want them to have the things that they need.

C***** unfortunately got anti-ed by her boyfriend and dropped us this week. That was a tough day, but I did get a way sweet answer to my prayers immediately that day. When we got back inside that day, on Wednesday of this week, we had had a really long day and I was just ready for bed. In my night prayers to Heavenly Father, I always just try and relax and go over my whole day. I was just thinking about the days on my mission where it seems like nothing is going my way, and then all of a sudden I had a distinct thought in my mind. It went like this: "Out of the hardest days, come the biggest moments."  My thoughts went right to the Savior after that. I was just imagining the morning of the atonement and what or how Christ would have felt. He must have known that the day was going to be the hardest experience of his mortal life, but in reality the hardest day of all human history brought the biggest moment in human history as well. Out of that garden came salvation for human kind. How grateful I am for it this Christmas season!!!!!!!! It's so awesome to be a missionary this Christmas season. It may not be a "White" Christmas for me per say, but I have learned some meaningful lessons.

That answer to my prayers was just one of the cool things that happened this week. It was just a great week. I'm looking forward to this week, too. It's going to be fun to be able to see you guys over Skype.

I have got to say GO UTES!!!!! Oh yea, I am so happy they had a great game. I would have loved to see that trick play they did to score at the beginning. I bet it was awesome! I hope they can finish in the top 20 this season. That would be the icing on the cake. Now they just need to do amazing next year.

Well, I know the gospel is true. I am so grateful to be able to serve a mission. I love it! I know the Book of Mormon is true. I know the Savior lives. I know Joseph Smith is a prophet that god has called in these days. I know the priesthood is on the earth as well. What a blessed life we live. Thanks for all that you do for me Dadio. Your awesome! Love ya!

-elder jake sedlacek

I get to spend two years just thinking about others, and I get blessed for it.

Hey mama,

How are you doing?? Sounds like you're one busy, busy mama haha. I bet with the wedding being this week that this week is going to fly by for you guys. That is exciting about the wedding. I bet it's going to be super fun. 

 

We had a pretty good week. Things are going good with Elder R. He is pretty fun. I would say we're pretty good friends. I try my best everyday to serve him. Serving someone is how you come to love them.

Hey, thanks for praying for M, L and D. I am positive it's helping them. They are all doing great. L*** did fall off date though. M**** is still looking at getting married in April. She has been reading everyday which has been GREAT! D**** is still doing good. He, like L***, has a crazy work schedule so he needs to get that cleared up before he is baptized so he can come to church.

I really liked the Christmas devotional. I totally agree that Elder Christofferson is my fave too. He always has something awesome to say. His whole talk was super good. I would say the whole meeting really helped me to get in even more of the Christmas spirit.

I hope Nicole's neck starts healing. That would suck if she has to go back in for surgery. I hope everything goes ok with her. I bet she isn't too worried about it right now haha.

You will have to tell Jeff good luck for me on all his finals. I bet he is having a blast ;) doing all that studying.

You're going to let the kids ditch though haha. I never thought that would happen. haha. Good luck also with all the wedding set up. 

I hope this week is totally awesome for all of you. I would of course love to be at the wedding, but I can't right now. I am sooo happy for Nicole that she's getting married in the temple. You guys are awesome parents! I love you guys sooooo much! Thanks for all that you do for me!

-Elder Jake Sedlacek

Dad.

I am doing great. This week was pretty good. It was fast and slow at the same time. We were able to get in contact with most of our investigators. Weren't able to have lessons with all of them, but we were able to get in contact with them. Pretty much all of them are doing great things. I know the Lord is in their lives blessing them as they allow him to by keeping their commitments. Thank you guys for praying for them. I pray for them everyday too of coarse haha. That is one thing that is great about the mission. I get to have two years to just think about others, and I get blessed for it. That is what is so great about the mission. I love it! I know the Lord is with me all the time as well. What a privilege to be able to represent Jesus Christ this holiday season.

I gave most of the updates so far to mom, but we did have a lesson with T**** this week. I don't know if you remember her, but she is a single mother works two jobs and has two kids under five. Crazy life huh? haha. I don't know how she does it. She also finds time in her busy day to read the scriptures too. She is doing great. The lesson was awesome. When Elder Arnold came to visit the mission he had taught us a new way to invite someone to baptism using the Book of Mormon, and it works so good. We invited T**** to be baptized and she said she would when she gets an answer that the Book of Mormon is true! It was a miracle, definitely. Those experiences are what the make the mission such a awesome experience. Take note little bro and sisters ;) GO ON A MISSION!

