I love these people, and I will absolutely miss them a lot.

hey Dad! it has been a good week. to start off the week we had an appointment set with a part-member family. they were just married, and the husband is not a member. he wants to take the lessons so he can at least know about his wife's church, but he has already come to church so many times that he is pretty much a member already.  he is a "dry Mormon" as they say haha. i am super excited to teach him, and he really likes us, we have similar hobbies. 

sadly, we did not find any new investigators. we talked to a lot of people who invited us back, but they did not show for the appointments. thus is mission life I guess haha. K and R are still kind of wavering right now.  we are in bad need to build a new teaching pool, so that is what we have been working really hard at. 

I got to have the Zone leaders exchange with us this week, so I had one of my good buddies, Elder Schott, come with me. he served with me in Englewood and we always have a lot of fun together, so that was nice. we had interviews with President Welch too. I had my departing interview, however hard that is to believe. He asked me lots of questions about my mission, and some of the people I have met, and some comps I have served with. that was a really neat experience i have to say. He totally said some things in line with my patriarchal blessing and helped answer some questions I had. 

we didn't have anyone who is progressing show up at church, although we did have C, who is a non-member waiting for his 18th birthday so he can get baptized. he is a great guy. 

I have actually been studying those same sections in D&C. those are my favorites. I have really liked section 1 of the D&C this past week. we had a big district meeting with Sister Welch and the Zone Leaders there, and I had based my training around it. it went really well. It talks a lot about why we even try to share the gospel, and the wording that is used is awesome. it's like verses 12-20 or something like that. it talks about sharing the gospel so that God's children might be blessed, and might implies a lot in that. it doesn't mean everyone will accept it, it doesn't mean we will be perfect at it, but it does mean that God loves all of his children enough to give them a chance to hear it and accept it. a mission is a sacred privilege to be able to give others that opportunity. i am very glad i have been able to be part of it! 

that would be so cool for Sarah to go on a mission, and that is crazy she is 18 now. oh man, I want to cut the lawn when I get home! haha I want to see if I can still cut it like I used to. I have no preference for any particular food, if anything my mission has made me very not picky with food, anything is good for me. 

that talk coincides with what President talked to me about in my interview. hahaha--we talked about marriage. He explained how finding is just the same as dating, and that you have to keep doing all the things that bring you a closer connection with God, in order for you to find someone who is also trying to do the same thing. It re-affirmed the goals that i have set for myself to keep progressing, and good things will naturally fall into place. I am thinking that going to the temple at least once per week will be the best thing to help me accomplish that, in fact i know it is. 

I am so grateful for the foundation that my mission has laid for me serving in the church, it is only what i can build on and add to that, that will stand the test of time. you can serve a faithful mission, but you're not done there, you have only laid the footings, and maybe some cement floors. you still have to build that lifetime of service to God. I am very excited for that. 

thank you Dad, for all the updates you send me, and your great example! I love you Dad! have a great week! I will talk to you next week, even though that is kind of a joke to email right before i board a plane! hahaha  

-Elder Sedlacek

hey Mom! it was a great week. Honestly, we did not find many people, but we did meet some cool people. I cannot explain the feelings i have for Hoosiers hahaha, but I love them, and I want to help them so much. it is only because of what we have with the gospel. I love these people, and I will absolutely miss them a lot. what comes to mind is the hymn that goes, "bright as the sun, this heavenly ray." it makes me sad my mission is coming to a close, because I won't represent the Savior for very much longer, but at home I will have all the time in the world to bring friends to the gospel, through various means. 

I wrote about the teaching pool to Dad, but we did not get to do any cut and dry service projects. we just do a lot of little things to help serve people each day. we always offer to help people who are out doing yard work and stuff. 

that pic with the cake? that was the best cake ever! it was decorated with fondant, and the Relief Society made it for Sunday after church, because of next Sunday being Fast Sunday. they know i am going home next week, so she decorated it for me. it was enough cake for the whole ward, it was awesome. 

that sounds like fun, Sarah having her birthday, and Mia getting to go to Southern Utah. that is a super cool story from that missionary's talk. that is kinda like Sister Boyd in Batesville, when we had a baptism my second week in the mission hahaha. 

Heavenly Father is very good at directing his children to the gospel, and we just have to trust as his laborers that he has people ready and waiting for us to give them a certain perspective on the restored gospel. the work truly is like a stone cut out of the mountain without hands, and it will roll forth simply by Heavenly Father preparing people to receive it. 

