Pioneer Hiking

So this week was pretty fun and quite exciting actually. We did a lot of fun stuff and It felt great! One major Surprise was I ran into my Aunt Dearie and Uncle Jake!!! That was a huge highlight of this past week, along with running into a previous Elder on the mission that was a super awesome friend.

First, we had a Hale and Farewell this past Monday. Those are when The Senior Missionaries and the Young Elders that work in the Family History Library, all get together and we have dinner and sing to them. They can be sad but it's time for them to get back into the real world and move on with their lives. The food was really good....just like always. Afterward, we helped clean up the gym...part way through I smacked my leg on the stage pretty good trying to get up....ouch....but it was just a simple bump, I'm fine though. 

Tuesday was a really busy day up on the 3rd floor! One of our responsibilities is to put all the books away and make sure that they are all in the right place. Every now and again, we have days where there are just tons of books coming through that we have to put away. I think that together, all three of us put away about 18 full carts of books away. I was exhausted by the time it was 8:30 pm. We just talked till about 9:30 then we just passed out till the next day.

Wednesday was Pioneer day and it was really awesome!!!! A group of Elders invited my companions and I to go hiking with them up Mt. Wire. I will say that I haven't gone hiking in a while and it was a little hard but it was good none the less and we all really enjoyed it. Hopefully next time we will prepare a little bit better and bring more water than we did. Later that day as a mission we hiked Ensign Peak and that wasn't near hard enough for me. But after the second Hike, President Fenn had all of us at his house and he had a Barbecue prepared for us with "more food then we could ever hope to eat." as he put it. Which he was right because we didn't even eat half of what was prepared. But all in all, it was a really really good day for all of us. 

Spiritual Thought: My spiritual thought this week is going to be from 1 Nephi 17: 45. This is where Nephi is speaking/chastising his brothers Laman and Lemuel about not saying faithful and how they are part of the reason that they are lost and not getting closer to the promise land.45 Ye are swift to do iniquity but slow to remember the Lord your God. Ye have seen an angel, and he spake unto you; yea, ye have heard his voice from time to time; and he hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were past feeling, that ye could not feel his words; wherefore, he has spoken unto you like unto the voice of thunder, which did cause the earth to shake as if it were to divide asunder. 

Now the Student Manual brings up a good point that I would like to share with you. It relates the holy spirit and revelation to a cellphone and dead spots in life where there isn't any reception "Perhaps something in our lives prevents us from hearing the message because we are 'past feeling.' We often put ourselves in spiritual deas spots-places & situations that block out divine messages." 

I think that it is vitally important that we do what we can to keep ourselves in places and with people where we can feel the spirit and we can have his guidance. It is very important that we do that or else we won't be able to have his companionship with us and he won't be able to help us.

Well, I hope that all of you have a wonderful week.

I love all of you! You are all amazing and I care about all of you very much.

Stay Foxy!

Elder Wyatt Gatlin

Boring week

Hello all of you wonderful people!!! I would have had a better title for my email this week but sadly there really isn't much to report on this week. It may have been more exciting but not all weeks will all be exciting. 

One of the few things that did happen this week is that I was able to help out a fellow elder with some problems that he was having. I was able to provide some relief to him and he is doing a ton better. 

But other than that....I've got really nothing to report on. 

Spiritual Thought: 

So my spiritual thought is going to be coming from 1 Nephi 16: 21-25

21 Now it came to pass that I, Nephi, having been afflicted with my brethren because of the loss of my bow, and their bows having lost their springs, it began to be exceedingly difficult, yea, insomuch that we could obtain no food.

22 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did speak much unto my brethren, because they had hardened their hearts again, even unto complaining against the Lord their God.

23 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did make out of wood a bow, and out of a straight stick, an arrow; wherefore, I did arm myself with a bow and an arrow, with a sling and with stones. And I said unto my father: Whither shall I go to obtain food?

24 And it came to pass that he did inquire of the Lord, for they had humbled themselves because of my words; for I did say many things unto them in the energy of my soul.

25 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came unto my father; and he was truly chastened because of his murmuring against the Lord, insomuch that he was brought down into the depths of sorrow.

I was reading through these verses and I realized that Nephi was being 100% faithful to the Lord and doing all that he could to follow the teachings of his father; but yet he was still being put through trials and afflictions. Yet he powered through them and he continued forward and did many many amazing things.

