Elder Whipple Goes to Washington

Bishop Visits Elder Whipple

2010-08-08T15:07:00.000-07:00

Last month, our bishop and his wife took a trip to Vancouver to visit their son and his family. I loaded up a box of some of Wesley's favorite things (green chile, pineapple chunks, gummy worms) and some of the things he hates spending money on (shampoo, toothpaste, deoderant) and asked them if they would drive through the Seattle area and deliver a package to my missionary. They were gracious enough to accomodate me. They returned with pictures and stories!

Here you see Bishop Wells visiting with Wesley and his companion. Their rendezvous was at a meetinghouse. Sister Wells reported that the first thing Elder Whipple did when he saw their car drive into the parking lot was run over and take a picture...not of the kind people bringing him goods from home. No, this NERDY missionary took a picture of their New Mexico license plate!

Here's Wes with Bishop Wells. Bishop actually took a short video of Elder Whipple telling his family about the people he was teaching, but the Stake President didn't think it was appropriate to post it on the blog, so I didn't. Suffice it to say it made us all (brother, sisters, nieces, mom, dad) miss him ever so much. Still, it was good to see and hear him so happy doing the Lord's work. Before they left, Bishop asked Elder Whipple if he hugged his mom and dad. When Wesley said "yes", the bishop had Wesley give him a hug, which he passed on to Wesley's dad upon return from their vacation. Sister Wells had a similar gift for me. Thanks to the Wells for taking a little love to Elder Whipple and returning some too!

News from Elder Whipple

2010-06-10T14:30:00.000-07:00

We've had a few letters from Wes since the empty mailbox. These pics were included in one of his letters.

This is Elder Mclaughlin. He and Wes were not companions, but serving near one another in the Lynnwood area.

Elder Ashdown and Wes were in the MTC together and in the same district in Bellingham.

Here you see Wes putting all his experience with video games (eye-hand coordination) to good use! This picture was taken in Blaine on Wesley's last P-Day there. He says: "Brother Ford let me and my comp play on his tractor, throw rocks and logs around, and dig a hole." Boys and their toys! They seem to never outgrow the love of machines.

Taken in Edmonds, this is a view of the mountains from Wesley's house in Edmonds.

Another view from his house, only these are of the Puget Sound.

Here Elder Whipple is with his companion in the Lynnwood ward (Edmonds area), Elder McGalliard, the ward mission leader, Brother Fellers, and their newest convert Kelsey Duff. Sister Duff was Wesley's first confirmation. He said "Holy crap was I nervous!" I reminded him that it was supposed to be "Holy Ghost". I hope he gets it right next time.

Before leaving the Edmonds area, Wes was able to baptize Wayne. Wes said: "It's kinda weird to be in all white outside the temple, but it was awesome baptizing Wayne! The water was really warm, so when we opened the doors so people could see, it fogged up the glass! It was really funny!"

Wes was transferred on May 18th to Monroe. He said: "There was an emergency transfer that involved about 6-7 companionships. I had to leave my area and now I'm a senior companion to Elder Dunn. The transfer had nothing to do with my doing, so don't worry! (Honestly! Did he really think that I would think that an emergency transfer had something to do with him?) It was tough to leave on such short notice. I found out at 7 am and left at 11:30 am. I really did love the Meadowdale Ward but it's okay cuz I'm back in a car, I'm senior companion, and my stake President's name is President Whipple! How crazy is that? When I meet him, I'll take some pictures for you to see. This ward I'm in now has a lot of potential. There is a non-member who has a calling! That's nuts AND there are alot of people who are ready to baptize, so I'm pretty excited." And then at the end of the letter he added: "I need some money because I left all my groceries in Edmonds."

In the next letter, dated May 30, Wes tells about their reactivation efforts with a man in their ward who struggles with substance addiction. Wes told about the lesson they taught on having faith in Christ and how He can free us from sin. Wes said: "About 5 times while we were there I asked if I could help and take the temptation away and he said no, but the last time I asked he had us take the beer from his fridge, but I was taking it regardless. It was pretty cool. Some missionaries take cigarretts, we took alcohol. Yes, we were quick to dispose of it! It was an extremely awkward feeling holding it! Good thing I'm not an alcoholic, cuz I'd be an awkward drunk! Elder Dunn was in shock when we took it! He's shy, and I'm not, so he's getting out of his shell a bit! It's good!"

In this same letter, Wes describes his living arrangements: "So we live in a members basement, Bro and Sister G. Bro G is nuts! He has a 3 year food supply, wood burning furnace and water heating system, and a year's supply of ammunition for all his guns! He randomly shoots his guns at targets, has an annoying pet peacock, is constantly splitting wood, and ALWAYS has at least 2 guns on his person at any given time! Yes, even at church its tucked in the back of his pants and covered by his suit coat! Then usually one on his rib, hip, or leg! He has another 4 in his truck! I do feel safe here except if it caught fire we'd better drive fast before the ammo and supplies go BANG! When they left for a trip to see their kids, he wanted to leave a shotgun with us. Only reason he didn't is because we're missionaries and we have God's firepower! Bro G is a great guy!" As usual, Wes is a crack-up!

