Ohio bugs are huge and nasty!

hi dad, it has been a good week. it was a little bit slower week than normal, but it still went pretty well all around. all of our investigators are doing well. as of today, J** will still be baptized on the 3rd, i am so excited for her! her brother-in-law will be doing the baptism, and we will get to participate in the confirmation, so that will be cool. we had stake conference this week, and so we had J** and M**** come to the Saturday night session, plus J** came to the Sunday session. M**** was not able to make it to the Sunday session. T** did not answer his phone, so we don't know if he had to work or not, or whatever. 

J** is just as excited as ever and feels ready to be baptized. M**** had us over for dinner on Saturday, that was super cool.  her mom made the authentic Mexican food; it was really good. her mom can't speak any English, so she was asking us questions and i understood maybe a 1/4 of it hahahaha but when we left i said "gracias," and they looked at me funny so i was like "gringo!" and they all laughed hahaha! 

M**** is still keeping her commitments and is coming close to the decision to be baptized, we are just waiting for it to happen. T** is doing well and is working on his tobacco use, and is reading, so that is awesome. we are about to dunk all of our teaching pool here soon, so we are trying to find new people, and as you know, it is tougher in this area. we are starting to work with a few people, but it seems a lot of them just can't say no to us, so they don't always keep the appointment, which sucks. 

it is super cool that football has started up again. i almost bought a cool Bengals snap back the other day with my birthday money, but decided not to. that sounds like you are getting the job done at work. that is awesome they called you in to help them, you must be gaining a lot of trust. it is amazing how the Lord uses us to do His will. 

oh i miss those nectarines, the ones off our tree are so good! hahaha i bet you have had fun mowing the lawn this summer, just wait til i get back, that lawn will look gorgeous hahaha! people don't manicure lawns out here, they just cut it to keep it looking decent hahaha. that is good the girls did so well on the test, now we will have to get them both a buck or two. you will have to put me in for a tag next fall by the way.  

the Seventy who came to speak to us this past week, talked a lot about consecration. it truly is a very important thing to live by. the mission has taught me so much about consecration. we all have to work on our level of consecration at times, but as we follow the example of the Savior, the perfect example, we will always be able to learn and grow and gain more intelligence in this life, which prepares us for the life to come. the law of consecration is a celestial law, which means we must learn to live by that law in order to achieve celestial glory. i know that as we sincerely do the Lord's will, we will be blessed with more desire to do good, and recieve many blessings. thanks again for all you do Dad, you're the greatest, have an awesome week! love you Dad! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey mom, it has been a good week. last p-day we didn't have much to do, so we napped for a good solid two hours, that was AWESOME! hahaha i felt so much better! hahaha today we have a zone sports day in Hamilton so we will drive up there to play some games. 

our main investigators both came to church. we had stake conference, so Elder Hemula from the Seventy came to speak the mission on Friday, and then spoke at all the stake conference sessions. he did an awesome job. my favorite part of the week was probably having dinner at M****'s house, or having our old mini-missionary come out with us again. he is in the Hamilton ward. my favorite person was probably a really cool 96 year old man who we met yesterday. it was hot as all get out, and he was just sittin' out there. he is blind, and just calls out if he hears anyone coming, so we went to chat with him for a sec, he was super cool! a miracle was probably just getting some members out with us last minute a few times, that was awesome. the biggest challenge was probably the heat and the rain. like i said yesterday was hot as blazes, and we actually had what's called a heat alert, above 90 with very high humidity. i never sweat very much in Utah, but that was because it is dry, here it sticks to you, so you just keep adding to the sweat on your face til it drips.

it sounds like you had a good week with physical therapy and everything, that is good. i hope you also have a good week with work and stuff. i did get the strips, thanks so much for sending them! i got them just in time hahahaha. you could probably just keep the pump supplies there, and keep it for an emergency. could you tell the J family thank you for me! they are awesome! 

oh and could you tell Sister Elton thanks as well, i got the card that they sent, it was very nice! hahaha poor Jake and Jeff, back to classes. that stinks, i am not looking forward to going back to that, that's for sure hahaha. Brig looks so cute hahahaha, i loved those pics you sent! so does he like his new room? it is cool they got into a bigger apartment, mine is bigger than their old apartment, that says a lot hahaha. i can't believe we moved that piano in there in the first place!

that is so true about men's and women's roles, Heavenly Father knew what he was doing when he ordained marriage between man and woman. i can definitely say, from living with another man for a whole year, man and man are not meant to be hahahaha. i am so grateful for the opportunity we have to be married in the temple for time and eternity, that is one of the greatest blessings we have been given by Heavenly Father. i am so grateful for that. the roles definitely do compliment each other and are meant to be used together, as a whole unit. 

thanks for emailing me Mom, i  hope work is going well, maybe we will get to email back and forth.

the pics include some fun bugs we found. our apartment a/c was flooded this week. i heard a dripping noise and opened the radiator, and the cavity in the wall was full of water, so now the carpet is all wet around it. the maintenance guys won't do anything to really fix it, it's a mess. but we found the bug on the wall in our closet. Ohio bugs are huge and nasty!

thanks Mom, for all you do! you're the greatest! i hope you have a good week as well! i will talk to you later! oh, transfers are next week btw. love ya!

-Elder Sedlacek

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-Elder Sedlacek

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-Elder Sedlacek

The humidity is something I won't miss!

August 1, 2016 Emails

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

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

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

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

-Elder Sedlacek

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

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

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

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

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

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

Elder Sedlacek 

Hope, discouragement, and the changing of the guard

hey Dad! this was a good week, we had a lot of grace and we got to go to the Louisville, KY temple! it was awesome! we went with the Porters as a one last hurrah i guess. they met us in the celestial room after the session, and gave each of us a hug. it was funny because Sister Porter gave us hugs too (which never happened normally), so she reached out to give me a hug and my immediate reaction was internal screaming hahaha! my mission brain took over for a second haha. 

President Porter will be speaking the 10th of July, but he did not say what building it is. i am sure you can find out though. i really hope you can record it for me!!

this week, we were able to reach the leadership standards of the mission! we found a bunch of people and we were able to get a member's referral for her sister, J**, who has had some health struggles that caused her to move in with her member sister. J** had been meeting with the missionaries already, in Arkansas, and she says she already knows the church is true. she is not quite ready to be baptized, but it was a huge miracle! she was able to make it to church on Sunday. we had the mini missionary with us a majority of the week, and it was super fun, he is a funny kid. 

