Blaine, Washington

Here's Wes and his first companion in the field, Elder Cramer. We don't know much about Elder Cramer yet, except that he is "awesome" and "really cool".

Our sports fanatic, Wes, took his first pictures in Washington of Safeco Field, Home of the Mariners. Go figure!

And here is the scenery our desert rat has to deal with daily...views of the ocean.


In his first letter from Blaine, Wes commented on the beautiful sunsets. Wes rarely comments on nature, so he must be really impressed with the scenery.

Notes from Wesley's letters:

• Send stuff! (We sent small cans of green chili and he loved it.)
• Send pics.
• He's happy to know that KK and Reed are keeping his X-Box 360 safe for him.
• They taught the Plan of Salvation to a nine-year-old using SpongeBob. Can't wait to see that one. He promises to draw it out and send it home.
• Blaine is a small town, like Kirtland. It's raining a lot lately and has been cold and windy. The coat his dad sent from Missionary Mall is keeping him warm and dry.
• One baptismal date fell through because the investigators weren't coming to church.
• If he doesn't get transferred, he will be having Thanksgiving with the bishop's family.
• There are a lot of Russian people in Blaine. Wes is wishing for his brother-in-law Reed's language talent so he could teach them more effectively. They have limited supplies of teaching material in Russian.

A couple of weeks ago, DeWayne got a call from Brother McInnis, Wesley's ward mission leader. Brother McInnis was in Albuquerque on business and decided to call and let us know that our missionary was doing great. He was in his own plane and even offered to stop over in Farmington to pick anything up anything that we might want to send back to Wes. We didn't take him up on it, but it was very nice of him to offer. It was also great to hear from a third-party adult that our son was okay.

MTC Friends

Yes, Wes has been in Washington for about 6 weeks, but I'm just now finding time to update his blog. Seeing these pictures makes me think that you can send a boy on a mission but it doesn't necessarily mean he will be any less goofy!

This is Wes and his MTC companion, Elder Salas. Elder Salas is from Layton, Utah. Besides being companions at the MTC, both of these two young men worked at an ice plant to earn money for their missions.

Wes was district leader at the MTC. This was the district from left to right, Elders: Thornburg, Lamb, Furphy,Riley, Joos, Williams, Whipple, Salas, and Johnson.

See what I mean about goofy? On the temple grounds, no less! Wesley's comment for this picture is "We're flying!" He did say that some of the LARGER boys at the MTC enjoyed picking him up. Weird missionaries.

This is Sister Sorenson. Wes met her on his Last Hurrah trip to California just before he went in to the MTC. Wes and 3 friends lived in a van for a week on the beaches of California. However, they did go to Institute while there and that is where Wes and Sister Sorenson met. Small world, huh?

ANOTHER(?) Elder Whipple at the MTC. Wesley's cousin, Chantz, entered the MTC one week after Wes, but this isn't Chantz. Wow! 3 Elders Whipple at the MTC at one time. Yikes! However, this kid looks pretty tame.

These are Wes's LARGE friends. Elder Harral on the left and Elder Weight on the right. We have dozens of pictures of them carrying Wesley around. Maybe they wanted to show off their physical strength as well as their spiritual might?

MTC companion, Elder Salas.

Have badge, will teach.