We are Sister Wrightsell

Hello, All--

Service at the hospital with the Hmong Elders:
they found the perfect parking spot!

Welcome back to Monday, the least liked day of the week unless you're a missionary, where Mondays are your favorite day of the week. Never thought that would happen! I hope this week's update finds most of you in good health and comfortable temperatures. We actually got up to 115 this week, and that's a new record for me!

Had some fun in the slightly
sketchy stairwell

Also, the combined name "Wrightsell" is I think the greatest thing I ever came up with! (If you're not as entertained as I am, then you probably live a much more interesting life than I do...)

Service with Linda!

WEATHER SURPRISES. Another fun thing is hearing about the polar opposites happening in the country right now. Hurricane Harvey is something that we have been able to get updates on, despite the "missionary bubble" (we don't watch the news much). We're definitely sending prayers over there.

Okay it's nature...I couldn't just not

Here in Northern California we've got plenty of wildfires that are making people move around, and that firefighters are working hard on to be contained. There is a ton of smoke moving through Chico, and if I go home with smoker's cough, you'll know why. (Thankfully I have a "How to Quit Smoking in 7 Days" program available to me...something tells me I'll be continuing smoking for awhile. Just not at a good place in my life to drop it quite yet.)

A freshly combed/picked orchard!
Never seen them this neat before!

it wasn't me

WHO LIVES HERE? This week has been another amazingly long week, but always full of good things. I was more than a little entertained by the irony of Saturday's tracting experience. We actually knocked on the door of some Jehovah's Witnesses. They politely declined wanting to hear a message, it was just funny to me to have those tables turned where instead of them knocking on our doors, we get to knock on theirs! (Also it was over 100 again at that point, and it was maybe 11 a.m...perfect.)

balancing ourselves...before
we fell...

We got to go to a farmer's market that morning! In search of one of our "less actives" (haven't been to church in awhile). We don't usually spend our time at markets, don't worry! But one thing you get a lot on the mission is people not answering their phones, or just not being there when you set up an appointment. So it was a fun goose chase around this chaotic gathering (the farmer's market), which ended up being unsuccessful. But really, some of the unsuccessful stories are the best ones :) :)

balancing attempts...again

I have continued to grow and learn, from working with Sister Wright. She's well known around the mission for being an amazing missionary, and I'm glad to be able to tell you that she really is!

Different stages of
balancing ourselves...
we never were all looking
at the same camera

This week, through OYM (Opening Your Mouth), we actually got two new investigators, both of which seem promising! It's been so cool to see a different style of missionary work (through Sister Wright), and it's helped me grow so much already.

DOING THE RIGHT THING. With one of the investigators, we were actually trying to find Pam. She's been sick these past few weeks, so it had been awhile since we saw her. We always drop by on Saturdays at 3, so when she didn't answer for the 2nd week in a row, I was determined to catch her. We did some missionary stuff (like filling up the car with gas), and then went back around 4 to find her daughter walking inside the apartment instead of Pam. Turns out Pam was at a friend's place in the complex, so we were able to follow her daughter and get to know her a bit more.

We found a cobweb
mistletoe: Christmas
in September?

Pam's friend has had a death in the family recently, and was open to learning more about where her family member was, and was very prepared to hear about the gospel! So we have a new friend, Sherry, that Pam will help us teach next week. Sometimes when you work hard, Heavenly Father sends a few obvious tender mercies your way, just to let you know you're doing the right thing :)

Look at the nice, puffy clouds!

CHANGE IN PERSPECTIVE. Another amazing thing is meeting regularly with another investigator, Robbie. He used to be a member but his records were lost which, understandably, frustrated him a lot. He left the church for a bit, but over the years has basically become a member again, and even works with the scouts every week. But he's been very difficult to get hold of, and get to know, so Sister Hood and I were kind of stuck when we actually had a lesson with him.

