Week 24 - Let's harvest this field from sunrise to sunset!

Hola from El Pasco!

It has been such an exciting week up here in WARSHINGTON! (they actually say that it's ridiculous) I swear the weeks just go by faster and faster. The work here in Pasco continues to progress! They call Pasco the promised land for a reason. Besides the GIANT delicious apples that everyone keeps giving us (they are amazing I never want to eat regular apples again) (how do you like dem apples?!) (hahaha) we were able to find eight new investigators this week! 8!!!! The Lord is keeping Sister Camplese and I very busy as he trusts us to further his work. We had some pretty incredible experiences that I will try my best to summarize for you all.

We have this investigator named Debbie. She was raised southern Baptist but has not been active in a church for 40 years. Her daughter and granddaughter were baptized a few years ago and she became fascinated with the church. She is so sweet and loves to take care of missionaries. She invited us over to dinner Saturday night and she made us THANKSGIVING! Oh man. Like a full turkey and everything. It was pretty much amazing. We had such a powerful conversation with her and her husband Monty. Debbie had so many questions that were so perfect for teaching her about the gospel of Jesus Christ. She is so kind and has such a light about her.

We were also able to meet with our investigator Kelsey. She had had some concerns about not fitting in to the church earlier this week and it had stopped her from meeting with her again. On Thursday night we were prompted to just go over to her house unannounced and talk to her. She came out and we were able to talk with her about some concerns she had about mistakes she had made and comfort her with the knowledge of the atonement and acceptance. She thought that everyone who was LDS was perfect....UH NOPE. definitely not! Once we explained that to her you could see the spirit calming her down and reassuring her of the truth and healing of Christ's Atonement. We have such high hopes for her and her family and we know that Heavenly Father truly does know each of his children individually and loves them dearly. He leads and guides us everyday to those who he needs us to serve.

I love you all so much! I love the Gospel and I love it here! have the most wonderful week and keep all of these wonderful people in your prayers!             2 Nephi 31: 20

 

Love, 

Sister Madeline Whetten

Sunrise over the Columbia River

Sunset over the Columbia River

Sister Camplese and I with are car "Tiffany"

Week 23 - These boots are made for walking .... in Pasco

Hey! how is it going? What a wonderful crazy week it has been! Sister Camplese and I have been so lucky to see such great things happening here in Pasco.

The work has been a bit slow in this ward for the past couple of years so it is taking a little time to get the ball rolling. We are trusting in the Lords perfect timing as we go out each day to serve to the best of our abilities.

It is getting pretty cold here and we look helpless standing on peoples porches in the freezing rain. Luckily, the holiday season is upon us and people are relatively compassionate to two shivering sister missionaries.

We have been able to meet with a recently baptized family in our ward. They are incredible and we have loved getting to know them. The husband was able to bless the sacrament this week and it was truly wonderful to see him progress and to watch their family grow together. It gives us hope to see how much the Gospel truly does bless families.

I am totally out of time today, so sorry... BUT here is a wonderful scripture I came across this morning:

 

2 Nephi 8:12

"I am he; yea I am he that comforteth you."

Trust in the Lord and lean on him for comfort for he truly knows and loves you.

Have the most amazing week! love you all!

Love, 

Sister Madeline Whetten

Week 22 - Chronicles of Pasco

Hello Family!

It's like this week didn't even happen, I swear. Time flies when you are doing something every second of the day! Sister Camplese and I had a great week as we explored some more of our area and were able to do a lot of service for people that we met! Also, we saw a house with a giant Aslan statue and a lamp post so basically Pasco=Narnia.

There was one family in particular who we have been teaching. We helped them move on Halloween in skirts during a rain/wind storm out of their apartment! (you can laugh it was funny to watch) They lived above the other sisters in our apartment complex for a while so they were familiar with us and what we do. We were able to teach them for about a week but unfortunately they moved out of our ward but not before we were able to have and amazing lesson with Jacob and Kelsey who are 12 and 16. The spirit was so powerful as we testified of Joseph Smith and Christ's love for them. They committed to be baptized and we know they are in good hands with the elders in their new ward.

