Week 20

This week was so fast and so great. 

I have this new goal for this transfer to talk to 100 people in a week about the gospel. Well, this week we only got to talk to 17 people... so it’s slightly unrealistic…but I’m shooting high and maybe I can work my way up. But the cool think about talking to a lot of people is that the more people you talk to the more people you get to teach. Of those 17 people we talked to, two invited us back to teach their families. We don't have a lot of people to teach so every person we find is a huge blessing and gets me so excited! Teaching used to stress me out a little but once I realized that these people have the potential to accept the gospel and be happier I stopped getting nervous before lessons and now I just get really excited to go out and teach. We found this new man to teach this week and he seems so ready to learn. We get to teach him tonight and I am just so excited I could die. We knocked on his door because he sent in a request online to learn more about the church. He said he really just wanted to read the Book of Mormon and to learn about Joseph Smith so we gave him a Book or Mormon and talked to him a little. He is so nice. 

Okay, funny/gross story from this week: We used to teach a lady who had a lot of knee pain and when we went this week to check on her she had moved. Randomly, this lady was walking outside and was able to tell us her new address. So we visited and her friend answered the door and said she was in the hospital. He was actually on the phone with her at the time so we talked to her for a few minutes and then went to the hospital to see her. We knocked on the door and she said she was going to the bathroom so we waited outside for a few minutes until she yelled, "OKAY YOU CAN COME IN...But it smells a little." The way she said it and the fact that it really did smell SO BAD just made me start laughing so hard. I had to wait outside the door to compose myself before going in. Other than the smell, it was good to talk to her and make her feel a little happier to have someone to talk to.

This week an investigator came to church and stayed all three hours for the first time ever. We were sitting in relief society and someone asked her if she was visiting and she said, "oh no, I’m not a member yet." YET. It was so cute. I pointed it out to her and she laughed. She is so ready to join the church; she knows it’s true. She even signed up to feed the missionaries in December. I am so excited to keep teaching her!

We know our tentative plans for Thanksgiving. We will be going to a service project that the ward is going to, then we are playing in the Turkey Bowl (football with all the missionaries in our zone and members who are basically my mission family), then we will probably go to two dinners, study, and maybe teach a lesson. I am super excited!

Something that is great about serving in Downtown Phoenix: There is almost never a week that goes by that we don't get called beautiful by a drunk old man. It's the best! But seriously, I really do love serving here, and not just for the compliments. It is so fun to be in an area that is so different than anything I have lived in before. I love the people here, especially the people we get to teach. People are so open about learning more about others religions. Even the people who don't accept what we have to teach are normally very nice about it. 

This week we also had Zone conference, where all the missionaries in Phoenix get together and the mission president comes and speaks to us. He taught about how everything in this earth testifies of Christ and what he has done for us. My favorite was when he showed how the Book of Mormon testifies of Christ. A few examples: The Book of Mormon was taken from a stone receptacle by a man named Joseph; Jesus Christ was put into a stone receptacle by a man named Joseph (or Arimathea). The first one to see the plates, Joseph, was forbidden to touch them; the first one to see Jesus, Mary, was forbidden to touch him. The Book of Mormon was attested by 12 witnesses - the 3, the 8, and Joseph; Jesus Christ had 12 special witnesses, the apostles. There were a lot more - those are just a few. It was cool to hear all of them at once, but I just don't have time to type them all out. But the point is that it was awesome and really strengthened my testimony of the Book of Mormon. Not only do the events of the Book of Mormon testify of Christ, but also the words in the book all testify of Christ. The more I read the more I know that the book is true and that Jesus Christ is my savior. I challenge all of you to read out of the Book of Mormon every day this week. 

This week is a time to remember what we are grateful for. I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon, for my family and their support, and for this opportunity to be on my mission. 

I love and miss you all and hope you have a great Thanksgiving!

Eat some extra pie for me,

Hermana Doxey

Week 19

Note from Taylor's sister: Sadly, it doesn't look like we got any pictures this week! I guess she owes us double next week :)

Hello all!

I wrote just four days ago, so not a ton has happened but we did have two big events. The first is that our investigator was baptized! It was so cool to be able to help her with the last few weeks before she got baptized. I am looking forward to seeing her testimony continue to grow as we teach her these next few months. She is so sweet and has set a great example for her kids. The spirit was so strong as her dad baptized her. 