He's such a chill guy, we didn't know if he had the drive or motivation to quit smoking so he could get baptized. Plus, we've been playing phone-tag and trying to talk to him for months, so we just didn't know what else to do.

I was hot and hungry, okay?

Then the transfer came, and I saw the miracle of a new perspective. Sister Wright exemplifies the phrase "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." It's been so cool to see how she gets to know the people we talk to and meet with. And Robbie, once we just got to know him a little better, opened up a ton! We're doing a lot better with helping him, and he's working hard to quit the bad habits. All it takes is a little time to show you genuinely care about people! (Common sense I know, but it took me awhile okay!)

More sketchy stairwells

we stopped to sort of take nice pictures
in the orchard...

NO GRUDGES. My final little bit for this week is about my spiritual "lightbulb" that went on, about forgiveness. We're all so used to knowing we should forgive others when they do something that maybe you were not happy with. But a huge part of forgiveness is being in a mental place where you can accept it when someone forgives you. Sometimes we beat ourselves up about things we've done, far longer than it took for us to be forgiven of whatever it was that we did.

Try to see it from Christ's perspective: He doesn't want us to be unhappy, or beat ourselves up for something we've already fixed and changed. He just wants us to be our happiest, best selves. So when you're forgiven, remember that you don't have to worry about it anymore. Heavenly Father has already forgotten it. As long as you've had that change of heart, you can let the guilt go.

...but neither one of us is really good at that...

Super bright outside on the way
back from District Meeting
in Paradise

Good luck with your weeks! Keep doing what you're doing, as long as you're doing it well :)
As always, I love hearing from you guys--
"Remember Who You Are!" and
"Don't Let It Get You Down!"

Sister Whitesell
teresa.whitesell@myldsmail.net
244 B West 20th St.
Chico, CA 95928

New Comp, New Investigators, New Skills

Hey Everybody--
(remember if you're on a PC or laptop, if you click on these pics, they show up bigger...)

We found a random place...

ALIVE AND WELL. So, good news! Chico is still thriving, and hasn't gone up in flames yet! Fortunately for me, if it does it won't be my fault. Probably it will be one of the 500 beer pong tournaments (Chico State Univ) getting out of hand. With school starting up again, we see college kids literally everywhere...and of course all these people are around when I'm driving, and accountable for any casualties. Ask me if I'm stressed.

...and had to take pictures of course

Also, if you couldn't tell by the previous comment, I'm driving now! And it's so cool to see how much of the Chico area I know, and can navigate around. Obviously we've done plenty of U-turns, but that's really only when we're trying to find specific houses.

This plant has been slowly taking over this car
 since I got here. I had to document it

NEWNESS. With transfers, my "mom" (trainer) left me, and now I have a new companion! She's amazing, and we've been getting a lot done, exchanging a bajillion stories, and having a blast when we're not dead tired. Newest challenge is going to bed on time...we're pretty close, but sometimes we struggle because we talk a bit, despite the exhaustion.

Service: helping load
medical supplies onto a truck

Last time I got to see my mum :(...

...but that's okay, she has not
gone home yet!

new companion: Sister Wright!

IN COMMON. Sister Wright and I have very similar tastes in a lot of things regarding hobbies. So whenever one of us introduces ourselves after someone asks, then the other just says "ditto." Because camping, traveling, rock climbing, basically anything outdoors are the best things! So I guess she's pretty cool. I'm learning a lot from her regarding missionary work too, and supposedly she's learning lots from me too so it's a good thing.

(Now these pics are from LAST week...I had them ready but for some reason I did not send them...?)