I had the great opportunity to do a couple of baptism interviews this week, and man, those people were prepared. it was so cool. one of the guys getting baptized has completely spun a 1-80, it was so cool to see the Lord's hand in preparing him, and the changes he has made. 

oh man, i can't believe it is my last week! I want this week to be the very best, and we will make it the best. we could use a better word for it, but we are calling it "Dank Week." hahahaha we have some good stuff planned to make it great. 

thank you for letting me know of everyone's good wishes Mom, I really appreciate all the support i have been given, I can't thank everyone enough. 

oh heck yeah! you don't know how excited i am to go hunting hahaha! thank you so much for everything--hunting, new clothes, all of it. you guys are the best! 

i still do have that little cooler for traveling with my insulin, so i should be good there.  i will have to throw it in the Welch's fridge the night before i fly home to re-freeze it.

well, i have to go now. thank you Mom for all you do! i love you guys so much! have a great week! 

talk to you next week!

-Elder Sedlacek

I know that the last few weeks will help me to stretch and grow as much as I can

hi Dad, it was another good week. lately we have been struggling to find people to teach, so that has been a little trying. we are still working with K and his wife, R. K expressed his desire to be baptized so that he can be sealed to his wife. they are both very excited to have him baptized, however, we are trying to help him get into the Book of Mormon more and do all the little things that truly converts people and shows true conversion. it is interesting to me, that because of the righteous desires these two people already have, we just need to help them channel it. we talked about 3 Nephi 27 with K and read some of it--we are leaving small reading assignments with him to help him start reading on his own. 

we also met with D and had an interesting lesson with him. he told us that he is not yet sure whether it is completely true or not, but talked about how he has been recognizing the spirit, especially when we meet with him. he told us that the wisdom that the missionaries have could not just be from us, that it has to be something greater. i was so happy to hear that! it hints that he is understanding the role of the spirit better than a lot of people do. we answered a lot of questions he had and re-discussed parts of the plan of salvation with him. it was a cool lesson. 

we don't really have many more people to teach who are progressing, so we are doing a lot of finding and just talking to everyone we can. we met a guy the other day, who was sitting on his porch, and as we approached him it was like I knew exactly what to say. we invited him to listen, and he said "sure, why not." so we talked a bit more, and then set an appointment. he told us about his life and how he wants to get back into religion to help him raise his boys. it is amazing to me how much the gospel and the teachings of Christ can strengthen our families. as we strengthen ourselves and do the little things with our families {like scripture study} it brings us together. 

it sounds like you had a super busy week with work and all that, that is good. good luck with all the new stores! sounds like it has been very hot. I bet it feels just as hot here though with all this humidity! hahaha it's been rather swampy here, but luckily it hasn't rained as much as last year. we have a lot of black raspberries here along sides of the roads, and mulberries too. they are so good! oh man, that's terrible we lost Hayward! our team is going to suck haha! 

it's so crazy to think that Dallin is home now, but I bet it was fun to hear him speak. 

that is interesting about the spirit and how if we don't listen to the first prompting, we are dismissing it. i could definitely do better at listening to the first prompting, so that is a good reminder. in Moroni 7:13 it talks about how the spirit and promptings can be summed up as a good thought. all good thoughts can come from God, so we should do our best to follow those good thoughts. 

my comp and I had a good conversation about how the spirit touches us. for the longest time I questioned whether i was feeling the spirit or not. i did not realize that the spirit we feel when we do sacred things is different than the spirit we feel day to day, or i should say the way we feel it. and it's because of the sacredness of those things we do, like partaking of the sacrament. it took along time to recognize that, but now i know that the spirit touches us each in a personal way, and there is a lot more ways than one. it is up to us to learn how to recognize it, and that is why we do the little things each and every day, so we can learn how we feel the spirit and become better at following it. 

i know that as we do the little things, we will have the spirit with us more frequently, and we will know it better, and come closer to the Savior. i am thankful for the scriptures and for the gospel, because of how it helps me and others. thank you Dad for all you do for me! i love you Dad! Have a great week! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

hi Mom, it was a good week. sadly, we did not find any new investigators, but we have a few referrals we are trying to contact. we are pretty much trying to contact everyone we can to see if they are interested or not. 

my new companion is a great guy. we get along well, and work together really well. i love the area, it's such a fun small town hahaha. it is so much like Batesville, and it's quiet and pretty peaceful. we gave several priesthood blessings this past week, so that was really nice. we also got to help give one of the converts the Aaronic priesthood and that was really cool as well. 