Congrats on the new calling dad. {Teaching in primary}.  How big is the teaching pool ;) You have pretty good odds that you will have 100% baptism rate as well haha. Now that is what I call missionary work haha. Our church was pretty good too. 

Hey, I wish you luck on setting up the wedding stuff. If it goes well, you should start your own business doing it. How cool would that be? You would be super busy but I bet it would be fun.

That is awesome that the UTES are going BOWLING! I hope they have a team show up just like you said. It wouldn't be cool to go and lose a bowl game. I had heard that Urban Meyer is back coaching at Florida? Is that true?

Thanks for your testimony dad. You're awesome! I also have a testimony of the gospel. As we allow the Gift of the atonement to penetrate our lives, IT WILL CHANGE US! The power of the atonement is real. It is infinite. I read in 3rd Nephi this week in chapter 1. There were some verses that stuck out to me too. Verse 4 which is where the wicked people were going to kill the believers if after a certain time the signs didn't show up, but in verses 15-25 it explains all the wonderous things that took place and the wicked people that were originally going to kill the righteous were converted. Christ was saving people the moment he was born. His life was all about salvation for us. Because he was born and died and rose again, I know we will all live again as well. I am so grateful for Christ's sacrifice for us!!!!!

I hope you have a great week dad. Have fun with the wedding this week. Don't forget to put on the grumpy pants ;)

Love ya,

Elder Sedlacek

I do believe my mission has changed me for the better for my whole life.

 

What's up Mama,

We just got back from eating lunch and the temple so now it's time to email. Yay haha. Emailing is fun though.

I had a good week. Funny that you ask if I stayed dry this week and I didn't a couple days haha. We had some surprise rainstorms and we got soaked, but it was really fun. I just really have had tons of fun this week. We got some snow later on in the week too, but now it's back to being super cold after almost 70 degrees on Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving was fun. We went to some members' homes and ate, of course. It was good. Everyone did a ham, so there was not a lot of turkey. It was good though. Really yummy. I bet it was really good food at grandpa's.

I need addresses of our imediate family for Christmas cards. Can you send them all to me if it's not too much trouble? I am working on this year's Christmas card and it's looking to be pretty good so far ;)

That's awesome the wedding stuff is looking like it's going to work out. I hope everything goes great with the wedding. I bet it's going to be stressful but super fun!

That's super funny that Mia is dibbing taking "me" {his cardboard cutout for the wedding} around hahaha. You will have to keep that cutout around afterwards. Maybe Duke will destroy it though haha.

I like that you can see progression in me just from the time I have left. I really do believe my mission has changed me for the better for my whole life. I have loved it and still continue to every single day.

Mama: Son, yay! There you are! I have been waiting for you. ;) 

It is so good to email each week. My fave time ever. It is no trouble to send you addresses. Who would you like them for?

Shoes. What is your shoe situation?

Elder Sedlacek: It's good to email you, too haha. First of all, I like Nicole's bridal pics. They look super good. I need addresses for basically everyone. 

Shoes: I have shoes that will work. It was just an idea for Christmas. I had another gift idea for me but I just can't remember it right now. I will get back to you on that one if I remember what it was eventually.

Mama: One good thing about having a wedding was that we had to compile a bunch of addresses in an excel file, so now any addresses you want, I’ve got haha. 

 

Did you enjoy the temple today, and your lunch? Did you eat in the temple? The temple usually has really good food. I’m a fan of the temple’s tapioca pudding.

Do you get to watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional this Sunday?

 

Elder Sedlacek: I did enjoy the temple today. It was awesome as usual. Lunch was good too. Lunch in the temple????? psssshhhh that's a funny joke. The temple here isn't that big mama haha. We get a 60% off deal at Costa Vida once a week because a member owns it, so that's where we ate. You are right though that the temple does have good food. We do get to watch the devotional on Sunday. I am going to try my hardest to get our investigators there. It should be fun. I would assume you're going to watch it with the fam?

