We help others become better, and bam! you yourself become better automatically

hey Dad! it's been a great week! we had a great Easter, and the highlight was that we had C at church again. we had a really powerful lesson about the plan of salvation with him, and then we put him on date for May 13th. there is a catch to that though, he has some things he has to get in order to be considered officially on date, but he has accepted it. we are so excited for him! he told us how much he loves the Book of Mormon.  he is already in 2 Nephi and says the questions we don't answer for him, are answered in his reading.

we had an interesting lesson with J the other day. we went in planning on giving a commitment lesson, but as soon as we sat down, he had the Book of Mormon open and was roaring to read with us. we tried to use the chapter he was opened to in our favor for the questions we had for him, and he took it and ran with it, and totally told us for about a half hour how much we mean to him and his conversion. the whole time i was like,"that is nice, but i would rather have him pointed towards the Savior." my goal is to have all my investigators converted to Christ and his gospel, not to the missionaries. it was totally unintentional and so now we have got to fix it, and help him see our purpose, and get him coming to church. hahaha it was really nice what he said to us though at least haha. Jk has sorta lost interest right now. D is doing well, we have been trying to meet with her again, but she is having her baby soon and busy with that. and the young kid, L, he is 10, we are teaching him, and he is getting permission to be baptized by his stepdad and then we will be able to have him get baptized as soon as we finish all the lessons. he is getting really excited though hahaha.

something really good happened to me as well this week, so i have been trying to improve my studies for a few weeks now, and i have been praying a lot about how i could do it. i had an idea come to mind, of something i could do to help me get more out of my studies. it seems like the adversary tries to distract me so much hahaha, and so i get lost in my reading a lot, but that was no longer a problem anymore. i have felt the Spirit so much more in my studies lately, and i have had some really cool insights come to me all week. i have been studying King Benjamin's address, and now those are some of my favorite chapters. i was able to learn so much about the Savior this week.  i absolutely know the Savior better than i did last week, i am so grateful for answers to prayers.

hahaha that is funny about demand for The Living Christ document, i have been studying that as well, i guess a lot of people have hahaha! hopefully you get the stock back in order soon haha.

the floors look really great from the pics Mom sent, good job! hahaha spring air smells so great. we ran 5 miles today, it was so nice to be able to get a great workout, it has been a minute since i have felt this good hahaha the trees were really nice to see all the colors along the trail. hopefully you get the mower out running again. that is funny you got the MLB app, everyone i have talked to that has mentioned sports lately has strait ripped on baseball and how it's so boring to watch. Hoosiers just like basketball! haha

thanks for the General Conference thought, i definitely know that is true. there is no feeling that compares to coming to know the Savior better and feeling the spirit. i have absolutely had the best few months of my mission lately (progression wise) and my testimony has grown so much, and i know that is where true joy and happiness comes from. i am so grateful to share it with others. thanks for the example you set for me Dad. love yah, have a great week!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey Mom! it has been a great week. it is always so nice to share about the Savior around the times of these holidays. it really strengthens my testimony. i did get my Easter package, thank you so much! i will have you know that my self control went out the window hahaha and i had all the candy finished this morning hahaha. i used to be so good with that! i really enjoyed it, and it was cool cause normally if they send a package it gets kept in the clubhouse till i pick it up, but for some reason, they put it in front of the door, and i would not have been able to get it til today, so that was a cool little miracle. 

we did not really find anyone new this week, except we started teaching one of the children that wants to be baptized, L. C is making such amazing progress, there is a less-active teen living next to him, so he was going to "drag him to  our church", yes he calls it his church too now. he has been telling us how he wants to be baptized a lot lately. 

i got stuck making an Easter dinner, although we were fed all week, so it was fine with me. i made some good green beans, those things are pretty dank if you cook them right hahaha. i eat a lot of veggies and fruit these days, actually that is what i eat--meat, fruit, and veggies, not much else. 

some challenges this week were just having appointments fall through as always, but hey it happens. and we have some people we need to drop. the biggest blessing and miracle i had was about my studies. i wrote about it to Dad, but my studies have been a world of difference better lately. that itself is an answer to prayers.  i love the Book of Mormon so much, it points me to Christ, and helps me learn so much about myself, how i can repent, and grow, as well as feel the spirit. that takes the cake. the past few months i feel like i have grown faster than at any other time on my mission. i truly feel so much joy as i repent, and that i can change. The gospel of Jesus Christ is something that i have grown to love more than anything else other than Christ himself, and Heavenly Father. 

i am legitimately jealous of Bryant and Cooper, it's not that i would do my mission all over again, but that they are going to experience more growth than they can even imagine, and the thing is, it's not even about us, it's about other people. that concept alone has helped me to understand the Savior so much better. we help others become better, and bam! you yourself become better automatically. 

that sounds like you have had a great Easter. i hope Brig loves his basket haha! the floors look so good, that is awesome you got them finished. it sounds like it will look really nice with the furniture. we had a good Easter sacrament too, we had some musical numbers and some good talks to go with it. Cooper will have fun in Chicago, that is a pretty crazy city, that's awesome. i know lots of people from Chicago, its supposedly like Cincy and Indy, those three cities have a reputation out here. that is so cool about Bryant and Guatemala, that is good to hear. it would be way cool to speak with him. that little punk needs to write me hahaha!

thanks for emailing every week Mom! thanks for the packages and all you do! love you lots!

Elder Sedlacek

I am grateful for the challenges I have had

Caught a mole in our apartment!

