We are meant to struggle, but we aren't meant to fail.

Hello family and friends! 



I hope you are doing fantastic! 



My week was amazing and we saw so many miracles. Here are a couple of them; 



The person I want to talk about first is J. On Monday evening, we were scheduled to teach a part member family. They live at the top of our area. We left and turned on the GPS... I haven't gained an "Ohio" sense of direction yet and didn't realize that the GPS was taking us in the wrong direction! hahahaha We ended up in the wrong location and had to cancel the visit with the part member family. I was a bit sad about that, but we continued on. We decided to go to Walmart. We walked in the store and got the immediate prompting "go left". We followed it, and the first person we spoke to was J! We testified to her of the Book of Mormon and she said this: "I've always felt that there had to be another testament of Christ." We continued to talk with her and she opened right up to us! She was in tears as she told us her story. She has been through a whole lot and right now she has chronic migraines. They pretty much knock her out everyday for 4 hours in the morning and it's super hard for her. She already has a strong belief in Christ, and knows that He is there for her. She finished by telling us; "I felt the spirit of God as soon as you two walked up to me. I know this was meant to happen".  We set up a return appointment for the next day. 

The next day we met with her. It was an amazing lesson. We taught her in the middle of a coffee shop but the spirit was incredibly strong. When we finished reciting the first vision we asked her about her feelings. She said; "as you were speaking, I prayed and asked God if this is true. He said yes".... I then proceeded to pick my jaw up off the floor! We invited her to be baptized, and she immediately said yes! She is on date for July 27th. This was a lesson that I will always remember. After inviting her to baptism, I felt prompted to tell her of the experience I had when I was baptized. I've talked about my baptism many times throughout my mission, but this time was uniquely special. I felt the spirit very strong and even teared up a little bit (serving a misson has turned me into a big softy hahaha). I am incredibly grateful to have grown up in a home where the gospel was always taught. I am also grateful for the decision I made to be baptized. I realized how much that baptism changed my life. I am super excited for J and the experience she is going to have in a few weeks. 



About an hour away from our area is a little town called Brian. There are no missionaries serving there right now, so every time they have someone that needs to be taught... we get to go and teach them. The Brian branch has someone who wants to be baptized! His name is A, and he is 97 years old!! He has  been attending church for years and has read the entire Book of Mormon, the Doctrine & Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price, and Jesus The Christ. He is extremely intelligent. He also loves everything about the church. He hasn't ever been baptized because his daughters are super against it. He decided that it's time to take a stand. In his words, he wants to be baptized before he dies. He knows all the doctrine and lives all the commandments. He even pays tithing!! He wants the lesson process to be quick, so we will be teaching all 5 lessons in 2-3 days. We are going to begin teaching him after the 4th and I am so excited!! I just love teaching the older people. They are so wise and I always learn so much from them. 



As you can see, Heavenly Father has blessed us tons this week. I am grateful and humbled!! All we have to do is be obedient and work hard. Then the Spirit can go in and work the miracles. As I've said many times before, I am grateful to be serving a mission and I am grateful to have a front row seat to the greatest work on earth. 



I learned a lot this week from the lessons that we taught. In each lesson we had, I felt a very strong spirit. The Holy Ghost witnessed to me over and over again how true and right the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is. This is the Lords's kingdom. It's a place where everyone belongs and where there is no "mold". Heavenly Father loves each of us for who we are. He desires for all his children to come unto him. 

I have been studying the Book of Ether this week. In chapter 6 verse 7 it says; "And it came to pass that wen they were buried in the deep there was no water that could hurt them, their vessels being tight like unto a dish, and also they were tight like unto the ark of Noah; therefore when they were encompassed about by many waters they did cry unto the Lord, and he did bring them forth again upon the top of the waters". I just loved the imagery in this verse! I especially love what it says at the end. They cried unto the Lord, and he brought them forth to the top of the water. I was reminded that he does the same for us everyday. Life is hard. We are meant to struggle, but we aren't meant to fail. Heavenly Father sent us here to succeed. He has promised that as we turn unto him, he will help us! That promise was fulfilled for the Jaredites in this verse and it can be fulfilled for you and for me every single day.  As we cling to the truths taught in the Book of Mormon, and live by the doctrine of Christ we will always succeed in the way Heavenly Father needs us to. 



Have a safe & fun 4th! Go and watch some fireworks for me ;)



Love you all! 



Sister Sedlacek