President Welch takes over today--it is crazy. it is weird to think that almost a year ago i arrived here. it is super weird to think about! i am excited to meet President Welch. in answer to your question, one family that really touched my mission so far is the Scott family who own that huge bull mastiff dog, they are so awesome! then another guy from Englewood who would come out with us a lot, and don't forget Frank & Sue and Jeff P! 

that is super cool that Asher and Sam got to speak on Sunday. i am glad Brother A is doing well, i am glad he liked the chopper from the Dayton air museum. holy cow, 600k people at the air show! that is cazy, i bet that would have been super fun to see, although you were actually doing what i did, moving people. hahaha 

we did get some of the new pamphlets, but it sounds like they ran out, so we didn't get a whole lot of them. our commissary will come soon though, so we will see how many we get this time. they are really neat looking. i loved that talk from Elder Holland, it was super good. we have to keep trying and keep believing to make things happen, we cannot afford to get discouraged. if i got easily discouraged, i would not be the missionary i am today! hahaha that correlates with one of my fave scriptures, 1 Timothy 4:7. i have definitely felt your prayers, and i know it helped us this week. we could not have had such a good week without it! thanks for all the support you give to me Dad! i love you so much Dad! have a great week! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey Mom, so we had a great week! i did get my package! thanks so much Mom! we will for sure enjoy those Slushees! thanks for mailing me some supplies! my insulin is good, i still have a few more vials i think. 

well, your prayers are being answered, we found a lady from a member referral the other day, and i wrote about her in Dad's email. then we met another lady named P** who seems pretty solid, we have an appointment with her on Tuesday. nope, we definitely don't judge success the way Heavenly Father does. i am too hard on myself, because i see lots of missionaries baptize a lot, and then i haven't had one in a long time. but i have to remind myself that people do have their agencies to act for themselves, and that as long as i work my hardest and try my best that i am successful. me and Elder Erickson are in the same boat, he has only had two baptisms as well, but he also works his hardest and tries his best, it was an awesome tender mercy to be able to share the same experience. 

my fave person this week was probably P**, she is just a cool person.  the most fun i had was with the mini missionary, we all three had a blast together. then on Wednesday we rode past a lady's house on our bikes, and i had a distinct impression that was not ignorable--hahaha--to stop by. so we stopped in and found that she had been struggling with some health issues, and we both had another impression to offer a her a blessing. the spirit was so strong! it was amazing. 

we had a great time at the temple--i wrote a little about it in Dad's email, so you will have to read about it there haha. i try my best! 

President Welch takes over today. we had a special conference call last night as a mission, and President Porter gave us a blessing as a whole mission. it was super cool! i heard about Finding Dory, i heard it was pretty good, i will look forward to it. that is so funny about Dukie learning not to bark so much, i love that story! 

that is super sad about the Romanian people not having any hope. people need to have hope, but i guess in some other areas of the world, the people don't think they need hope, they already have everything. so it makes it tough to teach them about the gospel before they can tell you they are already Catholic or Baptist or Protestant or whatever. 

i love being able to feel the spirit working through me and being able to be an instrument in the Lord's hands as well. with him, He can help me do anything so long as i let Him. that is cool you had a good experience studying, President emphasizes having spiritual experiences during your own studies that are even stronger than at meetings, and meetings are pretty dang cool! i am getting to that point. the Doctrine & Covenants are so awesome! 

well, that is about it for this week, President speaks on July 10th and so you will have to figure out what time it is so you can RECORD it for me, please! i would love to have a copy of it so i can listen to it. maybe i could sell it for $2 bucks a pop to all the other missionaries and earn a killing! hahahahaha no way, i would not do that for real hahaha.

thanks for all you do Mom, i have to go now. i love you so much! have a great week! i will talk to you later! love yah! good luck with my email hahaha

-Elder Sedlacek

I'm going to miss downtown Cincy!

 

I guess Elder Sed wanted us to see his stylin' sweet socks.

Elder Sed sent some pictures of downtown Cincy. He's leaving there tomorrow (Feb 2nd). 

 

hey dad! so this week was good, it went super fast. we kept really busy going though a less-active list, it was good. so for the 'gators updates this week, LC is doing awesome. he has already read up through mosiah in two weeks! he loves the BOM, and he is solid in progressing. p**** tried to bash with us again; i was ready to yell at him at several points because he was saying such horrible things. hopefully elder holman drops him soon (hint hint). that sounds bad, but he is just wasting our time.   all the other 'gators are doing about the same as they were. we found a new part member family that seems really cool, and they invited us to come back at another time because they were busy. t as you may be wondering, i am leaving cincy tomorrow. i am kinda sad, but it was such a tough transfer that i am also a little glad at the same time. guess what? they changed how transfers work in this mission, so i will find out tonight who i will be with and where, and so there is no transfer meeting on tuesday. we just meet up and leave from the church building in centerville ohio like usual. that is orders from the Twelve. a lot of us are kinda bummed out about no meeting hahaha. i am sorry you got sick! that sounds pretty horrible. i hope you feel better, i have been praying for you. i wish i could help you in some way, but as you know, i can only send prayers right now hahaha. that is really good you turned to prayer, heavenly father often gives us hard times to learn from, you defintely learned from this experience. it is pretty cool to think about, we just have to do our best to learn and grow and HF will send stuff in our way to help with the rest. He is always there for us, I know that because i have seen it in my own life, with diabetes, and with my mission so far-- it has all blessed my life immensely! i love our heavenly father so much for it. i love that chapter in the BOM, and i love 3 Nephi in general. that is awesome you had your own "sunday school" haha. i am excited to see about the super bowl, but i don't really care about the pro bowl anyway, they are overpaid babies hahaha.  thanks for that dad! i like the thought you sent, and it is true, our testimonies are the most valuable things we have in this life. we have to constantly be on the guard for them, we cannot ever let them go or we will lose our faith in christ and slow our progression, that is no bueno!  thank you so much for the prayers that you send me, i definitely feel them every day, there is no other way i could do this without prayers and the savior and a loving heavenly father. well, it was great to hear from you dad! i love you so much! i hope you feel better soon, have a great week and day! talk to you later! love ya!