Emails from January 30, 2017

hi Dad, it has been a good week. first off, thank you so much for the note about Dukie, i got it Saturday night, and i was pretty sad for a bit, but luckily i had just got back from an exchange. it was already time to come in and get ready for bed, so i was able to not have to think about anything for a while hahaha. Dukie is probably following me around in spirit like a creep as he used to do hahahaha.

we had a world wide meeting brodcast as missionaries where they pretty much got live video footage of the missionary council's board meeting. it was sweet, and i learned a lot about the Doctrine of Christ. they changed the missionary daily schedule and key indicators! we only count the number of baptisms, people on date, at church, and new investigators. i love it, it takes away the stress of everything else. now we have more freedom to change the order of how we do things in the morning, so we could excercise last if we wanted. i don't want to exercise last cause i am so used to the old schedule and it makes me feel jack hahaha.  we now plan our days the morning of, so if we wanted we could go to bed right at 9 pm when we get home, i love that hahahaha! and now our p-days are two hours longer and start at 8 am instead of 10 am.

we got a whole lot of referrals this week, and some new potential investigators to teach. i went on an exchange with Elder Nielsen's "son," {the Elder Nielsen i was with in Cincy}, so i  got to be a trainer for the day in our area. that was fun. i don't want to train at all anymore though hahaha. we started teaching a recent convert's dad, and he is doing awesome. he read a few chapters out of the Book of Mormon by the second lesson, and we have a chapel tour set up with him. i am so stoked. while i was on another exchange after a zone conf, in my zone leader's area, Miamisburg, we taught a few really cool people in that area, and i learned a lot. plus that zone leader is elder Schott, he is one of my favorite elders in the mission. we served in the same ward in Englewood, so that was fun.

we are doing really good now with referrals, we suddenly have started getting a bunch from members. the Lord is placing people in our path! it is amazing. and we are about to start teaching another part member family, that will invite us over as soon as his work slows down. he could be baptized any day now, things are looking up.

my blood sugars have been so much better this week, i know your prayers have helped me so much, thank you! that is good you got to see that promotion come, and that you were able to see Duke one last time, i bet that was a good tender mercy. hahaha i wish i could eat like Mia, she is an empty hole hahahaha. 

that is one of my fave talks from conf. faith really is a principle of power. in missionary work, we just have to rely on faith and "get out the way!" hahaha as they say in the hood. i have really learned that this transfer, we literally have nothing to worry about, God is in charge, and He knows where the his children are. if we just rely on what the spirit is telling us to do in faith then he will provide the miracles. Pres Welch was talking to us on Friday, and he said that success is given. if you notice in the scriptures, it always says, "i will give... you success". we literally just do our best and He will give us success. He will give us the grace to work miracles and to see miracles. i am so grateful for the time i have to be on a mission, to learn what the Spirit feels like and to really learn how to talk to God. i love this gospel so much, and i am so grateful for the ability to repent and become better. i know all of you can feel the same way, embrace the gospel. thank you Dad for all you do, i always thank you, and i won't not do it hahaha it means so much the work you put in for our family and to have me be out here. i hope you have a great day Dad, i love you! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey Mom! i have had a great week, even with Dukie's death.  i still can't believe it though, when i read your letter, i was like "OH MY GOSH! are you kidding me?!?"  Dukie was so healthy, he is like one of those sprinters that just dies cause they had too much energy or something. he sure was a great dog, and very disobedient at times haha, but he was still my best friend when I didn't have one. he will be missed, but that is ok, we will see him again along with Lady and the other dogs.

well that aside, i had a great week. the members here are awesome, they love to send pics, so i hope you enjoyed them. can you send me that one? Elder Nieman is Elder Nielsen's trainee, so that was fun, he is going to be a great missionary. he is definitely further along then i was when i was at his point. i wrote about all the people we are teaching to Dad. i went on another exchange with Elder Schott, he is an old mission buddy, and is my zone leader. i went to his area, we got a lot of cool teaching in, and man he has changed a lot. we went on an exchange a year ago, and he says i have changed a lot too, so that was nice to hear.

we did get a lot of referrals this week, and that is so nice, we may not find them oursleves, but that is not to say that God isn't working on it for us, which He is! as soon as we get more available miles on our car, we will drive out to see them all. it is so exciting. it is a real testimony to me that God is in the details of everything. me and Elder Neimann found a bunch of people on Tuesday and set up some appointments with them. i found that the people we planned to see that day, we did shift around a bit to fit our travel, but it was really cool, cause two of the people we planned to see, we found them out walking the streets! it showed me that God will always place people in our path, as long as we get out of the way and follow the spirit. it's not about us.

i have definitely felt everyone's prayers, thank you so much! my blood sugars have been a lot better lately, prayer works! i will look at my insulin to carb ratios, i think that would help with some of my meals, thanks for reminding me Mom! Elder Payne gave me a blessing of counsel, and it said to pretty much be patient, they will get back under control in the Lord's timing, which was interesting hahaha.

that is good about Mia's surgery going well, that sounds like a video i will have to see hahaha. i am glad Dukie passed quickly, and not painfully. if he had gotten much older, it would have been painful to watch, more so then just hearing about it in a letter so i am grateful for that.  that is cool that Anna is going out, she will make a great missionary with having an understanding like that already, it will push her through learning a language.

i have heard that song {One by One}, it is very good. it is true that we do stand in the Savior's place, helping people one by one, and it works the best that way. we are all God's children and we all have a hierarchy of needs and wants, and the most basic is to be loved, and to feel God's love. that is the most basic doctrine the restored gospel teaches, that first and foremost we are all beloved children of heavenly parents, who love and care for us, and are waiting for our return.

i am grateful for the challenges that i have had, that teach me that if nothing else, i have a Heavenly Father. He will not do anything that will harm me spiritually. he will only allow things to happen that will help me learn what I need to learn. i am so grateful to be able to declare the restored gospel and to help others repent. everyone needs the joy of repentance and change. i am here to help them feel that, and that is made possible through faith in the Jesus Christ--it is only through Him.

thank you Mom for the package you sent, and all that you do!

well i have to go now, thank you Mom for everything! i love you all so much! have a great week! tatlk you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

 

LONG LIVE DUKIE!

