Week 29

Well, this week went by fast. I feel like I was writing home two days ago. Which also means I really don't have much to report on. I think the most exciting thing that happened this week is that I ate Tacos de Lengua yesterday (tacos with tongue meat) and I surprised myself by actually liking them. 

We had a huge missionary training by members of the Twelve Apostles, as well as the head of the missionary department for the church. It was a broadcast. Other than the fact that we had to switch buildings in the middle of the broadcast, it was a super cool experience. I learned a lot about how to teach and what exactly I need to be teaching to help the people better. In his talk, Elder Anderson said, "The most important thing we do is to testify of the Savior and invite other to come unto Him" and that we should always be keeping his name on our lips. I thought that was cool because that is true for not just missionaries, but members as well. If you have a testimony of Jesus Christ, and really believe that he died for our sins, how could you not want to share that with others? 

From our service project this week

A few weeks ago we found out that the process for transfers is going to be different than it used to be in our mission. We will no longer be having transfer meetings, where everyone meets at the mission office and finds their new companion and gets a little training from the Mission President. We will now be going directly from our old areas to our new areas. Going along with that, transfers are now going to be on Fridays instead of Tuesdays, which means my P-day will not be switching to Wednesdays anymore. It is going to be very interesting to see how it all works out this transfer. Members are driving us to new areas and if you can't get a member ride we will be taking public transportation. Luckily, I don't think I have anything to worry about. Sister Ferre and I will most likely be staying together for another transfer (another seven week transfer!).

Sister Ferre is the BEST. I would be so bummed if we got split up. She just pushes me to be a better missionary and a better person. We work so well together and have so much fun. I am so grateful to have had all the companions that I have had. 

Sister Ferre and I with Sister L.

We have been super busy with meetings this week and were not able to teach as many lessons, but the lessons we did have were all super amazing. I feel like every day I gain a stronger testimony that this is where I need to be right now. This week I gained such a strong testimony of the Priesthood. I took it for granted growing up with the priesthood in my home. I just don't know what else to say other than that it is real. 

Well sorry for the slightly lame email, hopefully I will have more to report next week, and hopefully that will not include transfer news (transfers are this week). 

LOVE YOU ALL!

Hermana Doxey

Week 28

Hello All!

This week has been just as great as last week. We have seen so many miracles and the area is really starting to grow. My favorite thing now is talking to everyone I see. And it turns out that the more you talk to people, the more weird stories you get! So here are a few things that have happened this week:

Walked up to a man and he introduced himself as "Sir. Homeless." When we asked if he would like to learn more and if we could come back another day he said, "Well sure you can come back...but what will I do with my wife?" (I don't think he understood...) at which point his friend yells "Go inside Virgil!" which for some reason was my favorite part of that experience. 

Walked up to a man and asked if he needed help. The first thing he said was, "I just got out of prison!" (Actually not the first time that has happened to us) So we talked to him about Jesus Christ and he says, "Baby girl I got sin written on my neck." He literally had a tattoo that said “sin” on his neck. Best part of this story is that he actually wanted us to teach his family and, because they are in the English area, other sisters are teaching them next week.

We were teaching an investigator about repentance, and he was telling us about how this man stole a bunch of cans from his kids and he wanted to know if it was bad if he wanted to beat him up. That night we were back in the area, and we saw a young guy walking around with a bag of cans and we were just thinking ohhh no. Well, we were sitting in our car, and the guy walks past us and we were thinking that he was the guy that stole the cans. Then our investigator runs out of his house and starts yelling at this guy. We were stuck in our car, freaking out, for twenty minutes. But it ended up being fine, and no one got hurt. Then, the next day, we were driving past the metro station and we saw THE SAME GUY STILL CARRYING AROUND THE BAG OF CANS. Crazy.

A man stops us on the street and starts talking about the Bible. We were just talking to him and he all the sudden stops and looks at me and says, "Do you have a little...” and then a hand movement referring to my stomach like I am pregnant. Oh man, I have never had so much self-control…let’s just say that. 

We went to a man for a lesson we had set up a few days before and he was like "I can't meet tonight, I lost my dog.” So we set up a new lesson and he yells as we walk away, "It’s a date!...Well...sort of..." umm no, kind sir, it is not even like a date. And we are actually not going to come back. We just sent the Elders over. 