i am not sure i could pick one single scripture that helped me most, but just getting to read the scriptures each and every day helps so much. because of the new missionary schedule, we sometimes have meetings in the morning, and with the schedule we don't always get time to study in the morning. you notice a big difference. I love being able to study the scriptures every morning because of the peace that it brings and it truly aligns me more with the spirit. after i read, i truly feel normal i guess you could say. it makes me a happy missionary hahaha. 

the scriptures have taught me more about my Savior, and they teach me what i need to do to improve, and when i feel discouraged they give me strength and motivation to continue. i honestly have not thought about the goals for home a lot hahaha. i am trying to ignore going home i guess, 'cause it makes me feel sad hahaha. I don't feel ready yet, i feel that i still have more growing to do, but i will have to think about it i guess. 

thank you for sending me all my stuffs! how long 'til i can get more strips? i have about 1 to 1 1/2 vials left. that is so funny about Dallin being home already! i bet it's super weird going from Bolivia to Utah. that sounds like you will have a fun young women's camp, i bet it will go great! i sometimes feel the same way as district leader, i do not feel adequate, at all, so i have to remind myself that there is something the Lord wants me to help the other Elders learn. they are all younger than a year out, so i feel the great responsibility to help them. all i can do is follow the spirit and give my best efforts to help lead them and be an example for them.

most of all, our callings are to teach us. callings help us to feel the love that the savior has for all his children. as we stand in his place, he will give us charity and the things we need to serve with all our might. we each have a specific purpose, and we have to have faith that we can and will accomplish it with his help. darn, well that's too bad that Bryant and i won't speak together now, but it will be fun to go visit with him after he talks. i will also get to see my comps speak too haha. or rather, they can come hear me. Aww man, that's too bad Dallin claimed Brother Ricks, but it was inspired, it will be good to speak with Bishop Beynon! that will be awesome. 

yep, i do remember that lesson from Bro Ricks, and a few others that were like that. those, in my mind, were the best lessons we had. the spirit was so strong in each one, and i specifically remember when he taught us to "call out" the spirit, they were all very powerful lessons and discussions.  

i hope to be able to have the same conviction as Elder Hale, that I know my savior, and i know that the last few weeks will help me to stretch and grow as much as i can. i am so glad to have been serving a mission, to be able to learn what i have learned and still have time to learn more before i have to go. the savior has a plan for each of us, and i find true joy in doing my best to fulfill that plan. the gospel is our road map, and the mission teaches us the principles of the gospel in a very real way. i am so grateful for the time and effort and everything you put into making my mission possible! 

got to go now Mom, thank you for emailing me! i love you guys so much! have a great week! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

We have our own personal trainer. He's with us every step of the way!

hey Dad! it has been a good week. we had our one dinner cancel, but they gave us a pizza instead hahaha. it was good. we did find a bunch of people this week, so that was really good. C is doing well and still progressing. 

as for the investigators, B is doing well, he puzzles me though. when we go over he shows tons of interest, and he wants to be baptized. he is working for a June date. but when we ask about his reading, he has not delved into it that much, and has trouble coming to church, but he is already stopping smoking and drinking. so there is progress, but i would have expected him to be reading more with the desires he has showed. he is doing well though. he talked about the first time he came to church--he went home after and promptly decided to go cold turkey off alcohol, and he is an alcoholic, so that was super cool. 

we had an awesome lesson with D, and he had a bunch of questions about the plan of salvation as we taught it. they all were about the lesson, it was so cool. he got sick and could not make it to church, so hopefully next week. 

we were walking around Saturday morning, and a guy randomly called us over, and told us to come back. he is a guy who loves to talk, and his neighbor came over to see what we were talking about. his neighbor is not all there any more because of drug abuse. it was really sad to see. we talked about the plan of salvation with them, and the neighbor started noticing the spirit, so we asked him to pray at the end, and he started crying. he started asking for his trials with drugs and stuff to be taken away. it was really humbling, the situation he is in, and how much faith he had to ask to have that stuff taken away. that was really cool. 

we also taught a guy who is on house arrest, but he's really interested, so that might be a trick. he has awhile to go before he is off probation. we will have to see how it goes. 

