Week 25

Merry Late Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!

I just wanted to start by saying THANK YOU to everyone who sent my mom and sister a picture for Christmas - they made them all into the cutest little book in the world. By far my favorite gift I have ever received. So thanks! It meant a lot. And thank you to everyone who sent cards and gifts, you are all amazingly wonderful people.

Christmas was great. Skyping home was the best thing ever but it went by WAY too fast. We also got to have a Zone activity; we made breakfast together and then played sports for like three hours. My companion LOVES basketball more than anything so it was fun to see her play and I had fun playing too even though my basketball skills are less than great. After that we did some studies, skyped our families, and then had dinner at the bishops house. He was very nice to have all eight of the missionaries who serve there over for dinner. After dinner we got to go to the Mesa temple lights and hear the Mesa missionaries sing which was a cool experience. Then we made a few visits to members in the area. Overall, a great day - definitely a Christmas to remember. 

Skyping with the family!

This week we did some other fun Christmas activities; we went caroling as a zone to investigators, we made gingerbread houses with a member (Me and Sister Ferre's was a temple), we got to take an investigator to the visitors center to see the nativities (they have a huge collection there for the holidays from all around the world), and we got to go over to a senior missionary couple’s house to give a Christmas message. 

Sadly, Sister Ferre and I have been going back and forth on who is sick so we have also had to take it a little easy this week, which is not the best. There were also tons of people out of town for the holidays. So as much fun as the holidays are, I am looking forward to getting back to a more normal routine. 

Me and Sister Ferre with our gingerbread temple

Our temple (left) with the Elders' gingerbread houses

My favorite part of being a missionary is when we have been working really hard all week and then finally one person will listen to what we have to say. It is so rewarding to actually be able to teach, especially with new people who really need more happiness in their life. It has been such an amazing experience to be able to be a missionary. As hard as it is, I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. I have met so many amazing people who I would never have met any other way - especially considering five months ago I didn't speak their language. I know this is where I am supposed to be.

I love you all, stay safe this next week,

Hermana Doxey

P.S. Have you all seen the Christmas videos the church put out? I know it is past Christmas, but it is never to late to watch them! My favorite is called "Why we need a Savior."

Week 24

Hello to all!

Well this week has been a bit of a struggle; I got SUPER sick this week so I have been kind of out of it for a while. But I am all good now and ready to work!

So on Wednesday after we finished all of our p-day stuff we were going to a dinner appointment and I wasn't feeling good but I was assuming it was just nerves for my first dinner in a new area. As the dinner went on and I continued to eat (my mouth liked the food, the rest of my body didn't) I just felt worse and worse until I very rudely just stood up and shook their hand told them the food was great but we had to go and basically ran out the door. I thought I was going to throw up but I managed to not in her front lawn. We went to two more lessons and as we got out of the car for the third lesson I just threw up right across the street from the members house. It was suuuuuper awkward to go cancel that lesson. But bonus, they lived across the street from a bar so the bar ended up cleaning it up! Blessings. We went home and I was just pretty sick that whole night. Then I slept for literally 23 hours, woke up for two, and then went back to bed for another 10. I felt pretty sick but the members and missionaries in the area were all super nice and helpful and got me sprite and everything I needed. Sadly, because I was sick, we missed our temple trip and going to see the temple lights with an investigator. But that also meant we didn't miss any lessons, so it was a positive and a negative…but lets just go with the positive. Night two of being sick we were able to go to the Gilbert temple. We missed the session because the traffic was insane, but we were able to meet the recent convert later in the temple and holy cow that temple is GORGEOUS. I was so grateful I was feeling well enough to go. After we went and got pizza with the member. Poor judgment on my part; I ate two pieces as my first food in 48 hours. I was a little shaky but all was well. 

Gilbert Temple with Sister Martinez

I don't have a ton to write about because it has only been five days since the last time I wrote and I spent two of those days in bed... but I LOVE my new area. Church was a little weird being with new people in a new building but it was still great. I always love the Sunday before Christmas. One cool thing that I love about Phoenix is almost all of the LDS church buildings were bought from other churches, so they don't have the normal church building look. The gyms are never connected to the chapel and, I don't know, there is just something cool about them. 

Sister Ferre is AWESOME. We are in this bubble of crazy fun and are still mastering the art of “cool calm and collected.” Sometimes I think we have a little too much fun, but if missionary work isn't fun you are doing it wrong. She is such a hard working missionary and I am learning a lot from her. It is kind of weird because we have lived together almost my whole mission and now it is surreal to be companions but I love it!

Selfie with Sister Ferre

I drew a fireplace for our apartment :)

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and stay safe. It is strange not to be home, but it is a lot easier for me to focus on the meaning of Christmas when I get to teach about Christ all day and do service for others. 

Love you all, thank you for all you do for me!

Sister Doxey

Week 23

First of all, I just want to say that this will probably be a very short email because the internet is slow and keeps cutting out so I am typing on my iPad which I am not very fast at.

Anyways...

Happy Holidays everyone! Fun fact: Christmas is just a week and a half away. I am so excited. Well, this week was a week of changes. I left my first area and am now serving in The Catalina Spanish branch and the Osborn English Ward. And I’m serving with my first non-native companion, Sister Ferre, who I LOVE. We have lived together since my third week on my mission and became fast friends and we about passed out when we found out we were going to be companions because we have been joking about how cool it would be, and now it's real. She has two transfers left on her mission and we got to talk to President Sweeney and he said that we will probably be companions until she goes home. He called us “the dream team” so we are ready to prove him right by working hard! It's kind of weird/fun that I am in Catalina because all I had to do was move my stuff to the other room in my apartment, which means I still get to live with Sister Teniza!