Halloween as a missionary isn't so hot, but Sister Camplese and I celebrated by stuffing our faces with enchiladas at a Mexican food restaurant in our coordinating Halloween color outfits. :D

There are so many miracles that our Father in Heaven blesses us with every day. We just have to remember to look for them. As we ponder the blessings we receive we are filled with gratitude for the love and kindness that he freely gives us! When we realize this, our desire to serve those around us just GROWS.

Yesterday we were able to bear our testimonies to our new ward in fast and testimony meeting. The love that we already have for the members of this ward is incredible and they are willing to get the work moving in their area.

Another neat experience we had this week was at the home of a less active sister named Gayle. We have been visiting her and her nephew Nick who lives there with them. Last week we were able to give him a Book of Mormon and a chapter to read. When we met with him again he had read the chapter and felt so comforted by its words. Gayle has been able to participate in the discussions and you can see her light grow as she testifies of what she still knows to be true.

WELL, it was a great week for sure. Sister Camplese and I feel all of your love and support here in Pasco! Have the best week!

Love, 

Sister Madeline Whetten  

Week 21 - "Went down to the River to Pray..."

HELLO FROM PASCO!

How are you all doing? We have had the craziest week and I am so excited to tell you all about it.

Our area is so beautiful. We cover a bunch of farmland with lovely houses right next to the Colombia river. GORGEOUS! Especially, when the sun rises and sets! Oh man, it is incredible! I already love the people so much and we are excited to see the growth that will take place in the Pasco 8th ward.

My companion is Sister Camplese! She is the sweetest most loving/hilarious person and we are the tall, blonde (fake blonde) dream team! We are so excited to work together and really get the work moving here.

Sister Camplese and I were doubled in, so there wasn't a whole lot to go off of when we got here! AH! its ok. It has really taught us about patience and faith. We know that it may take some time to get things started but we have absolute confidence in the work of the Lord and the miracles it brings.

Ok, I am running out of time, but we had the best experience...

We were talking to people in our apartment complex and we saw a man moving some heavy mattresses into his apartment. We offered our help and we awkwardly carried this giant memory foam mattress up the stairs. We were able to meet him and his wife and they are interested in meeting with us! It was so incredible to see how loving and willing people are to learn!

I love serving here in Pasco and I am so grateful for all of your prayers and support!

have the best week!

Love, 

Sister Madeline Whetten

Week 20 - Viva El Pasco

Hello everyone! It was such a wonderful week and I am so excited to tell you all about it! 

We will start off with transfer calls that came Saturday night!

 BIG CHANGES. I am getting doubled out of Duportail (Sister Hansen leaves today *sniffle*) and ELDERS are coming in! I get to be doubled in to Pasco 8th ward with Sister Campleese! She seems so sweet and I am very excited! So lots of changes! The women in the ward were sad to see the sisters leave again but I know its how the Lord needs to further the work here in Richland! I am going to miss it here though. SO many people that I love and cherish are here and I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have had to be here. The love that I have for the Lord and His gospel has only increased as He has allowed me to serve some of his precious people. 

We have a new investigator! His name is Ben and he is incredible. We had the most powerful lesson with him the other day and he is on track to be baptized in the beginning of November! We are so excited for him. I love the light that is able to enter into their lives as they receive the message of Christ's restored gospel. I was reading In Ether 6 and I came across a scripture that perfectly describes what the light of Christ means to us. 

  "And thus the Lord caused stones to shine in darkness, to give light unto men, women and children, that they might not cross the great waters in darkness."

He has not left us alone to wander through life. He has given us light, His light to guide us and give us hope. 

We had the coolest experience on Saturday! We were walking home from dinner and we walked right up to a lady crossing the parking lot. She immediately asked us if we were the ones with little black tags. It turns out she had just been having an upsetting conversation with someone over the phone and had been comforted by a member of the church. He looked up our number, gave her the address to the church and left. As soon as she got up to go home we came walking up, not even realizing we had been placed in her path as an answer to prayers. 

The Lord is always there to comfort and guide us with his light. I love this gospel and I LOVE WASHINGTON. Adventure awaits in PASCO! WAHOO!

