Week 13 - Bowling, Banana bread, and Baptisms

Hello! 

another crazy week here in lovely richland. We have had some wild wind storms that have actually made it cooler! Yes! It got rid of the nasty smoke from the fires though, so we don't smell like chimneys anymore. Walking home for an hour when it is dark and cold had sure been interesting though...lots of adventures with flashlights. :) 

We were able to go bowling for a P-Day activity last monday! It was so much fun to spend some time showing off our horrible bowling skills and laughing (of course).  One of the sisters who lives in our apartment bakes when she gets stressed out so this week we were blessed with the most BEAUTIFUL BANANA BREAD I HAVE EVER SEEN. She's great and we are glad she can relieve her stress in such a tasty way. 

WE HAD A WEEK FULL OF MIRACLES! 

it is incredible to see how the Lord uses his missionaries to do his work. It is so important to study, plan, and pray everyday so he can guide us to those who are ready to listen! We were able to meet some amazing people this week who are willing to take time out of their day and have us come back to teach. We were out on thursday night trying potential investigators that we had found in the area book. We planned to go see this man named Robert but when we knocked on the door we found out he didn't live there anymore. A woman answered the door instead and we ended up talking to her for a while. She explained how she had met with missionaries before but they had moved and lost touch with them. She was so excited that we found her and invited us to come back. It was the most amazing thing!! By following the spirit and planning we were able to find someone who is ready to follow Jesus Christ. I LOVE IT OUT HERE ...AH!

We also met tons of new people to teach and we are so excited to get to know them and serve their families in every way that we can.

We had so many people at church this week! We have had a hard time lately getting people there on Sunday morning so when most of the families walked in Sister Williams and I almost started crying we were so happy! Needless to say, it was a wonderful week as usual. Alma 29:9-10 How great is my joy! 

I love you all and hope you have the best week!!

Love, 

Sister Madeline Whetten 

ps. please excuse my baggy pants... :)

 

Week 12 - We had a baptism on Saturday!

Hello everyone! IT WAS A CRAZY WEEK. WOW. There is so much to say and so little time. AH ...First off, we are safe from the fires here in Richland, but our prayers are going out to all that are affected. Besides horrible air quality we are doing alright and praying for rain here in Washington. We started this week off with Zone conference which was awesome. We got to see people we hadn't seen in a while and learn all about how to become better disciples of Christ. A big focus was charity and it was so great to learn more about how we can have that change of heart! Moroni 7:45-48

WE HAD A BAPTISM ON SATURDAY! Our investigator Makiya got baptized! She is such a strong little girl and we love her dearly. She has taught us so much about being kind and pushing through hard things. I am so grateful for the opportunity we have had to teach her and I know that meeting her was just another wonderful blessing from serving here! 

About those tamales from last week...I ate them all and they were delicious and Im pretty sure i gained 10 pounds but it was WORTH IT

OH MY GOODNESS REBECCA COMMITTED TO BE BAPTIZED!!! she has been meeting with missionaries on and off for 17 years!!! We had a great lesson with her on wednesday where we read Mosiah 18 and just talked about what it meant. The spirit was so strong and we knew she could feel it too. She finished reading verse 10 and she looked up at us and goes "ladies I know I need to be baptized" oh man. It was so incredible. we love her so much and are so excited that she has chosen to come closer to her Savior by being baptized. This gospel is true and the work is grrrrreat!! 

Living with the other sisters is a blast. We love each other so much and can just crack each other up.  It is the BEST. You know me I love to laugh super loud so we are probably upsetting the neighbors. oohhh well. Having fun and working hard.

I love you all and hope you have the best week! 

Love, 

Sister Madeline Whetten

Week 11 - Four friends and a dozen tamales!

HELLO EVERYONE! 

it has been a crazy couple of days. Sister Williams and I got moved out of our apartment on Thursday and Friday during a giant windstorm! It was nuts. If you can picture four girls in skirts trying to move beds and dressers in flying dirt then you pretty much have it! Skirts and wind is definitely not a good combo and I probably Marilyn Monroe'd quite a few people... oops. But good news! We got moved in with our best friends out here, Sister Purcell and Sister Mcomber!! It. is. so. fun. We get along so well which is good because our apartment is a shoe box. We love it though! It's great how we can still work hard and have a blast. It is the best combination.

Our investigators are still progressing and I love them dearly. Rebecca is doing great! We just have to get her to church.. haha. That always seems to be the hardest part. Things always go wrong on Sunday mornings for some reason. But it's alright! She will get there and it will obviously be amazing, it may just take some time. BUT she found out my passion for mexican food and made me TAMALES. LIKE A DOZEN OF THEM. THEY ARE SO GOOD. I'll have to run extra at the track this week ;)

I've been reading in Mosiah lately and I am constantly amazed by the love and kindness of our Savior. It says over and over how his arm is always outstretched. All we have to do is take his hand and allow him to lead and guide us. Teaching and learning this is so wonderful! I love you all dearly and hope you have the best week! The tamales and I wish you the best.