This weekend we also got to participate in the "Keep Phoenix Beautiful" day through the Just Serve program. It was a zone service project so about twenty-five missionaries from our area went out to the canals and cleaned up the area. I was assigned to the group of people who loaded cinder blocks into wheelbarrows to be moved to the dumpster. It was a lot of work, but it was also really fun. It was cool to be able to meet people from the city. I met a young, blond women from the city council and I couldn't help but think of Parks and Rec. The project was a success and the old concrete wall that was falling down was almost completely removed. So many volunteers helped all over the city to clean, raise money for good causes, and do service in any way that they could. If you have a chance to look at the Just Serve website, it has great opportunities to serve wherever you’re living! 

It’s been kind of strange to adjust to a new companion, but I love sister Teniza. She is so sweet and cute; the members from the branch already love her. We have been working on having her learn the area and meet as many people as she can. Because she doesn't know the people as well, I’ve had to step up a little bit in lessons. My Spanish has already grown a lot this week just from speaking more in lessons. I have a little bit more confidence in my ability to speak to people. Understanding is still a problem if people start speaking quickly or use a lot of vocabulary I don't know. I normally just smile and nod and then look at my companion. The awkward part is when smiling and nodding is the exact opposite reaction that is appropriate, but I am learning and will continue to learn. I know that the only way I have been able to learn what I have learned is through God. I have been so blessed to be able to be on my mission and learn all the things that I have learned so far. I know that I will continue to learn and grow the longer I am here and I wouldn't change this experience for anything in the world. 

We have three little families that are progressing a lot right now, an investigator, a less active, and a part member family. I love teaching the people here. When they recognize a need for change in their lives and they are willing to make the change to be happier and have a happier family, it is the most rewarding thing in the world to see. I hope I get to stay here to continue to teach these people for at least one more transfer after the one that just started. That would mean that I would have spent six months in central phoenix, which is pretty normal for Spanish speaking sisters in our mission.

I love it here and am learning so much. I hope all of you had a great week and will have an even better one this week. I love you all!

Thank you for all of your support,

Sister Doxey

Week 18

Hello to Everyone!

This week has been crazy with transfers yesterday. Sister Martinez got transferred to a new area and my new companion is Sister Teniza. She is so sweet and nice and is another fluent Spanish speaker, which is a huge help to our area. It was really hard to say goodbye to Sister Martinez and stressful to be taking over the area, but I know that Sister Teniza and I will do great together. I am so happy to be staying in Central Phoenix for at least another transfer. I am hoping I get to stay for two more so I can be here for Christmas; most sisters stay in this area for at least six months.

When we found out Sister Martinez was
leaving for sure

With our new companions

At the beginning of the week, Sister Martinez got super sick and we had to stay in the apartment for two and a half days. She kept waking up from her sleep with really red eyes and a runny nose and gross cough and saying, "I think we could go teach at least one person!" She is so diligent and dedicated to helping these people it amazes me and set a great example. Sadly, I had to give her the news that the mission nurse said we shouldn't go out or we were going to get other people sick. It was a blessing when she got better because we missed the people in our area so much!

This last week we had the opportunity to go to the temple to do baptisms for the dead with a returning member and it was so amazing. She took a question to the temple and told us it was answered when she was there. We are so proud of her and happy that she is happy. I just love all the people we teach so much and I am so grateful when they can recognize the blessing that this gospel can be in their lives. We also had an investigator have her baptismal interview this week and she will officially be getting baptized this Saturday! It's kind of a weird situation because we are not the missionaries that taught her but she decided to be baptized and then right after became our investigator. No matter who taught her, I am just happy that she is getting this chance to join the church and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, which will help her throughout her life.

Last lunch together at our favorite restaraunt

Sick day

This week we got to go to a member’s house with an investigator for "Japanese night," which was really just eating a lot of Japanese food. The investigator is taking Japanese at school and loves everything Japanese, and the member's mom is from Japan. The food was great and I tried a lot of new stuff. It was my first time eating tofu. The only down side was that we went straight from Japanese night to our actual dinner appointment. I was so full by the time dinner was over I could have died. We get fed SO MUCH. Every member and even investigators that we visit always wants to give us food. So much so that they have started packing it for us to take with us. Our fridge is full of amazing Mexican food! 

Those are the main things that have happened this week. With Sister Martinez leaving we have said a lot of goodbyes to the members and investigators in our area. It is really sad because the people here really love sister Martinez and she loves them so much. With sister Martinez being sick and leaving and with transfers we weren't able to teach as many lessons as we had wanted but I know that as long as we are trying our best God will take care of us and the people in our area. 

The old apartment crew

Elders ruin everything :)

Sorry for the extremely scatter brained email but I love you all and pray for you all! Have a great week and I will write again on Monday!

