Week 12

Hello from Phoenix!

First, shoutout to Grandma - happy birthday! I love you tons and I hope you have a great week.

Well, I have officially made it through my first transfer in the mission. I am no longer the youngest missionary in my area, and I am half way through my training! We got a few new missionaries in our area and they all seem really nice and hard working. Saying goodbye to friends every transfer is going to be so hard for me. The weeks go by so quickly; I cannot believe it is October this week. I hear that holidays on the mission are the best, although you get fed a ton so I am not really looking forward to that. We had two days this week where we had two dinner appointments to go to. I was so full afterwards I didn't know what to do with myself. We also get fed lunch a lot so we have big meals all day.

By far we get fed Costco pizza the most 

District lunch at Panda Express

This week started amazingly, we got to go to a sealing for a couple in the branch that had been less active for a long time. It was one of the coolest experiences to be in the temple with all of the missionaries who had helped them get to where they are now, and with all of their friends who have seen their progression in the gospel. It was one of my favorite things I have gotten to do so far. It was all in Spanish but I understood most of it, which was a miracle in itself. The peace inside the temple is so strong and such a comfort to me. 

My Spanish isn't great but I am working on it. I am going to start having lessons with the branch president's wife once a week. She is just the cutest lady and I am so excited, and also a little nervous. Most of the families we teach in the branch also speak English, so it has been a little hard to get to use my Spanish on a regular basis. We have one progressing investigator who only speaks Spanish who we teach once or twice a week. I get so nervous when I have to speak Spanish that I psych myself out of it a little. But I am trying and I understand more, which is a big help. Thank goodness my companion speaks Spanish fluently and can help me out when I don't know how to say a word. It can get frustrating but everyone we talk to is very understanding and loving. 

Saying goodbye to people at the transfer meeting

Sister conference

So it’s official - I now have a bike! We will be biking into our Spanish area every day now to save miles on our car. We still have our car though, so we won’t have to bike everywhere (hallelujah). I am borrowing a bike from the mission office. It is an adorable blue beach cruiser, which totally will not fit in where we are biking. I rode it for the first time today just in the parking lot of our apartment complex. I can't even remember the last time I rode a bike. It went pretty well, but because it was for our workout time we were in gym clothes. It will be a different story trying to get on it in a skirt. We’ll see how that goes tomorrow. I will be sure to send pictures of our sweaty adventures next week, especially if I crash. Be nice to the biking missionaries in your area - it's hard! Hopefully the weather cools down ASAP because we are probably going to die if it stays in the 100s much longer.

We’ve had to wake up early for service this week, so I have been a little more tired than normal. But we keep on pushing and working hard. 

Waiting for our ride at a ridiculous time of the morning

Awkward story of the week: we teach one of our investigators in English but their first language is Spanish. So we had what we thought was a great idea - to write our testimonies in a Spanish Book of Mormon and give it to him. When we went to drop it off he asked if he could have an English one because he doesn't read Spanish...we just laughed it off but we were a little sad. The scriptures in Spanish just tend to be a little simpler and more to the point so we were excited to have him start reading them.

Sad story of the week: after spending all day in our transfer meeting we finally got home to go to our only lesson of the day, which we were so excited for, and then they dropped us. They said they were just too overwhelmed with everything going on and they didn't want to get the lessons anymore. We were SO SAD. You love the people you teach so quickly that it is so hard to have someone tell you they don't want to see you anymore. But we move on and continue to work. We left them with a quick lesson; we felt the spirit and I hope they did too. Maybe someday they will be ready to hear about the church again. 

I love teaching people about the church, sorry if this email doesn't make much sense - I feel like I am writing a mile a minute and I still have short emails to send out. 

I love you all, I love the gospel and my Savior, and I love being a missionary.

Have a wonderful, safe week!