that is crazy Nicole and Jeff were so close to me. did they go right by Anderson, or through Indianapolis? that is weird hahaha. they should have drove through, we probably would not have seen them, because we work deep in Anderson usually hahaha. that's cool they made all those sight seeing stops, must have been fun. 

a cow elk tag would be fun, thank you for doing all that for me Dad! the 500 sounds like it was a fun race to watch, that's cool. we had a mini 500 in Anderson at the race track, they had such a huge tailgate, i took pics and a video hahaha. we got stuck for half an hour in traffic cause of it hahaha. 

i am definitely learning about being strengthened by the atonement in this area, that's for sure. and having more love. missionary work is all about love, and in order to have desires to help save the souls of man, you have to love them as Christ does. i always have to pray for this kind of love, it's not easy for me to love people. but i am learning, and that's what counts. i feel the power of Christ's atonement strengthening me, and because of his atonement, he knows the perfect way to help me learn lessons, and he also understands the people we teach. it is so cool to be able to have specific experiences that apply so much to people we teach. God is definitely guiding his work, and i know there is no better work on earth. i am so grateful to be a part of it. thank you for the love and support you give me! love you Dad! have a great week! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey Mom! its has been a good week. sweet, i am glad the new card is coming, my old one is starting to peel really badly. thanks Mom! 

it is crazy how time is flying by, it's super weird. we did get to teach a bunch of lessons, however lately we have been teaching a lot of people who have what's called the gift of gab, they talk A LOT, it's almost impossible to steer the lesson back on track sometimes, so that has made the teaching a little tough, especially for me. it makes is kinda frustrating sometimes, cause it's hard to teach when you ask a question and they just run with it hahaha.

that's been the hard part of the week i guess. we did find a bunch of new people though, so that is good. right now i am working on loving the people more--it's hard for me to love people, so i always have to work on it. it's also tough for me to be in the poorer areas, they make me depressed, so that wreaks havoc on me sometimes. my comp gave me a blessing, and it said how my love has grown so much, but there will be a time when it is tested, i think that is now, so i am working on that for the time being. in order to be a representative of Christ, i have to love people, but sometimes my weaknesses get the better of me, and i just don't like people for a while hahaha. so pray for that for me if you will, please? 

my favorite person was D, we had such a cool lesson with him, it was awesome. that is cool about finding the person from Czech. sounds like you had a fun week, even without work. i hope Sarah's talk went well, that is cool she got to speak at seminary graduation.  hahaha that is super funny about Brig walking around! and the nickname he has for Dad haha. 

i love how this life is a proving ground, it sucks in the moment sometimes, but there are also very good times. we learn so much, and it makes us better. i think i find the same motivation for life, as i do to work out. i want to be my best. Heavenly Father has a plan that gives you the best spiritual work out you can possibly get. it's so tough, you would get fetchin' wrecked if you did not have a personal trainer, Christ. He is with us every step of the way, and he helps us, he spots us, and gives us the strength we need so that we can make it through. He gives us all the supplements we could ask for, in prophets and scriptures. they help us recover, and strengthen those spiritual muscles. in the end, we get the opportunity to be out best selves, but we have to put in the work and do our best. i know how much Heavenly Father loves us, he wants us to succeed, and we will because of our savior Jesus Christ. i am so thankful for that knowledge, and that i get to share it. 

thanks Mom! could you please send some pump batteries with my birthday box? i am needing some more.

alright, i have to go now. thanks for emailing me Mom! love you guys so much! have an awesome week and day! thanks so much for all you do! i love you Mom!

-Elder Sedlacek

The week went by super fast. That is a good thing and a bad thing in my case haha!

An Oregon sunset

Hey Mom!!!!

You want more email than last week than I take it hahahahahaha. I wasn't feeling it last week just after we Skyped. I will try better this week, but emailing is just not the same as talking haha. Obviously. 

Well, we had a great week. The baptisms were great! L's went really well. She invited a couple of her non- member friends to come along. One of them came to church yesterday and the other had to work, otherwise she would have come too. Well, the friend who came to church is a new investigator!!!! I was pumped about that. L is already doing great missionary work. And guess what's even better than that? M already has a calling in his ward!!!! Bishop gave him a calling literally seconds after he was confirmed. It was super funny haha. That is what we like to see though--some initiative on giving converts callings quickly. If it were like that every time, I don't know what I would do. Go to heaven? haha.