 

If the adversary wants to lead us carefully down to hell, we have to be even more careful not to let him.

hey Dad, it has been a good week. Elder Nelson is from Orem, Utah. He graduated the same year I did. he is obedient and has a strong testimony, and there is a lot i can learn from him. he is also a lot like Jake hahaha, so that is fun. D**** did not make it to church, although we had two lessons with him. he was sick Sunday, so he did not feel up to coming. T** has read all the way to 1 Nephi 18 already! i was like "holy smokes!" he is super solid and has  a very sincere desire to learn more about Christ and to strengthen his testimony. he told us he would do anything to strengthen it! i thought, "jump in the water man!" hahaha he was not at church 'cause he had to work, but he will be there next week. 

as for the rest of the week, we are making subtle progress with everyone else. B**** has been busy so we did not get to teach him this week, but we had a lesson with his father. SD was busy all but one day, so we saw him, and he might make it out to the trunk or treat on Wednesday (those are huge out here among the wards and branches). we also had a super grace lesson in a members' home, with dinner, and our "eternagator" K, although the dad of that family is super loud and loves to joke around, so i am kinda interested in how she took that. she loved his wife though. we found a whole bunch of potentials other than that, and none of them kept the return appointments, so yeah. we are still building that teaching pool. 

i did give a funny dinner lesson to some members last night. i included zombies since they have a bunch of teenage girls that like that weird syfy stuff, so yes, i made an analogy that was actually really good. the dad was pleased. hahaha that sounds like you had a fun weekend, that is too bad the hunting was skimpy. that is really cool that Nicole and Jeff did a half together, so they did get back into running after all. hahah 

i heard about that game, everyone at church was going crazy! haha the pretty much Indianapolis team against "ahi-a" haha. that is super cool the teams won. that is good Brother A is getting back to his routines, i like that guy. 

that is so true about stumbling blocks. we have to be very careful about the things we get caught up in. if the adversary wants to lead us carefully down to hell, we have to be even more careful not to let him. we have to have the view of the bigger picture, so we don't just focus on the power pole, and we have to be optimistic with things, so we can realize the gifts God has given to us. if we always have our eye on the Savior and we study and pray every day and just focus on feeling the presence of the Holy Ghost, we will be able to over come all things, i know that is true. i am so excited for this transfer, thank you for all your advice and your example Dad! have a great week! love you Dad! i will talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

hey Mom, it has been a good week. we worked really hard this week and it was great. i wrote about 'gators in Dad's email. Elder Nelson is from Orem and has been out for 9 months. he is a lot like Jake and has the same personality, which is really cool. he is a hard worker, he makes me look average hahaha. just kidding, we work hard together. we get along well, and he likes nerf guns so we shoot them around the apartment all the time for fun haha. 

i did get the package, thank you so much Mom! that was awesome! i love the new music, especially the Christmas stuff, that will be nice after Thanksgiving. for a miracle this week, we had a member offer at the last minute to feed our 'gators with us, so we invited one of them and it went really well. the most challenging thing was planning, because we don't have a lot to plan for right now, so it makes things interesting. it just gives us more time to find though, so that is good. the best thing that happened was meeting with our investigator T**. he is so awesome. that last question about experiences that have changed my life is tough, there has been so much to choose from. it would probably be any of the times that i have received promptings and have followed through with them, that is always an amazing experience. but probably when i gave my first blessing, that is an experience i won't share over email though--you have to wait :)  

that is super cool you had a good dinner for Dad's b-day, that sounds awesome. i hope you like the Camp Chef, are you enjoying the bacon press? hahaha. we got another pumpkin so we might carve it today, or maybe next week. you and Dad are foreigners to baby stuff now! that's funny you had trouble figuring out Brig's stroller and stuff haha.  i bet Nicole and Jeff's half was a fun race to watch. 

so Brigham had a huge blowout at church, huh? nice one Brigham! that is super funny, that is my nephew right there. that is a super cool story from Brother H, he is a great guy too. how many people did Dad baptize? just wondering. that must have been such a cool miracle for them. there are so many people who are prepared for the gospel, and we as young guys get to experience them coming into the fold of God, it is amazing. 

i got a tragic call from the West Chester Sisters informing me that Bishop M has passed away from a tragic brain tumor, leaving his young family behind. i know that families can be together forever. there are many people who don't have the blessing of that knowledge. people are needing the gospel so they can heal those spiritual sicknesses. i feel so blessed to share it--it is tough job, but it is so rewarding. i also heard from the Sisters that all the converts are doing well, and TH is now the ward clerk, and J and M and her kids are doing well, and growing. the gospel changes lives. it was such a great experience to be in West Chester at that time when i could witness all those things. thank you for keeping me out here Mom, and doing what you do to support me, you're the best Mom!

i just got word we have to read the Book of Mormon by January 1st, that will be a fun challenge.

i got the letter from the Young Women. that was super nice of them, can you tell them thank you for me? i almost forgot to say that haha

well i have to go now Mom, i hope you have a wonderful week. keep working hard with your knee. i love you Mom, have a great day and keep the M family in your prayers! love you! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

We corralled some cows while wearing our missionary clothes. It probably looked really funny, but it was fun.

hey Dad, it was a pretty decent week. i am glad you enjoyed the birthday card hahaha! it made me laugh.  so for transfer news, i am staying here and my new comp will be Elder Nelson--a different one. he is a good guy; i served around him in Englewood when he was trained in Dayton. so that is good news. 

we did find two new people at the end of the week, one a super awesome referral that wanted a Book of Mormon, and another a guy who just up and walked into the church yesterday! so we set a return appointment with him. we will see what he is like. that was a super awesome miracle to see both of those, i have tried so hard and Heavenly Father helped by putting them in our path. 

as for the teaching pool, B**** has started reading the Book of Mormon, so that is super cool. we did not get to meet with him this week though, so we will try in a few days when he is not busy. we had another appointment with the S family. that was super cool, they are a part-member family and hopefully they start progressing soon. the other new person we found two weeks ago, S*****, we got back in contact with him, and set an appointment, so there is still some ground to be broken there. i think that is mostly it for the investigators, other than another part-member family. the guy's wife is the non-member and they are starting to look more seriously into her joining the church. 

that is super cool you got to take Libby out duck hunting again. too bad you did not get anything though. hahaha you know what they say, anything you can't kill becomes smarter. hahaha  

we have been getting a lot of the recent converts to study the conference talks lately. i just wish i could get them more easily, it costs a lot to print them off at the library. it does help us to learn a lot from their words when we study them over and over again. you can always find something new. dang it sounds like the Utes are playing a lot better lately, that is super cool. and the Aggies having a bye, we will take it hahaha. i heard the results of the Colts game--hey it at least makes souvenirs cheaper for me hahaha. 

i like that thought, it really helps to benefit all of us to take a step back and focus on the bigger picture, so that we can gain a stronger relationship with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. it really helps to cement the gospel in our lives, and we can build everything else off of that. taking a step back is something i have to remind myself to do frequently, but i have noticed when i do i am in tune with the spirit a lot more, and my faith and testimony grow a lot faster. thank you for that thought Dad. thank you again for all you do! i hope you have a wonderful birthday Dad! enjoy it! i love you Dad, have a great day and week! talk to you later!