Hermana Doxey

Week 11

Well another week has flown by and transfers are coming up which means I will be halfway done with my training, which is insane. Today's P-Day we had to switch around a bit because of people’s availability with teaching so I am writing later than I normally do. And because of the insanely slow computers and no wifi I will have less time to write than I normally would, so sorry I won't be sending out personal emails this week but I love you all and your emails mean so much to me. I am so excited for everyone and what life is bringing each of you. I miss everyone so much and would love to see everyone, but I wouldn't want to be anywhere else at this time in my life. I learn so much every week about how to deal with people, how to love people, how to love myself, and who I really want to be in life.

Transfer news has slowly been spreading around as President lets people know where they will be assigned to next. Sadly a few of my really good friends in the area will be leaving and moving on to their next adventure. I will be staying here in Phoenix with Sister Martinez, and unless something changes we will probably be together for a transfer after my training is complete which is so awesome because she is so amazing. For anyone who doesn't know, transfers are every six weeks. It is when new missionaries enter the mission, missionaries who have finished their missions leave, and when people get moved to different areas within the mission as the President of the mission sees fit. You are trained your first two transfers, or first twelve weeks. Because transfers are next week, I WILL NOT HAVE MY P-DAY ON MONDAY NEXT WEEK. It will be on Wednesday, so this week has the potential to feel very long. But I am looking forward to meeting the new missionaries who enter my area!

So the biggest news of this week is that we got settled into our new apartment with our amazing new sister missionary roommates. They are so nice and sweet and we have SO much fun together. Sadly I forgot to write down my new address, so I will have to send that out on next Wednesday when I write. But people are going to the mission home a lot this week so anything can be sent there and I would get it fairly soon.

This week we got to go to the Mesa temple and it was such a spiritual experience. I have only ever gone in the Portland and Provo temples so it was cool to see a new one. I love the temple so much and I learn so much every time I go. I also love the temple visitor’s center. If there is one near you, you should definitely take advantage of that - as a member of the church or not.

All the missionaries who serve in the branch or the ward that I am in (Sister Martinez and I and two other sets of elders from the branch - one set switches between the ward and the branch like we do - and a set of elders from the ward) put on a "Mini MTC" for the youth in the ward and branch (the youth in the branch and ward do all of their activities and church lessons together in English). It was fun to work with the youth but it was a bit of a scramble to plan it at the last minute. It pulled together in the end. Sister Martinez and I taught about companionship unity, which was fun.

I eat so much food here. Especially when I am eating with the branch. I need to start just eating smaller meals for breakfast and lunch because I am going to start packing on the pounds. Today we hiked Camelback for the second time - we took a picture both times at the top with the groups that hiked so I will send a picture of last time’s. I don't have today's picture yet. That hike is so hard but I feel so accomplished when I get to the bottom at 8AM and have already done something so hard. We are probably going to hike it every other P-Day, which I am excited about.

We have this one family that we teach who live out of our area by quite a bit but they have a single mom so the elders who would teach her normally can't. She has five kids who are all so silly. They act like little gangsters but we tell them all the time how good they are. Because of the miles that we are allowed each month on the car we might have to start biking to them because it is just taking too many miles up and we are going to try to see them more. Two days ago we went over to teach them about the Plan of Salvation, but their mom wasn't home so we couldn't go in the house. So we stood outside and taught with our little white board to them. There were a bunch of kids out and some of them were…rude. They started spiting spitballs at me. It was the grossest thing ever - so many spitballs hit me. I love these kids so much that I would bike 20 minutes both ways in the Arizona heat, when I am assigned a car, just to stand on their front porch for fifteen minutes while being hit by spitballs if just MAYBE they could feel the love that God has for them, and that life gets easier if you look to the end goals. My companion and I were talking about it and we just feel such a responsibility to teach the people in our area. We want everyone to know that God has a plan for them that is full of peace and purpose. The church is true!

I hope you all have a wonderful week. I know I will.

Stay safe - I love you all!

Hermana Doxey

Week 10

Friends and Family!