Thelma's "missionary pole"

SIDE JOB for LATER YEARS. As for new skills, Sister Wright and I are the new and upcoming Cable Crew. We're calling ourselves something fancy, but neither of us is creative right now to come up with a name. But we set up Thelma's cable! It was hilarious, and something I never thought I'd do in my life, let alone my mission. So that was a fun ordeal, and hey, you learn something new every day!

week-old kittens!

pre-service at Linda's adventures

how Sister Hood usually drives (kidding)

The best thing I learned though: Sister Wright got into the car and just says, "With our ability to hook up cable combined with the spirit, we can literally comCAST out devils!" :D (She does terrible puns too.) Shoutout to my "mom" (Sister Hood) who got so fed up with me at Walmart for making jokes. This could be a terrible companion combo, or the best thing ever.

...service...

...and more service...

We found a cool covered bridge

more service with Linda

Orchards!

ALL INCLUSIVE. Transfer miracles: it's a thing! Perspectives change, new techniques are learned, and there is a fresh motivation is brought into an area you may have been struggling in, to find more productive things to do. And as always, unexpected things happen. Not even three hours into us knowing each other, and we found a new investigator. Literally just dropped into our laps! We were teaching Thelma and Vivian (yes the cable apartment) and Thelma's worker came in, except it wasn't her usual worker; this was a sub. It was her last day visiting Thelma, before her usual worker came back. But we included her in our discussion, and after talking with her a bit, we asked if she wanted to learn more. And she gave us her address--it was amazing because that never happens! But we're excited to teach her, and test out our teaching skills a bit more on Hannah. She's really cool, and we're just excited to see how it goes with her.

Sacramento River Bridge

 Also this week, we have district meeting as usual, except we have a new missionary! So now, I'm no longer the freshest missionary from the MTC. I am more than a little excited that the focus has shifted to the newest elder, instead of me. But the topic for our District Meeting was chapter 4 of Preach My Gospel (it's a missionary book on the gospel app, that's super helpful for missionaries in particular). That chapter is on recognizing and teaching with the spirit. I got to read a few scriptures on how in our time of teaching, Heavenly Father will literally put words in your mouth that the person you're teaching needs to hear.

service again

LUKE 12:11-12 says, "And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: for the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say."

View from the covered bridge

Covered Bridge again

It's been amazing as I teach out here (that happens sometimes), to talk with investigators or even people who are already members of the church, and come out of a lesson without remembering what I talked about. Or as I'm teaching, being able to recognize that what I'm teaching them is about something I never could have known without the help of the Holy Ghost. Missionaries are so well taken care of by our Heavenly Father. Being out serving others is just as beneficial for the person serving, as it is for other people! I'm excited to see what other experiences I have, and things I can learn from teaching the people out here, about the gospel that has brought me so much joy and helped me grow so much already.

we found a cool plant so of course
I climbed in it

Til next week! I'm sure we'll have some good stories again. We're in Chico, after all. It's where the nuts come from.

(Side note from Mom: Teresa's "nut" comment is not an insult against residents of Chico! FYI Every April, Chico hosts the California Nut Festival. The vast majority of almonds come from California.)

And as Sister Wright says, "Don't let it get you down!" as well as "Remember who you are!"

Sister Whitesell

Hood just loving plants

teresa.whitesell@myldsmail.net
244 B West 20th St.
Chico, CA 95928

3rd Transfer and Maps

Hello, All!

Samsung is working on my tablet this week, so I'm using a loaner the mission office gave me. Technology is wonderful when it works! Then it doesn't, and it's painfully inconvenient. (1st World Problems...)

internet photo...
but Teresa's scriptures probably
look just like this

TRAINING OFFICIALLY OVER. One big thing this week is knowing that I will no longer be training, and Sister Hood is leaving for the Redding 5th Ward, YSA. It's gonna be weird, not having her as my companion anymore. We've had so many miracles, and we've both had so much revelation for each other. I'll miss the companion studies a lot. Hopefully the transition isn't too hard. But thankfully, I am excited to see what the new transfer brings, and all the miracles to come! I may be a little nervous, since I'll be taking over and my "mom" (missionary who trained me) is gone, but hey, every missionary does it!


