The egg came first

Three-way exchange! The rule: don't stand
next to your companion (unplanned)

And there you have it: the answer to the lifelong mystery, childhood drama, eternally debated question of which came first, the chicken or the egg. We were finally, after years of study, able to come to the conclusion that it is indeed the egg. The answer? Spoken from the mouth of a 5-year-old!

biking fiasco

Welcome back to another week of the crazy perspective of missionary life from Sister Whitesell. It is somehow Monday again already. This has been one of those weeks where every day, it's hit 8 p.m. and I have no idea how I got there, or where the energy to do it came from, or how so many miracles and tender mercies fit into such a short day! Seriously though, time is moving way too fast. And yet He makes it all worth it by filling the days with things that bring joy, or trials that bring growth!

BIG ROCKS. So as you know, we picked up the YSA Ward (Young Single Adult congregation). The mixing of schedules has caused us to spend this whole week going back to back meetings, contacts, lessons, and service. Everything we did was with a purpose, those "big rocks" they tell you to put into the jar first so everything else fits in. But even by putting in the big rocks first, there were still important things we had to do left over! Thankfully, Heavenly Father's plan is perfect as long as we do what He guides us to, then we can know we're doing all we need to.

if I was a garden

STILL THIRSTY. I'm deciding this week to only put in a tiny Sister Whitesell moment, and leave the big moments to Sister Evans and Thueson (their bike story later)! My moment was last night at dinner, end of the week, I'm exhausted but so, so happy, and my brain shuts off for some of those smaller things. I went to drink some water, tipped the cup up, and kept tipping only to realize that the water I drank 2 minutes previously was sitting in its water bottle an inch to the LEFT of my cup, instead of IN my cup...I promise you I'm fine.

car comp study, since we didn't
have time for it anywhere else

BIKER RESCUE. But the most entertaining adventure of the week goes to the mission's newest "biking" sisters! Rule of thumb, if you've never biked on your mission before, don't try it for the FIRST time:
*in 103 degree weather when
*you need to make it to a meeting by a certain time.

The Zone leaders and Sister Culley and I (we were on exchanges) were waiting for the other sisters to get there. We waited, and waited a little more, until finally about 30 minutes past our start time we got a call!

ALSO CC IS PREGNANT AND
THEY WANTED TO TELL ME
IN PERSON AH!!!!
IFEOJ;WAHGEWAJ;KDFLS

The other sisters explained: they had decided that they didn't have enough miles for the last 3 days, and that biking for the first time on their mission to the meeting a whole town over, would be a good idea. Well, they took a wrong turn, one of them got heat exhaustion, and we had to rescue them from the side of the road about a mile and a half from our meeting place. Needless to say, "30 minutes of stretching in the morning does not keep you in shape!" (quote Sister Evans.) That was quite the adventure, and added to the joys of the week :)

P.S. = PETTEY SHOUTOUT. On his greenie bag dropoff route, he stopped by to say hey to Sister Culley and I! It's been over 2 weeks since I last saw him; I was getting a little worried there.

Okay, two HUGE miracles and highlights of the week for me! To preface, this has been one of the most insane weeks of my entire mission, and I've never been more exhausted in my life, but I've also not felt as much joy as I have consistently over the past few days, in awhile either!

On Wednesday morning I was tired and not excited which I thought was lame,

Bro Pettey!

cause I'm a missionary doing one of my favorite things I could be doing, and I was too tired to enjoy it! So I did what has become my go-to and I prayed. I prayed about finding joy, and having the energy and strength to recognize it. All I needed was one happy thing to get me through the week, so He gave me 17 miraculous events, and countless more of the "little things" that I always talk about loving so much.

LESSON ON PRAYER. Not 10 minutes after I said my prayer for help, I got one of the happiest texts I've had in a LONG time! Nicole Taylor, one of my favorite humans who we've been trying to meet with for 6 1/2 weeks, responded to our text with "yes that's fine. I should be free for a quick lesson." That's it, that's all it took to get me motivated and excited for the day because Nicole said we could come over! Sister Tuha thought I was insane as I started spinning in my desk chair with how excited I was. And the lesson was nothing less than I imagined it to be, because I love her a lot more than I ever thought I would and the spirit there was amazing!

Super smokey this whole week, smells
like a campfire when you walk outside,
pray for those in Redding with the fires :(

The coolest part? Nicole mentioned a couple of minutes after we came in that she was going to cancel on us, but something told her she should just have the lesson. I was then able to testify to her that SHE was an answer to a desperate prayer I'd given that morning, and the joy I'd felt from her simple communication was more than she'll probably ever realize!

MAKING A DIFFERENCE. The second thing: This past week, I've been reflecting on missionary work and the impact we make. My mind was doing a very good job of assuming that the teaching I'd done with certain people could have been done by ANY missionary, and that the change they made in my life meant a lot more to me than I ever would to them. Not great, I know, but sometimes when you're tired you come up with stuff like that. Well, Heavenly Father is against those thoughts too; He helped let a certain someone know that, and prompted her to take some action.

Sitting in church, I was glancing around trying to see if any people we're teaching would come in. A minute or two after Sacrament Meeting starts, I look to the back left door and in walks CC and Dallin! YEAH THOSE TWO FROM BACK IN FEBRUARYISH! I got so excited, and made sure they knew I wanted to talk to them after, so they wouldn't run off. Little did I know that they had no plans of leaving early.

throwback a bit, Sister Swensen and I moving the
foyer into the gym for more comfort

I asked what they were doing in the area. They said they'd come to visit from their Lincoln ward to see me! CC had stalked my blog (hey CC yup, you get a shoutout this time) and figured out what ward I was in and they came by :) It was a needed visit that strengthened me more than Dallin and CC will probably ever know. Heavenly Father is very aware of you and what you need, and will often use others to answer prayers!

post bike rescue!

JOY TO LAST A LIFETIME. The biggest thing I learned this week was that joy, that pure and eternal happiness, comes through the spirit. When we feel the spirit, then we have joy. I had so many experiences these past few days alone that have brought enough joy to last me a lifetime! He knows us so well, and knew that this would be an exhausting week for me, and there were times where it took every ounce of energy to stay focused and keep my eyes open. Yet despite that I still had the energy to smile, because my spirit was so happy about the miracles happening and connections being made.

I love this work and know that this gospel of Jesus Christ is true! He wants each of us to come home, and is doing everything He can to get us there.

Sister Curtis and I accidentally
stained a driveway and
the mark is still there...oops!

Make sure to take time this week to look for the others He uses to help you. And you can strive to be someone He can guide, to help someone else! You never know the impact you'll make in someone's life!

Sister Whitesell

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