Week 3

Friends and Family!

Every time I write an email I just think how crazy it is that it’s already p-day again! The saying "days are long and weeks are short" is the truest statement of my life. I love it here.

Me and my companions are seriously struggling with staying healthy. First, Hermana Sherrow had strep throat, then she threw out her back and has to get physical therapy, and now she has bronchitis! Hermana Barker has a really bad cough and cold but the doctor gave her some meds so she should be fine. With all of this sickness, we have been doing splits a lot so I got to spend a day with Hermana Haacke and Hermana Hubble. They are hilarious and can make anything fun. 

For our service hour that we have each week my district has been assigned to clean 1M, which is the main building. It’s pretty fun. I will send pictures later of us recreating some of our favorite pictures in the building. The pictures make us laugh, but there are so many cool ones so I love that we get to clean that building. Plus, we never get bathrooms like the Elders in our district. So that’s sweet. I was on splits with Hermana Haacke and Hermana Hubble when we were doing service and we got assigned to sweep the sidewalks around the building. I think everyone studying around us thought we were insane because we just could not stop laughing the whole time. Missionary work is a blast if you let it be!

This week we got a new investigator, “Remundo,” who is actually our teacher acting as someone he met on his mission. The most awkward moment of my week was when our door approach with him was so incredibly bad that he wouldn't let us in the room. Which is awkward when it’s your teacher expecting you to give him a lesson. He let us retry and it was a thousand times better. The lesson went okay, but afterwards he gave us feedback (which we do not usually get after teaching) which was SO helpful. I feel like I learned so much from that lesson that I didn't care that it started off on such a bad note. That is the great thing about the MTC. No matter how bad a lesson, teaching experience, or assessment goes, you are always learning so much that it's easy to keep a positive outlook. 

I had the most amazing experience this week that there is no way I can express it the way I want to, but I will try my best! Because Hermana Sherrow hurt her back, we had to take a shuttle to a few different doctors offices. We ended up waiting in the lobby of one office for about an hour, even though Hermana Sherrow never even got helped. So we were talking to this lady and she was just talking about her life and her struggles with the church (hashtag first real missionary opportunity HOLLA) when a girl who was probably in her early twenties walked in with her boyfriend. She looked like she struggled with drug use, and was in a lot of pain. They sat down across the room from us. I just had the strongest impression that I needed to go give her a tissue. She wasn't crying so I was really confused and didn't want to be weird so I just ignored it at first. Then it got stronger so I just thought, well I am a missionary so I guess I should just do it. As soon as I got out my tissues and stood up to walk over to her she started crying. Her boyfriend was being really weird towards her and wouldn’t touch her even though she obviously needed comfort. I walked over and handed her the tissues and rubbed her back for a second. She looked so grateful. Then the doctors came out and called her name so I went back to my companions.

I was shaking so hard. I just had a feeling like I needed to talk to her again. Like she needed more help. So I just waited for her to get back and hoped that the shuttle that was going to take us back to the MTC wouldn't come before she came out. She came out about fifteen minutes later and sat down. She looked really shaken up, but mainly she just looked like she was in a ton of pain. I knew what I needed to do so I just stood up and walked over to her. Her boyfriend was really surprised and rude and asked "Can I help you with anything?" but I wasn't even scared. I just ignored him and looked at her. I asked her if I could give her a hug. She just stared at me for a few second. Then she started to cry and stood up and hugged me. She sobbed on my shoulder for a good five minutes. I think everyone in the room was really confused. I told her that she was going to be okay and that life would get better. She kept saying thank you to me. We stopped hugging and she just looked at my nametag. 

I would love to think that by seeing my nametag she will find the church some day, but the shuttle came right then and I had to go. I felt confident that I helped her get the comfort that she needed. Even if all that did was help her in that moment, I already feel like my mission had a purpose. It was one of the most spiritual moments of my life. There is no way in the world I would have ever done that if I had not been prompted by the spirit. The nametag that I wear gives me the courage that I need to help others. I just felt so lucky to have had that opportunity. I am grateful that my Heavenly Father trusted me enough to tell me to help another one of his children in need. I am honored to wear my name right next to Jesus Christ's everyday. I LOVE being a missionary. I wish I could have moments like this one every day because it was the coolest thing ever to just help someone. I pray every day to find the people that need my help, and that I will be ready and listening to the spirit so that I know what I can do to help them. 

I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church on the earth. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I got to go to the temple this morning and it just solidified my knowledge of Jesus Christ. I would have nothing without Him. I love Him and am grateful for the opportunity to serve Him as a missionary. 

I hope you all have a wonderful week, I pray for you all! Thank you again for all the kind notes and packages and emails. I love them more than I could possibly express. 

Much love,

Hermana Doxey