Category: Family Updates

We received another update from Madeline’s mission president.  It looks like they have now activated that plan and are using the wards and stakes to help make sure missionaries are safe. 

We have been informed that Hurricane Irma has been raised to Category 5. We continue to take all necessary precautions in order to ensure the safety of the missionaries. All missionaries are in safe shelter. We are working with the local stakes and wards to watch over the missionaries in their respective areas. We realize that you have concerns for the safety of your missionaries. It is imperative that we keep our own phone lines available in order to communicate with the missionaries. We ask for your help in keeping the lines clear for our missionaries during this time. As soon as the storm passes we have asked that each missionary contact his or her family.

David H. Smart, President

Puerto Rico San Juan Mission

This is our second update from Madeline’s mission president. He is doing a great job communicating and helping us feel like things are under control and Madeline and all the missionaries are being watched over with great care. 

Update on Missionaries in the Puerto Rico San Juan Mission:

The storm appears to be heading for Puerto Rico and should arrive Wednesday, September 6 or Thursday, September 7th. We have communicated with all missionaries and have confirmed that they have food and water for the storm. We will continue to monitor the conditions in order to ensure that they are out of harm’s way. We are confident that they are prepared to weather the storm. 

Just as we were starting to get concerned ourselves about the path of Hurricane Irma, we received an email from Madeline’s mission president letting us know there is a plan and they will execute it as it becomes necessary. We will all be keeping a close eye on this storm. 

Dear Parents,

We have received a bulletin from Church Security informing us of the storm that is building in the Atlantic and its potential to strengthen and cross our Mission next week. We have an emergency plan in place which will ensure that the missionaries are prepared and out of harms way. As further developments occur we will keep you updated.

Sincerely,

President Smart

Madeline is able to talk with her family twice a year.  Once on Mother’s Day and once on Christmas.  This Mother’s Day, that meant a Skype video call for an hour.  It was a great call and we had a great time.  We recorded it and the link below will let you share it.

Keep in mind that this is an hour long video.  Also keep in mind that as it should be, her video is the largest and our family self-view is very small.  There isn’t much to see there other than the misspelled abbreviation of hermana.  Alicia made a banner above us that said, “Hma Thelin.”  Madeline’s first words to us after “Hi” were to help us understand how to abbreviate hermana (Hna) and make sure I knew “pero” meant “but.”

Mother’s Day Skype Video Link

Since the file is so large, it is hosted elsewhere.  In my testing, it should not require a login or downloading anything.  Let me know if you have any problems with it.

Brett

Madeline’s current area is Carolina, a suburb of San Juan.

Continue reading “Carolina, PR”