 

I have to get going now Mama. It was super fun to be able to email today. I am glad to hear you're doing well, as well as everyone else too. I hope this week is awesome for you all! If you haven't watched the new video the church has, "He is the Gift" you need to watch it as a family, and then #sharethegift. It's a awesome video about the true meaning of Christmas. I know Jesus Christ lives and he knows me and you and everybody else. The Book of Mormon is true. It brings the Spirit so much into our lives when we read it. I hope you have a great week again! Love ya!

-Elder Sedlacek

Whatz up Dad,

Hey papa. Sounds like you guys had a good Thanksgiving. Mine was good too. We had lots of fun. We went to a member's house and ate lunch/dinner for Thanksgiving. It was just the usual stuff, except it was ham. It was really, really good though. Next year is going to be fun ;)

The teaching pool has been doing good. Because of the holiday we didn't get to meet with most of our "on dates." The big news is that M**** and J**** are engaged. That was exciting news. They are working on getting married. It is weird to council somebody on marriage and I haven't been married haha. It ends up working out okay though most of the time. The Spirit does help with that, of course. M**** is still doing great. She made my day on Sunday. She got up in front of the gospel principles class and told how the Book of Mormon affects her. She shared how she can't read it out loud or her voice gets all shaky and she starts to cry. It was just cool to be able to explain to her that that is how the Spirit speaks to her. She is still doing great on the Word of Wisdom too, which is awesome.

D**** and L***** were both super busy with work this week so we didn't get to meet with them. They are both reading the Book of Mormon in the free time they do get. The rest of our teaching pool has been pretty busy as well so we are working on finding. We have been handing out tons of Books of Mormon so I am sure we will be increasing the size of the pool very soon. The new video the church has put out "He is the Gift" is way cool. It's been helping a lot to just get to talk to people about Christ instead of them just shutting the door on us.

Hey good to hear the Utes were able to pull out the win. It may have not been pretty, but it's still a season ending W, so that's good haha. The Jazz need to put their game face on and actually be good for a change haha. Maybe they are just waiting for me to get home haha. If they keep tanking it they should just try to get a lottery pick.

You will have to pet Duke for me to tell him I said hi back haha. Don't forget Molly too.

That's awesome that your wedding planning is going to work. What would you have done if it hadn't worked???? That would have been way stressful haha. Good job Dad.

As far as school, I would love to go to the U. I just don't know if I can get a scholarship there or not. That would be a major factor in the decision of where I want to go. I don't want to go pre med. I want to go PA at the moment, but I have also thought about history or something like that. Who knows haha. That's what generals are for right??

I am grateful for the chance to serve a mission. I know the plan of salvation exists for a reason. God does have a plan for each one of us. I know Jesus Christ lives again, and because he does we can too. I know our loved ones who have passed on are here to help us out in our moment of need, but we may not realize it at the time. I know the gospel is true. Thomas Monson is a prophet of god. The Doctrine of Christ is amazing! I love the gospel.

Hope you have an totally awesome fantabulous week ahead! Good luck with work and the wedding!

Love you all!

-Elder Sedlacek

Life flips on you pretty fast

Elder Sedlacek and his previous district. He is 3rd from the right.

What's up Mama,

How have you been this week??? Sounds like you've been very busy haha. I had a pretty good week as well. Transfers was fun. Elder Y got off to Grand Cooley and I got Elder Ro****. He is pretty cool. You can definately tell that he's young in the mission. He reminds me of me when I was out as long as he has been hahahaha. Funny thing is, he is at the exact point when I went to Elder J and I am out the exact time as Elder J was when I went to him haha. I remember thinking how "old" Elder J was, and now Elder Ro is probably thinking the same thing about me haha! Life just kinda flips on you pretty fast, doesn't it? haha. Anyway, he is a good missionary. Just kinda quiet sometimes.

Do you know if you or Nicole are going to send me some of the bridal pics??? I want to see the first look one haha. I bet that was fun to watch. That's dumb you had crappy weather for the pics! We had some crappy weather this week too. We had some freezing rain, tons of rain, and then at last the return of the Tri city sun haha. This week we had a meeting with one of the First Quorum of the Seventy, Elder Arnold. It was amazing! I will give an update in the email to dad.

 

I bet Mia did great on her play. If I had known/remembered it was her birthday I would have told her happy birthday last week in my email.

