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