We saw a person riding a low-ride bike with high handlebars in a bright blue graduation robe. We also saw a man in a wheelchair doing a wheel-ey across two intersections.

We walk up to this guy, and he sees us and just looks at us and takes off his shirt. We were like...um, hello. And he informed us that he just wanted to show us his scar. How nice of him. 

We took a selfie so we'd have something to send this week!

Well, anyway, those were the best of the encounters this week. But there were more. It is so fun to be in central Phoenix because we meet so many types of people. I have grown to just accept everyone how they are as equal children of God. 

We had a really cool experience last night where we were walking past a group of guys smoking and we walked up to them. They were very excited to talk to us about alllll they new about Joseph Smith (and not in the friendliest way), but we just talked to them like normal people. We got to teach them about the restoration and answer all their questions and clear up some misconceptions they had about the church. But by the end they asked if they could go to church and get a Book of Mormon - I love talking to people!

I have learned so much on my mission, but one of the biggest is that we really need to love everyone. If we are teaching about Jesus Christ and asking people to follow Him, then we need to follow Him ourselves and treat people the way Christ did. People respond really well to kindness. Sometimes it doesn't matter if people don't accept what we are trying to teach them if they can just see that we are trying to help them and be nice to them. A lot of people just need someone to be nice to them. 

I love being here, especially in this area. I love this gospel and I love my Savior. I feel so blessed to be able to be on a mission. As hard as it is to be away from home, being able to help people is the most rewarding feeling in the world. I love coming home at the end of the day knowing that I did all I could. It is very tiring, but so rewarding. 

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Sister Doxey

Week 27

Holy Cow…I don't even know where to start when talking about this week because it was the best week of my mission so far. I guess that seems like a pretty big statement but it is SO TRUE. This is the first week of sister Ferre and I being fully healthy all week, so we were just ready to work super hard. We set really high goals and met every one of them that we were in control of. I know that it was because of that hard work that we saw so many miracles this week, so I thought I would tell you about them. These are not in the order of how they happened, but it was almost overwhelming how much success we were having this week.  

1. We were on our way to a less active family’s house and when we got there they were getting ready to leave to go to the hospital. We went to pray with them and offer them help, and they were very grateful for our timing. 

2. We went to a member’s house to do what we call "Member Missionary Lessons" where we teach members how they can serve and help others and be missionaries themselves. We forgot to look at our phone (the member had canceled because his wife wasn't going to be home) so when we got there we decided to knock on a few doors around the member’s home. We call it the “Uknock” because we knock on the doors that form a U around the house we were going to be at (the idea being we are in the area for a reason). So the very first house we knocked on was a really sweet woman who LET US IN. That is the first time that has ever happened to me, and she told us we were the first missionaries she ever let into her home. We just got to share our beliefs both ways and talk about miracles we had seen in our lives. It was super cool to hear what she had to say. She said we could stop by again when we were in the area. She told us that the reason she kept talking to us was because we weren't pushy which was cool.

3. We went to a set appointment with a potential investigator, but he ended up not being home. We left a note with our number on it AND HE CALLED US BACK. That has also never happened to me. 

4. We were finally able to get a large print Book of Mormon in Spanish for a less active member, and when we gave it to her she was so happy she started petting the book and her lip was quivering the entire lesson. It was such a sweet moment to make her so happy that she would finally be able to read the Book of Mormon.

5. We were in an area and our lessons had finished, so we were on our way back to our car when we realized we had a few minutes and were not at our contacting goal for the day. So we knocked on a door and there was a family there who invited us back. This week I have gained a testimony of goals.

6. We were on our way to contact a not so promising referral and we walked past this group of people smoking and drinking on the porch. Because they were on the second story and the porches are also the walkways to the next door we had to squeeze by them. They were like "Hey are you Mormons?" when we told them yes they were like "Oh we could tell because of all your good vibes." We stopped and talked to them for about a half hour and answered a lot of questions and had probably one of the funniest conversations I have had while contacting about the difference between a Mormon and a "regular Christian." It was a pretty crazy conversation with everyone talking at once, but we were able to make a return appointment with one of the girls. As we were leaving she said, "just so you know, you could not have come at a better time. I was thinking about God and all my questions right as you walked by." 

We had our follow up lesson with her and it was so cool, the spirit was incredibly strong and she said she got chills when we told the Joseph Smith experience.

