Dogs barking, Cats calling, and Lizards doing pushups

Hello from the northwest!

FRIENDLY FACES. There are so many more lizards coming out again, which I love! One even came out of hiding while I was doing service and hung around for a bit, running around to make sure I still knew he was there :)

COPING WITH NEEDLES. This morning I had my fillings redone, and Brother Pettey is amazing! I don't do well with needles and all that, which is a lame fear that I developed in my early teens. But today I was so determined to NOT freak out because there's nothing scary about it, and I'm really comfortable with Dr. Pettey anyway.

Yep, just had to buy these

Well, I got in the chair and he asked if I was ready, and then he put the needle in my mouth and I forced myself to stay relaxed and just breathe deeper, and he finished...then magic! I was totally fine!  For like 3 minutes. Then I felt the light-headedness kick in a little. But I was still calm, and in control, and just asked him to lower the chair a bit, and it was so good! Leaps and bounds! I'll get over the fear someday. But he did a good job, and now I have 4 fillings done by him. We'll see if anything else comes up, but I think that's part of the reason I stayed south this transfer.

One more visit to my favorite dentist

LEARNING THROUGH PRAYER. Okay, final amazing miracle. I've been practicing in my nightly prayer to be guided by the spirit. Always of course praying until I recognize the spirit, but then taking it further and following the "spirit trail" (one prompting/thought leads to another, then another). Well, Friday night I felt like I should pray that we'd be led to someone willing to hear the gospel, and I'd follow every prompting.

my new friend says hello

Saturday at one point I felt like we needed to knock a certain door, no one answered so we continued on. BUT, then Sister Curtis followed a prompting to visit a potential (someone who had expressed interest before), and SHE said she'd like to continue lessons after finals were over! So that was amazing, to see that prayer answered!

I knew I could find some of these...
now our room looks like
the night sky

Then Saturday night, the spirit was pretty strong because it had been a good day, and I had the image come to mind of someone random coming to church. Someone who we had NOT prepared or asked to come, walking in the door and being there. That is unheard of, since you know people don't just "do" that. Plus, we had run out of time to really invite some of the people we usually invite, to church, so I was kind of unsure.

Can't NOT take
a shoulders photo
with my new companion :)

But I prayed for it and dwelled on it some, and ended the prayer and wrote in my journal. I was a little nervous the next day and didn't want to get my hopes up, if the prayer wasn't going to be answered in the way I expected. I couldn't even gather the courage to tell Sister Curtis about it because it is so uncommon that that happens.

Bikes! Yes, riding them as often as possible

Well before church started, a recent convert and her boyfriend walked in with a man in a nicer polo shirt and jeans, her dad (I would learn later). Guess what, he's not a member and it was his 2nd time to church ever, and he came to Sunday School too and even participated...it was SO amazing to see that prayer answered! A nonmember who we didn't even know and had been prepared to come to church! They left after 2nd hour so we couldn't talk to them, but it was such a cool miracle. Definitely strengthened my testimony of prayer.

Another tree-climbing
missionary pic

Anyway, amazing week, lots of spiritual uplift, and I'm so excited to see what next week brings! I love the area and the people, and we're adjusting to the work to focus more on members, and having them do the missionary work, which is how it's supposed to be in the first place :)

GOOD THINGS AHEAD. Here in Roseville, we really have to start using the members. It's gonna be super cool to have them help us, and get involved in everything! There are some very missionary-minded families, and some that aren't as much, but we're figuring out a family mission plan to present so that each family can do work in a way that best fits their strengths so I'm excited!

Missionary work takes a lot of effort and is hard sometimes but I'm so happy! Sister Curtis has been such a miracle and a blessing to me, and I've been able to grow so much, spiritually, with her. I'm just excited to see what we can do next, and it's lame that we're already halfway through the transfer because she's amazing!


Stay strong and keep killin' it--
Sister Whitesell

teresa.whitesell@myldsmail.net
5 Marcia Way Apt 131
Roseville, CA 95747