Love, 

Sister Madeline Whetten

Sister Mcomber, Williams, and Purcell in our now shared apartment

Movvvviiiinnggg

Week 10 - Honey Bees and Lots of Faith

                                          



Hello everyone!!! 

It was a great week! Sorry the email is coming on a weird day, we had our temple trip this morning and our P-Day got switched so here we are! Oh man there were so many things that I learned this week about faith and everything else there is to know about  I also haven't had any more bad experiences with cats so that has been nice. Our ward mission leader has a blind cat that likes to rub up against my leg though. I don't have the heart to make it go away! It does a Stevie Wonder head nod thing that is so funny so I just live with the hives. I may become a cat lady after all. Ha! Just kidding. That's never happening.

Let's start with faith! Oh man. I read the best talk by Gene R Cook called Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He gives six specific suggestions that may be of assistance in exercising your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ

1. Be believing 2. commit yourself in word and in deed 3. do your part 4. pray 5. expect trails of your faith 6. expect the Lord to act. He WILL take care of you!

OH MY GOODNESS ISN'T THAT SO GREAT!!??

It was a great week with that talk in the back of my mind! (Even when we started getting up at 545 to run a little longer because people feed us so much ice cream and lasagna it all so good) There were so many wonderful people we were able to meet and talk with. It's awesome how ready people are to feel of Heavenly Father's love for them!

We have the best investigators oh my goodness. I have become so close to them and look forward to every step of progression that they make. We have one investigator named Molly who is the best. Her backyard neighbor is a man who is in our ward named Wendell. He has an amazing garden with tons of boxes of bees that he takes care of. (I know great. bees. I am so scared of bees) Anyway, it was Wendell's birthday and she wanted us to help her paint a picture of his garden and his bees. I am a terrible artist and luckily Molly and Sister Williams have been blessed with great artistic talent. I attached a picture and the deformed bees are definitely mine. Molly is incredible and we love talking with her about her faith in Jesus Christ and serving her in every way that we can.

Our temple trip was obviously incredible so I am sending a picture of the four amigos in front of the lovely Columbia River temple

I love you all dearly and hope you are having the best week! Don't forget to BEE HAPPY (ha. bee pun) 

Love you!

Sister Madeline Whetten 

Week 9 - Chickens and the Gospel

August 3, 2015

Hello everyone!!! 

This week was great. It was so awesome to get back into the swing of things and actually know what was going on! I missed our investigators so much and I couldn't wait to find more people to teach. Unfortunately this week was super hot again and people tend to go inside their lovely air conditioned homes when it is over 100 degrees. Its alright though! my foot tan is just getting better and I'm only loving the work more and more. 

Sister Williams and I were able to attend an amazing training this week on the Doctrine of Christ and how we can apply it to literally every part of our lives. My mind was blown. The spirit was teaching at like a million miles an hour and my desire to live as a disciple of Christ has only become greater. We learned all about how the Doctrine of Christ is a process, not an event. It is given to us so that we might know how to have his light and make it grow. It is not only learned but applied and lived. Isn't that the most INCREDIBLE THING? AH I love it. I hope you all can strive to strengthen that relationship with your Savior and do all you can to "Follow the son with full purpose of heart". The blessings will UNFOLD! I can truly testify of that!

We were able to teach a couple of really great lessons this week and are seeing miraculous progress. I know there are people here that I was meant to meet and I love feeling the Lord's love for those I serve. 

One memorable event was at the house of one of the recent converts in our ward Cassandra. She is the best and we love her and her family so much. We have been able to teach her children and we are hoping they will be able to be baptized soon! Anyway, Cassandra decided to get chickens for her children. It is so FUNNY! the chickens are like part of the family and they just pick them up and hang out with them! naturally the kids made me hold their stinky chicken and we were able to take  a ton of hilarious pictures. 

This week was wonderful! Sister Williams and I are so appreciative of all your support and prayers! We sure keep you in ours. I love you all and hope you have the best week!

love,

Sister Madeline Whetten

Here is a picture of me and the lovely chicken (pepper). We got very close. :)

Week 8 - A little under the weather

July 27, 2015


HELLOOO EVERYONE 

Oh man has it been a week. I don't have a ton to write due to some pretty heavy duty antibiotics that had to be taken which took me down pretty hard. Poor Sister Williams has been stuck inside with me which apparently has been pretty entertaining. I don't remember most of it but I'm sure Sister Williams would be happy to tell stories some day. 

We were, however, able to see a family that Sister Williams helped convert a year ago! They are now planning to go through the temple and be sealed and they are SO incredible. I love seeing how the gospel brings such happiness and hope to families. My testimony of that has grown so much out here and I am extremely grateful. 

Transfers are this week! Luckily Sister Williams and I get to stay together! YES! It has been such a joy to work with her and I know this transfer is going to be full of MIRACLES AND BLESSINGS! 

I love you all so much and hope your week was GREAT! 

Ether 12:27 :)

love, Sister Madeline Whetten