This is Madeline’s father. It was a little bit of a mystery, but Madeline did board an airplane this morning and arrive in Puerto Rico a short while ago. We are very happy that the Lord has determined that she should be back for the final months of her mission.
Normally, when a missionary is leaving a mission a certain process is followed. The mission president or the missionary department calls our stake president who contacts us, then Church Travel sends us her itinerary. As Wednesday morning came and went and we didn’t hear anything, we started to wonder if maybe Maddie meant a different Wednesday. So I started to make some calls.
First I called Church Travel. If they could tell me they had sent her off, then we would know and I wouldn’t need anything else. But they told me that they didn’t have any travel plans for her. That was really weird. Now I wanted to go through official chains, so I started with our Stake President. He hadn’t heard anything, but suggested I called her Mission President. I called President Dixon of the Redlands mission and left a message.
President Dixon returned my call later and confirmed that they had sent Madeline off that morning to Puerto Rico. He also told me some kind things about her sense of humor and her Spanish language skill. He also mentioned how valuable she was as a Sister Training Leader. It was very nice hearing his compliments. We all know Madeline is pretty amazing.
Here are photos from their PR missionaries leaving from California:
So whatever happened as part of this return trip, we knew Madeline was on the way. Then just a few minutes ago we received word from Sister Smart, the Puerto Rico Mission President’s wife. They picked Madeline up and have her safe and sound.
Dear Brother and Sister ThelinWe are thrilled beyond words to get Hermana Thelin back in Puerto Rico. We love her and have missed her so much; yet we know her time serving away has been invaluable and has strengthen her in ways that the people here in PR will benefit from.In all the chaos we have seen the Lord’s hand in this whole process, and have great faith that we will see daily miracles as our missionaries move forward with faith.Love,President and Sister Smart