Elder Sedlacek III

hey Mom,  it has been a good week. for transfer news, i am staying and receiving an Elder Nelson, who i have served around. a different one this time--there are many Elder Nelsons in my mission! hahaha 

we did find two new investigators this week, it was a miracle. i wrote about it in Dad's email. it was super awesome to have! 

thanks so much for sending that stuff mom, you're the best! for the sweater colors, just a grey one and maybe a nice brown. whatever would look nice with black pants and stuff. have you been able to find the little plastic strips that go in shirt collars? if not that is okay. 

sounds like you have quite the job at the school hahaha, i bet it is fun to deal with those crazy kids hahaha. that is super cool about your knee, it sounds like you will be a new mom when i come home hahaha. i bet it will be as good as new when i get home! it will be fun to be able to hike the red rocks in the spring too, that is super cool. sounds like the ward is getting a lot of knee work done! 

that is also super cool that SG and AM are going on missions! that is awesome, they will both do great! that is funny you mention charity. i have really noticed an increased amount lately for those we teach, probably to prep me to lead the area. i was studying in 2 Corinthians this morning, and i came across a verse that said faith is motivated by love. everything that we have in the gospel, is motivated by love. the whole plan of salvation is a plan of love, the most basic doctrines of the gospel are centered on a love for the Savior and that love gives us the motivation to build our faith in Him and to be obedient to Him. i am truly grateful to be a missionary. to just be able to focus on what really matters and to help others to do the same is amazing. 

i am so grateful for this gospel, but that statement means so much more than what it meant when i started my mission. this gospel has blessed my life so much and i am so grateful for it, i know it is all true. 

now for a story, our ward mission leader owns some cows. he took us up to see his cows briefly while we were out teaching and we ended up corralling them while in our missionary clothes. it probably looked really funny, but it was fun. i may look into working on  a farm while i attend USU BABY! you can bet your bottom dollar i will go there! hahaha

thanks Mom for all you do! i love you Mom! talk to you later!

Elder Sedlacek

God has His own timing--He will work things out the best way

hey dad! so this was a good week. my new comp is elder Sutton. he is a good missionary, and has been out about 6 months, so one less transfer than me. i had a good Easter, it was a good day. we have not been able to teach Hannah yet this week, or the new family i found with elder horne. they have been busy so we have not been able to teach them yet, sadly. we are teaching another lady who has a few little kids. she had been under the radar for a while but surfaced this week and we were able to extend a baptism date for april 16th. she is technically not on date yet, but she agreed to work towards that date and pray about it. we found a few new people this week, and it was pretty awesome. now that elder parker is gone elder Sutton and i have to find out how to use the bus system so we can get to the top and bottom of our area. (we will be switching the car every week). last night we were running through our numbers for the week during dinner and we saw that in order to hit leadership goals we needed another member-present lesson, so we called every member we could think of but no one was able to come out. we decided to visit a less-active and suddenly we got a text from a member asking to come out with us, so we spent half the evening trying to set up a lesson for him to go with us on. no one answered, so we tried the neighbors and found a new investigator from it! it was a cool miracle to hit our goals and find that new person, in spite of  so much opposition. i did not have to speak on Easter sunday luckily. it is good that work is going well, and oh boy that is funny about the mazda needing the new light cover. i forgot about causing that hahaha, sorry! haha. i bet it looks awesome now hahaha. well, dang! the family brackets are destroyed! hahaha i am glad that your Easter went well, i hope you had fun. we had a member have us over for lunch yesterday and it was super good food, it was funny because the last time i had a lunch like that after church was my farewell hahaha. that sounds like you had a good church too. the spirit is definitely stronger on Easter, any time you testify of the Savior the spirit will always be there or come in stronger. i noticed that yesterday, that is cool. that is too bad that Bro. A fell, i hope he is okay. i like those thoughts you shared, they are really good for Easter. i, too, can add my testimony that the Savior has risen, He is our Savior and King, He suffered for us and He loves us. He did it all out of love. He truly is there for us and knows us perfectly and He has given us the greatest gift, the atonement. Because of Him, we are saved and we can live forever as families for eternity, that truly is the greatest blessing we have, i know it is true. well, that is all for this week, thank you dad! i love you so much, have a great week and day! i hope FHE is going well too hahaha. talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

hi mom! it has been a great week. elder Sutton is from Laverkin. he as been out for 6 months and just got done training. he is awesome. i had a good Easter, there were some members who did feed us a really good lunch, it was pretty great.

i did get the Easter package, it was great! thanks so much for that, the treats are just awesome! yeah, save my new strips there at home. i am still very good on insulin right now, i will let you know when i need more.

my favorite part of the week was Friday, that was a really good day, and the package made my day! my fave  investigator was probably the new one we found last week. we were in some sketchy apartments and the guy was a total Golden. he is pretty cool haha. the first part of the week was pretty challenging, with me having to take  over the area this week, but it went well, we hit leadership goals and president texted us specifically to tell us we had a good week. so that was really cool to get. i just tried to rely on the spirit as much as i could, and when things got stressful and it didn't seem like our plans would work out, they always did. HF was truly watching out for us this week.

that is super funny about dad and politics! hahaha i hope Sarah's concert went well. i am glad you got to see the Women's meeting, that is too bad president Monson is not looking so well, poor guy. i like that thought about how much we can affect others and not even know it. it is definitely true, Heavenly Father is there all along the way. gosh dang it mom, you had me crying! thanks for that thought, I try my best and work my hardest, but things just don't work out sometimes and it can be hard to feel successful. i just have to remember that God has his own timing and we can't be ingrates and complain, he will work things the best way. thanks for the reminder mom.

oh yeah, the hardest part of the week was L***, she is no longer on date. Also, look on FB and Instagram for #OCM or #ohiocincinnatimission because we had a #socialmediasplit. there are a bunch of pics of me doing service. that is all for the week.

well, i have to go now, Madre, thanks so much for emailing me! i love you so much! and i love you all so much! have a great FHE (i know you read my emails for FHE hahaha) behave little children! have a great week! talk to you later!