Wow, Bountiful sounds like a rain forest haha. That is crazy that you have been getting all that rain lately. The weather here is always the same. We get a little rain with being close to the Blue "mountains," but they are really hills. The clouds do that rising thing and have to let some rain go, but other than that it's always nice and sunny. About 75 in the mid-day and perfect at night. It's just great weather, honestly.

On Memorial day I will be able to email because we email from the church. Hopefully email will still work out because of that.

Billion graves app? That sounds kinda cool. It's a good easy service project it sounds like. I think that would be super interesting to do. 

It sounds like Jeff is getting basically no sleep haha. It reminds me of some guy in the YSA who was walking down the church hallway saying how tired he was and how he thought he was tired on his mission, but then he went home haha. Hopefully it's really not like that too much.

Sounds like you are one busy Mama. You're going to be go-go-go for a long time it sounds like. It will keep you busy, and from getting trunky about me haha ;). You're funny, Mama.

That's fun you got to friend Elder Bowen's mom. He mentioned it to me first, that his mom and my mom were friends on Facebook. We had a good time on his birthday. We didn't do anything crazy, but it was fun haha. what is more fun than nine hours of church? ;)

Mama: I know there wasn't much to email about last week just because we Skyped. I only said that because this week it's been a week since we have "talked" to you so there oughta be more to say Haha.

Rainforest, yeah. I say that more because we are about to get hit again!

Elder Sed: I would love to just sit out in the rain and soak it up haha. I love the rain.

Church is fun haha. It is a lot of time for us to relax and feel the spirit. Oh I knew what you meant about the email, Mama haha.

Mama: I also know that you just aren't feeling the email as much because you are so into your mission right now. And that's okay. You're a wonderful missionary!!

Elder Sed: hahahaha. Probably. It's fun to email you guys though and share the experiences I have. I guess that's the point of it. Helping you guys feel the spirit of missionary work just like I am every day.

Mama: Yep, we love to hear how you are doing and what you are doing. I wish I could be a fly on the wall though!! Just once! 

Elder Sed: I'll bet you do Mama haha! Have a great week! I'm gonna get going! Love ya Mama! You're the best. Thanks for all that you do to help me out with school and everything!

Hey Dad,

You da bomb!

I had a great week this past week. It was really busy planning two baptisms, while doing the regular missionary work that is already busy as it is. It was fun though. The week went by super fast because of it. That is a good thing and a bad thing in my case haha.

We had some cool experiences this week, so I will try to tell them without being super confusing.

On Mondays after p-day we usually work up around Walla Walla finding young adults to teach since there are two colleges in Walla and one in College Place. College Place is to Walla Walla like Woods Cross is to Bountiful. We were going around, and the whole night Elder Bowen and I kept feeling like there was something we needed to do right then. We didn't know what it was, so first we tried by referrals. No luck. Still had the same feeling. We stopped and talked to people on the street. No luck. Still had the same feeling. By this time, we had talked to a lot of people with not a lot of success, and it was getting late and time to head back to Milton-Freewater. We left Walla with the same feeling, that we needed to do something right then, so we said a prayer. In the prayer we just asked for some guidance to help us know what it was. It was when we prayed that I had a couple of sentences from a scripture pop into my mind, and that we needed to text it to L. So we searched around for that scripture and we found it. We sent the reference to her and then we finally we felt peace. It was later on that night that we got a text from L saying that about the same time we sent that text with the scripture, she felt herself heading for a breakdown and starting praying. The scripture reminded her that God was still there for her and was watching out for her. We were able to listen to the spirit and answer L's prayers. It was sweet!!!!!

Both the baptisms were awesome! I was really pleased with L's baptism. There were some of her non-member friends there who were almost crying from the feeling of the spirit that was there. There was great support there from the branch. I was really happy. M's was good too. There was more support than last time, which was an answer to the prayers of you guys' and mine and Elder Bowen's. M is doing really good! He's totally ready to start working towards the temple. He even got a calling! I was super excited about that.

F is doing amazing! He's got the priesthood now and is going to be passing the sacrament next week. His mom is taking the discussions from the Hermanas too, so that was way cool to hear. She even wants to be baptized. See what just one person can do for a whole family? It's amazing!

We have been praying like crazy to find a family who is prepared for the the gospel to be baptized in June. This past week we got a couple answers to those prayers. One of them is the G family. We tracted into them a couple weeks ago, and we decided we needed to go by this week and follow up. We went by and we talked to the mom. The member we had with us at the time was like best friends with her growing up and knows the family really well. That was a miracle in and of itself. They expressed some interest and we have an appointment to go back later this week and have a lesson with the family. Pray that they will accept a baptism date!