-Elder Sedlacek

 

 

hey mom, so guess what? i am leaving cincy! i am kinda sad but glad at the same time. it has been a rough transfer! yesterday i was walking down the street, and i almost bumped into a black guy because i wasn't paying attention. i almost said "oh sorry bruh" hahahaha without even thinking about it! it has become so natural for me hahaha! i am so comfortable in the hood now hahaha. well there's the funny story for today hahaha. 

 

my favorite part of the week was yesterday, it was 65 degrees and it felt so nice! we went downtown to contact a media referral, and of course it was a bum address :( so we caught a bus home to see a recent convert who is crazy funny! hahaha love that guy! at that point, i knew it was one of my last times downtown for a while, so i took a bunch of pics hahaha.

 

i am sorry you guys were not feeling well, hopefully dad gets better soon haha. i am glad your tooth is better, that is good news. i prayed for you and elder holman prayed for you, too. that will be really good to visit those people in the ward, they could really use some visiting. i love all those people so much hahaha 

 

that sounds like a good talk from bro ricks, he is awesome too. haha yep, i used to give you guys such heck! i feel bad for it, because you and dad really did raise me the best way possible and i will be forever indebted to you for it! well, how is everything going today?

 

i will miss downtown :(

 

Mom: Hey son! I am great today! Thank you so much for praying for us, we needed it! Dad went to work today, I think he is feeling ok but not all the way back to normal yet. I'm sure he will be tomorrow though.

You are leaving Cincy!! Any thoughts on where you are going? 

Elder Sed: no i have no idea where i will go, i want to go to the boonies in Indiana, but what i want doesn't usually happen anymore (hahaha) so we will see. i am glad dad is doing better.

 

Mom: The Lord will send you where he needs you most, I'm sure about that. If you say goodbye to any members tonight, maybe one could text your mom and tell her where you're going....wink wink! 

Elder Sed: i will see what i can do haha (wink!)  but that is true, i will go where i am most needed.

 

well i have to go now mom, thanks so much for emailing me! it is great to hear from you every week, i love you guys so much! have a great day! love you!

-Elder Sedlacek

 

For New Year's, I read the entire Book of Mormon in 15 hours.

Elder Sedlacek after reading the Book of Mormon in one 15-hour period.

 

hey dad, so this week was pretty good. for new year's we had to stay in from thursday at 6pm until saturday at noon! i will talk more in mom's email about what we had to do during that time, but it goes along really well with the thought you had about the Book of Mormon. so we were not able to contact the nigerian man this week. hopefully we will in the next few days. we are still seeing g*****, m.j our less-active and s***. there are a few others that we see, but we haven't seen them long enough to know how they will pan out yet. we are still working with a lot of less-actives. we got s*** to come to church yesterday and he really liked it. he fits in pretty well and his off-the-wall personality makes elders' quorum fun hahahaha. then we got another less active named j*** to come back to church yesterday. it was a good sunday. my new year's eve was pretty good, you will hear more about that in mom's email, it is worth the wait haha. i am glad that you had a good one as well. i figured the snowman would end up as another snow zit without me there hahahaha--just kidding. the snow always seems to not want to cooperate these days. we got a light dusting of snow here last night so there was some snow on the roofs and on the cars, but no where else. it was nice to see at least a little snow. that is really awesome about your experience from fasting. fasting really works. i fasted to help me recognize the spirit faster and stronger this week and i immediately saw results--it was cool. yesterday we were walking along this super busy road to contact a referral, and this guy drove past us and was making fun of us. in my head i thought, "this is it, the trial of my faith before a miracle" and  about 10 minutes later this random non-member pulled up and gave us a ride to the referral's house! it was awesome, the driver wasn't even interested but it was great to have that miracle. that always happens, after the trial of our faith, we receive a blessing. thanks for the awesome thought this week dad, it will tie in later in the emails. i hope you have a wonderful day and week. I love you dad! thanks so much for all you do! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

hi mom! so this week flew by! i did get the package on new year's eve, thank you so much for it! i LOVE those paisley ties that you bought for me! they are awesome! thanks mom! 

so for new year's we had to stay in from thursday at 6 pm until saturday at noon. it was a long time. we had to do some packet work and part of the packet was to read the Book of Mormon in one day--on new year's day from 6 am to 10:30 at night! i was so drained mentally by noon hahaha but i finished at 9:05 pm. it was so hard hahaha. when i finished, i was talking to my comp (who is a speed reader and finished at noon!) but i started mixing up words because i was so tired hahaha. then i went to bed. other than that we did the packets which were really good. one made me cry hahaha i am becoming  such a baby when it comes to spiritual stuff hahaha.

as for church this week, i wrote all about it in dad's email. i also wrote about all the 'gators so you can read about that there. we did get s*** and one of our less actives to church. it was great to see the fruits of your fast! thanks so much!

i agree with your view on new year's goals, they are great and all but i too want to continually improve, so i am always working on something hahaha. that is good bro A is doing well, he is a cool guy. it is sad about sister A, although i am sure she is happier where she is. i am glad you did the traditional stuff for new year's, i could picture you guys doing all that stuff, good news is there is only one more to go hahaha (not trunky hahaha). that fruit "salsa" & chips sounds good that they made. maybe i will make some haha. that is too bad jake and jeff were sick, that is no fun. 

my blood sugars have been good. i loved how in the package you wrote the amount of carbs in the chocolates hahaha. i was like "mom is going through diabetes withdrawals" hahaha. that stinks about the 1-4pm block. we have the 9 am block now, we did have the 11. what are you talking about i never even said a word about being hungry when we'd get home from church after 4pm! hahaha jk. i did not know what having no food meant back then hahaha. that is cool you are still teaching piano, and the tutoring too, good luck mom! 

for today, we have a zone fun day at the church, so it will be fun to hang out with elder nielsen and huemann again. me and my comp are getting along, but as always when one obedient missionary and one that is not quite as obedient are put together, there are usually some disagreements. he wanted to start p-day early today and i told him no, so he yelled at me at the top of his lungs hahaha. things are going well though, and we do have fun together.

