Week 52 - High centered in the middle of nowhere....

Hello! This week was amazing. Sister Gomez and I are exhausted but it was amazing. We have really been working hard to get the ward members involved here. It takes a lot of effort to get people to venture out of their comfort zones but it is so worth it. We ended up having awesome lessons with the Edgerly family, Ramona, Amie, Linda, Kayla and more! The entire atmosphere changes when the investigator feels the love and support from friends in the ward. This is why we have congregations. To love and support one another! The Lord knows we cannot do it on our own so he supplies a way for us to serve and uplift our brothers and sisters. We had a couple of crazy things happen this week as well. 

Sister gomez and I were making our way to a members home. They live out in the middle of nowhere and I'm not so good with directions when the roads aren't even ON THE MAP ok! So we start driving down this one road and the grass keeps getting higher and higher and Im pretty sure we are going the right way then all of a sudden it went bad really fast. Sister Gomez and I gave each other the oh no we need to turn around look but it was too late. The dirt got so high we HIGH CENTERED the car out in the middle of nowhere at 2 pm on a Sunday. Our little chevy cruz couldn't handle the rugged terrain of Stanfield Oregon. It was so funny and I am so grateful for kind members who were willing to tow dumb sisters out of the dirt. 

I know that the Lord answers prayers. He loves to communicate with us and all we need to do is put our full trust in Him. It is WAY harder when we attempt to do it alone :) I love you all and I am so grateful for each of you! I hope you have a great week!

Love, 
Sister Madeline Whetten 

Week 51 - Temples and Pitbulls

Hello! Wow it has been crazy here the past weeks. Transfers are this week and Sister Gomez and I are staying together!!! We are so happy. I really didn't feel like either of us were ready to leave yet and I guess the Lord thought the same. It just means that there is more to learn and more people to love here in Hermiston. This week was so spiritual and uplifting and emotional. It was also crazy cause we almost got attacked by a giant pitbull. But more on that in a minute. 

Temples played a big part in our week. Sister Gomez and I were impressed to study about the temple and we were so glad that we did. The week started off with an amazing lesson with Linda about temples. You could see the peace enter her heart as we talked to her about eternal families. She lost her husband about 10 years back and she was overcome with joy when we told her she could be with her family forever. The next day we were able to talk to our friend Jacky who has been working on returning to church. We talked to her about family history and it tied in perfectly to what we had been talking about the day before. The NEXT day we went to a members house for dinner and the topic of returning to the temple came up again. The spirit testified to me over and over again about the importance of the temple. A day later we talked to another member, Joy. She has ALS but we love going over to visit with her an feel of the spirit. She told us the one thing that she wished she could do was go to the temple. I know that the temple is the house of the Lord. Temples are a gift from our father in Heaven and we can go there to truly be close to Him. 

On another note...weve got a funny story. So sister Gomez and I were going to try by a potential investigator named Chris. Chris has a super scary super big pitbull that he keeps chained up in front of their yard. We pull up to the yard and there he is. Just waiting for us. We get out and slowly start walking around to the side of the house. The dog starts growling ferociously and pawing at the ground. We suck it up and knock at the door. The guy says hes busy and immediately the dog starts freaking out. It sounds like the chain breaks and Sister Gomez runs to the car and im just stuck there...frozen with fear. She calls my name and we run to the car looking ridiculous, hopping over these rocks in our skirts with our giant purses. We got the heck out of there and after freaking out for a minute we were laughing. It made for funny stories at dinner this week. 

Sorry if my writing is all over the place this week... There is so much to say and so little time! I love you all and I hope you have a great week. 

Love, 

Sister Madeline Whetten

Week 50 - Baking Bread and Big Dogs

Hello! Another amazing week in Herm-town/Stanfield/Echo Oregon. We started it off with zone conference which was so fun because I got to see Sister Quiroz and Sister Mcomber! I love them and it was so great to see them again. We learned a lot about being ourselves and following the spirit. It is so important to be real with the people you get to meet and to love them as our Heavenly Father loves them. 

