DO and BE

Well another week is in the books in the South Mountain YSA Ward. It's been a pretty fun week, being able to get to know more of the members here and help a couple of our investigators. Patrick got baptized this week and he is such a solid guy. He definitely has a testimony of Christ and of the restored gospel and how it will bless his life. It's been fun to work with him for the last couple of weeks. This Saturday we also had a visit from Elder Robbins and Elder Greer of the 70. They gave a training to the leadership in the mission, combined with the leadership of the Gilbert Mission, which was split out from our mission last July. So that was cool being able to see some of the guys that I was in the MTC with and hang out with them for a little bit. Elder Robbins' training was super good. He talked a lot about the importance of Being, not just Doing, and how when our hearts are really in the right place, when we ARE what we need to be, then we will DO the things we need to do. Too many times people have the DO without the BE, which looks good, but makes us hypocrites. Or on the other end, we have the BE but not the DO, which makes it null and void. We have to have both together to really become the people that God wants us to be, and when we do that, we will really be in control of our lives.

  I hope all is well! take care and God bless, 

Elder Hiatt

A Cool Lady with Awesome Daughters!

Well this week was a pretty great one in Gilbert. We were able to meet
and talk with Gary a few times. He is a cool guy who is simply going
through a hard time with his girlfriend and the choices she has been
making around their kids and he was really struggling. But it was
great to see his humility and willingness to come closer to God and
how that helped him just in the couple of days we got to meet with
him. Unfortunately, it's transfer week and we are both leaving the
area so we won't be able to see how he continues progressing. But he
has some good friends in the church so hopefully they will be able to
help him make the transition. This week we were also able to have
Kerri's baptism! It was so sweet. It has been a blast to be able to
teach her and help her understand the gospel more and how it can help
her in her life. She is one cool lady, and her daughters are awesome.
Addie is 7 and has too much energy! She is always bouncing off the
walls and jumping as high as she can and everything, it is really
funny.
There have been so many great people I have met here in Gilbert and it
is sad having to leave people behind. But there are always new
challenges and new joys and blessings when there is a change. I hope
everyone is doing well back there! Love you all and God bless!
Elder Hiatt

Crazy in a Good Way!

Sorry it has been a couple weeks! Things have been a little crazy here
in Gilbert recently. But crazy in a good way, I guess. We have been
working with a lady named Kerri who has been progressing really well!
She quit smoking a couple weeks ago and is looking super solid for
baptism this week! She is a perfect example of someone who has simply
found more joy from accepting the gospel in her life. We also had the
chance to see a lady's re-baptism, and that was super cool. She bore
her testimony on Sunday about how much God loves each one of us, and
how important the Holy Spirit is to help us get through life and feel
Heavenly Father's love for us. She has a really powerful testimony and
it was awesome.
Our wards got realigned this weekend, so we got a new bishop in one of
them and the other one got realigned into the other ward. It's going
to be super cool to see how things go with the new areas, new families
working together, and new families we are able to serve and serve
with. Things are going great in Arizona! Hopefully summer is almost
over! Maybe in a couple months. Love you all. Take care and God bless,
Elder Hiatt