BLAST from the PAST. Also, at dinner last week someone talked about the "Buttercream Gang" and I just thought I'd mention it. It brought back so many memories, from over a decade ago, when we would watch that sometimes on Sundays! This family who mentioned it said I'm the first missionary to know what it is, ha.

internet photo...
but hot summer COULD look like this

Temperatures are now staying in the 90s instead of the 100s and 110s. Maybe the hottest part of summer is over? Don't want to jinx it though.

I will be at the same address for the next 6 weeks, probably. I doubt I'll be in Chico more than 3 transfers, but with the new mission president, people don't really know how he does things yet.

ROAD TRIP RESULTS. It was really cool to have 2 new investigators (people interested in learning about the gospel of Jesus Christ) this week! We've been working hard and I'm glad it's paying off. The biggest miracle this week was probably our newest investigator Nick. We wanted to drive out to Butte City, out of curiosity, but didn't realize just how long of a drive it would be. We didn't have that much offline map downloaded, to get good directions down there.

(not Teresa's actual car...
this is a cartoon drawing)

The longer we drove, the more we felt bad about wasting time because we didn't mean to take that much time out of the day. But we were already so far out there, we had to finish the trip.

Then when we got there, no one was answering, and we finally got one answer where we were turned down. I figured that's why we were out there, to be one of the missionary contacts for her, even if it wasn't successful. Then...(always that last house)...Hood took a sharp turn in the opposite direction of the car, and we knocked on Nick's friend's door. Nick answered, and the rest is 'investigator history!' (He listened, and wanted to find out more about our message and how he could come closer to Christ.)

Have a good week!
Sister Whitesell
teresa.whitesell@myldsmail.net

244B West 20th St.
Chico, CA 95928

Us is the Mission Mormonaries!

Hello, All--

So I don't have tons of time this week because my tablet broke and I can't draft out an email before P-day unfortunately. I love when technology dies because you literally just use it...yay!

This is a river about 20 minutes from our
apartment. It was an amazing day
so we HAD to stop by it!

I would like to emphasize this week that every mission has its struggles. Often times foreign missions struggle with bad food, getting sick, others have tough living quarters and stuff. As for Northern California: it's heat. Many of you know I love the cold, and kinda struggle with hot, so a few months of 100+ degree weather has been tough.

This is us waiting for a set of Elders we were
going to convoy with. Hood is not taking a
selfie while driving, don't worry

I've dealt with heat rash almost daily on my legs. Basically the itchiness of bug bites, without the bugs. I had the genius idea this week (I know, I've been out here for 2 transfers and I only just thought of this) that maybe there's an ointment for heat rash. Well I learned today that there isn't, so I just have to keep on dealing with it. My body just freaks out in heat--it's a blast!

This is a caterpillar I found while doing service.
It's got a funny tail.

In other news, this week was one of the weirdest weeks of my mission, because last Monday we drove down to Antelope and Rocklin to get a new TIWI, (our electronic reminder to drive safely). That's a one-to-two-hour drive, so we were WAY out of Chico for the day.

Had to take an awkward
sister/elder pic with Goodman!

And I got to see Elder Goodman again! (my mom's cousin's son, Ty Goodman, is serving in my same mission) So cool to see family. And I can just hang out with him throwing a ball or shooting hoops and just talking, without people spreading rumors about us being a thing. (To all those wondering, yes missions have drama like that sometimes. It's a pain, but not a huge thing, so thankfully you don't deal with it much.)

Red is where we went Wednesday,
and blue is where we went last
Monday: almost up and down
the whole mission!

Then Wednesday we had Zone Conference, my first official normal one! Zone Conferences happen once a transfer, usually. It's a longer meeting, where the Mission President talks to the missionaries in a few zones, and we do some role plays and we learn a bunch. They feed us lunch too, since it's usually 9a.m. to 4p.m., or around that time.

Detour to the lake in Redding!

