Life Remodeled {round 2}

The alley before we cleaned it out.

And AFTER! 

Good morning everyone! I hope your week was awesome:) 



My week was great! We were so busy and spent a lot of time outside of our area but it was super fun. 



On Tuesday we had Mission Leadership Conference up at the mission office in Southfield. We gave the elders a ride so it was a fun drive up and back. The meeting was SO good. It was probably the best MLC I've ever been to. President Sorensen is doing some amazing things and the mission is beginning to change a lot. He is changing the theme of our mission... When the Clevelands were here we had a Michigan Detroit Mission purpose that we would say at the end of the universal missionary purpose. The Sorensens changed it, so we are now focusing a lot on conversion and being motivated by love for the Lord. We set Zone standards of Excellence for key indicators and I'm excited to see how things continue to change. My favorite part of the meeting was when we watched a little bit of the Character of Christ video by Elder Bednar. This is a video that is only shown in the MTC and it is AWESOME. They finally posted it online and you need to find it and listen to it for family home evening. I'm serious, you will love it. 



We also had life remodeled!!!! {See last year's project}. Life remodeled is a community-based service project in Detroit. They recruit different companies and churches to come and participate each year. It goes on for 5 days. They split up the city and give you an area to clear out. They do a lot of abandoned homes and alleys. My zone had an overgrown alley to clear out. We worked for 5 hours and it was so much fun. We cut down small trees and branches and pulled them out. We were also able to meet some community members along the way. I made friends with the little kids that were playing nearby and it was the cherry on top! I really wish sisters could serve in Detroit. I was just itching to go ride my bike through the streets and go door knocking haha. After we were finished working, we went to Captain Jay's and got some chicken. That was fun too!! 



Time to share a miracle!! Each night my comp and I pray together. We repent and receive revelation on what we can do better the next day. It's always a great experience, but on Friday it was especially great. We received some specific revelation on what we needed to do the next morning. Our rule is to be out by 10 am each day. But Heavenly Father told us he wanted us to leave at 9 the next morning, so we did. We took out our bikes and rode to campus. On the way back, we saw a man sitting in his backyard. We went up to talk to him and his wife came outside. We talked to them both for a few minutes. Turns out that her mom is a member of the Toledo ward. They used to have a copy of the Book of Mormon but misplaced it during their move. They are very interested in learning about the gospel!! We have an appointment with them on Tuesday evening:) This work would be impossible without the spirit.  Without the prompting to leave at 9 am instead of 10 am, we wouldn't have met them. I am grateful for the guidance we receive from a loving Heavenly Father. He truly wants each of us to succeed and I am super grateful for the opportunity I've had to witness his great work. 



This week I was thinking about the difference between happiness and joy. There's a lot of things in life that can make one happy--money, a great job, friends, hobbies, etc. You could even go as far to say that sin has the ability to make someone happy for a season. Satan is really good at what he does. He loves to trick us into thinking that sin brings eternal happiness. I then started to think about joy and I had a big realization.... Satan CANNOT replicate true joy. Think about the real joy you feel. What causes it? Joy is lasting and eternal. We find joy by turning unto Christ. We find joy by living the principles of the gospel and keeping the commandments. The amount of joy you feel each day is a great measuring stick for conversion. We become converted when our testimony is acted upon. The more converted you are the greater your desire will be to read the scriptures, to pray, attend the temple regularly, participate actively in church, magnify your calling, keep your covenants, etc. Heavenly Father desires for you to experience joy. I testify this is what the gospel brings. Do the things that result in conversion and you will experience joy daily. Even when things are hard!   



I love you all!! 



Sister Sedlacek