Week 16

This week has been eventful and full of miracles. But before I type any of them out, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has been so encouraging to me by your emails and letters - they mean so much to me! I love hearing what is going on in your life it makes me so happy to see everyone happy.

This week I got to go to another temple trip for a couple in the Spanish branch that got sealed. It was so cool to get to be there. Some missionaries who taught them and who I served with last transfer got to go too, so it was fun to see them as well. My Spanish is improving because I understood a lot more of this sealing than the last one I went to. I love the spirit that is in the temple, I always feel so good inside. Even walking around outside the temple you can just feel something different. The church is true!

Squinty-eyed temple trip picture

A funny story for the week: We were teaching the plan of salvation to a couple. We were sitting on the floor of their house because all of their furniture was gone because the house had to be fumigated the next day. All the sudden the investigator yells, "There’s something over there!" and points right behind us. We slowly turn around and only see the curtains behind us so we were super confused. She slowly stands up and was shaking and is screaming to leave the house. So we all start freaking out, and I have no idea what’s going on because she is screaming in Spanish. All of the sudden Sister Martinez starts freaking out over something the investigator said in Spanish (I still have no idea what’s going on) and we all run out of the house. Turns out it was just a mouse. So we just die laughing as the investigator’s boyfriend gets the mouse and takes it outside. Then we went back in and finished the lesson. It ended being a great lesson, and she wants to be baptized but she has a few things holding her back. So, hey, the mouse was good luck or something. And now I know that my companion is VERY afraid of mice. 

Awkward story of the week: We were in a lesson with our investigator that we are super close with. We were teaching her about the law of chastity and what it means in relation to baptism. I said something about her boyfriend and it turned out he was right outside the window and could hear everything I said. What I said wasn't mean or anything, it was just awkward that he could hear me and I didn't know he could. Whoops. Also, I learned how to sign "whoops" this week. My sign language vocabulary continues to grow because my district leader is deaf. It’s kind of fun to sign, even though I can only sign like ten random things. 

Nightly planning is occasionally a struggle

Bike selfie

Our mission president has made it a priority for our mission to get on the same page as our bishops and branch presidents for the vision of our areas. So we have had meetings with both the bishop and the branch president and they both want similar things. Now we’re going through our ward and branch lists and contacting all of the people in our areas that we don't recognize the names of. So far most of them have moved, but we have found one family who wants to start coming back to church. So that was a cool experience that came out of that list. It’s going to take a lot of time, but we will get through the lists eventually and hopefully it will be helpful for our areas. We trust our leaders council so we will see what happens from it! 

We have two new investigators that we started teaching this week and I am SO excited for them. They both seem really interested and want to know more so we’ll see how it goes this week with our second lessons with them!

Get ready for our Christmas card!

Car selfie

This week we are having interviews with the mission president on Tuesday. I think more common than not he will tell you if you are leaving your area the following transfer (which is on November 10th! So soon!). I have no idea if I will be staying here or not. It’s the end of my 12-week training and most people don't stay with their companions after the first 12 weeks. I will let you all know what is happening when I know for sure where I am going to be, but I am super excited to find out. I don't even know what to hope for!

I hope you all have a wonderful week I love you all and will be praying for you all!

Sister Doxey

Week 15

I hope everyone had the best week of their lives this past week! 

I just wanted to say thank you to all of the people who have written me emails and have sent me cards. It is so great to hear from you. I miss my friends and my family a lot but I know I am where I need to be right now. I am learning so much about myself and am growing so much.

This last week I was sitting in a member’s home that has a less active family with the branch young men's presidency holding a family home evening. We taught about having the bigger picture in life. Our trials and flaws and all of the hard things we go through in life are really just moments. When we can see the big picture, the plan that God has made for us, then we will be able to endure our trials and be happier in the hard times. At the end, as we got ready to leave, I just sat there for a second and took in my surroundings. I was sitting in a home of people who I have only known for two months. I was super hot and still uncomfortably full from dinner. Everyone was talking over each other in Spanish so I couldn't really understand what was going on. It was the end of a long day. In other words, I was spent. But I just realized that I was so, so, so happy. My love for those people was just more than I can explain. It reminded me of a scripture I read the other day which is now my ponderizing scripture for this week: Alma 31:35 "Behold, O Lord, their souls are precious, and many of them are our brethren; therefore, give unto us, O Lord, power and wisdom that we may bring these, our brethren, again unto thee." The soul of every person is truly precious and I want nothing more than for everyone to feel that happiness that I feel as I learn more about Christ. When I first got to Phoenix I was so sad when I would see the living situations and life situations of some of the people here. I have grown to realize that the material things don't matter if we can have hope. I studied a little bit about hope this week and I read that it is not an uncertain thing. It is not just hoping that something good will happen that is far fetched, it is a trust in God's promises. If we trust that God will provide for us and for the people we love, than hope will be enough. 