Where did this week go? I looked at a calendar today because I didn't believe my companion when she said it was already the 14th. That means that on Thursday I will have been in Phoenix for a month, which is insane. I have learned so much here and I feel like I am finally getting to know the members in my area, which is such a fun feeling. It is hard to balance time between the English ward that we work in and the Spanish branch that we work in, but it is such a blessing to be able to meet all the people in both the ward and the branch because they are all so amazing. It is such a comfort to have members to work with - they become a part of your family while you are working with them and it is so fun. This past week my companion and I focused on building member trust in both the ward and the branch, and it has helped more than I could have ever imagined. They are opening up to us and want to help us as we help the people in the area. So if you are reading this as a member, talk to this missionaries in your area and ask what you can do to help them! Getting dinners are great but having a member come to a lesson is a thousand times better. 

Comp love

This week we had our first zone training meeting where our zone gets together and the zone leaders and sister training leaders give us little lessons on how to help our areas more. It was really cool to hear from them. They had a lot of good insights. The biggest thing that I learned was that everyone is a leader to someone by their example - that could be a companion, a member who is watching what you do, an investigator, anyone. So we all need to try our best to be our best selves, and for me to be the best missionary I possibly can be. 

After Zone Training Meeting we had a district lunch. My district is made up of me and my companion, the ASL missionaries, the YSA missionaries, and a set of English missionaries. We call ourselves the misfits. We are the only sisters in our district. All of the Elders are very nice and hard workers, which is great! Our district leader is the best district leader ever. He is deaf but is really good at reading lips. He gives everyone in his district a name sign after he has met them and mine is Sister Happy. Could you die? I did. 

Homemade ice cream from a member - too cold to touch

This week we had a really cool experience with a less active member. We had been planning to swing by a few different times this week, but always ended up not making it over for one reason or another. This week we had a lesson get canceled so we went over. She was home and let us in right away. Turns out that she has been super sick and that morning had prayed that someone would come and help her. When she finished her prayer she said that she had a feeling like she needed to go back to church. Our coming to her was a confirmation of that feeling. We had the Elders come and give her a blessing of health. We are excited to see her faith grow and to help her come back to church! Things like this happen more than we realize; I have such a strong testimony of the Spirit. God puts us in people’s paths exactly when we need to be there so that we can help them. It was an awesome experience!

This week was Independence Day for Mexico so the branch had a big party to celebrate. Obviously there was amazing tacos and traditional dancing. And, like normal for the branch, it started about 45 minutes late. Before going to the party we stopped by a member’s house to help her making dessert for the party because she just had surgery but wanted to help. We made over 60 cupcakes and a pineapple upside down cake and then she gave us some stuff to wear to the party "to make us look more Mexican." She also had her neighbor come over to braid my hair who only spoke Spanish - so that is what that picture is. Overall the party was awesome and it was fun to get to meet a lot more people in the branch. I kiss all the ladies’ cheeks, which I am still getting used to.

Other than that this week has been pretty normal. We got a new investigator who we are really excited about, and our other investigators are progressing really well. I continue to love my companion - she is so great and fun to be around.

Oh, and we are officially moving this week! So if any of you awesome people were going to send me a letter, send it to the mission office because my address will be wrong. I will send my new address next week when I know what it is. We are sad to be leaving the sister we live with now, but we are moving in with such fun sisters so we are super pumped for the move! And most importantly, we will be about ten minutes closer to our area. Right now we have to drive 15 minutes to get to the closest corner of our mission, which takes up a lot of our miles (we are only given a certain amount of miles to use per month) and time out of teaching. So it’s going to be great!

I love you all and hope you are having a great week! I am safe, having fun, and loving being a missionary!

Hermana Doxey

PS I love the almost nightly lightening storms here - not what I am used to but so cool!

Week 9

Friends and family!

This week has been one of the best so far - full of so many miracles I can't even count. This area is really starting to move along. This past Sunday we had three less active families and three investigators come to church. It was so cool to see them so happy to be there. I even bore my testimony in Spanish. 

