Week 34

Hello to all! I hope you had a wonderful week. I love it here in Phoenix - the weather has been a dream lately. We had such a great week this week!

We had exchanges with the French sisters and I got to go into their area. We ended up not having any lessons in French, but we did have a lesson in Swahili, which was super cool. The sisters’ recent convert that they taught in French comes and translates - he used to translate from French to Swahili but now he knows English well enough to translate from English to Swahili. We taught about the restoration, and then I got to say the closing prayer. It was so surreal to have my prayer translated into Swahili. I don't know how to describe how it felt, but it was an incredible experience. I teach and pray in Spanish all the time, but to have my words translated into a language that is so insanely different than anything I know was just cool. Especially because it was us talking to God. It made me realize how blessed we are to have that line of communication with God, no matter what language we speak.

There are a lot of languages in the mission. The main three are English, Spanish, and French. I have also been in a Swahili lesson now, and taught a family who spoke very little English from Nepal. There is also a family in the mission being taught who only speak Japanese, and there is also a missionary who can teach in Tongan (I know that there are a lot of Tongans here, but I don't know of any who don't also speak English). 

Temple trip!

On exchanges I also got to have some YSA lessons (investigators or members who go to the young single adult ward). It was kind of weird to teach my peers, but it was also a cool experience. The sister I was with, Sister Noorda, is so sweet and she was actually Sister Ferre's first companion in the MTC. She came out on her mission Spanish speaking and got switched to French nine months in. We also had dinner in the Phoenix mission. It’s a weird situation because the French sisters do work for all the French in the valley, so that goes into the Phoenix mission. All their French work is based out of a ward in the Phoenix mission, so that ward feeds them sometimes. It was a fun little adventure to leave the mission for an hour, but it wasn't really any different from ours considering we were still in Phoenix. The YSA ward that sister Noorda serves in covers all of the Phoenix East Stake, or all of our zone. We ended up going to a lesson at a member’s house from my last area, so it was super cool to get to say hi and teach them. We actually had a few lessons set up with people that I used to teach and passed to the YSA sisters, but almost all of them fell through. 

We also went to French correlation, a meeting that all the French missionaries in the valley go to. Because Sister Martinez (my first companion) is now companions with a French sister I got to see her. It was so fun to talk - we get a little crazy when we get together, but it was fun. Overall it was an amazing exchange - I learned so much. I have two more exchanges this coming week, which is going to be a little crazy, but also super fun because I am going into their area for both of them. 

This past week we got to go to the temple with a women from the branch who went through for the first time. It was such an amazing experience. I felt like I hadn't been to the temple in forever, since I was sick during the last mission temple trip. It was all in Spanish so it was a little crazy but I understood almost all of it. We also had a baptism this week for the cutest little girls ever. We teach their family, but mainly the two girls. They are eight and nine years old so it is just the cutest and funnest thing ever to teach them. The other day, as a late Valentine’s Day gift, they gave us these plastic silver necklaces. Mine had this huge pinwheel thing, and Sister Ferre's had a huge money sign. It was so funny and adorable that they got them for us. We forgot to take them off so we ended up wearing them the rest of the day, but they were our last lesson so it wasn't too bad. 

The adorable girls we teach

We had a lesson with a member this week and she told us she wants to go on a mission now. It was baaasically the coolest moment of my life. She is so sweet and has had a rough time. It was cool that she could see the happiness and peace that comes from giving up time to serve God. She is only 17, so she still has a while to prepare, but I can't even describe how cool of an experience that was. We just love her sooooo much. 

This morning for p-day we woke up early and went to hike camelback. It is a pretty tough hike, and we got a little less than half way when an Elder got super sick. It is a different Elder’s last p-day on the mission, so he didn't want to leave before the sun came up, but we couldn't go the rest of the way, so we just explored the area a little bit and it was SO COOL. We found a sweet cave. At the end we were actually pretty happy we had just stayed put for the sunrise, but I think we are going to go back next week to actually hike it. 

Awkward us inside the cave

We had a great week and I just love my mission. I love teaching people, I love learning Spanish, I love the gospel, and I love my Savior. 

Have a wonderful, fabulous week!

Hermana Doxey