-Elder Sedlacek

This week I finished the Book of Mormon again. Good news--I still know it's true!

Hey Mama,

You guessed right. I am emailing today {Tuesday} instead of yesterday. Whenever there is a holiday on Monday, I will be emailing on Tuesday as long as I am in this area. There isn't a church building that has computers we can use here. The library works great (most of the time) haha.

This week was awesome! C***** did get baptized. She is doing so awesome! She is already working on missionary work. We got a text this morning about 5 am, saying that she had talked to her dad late last night and really just had a good talk with him about the gospel. Turns out that her dad wants to learn more! She has a sister who wants to be baptized! It's been awesome! It was cool because she told us about an answer to a prayer she had for her baptism. As you may know, her dad and mom were super supportive of her, but not interested in anything to do with the church for themselves. C***** had really wanted them to come to her baptism and confirmation, but she wasn't really sure they were going to come. So on Saturday, right as the baptism started, guess who walked in? C's family. They stayed for the whole thing and at the end they told me "see you tomorrow" when they were leaving. They came to church, too. Little did I know at the time, C was fasting that day that her family would come to church, and they did. I know God heard her prayer Sunday! I know Heavenly Father is so proud of her as well for making the decision to be baptized. I am just as proud, too. I never realized how much you can care for someone that you bring to the gospel til this area. I really do care so much about all of the investigators that the Lord has placed in the path of me and Elder R. It's been so fun, and awesome for me too. I am just so happy right now. Not really any words to describe besides those haha.

So you have to get new glasses huh? That will be good now that you will be able to see haha.

I really am so happy to be serving the Lord. It's a blast! I know this gospel is true with all my heart! I love HF and I know Jesus Christ lives! This is His church on the earth. All the more reason to spread the good news. Wish me and Elder R luck this week finding new investigators. L** just barely dropped us, so we are down some investigators :( Looks like this week is going to be a finding week. That is fine with me though. It's going to be fun anyways!

Love you guys so much!

-Elder Sedlacek

What's up Dad,

This week was great! The baptism was awesome! It was probably one of the best baptisms I have been to--that's how good it was. C***** was so ready to be baptized, and it showed. She is sharing the gospel with her family. She's just so solid.

The rest of our investigators are doing okay. We are need of some more since we baptized our super solid one. We got dropped by three or four investigators this week, but it was okay because we had an awesome baptism. President Ware said something this week that I thought was cool. He said, "You can know the Lord is pleased with your service when disappointments come along, but you aren't disappointed in yourself." I can really say without a doubt that I am not disappointed in myself. I know the Lord is with me in my missionary work. He will lead and guide. I always try to listen to the spirit--it's how we have true success. We are going to start putting a focus on the part member families of our area. You guys could pray that we are able to find prepared people this week. I will let you know how it goes next Monday.

Thanks for praying for M*****. I still don't have a clue what is going on there. I just know she needs prayers right now. She's so close, and still believes in the church, she just has a lot on her plate right now.

We have a church tour with L** and her sister this week. I am really hoping that goes well, and she feels the desire to come to church.

I just thought of another goal you guys can help me pray for. The stake and the mission have a goal that every companionship baptize monthly. I have been praying super hard for that, and the Lord came through this month. You guys could pray for March if you wanted, not only for me, but all the missionaries throughout the world.

This week, we did a boatload of service, but it was really fun. We pulled tons of weeds, helped out at the humane society, and a bunch of other stuff. Service is just so fun haha. I love it!

This week I finished the Book of Mormon again. Good news--I still know it's true haha. Each time I read it through, I take President Uchtdorf's challenge and renew my personal conversion on my own "road to Damascus" (that is one of my fave talks btw). Anyway, this last time, I read Moroni's promise and just took time to ponder on the messages of the Book of Mormon. I started to pray to know if it was true and I had lots of things going through my mind. We had just been dropped by an investigator, and I was thinking about that and bunch of other stuff. There just is so much to worry about on a mission, but it was so cool. The minute I asked if the Book of Mormon is true, peace came to my mind. It was super cool. I then thanked HF for blessing me with the confirmation that the Book of Mormon is true. I know God has called a prophet on this earth today. I know God loves us so much. I feel that so much for my investigators. It is sooo cool when I can feel just how much He loves those I work with.

I am so happy right now! I love serving a mission. I would love to serve and serve and serve! Missionary work is just that fun! Thanks so much for the sacrifice you guys go through to keep me, "the fave old son," on my mission.

It makes me happy too that you guys are being blessed for my service as a missionary. Even Elder R's family is being blessed and I was able to help him realize that was the reason his family has been blessed, so you guys can know it's not even just our family. It's every missionary family. I love the Lord. I always want to serve Him! Because of Him!

love you guys,

-Elder Sedlacek

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

 

What's up Mama,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shoes. What is your shoe situation?

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

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

-Elder Sedlacek

Whatz up Dad,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Love you all!

-Elder Sedlacek

"This is my day!"

What's up Mama,

I am doing pretty good. The weather is still hot and dry. It's back up to the 100s now, which isn't very bad once you get used to it. The 80s were nice a couple days ago though. I wish it would stay like that, but oh well. 

I'm glad that you guys were able to have some fun on your camping trip. That would have been fun to go fishing and all that stuff. We will have to go when I get home. Fishing is the best haha. That sucks that you fell. But it's good that you were okay mostly. So only your hand was hurt? That's pretty good and yea it probably could have been worse. It is good that it wasn't. Have you ever broken any bones? I think you have a streak going of no broken bones, right? You don't want to go ending that good streak!

The fires have caused some evacuations, but I don't really know much about it. I know that they asked for volunteers to help clean up, but only half the mission is helping clean up. Since I am in the southern part, I don't get to help. It would have been cool to go up there and help out. I think the situation is getting better up there.

It is funny that Jeff can impersonate people. Elder C is pretty good at that too, I have noticed. He can copy basically anyone's laugh. We have fun, so that has been good. 