This week we had the chance to meet a wonderful family in the ward, The Patricks. Sister Patrick has been battling ALS amongst other things. She is such an amazing woman and she is trying so hard to keep her family involved with the church and have the spirit in her home. Her daughter has GIANT GREAT DANE MASTIFFS and one just came up to us and sat on the couch next to us. It was the funniest thing I've ever seen. Just sat there! Like a giant human. We were dying. 

We also did service this week pulling up a lawn at a member's house. For three hours we dug in the rain along side these little kids with little shovels. It was a blast.

We finally got to see Linda again after not being able to see her for a week. (weeks are like years out here when you don't see someone you're teaching) Her daughter was in town and unfortunately she is not a big fan of the church. Is that stopping Linda? NOPE. She knows its true because she says "I cant deny the happiness and spirit burning in my chest." We were able to meet with her on Saturday and bake some bread at a returning less active members house. Her name is Sister Miller and we adore her. She takes care of us and absolutely loves coming to share her testimony with Linda. It is amazing to see how the Lord works with each of his children to help them to be happy and serve one another. Sister Gomez and I got to bake bread with four 70 year old women on a Saturday night while we talked about the gospel. It was the funnest party I've ever been too haha.

It was a great week and we are so excited for what this week has in store. I know that our Savior lives and loves us perfectly. This is His work and He is so proud of us all for helping out. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love, 
Sister Madeline Whetten 

Week 49 - Tornado Warnings .... and Mother's Day!

Hello! 

I wanted to start of by saying happy mothers day to all of the wonderful mothers and mother figures. Especially my mom :) It was such a blessing to be able to skype with the family yesterday. My testimony of eternal families continues to grow and it is amazing to be able to share it with our brothers and sisters.

This week was crazy. There was an insane storm/tornado that whipped through here on Wednesday night. We aren't very technologically advanced as missionaries so we didn't receive the tornado warning alert and we kept on pushing through this crazy weather. We were completely soaked and getting blown off our feet. It was scary and funny and sure made for some fun interactions with people. Trying to scream "WE ARE THE SISTER MISSIONARIES" over the thunder and wind was impossible but we had a good time trying. 

The next day we had service and worked on picking up all of the debris that had been scattered around Hermiston. The storm really shook everyone up but it was good that we were able to help out. 

Despite the weather we were able to find some amazing people to teach this week. We are so excited to continue to meet with them and help them progress. Linda is still amazing and we are going to help her bake some bread on Saturday with all of our new found elderly friends. 

It was a great week and we are still so happy to be here. Each day brings new blessings and adventures. I hope you all have a great week! 

Love, 

Sister Madeline Whetten

Week 48 - Coming out of hibernation...

Hello!  Sister Gomez and I have been busy talking to a ton of people now that the weather is getting so nice. Everyone is coming out of hibernation and it has been great to meet some more of our brothers and sisters. It is so fun having Sister Gomez. I really admire her and we have so much fun working together. She puts up with my horrible jokes and
 even though she sometimes pretends like she is shooting me I know it is a sign of her love. I am grateful for her constant example of hard work and charity. Also for her humor. We are always laughing and cracking jokes and it makes for happy working days.

We are SO excited about our friend Linda who is preparing to be baptized. She is the happiest most genuine woman. She is always knitting when we go and visit her and her house is stocked with old hard candies and glamor shots of her from the 80's. She calls us "the girls" and gives us huge hugs. Her life has been full of so many ups and downs but she knows the Lord has been preparing her for this time. She is so excited to make a promise with our Heavenly Father and we are blessed to get the chance to love and serve her. 

Sister Gomez and I have found a new horrible love. Drive through cheeseburgers. I know I know it sounds crazy. But when you are running around working all day IT IS SO GOOD. We've gotta stop though cause pretty soon we are going to be rolling out of Hermiston. It is pretty funny though to see all these sisters running to the drive through. We have put an end to it though in fear of a pre-mature heart attack. 

I thank my Heavenly Father each and every day for this wonderful opportunity. It fills me with so much joy to testify of His Son and of his loving, miraculous, perfect plan for all of us. I am grateful for every experience He has given me and I know that it helps me better serve and love those around me. Thank you for all of your love and support! Have a great week! 

Love, 
Sister Madeline Whetten