Tis the Season

Durham sign, since we get to go there
a few times a week. It's a town of
orchards!

Look at that, it's P-day again--
Weeks out here are funny, where they simultaneously fly by and drag on for eternities!

We see these birds on the pole all the time, so we
made up gatherings for each day.
Mon-Pday, Tue-mutual, Wed-District Meeting
Thu-Arp but for aiming for cars from their perch
Fri-Weekly planning, Sat-?, Sun-Relief Society

having photo fun with stuff in trunk

Durham

But, I wanted to start out with a Linda Appreciation paragraph. Everyone needs a Linda. She's the missionary angel out here in Chico 5th. First, she feeds us every Tuesday, and on top of that, we get to do amazing service activities with her on Tuesdays and Thursdays! Like tearing down walls, ripping up rooftops, yardwork...I used a handsaw this week. Crazy things like that, never the same. Aahh, she's the best!

Knocking a hole in Linda's wall!

Gardening and hand sanitizer don't mix well, let me tell you. We pulled up half of Linda's yard Thursday and I got a nice cut about half an inch long. I rubbed some dirt in it (because I didn't notice it was there until later), and continued pulling weeds. I washed my hands later -- it is so satisfying to wash your hands and see the dirty water coming off your hands -- it means you actually worked! Later I decided to sanitize my hands again after using a gross laptop, and then I discovered my cut. The cut can hold a lot of sanitizer, and I've never been in so much pain suddenly, from such a tiny thing! Sister Hood laughed at me. Moral of the story: pour sanitizer on all your cuts, they will heal faster (joke, joke: don't do it :0 :0)

Our dinky phones still have
autocorrect...

Also we had a pet again: Debra was out of town for a whole week this time! We got to feed Kaia, and let her in and out. One of her friends came over to walk her, since as missionaries we don't have time for that, unfortunately. But I got to be Dog Food Chef again! Memory flashbacks, of when I worked at the dog shelter. Sister Hood let me do all the dog food prep, since it grossed her out a little. I've mixed a lot grosser dog food than that! It was a good job for me.

Dinner Party! Hood, me, S. Bohan, S. Davis,
S. Ward, S. Lorber: Huge Otter Pops again!

This week has been crazy, with finding people, non-coincidental encounters (I think there's a reason behind most encounters), working with less active people, and the like. We found a new best way to find people, and that's taking lists of "less actives" (people who haven't been to church in awhile) and visiting them. If they don't answer the door, we knock on a few neighboring doors. We actually found 3 people that way, in 1 day! It's so crazy how missionary work works out like that.

This is Linda: can't remember why the
napkins like that

One cool experience this week. We were planning on going to the house of one of our investigators, whose mom has not been to church in over a decade. We walk up to the house and B (just using initials for people we teach) is there, and welcomes us, and sits us down in a corner of her front yard (her house is on a sort of busy street, and it gets loud sometimes).

me backing, in the car's backup cam

She had been having a rough past few days, which had led her to question whether God is there. She'd never questioned that before. We talked with her, and suggested that praying about it might be good. We've all wondered things before, and that she shouldn't feel bad about that. We convinced her to actually ask that question in the prayer. Then we showed her the Prince of Peace (such a great video, from Easter time this year, you should really watch it!) and she started crying. She expressed her gratitude, telling us that we helped answer the question about God, and that our timing was perfect to come visit her. And as I watched her heart re-open during that video, it hit me that this is why we are here. This is why I am here as a missionary, to bring joy to people by reminding them of Christ. It was an amazing experience, and she even committed to coming to church again, for the first time in a decade. What a neat lady and experience.

Tis the season to take down
Christmas Lights!! In July??

My biggest lesson this week was about Hard Work. When we do what we're supposed to, and put in the effort and do the work, we will be blessed for it. On Friday we had Weekly Planning. It's basically a huge chunk of time we take, to plan lessons for the people we'll teach the next week. We also fill in the empty spaces where we can, in our area book calendars. It takes more time than you think it would, like hours. It's kind of long and drags on, but it's necessary, and it makes the next week so much easier.

Hood is now all the colors you can be!
We were in the sun for like 15 min!
Neapolitan, anyone?

During this planning time, neither Sister Hood nor I were feeling motivated at all, but we were plugging along anyway. A little before we finished, we got a text from a new investigator: "When and where are your services on Sunday?" (WHAT??!) And, as we were hyped about that, someone we were trying to contact since I got here 7 weeks ago sent a big paragraph text asking when and where church was, and if there were lessons at the church that she could take! Blessings for diligence. In case you didn't know, we NEVER get direct texts like that!

finding a nice spot to lay in

figured we'd "park some other
missionaries in"

J actually came to church and we had an amazing lesson with him. He's already had times where he knows his life was directed down a different path, because he prayed to know if his current direction was what God wanted for him. So cool!

Final cool story: sometimes we read some from the Book of Mormon, with people who haven't come to church in awhile. Today we visited an older lady member in a care facility. She's pretty sharp, mentally, and she invited her Mormon friend across the hall (what are the odds that there would be 2 Mormons in the same small facility?) to join us. We got to read with them. Guess what, she is 95 and he's 101! Reading like pros and still loving it. It was wonderful to feel the strong and peaceful spirit as we read. There's no age limit on feeling the spirit, guys: they're still going strong!

we never park in actual spots, when we know
we'll be the only ones there...what's
the fun in staying in the lines?

Stay cool, wherever you are! It's been over 100 almost every day since our week of the Heat Wave, about a month ago when I mentioned that. I'm melting, it's fine. I'm fine. But stay positive! That's called Smile Therapy, as I've learned from a good friend :) Just smile through the gritted teeth, until you're actually enjoying what you do. It works...it's hard, but it works.

The bush is still dented where Sister Hood sat...
whoops

And as always, I love hearing from people! Be smart, be happy, be lieve! (or something along those lines)

Sister Whitesell

teresa.whitesell@myldsmail.net

244 West 20th St. Apt. B
Chico, CA  95928