And regarding the new church policy, I would just invite anyone with questions to watch the video interview with Elder Christofferson. He explains that no doctrine is being changed within the church and that the meaning of it is to not allow the church to cause any contention in the home. I know that the family unit is the most important thing we have in this life and the church is trying to protect that. I know that these men are called of God to tell us how to live like God wants us to so that we can have the happiest lives we can. 

Love you all!

Sister Doxey

Week 17

Happy November, everyone! 

The time has flown by and it is almost time for the next transfer where I will officially not be in training! I am very excited to have an extra hour a day to be meeting with people instead of in the apartment studying, but at the same time I did learn a lot from that extra hour. As far as transfer news goes, I was told that I will be staying in the area and that I will most likely be getting a new companion. Because of that, I am now the designated driver so that I can learn the area better. Which is a problem because, I’ll be honest, I am not the best driver and I am terrible with directions. This week has been a little bit scary for Sister Martinez :) There is still a chance of her staying as well, we will find out final transfer news on Saturday. Transfers will be the following Tuesday and P-day will be on Wednesday (so I will not be emailing next Monday).

My interview with the Mission President was a really cool experience. I love President Sweeney so much, he just loves you so quickly and so much. I sat down and he immediately started talking about exactly what I needed to hear. This week seemed a little bit long but I think it was because the end of the week had so many things I was looking forward to. The day before Halloween our ward and branch had a combined Trunk-or-Treat. It was so fun to see all the little kids in their adorable costumes. The missionaries decorated the trunk of the mission van that a set of missionaries in the ward has been driving for the last few weeks. It’s one of those huge white 12 passenger [slightly creepy] vans. We used the decorations that we had so it looked a little sad, but we had candy so the kids didn't care. It was super fun.

My first day driving

Our last apartment hurrah with our green drinks

Speaking of the huge van, for Halloween we got to go to the temple from 2:30pm - 9:30pm. It was SO cool. My whole district took the van, which was the interesting part of the night. We had four sisters on the back row and then eight Elders. Slightly scary, but overall a fun car ride. The temple was super peaceful and a really cool way to spend Halloween. 

This week we got to have our second lesson with an investigator. She lives in a women’s shelter. I really like teaching there because it brings so much hope to these women who have lost a lot of hope in their lives. We teach an investigator and a member who lives there always joins us. When we taught yesterday, we had another women join us. She turned out to be the Elders’ investigator that they had not been able to contact since she moved, and we were able to help her get in contact with them. We taught the plan of Salvation which I love teaching. 

We had another great lesson this week when we taught our new investigating couple the law of chastity. We went in a little unsure of how the lesson would go. It started out a little rough, but by the end they were talking about getting married. They said they have been dating for six years and had never talked about it. So hey, I might be helping plan a wedding this month, which would be insane and amazing because then they can get baptized which they really want. At the end of the lesson the woman prayed and said, "Thank you for the Sisters and their humor, they are awesome." It was so sweet. I LOVE when investigators pray; it makes me so happy I could just pass out. 

Continuing to get larger, but this time by choice...
I haven't changed :)

A lady we work with who just moved out of the ward

Crazy story from this week: We were turning around (yes, because of my poor direction skills) and we stopped for sister Martinez to put on her glasses so she could help me try to figure out which street to turn on. She puts on her glasses and looks to the right and sees a member who we had been teaching but told us he had moved. We may have creepily stalked them to make sure it was them. IT WAS. Turns out they are just visiting for the week to get a few more things they had left in Arizona but it was a huge shock and definitely the most exciting thing that happened that day. 

We also got to set a date for a returning, less active family to go to the temple to be sealed - it was so cool because you could just see their faces change when we set the date. It made it much more real, even though it is still a long ways away. I am so excited for them because I know that the peace and blessings that come from the temple are real.  

I think that is basically it for this week. Our area is moving along and we are so excited for all of the people we teach. I love this area and am so happy that I get to stay (I guess that could change, but I’m not planning on it). Thank you all for all of the support you give to me. I love you!

Christmas came early

Oh and an explanation of the Christmas pictures: Sister Martinez and I jumped the gun a little hoping that we would be together for Christmas. We wanted to have Christmas cards made but it looks like we will no longer be together for Christmas so we just have a bunch of really strange pictures of us in Christmas sweaters. It was SO HOT when we were taking those pictures anyone who passed us thought we were insane. Oh and the picture with the Indian Chief - not pictured: homeless man standing literally three feet away from me. Got to love Phoenix. 

Have a wonderful week!

Hermana Doxey