Dear Family and Friends,

Hello! It has been a while since I last talked to many of you; an update has been long due. I wanted to share what God has been doing in my life as well telling you about another opportunity God has given me this Spring Break.

If any of you have been keeping up with my blog you should have noticed I haven't updated or posted anything since December. I want to apologize for this. This semester has really been crazy. I have had to use more time management skills and self-control(doing homework on Friday nights) than I have ever had to use. This has unfortunately resulted in me neglecting somethings. It is extremely easy to get caught up in the busyness and forget to spend time with God. It is important be connected to the vine. Without nutrition we can't expect to grow, bear fruit, or survive in general. I have learned this lesson several ways, usually seeing what happens when I don't spend time with God, but this time I have seen what can happen when I live relying on Him. It is really cool to see God working in my heart and the hearts of the people I am praying for. That is just some free wisdom(if you want to know more I charge 500$ an hour haha) .

As many of you know, I went to Utah this summer, and I had an awesome time. This Spring break I am heading to Utah with a LeTourneau mission team again, and yet again we will be ministering to the Mormon people. Just a quick fact if you are wondering why Utah, Utah is somewhere around 86% Mormon, and the area we are going to is about 96% Mormon. I need to let you know that the nature of this trip requires tons of prayer. The Devil evidently does not like it when we try to interject truth into people's lives. Because of this, there seems to be a lot of spiritual oppression on this trip. I know to some of you that may sound weird, but there is no other way to explain it. There is a real battle being fought. We need prayer for several things.
1. that we would be able to pray.
2. that God will break our heart's for the people we are ministering to.
3. that God will protect us against attacks from the enemy.
4. Pray about the trip up there and back.
5. that God will open hearts and set up people who are ready to hear his truth.
6. Pray for the ministry there.
7. Pray for the Christians there, that they will be encouraged by us just being there.
8. that God will bless us with an understanding of who the Mormons are.
9. that our team will get along with each other.
10. (fill in the blank with what God puts on your heart)

In His Love
Tyler Whitney

Dead Turtle

One day a man came home from work to find his house in turmoil. His daughter's pet turtle had died that day, and her mom had been trying to comfort her to no avail. Now it was dad's turn. After trying the usual bag of tricks to cheer her up he finally came up with an idea. He told her that he would go to the store and buy cake and ice cream and they would have a party for the turtle's funereal . She would be able to invite all of her friends over and turn a time of mourning into a time of fun and happiness. As he was telling her all of this, her face began to change. Her mind was filled with the ideas and excitement of the party to come. The idea of the party had consumed her and left no residue of sadness. So they both walked back to her room to collect the body of the turtle. As they were walking up to the cage the Dad notice something. The turtle began to move. The turtle wasn't dead after all. The little girl stared at the turtle for a moment, and then looked up at her dad and said "let's kill it".

This story describes what we do with our convictions when we let our wants turn into infatuations. We kill the voice of God in the name of pleasure. Take tip from David in the 23rd Psalm and be satisfied.

Story courtesy of: Dr. Lee
More reading: "A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23" by Phillip Keller

Sin, it's ugly

This post is in regards to the recent events that have occurred concerning my church back home.

They start out small, yes those big green lizards we call alligators. In fact they start out small and cute. They are small enough and cute enough that some people, believe it or not, will try to keep them for pets. What harm will that do right? As it turns out, this cute little guy with the help of time and food can grow into a full size alligator. This is bad for two reasons. One, a full size alligator is much much harder to control than a baby alligator. Two, a full size alligator is much harder to hide from the people from whom you must hide it from.

This presents a problem.

But, not to worry, there are a couple of solutions. The first is very simple, but maybe not obvious, that is to not get a baby alligator in the first place. As cute and small as that little guy is you are better off leaving him be. But, if you already have a pet alligator the next best thing to do would be to starve it(metaphorically speaking only, I love animals and I would never actually starve an animal to death) . As hard as it is to watch this thing die, it is something that needs to be done. No food means no growing and eventually death to it. If you don't have it in you to starve it, the next best thing to do would be to tell someone about it. They would be able to help you take care of the situation.

