Lost and Found

Service at the Lake!

Welcome to this week's episode of The Missionary. We've got some amazing stories of success, and, well, not quite as much success because who on earth has success all the time? You've stuck with us this long, watching how many Sister Whitesell moments have come along. Join us as we follow her story of this past week, and see what happens next, in the wild suburban lands of Rocklin.

(If you read that in an Australian accent then I'm glad, because that was the intent...if not, go back and read it again :) )

working to clean up the lake

This week was another amazing roller coaster ride of a mission! To start, let's begin with one of my biggest Sister Whitesell moments so far. One thing I've learned in the last while is that the apartment numbering systems in America make zero sense! Take me to Japan or something, it would be so much easier to figure out the number systems there! (from what I've heard.)

We had to find this apartment, 6601. Seems like a pretty high number. Sister Nield and I are only in the 900s or building 9, but hey, we got this.

Brother Pettey's last week as a member
of the Rocklin YSA Ward bishopric :(
He got released this last Sunday
and it may have been the saddest
Sacrament Meeting ever.
But also super happy because
Haley got confirmed!

Sometimes in YSA people leave
to go to school and it's lame

WALKING AND WALKING. I can kinda see how the buildings are numbered, and each building has 1-24, so we're all good. There are a lot of buildings here. We start walking, talking about the ridiculous dreams we had the night before, and we get to about building 33, and I'm just getting amazed at how large this complex is. We walk for another 5-10 minutes, and are eventually getting to buildings in the 60's...(holy smokes, walking that long in 75 degrees makes you sweat after you're used to low 60s for so long I know I'm weak, okay?)

But we finally get to building 65. (still looking for 6601) Then we get to the next building...67...huh? We go between and behind the buildings, 62. We walk all the way to the gate and get up to building 75, but no 66!

I look around and see the sign for the complex. Right above the big block letters with the name of the complex is...wait for it..."6601!" Yes the address for the WHOLE COMPLEX is 6601!

Good Ole Bro Petty w/Lauren, who moved
to Idaho this last week and I'm kinda
sad about it!

You might be able to sympathize with how much I did NOT want to tell Sister Nield we'd just walked so far for nothing. But I checked the area book, and lo and behold the actual apartment number (3212) was a few words after the 6601 address. Yup, I've been out of school too long, I know!

When you're in YSA long enough
that some of them come home
from their semester and ask why
you're STILL THERE
(but I kinda love it a lot!)

OUTDOOR SERVICE. We also had exchanges this week, and I had the opportunity to go to Granite Bay again. We got to do a lot of service too, which was amazing and I loved it! Plus pants. Let's be honest, that's my main desire for doing service. We went to Folsom Lake and helped clean up the driftwood, and then later helped weed at a nonmember's house. Plus it was just a fun day and we got to share a few messages, lift a few people, and talk to some strangers!

Haley's baptism

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? The reason I picked my title is because the apartment wasn't the only thing I lost this week. I'm sure most of you know that I rarely lose my voice. In fact, I've never lost it for more than about half a day. Well, Sunday morning I woke up to an inability to speak at my usual inside voice levels. This was kind of exciting. Also, side note: losing my voice is one of my favorite things ever, because it sounds so funny!

cleaning the font

Well, I talked a lot during the day because I'm a misisonary, it's what we do. This time around, probably because the initial loss was due to a cold, my voice was completely gone by early afternoon, and it's still gone! I'm having a bit of fun with it :) Sister Nield isn't the biggest fan cause sometimes she has to do more of the talking now, but hey, I'll enjoy it while I can!

CLEAN AND TEACH. But aside from that, this week has been amazing! I'll just explain some of the miracles of Wednesday, because it was one of the best days on my mission so far! It started out a little slow though, haha! We got down and dirty and literally scraped at the bottom of the baptismal font to clean it, because that thing hasn't been touched in decades. We left it as close to sparkling as our cleaning supplies would allow!

Haley's baptism pics

We had a lesson in the afternoon, and had an awkward 7 minutes or so to fill and I refused to sit there, so we decided to go visit a "potential" (someone who MIGHT be interested in hearing the gospel) who lived near place where we were going to teach the lesson. We'd been trying to reach him for awhile, but he just hasn't ever been home. Well, miracles! He was home, and interested in learning more! Then a stellar lesson, then on the way to the church we had to stop at another "potential's" house because we told them we would, and we shared "Because of Him" and a message, and they said we could come back next week! So if that wasn't already miraculous enough, we headed to the church building and I got to listen to a missionary's favorite noise, the sound of a font filling.

Sister Howell at 6:30 a.m. on exchanges

We were able to be part of an amazing night, as Haley Warner got baptized and made a promise to our Heavenly Father that she would do her best to come home to Him! We were so excited, and also had the opportunity to teach the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the 50+ people who came! The spirit was so strong, and despite the struggles we had practicing earlier in the day, it ran perfectly and we were able to teach exactly what was needed.

Hey she decided to smile about it!

I love this work and what we do, because the peace it brings to others is something I wouldn't trade for the world. It's crazy how much God trusts such young people (missionaries) to share His love to others. I'm so far from perfect, and yet Because of Him I can help create the perfect moment for someone else. Never underestimate how much you can do!

I'm sure you're each killing it, and it's always good to hear from you. This time next week, I'll know what's happening with transfers, so stay tuned!
Sister Whitesell
teresa.whitesell@myldsmail.net

751 Central Park Dr.
Roseville, CA 95678