Here you see our Elder Whipple showing off his new Washington Everett Mission ring. Is he flashing missionary gang signs?
9 months out! It's going by fast!

No News is No News

2010-03-07T15:54:00.001-08:00

This blog is my way of documenting Wesley's mission. He has not written in over a month. For the whine, see my blog. Feel free to chastise him! I have, and it hasn't worked.

1st Transfer

2010-02-15T12:04:00.000-08:00

Wesley was transferred last Tuesday, February 9th, just after seeing the Olympic torch pass through Blaine. He is now in Edmonds, Washington, a suburb of Lynnwood. From the map, it appears to be near the southern boundary of the mission. I've yet to hear from Wes since the transfer, but in his last letter, dated February 4th, he sent some pictures and news about the people he was teaching. Of course, we are anxious to hear from him again and see how he likes the big city!

One family he's been working with are the Craigs; the mom, Jackie, and two children, a 14-year-old boy and a 19-year-old daughter. Just before leaving Blaine, Wes cooked bean burritos for them with "legit" green chile, AND they are still interested in the Church! Jackie is reading the Book of Mormon, so keep your fingers crossed that she recognizes the truthfulness of it.

Another family Wes was working with was a mom going through a divorce with her three children. The mom is young and is a less-active member of the church. Wes challenged her to stop smoking, and she took his challenge. He also challenged her to dig out her Patriarchial blessing and study it. She did that too and was able to discuss it with the elders.

This is Wes at the Seattle Temple in January. Twice each year, the missionaries get to attend the temple. The other two are Elders McLaughin and Ashdown, but I don't know who is who. Sorry the picture is grainy. Wes is forgetting that we bought two SD cards for his camera for this very reason: scanning pictures makes them grainy.

Wesley's new mailing address:

15631 70th Ave. West

Edmonds, WA 98026

January 24, 2010

2010-01-28T17:38:00.000-08:00

If you are counting, it has been two stinkin' weeks since we've heard from our missionary. Finally, a letter today! Here are a few of the highlights:

Wesley admits to being a 6th-grade stinker. (I complained to him about my students and asked for his advice on how to get them motivated.) He had some advice, but the best part was him owning-up to his stinkerness!

He is concerned about his friend, Brady Fourr, who will soon be leaving home to serve in the Los Angeles California mission. He's not worried about gang activity or earthquakes. No, Wesley is thinking that the real danger for Brady is getting lost on the LA freeways.
He is walking and biking everywhere now.

People in Blaine are renting out their houses getting ready for the Olympics, which are just 20 miles away, just across the Canadian border.

Transfers are February 9th.

Mission baptism goal for 2010 is 1000. According to Wesley, "very do-able". If every companionship has 1 baptism/month, it they would surpass the mission goal. They want at least 84 baptisms each month, but 1 per companionship would be 94. Very do-able!

Wes and 12 other missionaries SANG at the adult meeting of Stake Conference! They sang "Brightly Beams Our Father's Mercy" to the tune of "If You Could Hie to Kolob." According to Wes, it was "waaayyyy legit...even made a few people cry...THAT GOOD!" (Should I tell him that some people actually tear up when they are laughing really hard?)

Sunday session Stake Conference was packed, so Wes and his companion sat in the back of the cultural hall and had quite an interesting experience. Halfway through the meeting Wesley heard a "drumming" noise. He said the noise got louder and louder until a lady with "bushy black hair" jumped up and started hitting the guy next to her. In addition to pummeling the guy, she was shouting profanities. An investigator from another ward who was sitting in front of Wes turned around and said "Looks like the front row seats were in the back!" It turns out that the sister is schizophrenic and the people who know her understand, but it was quite a show for our small-town elder.

January 10, 2010

2010-01-13T16:19:00.000-08:00

I'm not ignoring this blog, but written communication between Elder Whipple and the family has been sporadic since the middle of December. We had a telephone visit on Christmas Day, which was NICE! Wes was upbeat and very positive. (His mommy was worried that the phone call would make him homesick, but that was not the case.) We gave Wes a Garmon GPS for Christmas. Apparently, a GPS is THE gift to give for today's missionaries. Both Wes, and his companion, Elder Cramer, had just received the same Garmon GPS. When we talked on Christmas Day, they were having some fun learning how to make this technology useful for their work. Also during our conversation, Wes asked his Dad and I to attend a baptism on January 2nd. One of his high school buddies, Colton Kennedy, had been meeting with the missionaries and was ready to take "the plunge."

This is Colton on the left (winking) and Josh Davis, another buddy, before the baptism. They thought the "thumbs up" picture was just what Wes would want to see, and sure enough, Wes was thrilled. It's good to see your friends accepting the gospel.