Why are they having you help out backstage though? Is that something you have to do or you're just volunteering for?

I bet your Thanksgiving will be way gooooooood at grandpa's. For Thanksgiving here we are going to at least one member's house for dinner sometime during the day. I don't know what else we will do. Last Thanksgiving was fun so I would assume this one is fun, too.

Mama: Son! :)

Yes, I’ve been very busy! I have all these little things to do floating through my head all the time, yet I don’t seem to get them all done. So today, since I am staying home until after we email, I have been making a list so I have them in front of me, and then I can check them off as I get them done. I think it will help. One of those things is to get your cutout taken care of. I decided to get a US President and then J.H. is going to enlarge your face from the professional pic you sent and put it on. 

 

They are having parents backstage for Scrooge because there are quite a few kids in it, and it just helps keep the younger ones acting like they are supposed to while they are backstage. Mia of course doesn’t need any help with backstage manners, but we still had to volunteer for two nights. It’ll be fun though. I like the backstage goings on. 

 

Sounds like you like your new comp, and you are getting along. 

 

Elder Sedlacek: You are super busy hahahaha. A list will help a ton I would bet haha.

Yea I like Elder R. He is pretty cool.  Like I said, he reminds me of me before the mission and at the beginning as well. It made me realize how much I have grown on the mission.

Oh, so you're on parent duty basically to keep the kids under control haha. Nothing more than you already do every single day of your life now haha.

Mama: A list will help. I’m already seeing it haha. It made me realize that if I’m going to cook a turkey for our own leftovers (hello tradition!) then I’d better buy one and get it thawed out! Normally I’ve done that already! It just shows how my thoughts are going in a million directions right now. 

 

 

Elder Sedlacek: Yeah, you better cook a turkey. That's important hahaha. I told Sister Sp***** that you make a really good turkey too, so I bet it will be way good haha.

So, you're pretty scatter brained right now then haha. That's how I feel sometimes too haha. Those are the days I just take out my planner and write everything down that I need to get done. Otherwise I forget stuff. There is a reason why my planner is my brain right now.

I have to get going in a minute but it was great to hear from you this week. I am so glad to be yo' son. Your favorite son, too ;)

I love you guys so much and am grateful for all that you all do for me. Love ya! Hope you have a great Thankgiving this week! Wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving for me since I of coarse won't be there. Talk to you next week though.

-Elder Sedlacek

 

 

What's up Dad,

My week was great this week. It was a usual transfers week, which means it goes by really slow. I also couldn't believe how busy our investigators are now that it's the holiday season. We didn't get to meet with lots of them, unfortunately. L***** is still doing great. He told us this week in our lesson that "everything he learns makes the Mormon church sound better and better. It feels really good." So yeah, he is progressing!  The hard part is still his work schedule and making it to church. 

 

M***** is still doing great. She is completely following the Word of Wisdom, which is great! Her boyfriend had to go into the ER early yesterday morning so they didn't make it to church. They also need to get married. I never thought I would be a missionary and a marriage counselor at the same time hahahaha. So far, the wedding is planned for April so I don't think I will be able to be here for the baptism. I am just really hoping and praying that they feel the desire to move it up and get baptized sooner than that.

D**** is doing well too. His employer told him that he can't have Sundays off right now because they are too busy. That sucked to hear. Hopefully he can get something figured out so he can start coming to church.

You can pray for all our on-date investigators, that they can get all their situations figured out and get baptized. The rest of our investigators are doing well. We are just working on finding new ones and working with the ones we already have.

Like I mentioned in my email to Mom, we had a meeting with Elder Arnold of the Seventy on Thursday. It was AMAZING! I felt the spirit so strong the whole meeting. It just so happened to be on the day when we had freezing rain too, so it was delayed a lot but it eventually happened. He talked a lot about the commitment ladder in the church. We are given simple commitments to keep, and we are blessed when we do. As we keep the simple ones we are able to take upon ourselves the greater commitments/covenants of the gospel. It made so much sense to me. It was awesome. He also talked a lot about the promises made to us when we are set apart as missionaries. He said, "Those promises are promises you can bank on. They were given through the Spirit of the Lord and the priesthood." I was just curious if Mom still had that paper where she wrote down the promises President Stuart said to me when I was set apart. I want a copy of it or something.