This one happened to be in Redding, a little over an hour north of Chico. To put our week's travels in perspective, we usually put between 200 and 250 miles on the car each week, since our area is a bit bigger. This week, we had 594. It was a TON of driving! But Redding is amazing, and we stopped by a lake on the way home, which was also amazing. It reminded me of what it's like back home a bit.

If my tablet worked, I'd send a picture of where we drove this week, mapped out. I'll have to do that next week, if I can figure out the tablet by then.

Another cool thing I learned this week was a bit of humility. I was a little disappointed, as some missionaries are, to get called to a stateside mission, because I knew I could handle myself better than maybe some other Sister Missionaries in foreign countries.

Hay! (Hood and I thought
it was funny, ok)
P.S. note from Mom: it looks fake
because I quickly photoshopped
the sky blue. The sky was so white
you couldn't tell where the truck
top ended and the sky began

Robbie fell asleep while
we were showing him
a video. Definitely a first,
someone falling asleep
in a lesson...

But, I learned that I'm not here because I can't make it out in some crazy country; I'm here because there's work for me to do here. Heavenly Father has people here that I need to meet and find which is really cool! And I wasn't sure how he'd managed to get all the people I needed to see into this small area of the country. But then another little spiritual "shake" helped me understand that some of the people I'm supposed to help were also called to this mission. So originally, they weren't here but like me, they got called out here. That's so cool! Definitely an eye opener for me.

Struggles of having short arms

Final thing, Thelma, I've talked about her before. We've seen so much progress with her this past month! And now we're at a point where she's helping us teach her roommate Vivian. It's amazing to hear the comments Thelma makes, and the answers she gives to Vivian's questions. You get to see so much cool stuff as missionaries!

There's always more I can put in the emails and it's dumb that my tablet fried itself, not that I had anything important on there, really...it's FINE. (Some of you know the "It's Fine, I'm Fine" thing -- I got a few people to start saying that! ha.)

But hey, keep it real this week! Next week's will have better stories, I promise. Til next time!

Sister Whitesell

teresa.whitesell@myldsmail.net

Sister Whitesell
244 B West 20th St.
Chico, CA 95928

BAPTISM (hick man voice: "Baap-tiz'm)

Hello, All!

I mocked Sister Hood's photo style;
won't ever see another picture like
that from me, probably...

Seems like I'm always starting on a "fail" moment! ha.

This week was a little weird because I have no idea where it went! I didn't have time to do anything too dumb, luckily.

TONGUE PIERCING. But Tuesday (!!) I made the unintentional decision to attempt piercing my tongue. I'm sure you've all tried it at some point, but your brain realizes the stupidity of that choice, and stops you. Well, that registered a bit late for me, so I bit my tongue harder than I ever have in my life, and actually almost went through it! Ugh.

Hood tried to kill a spider and missed,
but made a nice footprint on the wall

I looked at it in the mirror after slamming my fist on the table (because...it hurt). I had 2 teethmarks on the top and bottom of my tongue, just gashes that went pretty far into my tongue...I bit a nerve ending in half, too, so it's taken all week to heal, and it still feels weird. Love that!

Exchanges with the one and only
Orton, we had a blast

TRADE FOR A DAY. This week was "exchanges." We occasionally take a day and switch companions, to get an experience working with other missionaries in the district. I got to be with the Spanish Sister Orton! I guess they figured they'd put New England missionaries together, since she's from New Hampshire. She's cousins with the Hutchins, for anyone who knows our stake (region around Boston) back home.

She's awesome, and we had a blast the whole day. We saw plenty of miracles, and I got a taste of what it will be like in a few weeks, when my "mom" (Sister Hood, the missionary who has trained me) leaves :(  But that's okay! It was a fun day, and Orton got to experience some Linda service too. Much better than quilting!