We received a letter today, dated Sunday, January 10th. Here are a few of the highlights:

He claims not to have a weight problem. His new companion, however, is under doctor's orders to lose some weight, so they are walking and biking everywhere. So long to the car!
His sporadic writing is due to being a busy missionary.
Some investigators are "flakey" and don't want to make and keep committments, so they haven't had a baptism lately.
Wesley has had lots of opportunities to bear his testimony about the blessings that the gospel brings into our lives. (He sounds almost APPRECIATIVE of his upbringing!)
The missionaries in the Everett Washington mission all get to go to the Seattle Temple tomorrow. This only happens twice a year, so it is exciting.
And as usual, Wes has a list of things he wants sent from home, including a pair of football cleats. What in the world does a missionary need with football cleats?

December 10

2009-12-16T20:50:00.000-08:00

Now we can all believe that Wesley was telling the truth when he said he'd gained 20 lbs.

Another amazing sunset!

Same foggy road as last time, but this one with two elders. Wesley is on the right.

Wes says, "The sign says it all." Elders have a weird sense of humor.

Weird sense of humor explains this picture.

A neat experience from the last letter: "We were tracting and talked to a lot of people, but not very many were interested. It was time for dinner, so we decided to knock on one more door. We knocked and nothing happened so right as we were about to leave I pushed the doorbell and someone answered the door. He invited us in (which never happens) and we sat and talked for quite awhile. His name is Wallace Chin, he's from Hawaii. He survived Pearl Harbor when he was 17. He is really cool and we are actually going to see him again."

I have been worried about Wesley riding a bike in the Washington rain. (My nephew Brandon ruined his suit pants as I remember!) Wesley's reply to my concerns was "I'm always careful and I can get wayyyy nice suit pants for like $10 at this Thrift Store if that happens." So, I'm wayyyy less worried about him wrecking his bike and ruining his suit pants.

Letter dated December 3rd

2009-12-13T19:53:00.000-08:00

Wesley loves the area and loves the ward where he is serving. He says that the Blaine area is famous in the mission because the members spoil the missionaries there. The ward mission leader gives the missionaries $100 of Subway each month, so that explains this:

A twenty pound weight gain! Which is really crazy, because even if he is eating a foot-long meatball sub everyday for lunch, he still has to walk there! Wes is very proud of his weight gain. He was working on this before he left, but to no avail. Ahhh, the blessings of serving a mission. (Personally, I think it should work in reverse for his mother!)

The mission set a goal of 1000 baptisms for 2009, and so far are at 600. Although it doesn't seem that they will reach that goal in the next few weeks, Wes and his companion are teaching a man in his 50s who is very close to baptism and a lady, also in her 50s, who is struggling with her testimony of Joseph Smith. Still, he is very optimistic that they will both be baptized soon. Much of their work is with part-member or inactive families.

We (the family) are looking forward to Christmas day and getting to talk to Wesley on the phone. Christmas cards or packages need to be sent to the mission home and marked "Christmas". The mission home address is:

Washington Everett Mission

PO Box 13390

Mill Creek, WA 98082-1390

Blaine, Washington

2009-11-21T07:30:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-21T06:43:00.000-08:00

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.

1st Area

2009-10-07T16:57:00.000-07:00

Wesley arrived in Blaine, Washington last night about 8pm PDT. He and his companion are living with a member couple...actually "empty-nesters" with a son on a mission. The sister called last night to let me know that he had arrived safely. It was a relief, as I had worried about him all day. I've included two maps here to give you some perspective on where he is actually located. Blaine is the northern-most, western-most area in the mission. Any further north and he would be in Canada, any further west would put him in the Pacific Ocean. It is about 110 miles north of Seattle and the average precipitation in Blaine is about 36 inches per year.

Unfortunately, email is not available in Wesley's mission, so all contact is done snail mail. His current mailing address is: 4453 D Street, Blaine, WA 98230.

Letters from the MTC

2009-09-29T18:43:00.000-07:00

Wes has his 2-week anniversary at the MTC tomorrow. We've received a couple of letters and here are the highlights:

First couple of days were difficult adjusting to the food, but all seems okay now.
His companion is Elder Salas from Layton, Utah. Elder Salas was also an "ice-monkey" this summer, earning mission money by working at an ice plant.
Another elder in Wes's district is from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Wes says they talk about the "Land of Enchantment".
Wes was made District Leader. This is basically a leadership role. For all who know Wes, he's a natural leader.
All the food seems to give him gas, but this is not something new. There is a reason his nickname is GasMan. Apparently, apple juice is deadly.
Was able to attend the Provo Temple. It was awesome!
Got "checked out" by a group of young women at the Provo Temple.
So far, most of the devotional speakers have talked about being bold. Good messages for new missionaries.
He sorta feels bad that he left his room in such a mess.
He's looking forward to getting to Washington next Tuesday.

Departure Day

2009-09-16T18:03:00.000-07:00

The trip to the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah required an early start. Here is Elder Whipple checking in at the Farmington airport at 5:15 am.

One last goodbye with Mom and Dad.

Security took about 5 minutes.

Loading the plane, Elder Whipple was the only passenger with luggage. Departure time: 6 am. From Farmington to Denver, on to Salt Lake City, and then a shuttle bus from Salt Lake to the MTC in Provo. Elder Whipple is on his way!