Sounds like work is going good for you. Hope it keeps being good haha.

That really really really really blows the Utes lost to Arizona! I really hope they aren't falling apart. They better just whoop Colorado. Are they going to be getting a good bowl game since they are 17th in the bowl rankings? I hope the Jazz can keep it up too. Sounds like they have a pretty good team this year.

Well, I had some scriptures that I read this week that I really liked for my spiritual thought this week. The first one being in the Book of Mormon. It's Alma 36:24-25. This is when Alma is talking about how much joy the mission can bring. I had never really thought about this scripture much before when I have read it, but I realized just how much joy the mission does bring to my life, and to your lives as well. I have really enjoyed every moment of my mission. I have grown so much! I can already tell that so I bet you guys will be amazed haha.

The other scripture was one that Elder Arnold shared with us. It is Moses 6:31 and 34, which is the promise the Lord makes to us. In verse 31 it helps explain that the Lord knows what we struggle with. He is talking to Enoch in this situation, but put your own name in there. I did it and it's really cool. I know I have been called of God by the authority of the priesthood to preach the gospel. I know the Lord is with me always. He is here to help us. This is His work and His gospel. I am so grateful to have the Lord as one of my companions in the mission at all times. I love my mission like always.

This week being Thanksgiving, I want to thank you so much, Dad, for all that you do for me. You're a great example to me. You're awesome. I am so grateful for the sacrifice you go through to keep your favorite son ;) on my mission. Thanks for everything you do! Love ya!

Have a great week!

-Elder Jake Sedlacek
 

I love you guys so much. Remember that!

 

 

What's up mom,

Turns out I was able to email from the church today.  Sounds like everything is going good back home. That is good that Nicole is going to be able to get into surgery tomorrow as was planned. I will pray that everything goes ok with that. I would have fasted Sunday too if I had known that all of you were doing that. That's what limited communication does haha.

 

It is way crazy that it's already September. I also found out that Elder C's sister got married while he was on his mission. They did a card board cutout of him and when you take the picture it has to be done with a profesional camera, otherwise it looks terrible. There is a member that he knows that does the pictures and sends it to you for free. I just need the wedding tie before I get transfered out of this area, which could be next month who knows. Just a thought.

 

That is good that you got the pics from the Myers. They are a really cool family and they took us out for dessert. I am glad I look good haha. What do you mean that you really mean it?

 

My week was pretty good. Monday we found a super awesome family from Ukraine. They have super awesome questions about the plan of salvation. Wednesday, we had a good lesson with a LA family in the ward. A couple weeks back we met with them and I felt like I should challenge them to read the Book of Mormon as a couple everynight and they have been doing it. They came to church yesterday too for the first time in a long time. Friday we had a zone breakfast where the stake feeds all the missionaries breakfast in the zone. It was super fun and yummy. One of the stake presidency shared a thought that I really liked on what he called the divine paradox. Missionaires come out to the field and time feels like it is super slow, but as we get older and wiser the time goes super fast. He related it to the scripture where the Savior says whosever will lose his life shall find it--if you know what I'm talking about. When we lose our life and stop caring about ourselves time just flies by. It is so true from what I have seen.

 

That is super cool that the nectarine tree is growing good. That sucks about the peach though. I really liked those peaches. I bet you're having so much fun canning all the junk that dad brings up too, huh haha.

 

That is super cool that you had a great experiance like that in the temple. Isn't the temple the best. That is why I am so excited for the 16th, because we get to go to the temple in the morning and I have the rest of the day to just have fun on my birthday. Awesome!

 

I love being able to email home and find out what's going on back at home right now. I hope you have an awesome labor day! You need to do something fun in the evening. You need it. I can tell. I love serving a mission right now! It is awesome. I learn so much everyday and really want to make my mission experience be the best I can. I know the Savior lives. He loves everyone of us and is involved in our lives. I know the atonement is real and its power blesses our lives. The gospel just wows my mind constantly. It's so cool!