7. We took a member to a lesson with an investigator who is not progressing very much. They hit it off big time. They loved to talk and the member was the perfect person to bear testimony. When she did it was so powerful. When we bore our testimonies the investigator wasn't that interested because we "don't have much life experience" but the testimony of the member was very touching to her, especially because the member didn't grow up in the church and the investigator could relate to her. 

8. We went to a less active’s house to just stop in and share a message, and when we got there her cousin who was visiting from Mexico was there. He had never talked to missionaries before but had seen them on bikes. We got to share the message of the restoration and he invited us back to teach the Plan of Salvation and both lessons went really well. Plus, we have dinner with them tonight and they are making street tacos because it is my favorite meal, so I am counting that as miracle 8.5.

9. We were able to have our first lesson since I have been in the area with a recent convert. It was so hard to see her because I was sick, and then she was sick, and then Sister Ferre was sick. She has some problems with being active in the church because she has such a rigorous work schedule, but her testimony is really strong. We were able to set a date to go and do baptisms for the dead and she is excited to work towards that goal.

10. We went to contact a potential investigator and they had moved out, so we did the Uknock. A woman answered, and we were able to come back a few days later and teach her about the restoration. She loves studying about religions and accepted the invitation to read from the Book of Mormon and pray about it. 

11. We have this amazing member who is about to leave on his mission who is always willing to help us and come to lessons with us. About a week ago he came to a lesson with our investigator and this week he invited him to a branch party that we didn't even know was going on. They both went and we were able to meet up with them. The investigator got to have fun and meet a lot of the members from the branch. 

12. We tried to have a drop in lesson with that same investigator but he wasn’t home. We contacted a few doors around him and we were about to leave when we saw a man walk around the corner and we just had this strong feeling like we needed to go talk to him. We went and talked to him and he wasn't really that interested but we kept talking to him for a minute and then his daughter came out. She is the cutest, a little younger than Sam. We asked if she was interested and she was and her dad was totally fine with her learning more so we get to go teach her tomorrow. 

We have been doing SO much contacting. We had a zone goal of having 26 TTIs (basically when you talk to someone about the gospel and see if they are interested). We doubled that goal and got 52 in a week. President Sweeney challenged us last week to always "open our mouths" to anyone we see. We took that very seriously and we definitely saw the results of that this week. The mission is not about numbers but it is about making sure you are putting in your full effort. The goals we set with numbers this week have pushed me to work harder than I ever have. It is also the most fun I have ever had.

When you contact a lot of people in a short amount of time it comes with a LOT of rejection. We had people telling us no nicely, and some people not so nicely. My favorite negative response is "Will you PLEASE go away." Yes. Yes we can. Plus, it has been raining all week, so we were wet for a lot of our contacting. This could have been discouraging but it wasn't. I have the best companion in the world that keeps me laughing all day long, even with the door slams and rude comments. The worse the experience, the more we can laugh after. It has been great to learn how to laugh in the hard times. 

With all the contacting we did this week I thought that we were not going to be able to teach as many lessons as we normally do, but we actually taught WAY more that we normally do. It was so amazing to see the miracles of following our mission president’s advice to open our mouths. I have gained a ton of confidence in talking to random people in the street. Although it still scares me a lot some times. I also gained a better appreciation for the time we have to work. At the end of the day I used to be a little relieved to go home and sleep, but now even though I am more physically tired I just want to stay out and work all day. 

I think the biggest miracle of this week (besides us staying healthy the whole week) was the timing of it all. We were exactly where we needed to be at all times. We were able to meet and talk to so many people. I was able to speak the Spanish that I needed to. Oh man weeks like this just get me so pumped about being a missionary. My testimony has grown so much in seeing God guide us and protect us.

I know I am here for a reason. I know that through trials we can still be happy if we know our purpose in life, and turn to our Savior. I am so grateful for this time I have to learn and grow and to improve myself. I love these people so much. 

I hope you all had a great week as well, I would love to hear all about it :)

Thank you for your love, prayers, letters, emails, and most of all your support. 

Love you all,

Sister Doxey

Oh and tonight I have exchanges. I will be staying in my area (I’m a little stressed considering I have only been here for three weeks) and I will be with a Sister Training Leader who does not speak Spanish. On a day where we have back-to-back set lessons including Spanish lessons. Wish me luck- I am going to need it.