Category: Family Updates

It is amazing to me that it has almost been 18 months since Madeline left to serve the Lord full-time and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of Puerto Rico.  Yet, so much has happened.  Now, it is time to prepare for her return and celebrate her service.

Continue reading “Hermana (Sister) Thelin is Almost Home! Plans for Celebrations and Her Homecoming Talk”

This morning, we received an email from President Dixon of the California Redlands Mission.  He announced that Madeline has been called to be a Sister Training Leader.

Continue reading “Madeline Becomes Sister Training Leader”

In Madeline’s new mission, they are testing some new ways to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Soon she will have a smartphone and will be using social media.  This doesn’t mean that she can take calls or texts or interact the way she will when she is done with her mission.  Madeline is dedicated completely to sharing the Gospel and leaving other things behind until her time as a missionary is done.

This leads to some important guidelines for interacting with Madeline if you see her in different online forums.  Below is the letter we received from the mission president.  They also posted this online, so it is okay to post here.

Continue reading “Madeline Will Be On Social Media, But There Is a Catch”

Alicia and I just got off the phone with Madeline. She was able to call us to let us know she was okay and safely in the Redlands mission home (that’s not in Redlands, but a different city). We talked for a little over 30 minutes. That might have been a little excessive, but there was a reason.

Madeline is physically and emotionally drained. Alicia could barely contain her desire to reach out and comfort her daughter. Madeline has said that she has had maybe an hour or two sleep every night since last Tuesday. They have also been in a pretty dire condition.

While the mission office may have had water, the mission home only had their emergency rations. They also did not have much of a selection of food. The two things they had were cans of beans and cans of chicken. So all the sisters have been living off rations of beans, chicken, and water.

A neighbor did have a pool that was empty but was filled with the hurricane that they let the people in the mission home use. But as that was emptying fast, they had to start rationing. They couldn’t wash clothes or drink it because of the algae, even treated. But they could use it to flush toilets and do some light cleaning.

Madeline said that she hasn’t showered for a week. When they called, they told them they could only bring one carry-on bag with the essentials and a few important things. As they were boarding, they had to gate check that bag and they lost it. Usually, they find those bags and get them out in about 24 hours. I’m hoping that will be the case here. For now, all she has is her proselytizing bag.

We know and Madeline confirmed that people have been providing things for them. In our call, we also told her to buy whatever isn’t provided and we would replace the money in her account. She was so exhausted that she couldn’t even think that far ahead.

You can tell that she is completely broken-up about leaving the mission and people she loves. It’s also hard on her that these hermanas that she has come to love are also spread out over the country.

We asked about the service she did in Puerto Rico after the hurricane and she told us that almost every hour they were awake they were moving palm trees and debris and they didn’t even go very far. She said the entire roof of the mission home blew off and it was a home rated 10 out of 10 for hurricanes and was in a gated community that wasn’t hit very hard.

The mission home is only about a two-minute drive from the gate, but getting to the airport, it took them an hour to get to the gate because of the debris. Madeline said the destruction was unbelievable. Given what I heard in her voice, this is going to take some time and special blessings from the Lord to help her return to normal.

Tomorrow, the two sisters that arrived today will rest and try to recover. At about 6:00 pm, they will take them to their new area.

The miracles I think we will see next are going to be in the lives of these missionaries that were tagged with refugee status. I know Alicia feels as I do, that it is taking all that we have not to get in a car and be at her side by morning.

This is a bird coming out of her shell. We can’t take this away from her. The pioneers who made it through the journey to Salt Lake in the ill-fated Willey-Martin handcart company said that it was through the trials of the journey that they came to know God and they wouldn’t trade one moment of it. This will be what Madeline will have as she is able to rely solely on the arm of God.

We may not get a letter from Madeline tomorrow. Perhaps because she was able to call. Perhaps because she will still be too drained to try to do that. But that will be okay. We will be there to support her. All of us.

As a note, Madeline has expressed that the Puerto Rican mission president is going to keep the missionaries updated with news from the island. Madeline hoped he wouldn’t send much soon because she didn’t think she could take hearing about the devastation. So this is my plea to all of you. Write encouraging things, write of your lives so she can enjoy your events, but don’t mention Puerto Rico until she says she is ready to hear about it again.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers,

Brett