Right now in our area we are really focusing on finding new people to teach. We had two experiences where we were in an area for a lesson that got canceled, so we just decided to talk to the people around us. The first time we did this there was a man sitting on a bench. We started to talk to him and he invited us to sit down. We got to teach him a lesson, and we have a return appointment scheduled for this week. The second time our appointment cancelled we looked down the street and there were two people smoking outside their house. We started talking to them, and the women said missionaries had actually taught her in the past, but it hadn't been the right time in her life. She invited us to come back this week to teach her and her family. These are not the only people we got to talk to, and not everyone wants to hear more. But in just talking to people we now get to teach people. It was such a testament to me that we were where we needed to be, not for the reasons we had initially thought, but for people who are ready to learn more. I am so excited to teach these people this coming week. I know that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are not the only happy people on this earth, but I truly believe that the doctrine of the church is true and that it is what makes me happy. So it makes me happy to be able to share that with other people. 

This week we had one day on a bike. It ended up being the hottest day of the week at 105 degrees. So please take a second to look at our sweaty backs. It’s not so bad until you realize that most of the sweat is soaked up in the undershirt I am wearing. Sorry that's gross, but it’s the truth. As happy as I am that we only bike once a week, I really do love biking. It’s fun to see lots of different people that you wouldn't normally get to see just driving past them in a car. It also gives me time to just think. I am way too tired to talk while actually biking, so I do a lot of pondering life and whatnot. It's therapeutic in a way. We normally have our biggest stretch of straight biking on the ride home at night. We have lots of lights and reflectors, so don't worry mom. But that is always the stretch where my legs are burning the most and I have to remind my face that I am happy. We laugh a ton while biking, which always makes things fun (and let’s be real: the helmet is humbling-ly ridiculous looking). 

Biking in 105 degree heat (not even a very
far distance)

Well I wish I had a bunch of funny stories, but I just wouldn't know where to start typing. Just know that I love it here. I am laughing a huge percentage of my day, although I try not to laugh during lessons. Missionary work is so fun if you can remember that it is supposed to be fun. 

I love you all and will give you another update in just one short week!

Hope to hear from you all as well,

Hermana Doxey

Week 14

Family and Friends! It's a new week already? I cannot believe that October is almost half way over. That is insane. 

This week we had exchanges, which is where the sister training leaders split up and me and my companion each go with one of them. They last for 24 hours. Last transfer I went to the sister training leaders’ area, but this transfer I stayed in my area and Sister Martinez went to their area. I was so nervous because I was going to have to take the lead, since I was the person who knew the area and who we were teaching and what we needed to be teaching them. And when plans and back ups to those plans and back ups to the back ups of those plans fall through, I was the companion who was going to need to know who was near by that we could go see. I was also really nervous for my Spanish because Sister Martinez is fluent and, honestly, I rely on her more than I should when I get nervous. But it went so well. Sister Pearson was my companion for the day and she was amazing. At the beginning of the exchange we tell the sister training leader what we want to be helped with. I told her I wanted to be more bold and learn how to give better commitments. I realized something that I probably should have realized three months ago: When I set a goal of what I want to improve on that day, and have someone holding me accountable for it, I just do better at those things. I was so bold in all of my lessons and left the commitment at every lesson. I was so proud of myself for setting a goal and being determined to work on it. I even invited a woman to be baptized on her front porch, and she said yes! It will be a long road for her to get a date for baptism, but I am so excited for her. So set goals, and tell people what they are! 

P-day hike - disregard my sweaty red face

Finally got a picture with a cactus!

We did a lot of contacting on exchanges, which always makes me nervous, but it was cool to get better at talking to people. I like getting better at things that I am bad at. Not the process of doing it, but seeing improvement in myself is really rewarding, and seeing other people want the gospel is even more rewarding. 