The other cool find was a family named the Rs. They are a pretty cool family as well. Earlier this week we were up in Weston to see T because we felt like that's where we needed to go. We went by but she wasn't home, so we were in the process of figuring out where we wanted to go. We were standing in the street just thinking and discussing where to go next. There was a noisy party in her neighbor's yard, with a bunch of people back there, but we weren't about to go back there and just interrupt the party because that would be weird. While we were thinking about what we were going to do, a kid came out of the backyard party and just asked us what we were doing. We weren't quite sure what was happening at first--if he was just trying to mess with us? but we just told him who we were and started talking. It turned out he was actually really interested in what we were doing. We ended up having a super great restoration lesson right there in the middle of the street. (Don't worry Mom. Weston is a town that if you blink you miss it, so there are never any cars haha). He told us where he lived and told us to go find his house and get his address. We have his phone number and are going to go back and teach him this week. What is even cooler is that he has a family of four. We had been praying that day, specifically, that we were going to find a family of four who were ready for baptism, and out comes B to talk to us, in the street, while this party is going on. He just happens to have four people in his family, who all just started going to a Christian church and have accepted Jesus as their Savior. They are golden ground right now in my opinion. I know God answers prayers!

My strongest desire for the rest of my mission is of course, baptisms, but even more than that I want to bring a family to God and help them become an eternal family! I am going to work so hard towards that goal. I know God will help me to do that and will answer my prayers! I know how important it is that we listen to the spirit. I know God is going to guide me and Elder Bowen to his children who are prepared. I am totally confident in the Lord that he truly will help us!

It's good to hear that work is busy for you. It will keep you out of trouble haha. You're a trouble maker! An old one at that! haha! jk dad. hahaha

I had heard about that #Face2Face thing. What was it about? I had only heard about it. I didn't get to watch it. I looked it up right now and am listening to it. It would have been cool to be there.

Well family, I am super pumped to be serving a mission! It's a blast. I truly know the gospel is true!! I love the Lord! I love to serve him as a disciple and representative of Jesus Christ. I know his power and authority is with me. I know God will guide us in all things. I know He loves us. He is aware of all his children. We go about doing this work to bring God to them as an answer to their prayers, even though they may not even know it at the time. The Book of Mormon is key! I love that book!

I love you guys! Thanks for all that you do for me!

-Elder 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

First week in Pasco

What's up Mama,

In Pasco I will probably be emailing way late every week. Hopefully, it works out. It's really frustrating, though, because we don't have a car, so we have to work with everyone else to get stuff done like our shopping and stuff, and we usually get pushed to the back. I'm not too happy about it, but oh well. Hopefully email works for you this week. 

So far in Pasco, it has been really, really hot and tiring. I have never been so tired in my life, pretty much. Walking around in the heat all day really does that to ya! It was a pretty good week though. I am just trying to get the hang of the area and all the members. 

I am glad that you liked all the pics I had people send. Hopefully they are good ones haha. Tell Nicole thanks for "friending" people for me.

We live with some members and we have one of their bedrooms, which is pretty dang small. It's not too bad for living conditions though. I am happy to have it.

The soap I need is Cetaphil. The container I have has a pump on it.  I am about out of that stuff so it would be good to send it as soon as possible.

It is crazy that Jared is 17 now! I realized that while looking at the calendar this morning. Tell him happy birthday for me. That is also crazy that Sam, Nate and Jeremy are all leaving so soon. Time is flying by for me now that the  guys a year younger than me are coming out.

Hopefully, again, email works today! 

What's up Dad,

Happy Father's Day this week! I will send you something in the mail, but I wanted to make sure to tell you.

This week has been pretty good. It has been sooooo hot. Being in a walking area when it's 90 degrees outside is pretty dang tiring. I am making sure to drink plenty of water though. 

I am also still trying to get the teaching pool down. There isn't much of them, but I don't really know anything about any of them  because I haven't met any of them yet. Pretty much nobody answered the door this week. This ward hasn't had much success in the past couple months. They have had two baptisms since the beginning of the year. I really hope I can help to make it more productive while I am serving here. It's kinda different here because there are so many Mormons already. It's like a mini Utah and everybody else who isn't Mormon already knows about it. I am thinking service would be a good idea to offer. The ward is pretty good. It's pretty small attendance so I think there are a ton of LA. So it's a lot of a different kind of missionary work. Instead of investigators it seems to be alot of  reactivating members. If you want to keep praying for the investigators up in Sunnyside, that would really help them. They are getting pretty close. You can also pray for me and Elder R to be able to have a baptism this transfer.