When we are going through trials, it doesn't exactly mean that we are being wicked. He may give us these trials because he sees that we have room to grow and that we can improve a little more. So he then allows us to go through these trials so that we can grow, improve, and continue turning into the man that he wants us to be.

Well, I hope that you are all doing amazing and I hope that you make the most out of every moment of every day. 

I love all of you very much and you are all Fabtabulous!

Stay Foxy!

Elder Wyatt gatlin

Relieved and Not Stressed

Hello all of you fabulous people! I hope that this past week has been great and I hope that you've all loved it as much as I have. It's been quite fun and I've been relieved of a lot of stress that I've had for a little while now.

We had a wonderful Mission conference yesterday and I pulled away from it very enlightened and feeling that I could improve, which is how President Fenn has told us should happen after a good mission conference. The main point of the Mission Conference was being soldiers in the Army of God and do what we can to stay worthy to be able to have the companionship of the holy ghost always with us. Also President Fenn made a point about if we sin the Holy Ghost will be removed from us and we won't be able to be the missionaries that we should be. We also sang Battle Hymn of the Republic and Onward Christian Soldiers. Those songs have always been some of my personal favorites and they touched me after that conference.

Not much this week has happened though...we've been playing a ton of games back at the apartment. It's really fun because my other two companions get really competitive in our game of "Sorry".  Not sure why they do, but it's actually really funny to watch and to be a part of. But yea, we're staying entertained and making sure that we build each other up and helping each other improve as people and as missionaries. Other than that there isn't much else that I can report on

Spiritual Thought: So my spiritual thought is going to come from 2 Nephi 32:9

"9 But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform anything unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul."

I personally really like these two verses because it really allows us to see the importance of prayer and what it can bring forth. I don't think that you can ever emphasize prayer enough in the church. It is so important that we pray to the Lord each and every day. If we do so and if we are humble enough, he will "Consecrate our performance" and there is real importance in what he says there. He will allow us to be able to perform to our utmost ability if we just pray to him and do it with all of our might.

Well, everyone, I love you all and each and every one of you are amazing and FabTabulous!!!

Do what you can today to change and to become better.

Stay Foxy!

Elder Wyatt Gatlin 

Companion Trio

So quite a few things happened this week. One of them was obviously a P-day change. So my P-Day will now be on Thursdays, today is an exception because of the 4th of July.  But other than that no other changes for anything. 

So since I'm in a trio I now have two wonderful companions instead of just one.  My companions are Elder Pastor and Elder Irvine. They're both super great and it's a ton of fun actually having two companions instead of just one. I thought that it would be stressful and not as fun but It's the exact opposite. It can be easy to get stressed on a mission but they have both been a huge help and they've taught me lessons that I've been taught before but I didn't have the ears to hear I guess. But once again they've been a huge help for me, I'm glad to have this companionship when I did.

But I've been reading through the Isaiah chapters in 2 Nephi once again, and it's been...different...to say the least. After all the things that President Fenn has told me and taught me, I now see things going through the Book of Mormon differently then I did before. Which is really nice because I'm able to learn more than I thought I ever could. So I'm very thankful for a wonderful Mission President and also for wonderful people back home who have helped me along this road called life and I'm thankful for all the lessons that I've learned thus far.

Spiritual Thought: So I know that I've rambled on for a long time and I'm probably getting very annoying at this point so I'm going to close up with my spiritual thought. 

So it's from 2 Nephi 11:5 "5 And also my soul delighteth in the covenants of the Lord which he hath made to our fathers; yea, my soul delighteth in his grace, and in his justice, and power, and mercy in the great and eternal plan of deliverance from death."

I just really like this verse when I read it. I love how it talks about the atonement and I just love the comfort that it brings. The Savior has done so much for all of us and that we can all delight in the fact that the Plan of Happiness was meant for all of us and that as long as we are worthy and as long as we repent daily and keep in mind that through the Lord all things are possible, we will be able to be part of the first resurrection and that we will be able to find joy throughout our everyday righteous works. I know that through the lord everything is possible and that we can repent every day and draw closer to him each and every day as long as we allow ourselves to be humbled before him and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

All of you are amazing Fabtabulous people.

I love each and every one of you dearly!

Stay Foxy!

Elder Wyatt Gatlin