There are too many

look at Mount Shasta!

(The following are all potential titles for this week, 'cause there's no way to explain everything...)

"A Warm Welcome to Mount Shasta"

"Through the Fire and Flames"

"Welcome to...Corning?"

"Where's the fire? There it is!"

"A reverent sorority"


"Wrightsell 2.0"

"The most interesting sisters in the mission"

"Not the adventure we wanted but the adventure we got"

"Sister Kemp what did you pray for?"

up close and personal with
the plume from the Delta Fire

"We literally owe you the clothes off our backs"

"Holy Smokes!!"

I think it's safe to say this has been the craziest week of my mission so far! But there have been so many miracles and new friends that have come from it.

If Sister Kemp and I were
companions the world would
explode, so we figured
it'd be okay not to be comps

SO, take a seat, grab some popcorn, and enjoy the story of how I ran from the flames and into my trainer's first area: Corning!

waiting in the car in Corning

Believe it or not, there have been a few fires in northern California...

Sister Wright today, and a year ago!
Now I can say I've been companions with both:)

the first night of evacuations, leading
to a living room "sleepover"

TRANSFER TUESDAY. But MY Tuesday was a regular Transfer Tuesday that took me from Roseville to Mt. Shasta, thanks to some amazing members who drove us. I even got to be with Sister Swensen and King and Kemp for a few hours which was glorious, I love them so much! We each got on our respective rameumptoms (high tower or stand) and shared bits of our past transfer.

when you carry
the full weight of the companionship

TANGENT. BTW, transfers also hurt sometimes, because you leave parts of your heart in your old areas. I loved Roseville 6th so much, and the connections I made were so much stronger than I ever expected! Also, leaving Sisters Tuha, Johnson, and Hales was so much harder than I wanted it to be but I survived.

Even the playground celebrates
Sister Taylor's birthday

Sister Swensen! One perk of transfers
is seeing some friends

So, we got to Mt. Shasta and let me tell you I know for a fact it's where I need to be! For 14 hours apparently. We got there about 7 Tuesday night, and it felt like a dream. I love it so much!! Then, we left a little after 9 the next morning to drive for an hour to district meeting because we live in the middle of nowhere compared to other missionaries (which is kind of amazing). The drive was gorgeous, the skies had cleared and the mountains were stunning!

Sister Hales and Johnson sending a
subliminal message that I
shouldn't leave

UP IN SMOKE. Then, after district council we headed back home, straight towards a huge plume of smoke. We got about halfway home when suddenly traffic came to a halt. We were directed off the freeway and instructed to immediately drive south. We called President Ward as we started to realize the magnitude of the situation, and canceled our appointments for the day as we drove south. The closest sisters? An hour and a half away in Corning: Sister Manning and Sister Wright, who would quickly become two amazing new friends and companions.

YOLO?
Welcome to our companionship

We stayed with them the rest of the day Wednesday, and called President Ward that evening for a check-in as well as the following morning. The news? We weren't going to be leaving for awhile. This left us in Corning for who knows how long, with the clothes on our backs and our proselyting bags. If anything, it's taught me I don't need much to live off of!

So far, it's been an adventure and a half, and definitely the craziest start to any transfer I've had so far. Sisters Manning and Wright have been amazingly generous, and some members dropped off some air mattresses. Oh, and Sister Taylor impulse-bought a hammock while we were at WalMart, so she's been sleeping in that for the past 4 nights!

I held a bird and pet so many dogs
this week! Including a small bear
(Malamute) one morning in Shasta

STILL EVACUATED. Our evacuation has lasted 5 1/2 days and counting. There have been so many miracles here, and we've both been successful in looking for reasons why we so perfectly ended up in Corning. Sister Taylor and I are counting Sisters Wright and Manning as companions 20 and 21. Between the two of us, we've had that many comps. We've both had crazy missions, and now we have an evacuation to add to the list!

"get you someone who looks at you the way
Sister Whitesell looks at me" --Sister Wright

Thankfully, we were able to join in on a lot of the work that the sisters had, and then on Saturday we planned a 'double day' and I went on exchanges with Sister Wright. Wrightsell is back at it! We saw so many miracles and had the opportunity to do what He needed us to! Plus, Sister Wright is amazing and I love her so stinkin' much. We had fun all day, and the work was so much better because of the attitudes we had! In such a crazy situation all you can do is laugh about it, and be sarcastic. Sister Taylor is pretty good at the sarcasm too so we had that covered.

Late Night Pancakes! We got honey from a
member and needed something to put them on

FORTNITE. But, one of the coolest things from Saturday was our lesson with David. He's someone the sisters have been working with but he is super quiet, a shy 12-year-old and just needed to strengthen his testimony but never opened up. So naturally, Sister Wright and I went in and talked to him about video games, particularly Fortnite. (Sister Johnson, sometimes good CAN come from that game)

hammocks, airbeds and bunkbeds

It's all I've heard about since January or whenever it came out, so we assumed he played it. Which, he did! Our lesson? Fortnite Foundations of the Gospel :) Your 'weapons?' Faith, church, prayer, and reading the scriptures (since apparently you get 4 weapons in that game?). But it was really fun, and we drew on the board and everything! Super cool lesson and the spirit was strong. David opened up and even shared some experiences where he recognized promptings of the Holy Ghost!

It was a great day. Honestly, it's been a great week. Granted, there were some times when Sister Taylor and I didn't know what to do since we could feel that we weren't in 'our' area, with 'our' people and couldn't receive revelation for the area we were in, but it's all good. Sister Taylor and I enjoyed making a vlog for the first few days of our excursions. What else do you do?

There's the smoke line I was waiting for.
It hit Corning a few days after we got there :(

THE R SORORITY. And on one of the calls with President Ward, he made the comment that four elders together in one apartment is a fraternity, and four sisters together is a 'reverent sorority,' but a sorority nonetheless. It's been so fun with the sisters though, and we of course have done plenty of ridiculous things. These  included Sister Manning making German pancakes for Sister Taylor's birthday Friday (happy birthday, you got an evacuation!) and running to a donut shop for our morning exercise. Missions are amazing!

Happy Birthday!!!

LESSON LEARNED. There's always a silver lining if you're willing to look for one. Or just a lighter gray rim of smoke to the dark looming cloud of ash. There are miracles no matter where you go! And now I can say I've served in Corning since I've been to church here, and know more about the people here than Mt. Shasta. Plus, I've been here 5 1/2 days vs my half day in Mt. Shasta.

If you made it this far through the post, congratulations!

You'll notice I'm wearing a floral dress.
When you're a refugee,
your options are kinda limited

Keep your head up, and since I'm with Sister Wright again (well you know, a different one but still Sister Wright...I did, though, get to see KELSIE JO WRIGHT ON TUESDAY!!!) Here's her motto: Remember who you are, don't let it get you down!

Sister Whitesell
teresa.whitesell@myldsmail.net

Corning, CA

JK! My address is still
311 Old McCloud Rd. Apt B
Mt. Shasta, CA 96067

**P.S. As of Wednesday, 12 September, Teresa is back in her apartment. The apartments themselves were not in danger; they had just closed I-5, the only way in and out of the area. Now it's open again, so they were able to return to their apartment.