Sedlacek, Jared Logan

Hey President, sorry i didn't email last week, there really isn't an excuse, but the computers at the library had a malfunction so I was not able to get all my emailing done. this week was awesome, it was probably the best christmas I have had in my whole life. it was so awesome to be able to talk about christ for his birthday. I felt the spirit so much, it was great. we found a few new investigators this week, and so hopefully we can stay in contact with them and help increase their faith. My comp isn't the easiest companion to get along with, but he is a great elder and he knows a lot. he may not be the most obedient, but I am trying to work on that. I have already learned so much from being with him and I know i will learn a lot more. Well, I hope you have a great holiday this week. thank you for all you do, president! love you!

-Elder Sedlacek

03 Jan 2016

President Porter

That is why you are there. Help him become who he can be. I am proud of you

-that was my email to president last week, and his answer.

well , i have to go now mom, it was great to talk to you. thank you so much for all you do for me! i love you so much! have a great week and day! talk to you later! love you all!

-Elder Sedlacek

I have been out three months!

This leaf dwarfs the one he sent a picture of a couple weeks back, and part of it is broken off!

Hi mom! so this week has gone by super slow, but fast, can't explain it. i am glad you liked the pic from zone conference! it was an awesome one! Zone conference was about the sacrament, and also how we can get LA's and our investigators to church. Pres. Porter is going to be a general authority, i can see it now. he taught us how the sacrament can renew every single covenant we ever make, even temple covenants. i thought that was amazing, so in sacrament meeting i tried to really focus on feeling those same things as i did when i first went to the temple, and it worked! it was so cool to be able to feel that in the chapel. 

 

i had a few exchanges with the DL in lawrenceberg (Elder Bayly), and i took over this area for a day with my ZL (Elder Lemeux) he is so funny and it was a lot of fun. we got a lot of work done though; we found this old investigator who had been taught but fell through the cracks or dropped--i don't know--but he answered the door when we were 225ing and immediately invited us in! it was crazy! we taught him about the Book of Mormon and addressed his concerns. then with E. Bayly, we had a huge miracle. we were not going to hit our goals for the day so we sat down and said a prayer to help us, and i immediately felt a very clear direction to walk, and we quickly found a promising 'gator that wants to be baptized! 

 

i just pasted all that from dad's email hahaha. but yeah, when i was with Elder Lemeux, we found a couple three gators, all from 225ing. we also picked up a new gator, who had been taught before, B******. he is a teenage, and we have known him for a while, but he just recently gained interest again. we gave him a church tour and taught him about the restoration and he said he would be baptized if he finds out this church is true. he is solid. 

 

this week, the ward had a trunk or treat and dinner that we went to, it was fun. i got several beanie babies (the stuffed animals) that a brother was handing out hahaha. they had a TON. i got a few of my favorite hunting animals including bears haha. there is a guy in our ward that told me he would have us over and let us try squirrel haha. oh yeah, my most favorite food here is Cincy chili, there are several restaurants that have it, and it tastes pretty good. other than that they just eat what we eat in Utah, although some people like to eat the massive squirrels they have here, they are literally everywhere, and huge!

 

Indiana is a crazy place. Bro. P told me the other day, that i have completely lost my "Utah twang" and i am picking up the accent here. i will have to show you how they talk here when we skype. 

 

thank you so much for the package! and yes i do like baby ruths, but you got close with the fave candy, it is actually three musketeers haha but they are way similar, just one has nuts hahaha. Sis. C showed us your facebook page hahaha and i saw the posts with the blog, it looks really nice! thanks for running that. i am still good on pump supplies, and i need to talk to the mission nurse to set up the a1c, this week. that is good about church and all the stuff going on, thank you for all the updates mama!

 

Mom: I am glad you like the blog. I would like to try and change the url though, to sedlacekscalledtoserve. Don't forget your A1C--Dr. L needs to see it before he can sign off on you driving.

 

that would be a cool new url! but yeah it looks really nice. i will get the a1c set up asap, i was busy with exchanges all week and meetings and trainings hahaha. i will probably have to call sister w {mission nurse} tomorrow or tonight. i tried to talk to sister porter about it, but she directed me to sister w since she woud know about that stuff, she is supposed to call me apparently, but i will call her.

 

oh yeah i am probably going to go on exchanges with elder cox, a lawerenceberg elder this week, the one that tans squirrel hides in the apartment, he is going to teach me how.

 

Mom: Learn to tan squirrels on your mission?! I never expected that. 

 

yeah, hahaha! it's going to be fun. i got some carving blocks last p-day, i am carving an elephant, that is the ear in the pics i sent.

 

that maple leaf is literally twice the size of the other one i sent! it is a foot wide! and the top part is broken off!

 

Mom: That leaf is enormous! We don't see leaves like that in Utah. So, what did you do on Halloween?

 

we had to be in by 7pm and we read a talk, i listened to it twice. it was faith in Jesus Christ by Gene R Cook. it is on lds.org--it is really good! i also did a mini work out. also, we were allowed to go to bed at 9:30! it was so nice to get 2 hours extra sleep. although i woke up at 5:30 am the next day and was ready to get out of bed hahaha! is there anything else i need to know, madre?

Mom: No, I don't think there is anything else. You DON'T need pump supplies yet? Are you sure?

 

yep, don't need them just yet, i will let you know, thank you! thanks for all you do! i love you guys so much! keep up the good work, and have a great week! i have been out 3 months! love you guys!

I have really been praying for the pure love of Christ. I received it and it hurts...it is a great blessing though!

Now that is a fall leaf!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! i hope you have had an awesome birthday! i sent you a card and letter, hopefully it is arriving today. i messed up and sent it late, i was hoping it would make it for saturday, but anyway, i hope it was a good day for you. that sucks you couldn't get anything hunting, hopefully this week you bring home the bucks. there is an elder in my district, elder c, who found a little two point antler in the woods and it is tiny so he keeps it tied to his backpack. he likes to pick up the dead squirels and road kill (which is absolutely everywhere!) and he tans the hides and keeps them . he is hilarious hahaha. that is awesome about all those games! i look forward to watching them when i get home, and hunting too. i had a decent week this week. i went on exchanges with my ZL, elder taylor, who is an awesome elder! we got RD to come to church this week! and he shared in sunday school and offered to say the closing prayer! it was awesome! and that lady that walked in last week and said she needs a new church came back and wants the lessons! it was sick! so we will be meeting up with her this week, and RD too. as usual, i will talk more in the general email about that stuff. this week i have been really praying for the pure love of christ, and i received it. and it is painful. it now hurts me to see people talking about their problems, but knowing that i can help them and they won't let me, it tears you apart. you feel a genuine love for them but they act like they hate you. it hurts hahaha. now i know why you cried so hard when me and jake left. i love the mission though, it is hard, but very rewarding! it is changing me into a man that i want to become. it is an amazing thing. thank you for all the updates again! and have a great week hunting and such! I love you dad! have a great week!
-elder sedlacek

