If it fits in a microwave it should

blurry post-meeting lunch

Holy Smokes so much happened this week! Honestly I don't even know where to start because it's all been crazy.

FOND FAREWELL. To start off, it was so hard to say Bye to everyone in Rocklin. There are just so many amazing families there, and the YSA ward has been my home for 5 months now. Missions do this thing to you, where you make a home somewhere and then have to leave and move on every couple of months. It kinda stinks but it also brings so many miracles and exciting stories! Plus, I know Sister Nield is killing it and is keeping everything up to par out there. A whole 20 minutes away. Actually she's still in my zone, so I'll see her a couple of times this transfer!

"What pose should we do?" "Chins!"
Sisters are weird it's great

NEW FRIEND. Tuesday was chaos. We transferred, and I got to do a whole lot of moving, and believe it or not I only left ONE thing in Rocklin so I was impressed. Plus, I got to officially meet my new companion, Sister Curtis! We'd made contact a few times before, completely unsuspecting that we'd be companions later.

That time we figured we'd physically look
as similar as our brains think

I saw Sister Johnson 4 days in a row
this week! My heart hasn't been that
happy in a long time :)

She's amazing though, and we clicked right off the bat! It's going to be a fast companionship. We have almost identical thought processes with so many things, which will definitely help how we work and the amount we get done, so I'm really excited. I love her so much already, and we're excited to see the miracles that come! She's from Idaho, 5th of 6 kids, and I've never seen anyone so perfectly exemplify charity before. She loves everyone in a way I've been trying to my whole mission, so I'm definitely going to learn a lot from her.

the one and only Sista Smith! (And if you look
close enough you can see Sister Storms because
we're still in denial that she's not here right now)

LEARNING FAST. Tuesday dinner, a few nonmembers were there, so my very first night in Roseville we picked up a new investigator! Phil is one of the coolest humans out there. He's had a hard life, but turned over a new leaf a few months ago, and is 100% prepared to learn the gospel! When we asked if he wanted to learn more about the gospel of Jesus Christ, he said yes!

Community service project of
painting a playground...

He wanted to meet Friday, so we had a lesson with him and went so in depth that we got through a whole "single point," and he accepted an invitation to baptism after the first lesson. Then he said that a week was too long between lessons, so we have another lesson set up for Tuesday! He's just amazing, and I'm so excited to keep up with him.

However, he's not the only investigator here; there's a handful of people that Sister Kemp and Sister Curtis found here, that I'll have the opportunity to keep teaching. I'm still working on names but I'm picking things up quickly. And of course, now that I'm the new missionary again, I get to practice saying, "I'm from Massachusetts" multiple times daily.

IN THE MICROWAVE. Regarding the title: It's my Sister Whitesell moment of the week. Don't worry, I had about 7, each of which left me mumbling to myself as Sister Curtis laughed "with" me. This was at a dinner last night.

R.I.P. Sister Johnson and I at the old
apartment. Now it's the other sisters
there, but the mailbox will eternally
have our names inside

First off, it was with a new family to the ward. The mom happens to be the daughter of the Watts, who I knew in Chico close to a year ago! Brother Dimmit (dad) is a bit of a joker, which brought out a slightly more sassy side of me as we bantered back and forth. (I'll give Brother Pettey credit for my quicker wit now...) We ended up talking about sizes of dogs in certain areas.

And out of my mouth came "It seems everyone in Roseville and Rocklin just have tiny little dogs that belong in microwaves" (tangent: my dad's theory on small dogs is "if it fits in a microwave it should"). As soon as I said it, I remembered hearing the sound of small dogs barking when we knocked before coming in.

Ritchie!! One of the hardest investigators
I've had to leave. And he literally gave
me a painting he made, because I said
it was cool once, forever ago :)

Brother Dimmit just looks over at the glass door and we see a little dog head staring at me from the other side. Yup, I only insulted their dogs it's fine, that's how I make friends. But really though, they just cracked up and we had a ton of fun at dinner, and I th
ink they still like me so it's fine!

Every day we've had amazing things happen here (plus I got to bike for a bit too!), and I'm so excited to see what happens in the Roseville 6th Ward area! I've turned into one of those missionaries who just expresses love about every area they go to, but I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't happy and loving each day of my mission. The strength of the gospel that we teach brings a joy that lasts so much longer than regular happiness does. It's a light that can help overcome even the hardest trials.

...and shoveling all the sand from the playground
and refilling it with mulch.
Yes I was sore, Yes I loved every minute of it!

PERSISTENCE. This week, despite everything seeming to be almost perfect, I did still struggle with some feelings of inadequacy. When you don't know much of anything about an area, it's hard to watch your companion take the blame for missing a small thing here or there that you couldn't know about. I didn't know what else I could be doing, and just wanted so badly to fulfill the potential I know Heavenly Father can see that I have. Sunday as I was sitting in church, I was still struggling with that concept, and 4 words clearly came to mind: You Are Doing Enough.

too many choices...

I know that often times you struggle with not knowing if you're doing what you should, that there's always something you're missing and can't get to in the short 24 hours of the day. Just know that if you can feel and recognize God's love as feelings of peace and comfort, You're Doing Enough.

Good Luck this week, and keep holding down the fort! You're doing better than you think you are.

Sister Whitesell
teresa.whitesell@myldsmail.net

NEW ADDRESS:
5 Marcia Way Apt. 131
Roseville, CA 95747