The week started out with a crazy monsoon. We were at a less active’s house teaching a lesson and the lights flickered off so we looked outside and there was a crazy storm. Then we got a text from our president that said that we weren't allowed to be outside for the next half hour, but we also got flood warnings that said the storm could last until midnight. So we stayed at the member’s house until the storm died down a little and then we followed another set of missionaries home just to be safe. I will send a video of us screaming in the car, as scary as it was it was more just fun. They weren't lying when they said when it rains it pours in Arizona. The next day the members were saying that the news had called it a microburst. Because of that storm it gave all the missionaries in the area a few extra chances for service and we have a potential new investigator from that service. So that's awesome.

Side note my companion hit her year mark on Thursday, so we got some ice cream at lunch. She is the best. She is such a great example of obedience and following the spirit. We have so much fun together. We are always laughing or at least smiling. I am so lucky that God answered my prayers and paired me with her!

This week we fasted for a young investigator, and holy cow my testimony of fasting has doubled this week. The whole time we were fasting we just had one miracle after the next. We ended up being exactly where we needed to be when we needed to be there for two days straight. It was one of those rare times on your mission where you just see instant results for your hard work. We had two investigators tell us that our message was exactly what they needed to hear at that moment. One of them we had just gone over without an appointment because we had been thinking of her during personal study. It was so cool. Another example - we felt like we needed to go stop by a family’s house so we drove over and they were gone. So, knowing that we were in the area for a reason, we stopped by an investigator’s house that has been pretty hard to schedule appointments with. She was happy to see us and was able to schedule an appointment for tonight. Then we drove down the street to a less active member’s house. She is an older woman in our Spanish area. When we drove up she was outside holding her granddaughter. She said she had to move all of the things in her house to her back house by the next morning at 8 AM. When we told her that we would help her she just kept saying ‘oh no oh no,’ but when we insisted she started crying. We stayed for about two hours and then came back the next morning to help her finish up. Her eyes were so red from watering the whole time. She was just so grateful that we were there to help. Some elders came and helped us move the big furniture. So it was four missionaries moving her entire house. Her son had not shone up to help so there really was no way she would have been able to do it by herself. Whether she said a verbal prayer or not I know that we were an answer to her prayers, which was a cool experience. She said we had saved her life. Times like those are the times I live for here! She also said that we could come back and read the Book of Mormon with her later this week so I am stoked about that too!

We also did a service project in someone’s backyard where we just picked up trash in the 105 degree heat for two hours. There were so many random things in that backyard - I even ended up picking up a pair of underwear before I realized what it was. The sun made my face so red, which was a little awkward because we had to go right to a dinner appointment after changing. I have never sweat more than I have sweat since coming to Arizona. No bueno. 

My Spanish is coming along but I really struggle understanding people when they are talking really fast. And sometimes when they’re talking slow- let’s be real. But my companion has been a huge help. She is always pushing me to talk to people in Spanish even when I am really scared and really don't want to. I know that as long as I am doing what I am supposed to then I will be able to learn Spanish and help my area. It is hard to balance being in a ward and a branch because you only have so much time to visit people and when they live far apart that cuts down our time even more. But for the most part we try to stay in one general area per day and talk to as many people as we can. Our goal for this week is to contact more people, which is going to be a stretch for me because I get so nervous. But I’m excited to grow! We went to what is called first Friday in downtown Phoenix. It is kind of like a farmers market but with a lot more things and a ton more people. It was an interesting experience to try to talk to people there. It was one of those “holy cow, I am actually a missionary and I need to step up” moments, which was scary. But we got to talk to a couple of people who might be interested which was cool. 

Tomorrow is my two-month mark on my mission, which isn't a significant number but it is just surreal to think about how much I have grown as a person in the last two months. I have learned so much about patience, humility, and unconditional love towards everyone. I am so excited for the area and all that is happening. 

I wish you all the best for this week- make it a good one. Read your scriptures and remember to pray. If you want something to read, read the talk "Come and See" by Elder Bednar. It is so good and really explains why people chose to serve missions. 

Love you all!

Hermana Doxey