Hi mom! i have had a decent week this week. it went by kind of slow at first but then sped up. this week we had exchanges with the zls from norwood, and i got to take over the area. fun. it was hard to take over, but i did it with my zl's help, E. Taylor. he is an awesome missionary! we had the best day of the week with him! it was awesome! he likes running so we biked over to the track at 5:45 a.m., and i ran 4 miles in 32 mins without even thinking about it! i am still in shape hahaha. then we 225'd and visited some other people. we visited with Bro. P and then we saw RD. he is thinking about baptism, and wants to continue to come to church after this first week that he went. it was awesome! that new lady that came in last week and said she needs a new church wants to take the lessons. so we will be getting in contact with her. sadly, we have not been able to contact many of those 8 from last week. they won't answer phone calls and such and we did not get addresses, so we are just going to have to keep trying. we didn't find too many this week unfortunately. but there is always a next week! we should be able to teach J**** again this week, which i am looking forward to! he is finally back from vacation and we are going to be contacting him asap.

other than that, it was an average week. that is so awesome about you getting a prompting to help someone! one of the things i have learned while here on a mission, is to always listen to promptings, they may not make sense but that is okay, we just need to follow them, and if we do we will be blessed. it is a win-win situation.

i have 4 boxes of sites and 3 boxes of cartridges, so i should be fine for a while longer. i will let you know when i need more, just keep reminding me to check though hahah.

something that i have really been working on is feeling the pure love of christ. i have been really praying to receive that gift since there is no other way to receive it other than having it bestowed upon us or praying for it. i received it and it hurts. it is painful because it now hurts me to see people talking about their problems and knowing that i can help them and they won't let me, it tears you apart. you feel a genuine love for them and they act like they hate you. it is a great blessing though. it helps you teach more effectively and become a better missionary and a better person. but yeah anyway, it has been a pretty good week with those things hahaha

this week we get to go to the louisville temple again with the zone! i am excited! i have been studying up on the temple and stuff to get ready. and it is getting cold here, but it is strange because it does go right through you if you let it. i will be needing thermals here in the future, and i have not used the coat yet, i want to try and get used to the cold, like i used to do at home. i saw that it has been in the 70's this week at home, you luckys. the humidity makes a huge difference when it is cold hahaha it really is going to be a bone chilling cold hahahaha.

i have to go now, I love you mom! and all the rest of the family! love you all! have a great week!

I may be leaving the mission field soon, but the principles that I have learned on my mission will never leave me.

Elders Sedlacek & Bowen having fun on the 4th of July

The Walla Walla Zone leadership

What's up Mama,

This week went pretty dang fast, but it also felt pretty slow, which was kinda hard. It's all good though. J***** fell off date for baptism yesterday because he didn't come to church. That was a bummer, but oh well. It will be alright. It will happen the exact time it's supposed to happen.

Wow! That's an exciting week you guys had. I bet you're going to have fun on the trek. Are Jared, Sarah and Mia going?

So it sounds like they are going to move Fast Sunday then. That will be interesting haha. I get to speak with two out-going missionaries??? The church bldg is going to be PACKED! How much time does that leave me to speak? About 20 mins?

Mama: Hi!  That's too bad about J*****. :(

Sarah and Jared are going on trek. Mia can't because she isn't 14 yet. Oh well!

Yep, you're speaking with two out-going missionaries! They announced yesterday about moving Fast Sunday to the the 9th, so it is set. You should have 20 minutes, yes. Maybe 25, because Jared doesn't want to speak for too long. haha! I will let you know your topic when I find out.

Elder Sed: Thanks for all you do for me, Mama! Hey, I have to go unfortunately. We have a short emailing time this week! Love ya! Talk to you next week!

Hey Dad!

Sounds like you had a super fast busy week! 

Our week here was pretty good. It was kinda slow for some reason, but super fast at the same time. I just can't believe it is Monday again already. Time just flies!

As far as our teaching pool goes, it's been kinda dismal this past week. J fell off date, sadly. He has been going thru some struggles, and wasn't able to come to church. It was kind of a bummer to not have him there. He will be baptized when he is ready for it though. It's just a matter of commitment really.

We have been really working hard to find new investigators this past week. It's been a struggle for some reason. Just pray for us that we will be able to have success this week. Sadly, our car had to be taken to Tri-cities to be fixed so we are without a car this week and our area is huge. Lots of walking! I'm okay with that though. I like walking, it's just you can't get as much done in a day with walking.

This week we had interviews with President Ware. It's my last legit one. The next time I see President will be in the mission home. That's kinda sad :(  He's so awesome! I already asked him for some advice about how  can prepare to go home, and he just said to write down the impressions that I get about home. I'm not really sure what that means exactly, but I have been doing it. He wouldn't give me any other advice because he doesn't want to ruin my departure interview hahaha. He's funny. I have learned so much from him. He mentioned how much I have grown on my mission. It has been cool to see the changes in me for myself. I love President Ware!

I also had my last Zone meeting ever. That was kinda sad too, but it's alright. Time is just flying by. I can't believe how fast it's going. It's soooooo crazy haha.

The teaching method you talked about is ironically the same way we already teach our investigators, and we are supposed to teach the less-actives the same way. So I've been using it for a while haha. It works wonders! There's a reason that the apostles instruct us to teach that way. It enables them to teach to each individuals concerns and by the spirit as well. The spirit is always the best teacher!

Mom made it sound like the car hunt is going pretty well. I know you guys will make a good decision. The Brave Mobile hahahahahahahahahahahahaha! I had totally forgot about that! That would bring back some great memories! Sadly, I don't think I can afford the gas for it haha. I may have to live without the brave mobile. {The Brave Mobile is an ancient motor home that Jake's little league football coach used to drive his team to their away games in. It just happens to be for sale now!} It's really a huge blessing just to be able to drive any car. Thanks for all that you guys do for me! I love you guys!

Libby is going to be 11!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????????????????????? I still thought she was 9 and turning 10. Man, she is getting big. Your kids are all growing up before your eyes haha. 

