Life flips on you pretty fast

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

What's up Mama,

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

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

 

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

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

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

Mama: Son! :)

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

 

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

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

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

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

-Elder Sedlacek

 

 

What's up Dad,

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Have a great week!

-Elder Jake Sedlacek
 

Are we hot or are we cold?

What's up Mama,

This week was pretty good. Transfers are this week. How did you know? Well, the news on transfers is I am staying in Pasco with Elder C. It should be good. I have been praying to know that this is where I am supposed to be for the next transfer.

 

The weather has been nice this week. Like really, really nice. I wish it would stay like that the whole year. That sucks about the a/c freezing up,but it's good it is staying cool now. We haven't had many thunder storms here, the weather is really nice. I love it right now. Not too hot or cold.

 

Our investigators are doing pretty good. G came to church this week, and he liked it which was good too. I don't know if he is still reading. He had some family come in this week so he hasn't met with us. I hope his family isn't giving him tons of crap for listening to us. I think that might be why he is holding back right now-- family situations. That's a good idea that Catilin had with teaching from the Book of Mormon. I willl probably try that.

 

So you got rid of Direct tv huh. That kinda sucks. Do we have ESPN anymore? Roku is pretty good though I guess. Lots of people have that instead of cable. Seems to be like a good deal if they have ESPN 

 

That is great that Nicole was able to schedule a time for surgery. The doctor sounds like he will do a good job. I am sure everything will go okay with it. You will have to let me know how it goes. I don't know when we will be emailing on Labor Day. It will probably be on Tuesday but maybe not. I know the library is closed on Monday so it might be interesting.

 

I will be praying that Nicole will be feeling back to normal quickly. Can't have old Micoe all tired and what not. That would not be fun haha.

 

I can't even believe that it's already pretty much my birthday myself haha. I have been thinking about what I would ask for. I have some ideas. I will throw them out to you. A new pair of Johnson Murphys (the original ones are dead so all I have now are the Rockports), some other nice looking belt buckles for my Mission belts ( if you went online to their website they have just belt buckles that you can buy and interchange them on the belts), snacks are always good, a new SD card to replace the other one then I can send the one I have now home and you can get the pics, ties that are good looking ( if you go to Ross or Burlington they have really good ties for really cheap is one thing I have learned on the mission), and whatever else you think I would like haha. You're the Mama. You know your favorite son too well.

 

That is crazy that school started up already. I hope the kids had fun!

 

I am glad that you guys are doing well. I hope you all have a great week. I will share some of my spiritual thoughts from studies I had this week. I read in Revelations 3:15-16 which really just stood out to me. It talks about hot and cold water. In the gospel we either need to be all in, as in "hot", or we are "cold". There is no middle ground even though we may think that there is that middle ground. We all need to evaluate everyday what we can do to improve. I am thinking about sharing it.  Some people think they can be in the middle ground but in reality there is no middle. I also read in Alma 33:23 and I really liked it as well. All of us as children of God may have things that we are asked to do that we don't understand with our limited knowledge, but as this scripture says, if we "plant" whatever is troubling us and feed it with our faith it will grow into a tree that will bring us so much joy. Everything in the gospel is set up to bring us the most joy. I have a testimony of that. The gospel is truly what brings the most happiness in our lives. As we live it to the fullest everyday we will be blessed! I love the gospel and the chance to serve a mission. Thanks for all that you do to keep me out here. Love you all tons!

-Elder Jake Sedlacek

 

 

What's up Dad,
I bet you love being at work in the middle of the day haha. It's okay
though that you have to work. I understand haha. This week was really
slow kind of. Kinda rough. It was great though because G
came to church, which was Stake Conference this week for me. It was the
first time since being in Pasco that I have had an investigator at
church. It was a much needed thing. I am so glad that he was able to
make it. He really liked it from what it seemed. He had family come in
to town this week so I hope he has been reading. It kept him from
meeting with us this week which sucked.
I like the idea to just use the B of Mormon. It really does have so
much spiritual power. I promised C yesterday who we finally caught
home, that if she read the Book of Mormon it will change her life. I
only know that because it has changed my life. Those are the only
investigators we have right now that we are meeting with.
The rest aren't answering their doors or phones. That is
something that you can pray for-- the help to have us be able to get
back in contact with our investigators this week. This has been the
hardest area for that that I have had. People just aren't home
it seems like. You can also pray for a LA family in the ward that I
have been working with. Their name is the D family, and the wife had a
baby the other night but it isn't doing well. The baby had to be
flown up to Seattle to the children's hospital up there. I hope
everything is okay with them. They could certainly use some prayers
right now.

