Week 39 - Herm-town Oregon (aka I got transferred to Hermiston)

Hello! Boy it has been the most insane week. Transfer calls came last Monday and I am now serving in Hermiston, Oregon with Hermana Quiroz (ANOTHER Spanish speaking sister. I think Heavenly Father is trying to tell me something.) I will miss Walla Walla! It was such a wonderful place to be and full of amazing people. It won't be long until I am back there visiting I'm sure. My new comp is the best. She is from Alan,Texas but grew up in Mexico city so she finds it hilarious that I know all the Chilanga slang. 

Hermiston is a little town just across the boarder of Washington on the way to Portland. Part of our area includes Echo, Oregon and Stanfield, Oregon. Echo is actually part of the Oregon trail so they built a little dinky town in the middle of nowhere. I love it! Fun Fact: Hermiston is known for their watermelons, so I'll have to let you all know how they are. Being doubled in to an elder area is always fun. Especially when they haven't had sisters in a while. Our dinner calendar got filled up in two seconds! 

As soon as we got here miracles started happening. We pull up and one of the zone leaders comes up and asks me if I remembered a girl we taught in Pasco named Kelsey. Inside I was freaking out because OF COURSE I remember Kelsey! She was the sweetest lady and as soon as we met her we knew that she would accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, she was having marital problems at that time and her husband was not allowing her to meet with us anymore. It was heartbreaking but we knew that she was safe in the Lord's hands. Fast forward to now: three months later she is getting baptized in Hermiston Oregon and she asks me to give a talk at her baptism on Saturday. Talk about an emotional reunion. The baptism was incredible and I am so grateful the Lord allowed me to be a part of her life. She is so full of light and I know she will be such a blessing to her family and all those around her. I'll have to admit I did get a bit emotional during the talk but so did she so I don't feel so bad. It is incredible how PERFECT the Lord's timing is and how He cares enough to transfer me all the way to Oregon to get to witness Kelsey making such a sacred promise with her Heavenly Father. 

Hermana Quiroz and I are so excited to be here and are ready for all of the adventures the Lord has in store for us! I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love, 
Sister Madeline Whetten 

Kelsey's Baptism

Hermana Quiroz and Me

Week 38 - Walla Influenza

Hello! 

Apparently, my emails from last week didn't send so that's a bummer! Oh well! If you missed it, the Hawkins family got baptized last week and were able to be confirmed this Sunday at church. They are incredible and I am so grateful for the opportunity Heavenly Father has given me to meet them. They have blessed my life in so many ways just like they bless the lives of countless others. I know that our Heavenly Father has a wonderful plan for them, just as he does for all of His children. 

We are so excited for our investigator Candace! She is preparing to be baptized on March 12 and we are just amazed at how fast her testimony has grown! After she read and prayed with real intent, she was able to receive a witness of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. It has been wonderful to see her light grow. Being a servant of the Lord is the most rewarding work. AND IT MAKES YOU HAPPY. We love Candace and we are so excited for her! keep her in your prayers! 

EVERYONE in Walla Walla has the flu. Like everyone. And my comp is afraid of getting sick (bad news for her I get sick every transfer) so we've had to hi-tail it out of quite a few funny situations. All in all it was a wonderful week as usual (except for the looming transfer calls that are supposed to come late tonight). 

I hope you all had a great week! Love you! 

Love, 

Sister Madeline Whetten 

Bishop and Sister Grandstaff

Week 37 - Valentine's Day and a Baptism

Hello! 

This week was just short of the best week ever and lucky you get to hear all about it! first off...Happy Valentines day! We celebrated by eating lots of chocolate and I wore some pink socks. BUT most importantly our investigators Jeaniene and Candace came to church. It was a special North Western broadcast and it was exactly what everyone needed to hear. One of the talks focused on how Christ is always telling us to "Fear not" and "Be not afraid". It brought so much comfort to hear those words again and understand that as we stick with Christ we have no need to fear. I think everyone in that congregation felt that burden of fear lifted from their shoulders as we took comfort in the words of the Savior. 


THE HAWKINS FAMILY GOT BAPTIZED THIS WEEK!!!!!
It was the most incredible experience to watch this wonderful family make this sacred promise to our Heavenly Father. They were just beaming as they stepped into the water. You can tell they know without a doubt that Jesus Christ is their Savior and that they are willing to take His name upon them. I am eternally grateful to have been there to witness this family come unto Christ and to feel the love that our Father in Heaven has for them and all of His children.

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!!

Love,
Sister Madeline Whetten 

Week 36 - "Big Girls Do Cry"

This week just flew by! The Lord is just raining miracles here in the Walla Walla valley. (literally it has been raining like every day) I was able to go to Pendleton again for an exchange with one of the sisters there. Being the comp of an STL has its perks..you get to go to a bunch of different places every week. Pendleton has hills like San Fran and when you leave your license and have to walk them all day in the pouring rain, you learn a lot about following the spirit and enjoying anything that comes your way. 

They say things happen in threes so when we left that apartment that morning with the dishwasher exploding bubbles all over the floor, me twisting my ankle (again) and my umbrella closing over my face while trying to talk to a lady on her door step, we knew something important had to be done that day. AND IT WAS! You really have to find the humor in every situation and live the Doctrine of Christ every day so we can be happy and move forward.

We had an especially good fast and testimony meeting yesterday at church. One of the older men in our ward had his primary class get up and bare their testimonies. The spirit was so strong as each of these children bore an individualized, simple, powerful testimony. You could see how much the gospel of Jesus Christ meant to them and how much they loved their families. Then the father of the family getting baptized got up and bore his first testimony in front of the congregation. His face just glowed as he testified of Christ and the truthfulness of His Gospel. His baptism is this Saturday and he already shines with the light of the Savior. His 7 year old son got up after him and also bore His pure and sweet testimony. I'm tellin' ya there was not a dry eye in that congregation. Talk about a tear jerker! It was amazing and we cannot wait for Saturday when Darren, Ben, and Whitley make a promise with our Heavenly Father when they are baptized.  

I love you all and hope you have a great week! 

Love, 

Sister Madeline Whetten

Exchanges with Sister Prescott

Companion Planning

I got the sweetest email from Sister Purcell

Week 35 - A Wonderful Walla Walla Birthday!

Hello! Oh it has been the BEST week. 

The sun actually came out for the first time in weeks and it was so nice to actually talk to people outside. Birthdays on the mission are really great. (Besides the whole not getting to talk to your family part of course) The members were so sweet and they totally took care of me. We had the opportunity to travel to the furthest corner of our mission on Saturday to go to the baptism of one of Sister Safsten's investigators. I am so glad she got to go see him make that important step! On the way home the members that gave us a ride took us to red robin for my birthday. It was SO nice of them to do that. They also told everyone and made them sing to me which was pretty funny and embarrassing. But nothing is really embarrassing out here anymore. Later that night we had a lesson with the Hawkins family. They are incredible and just keep getting more and more excited for their baptism on February 13. We meet with them almost every day and they just glow. You can tell as they have taken these steps to grow closer to our Savior Jesus Christ that their countenances have changed. All they talk about is how excited they are to be sealed together as an eternal family next year. It has been a JOY to work with them so I had to send a picture of our joy. Heavenly Father has been blessing us with so many different people to teach. I feel like we always need to be in 5 places at once. But as I keep learning and RE learning how to completely trust in the Lord's timing I am overwhelmed with gratitude for his love and guidance. 

I hope you all had THE BEST week. Love you! 

Love, 

Sister Madeline Whetten

Enjoy the sunshine!

The Hawkins Family

Zone Conference