The End of an Era

Zone Conference--thank you, Sister Chamberlain,
for taking this!

amazing steak, it was HUGE

"beware the dog"?

And start of a new beginning! Yup, this week's gonna be cheesy but short.

To start with the cheesy, I had exchanges on Tuesday with Sister Hales, and in the downpour she suggested we knock on one more door (of course!). When we knocked, a man opened who'd talked to missionaries a few times before so he was pretty nice, and we had a good discussion on some of the things he disagreed with. At the end, he asked us if we wanted any pizza, and we figured why not, seems like a trustworthy guy. So we got some pepperoni pizza that he had "doctored up" with some parmesan, olive oil, and pepper flakes," and it was just as delicious as it sounds! Thanks Landon! And there you have the cheesy part of this email. :)

parking ticket from Quinn

pi day so of course :)

This week was stellar as usual, crazy as usual, and miraculous as usual: that we helped people, that we survived, that we found new people to talk to, that Rocklin hasn't gone up in flames yet (take it as you wish)!

HIGHLIGHTS. Include obviously the pizza. That's about it.

Kidding! We have a miracle new investigator. She actually found the missionaries, and sought us out after hearing about the church from a recent convert! She's come to literally every Mormon thing she can, since hearing about the YSA ward. Our first lesson was amazing, and the spirit was very strong, and she's just excited and so ready to learn more! And on top of that, holy smokes, SHE had the craziest week...

the one and only Brother Pettey
and Bishop Strata

a sweet picture Sister Johnson took

CAR PROBLEMS. She went to church in another ward/congregation last Sunday (8 days ago), and stayed all three hours despite not knowing what was going on! The missionaries in that ward referred her to us since she's 23 or so. She came to the Family Home Evening (FHE) and volleyball activity two days later. Her car got stolen while she was at FHE (??!?!?!!!what) and it had everything except her phone in it: wallet with license, money, credit cards, literally everything.

Sister Puempel left my room
better than she found it,
after exchanges where she
used my bed :)

Her phone also died in the process of trying to figure everything out, then she was still excited for us to teach her Thursday! On top of that, she lives maybe 2 hours from Rocklin and it moving here, that's why she's being taught here. But she drove those 2 hours, to get to FHE, then to have her car stolen. And she still came to church again on Sunday. Talk about diligence. But we're so excited to keep working with her!

best promposal, thank you Sister Puempel :)

DOG DOCTORING. Oh yeah, another fun story with a different investigator, Teri :) We didn't get to teach her this week, because our time visiting with her was spent doing service...for her dog. Keep in mind this dog could very easily fit in a microwave (shoutout to my dad for that mental picture). The dog needed an IV, so we held the dog and fluid bag for the IV as Teri poked a needle into Dolly's neck scruff. We filled her up with a good 15 oz of fluids. Yup, never thought I'd do anything like that on my mission! So those were some adventures and miracles of the week!

post pizza from Landon!

CHANGES. Also, transfers are unfortunately a thing, and that's where the title comes in. Sister Johnson is leaving me for the Red Bluff area up in Anderson, with none other than Sister Wright!!! I'm so excited for both of them, but I've also come to love working with Sister Johnson, and it'll be a weird transition. (Pro Tip: don't make friends and you never have to say bye to anyone.) But I know she's gonna kill it up there and I'm excited to start this next transfer with Sister Nield on Tuesday!

Welcome to Granite Bay

I'll leave you all with a scripture. Alma 26:12 "Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever."

by far the best text from any ward
mission leader ever:)

There is so much I've been able to do on my mission that I could never have done on my own. So many amazing changes that I've seen because of Christ's atonement and the hope I can find through his strength. I know that if we're open to letting him help us, he will! We don't need to make sure everything inside us is perfectly clean and spotless to let him in. His purpose is to help us clean up. Often our mistake is thinking we have to be perfect before he can come in and make it better. Let him help you find answers and change! We can't go through life alone, and thankfully, we don't have to!

...and just a super-cool cloud because I am
entertained by the small things

Good luck this week, and hopefully those of you with snow, can either send some my way, or at least keep your electricity while it snows. Or both :)

Sister Whitesell
teresa.whitesell@myldsmail.net
751 Central Park Dr. #321
Roseville, CA 95678