That's awesome that you guys were able to see Jordan's homecoming talk. It's going to be sweet to see him at the airport, and all you guys as well! That's going to be a fun time! He told me he thought he did pretty great so I'm sure he did great! I just hope my talk will be good too haha. There is going to be so many people there with three missionaries speaking. Hopefully everyone will be able to fit haha.

Tell Jared I would love to go to the temple with him. That would be fun. The temple is amazing!

I didn't get to watch the funeral for Elder Packer, but I bet it was good. It is going to be interesting to see who will be called to fill in the spots of those great apostles! It's so greats to have a living church, that no matter what happens, there will always be men called of God to be leaders of Christ's church under His direction!

Thanks Dad, for all things that I can ponder about. Oh, I know you and Mom are always there for advice and help when I need it. You guys are great parents! I love you both! I will for sure be thinking about goals that I want to accomplish. The last thing I want is to go home and lose the daily progression, and it takes plans and goals to keep that going.

Thanks Dad, for the great example of missionary service and service in the church as well! I look up to you a lot! I always knew when times got hard on my mission, that I could do it, because Dad did it. I love ya, Dad!! I know the gospel is true! I know it without a doubt! I love to serve the Lord and for the rest of my life that is what I want to do. It doesn't have to be full-time missionary service for the rest of my life, because I can serve the Lord on a daily basis. I may be leaving the mission field soon, but the principles that I have learned on my mission will never leave me. I love the gospel! I love Jesus Christ. I know He lives!

-Elder Sedlacek

It was another "critical moment" week.

Hey Mama,

What's up haha. I figured you were going to say something about the video that the Bishop sent haha. It was fun to hear from him. He told me that they were flying back Sunday so he should be back. He took us out to lunch with him, Sister B, his son and daughter-in-law, and their kids. It was really just a fun time.

Those are super cool examples of how you guys are blessed because of my service. I really like to hear stories of how things like that work out. I am glad that HF watches out for all of us. I have seen things like that all the time, even just with me. I know God watches out for me, and all you guys, too.

That sucks about L breaking her finger. How is she doing now? Did it completely break the bone? That must have hurt. How is Nicole's recovery going? Heard anything back from USU?

Mom: Well, the mail came a few minutes ago....just in time to snap a picture of the acceptance letter and your “I’m an Aggie!” sign. Make that #ImAnAggie sign. Would you like me to mail that to you?

 

How did two Utes raise 3 Aggies??...and maybe counting. 

 

Elder Sed: Hey Mama Ute! You better believe that I am still a Ute to the bone. Once a Ute, always a Ute. I would love to go the U for PT school. That would be my dream.

Thanks for all that you do for me. It's good to hear you guys are doing good. Keep up all the good things you guys are doing. Thanks for supporting me on my mission. You're the best, Mama! Love ya!

Hey Dad,

Sounds like you had an awesome week! That's great!

My week here in Washington was pretty good. It was another "critical moment" week, as I like to call it, ever since we had the area seventy speak to the mission. I may have already said something about it a while back, but it was a talk he gave about when weeks are tough. I just thought it was a really good talk. He called the slow/tougher times "critical moments." Though it was kinda tough, we got through it. 

 

We have been dropped by 5 investigators the past two weeks. That has been the tough part. It just means our area is going through the phases of missionary work though, which is good. I know the Lord is preparing a whole new teaching pool for us even as I am writing this. I had been praying for the things I need to do to find those who are prepared. I like what you said about following the Spirit. That's pretty much it, but in my studies this week I realized something cool. I re-started the Book of Mormon, so I was reading in 1st Nephi chapter 16, verse 23. If you read it, just think of the "food" as investigators. I know that as I go out and work, "gather" and do all I can, and call upon my Father in Heaven, I will be guided to know where to go and what to say.

The time of the hastening is here. I know that for sure. The Lord prepares people all over. Sometimes I wonder why it can't be like the times in the Book of Mormon or the Bible, when thousands at one time get baptized, but the truth of it is in a scripture that Elder Arnold shared with us when he visited. It's Jeremiah 16:6. We are to be hunters of men. Not fishers anymore. Hunting takes more work. We know that just from personal experience. You may have to hike over a couple mountains to find that one investigator who is ready to be baptized, but when you get that one, how great is the joy that comes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just love the people of Kennewick so much! You guys can know that I am working my hardest every day to bring souls unto Christ because it's what I want the most right now.

We had a lesson with C***** yesterday and she is still doing awesome! I know that she is praying for guidance about what to share with her family. She already has felt the Spirit and acted on the promptings. 

I wish I had tons of investigators to update you on, but at the moment we really only have a couple. I***** is one of those. She is going through a time in her life right now where she is just trying to figure out what to do. She struggles with anxiety so just pray for her to feel comfortable. 

K**** has been working a ton. He is trying to apply for another job where he won't work so much, so let's hope he gets that job. He has a lot of potential so I just hope things work out with him.

Wow, this is a long email haha.

That's no fun that it got cold, but I guess that is also a really good thing as well. The West needs the moisture. The area seventy called a fast for this whole area for snow and moisture, so I am sure it's going to dump snow here in a while. I would love that. I love this weather, but I also like winter, so it will be good to get that. It got really cold here this morning, so maybe that is a good sign that snow will be coming.

It's good you went to the eye doctor and can see now Papi. We don't want a blind man on the roads. That would be dangerous.

Well, I am so happy to be serving a mission. I love it so much! It has helped me to grow so much. I have no clue where I would be if I hadn't gone on a mission, and I don't want to find out. I do know that this gospel is true. I wouldn't be out here doing all this if it wasn't. What a blessing it is to have God's church on the earth today. We have the guidance. We don't have to be confused. I know God loves all his children. I feel the love that He feels for them. I love this gospel! Love you guys too!

Thanks for all that you do! You're the bomb dot com, Dad.

Love ya!

-Elder Sedlacek

I know God still speaks!

What's up Mama,
Holy crap 14 months hahaha. That makes me sound like an old
missionary. It feels just the same though, to answer your question. I
just have to focus on the day ahead of me everyday and do my best.
Thanks for praying for B and S. I am sure it has helped. Sadly, we
haven't been able to make contact with either of them. We did
find three new investigators though this week. It was awesome so our week
was really good. We also had lots of lessons with people we had just barely
met. We just hope now that they turn into investigators. That would be
the best ever!