I bet Elder Dan's talk was really good. I can't even imagine him being any nicer haha. He wouldn't hurt a fly before it seemed and now he's nicer? haha. Wow. 19 comps though? That is crazy. He was ET a lot,  because there are only 17 transfers in a mission. I would imagine his Pres. really wanted him to work with all the tough missionaries because he is so patient. He's a good guy.

I am doing pretty good right now as for needing anything. Did you happen to find my SD card yet?

Mom: Hi Son!

Yeah, so only my hand was hurt mostly. I have a few bruises on my right side here and there, so somehow I landed mostly on my right, with my hand getting the worst of it. It’s all green and blue today and hurts pretty good but Advil helps with that.

Too bad you don’t get to help with the fire evacuations, that would be some good service.

Yes, Dan’s talk was really amazing. One of the best I’ve heard. He actually reminds me of you and the way you have been talking about your mission. It was good.

I have not seen that SD card! I don’t have any idea what happened to it....I really thought I sent it back to you in the package before your 4th of July package. 

Elder Sedlacek: Tell Sarah happy birthday for me since I forgot to tell her, and guess what? 1 year from today I will be home! Crazy, huh?  I am sure it will go by sooo fast. This past year has and the last one I have heard goes even faster. I don't count up anymore haha. I count down. How crazy is that?

Mom: 

I know, I was thinking the same thing! People will start asking me how much time you have left instead of how long you’ve been gone. That’s weird.

Elder Sedlacek: 

I love to be serving a mission. It is one of the greatest things I have done in my life. It has strengthened my testimony of the Book of Mormon so much. I love to read it, even if it is a chapter in my days. Recently, I read about the sons of Mosiah and their experience of getting their mission call and going to teach the Lamanites. Sometimes I can really relate to them. Alma really had to put up with a ton of crap, and he stayed strong in the gospel. I really want to become more like Alma and the sons of Helaman. 

I know Joseph Smith is a prophet.

President Monson is a prophet of God and by heeding his counsel we will be able to make it back to God. I love the gospel! It changes lives! Like Dan said too, This is my day!

Email to Dad

Yo Dad,

Sounds like you had a good week. I figured you guys would since you were going camping. I had a pretty good week as well. We found 2 new investigators, and one of them is on date for baptism on the 23rd of August! It was an awesome lesson. His name is Greg and we found him while Elder R was still here, but this week we were able to meet with him. He mentioned that he wants to be baptized, and before the lesson he made sure to read some of the Book of Mormon. He read 3rd Nephi 11 and he told us that it's a gem in his eyes. He REALLY liked it. He even came to church yesterday and really liked that too.

The other investigator we had was one I think I told you about last week. Her name is Lilly and she was a referral from Elder C that he brought from his last area. We really weren't able to have much of a lesson with her because she was rushing out the door, but we were able to set up our purpose of us being there so that was good.

We also had a cool finding story this week. I had the thought to try by a LA apartment that I didn't know, so we went and knocked on the door and a lady answered. We asked if the member lived there and she said no, and she had just moved in a couple days before. Turns out she is interested in learning more about the church so we are going to start teaching her this week. Should be awesome! It was great to have some success this week. It was a very nice to have after a long time of tough stuff.

I bet the camping trip was fun. That is awesome that Jared was able to catch a big fish. I remember doing that with him when we went up there a couple years ago. Mom said you guys didn't get the site you wanted though? Why was that? That camping site is fun for fishing though. I want to go fishing so bad haha. That sounds super fun right now. One year from now I will go haha. It's funny you say it was dusty up there. Here it's basically a giant sand box. It's back to being pretty hot again, to which I was hoping was gone but it's not too bad. I just have to drink tons of water.

I bet you're doing good in your calling. You are like me though. I hate paperwork, which is the worst part of missionary work I think haha. It has to be done though, so I just get over it haha.

It is crazy that college football starts up again in like 30 days! That off season just flew by for me haha. You will have to keep me updated with all the Utah teams like usual. When does the NFL start up?

Well, I hope you have a great week Dad. Good luck with all the catch up at work. You're probably going to be tired after all the catch up haha. Thank you for all the sacrifice you deal with to keep me out on a mission. I love serving the Lord. It really is so rewarding for everyone. The gospel is awesome! I love it! Love you guys!

-Elder Jake Sedlacek

Dad's White Christmas Challenge---looking good!

Today's email session was great! Elder Sed had a good Thanksgiving and a much better week than the one before. Getting good news is the best. 

Email to Mom 12/2/13

How are you doing today!

I am doing great. This week was lots better than last week. Last week kinda sucked. This week didn't though. Thanksgiving was fun. We went to two houses. The H family and the P family. They are both really cool families. We also had lots of food. It was really good. We just had the traditional stuff it seemed, although we had fried shrimp too with the H's. It was really good. I didn't take any pics but I guess I should have haha. It was super fun to go to the members' houses and just kinda relax for a bit. I really liked Thanksgiving. Thanks for the pics--I like the blue on the Christmas tree. I was pretty surprised to not see it red and gold haha. That seems like what it was all growing up for me. The blue looks really good. Are you still keeping the super big tree? I really liked that one. Wow, you went shopping on Black Friday?! That is a first haha. Was it the early time or later in the day? I bet it was later that you went. I bet my Christmas package will be awesome. I will save some stuff to open on Christmas--it's more fun that way. Just wrap up some of it and I won't open it till Christmas. I will love it I am sure.

That's great church was good. Brother P did send me an email. I haven't read it yet though. He is awesome, I agree.

That is so many indexed names! The wards out here can barely hit 100,000. Oak Hills ward way to represent! haha You will have to let me know how Mia does in her audition. I wish her luck. That is great Lib is doing the choir. Did she do it because of Mia? 

Thank you for all that you do Motha. I am proud of you too haha. I am going to be making a Christmas card and sending it out.

I pray for you guys too, just so you know haha.

Email to Dad 12/2/13

Dear Pops a lot!

This week was great. 3 NEW INVESTIGATORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wrote about it a little in a letter I just sent, but we found three new ones and one is on date for the 14th of December. That is a WHITE Christmas if I say so myself haha. Challenge: Check! It is right, I only have 2 Christmas' in the field. I am sure it will be one of the most memorable. It's great to be serving a mission. Honestly!

