July 24, 2015

HI EVERYBODY!! thanks so much for all the letters and emails :) :) :)

This week (felt like a month) has been so incredible!!! I've learned so much and made so many friends and eaten so much food and said so many prayers and studied so much scripture. I love the work we're doing here so much and I can't wait for 4 more days when I fly down to Arizona and get to start the real thing!!

Ok first thing: spikeball. My new favorite sport. SO much fun! It's like volleyball, but with a little trampoline and you play 2 on 2 and it is like the missionary national sport. Seriously, look it up. You'll thank me. haha

We have 4 investigators, all of which I have come to love so much. Rebekah, Stephen (the big one), Stephen (the small one), and Ny. Each of them are so different, but are so excited to hear what we have to teach them. (They're not real investigators, I think they're paid to do it) but it's such a real experience, and it gets me so excited!

Half of our zone left on tuesday and wednesday, and that was sad to see them go. We've all become such great friends, and I know they're gonna be incredible missionaries!!

I saw more missionaries from home!! Elder Wyatt Anderson, Elder Colton Winegar, Elder Dylan Travis, Elder Aaron Piscione, Elder Cody Robbins, and they are all so excited to be here! It makes me so happy to see my friends with such strong testimonies and so ready to do the lord's work :)

You all remember the story of the 2000 stripling warriors? There are 1997 missionaries as of tuesday. Cool :D

I don't have a lot of time left, so I'm gonna keep this one shorter than last week...sorry haha

Just a quick thought:

How firm a foundation, verse 7

The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose
I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I'll never, no never, I'll never, no never,
I'll never, no never, no never forsake!

I have felt my Savior's love and support so much this week. i couldn't have done everything on my own. 

It was so great to hear from all of you!! Until next week :) 

-Elder Wheeler :)

July 17th- First Email Home- MTC life

Hello everybody!!! :D

Oh my goodness I've only been here 2 days but it feels like 2 weeks! This place is so incredible and the spirit is so strong and the people are so nice and the food is so good and the gospel is so real! I've felt god's hand in so many ways since arriving and it all just helps me gain a stronger testimony that I'm doing what he wants :)

First minute at the MTC: I meet elder Barnett, my roommate from BYS last summer, and my "randomly" assigned escort. It was so awesome to talk to him and see the missionary he is becoming, and to know that the lord is looking out for me :)

My companion: Elder Olausson. Wow. He is such a spiritual beefcake (inside joke). We are very different people, but I think that makes us an even better companionship. He is so good at following the spirit and I know I'm gonna learn a lot from him! Also, he is REALLY good at being on time to everything...so I guess I know what I need to work on while I'm here :P

Other elders in my room: Elder Heller and Elder Miskovich. Both incredible missionaries and examples to follow. I really like Elder Heller, we have a lot to talk and laugh about, and it's a good thing too, because he is a grizzly bear. Literally. He snores. so. loud. I couldn't fall asleep the first night cuz I was laughing too hard. Haha he brought earplugs for all of us, which was awesome, except we all overslept our alarms the first morning and almost missed breakfast! Haha I only say that about him because I already love all my roommates like brothers and we share such an incredible spirit :)

The food: GREAT. Seriously, so good. and YOU CAN HAVE SECONDS AND THIRDS AND FOURTHS AND yeah :D

My district: incredible. I was so blessed to have an entire district completely focused on serving the lord. Last night, we had a district meeting where we met our branch presidency (I honestly couldn't ask for anyone better) and their wives (one of them has a really cool british accent) and then had a powerful testimony meeting! The spirit was so strong and I felt such a strong love for everybody there :) I have learned so much from everyone and we all continue to strengthen each other and I just know we're all gonna be FANTASTIC missionaries :D Which is great for me, because I was assigned to be District leader over these guys! I was so excited and so humbled to be asked, but I know this will help prepare me for the mission field :) Also I get to be in charge of picking up and distributing all of our mail, which is pretty much worth it's weight in gold here...haha!

Since being here: I've met so many incredible people! I've run into both SIster Tilby and SIster McCuen who I knew from home! It was fun to see them and see how they are progressing towards their missions :)

Side note: calling everybody "Elder" is really hard. Saying "guys" "man" "dude" "bro" "bruh" "broski" and nicknames are all discouraged here and I'm still getting used to that...haha but I'm working on it! "Exact obedience brings miracles" :)

I hope everybody is doing well! If you guys have had any cool testimony building experiences, or super embarassing date stories, or a good joke, or a bad joke, I'd love to hear them! I don't have a ton of time to email, but I'd love to hear from you guys! Haha I love and miss you all, but I know I'm doing the right thing :)

I love my savior, and even in the 2 days I've been here have felt his love so strongly for me too! I love the scriptures and the fact that I get to read them so much every day! I love the spirit and how much it has helped and guided me so far! I can't wait to be a representative of the savior and every day I'm here I get more excited to serve him for 2 years!! To quote my brother

The church is true

The book is blue

See ya in 2!

-Elder Wheeler :)

Dropping Nathan Off

We dropped Nathan off at the MTC on Weds. July 15th at 2:00 p.m. We took a minute before hand to take a few quick photos and then he was gone.







 

He didn't even look back. I must admit it was a very long drive home, but we are sure he is going to be a GREAT missionary!  

If you want to write him while he is in the MTC you can at 

 Elder Nathan Wheeler
JUL28 AZ-PHX
2005 N 900 E Unit 105
Provo UT 84602

or you can email him at nathan.wheeler@myldsmail.net or send a letter through dearelder.com (he said there is a little competition to see who can get the most letters through dearelder =) I know he would love to hear from you!