Dearly Beloved

We are gathered here today to mourn the tragic passing of this transfer. The lessons and chaos it taught will never be forgotten, but not missed. But the people I met and companions it brought gave priceless memories, timeless adventures, and instability that can only give someone the reasoning "There's no growth in the comfort zone." Your 5 weeks provided 5 companions, 5 days with areabook, 5 areas during my 5th transfer, and will leave me with 5 dead (gone home) companions (of the 9 Sister Whitesell has been so blessed with).

Santa!

Sister Hatch taught me that even when the work is difficult in a new area, you can persevere and find joy.

Sister Thorum showed me how to be yourself as a missionary, and that sometimes diligence is the necessary key for the work.

Sister Andersen gave me a perspective of positivity and made my transition to my final destination much easier than it could have otherwise been.

All 3 stayed strong until the end and showed me how to serve to your best capacity.

Sister Chamberlain! It made me
so happy!

The other 2 are thankfully still going to be here for another little while with me.
(Okay, I'm done with my dramatic eulogy for now :) )

Guys it's Monday! This week was another stellar week!

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS. Hopefully all of you are really getting into the Christmas Spirit like they are here in Rocklin. Just some background: Rocklin is known for having a bit of money, so there are tons of people who go all out with their Christmas lights, which I'm totally fine with!

Most of my companions from this transfer
(L to R: Swenson, Johnson, Thorum, Andersen)

Good News. Since it's the end of the transfer (well, good AND bad, since I hate sending people home), I now know what I'll be doing for the next 7 weeks and for now, should not have any uncertainties about where I'm staying and who I'll be with!

SAME AREA. I'll be in the Rocklin YSA (Young Single Adult) ward/congregation for at least another transfer with Sister Johnson, who has very quickly become one of my best friends, and I'm so excited to see what we'll get to do with the area. If all of this sounds cheesy positive, it's just cause I'm PUMPED and happy about it. Anyways, on to the craziness of this week.

Us pretending we're normal for a picture

NEW PEOPLE. We had not one, but TWO exchanges this week, because one of the mission rules is that every Sister missionary goes on an exchange with one of the Sister training leaders, and it can't be your companion. So on Monday night I created yet another trio (this is like 6 or 7 if you're including exchanges, I've lost track), but we had an amazing day and Sister Johnson and Walker actually picked up a new YSA investigator! We have 2 Lauren investigators now, and you guys all know how good I am with names, so having the same name only confused me more regarding which Lauren we were talking about, but hey it's all good.

As promised, Sister Andersen on my
shoulders! Shoutout to Sister Walker
on the far right

REJECTION OF THE WEEK. Or area, or transfer, or however you want to rate it, but this was one of the best I've had :) My turn for exchanges was Thursday with Sister Walker, and since it's a 24 hour thing, we did dinner Wednesday to dinner Thursday. Well, we got a few good contacts in, and had zero normal interactions with people Wednesday evening. The best, though, was we went to go talk to a former investigator. In her defense, it was getting close to 9, but still that's not justifiable for her reaction.

We knocked on the door quietly and waited a minute. Then all of a sudden we hear a SLAM of a fist on the back of the door, that's strong enough to make the door knocker rattle a few times. "WHO IS IT!" We take a second to regroup. "It's the Sister missionaries." "NOT INTERESTED!!" We didn't take our time running back to the car because we could barely hold back the laughter. Honestly it's the rejections like that that make all the other rejections worth it.

Exchanges! (one of them)

You have to find joy in the little things, and getting a good rejection at the end of a long day can sometimes be all you need to make it through the next day! I know it sounds backwards, but it's true. Sister Walker and I had an amazing day, and worked hard while having fun. Even got Rocklin 5th Ward a new investigator. Miracles!

TENDER MERCIES. Speaking of miracles (see that transition: so smooth), I ran into someone I never expected to this week! Before I left, Lexie Chamberlain (currently on a mission), one of my adventure buddies in college and in my major, told me that her family was moving to Rocklin from Texas. I had actually kind of forgotten that they were in the mission, because I figured it was so unlikely that I'd run into them.

Raking party: I promise
Sister Andersen had fun

Well Friday we did our weekly planning at the church, and Rocklin 1st Ward was setting up for their Christmas party. This nice lady comes up to me and Sister Johnson (Sister Andersen was at the temple since she's being rude and leaving us) and asks us our names. "Sister Whitesell." "...Teresa? Teresa Whitesell?"

*confusion at the fact that a stranger knows my first name*

"Yes?" "I'm Sister Chamberlain, Lexie's mom!!" And so we got to just talk for a bit, and it was a huge tender mercy that I was so grateful for!

The Rocklin 1st Ward went all-out
for their Christmas Party!

YARD WORK. One thing we've been doing in this area with the other sisters that live in our complex is raking. Some ward members gave us rakes. We find a house in our neighborhood that needs raking, and get to work. It's actually been really fun and productive, believe it or not. But the coolest miracle with it so far was when we went to a former investigator's house and got to work.

About halfway through, the mom opened the door and asked, "Who sent you?" as she cried at the service. Later, we got a voicemail from her, telling us that that morning before we came, her husband had lost his job and they'd had to cancel the gardener because they couldn't afford it. She said she didn't know how we'd happened to come that day, but I know it wasn't a coincidence. It's moments like that where I'm so grateful to be a missionary and out doing hard work. It's hard a lot of the time, but then it's also so worth it when you have those moments of pure joy from seeing the fruits of your labors.

Polar Express theme...

Take the time to do a little service this season! Today's message is about forgiveness. I know that as we forgive others, we're giving them the opportunity to be relieved from guilt. In turn, we get to feel some of that Christ-like love that He has for each one of us! As Christmas gets closer, we tend to be caught up in the physical gifts. On a mission, I get to be caught up in the gifts we can't hold, and see a completely new side of a holiday I love!

...plus a tri-tip/funeral potatoes/
salad/roll dinner!

Don't give up; you're helping someone more than you know! Good luck this week and of course, thank you for all the support and updates :)

Sister Whitesell
teresa.whitesell@myldsmail.net

Sister Whitesell
2013 Meridian Way
Rocklin, CA 95765