The weather has been really nice here. It has been about 70 degrees all day
and sunny as usual. I wish Utah would send some of the rain up here.
I like the rain haha. Yeah, the apartment is really nice. I
really like it. It's a nice place. And the dishwasher is nice too haha!
All my mission, up to now, it seemed my dishwasher was my hands haha. It's
still kinda weird to use a real dishwasher haha.

I had heard that the meeting was really good from lots of people who
watched it.  It sounds like it was. Lots of people talked about
President Uchtdorf's talk. It must have been a good one.
That is crazy that Abby is leaving on her mission. Does she leave this
week then? Seven missionaries from our ward this year!!!!!!!!! That is
awesome!

Conference is this weekend!!!!! We are going to be watching at the stake
center probably. They don't broadcast it at our ward building. I am
guessing you guys will watch on the TV downstairs. You doing anything
fun besides that with conference?

I have to get going now. My time is up haha. I am glad to hear that
you guys are doing well. Have an awesome week. Conference will be
super fun. I am so excited! I know we have a prophet on the earth
today. He speaks God's word just as prophets in the Bible did. God is
loving and cares for all of his children. I just love the gospel! My
mission is awesome! Love you guys!
-Elder Sedlacek



What's up Dad,
I will start off with the update from my week. It was awesome. It was
one of the best finding weeks I have had here in Pasco. We found three pretty
solid investigators. Their names are B & M and G. They are all really awesome.
When we first met G we talked to him about having a prophet on the earth and
he said that he wants to hear some of  President Monson to decide if he
is a prophet. What a great question with next weekend coming up huh?
haha. B & M are pretty awesome too. They grew up around
LDS kids, and since then have always kinda wondered what it's all about.
They are working on reading the Book of Mormon right now. Awesome!
As far as B and S go, we weren't able to catch either of them home this
week. We are going to try by tonight though so wish us luck.

Another cool story from this week was when we met a potential named CJ.
Some previous missionaries had talked to her and never went back. The cool
part was when were walking up to her house, I got the prompting to take
a copy of the Book of Mormon out of my backpack and carry it in my
hands, which I don't normally do because I like to have my hands free.
Well, I did it anyway. When we knocked on her door and started
talking to her, she wanted a Book of Mormon, and I had it right in my hands.
She is going to start reading it as well. It was awesome! She is solid too, just
kinda busy where she works, so we hopefully will be able to catch her
home this week.

This week we had a super long training from President Ware on planning
and it was awesome. He did give some hints that I will probably
be transferred, but he does that sometimes and it doesn't end up working
out that way so we will just have to see haha. I will find out on Saturday
where I will be headed or if I will be staying.

Are you kidding me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The UItes blew
it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They should have won that game. Sounds like they need some 4th quarter
conditioning. I bet Kyle works them to death haha. I heard Bountiful
lost to WX from Elder C so that sucks too haha. It sounds like
it was a bad week for sports. That is good that the 49ers did good
though haha.

That is a cool story for Abby of how she went on a mission. I bet she
will be able to share that with people and help and bless their lives
where ever she is going. I bet she will be a good missionary. That is
great that the ward has seven missionaries sent out this year. Totally
awesome!

That is totally insane that Utah is getting that much rain. It's almost
like Seattle it sounds like. Tri-cities hasn't gotten any rain.
It's been dry, but it's been like 70s so its been great.
I couldn't ask for anything more right now weather
wise haha. I just wish I could see some fall colors! That would be the
only thing.

Good luck with work this week. Do you think they are going to
announce something at conference? It will be cool to hear
some talks in other languages this year. I just hope President
Uchtdorf speaks English haha. I am, needless to say, excited for
conference though. It's going to be awesome!!!!!!!!

I have a testimony of the gospel. I love the power that the
Book of Mormon brings into our daily life. It is sooo important that
we make the day-to-day decisions to have the gospel in our life.
Conversion isn't a one-time thing. It's an everyday process. I know
Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. It is a blessing to have a prophet
on the earth today. I know God still speaks!
Have an awesome week!
Love ya!
-Elder Jake Sedlacek

I just need to pray and listen...because even I am a little clueless. Haha

 

 

What's up Mama,

 

Wow! Sounds like a way crazy week. That sucks that Nicole's results came back like that. I know she will be okay though. She can do it. I have been praying for her and I felt good, so I take that as a good sign. I won't worry too much. Don't worry about that. I will be praying for her and you guys as well. I know the power of the priesthood is real. It does work! I have seen it right in front of me before, when a blessing that we gave was answered. It's probably just a trial Nicole has to overcome, and when she does she's going to be awesome!

Is she going to have a wicked scar on her neck? I would assume she is put totally out for the surgery too. How long is recovery?

I bet Sydnie's wedding was awesome. That is crazy that she is married now. I looked at the card this week and was like "Holy crap, Sydnie is married now!" Haha That was the next day--I had the invitation in a drawer and when I opened it I saw it. Crazy crazy haha.

  

That is  cool that Uncle Jim is doing that mile count thing for Nicole. I have no idea how many miles I walk in a day haha. Lots! haha

Mama: Hi! Yes, Nicole will have a scar, but it'll be pretty unobtrusive after it heals. Someone told her to say she had a head transplant. :)

Elder Sed: That is super funny about the head transplant hahahaha. It just might work too haha.

Are you at the doctors right now?

Mama: We are just leaving the doctor. 

Elder Sed: Anything else going on back home that is good? 

Mama: Well, school starts again in two weeks. Jared grew 1 1/2 inches in a month! What are you doing for p-day today?

Elder Sed: Wow! School starts really soon. That summer went by really fast. I am doing good today. We are just hanging out at the stake center and emailing.

 

I have to go, but like always I enjoyed emailing today. I am glad that everyone is doing mostly okay haha. I will be praying for all of you. I know the priesthood of God is on the earth. It blesses everyone and the power of it is real. I know Joseph Smith was the prophet to restore God's church back to the earth. God hears and answers our prayers. It's a good thing to know at a time like this. I love all you guys! Thanks for all that you do to keep me out in the field! Have an awesome week! 

-Elder Sedlacek

What's up Dad,

I had a pretty good week. I will start by talking about the investigators and what-not for this week. The week seemed to go by really fast, which was good. Wednesday and Thursday we had a mini-missionary with us, which is basically a priest who is preparing for a mission, and stays with us for two days during the day. He was pretty cool and was from Kennewick. We got a lot of member present lessons because of it, so that was great! 