Central Phoenix is a really interesting place. It is so different than Portland but I really love it here. The weather is finally starting to cool down, but it spiked back up yesterday and I thought I was going to die a little bit. We had our first "full" day on bikes. We had a three-hour meeting and then studies, so it wasn't actually a full day, but we didn't drive our car at all so I’m counting it. It was so fun. We biked so far that my legs started to burn a little on the final stretch home, but we were laughing the entire time so it was a success. There was one man that was eating ice cream with his coworker outside of this car shop place who yelled, "You look really pretty riding bikes" as we rode away. It made us laugh even harder because we looked so ridiculous with our helmets and trying to adjust our skirts as we rode. It is a lot easier to talk to people when you are on bikes because you can easily stop and talk to people. We got a return appointment with a family because of it. It strengthened my testimony that God really does bless you when you do hard things. I love being a missionary. Even in the hard, sweaty, uncomfortable moments. 

The beginning of a bike day

End of the bike day

This week we have really focused on finding more people to teach, so we did a lot of contacting. Our investigators are still progressing and learning more about the church. It is so cool to see these people slowly gain testimonies of Jesus Christ and of the restored church. It makes me the happiest when they can see the change within themselves. 

Today for P-day we hiked Camelback and after we got our Eisenstein Bagels paid for by a man in line. It was the BEST. I love you all and thank you for your prayers!

Have a wonderful week,

Hermana Doxey

Week 13

Friends and Family!

It feels like so much has happened in the short amount of time since I have written home. I think most of that comes from having General Conference this last weekend. I LOVE General Conference! It was a much different experience watching it on a mission rather than at home, not better or worse, just different. We watched the Saturday session at the Stake Center with all the missionaries and a few stake members. None of our investigators could go to the Saturday sessions, which was sad because all the talks were so amazing. On Sunday, we watched the morning session with one of our investigators in the Spanish room at the stake center. I had English headphones, which I was grateful for, but I do want to go back and watch some in Spanish. Our investigator really loved it - she is progressing so well. She has two adorable kids that really love going to church.

The Sunday afternoon session we got to watch at another one of our investigators houses who is from a part member family. It was nice to be in a home and talk to him about what he learned. I think what I learned from conference is that I really just need to stop thinking about the gospel in complicated terms. I just need to focus on the core of my testimony, and share that with others. I left my notebook that I took all my notes in at home, so I can't share everything that I loved (plus it would take forever to type out) but I am going to take the challenge to ponder and memorize a scripture a week. I think it will really help me to have the spirit with me and to focus on what really matters. Do it with me and tell me what you are learning!

So we rode our bikes this week. IT WAS SO FUN. We only got to ride it once this week because of scheduling conflicts and what not, but oh my golly it was a blast. We only rode about a twenty-minute bike ride but we were just laughing the entire time. Every time I would stop laughing I would just think about how I looked riding the bike and I would start laughing again. Turns out riding a bike in a skirt is a struggle, and helmets are supper awkward looking. Who knew? I was a little wobbly. I think this is the first time I have ridden a bike in years and years, so that made me look even more ridiculous. We are looking forward to more biking adventures this week. It really was super fun, and the weather is cooling down a little so that helps. 

This week Sister Martinez and I got invited to Missionary Leadership Council (where all of the zone leaders, district leaders, sister training leaders, the assistants to the president, and the president and his wife get together and talk about how we can strengthen our areas). It was so cool to be invited and get to see all of these amazing missionaries and hear their ideas. I learned so much about what I can be doing to improve my area and be a better missionary. The meeting was about five hours long and we had a lesson just an hour after it ended. We had to rush to pack up and drive back to Phoenix to get to the lesson on time. Because we were carpooling, we got dropped off at the investigators house. At the end of the lesson NO ONE was available to pick us up. We totally understood why - people have lives of their own. So we had to walk home to get our car so that we could get to our dinner appointment on time. It was a forty-five minute speed walk. We were just laughing so hard the whole walk. It was super hot but we made it without dying. It was worth it though, because our lesson went so well. Our investigator really opened up about how she is feeling about the gospel, plus we rarely get to see her because she works three jobs. So it was a miracle to get to teach her and a miracle that the lesson went as well as it did.

Starting our 45 minute speed walk

Ending our 45 minute speed walk

We didn't get to have English class this week which made me sad. I love teaching our little English class. It really helps me learn Spanish too, because I have to explain what the vocabulary words are in Spanish. We are hoping to get three investigators to next week’s class. In other news, I am continuing to eat double the portion sizes I should be eating at every dinner I go to…I feel like all of my weight is being gained in my double chin. Hopefully the extra exercise on the bike can help me out with that. 

Sorry I don't have more to write about - most of this weekend has been filled with conference and meetings. My Spanish is progressing slowly but it's coming along. I pray for all of you and hope you are all happy! 

Have the best week ever,

Hermana Doxey