Check Your Speed

A church member gave us
ridiculously long Otter Pops for dessert

Hello again--



It's come around to another P-Day! At this point I can't tell if the weeks go by quickly or slowly, but they do go by! So I figure I'll start with some of the funnier things that happened. Sister Hood and I are always making new jokes or just doing ridiculous things to help make everything less stressful, so it's fun :)

Twinning on P-day

"Tag Pictures" instead of selfies,
since I'm terrible at selfies...

Party on the dam

The views on the hike were amazing!
It was so good just to be outside, and it
was a great day for it, too: not too hot!
Sister Hood got lobster red, though!

Party on the dam closer up

Mom: Elder Goodman found me at
the last Zone Conference! Totally
didn't recognize him at first. Haha,
crazy how my second cousin is in
the same mission!

And the Buttes: this is the smallest mountain range
in the world. It's not even a few miles long,
plopped in the middle of Northern California.
It's funny, but also sad how small they are.
They tried!

Crazy Cool Book of Mormon
a member's neighbor had!

A member family took us out to Olive Garden for dinner. After awhile of exchanging stories and getting to know the family/still introduce myself (I've talked so much more than Sister Hood has, because I'm the new greenie), the daughter wanted to know more about us. She started with the usual comment of "I want to know more about you guys," followed by her looking at Sister Hood, and waving her hand towards me and saying, "She's the interesting one; tell me about YOU" and I died laughing. Hood got fake offended, and the daughter got super embarrassed. But it's okay, we're all still friends, and I'm content being the Interesting One!

Me having fun with the underwater
aspect of the camera

Believe it or not, missions are hard. I put in a lot of the funny stuff that happens, but really, my American Heritage class that I almost failed, was easier than the mission is at times. These past few weeks, I actually had a bit of a hiccup in my ability to be inspired by the spirit, and really know what to teach or do. I was just following along with whatever Sister Hood did, not really getting much out of it. But, I am learning the power of prayer, and asking Heavenly Father for help, which I haven't done super well with in the past. Never too late to start, though! I am learning that He does answer prayers, because the miracles we saw the next day were mind-blowing!

Goofing around last P-day on our hike

I was able to feel the spirit a lot of the day, and some really cool things happened. First, the lady we were supposed to teach in the morning decided against opening her door, so we planned to return later. Then, our usual Friday afternoon lesson also got cancelled, so we had some extra time to try to contact a few people during her time slot.

We went to a laundromat to find a lady we teach, and she wasn't there. But as we were walking out the door, Sister Hood told me, "Give that woman your book." I hadn't even noticed her, but she was sitting on the bench with her own book.

I made a friend while weeding; he danced a little
for us too, by swaying  back and forth on my hand
because of course I picked him up!

I turned around and said, "Hey, I see you're reading a cool book. Can we give you another one to add to your material?" And let me tell you, the Lord prepares people because what kind of a terrible pickup line is that? But she was very open, and more than willing to take it! We talked for a minute or two and left, but it was amazing to give her the book! And I'm still not wonderful at just talking to people, but at least I know I'm not doing everything alone.

Second miracle: we were going to try and contact another lady, and through her intercom she expressed very clearly that she didn't want anything to do with us. There was a man (call him Jeff) sitting on the bench nearby, and I felt like we needed to talk to him. Sister Hood and I walked over and we got to know him a bit. Just as we were getting ready to introduce the Book of Mormon, a crazy old guy walked out and started bashing on Mormons and our beliefs, and saying the Book of Mormon wasn't true.

After being Cinderella for a few hours, and
scrubbing a floor (prep) for it to be waxed later

Jeff walked away, but still hovered a ways away down the sidewalk. We did our best to make our conversation with the old man short, because I swear if Jeff walked off, I wasn't going to be happy with Crazy Dude over here. But JEFF STAYED, and kept talking to us! And he was totally looking for a church to help figure his life out! So, we'll meet with him this week. So cool.

Same hike as earlier picture

Third that I'll talk about (but definitely not the last) was we went back to the lady's house that didn't show that morning, and knocked, and her daughter answered. She's totally trying to find a church too, that isn't judgmental, since she's got purple and green hair, and some tattoos. So, we're teaching her and her mom this week, as well! Side note: all of you know that I'm not the kind of person to greet someone with: "I love your shoes!" or "Your outfit looks amazing today!" kind of thing, because that's just not me. But for some reason, a few minutes in, I told her that I really liked her hair. She mentioned later that her church judges her for stuff like her hair. Mini miracle within the greater miracle there.

A huge tree fell in a church member's backyard so
we got to help clean it up! Cool story: the guy brushed
off anyone using the chainsaw, because neither of the
Elders really had used one before. I got to speak up
and mention that I was Chainsaw Certified, from my
class at BYU, and I was the only one who got to
use it! Kinda fun to rub it in the Elders' faces. The
member said he trusted me, so I got to cut a few
things up :D (I was careful, Mom -- used my
sunglasses as goggles -- don't worry!

I'm still surviving, grateful to be an instrument in the Lord's hand, and totally couldn't do any of this without Him.

Check Your Speed. In our car, we have a system called TIWI (Twald is the full name we gave him), and it makes sure we don't go too fast or drive too aggressively. It sends "violations" to the mission office if you are not a good driver, and it's funny because we constantly hear him saying "Check your speed" in the robot voice. The other meaning there: my big lesson this week was patience.

Everything happens on Heavenly Father's time table, including the obstacles/blocks that you have. If we trust Him, we can make it through anything! We have to be patient, not only with others, but also with ourselves. Don't beat yourself up if you mess up. You wouldn't yell at a child for falling after his first steps, so don't yell at yourself for making a mistake. Patience.

more cool underwater camera fun

Final story: in the middle of Miracle Friday, we knocked on a door looking for someone. This big bald guy opened the door, glaring, and immediately started yelling at us, and cussing us out. He even told us "kick rocks," then proceeded to slam the door and hit it after it was shut. Sister Hood and I struggled to hold back laughter...what makes someone so angry that two 20-ish year old girls intimidate them? I'll never know.

(Side note from Mom: I had to look up "kick rocks," having never heard it before. It is urban slang, a dismissal meaning "leave," "go away," or "take a hike." When people walk down a gravel path, they might kick the rocks in the path.)

Good luck with everyone's week!
More adventures to come, and I love hearing what's going on in your lives!
And letters...never opposed to those...just sayin' :) Hang loose!

teresa.whitesell@myldsmail.net

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