Merry Christmas from Sunnyside, Washington!

Email to Mama 12/23/13

What's up, Mama? 

I am doing good. This past week was good. I got all my stuff moved to Sunnyside. Transfers were good. We live in a little house, just me and Elder J. I like Sunnyside. It just smells all the time everywhere you go because of the dairy.  I don't know if I like that about this place but our teaching pool is huge! I am so overwhelmed in trying to get everyone's names straight. That is the hardest part right now.  It is a nice place. Elder J calls himself a geek, and I am getting to know him. The members here are great! The ward gives us tons of referrals. We had did have a Christmas program, but let's just say some of the musical numbers were a lot better than others. 

I have heard lots of good stuff about that movie Frozen. I will have to see it when I get home. It stinks that Mia didn't make it into the Sound of Music. She can try out next time though.

That is cool that Brother J is still our home teacher. I bet Grandpa H's was fun. I love his clam chowder. I . That is exciting about the bathroom. Be sure and take pics so I can see it.

For Christmas Eve, I will be calling home sometime around 8:30 here so 9:30 there. We can finalize any plans then. I will be Skyping from the ward mission leader's house. It will be sometime around lunch time in Bountiful. I don't really know an exact time, but it should be close. It will be soooo fun to talk to you guys. I am super excited. Thank you, Mama, for all that you do for me. I love you guys sooo much.

Email to Dad

What up, Dad!

Transfer week went well. I got to Sunnyside and went right to work. The mission has two main meeting points in Richland and in Yakima, so we go to the closest one to our area and then meet up with the new companion and go to the new area. It would be crazy to have it be like you had where you just go by yourself haha. We just hop in a car and drive to a meeting point. Not as exciting as you had it haha. Ellensburg to Sunnyside is only a 45 minute drive so it wasn't that far to begin with. I am looking forward to talking to you guys on Christmas too. It will be super fun.

That is okay that you didn't get to see any games yesterday, but try to do better haha. Updates are fun but not a necessity. 

Sunnyside is a crazy place. It is 90% Mexicans who speak only Spanish and a little bit of English. It is lots of dairies and vineyards. It always smells like cow dung everywhere you go haha. My new comp is Elder J. He has served in Sunnyside twice on his mission for a total of 10 1/2 months! That is crazy so I think he is going to leave at the end of this transfer. He has been out pretty much 18 months. He is very good at member relationships. I am learning how to best work with him and have fun with it. We have tons of people in the teaching pool, so much that I am overwhelmed just thinking about it. I am just trying to learn everyone's face and who they are. It is great being so busy with teaching though. I wish I could tell you more about our investigators but I don't know much about any of them. It is crazy haha. We get tons of teaching though. It is great!

That would have been sooo cool to have been at the Christmas devotional for your work. I bet it was super sweet to be at. That is good that work is keeping you busy. I am looking forward to talking to you on Tuesday and Wednesday! It's going to be sweet! I love you guys and am so grateful for all that you do for me. Talk to you tomorrow!

Love- Elder Sedlacek

"The mission is what I want to be doing right now."

Transfers are this week, and Elder Sedlacek is going to be transferred to Sunnyside--known for 300+ sunny days per year, the heart of wine country, and the annual Christmas light parade with farm vehicles, which he just missed. He's looking forward to a new area and hopefully will enjoy his new companion!

What's up!

This week has been slow but great. The last week of the transfer is always slow it seems. Well, I am getting transfered on Wednesday to Sunnyside Washington, serving in the 1st ward with Elder J and I have no idea who he is. I think he is an older missionary. Supposedly Sunnyside smells pretty bad all the time so it should be fun. I am excited to go see a new area. 

 

Thank you for the Christmas packages you sent. Yes, I did get them on Thursday. I haven't opened anything except for the envelope and the tree. I did laugh at the Ensign that was pretty funny. I didn't even think to switch the covers. I will do that. Good idea mama! Tell Bro. H thank you for me. I love him too haha. He is awesome. 

 

I am glad you liked my Christmas card. It is great that JP is home. You will have to tell him hi for me. I am sure he is having lots of fun being home with his family. That will be cool if he plays football at USU. 

 

Sounds like stake conference was a good one. They usually are though. It's fun to go to the big doughnut building. 

 

 For Skype I think I use my own account, so I will set that up. I get to call home on Christmas Eve for a couple minutes and then Skype or whatever on Christmas Day for an hour. I am so excited! I'ts going to be fun to see you guys again. I don't know what member home we will be Skyping from, but I will figure that out and what time. I can tell you that on Christmas Eve when I call. 

 

It is awesome Libby and Mia's friends got baptized. I am sure it was awesome to see. So were they being taught by the Elders then? The gospel WILL bless their family. I know it will. 

 

Haha Mama, you cried reading about Vince? You are funny haha. He is a nice guy. I like him. He is going to be bummed when I tell him I am leaving. He doesn't know yet. It is only going to be a matter of time before he is baptized. 

 

Thank you for everything you do for me. To be honest, the mission is what I want to be doing right now. It is a great experience. I love it. You guys are awesome for supporting me. All the support is great to have! 

I like the Christmas card by the way. Looks good.

 

Love, 

Elder Sedlacek

Hey, somebody has to plant seeds!

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

Email to Mom 12/9/2013

Howdy mama,

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

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

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

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

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

Email to Dad 12/9/2013

What's up Papa!

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

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

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

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

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

Love, Elder Sedlacek

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 tough week, but still a couple of miracles happened

Letter dated 11/25/13

Family, what's up?

This week was honestly pretty tough. We have been working on finding new people to teach and getting the people we are teaching to progress. Every single appointment we had fell through--it sucked. We did get lots of contacting done, but nothing really that great. Great as in, will go anywhere, except for one. We were out to check on a less active in an apartment complex. She wasn't there, but when we were driving out of the parking lot we saw a lady sitting on a bench by herself, smoking. We got the impression to go talk to her, so we turned the car around and parked it. Guess who the lady was? She was a lady we have been wanting to meet for a couple of weeks but no one could find her! {miracle #1} We started to talking to her and about five minutes later a guy comes out and walks up to us. He was this lady's boyfriend and he is not friendly to the church.

This guy walks up and Elder S was talking to Rachel (the lady's name) at the time, so the guy started talking to me. It was my first time talking with an anti-Mormon by myself. It was pretty interesting! Some of the the stuff they think about Mormons is insane. This guy thought we didn't believe in gravity because we're devils and we don't need it to stay on the ground haha. Most get all their information from the internet, and everything you read on the internet is true haha. Antis are interesting to talk to. I was able to resolve some of his questions, but after that he wanted to bash so we just left. Bashing is no good and doesn't go anywhere productive. We are in the process of setting up a time to meet with Rachel. This was probably the most standout experience that I had this week.

It was a pretty tough week but I got through it, obviously. I even fasted yesterday when it wasn't Fast Sunday because I wanted to. Can you believe it? {this is a little miracle in itself! haha} Fasting brings spiritual power so much stronger. It's great, even though it's tough to do sometimes.

I hope your Thanksgiving is lots of fun! I love you guys so much! Thank you for everything!
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!