Have a great week. Don't forget to send me a letter or something letting me know how the surgery goes. I will be praying for all of you guys and her. Tell her good luck for me and not to be nervous. I love you guys so much. Remember that! Talk to you guys soon

-Elder Jake Sedlacek

 

 

What's up dad,
       I had a good week. I already gave some of the updates of what I
did to Mom so I won't talk about those. You did ask about G and I
wish we were able to meet with him this week. His family is taking all
of his attention right now. He is still
reading and studing from the Book of Mormon though, which is really
good. He just needs to keep that up even if his life is busy. The La
family is still up in Seattle and their son isn't doing very well
sadly. He is stable but not improving like they would hope. I really
hope everything works out okay with them. It will be super hard on the
family if they lose the baby. Keep praying for them. They need
all the prayers they can get. I will be praying for you guys too with
Nicole's surgery going on tomorrow. I hope everything goes well!
       Ever since last week, which does to me feel like it was
yesterday, I have been working on that challenge you gave to me on
Mathew 19:20. I have really felt like I could be more centered on
Christ throughout my day so I have been working on that ever since
Monday. I really feel like it helped me. I studied up on Preach My Gospel ch 8
which is the Christ-like attributes chapter, and I have been working on
developing every one of those. It's just helped me realize that Christ
is everything in all that we do. We need to involve him in our life
and he will help us out but if we get selfish and think we can do it
all on our own we will figure it out the hard way soon enough. I think
that is what may have happened to me the past couple weeks. I found
that as I involved him more in every decision, my day went by so much
better and smoother. Pretty awesome huh.
       I am glad that work is going good for you. Seems like its
always busy which is a good thing I would suppose.
       Having withdrawals haha. I like the way you put that. I would
be having withdrawals too without Sunday football. We don't get ESPN on
the Roku? I would think that we would since there is a ESPN channel on
it. Maybe you should look into that, or maybe I have no idea what I am
talking about. I have mission brain so bad hahahaha. I am hopefully
not going to be too awkward though when I get home.
       I think that is awesome that Sarah is going to the Bountiful
games. Is Jared not going to them? if not he should be since it's his
last year of them. That is cool though
that Austin got some interceptions. He sounds like he is really good.
I like your spiritual thoughts from church and what not. They are
pretty good insight. I love the scriptures. That is one thing that I
have come to love on my mission. I really do everyday want to read in
them for at least 10 minutes when I get home. I will always be sure to do
that one. I have a testimony of scripture study. I love it and the
strength it brings. It's awesome! I love my mission as well. Thanks for
the sacrifice that you give up to keep me out here and going. Love you
guys so much!
Let me know how the surgery goes with Nicole.
Have a great week dad and fam.
Love ya again!
-Elder Sedlacek
 

 

Dang--missions go fast!

Just realized that I didn't post Elder Sedlacek's emails from last week, but that's probably because we Skyped with him the day before and there wasn't as much to email about as usual. Anyway, he's doing great and we're so proud of him! 

What's up Mama,

Today I emailed pretty late obviously. I kinda like it better though. Hopefully it works for you too. Glad you are doing good. That is crazy that school is already over. That went super fast. Probably not for the kids, but it did for me. Just think, I was out when school started and now it's pretty much over. That is crazy too.

That is great that Nicole did so well on her marathon! She looks good at the end too. I like her shirt she's wearing in the pics. It looks pretty cool.

You will have to tell Bro. H. thanks for the Conference Ensign stuff. He's awesome. On the package, I wanted a couple short sleeve shirts if you could. Don't buy nice ones though because they get destroyed. Just the regular shirts are perfectly fine. Then the soap for my face and that's about it I think. Thanks for all that you do for me Mama. You're the best!

How long has Jordan B been home? That is crazy, but I knew it was anytime now that he was going to be coming home. I bet he was a great missionary. Now he gets to the fun part in life haha. So did Nate speak with Jordan like I did with Nick? I bet that is the way it's going to be when I come home. I will probably speak with someone going out while I am coming home. That will be weird.

Well, I am doing good. I will give more of an update in the email to dad probably. It seems to work out that way most of the time anyways haha.

Hopefully it works out to email today!

What up Dad?