Me, Sister Teniza, Sister Short, and Sister Ferre

Central Phoenix is such a cool place to be so I am happy I get to stay here. I was super nervous to be coming into a new area - especially right before Christmas - but we had our first few lessons last night and I already love the people here. Everyone is so sweet and made me feel comfortable right away. And Sister Ferre's Spanish is great so I am not worried about us and the language. I think everyone was a little shocked we got put together...we laugh about 85% of the time we are together. I am so grateful I get to spend Christmas with her and I am sure it will be great in this area!

This week was a little weird and slow because of transfers and having to say goodbye to everyone, but it also seems crazy that it is already Wednesday. Oh, a fun thing that Bishop Ross does when a missionary leaves is he gives them a Star Wars keychain (He loves Star Wars) and I got Chewbacca, which I was stoked about.

This week is going to be crazy because tomorrow we have a mission Temple trip where all the missionaries in the Valley get to go to a session in the temple, and then tomorrow night we are taking an investigator to the temple lights. And then on Friday me and Sister Ferre are going to go to an endowment session in the Glibert temple with a recent convert. I am so excited to be spending so much time at the temple this week because there really is so much peace there.

So far all I know about our Christmas plans is that we are skyping and then having dinner with the Bishop (who I haven't meet yet but I am sure he is amazing). We also will probably get to go to the Mesa temple to see the lights with a family (a Brother and Sister in their early twenties) I got to meet yesterday and they are super fun. My next p-day is on Monday, and I am assuming I will have more information to share about Christmas plans then.

I hope everyone is having fun and being safe with all the crazy weather. Thank you for you packages, notes, and love. And most of all for your support, it means more than you know.

I love you all. Have a great week!

Sister Doxey

Week 22

Hello all!

This week has been a little crazy with the mission tour and the change of p-day but it has been so fun. I learned so much from the mission tour. Lynn G Robbins from the presidency of the 70 came and talked to all the missionaries. He talked a lot about seeing the good in people, planning, and learning the voice of the spirit. I learned so much it is insane. I would send you my notes but they are super confusing and it really just wouldn't make sense without being here. My favorite thing that he said as he was ending was, "God is far more involved in the details of your life than you think he is." This week I am going to try to be looking for how God is helping my family, the people I teach, and myself. I know that he is involved in the details of my life, but I need to look more to see them. 

This week we also got to go to the Mesa temple and see the Christmas lights. It was so pretty. It wasn't really what I expected; it is very different from the Salt Lake City lights, which are the only other temple lights I have gone to. We got to go with our investigators and they really liked it, they were taking a lot of pictures, which made me happy. 

Merry Christmas!

I got to see the Christmas devotional as well this week and I loved it! My favorite story was of the man who was given a wheelchair and assumed it was just to ride around in for a few minutes and then to give back. I thought it was so sweet that he was so touched just that someone would give him the chance to know how it would feel to ride in a wheelchair, let alone have it. It made me realize that I need to be a lot more grateful for the little things I have been given and I also can be giving more to the people around me. 

Okay some stories:

1. Last week (I forgot to write about it) we were trying to contact a member to see if they still lived in the house that their records show they live in. We get to the address and realize it is basically a really fancy hotel apartment thing. Attached on the side was a big parking garage with a sign that said visitors for the apartment complex only. We assumed that we were visiting because we were trying to visit someone inside... apparently not. So we go in and the gate lifts up so we were still thinking we were fine, then we start reading the small print and realized that we really weren't allowed to park there. We turn around to leave but the exit gate won’t lift without a token or swipe card. Mini panic started. So we park our car and turn to go to the apartment complex to talk to the member and hopefully get a token so we can get our car out of the apartment complex. Well, because it was such a fancy apartment complex, you can only get in the building if you have a key or call a person inside from this little box thing and they buzz you in. No one answered our calls so we went back to our car. Nothing worked to get our car out and by that point it was more than a little panic. Turns out it is also pretty embarrassing to get your car stuck in a parking garage. So we just sat in our car and were trying to think of what to do when a man comes out of the apartment complex and gets into his car. We were going to just follow him out but then he gets out of his car. He walks around his car twice opening every door and looking inside and then shutting it. It was super weird. Then he starts to drive away and we realize he is probably the only person who would be able to let us out so we drove over to him (scaring him a little in the process) and explained what happened and he was super nice about it want walked over and scanned us out. Now that I have typed this out I am realizing it is probably one of those had to be there things, but it was just crazy to see how God really does look out for us and answers our prayers. The man that let us out looked like he just thought he left something in his car but really had no reason to go down to the parking garage. When we finally did get out, we just started laughing and couldn't stop for a solid 20 minutes. I think it was mostly out of relief. 

2. This week we were teaching an investigator and all the sudden he says, "Want to see my Shingles?" He pulls up his shirt and shows us his rash or whatever you want to call it. We quickly and politely said we had to go. We get into the car and called the mission nurse to ask if it was contagious and what not. She said we should be fine because we never touched him (we didn't even shake his hand that day like we normally do, don't know why but I am grateful) but we cannot go back until the nurse clears it. 

Three hour weekly planning meeting = death

Well I think those are all the big things that happened this week. We spend a lot of time going through our ward list and trying to find out if people still live in the addresses that are listed. Because our ward is the central ward, anybody's records that say they live in Phoenix get put into our ward even if they don't live here. It is kind of frustrating but we have actually found some people to teach by being in certain areas where members should have been. God works in mysterious ways, that is for sure. 

Have a great week and thank you all for your notes, packages, thoughts, and prayers! You are the best and I love you all so much.

Sister Doxey

PS My next p-day will be next Wednesday (December 16th) because transfers are on Tuesday. That means that the next time I write I might be in a new area with a new companion! Weird and sad, but also exciting.