Week 47

This week was super good. It was busy, so it went by super fast. We had zone conference - the last one with President Sweeney. It was so good; we ended it with our whole zone sitting around in a circle with President and Sister Sweeney asking them life questions and then baring our testimonies. It was a bittersweet ending. We have a temple trip coming up and that will be the actual last time we see the Sweeney’s. Well, hopefully not the last last time. I mean they live in Utah, so...

Zone Conference

I had two exchanges this week and for one I went into the French area again. It just happened to be the same day they had French correlation, so I went to the French correlation meeting for the third time. I feel like that has to be some kind of record. But the exchange went great. The French work covers the entire valley, so it goes into the Phoenix mission and I think the Tucson mission as well. We had dinner with a family in the Phoenix mission with missionaries who serve there and it was just weird for some reason. The people were great, it just felt weird to be outside of the mission with people I will never see again. 

We are really focusing on getting the members involved when we teach people and the members are so great to come out on visits with us. This week was the second time this transfer where we took a member out with us and then two or more lessons fell through. We went and visited a former investigator and then they accepted a date for baptism. We also had a day (and it was while I was on exchanges so I felt bad for the sister that was with me) that we had five different members come out with us and only one actually ended up getting to teach with us. It was kind of awkward, but the members were so sweet about it. 

So I gave my talk in the branch this week. It felt like a huge weight was lifted to be done with it. But it ended up being totally fine. It was a little nerve racking because the stake president showed up. Plus, I had to lead the music last minute because no one else stood up to do it. It was weird standing up and sitting down so much but it ended up being a good distraction from the fact that I was about to speak. So it was all good. 

We went on a hike this morning with one of my favorite families here and it was super fun. That's what the pictures are from. 

Over all it was a great week, but I cannot believe it is already over! I am so grateful to be a missionary right now. It is by far the most rewarding experience I have ever had. I had a really cool experience this week. There was a woman crying on a bench and talking on the phone (nothing scares me more than trying to talk to people while they are on the phone, they never are nice) but I just went over and gave her some tissues. She gave me a hug and said how she knows I am a missionary - and by the tone of it, she wasn't a big fan of missionaries - but that she loves me. It was very sweet. Its things like that where I just get the opportunity to make peoples’ days a little easier that are so rewarding. I never would have had the courage to do that before my mission, but I hope I never lose that. I mean, anybody can help a stranger. But I will say that the badge gives me a really good reason to go up to strangers even if they are weirded out by it!

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

Sister Doxey 

Week 46

This week was super normal, so I really don't have much to report on. We had a lot of cool lessons and miracles finding new people to teach, but none are really things I can write about. 

Last Sunday I was asked to give a talk in Sacrament meeting, so I gave it yesterday and it went pretty well. I was super nervous! It was not only my first talk on my mission, but also my first adult length talk in Sacrament Meeting. Then, after the ward meetings, I went to ward council meeting and my companion went to the branch sacrament meeting. When we get back together she just looks at me and was like, "Sister, don't be mad..." but she accepted for both of us to give talks in the branch next Sunday. I wanted to cry a little. So now I have to talk in Spanish next Sunday. Let’s just say I am going to use a lot of scriptures and quotes, and it is still going to be super rough. 

The sister we live with got super sick this week, so we had to go on a bunch of exchanges to try to cover all the lessons we both had this last week. I ended up home with her for some of the time which is a little boring, but it was good to have some extra time to study. Right now we are preparing for a conference by reading all of first Nephi (I am half way done and the conference is tomorrow...oops) and looking for the reasons that we would have these specific teachings in our day. It has been good to go back to the basics and really search the scriptures. I have found SO many reasons why we need the Book of Mormon. 

Ok, this is basically the worst email ever and I don't even have pictures to make it better! But I really love being a missionary. I have met so many people who I just adore to death. Every person we talk to I learn something new from. I am so happy to be in Phoenix, even if it is very very hot. Some might even call it stupid hot. Everything is going well, and hopefully I will have more to report on next week.

I love you all!

Sister Doxey

Week 45

I hope everyone had a great week this week - this email is going to be pretty short so I apologize in advance. Not too much to update on this week. We spent most of our week going through our ward list trying to find new people to teach. My new favorite place to contact is the trailer park near our house; all the people there are so nice! And hey, I think it’s a success when we at least get turned down nicely. 

We did have a cool service project this week. There was a big multi-faith event that celebrated families and it was all in Spanish. There were Spanish dancers, luchadors, venders, bounce houses, pony rides, and Mexican food. It had it all. It was so cool! It was also 102 degrees, and the entire even was outside. Luckily Sister Jackson and I got the best job and were at the registration table, which was in the shade. People would ask me questions that I didn't have the answer to and I would tell them that I didn't know and then they would be like, “oh she doesn't speak Spanish.” I just wanted to be like, "No I am just poorly informed on my job! I understand you!" So it was like 8 hours of that...but it was good. Plus we got tacos for lunch and that's my favorite meal. Oh and the best part - telemundo covered the event. So basically I’m famous. 