Sin, no matter how pleasurable or inviting it is cannot be allowed to grow. It is like an inviting poison. It tastes good, but as you are drinking it, it numbs you. This numbness is to cover the pain it is causing. This freedom to choose to drink the poison will soon turn into chains. Maybe even physical chains. Most sin is not likely to lead to that point, but it takes away your freedom. When God saves us, we are free to do the only thing we really desire to do, and that is to be with Him. But, when we turn to sin we will be enslaved. God will discipline us if necessary, but most of the time that discipline works out in the consequences.

My prayer is that chains will be broken, blindness will be healed, and that the lame will learn to walk, even run.

John 5:1-15 ya read it

When Jesus asks the lame man if he wants to walk, the man begins go into excuses that are from his perspective. Please don't be like this man. Jesus is asking us if we want to walk. We should have faith that he can do that and say "Yes, Lord, I want to walk more than anything."

I hope that made sense and I hope all of that comes across like I wanted to.



With Love

Road Trip

Hello family and friends,
I know it has been a long time since I last posted a blog. I have been so busy lately, it's crazy.
I want to share with you a link to my friends blog who wrote about our road trip back to school.

http://gmarthe3rd.blogspot.com
or you can click on the "Beef Supreme" link on the left

He does a good job at describing our trip back, so I figure I could just link to his site.

I am doing well, but I am really busy. My classes are a little bit harder this semester. I am really having to study to understand the homework and not just do the homework. I like it though. I like being challenged. I just got over a three week cold last week. I think it lasted so long because of the lack of sleep. But, God has been good to me, and has been giving me restful sleep lately. I am hoping to go back home soon to visit. I wanted to come back before school but, as you will read, my trip back home took a little detour.

Thank you for your support
In Christ's love

"From the Inside Out"

"From the Inside Out"
by Hillsong United

A thousand times I've failed,
Still Your mercy remains.
And should I stumble again,
I'm caught in Your grace.

Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame

Your will above all else
My purpose remains
The art of losing myself
In bringing You praise

Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame

In my heart and my soul
Lord I give You control
Consume me from the inside out
Lord let justice and praise
Become my embrace
To love you from the inside out

!!Everlasting!!
!!Your light will shine when all else fades!!
!!Never ending!!
!!Your glory goes beyond all fame!!
!!And the cry of my heart!!
!!Is to bring You praise!!
!!From the inside out!!
!!Lord my soul cries out !!

Dear Family and Friends,

Yes, I am still alive. I have been pretty busy lately with working at McDonalds. But I really needed to give y'all an update, so I took the time to sit down and write this. My job at McDonalds is going well. I like the people I work with a lot.

If any of you haven't seen the movie The Kite Runner, you should. It is the greatest picture of servanthood I have ever seen. While it's based in an Islamic conitation it definately has a certain similarity of Christ's sevanthood. Watch it.

Dear Family and Friends (and maybe people I don't know),
Yes, it is true. I am a McEmployee. Working at McDonald's is not so bad. I thought it would be a good experience. I am a person that has to be completely sure of how to do something before I will do it. I guess I scared of failure. I think God is using this job to push me out of my comfort zone. The first day was a bit different. The person I was assigned to learn from didn't really teach me that much. So it was mostly me guessing and then someone telling me I was wrong. This is not really how I am used to learning. I usually learn by reading about something and then doing it. I'm not really a trial and error type of person, but I guess sometimes you have to learn to adapt.
Also I think God is trying to humble me. Everybody I work with has more knowledge about the workings of a McDonald's than I do. I doesn't matter much how clever you are, if you don't know it, then you don't know it. So, I am learning that I need to be humble. Just because I have taken Calculus 3 and can do 3D Calculus and parametric equations, it doesn't mean I know something as simple as how to fry up some more frech fries. It is dumb for me to think that I am "smarter" than anybody. It's almost ridiculous to think I had that thought.

I just want to throw some prayer requests out there.

The ministry here-
There have been some really cool opportunities to talk with people lately
Direction in my life-
I'm still not sure what direction I am heading career wise and life wise
The church here-
The Manti Pageant time drains the Ex-Mormons in the church.