Love you all! 

Sister Madeline Whetten

Week 19 - Beastie at the baptism!

WOW! It has been quite the week!

 We had our mission tour and had the opportunity to be visited by  Elder Daniel L Johnson and his wife Leanne. It was such a tender mercy because I knew them when I was little and they are close with my parents and grandparents! Of course I was crying! It is so nice to see a familiar face even if it is a blast from the past. Elder Johnson was so inspired as he talked to us about Heavenly Father and our relationship to Him. He really opened our eyes to the importance of teaching that God is our Loving Heavenly Father, He is really there for us, He truly has a body of flesh and bone, we are His children, He knows us and He loves us perfectly. If there is anything He wants you to know above all other things- He wants you to know him. He then challenged us to pray and humbly ask these questions to our Heavenly Father so we can testify with conviction of their truth. WOW. I can testify that Heavenly Father is there for us. He loves us and he knows us. I know I am His daughter and that he cares for ALL of His children. That is why I am here. People need to know this wonderful relationship we have with our Almighty God. It's truly incredible. I challenge you all to do the same thing in your prayers. I promise you will strengthen your testimony and receive an answer :)

Other than being SO spiritually fed at Zone Conference we had some awesome things happen this week. Well, awesome on top of being sick.. ha,ha. Sister Hansen caught the bug after not being sick her ENTIRE mission! Oops! It allowed for some sick comp bonding time while we were quarantined in our apartment. 

We were able to meet a couple new investigators this week! One is a lady named Sarah. We met her and her husband outside late last week and we stopped in again on Wednesday! Her husband is less active and she has been curious about the church for a while. We had a lesson with her and she is just incredible. SO prepared! It is so great to get to know these people and feel such a love for them and a desire for them to come unto Christ and receive the blessing of an Eternal Family.

OK Story time.

Taking Beastie to the baptism

So there was a baptismal service being held on Saturday and we thought it would be a good idea for Rebecca to come and see what her baptism (hopefully in December) is going to be like! Everything is all good to go and then we get a frantic call from her saying she has to watch this puppy and she can't leave him home alone. Naturally, Sister Hansen and I book it over to her house (running in a pencil skirt is awful) and cart her and the dog (named Beastie) to the church just in time for Rebecca to see the service and for us to wait outside with a teething puppy. So Beastie went to a baptism! SO FUNNY 

I love Washington, I love the Lord and I love His Gospel! 

I hope you all have the best week! 

Love, 

Sister Madeline Whetten 

At the doctors...again

Me and Sister Satele (from New Zealand) carving her first pumpkin. She is so hilarious!

Week 18 - "Night Fever Night Fevveeer"

HELLO family and friends!

WOW
It was a busy busy week full of ups and downs as usual! But mostly ups of course.

General Conference was this week! We are so loved by our Heavenly Father that he calls prophets and apostles to lead and guide us today! It's wonderful and this weekend was so inspired and uplifting. Each talk was unique and powerful and directly from our Heavenly Father. I LOVED IT. But, the best part is is that the incredible people that we teach loved it as well.

Oh yeah, I had some fevers this week but no biggie, the Lord blessed me with strength and it made for a fun title. 

We had some great lessons this week that were so powerful! It is such a privilege to see people grow in the gospel. We are all working together and lifting each other up. Obviously I just want to talk about how great conference was and that was probably the most exciting part of the week!

One talk in particular that stood out to me was by Elder Montoya. He stressed 4 main ways that we can be happy and strive to be better followers of Christ 

1. Attend the temple regularly

2. SMILE 

3. Express feelings of compassion to others

4.meditate on the atonement and take the sacrament 

I know that as we help each other out and truly serve out of love for the Savior and others we can experience the full blessings of the atonement and lift one another up along the way.

 The work is steadily growing and it is so exciting to be a part of it! Our investigators are doing great and we feel your love and support here in Washington! Sorry for the short update :)

Have the most wonderful week! 

Love, 

Sister Madeline Whetten

 

Some random lady gave us purple flowers and a hug while we were walking down the street. Such a tender mercy from our Heavenly Father :)