There are some ridiculously large cacti out here

DOGS FEEL IT TOO. Just wanna to point out puppies, and how much I love dogs! 2 cool things. One time during a lesson, we were talking about Joseph Smith's revelation experiences, and when we got to a more spiritual part, the investigators' dogs stopped wrestling and calmed down. It was so amazing!

Service Day at Linda's, with Sister Orton

2nd thing. We see this girl walking her dog almost every day when we run, and this 1 1/2 year old German Shepherd puppy just gets so excited to see us, and we finally got to talk to her! She commented how usually her puppy isn't friendly to strangers, and is very protective, but for some reason always gets super excited when she sees us! :) Hood and I know it's because of the spirit. Dogs notice it. Dogs are the best!!

We knocked on a door and
this puppy shoved his face up
against the window, to
move the blinds to see us

PREPARING FOR BAPTISM. I don't know how much I've talked about Pam, but to summarize, she is the purest soul I have ever met. She has a mental slowness, which makes her process things a little slower, and it's a little harder for her to communicate. But she's very accountable, and is very aware of everything.

She had her baptismal interview this week, and that was definitely a time when I felt the spirit stronger than usual. That is a set of questions the person getting baptized needs to answer, to make sure they understand what it is they are doing, and what exactly they committing to. When people are baptized, they take upon them the name of Jesus Christ, and promise to keep God's commandments. They can always have his spirit with them if they stay close to God through prayer.

Another sister's bike is in the
apartment and was returned
to her this week, so in the moving
process I had to at least pretend!

The District Leader felt prompted to adjust the baptismal questions so that she could answer them all with understanding and show her accountability. Pam asked Sister Hood and I to sit in on the interview, so she'd feel more comfortable. Usually we wouldn't have been there. I've rarely felt so much love for someone. The spirit was so strong!

Service day

Then Saturday came along :) my first baptism! Only get one of those...even with the power of it being my first, I know it's one of the most powerful baptisms I'll have the opportunity to attend. I felt the spirit flood the room as we started to sing "When I am Baptized." I love that song so much!

As Sister Ward started to give a talk about baptism, Pam started to cry too, and it made my heart so full to know how excited she was, and how strongly she felt the spirit! When Sister Hood and I got to walk her to the font, she just had tears pouring down her face, and you could tell she felt the power of the Holy Ghost.

PAM Baptism!!

During the baptism, even the relatively noisy baby in the room just stopped and watched. The same thing happened as Sister Hood talked about the First Vision during the short "lesson" the missionaries give while the person being baptized dries off and puts their dry clothes on. It was amazing.

Another baptism picture :)

HAND PICKED. Then Bishop Hawkley (the leader of the congregation) closed the meeting and said something that I absolutely loved and needed to hear. He said we were hand picked to come to the Roseville Mission at this time, and put into our companionship in the Chico area to teach Pam. I know that Pam is someone that Sister Hood and I had promised to find here. It was amazing to have that inclination, and then get it confirmed through the Bishop. Definitely a baptism I'll never forget!

IMPORTANT SCRIPTURE. The scripture that had the most impact for me this week was from the Book of Mormon, Ether 12:6. It talks about the trials of your faith. I've gotten pretty comfortable with recognizing the spirit a certain way, and it's made it almost difficult to recognize the other promptings I receive, since I have my comfort zone and I like staying in it.

Serving with Linda: we weeded that whole
section Hood is standing in front of:
SO SATISFYING!! :) :)

NEW WAYS TO LISTEN. This week I was kind of given a 'block' on my usual way of feeling the spirit, which pushed me a lot harder than I thought. After the trial, though, I was able to come out of it a lot stronger and well-balanced! Often times we won't understand why something is going on at the time. But once we make it through that trial, we'll be so much more blessed for our actions during that trial.

Durham again: lots of orchards and tractors!

Good luck this week! Try not to melt, or dread school, which starts soon for some people I know. And, send some rain this way if you can!

Sister Whitesell

teresa.whitesell@myldsmail.net

244 B West 20th St.
Chico, CA  95928