It is so crazy that Jared is 17 now. It's pretty cool though that he has found that he likes weight lifting. He is going to be solid it sounds like haha. He's going to be able to beat me up haha. On whether he goes before I come home or not, I would love to see him after my mission but if he is already gone I can't really do much about it haha. He can go when he wants. I don't really mind.

I think it's kinda funny you're back in scouts. Really though, in the HC you were involved in some of scouts with the Blue and Gold Banquet and cub scouts haha. You just can't get out of scouts can ya haha. It's alright though, because that is what you like and you're good at it. The Lord knows that, obviously.

Finally the Jazz got a new coach. Hopefully it works out for them better than Corbin did. They don't seem to be having very good luck with that. Is Jerry Sloan still on the coaching staff? He should have stepped up and taken the job. That would have been so sick! Oh well, I am sure he will get involved as like assistant or something. I really hope the Spurs win by the way. The Heat can go away for all I care haha. That is funny though that the ac went out during the game. I bet it's heck in that arena with all the people in it. I would not want to be in there haha.

Well, I really hope you have a great week. I love ya! You're an awesome Dad!

-Elder Sedlacek

Learning some new tricks

What's up Mama,

I didn't get your letters yet so maybe today I will. I did have a good week. Sadly, J.D. can't be baptized for a couple weeks but Becky is having an interview for baptism tonight and Sydnee is still on for Saturday too. It is going to be at least two baptisms on the 10th hopefully. That will still be awesome! 

 

The ward is great up here. Sunnyside, for me, has been very successful. It has been great! Things with Elder A are doing good. He is stubborn, so it's his way or no way, but I just cope with it and we get stuff done. It is not easy, but we have to get along if we want success. I have just been working on my individual relationship with the Savior, and it has been helping a lot. 

That is awesome Nicole is graduated now! You guys need to watch the Princess Bride soon. That seems like a good movie to watch right now for you guys haha. 

 

That is crazy that Alyssa and Liz are getting married and are. That went fast!

 

On Mother's Day I will get to call home. I get to call on Saturday, too, to set it up with you guys. It will be in the evening, probably around 7:00 Utah time. It is going to be fun!

 

I do like the pics you sent. Thanks for all that you do, Mama. You da best!

 

 

What's up Pops,

I didn't even realize that date yesterday haha. {May the Fourth be with you!}  Being on the mission just makes you forget that stuff haha. Oh well, it is Cinco de Mayo here and Sunnyside has had a big party the past couple days. It was fun to walk around and talk to people. There is good food there too haha. Sounds like you had a good week though. I did too. 

 

For this Saturday, we have two people on date for baptism. Sydnee and Becky. Sydnee is really pumped to get baptized and so is Becky, she just needs to have her interview tonight. I am sure it will work out for the best. It is going to be awesome to have multiple baptisms on the same day again. I really love when that happens. The rest of our teaching pool is doing okay. Only Eric came to church so he is doing good, he just won't commit to a date yet. Marie is doing good too. She wants to come to the baptism on Saturday to check it out. I think we can get her baptized this transfer, hopefully. We have been working to find some new investigators and have some good potentials because of it, but I will tell you about them once I know a little more. That is really our focus right now is finding new people who are solid to teach.

 

With planting season going on up here I have been learning some tricks for gardens, one of which I think we could use on our fruit trees. They have what they call bird scare tape that you put in trees, and the birds don't eat the fruit because of it. It is pretty cool stuff. It just is super shiny and that is what they use on all the fruit up here. It seems to work well, too. Another trick is when you pick the apples, make sure that the stem is on the apple, otherwise it hurts the tree and it won't have as much fruit the next year. So there's a couple tricks that I though you would like haha.

 

That is funny that they have you doing the food for Dirt and Dogs! You must be good at it or something. You will have to let me know what new calling you get when you get one. 

 

You will have to get your head in the game haha. Geeze dad, haha just kidding. You're doing fine with the updates. It's fun to hear the latest news on the sports stuff.

 

Sprinklers are a pain and believe it or not I have done some on the mission haha. Lots of fun every year. I bet you will have loads of fun mowing the lawn. You should get a riding lawn mower and then it would be super easy.