Funny that you mention that it seems like forever since we last talked, because it does for me too haha. This week was pretty slow. Yesterday was really good though with church and everything. We invited a lady who showed up at church to take the discussions, and she accepted so we will have a new investigator. We also put our investigator Felicia on date for June 14th. That was a pretty good lesson too. The D family is doing great, but they still are working on coming to church. That's what patience is for. I just really hope they will come to church eventually. That's what they need. We are also teaching Denise's daughter and that is going really well too. She is really starting to progress and it's awesome. We have given her a blessing and it really helped her. We also gave one to Denise and her daughter got to watch so she really knows the power of the priesthood. She is going to get baptized on the 31st so that is a little less than two weeks. Its going to be sweet!!!!!!! 

We are also teaching our RC Sydnie's sister. She is going to be baptized, too, and she is really starting to realize that the church is the true church. She felt something different at the baptism and she really liked it. You can pray for us to find new investigators, pray for the D family to have the desire to come to church, Felicia that she will be able to get married, and Denise and her daughter that they will be able to stay healthy and strong in the gospel, that Lexi will continue to feel and know that the church is true, and also for the baptism goal for the district of 15 by May 31st. The prayers I am sure will help out each one of them and will also help us to find new people to teach. That's basically the main people of our teaching pool in a nutshell.

Thanks for the sports updates. The ones you threw in are just fine for me.

What does the journal you picked up look like? Is it a good quality one that is going to last? That is really the biggest thing I want. It would be nice if it matches my other one, but we will see.  Thanks for picking it up for me.

That is funny that you like my stories better than the other RMs from our ward haha. I am sure they are both pretty much the same. It's the same work, just different places. I bet it was cool though to hear Jordan speak. He seems like he would have been an AP or something like that, or in other words an awesome missionary. 

It is crazy that the boys a year younger than me are already starting to give their farewell talks. It does seem like yesterday when I was giving mine. Dang missions go fast! haha. I never believed people when they said things like that, but it's really true. It does go super fast.

I am glad that work is going good for you Daddio. Keep up the good work!

Thanks for everything you do for me. It's really awesome what all you guys do for me. It means a ton to me! I love you guys and its super fun to be able to email you and hear what's going on back home. Keep on keeping me in the loop. Again, I Love you guys!

-Elder Sedlacek

Hey, somebody has to plant seeds!

It's really great to think that Elder Jake left in July and now it's December--going on five months out! He's sounding fantastic, more and more mature with every email and letter. Having a missionary out is such a blessing, even though we miss him tons! 

Email to Mom 12/9/2013

Howdy mama,

How is it going back at home? I am doing good. We didn't teach many lessons this week but it was alright. Funny how you ask me about the Google + thing, and I honestly have no clue haha. I am no help haha. I have just been told that you can set it up with my mission email and it works. I have no clue where I will be face timing you from. It will be from some member's house wherever I am at. Transfers are next week and I am probably leaving Ellensburg. I really have no clue where I will go. Vince fell off date because of smoking issues, but it would have been cool to have convert baptisms here and in Bountiful. That is awesome about A & H. Tell them I would be there but I have some things I am kinda busy with haha. Ohh--thanks for the packages. I'm excited to get them. You are the best!

That is crazy that JP is practically home. I bet he is also excited to go see his family. It would be cool to hear him speak. When is David coming home? That is nice that the P family sent me a letter. Tell them thank you for all that they do for me. I assumed there would be lots of snow where you guys are at. There was a big rain storm that passed by here a week and a half ago.

I bet Mia did great on her audition. You will have to let me know how she did or if she got called back. She is probably so excited to find out.

We were allowed to watch the Christmas devotional, but Elder S and I forgot about it and scheduled an appointment for the same time it was airing. I heard it was good though. I always liked watching that.

Well, how are you guys doing? Can I get addresses for Christmas cards? I will probably just send a couple home in the same envelope if you could get one to the Bishop for me.

Email to Dad 12/9/2013

What's up Papa!

I had a good week this week. We kinda had a slow week again lesson wise but we taught Vince twice. He is progressing right along but has some Word of Wisdom stuff that he is working thru so he is off date for now. That was kind of a bummer but he is very sincere and really trying his best. Besides the new investigators we found last, we haven't found any new ones yet. We are still working on trying to find people who are ready to hear the gospel. Our other investigators we haven't been able to contact, but I hope they are doing well. I pray for them everyday so I would assume they are doing good. It kinda sucks when it is like this but hey, planting seeds is a job somebody has to do. 