That is so cool to me that you work in a place where they have
trainings that use the Book of Mormon, AT WORK. You are lucky haha.
Not very often you can have a job like that where you aren't a
seminary teacher or something like that. I like the training ideas
though. Those are great questions to ask ourselves to improve each
day. Believe it or not, I kinda already ask myself that every night.
It's just a matter of acting on those things that you find that you can
improve on.

I am so grateful that I am able to serve a mission. Thanks for all
that you do for me. I do know that the gospel is true. When we apply
the scriptures into our lives, we can learn from them and they become
real to us. I love the Book of Mormon and also the Bible. Together
they work to give us the truth. The restored gospel is amazing.
I am grateful that we have it on the earth at this time. Without it, we
would be lost I am sure. I hope all you  guys have a great week this
week. I love you all tons!
-Elder Sedlacek

An eye of charity

This is what a lot of Eastern Washington looks like.

Monday emails from Elder Sedlacek are the best thing of our week! Here is some of his email to Dad.
1/6/14

What up Dad? (at least I think this was Dad's email haha)

Thank you for the score list. That was awesome. It was also awesome to hear that the Chargers have a chance at the Super Bowl. I hope they win it haha. I didn't know they picked up Manti Teo though so that is awesome too. They have a great defense I am sure. I bet it was fun to build the 7ft snow man too. It probably looks sweet up on the mountain with blue sky below it. Is that the tallest one we built yet? I had forgotten that we did that every year haha. That was always fun. What are you going to do when you are like 80 years old? Are you still going to build a snowman haha? It is a fun family tradition though. It will be fun to help you guys again on that when I get home. 

Hey, the Sunnyside ward has 9:00 church too haha. I don't go at 9:00 though. We are there at 7:30. Meetings before church are soooooooo fun haha.

This week was an awesome one teaching-wise. We got 4 new investigators! I was so happy haha. We had an awesome lesson yesterday night with one of our investigators. Her name is Cheyanne. I think I already told you about her but she is 14 so it is like I am teaching Sarah haha. Well, we taught her about the Holy Ghost since when she came to the last half of church, afterwards she said she felt like she needs to be baptized. We told her that was the Holy Ghost and she though that was cool. She is going to start reading the Book of Mormon and we are going to put her on date tonight. It should be awesome. We have been waiting for her to get an answer if she wanted to get baptized for a while, and she got it haha. It was awesome. That was just one of the lessons that we taught. One of the new investigator's names is Maria. She is an African American woman who has a couple kids. She hasn't had much of a religious background but she wants her kids to grow up well and not have the life she had when she was growing up. She was very interested in coming to church, but her car broke down, which seems to be a problem up here alot. Cars break down so our investigators don't come to church. (Satan must be good at breaking cars haha). Well, she said she is very interested in coming next week so I hope she comes. It was really just an awesome week for me. I have been working on loving the people more and I can already tell a difference. Thanks for the advice Dad. I love the people of Sunnyside. When you love the people, it also makes it easier to go out and serve them. Charity is very important in missionary work. I think it will always be a struggle of mine that I will have to work on, but I pray for an eye of charity everyday now, and it seems to help a lot.

Well it sounds like your week was fun and busy. I hope work is going good still. How is everybody else doing? 

It was great to get to share a little bit from this week with you guys. I love being a missionary. Thank you for the sacrifice that you guys go through to keep me out in the field. I love you all sooo much!

Love, Elder Sedlacek

Keep praying for all the missionaries

Letter dated 8/17/13

Family,

How is everything going?

Everything is good here in Ellensburg. It is so much harder out here than the MTC. It has been kind of hard, but good.

Ellensburg is a really small town. There is dog and horse crap everywhere, which is kinda gross. I don't think I would ever live here. There are lots of people to teach though! I have learned that success is mainly through members' help. Without members the work would be really slow. I would encourage you guys to help prepare others for the missionaries, because teaching is not exactly the best method. That is why the technology movement is happening. Here in the WKM we will get to use it, which will be cool.

The hardest part about being out here is not knowing what happens anywhere else. It helps keep me focused though, I guess. Keep praying for all the missionaries. It's nice to feel the support of the church behind us. I look forward to reading your emails and letters.

I love you guys so much!

Elder Sedlacek