This week's exchange

The sister we live with's hair right before
she dyed it

We had Zone Training Meeting this week. It went pretty well. It went over on time like always. By the time it was my turn to talk for a few minutes we were already past time so I just went super fast through my part, but hey, I'm not complaining. 

Other than that there really was nothing out of the ordinary this week, which makes for a super boring email. But I still love my time here. I love Phoenix even though it is just stupid hot all the time. 

Oh and best week ever at church, a TON of people came. Not really sure why everyone came on the same week but it was awesome and I got to see a little girl who got baptized a few months ago who moved and came back to visit. It was a great little reunion.

I love you all and hope you have the best week,

Sister Doxey

Week 44

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms who I did not get to talk to yesterday!

I am so grateful for my mom and for all she has done for me. Skyping home is always so bittersweet because you just want it to go on forever and ever. But it was so nice to hear everyone's voices and see my family's cute faces. 

There was nothing too extraordinary that happened this week. We had our last lesson with our sweet recent convert. The ward helped him move out this week and he is very happy. He called us on Mother’s Day to tell us how much he loved us and how much we meant to him. His mom isn't here anymore so he felt like we were the women to call in his life and it was so sweet we almost cried. But we got to talk to his new missionaries in the Phoenix mission for a minute and he will be well taken care of. 

We got to go to the Visitor’s Center with an investigator this week; it was the most spiritual experience I have had at the Visitor’s Center. We went through the "God’s plan for the family" presentation and our investigator got emotional. It was sweet because we never see that side of him. He said he felt something different there and I was just like HEY IT’S THE SPIRIT. I just love that God gives us a way to feel peace and comfort. We had an older woman from the ward go with us and it was so sweet to see how excited she got about the gospel. She drove us and the music was SO LOUD and yet she could barely hear it. I got home with the worst headache of my life, but it was so worth it. 

We went hiking this morning for P-day. I have a love hate relationship with morning hikes. I feel so good yet so tired for the rest of the day. We got to hike the mountain I haven't hiked yet so that was nice. My companion has bad ankles but she was a trooper and made it to the top and back down. That being said, that will probably be our last hike. 

Sorry for the very short email this week, but I will send some pictures to make up for it. 

Have a great week everyone! 

Sister Doxey

Week 43

This week was transfers...and nothing changed. Super exciting. This was the first transfer of my mission where our entire district stayed the exact same. Not going to lie - I was a little disappointed in the lack of excitement. But it’s all good because I love my district. That also means that I will be in Phoenix until June. So I’m 100% going to get the real heat. Not excited for that. This is also the last transfer for President and Sister Sweeney. They are going home and we will be getting President and Sister Robinson as our new mission President. It's pretty sad but I am sure all will be well. Change is good for the most part. 

This last week was a little anti-climactic so I don't have much to write about. We did a big service project where we went and cleaned up at an elementary/high school down town. I was on trash duty with some other missionaries. I ended up finding some interesting things, including three used diapers. I think this week has showed me that that you can choose to be happy. Obviously it is harder in some moments than others, but we really can focus on the positive. Not that picking up trash is the worst thing ever, but we just focused on what was fun and it was a blast. 

We had some good lessons this last week, but they are all kind of a blur. One lesson that was really cool was that we were leaving an area after we had been contacting for a while and found no one. I had to turn the car around in a driveway so my companion got out of the car to back me up (yeah we actually do that and it can be pretty awkward) and this man come out of his house to ask if we were Jehovah’s Witnesses. So because my companion was out of the car and we were being obedient with the rules, we were able to teach this man about the restoration of the gospel. HE asked US for a Book of Mormon so he could read it and find out if it was true. Before we even got to telling him about it! He was just visiting a friend so he is not in our area to teach, but it was such a good reminder to me of why we have the rules we have and why we follow them even when we think no one is watching, and we think they are not necessary (as bad as a driver as I am, I am fully capable of backing out of a driveway).

One great surprise of the week was that I got to see Sister Ferre! (AKA Chloe to the rest of the world). It was so great, and the members know how much we love each other so we got to have lunch at member’s houses together twice and then saw each other again when she visited the ward. It was great. It is always a little weird to see missionaries post mission - in pants and what not - but it was so good. I definitely needed that this week and it was just a blessing to get to say hi again. 

I feel like I have been super blessed this week with my Spanish in lessons. I just start talking and the words come. We speak English so much because, #1 this is America and, #2 we are teaching mostly English speaking people right now. It can be a little frustrating because it is a lot harder to learn Spanish when you don't get to speak it a whole lot, but I finally feel like it is coming. But mostly just the teaching gospel stuff in Spanish, the random conversation in Spanish is another story…

Not much else to write about, I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Sister Doxey