That would have been fun to go to the Utah game. Who did they play? They do need a new quarterback. The one they have now sucks it seems. Kyle better not leave while I am gone! It is good that Utah State  won. They sound like they are doing great still. It does not surprise me one bit about the Jazz. Rebuilding  years are no fun for the fans.

I saw the new tree in the pic mom sent. Looks really good. We haven't had snow up here yet. Just rain and lots of it. I would rather have rain though. Our car probably wouldn't do so hot in the snow haha. The "maliboat" (chevy malibu) kinda sucks. Oldest car in the mission. It's just nice to have a car though. It is sure nice to have when it is 7 degrees outside haha. I wouldn't doubt it if the storm we just had gave you guys snow. It's a pretty good one. I am sure Jared will love it though. I am doing alright. I am staying warm too. I am looking forward to the letter you sent. I haven't gotten it yet but probably soon I will. That is good that work is going good for you.

Dang, I was hoping you had some pranks haha. Elder S is just a prankster haha. Sometimes I just have to set him straight haha.  It seems that is all I can remember really well too--the people and the experiences I am having. I guess that is what matters most. It's what you learn from. 

Our investigators have been doing much better this week. Vince, the one we have on date for the 14th, is really excited to get baptized and he really wants me or Elder S to do it so he is trying really hard to get ready for then. We have a couple others who are doing great. Tomara, Lizzy, and John are doing good. They are just trying to work toward baptism. John is a boyfriend to a member so that is how he got interested. Lizzy is a 9 year old daughter of a less-active member who really wants to be baptized. We are working with the family and her to progress towards coming to church again. Other than that, those are really our main investigators for right now. It's been a much better and successful week. It was super nice to have. We will get to talk on Christmas but it is just figuring out where I will be and when first. Transfers are on the 18th and I probably wont stay in Ellensburg for too much longer. Only time will tell. I will let you guys know as it gets a little closer. 

Thank you for all that you guys do for me. I love you all lots! 

Love, Elder Sedlacek

A hard week--but we have to wait for a letter!

Email to Mama 11/25/13

What's up Mama?

I am doing good. It is so crazy that I am at 4 months now. I still feel like I went into the MTC yesterday though. It does seem to be going by fast and supposedly the first 6 months go by the slowest. It's going to be one crazy ride! This week went by fast but it was pretty hard. I wrote you a letter about it so I won't ruin the letter haha. I got through it though, which is all that counts. I don't know what I will be doing for Thanksgiving. There are a couple members who have invitited us over for dinner so we will probably get pretty fat like you said haha. That will be fun to watch Elf haha. Too bad I can't on the mission. It's such a stupid movie but its pretty funny haha. I bet Thanksgiving will be fun to see all the family.  Mia is 12 now? When the crap did that happen? haha. I always tell dad that he is getting really old, but you can't possibly be getting older. That's just not possible! {What a good son!}

Pres. Ware is an awesome guy. He is my kinda guy. It doesn't surprise me that he would do that for one of his missionaries. He is just that awesome! That is cool that Ann was able to talk to him. 

That is a really cool story about Pres Monson. He is so sweet. That would be terribly hard to lose your wife and be prophet at the same time. He is so strong spiritually. I bet the Savior himself was there to comfort him we he needed it. I would not doubt it one single little bit.

I could use another shirt. I had a casualty for one of them haha. All the buttons except for the top 3 decided they wanted to ditch me. I think it's a long sleeve one. That is probably the only thing that I could use for now. I am getting enough to eat. It is pretty dang cold but I am staying warm enough. It's like 7 degrees here in the morning burrrrhhh!!

I love you too! Thank you for all that you do Mamacita. RB is a pretty cool kid haha. I am sure there will be a whole new wave of missionaries next summer. That is probably the way it will be for a long time.

Monday is the best day of the week haha. I agree also!

Email to Dad 11/25/13

Dear pops!

I am doing good. I have had a good week. It's been a pretty tough week but it went by super fast. We are working really hard and not seeing much success. It's been kinda frustrating not seeing anything happen with our investigators. Isaac fell off date. All of our other investigators that we had appointments with fell through. It was just super frustrating. We did get a lot of tracting and work on the ward list done because of it. It sounds like work is going good for you. Keeping busy is never a bad thing it's just tiring haha. That sucks that Utah stinks so much again this season. They need to get their butts in gear if they want to stay in the PAC. That is great for USU. They are a pretty good team it seems. That will be sweet if they win the championship. The Jazz news doesn't suprise me haha. They are in a rebuilding year for probably the next couple seasons. Don't be surprised if they don't even get 25 wins in the season haha.

That is a sweet story about the missionary in Africa. I know a kid who went to Africa and he was big into Jr. Jazz. It could be him. I know that I am in the Kennewick mission for a reason too. I haven't had an experience like that but I feel like it is where I belong for the next 2 years. I love being a missionary even though it's tough. It's also pretty fun sometimes.

Oh a wind storm again? It is good that it didn't do much damage this time around. It has been really cold here for the past couple weeks. I am staying warm though. You are probably getting the freezing wind from here. I wouldn't doubt it haha. It is like 7 degrees in the morning every morning. Too cold haha. It is supposed to snow sometime after Thanksgiving is what everyone says. I hope it does because it will warm up a little bit. I don't need anymore coat for right now. I am staying pretty warm but if I ever do need one I will get one. 

About our teaching pool. We have a couple investigators. We have one named Tomara. I probably already told you about her. She is pretty awesome. It is just scheduling that is the biggest problem for her. She works odd jobs and its hard to meet sometimes. Vince is another one we have. He is a Sicilian and he smokes cigars like nobody's business. He reads the Book of Mormon every day and comes to church almost every Sunday. He is a pretty cool guy. Barb is the other one. She is the girlfriend of a less active member and she is interested in the church. She studies in the Book of Mormon and reads the gospel principles handbook. We haven't been able to meet with her for a little bit though. I assume she is still reading and studying though. All the other people we have, we haven't been able to meet with for a long time. We are just trying to find new investigators every chance we get. Please pray for us that we will be able to find new ones. Well, I hope you guys are doing great and it sounds like you are. I love you guys so much. Write me when you can. I love to hear from you. I know it's busy though so it's not a big deal. At least I get to email every week.