 

Today for p-day should be pretty fun. We are going to a member's place up in Yakima and playing all sorts of games. It is going to be awesome. They have all sorts of stuff like air hockey and ping pong, really just a ton of stuff to do. It should be fun.

 

I hope you guys have a great week. You are seriously the best. Thanks for all that you do for me! Keep praying for our baptism goal of 15 baptisms before May 31st too. Love you guys!

-Elder Sedlacek

Praying for charity and patience

What's up Mama,

I am doing pretty great. This week has been good. We taught lots of lessons to our investigators. My comp is difficult at times. There are times we don't get along that great but we do try our best. We are just so opposite. Guess what President said during interviews? He said he was nervous putting us together because we are so opposite, but he felt directed to do it so here we are haha. I just hope I can become a better missionary because of our companionship. Yep, I guess I am going all Warshington on ya haha. I think I meant to put "couple 3" in that letter, but I am not sure at the moment haha. Maybe it was an accident, who knows haha.

Sounds like St. George is pretty fun for all you guys. You will have to keep track of everywhere cool so I can see it too haha. That sounds like lots of fun after the mission. It would be super cool to see all those  church history sites, even though it's not Palmyra or something like that--but it would still be awesome. You took Duke and Mollie to the boarders? I bet they do like it there haha. They will have lots of friends to play with.

How long have you been in St. George?

I am so excited for General Conference this weekend. I bet the Women's Meeting was awesome if it made you cry the whole time haha. I hope all of conference is that awesome. It usually is, so I am happy it's this week. It's going to be sweet for our investigators too. I am sure they will really like it.

I hope the email works while you are having fun on vacation. I don't know why it wouldn't though. I love to hear from you guys too.

Like the pictures too. That looks like an awesome hike!

What's up Dad,

Sounds like you have had a fun week. I hope you guys have had lots of fun, it sounds like you have. We will have to go visit St. George when I get back huh. Sounds like it would be fun to do that.

We had our fast and testimony meeting yesterday too. It was hard to hear everyone because the speaker system went out and they were just using some portable speaker that didn't work very well. It was a good meeting though. We had E and her sister come to church along with J! We had not seen him in almost two transfers, but he finally decided to start coming again. He brought along with him pretty much all his extended family. It was great. There was lots of non member attendance. E is doing great! She is on date for the week after conference. She is thinking about moving, which would suck, so pray that she will stay in Sunnyside. She is doing missionary work to all her family though. She has taught all the lessons to her family while we are gone. She really wants everyone to feel what she has felt, which is awesome. The D family are still doing good. We have been reading the Book of Mormon with them and it seems to be working really well. They weren't able to make it to church, but J is on date for April 12th.  B is still working on getting that specific answer that she needs to be baptized a Mormon to make it to heaven since she has been baptized twice in her life already. We need to teach her about priesthood authority. That will really help her. We have just had some of her concerns we needed to resolve first, so that is what we have done so far. The rest of our investigators are doing pretty good. We have had trouble meeting with a lot of them, which kinda is sucky but just pray that we will be able to get in contact with them. That is really the thing that is holding us back right now. It's just hard to get hold of people. The goal is coming along pretty slowly, but there is progress. We are at 2 out of 14 baptisms so far, so there is progress being made haha. I am expecting some big miracles in the future! We have been praying for them, that's for sure. Keep praying for the goal also. Dang, I have given you lots of stuff to pray for haha. Don't forget to do it.

I like that story from the guy that you work with. That is something that I can probably work on this week. It was fun to have interviews with President Ware this week. He said that I am one of the best teachers in the mission in his opinion. It was a really nice compliment from him. He said that as long as I am praying for that charity and patience towards my comp and the people I serve with, I will be able to become better at that. I think that is one thing I struggle with and the thing I can learn from my comp. To be more charitable and patient towards people who are different than myself. It's hard, but that is something that I am working on.

From what I have heard from members, my bracket is ruined haha. I guess the mission did not help me at all to pick better haha. You will still have to let me know how I did.

Thanks for all that you do for me dad and family. It's fun to be able to serve and watch you guys be blessed for it. I love being a missionary, even when it gets tough. Believe me it did this week, but I got through it with prayer. I hope you guys have a great time down in St. George chilling in the warmth. Remember to pray for the goal and my investigators. It will help them a ton. You guys are awesome! Love you! Thank you for all that you do!

-Elder Sedlacek