It sounds like the meetings were good. That is funny that they had the Bar J wranglers come to the care center. I bet all the old farts loved them haha. They are pretty funny. I didn't get to see the Christmas devotional because we had a dinner appointment at 5:00 which is when it started here. Kind of a hard time to have it start. I really wanted to watch it but I hope I will get to see it soon. We were allowed to go watch it though, which was good. It is nice getting to have most of that stuff even while I am here in Warshington haha.

I am working on getting info for the members who I want to stay in contact with. There are only a couple people that I would though, and Vince, who said he treats me and Elder S as his sons. He said he wants to be there when we get married and have our 12 children haha. He is a great guy. He calls us homies and we really are haha. It will be nice to stay in contact with members and investigators when I go home. 

Things are really going great. The wards are trying to figure out ways to hasten the work within the wards and it is going along slowly but surely. It's only a matter of time before Ellensburg is on fire!

It is crazy that JP is almost home. He is a great example for me. I really want to work hard everyday of my mission too, and I try to do that even now. What I do today affects tomorrow--that is what I have learned. It is great being a missionary and feeling my testimony grow. It really is great seeing people change their life for the gospel. I love you guys lots and am thankful for all that you sacrifice for me to be out here. I love you guys!

Love, Elder Sedlacek

First Baptism Scheduled!

Email to Dad 11/11/13
What's up pops?

My week went great. Kind of a cool story for the week: So you know Isaac had been kind of apprehensive about the church? He had been praying for an answer to know if the church was right. He finally got that answer at the beginning of the week and since then we have met with him 5 times this week! We assigned  him a chapter in 3rd Nephi 11 (where the savior comes to the people) and he read it and he said he jumped around in joy haha. He is super awesome. I also gave a copy of the article that Brother H. gave me and he loves that too. He couldn't put it down he said so tell Bro H. that I have been able to use his article lots. It is awesome. Well anyway, we have him on date for baptism on the 30th and he said he cannot wait. We might even move it up. We will just have to see. As far as our other investigators, we have another named Tomara. I might have already told you about her. She is a grandma who is interested in religion. She loves Jesus and will do anything to follow Him. We gave her a Book of Mormon and invited her to church but she didn't show this week so we will keep trying. That is pretty much the really solid ones we have for right now. We are doing a lot of tracting where all the red necks/ hicks are at so that is kinda fun haha. Kittitas is a crazy place haha! I love it though. Never would I live there, but it's still pretty funny to see some of the stuff that goes on. 

Dang, that sucks about the sports teams. I really wish Utah could win some more. Utah ST seems to be doing pretty good then. That's good for Nicole. I bet the Utes will get whomped on by Oregon. Just have to see what happens though.

As you know, Sunday is not a day of rest for missionaries haha. It will be weird to go home and be able to rest haha. Meetings all day then pros at night. Sounds like your Sunday was like mine. Lots of stuff going on but hey that's everyday out here haha. Me and Elder S. get along great. We haven't even argued once which is nice. We have good lessons and have lots of fun other times. It's nice to have a good companion for once haha. I love the wards we cover. In other words, I am doing great. Ellensburg is starting to grow on me you could say. I love the people, especially all the red necks in Kittitas. By the way, I have a dang good fake hick accent now. I will have to crack it out sometime haha. I did get to see the pic of Elder K. That would be so cool to pet an elephant. (Too bad there aren't elephants in Ellensburg). All my friends are doing well. I hope you guys have a good week. I love the Book of Mormon and I know the church is true! My testimony is definately growing! I love you guys! Talk to you later!

 

Love, 

Elder Sedlacek

"Me and my companion killed it"

Elder Sedlacek's companion, Elder R

Letter dated 8/20/13

Family,

Today was an awesome day! A couple days ago me and my companion were walking down the street, and we stopped this guy to talk with us. His is Dan. We went back to visit him today, and to talk to him about what he wants to learn. We talked about the restoration. Me and my companion killed it. The Spirit was really strong, and he wants to read the Book of Mormon. He even wants to come to church. It will awesome to see if he progresses. It would be like the first guy I found and taught, and maybe even baptize him too! This day was an amazing relief to all the hard work I have been putting in. I so hope he progresses.

Well anyways, I included the picture card from the camera. There is all sorts of pictures on it, just like you asked haha. 

Mama, can you please send some more stamps?