I love you guys!

Love Elder Sedlacek

Enjoying every minute of the mission!

Traveling between towns

Elders having fun. Elder Sed is on the right. I'm not surprised by that face.

Email to Mom 11/18/2013

How is it going!

I am doing good. This week went fast for me too. I did get your letter. I thought that picture (of his great-grandpa Hilton leaving on his mission) was way cool. He looked so different back then. It is too bad about your knee. Arthritis is no fun haha neither is getting old. People tell me to never get old, because it sucks. I hope your knee starts feeling better for you. Funny that you say something about Elder Richards. He is in our mission right now and I will hear him speak tomorrow. It should be really good. I am excited for it. I will try to not worry about you haha. It sounds like you are doing alright so that's good. Stupid knees huh. Sounds like you guys are having lots of fun. That is too bad about K's mom. That would really be hard.

I always knew you would come around to like meat haha. It was only a matter of time. I guess I did rub off on you! Next step: grandma D haha. Yep, we went to a place called Wing Central. It has really good food and they have a wing called the hell wing which is the hottest wing in the world. Let's just say its HOT wherever it goes haha. It's all in good fun though haha.

I don't know if I need anything. I don't know what else for Christmas haha. Orange sauce from Panda? That sounds pretty good haha. This transfer ends the 18th of December, I think. I don't know if they will change the date because that will be a pain with Christmas the next week. I will let you know though. For now though its going to be on the 18th.

It is crazy that JP is already going to be home in a couple of weeks! I bet he is trunked out of his mind haha. That is actually what most elders do when they go home--just throw out the clothes because they get crappy and take the important stuff that they want to keep. Stuff gets worn out pretty good over missions.

Thanks, mama, for all that you guys do!

Email to Dad 11/18/2013

 

Pops!

What's up my main man? I had a good week. Sounds like you did too. That really sucks Utah got whooped. I kinda thought they would. Oregon is a great team. The church has huge holiday sales?? I wouldn't think that would be the case. I guess with Deseret Book and stuff like that it could happen. I guess with the new scriptures that would help too. Sounds like work is going good.

We have lots of people wanting to have us over for Thanksgiving. I am going to get so fat haha. It's going to be weird to have the holidays out here but it won't be that bad. I'm not homesick at all lately which is good. I am looking forward to Christmas actually. It will be fun to be a missionary over Christmas two times. I am willing to take your challenge for a "white" Christmas haha. Sounds like a plan Stan. 

I am enjoying every minute of my mission, believe me. It's great to be a missionary. I can actually say now that I have a way stronger testimony of the gospel because of going on a mission. This week we had a couple investigators drop us and we couldn't get a hold of some of the others but we are still working hard and doing our best and that is all we can do. We may not have that many investigators but we teach with the spirit. I know we do! Isaac has been dealing with alot of anti this week but he is still trying to progress in the gospel. He just needs to find another place to live first. That is really the only lesson we had this week with an investigator that is solid. The other lessons were just here and there, like on door steps and stuff like that. We are just trying to find new people to teach. We have been trying to talk to 10 people everyday. Haven't seen any success come from it yet but I know we will.

I am staying warm. It gets pretty cold sometimes but it's more mild than Utah, it just blows freezing wind all the time so that is the sucky part. Good thing I have that wind breaker coat. It's way nice to have. Thank you for sending it. Also thank you for all that you do for me. YOU DA BEST PAPA! I pray for you guys every day too. 

I love and miss you guys and will talk to you soon. 

P.S 37 more days till Christmas!

Meet Elder Oso

Hey everyone! Elder Sedlacek is doing very well these days...even better than we thought, as you will see. And, meet Elder Oso--the "traveling" Elder now staying with Elder Sed and the other missionaries in his apartment--at least until he gets stolen away!

Elder Sed and his comp kidnapped Elder Oso from the APs.

I am doing great! I had a big surprise this week. On Wednesday Elder R got transferred up to Wenatchee, and so I now have a step-father (mission lingo) Elder S. He is awesome! It's so much better now than it was with Elder R. Me and Elder S get along alot better than me and Elder R. I liked the package you sent me. Thank you for that. I like the sweater too. The little insigna doesn't even matter. Well, our investigators
have been really hard to get a hold of. I had been praying that we will be able to get a hold of them. We then called an investigator we have named Kayla who never answers her phone, but she answered this time and we got an appointment set up. Issac has been having some phone issues I think so we haven't talked to him this week. He didn't come to church so I don't know what's up. We finally were able to contact a media referral we had up in Ronald, Washington. Her name is April and she is a high school junior. She got interested because of her previous boy friend who was a Mormon. We got two new investigators from that. Her and her friend Alex. They are both cheerleaders so they are really talkative. It will be cool to
seem them progress. They are really interested in learning more about the church. I love teaching people who are genuinely interested. It makes it more fun. If any one asks what they can do to help, tell them to pray that
we will be able to have better contact with our investigators. That is really the big problem holding us back right now.
Sounds like church on Sunday was really good for you guys. Church was good here too. I don't really remember what was taught but it was spiritual if that counts haha. Our family has awesome neighbors, really though. They give the missionaries so much support. It's awesome! Dad, I like the sports updates. You had said in the letter that you don't want me to get homesick from it. It doesn't make me homesick. Don't worry about that. It is actually a help to know whats going on so I can bring it up to talk to people. Then we seem like we are more normal than they think we are haha. You really can relate anything to the gospel. Sometimes its trickier than other times but it usually works. I like to hear about the sports anyway. It would be so fun to come back up to Washington to do some hunting. I already have some good spots in mind. Trust me! haha.
It's not that bad though seeing all the animals. Really, serving a mission is the most important thing I could be doing right now. It has already helped me grow. It will be crazy a year from now to see where I am at.
I saw the picture of the front yard. It looks so weird with out the big tree. That will be a big change when I get home to not see the mushroom tree. The maple tree will look much better than the mushroom ever could
though haha. It will look so pretty in the fall I am sure of it. I really like the fall colors too. They are so pretty. It's good to hear what has been going on at home. I am keeping busy here too. I love you guys too.
Thank you for all that you do for me. You are one awesome family!
Love, Elder Sedlacek