 

G is doing pretty good. We took him to a baptism on Saturday, and he really, really liked it. He almost committed solidly to get baptized on the 23rd of August, but then some member priest kid came up and ruined the conversation. Sometimes members jump in just at the wrong time. Just make sure to never do that haha. If you see the missionaries talking to someone, don't jump in. That is what I have learned haha. We had a good lesson with G on the plan of salvation. He said it's opened his eyes, which was way cool to hear coming from an investigator. He is still somewhat planning on the 23rd of August for baptism, so I hope it happens. 

 

Our other investigators have seemed to fall off the face of the earth. We had a couple lessons with people on the side of the street, so that kept our numbers looking pretty good, but we are just trying to get something rolling in the ward. I'm curious to see what the Lord has planned for this area. He knows how to best help, so I just need to pray and listen to Him, because even I am a little clueless of what to do haha. It is definately an interesting situation.

That is crazy that Nicole has some cancer in her thyroid. From what I hear it should be pretty easy to remove. I will be praying for her, that is for sure. I just know she will be okay though. I have felt that lots over this past week.

Haha, that is funny Libby had you dancing. Can Mom even get you dancing? Libby is pretty impressive that she was able to do it. I bet it looked cute but way funny at the same time.

It will be way cool to go through the Ogden temple when I get back. I have seen pics of it and it looks super pretty from the outside so I bet its even more pretty inside.

Football!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have already seen glimpses of a Seahawks game haha. It probably won't be too hard to be able to catch a little bit of the games haha. I always knew my Chargers could be good some day haha. What about the 49ers?

I am so grateful for all that you do for me and the family, Dad. You're awesome! Thanks for being an example to me all my life of how a priesthood holder should act. It's helped me all throughout my life. I have a testimony of the gospel. I am grateful that we do have the priesthood restored. Not only the Aaronic priesthood but the Melchizedek as well. It is certainly a blessing that blesses everyone.

I hope you have an awesome week. Thanks for writing me a letter. I haven't gotten it yet, but thanks in advance haha.

Love ya!

-Elder Sedlacek

The Book of Mormon is true, and Joseph Smith IS a prophet.

 

What's up Mama,

This week was pretty good. It started out pretty dang slow, but the past couple days have been pretty good. We are going around to different members of the ward and teaching them a new idea on the members' role in missionary work. We used this idea in Sunnyside and it worked there, so it should work here. It's going to be awesome to see the change that happens in this ward!

Speaking of the weather, it's been hot, hot, hot. That's Tri-cities for you. Basically not a cloud in the sky so it's always blue sky but it's still pretty hot. I am doing okay in the heat. I really like the shirts you sent, but holy crap. $50??? Those were expensive Mama. {Mama's note: two shirts plus tax & shipping, just under $50. Not THAT bad. :) } I literally laughed when I opened the package of the soap. It probably will last the rest of my mission. Not even kidding haha. It's good soap, though, so thank you very much for the shirts and soap. You're da greatest.

In the package for 4th of July just send some snacks. I am almost out of money on my mission card, and I will have to buy stuff for a week and a half because next week p-day is on Wednesday. We are going to the temple that day. I'm going to a sealing for a RC in Sunnyside who we worked with a lot, and that will be this Saturday. It will be awesome to see what a sealing is like. I'm excited for it.

Sorry Mama that you are sick! I hope you get better soon. Those dang summer colds suck. They are the worst.

So Nicole got some bling bling, aye?! That's exciting. I haven't looked at her email yet if I even have one. I will look soon though so I can find out what happened.

I like your thought on the scriptures. It is amazing that you can read it millions of times and still learn. I have read the Book of Mormon three times on my mission so far, and it's amazing each time. I learn new things. The scriptures are amazing.

That's funny that there's a Tri-cities elder down there again. It really is like they do a swap with Washington and Utah.

Time is flying by and it's crazy. I still can't believe it. Next year this time it will be almost done. I want to keep learning as much as I can every day so it helps me for the rest of my life. Missions are amazing! I am glad that you had a great week too. You're awesome mama!

What's up Dad,

This week was pretty dang good. It started out really slow, but it ended pretty good. We dropped all of our investigators, except for ____ and _____ because they weren't progressing. They both are doing really good though. We had a sit down lesson with _____ and invited him to be baptized. He said he would if he got an answer that is was what he needs to do. That was a miracle since we haven't had a real sit down lesson with him before. FB was feeling sick this week so we weren't able to teach him. 

 

Yesterday was a really good day. We found a new investigator! His name is S and he lives in the apartments in our area. He just graduated from college and he had Mormon friends all through out school, so he was interested in learning more. He told us in the beginning of the lesson yesterday that he wasn't really interested in converting, but he is interested in us answering his questions. We will see what happens as time goes by. It was cool because during the lesson I got a prompting to show him "Testimony of the Book of Mormon" video by Elder Holland and he really liked it. He said that the leaders in his church don't seem to have the conviction that the leaders in the LDS church do. That was awesome to hear and I know he felt the Spirit. It was a super good lesson. Those are the people we are teaching at the moment investigator-wise. We are going around to members of the ward and teaching them how to fulfill their purpose as member missionaries. It is going well and I think it's going to really help the ward. That is one thing President Ware told me straight to my face at transfers--I need to take the member lesson we used in Sunnyside and use it in Pasco, so I have been doing that. I think the ward is really going to get excited about missionary work here soon. 

Sounds like girls camp was really fun for you and the girls.

Lately for P-days we have been just hanging out at the local stake center and playing games as a zone. I haven't really been able to see anyone I know. This mission is HUGE and we just got approved to go up to 270 missionaries. That is going to be insane. I hope to be able to serve around some of the Elders who were super fun. I get to meet new people though, and there are some cool missionaries in this zone. Our zone is pretty cool and our district is just crazy haha. We have fun though. Elder J is in our district so that's kinda fun. He's still pretty goofy haha.

Well, I did have a great week and it sounds like you did too. Good luck with the work week and all that. You're awesome dad! I love my mission and all that I learn every day. Missions truly are the greatest thing. I love the gospel. I know the Book of Mormon is true and Joseph Smith IS a prophet. Keep up the good work at home! Love you!!!

-Elder Sedlacek