Week 51

This week was a great week. Our investigator got baptized last Saturday and confirmed on Sunday. It was a very sweet experience and I am so grateful to have been apart of it. The spirit was so strong. It was a combined baptism with a woman who the Elders taught. I gave a mini talk on baptism. I really, really don't like giving talks, but I love writing them. It’s nice to have a reason to study by topic and really ponder them out. So the preparation was a lot nicer than the actual delivery. Conversion is a really cool thing to get to watch. It's really never just a moment. It’s a slow process of people changing their lives to find out what really makes them happy. It has been such a blessing to get to watch as he has learned the gospel and really found out for himself that it is true. The Holy Ghost is real and it testifies of truth. And for that I am grateful because it makes our job sooooo much easier. I really, really love being a missionary and I really, really love the gospel.

We had some other exciting things that happened this week, but it’s so hard to explain the coolness of events in writing. 

We have a woman that we teach who I have gotten really close to these last few months that ended up in the hospital for an emergency appendectomy. We got permission to leave the mission (the hospital was just out of our area) and go check on her. Most of her family was not able to be with her, so when we got there she was alone. It was about three hours after her surgery and she had - just two minutes earlier - received the news about a close family member who was also in the hospital, but would probably not make it. The hospital was packed and so she was in a panic and all alone. We got to rush in and hold her hand and talk her through some breathing. It was such a testimony builder to me that God is so aware of us. We were literally in the parking lot when she got that news. Of all the things on my mission, I feel the most grateful and the happiest when I can feel God working through me to help other people. It’s almost a rush to be able to feel that way. But by the time we left she was calmed down and we were able to go back that night for her to receive a blessing. I am so grateful for a Heavenly Father who knows us so personally and knows what and who we need, and who will actually send those people to us. How lucky are we? 

We get to go to Girl’s Camp this week and I am so excited I can't even take it. Plus it is only supposed to be like 95 degrees at camp (yeah, I am not an Oregonian anymore - I say ONLY 95 degrees) because we are driving into the mountains a little bit. Hashtag Blessed. We get to do a little 50-minute class about nature. When they told us that I was like... umm ok that is super broad, what in the world are we going to do? But we planned a class that I think will go really well. We are focusing on how nature is a great place to receive personal revelation (for example, Christ in Luke 5:16, or even Joseph Smith in JSH 1:14,17-19). And sadly sometimes we will be in nature, but we wont really be IN nature because of all the distractions we have these days. I am pretty excited - I think it will go really well. 

Cool story about that planning session. It was all four of the sisters who are going to camp and we were trying to figure out where to go and were totally stuck for like a solid 15 minutes. So we said a prayer and during the prayer the answer came for what we needed to do. I have a testimony of prayer. It really does work. 

We are also getting our new mission president this Wednesday. I am nervous but really excited to meet him. I am sure he will be great and exactly who the mission, and I personally, need at this time. Its funny how it all just seems to work out.

I love you all and hope you are having a fun and safe summer! 

Sister Doxey

Week 50

So this week was a little long and a little stressful, but we got to go to the temple and that is really all that matters. We spent almost all day on Wednesday in the temple and it was exactly what I needed to get through the week. It is so peaceful inside and just the best place to be when you are having a hard week. The spirit was so strong and it just makes me think how true the church is and how grateful I am for the priesthood. It was also the last time I will see the Sweeney’s before they go home. It was kind of bitter sweet to say goodbye. Luckily they will just be in Utah, so really it's only a ‘see you later.’

Our water heater is on the fritz so we’ve had freezing showers for three days now. A member came over yesterday at 9 PM to see if he could fix it. Basically the nicest thing ever. Sadly, it is electric so the only thing he could tell us was to check our circuit breaker. The hot water had popped out so we thought we had fixed the problem. Bad news: it won't stay on. Hopefully maintenance will be able to fix it soon! Although it does help us to take quick showers. And it makes me extra grateful for when I do have warm showers. So I have tried not to complain.

Saying goodbye to the Sweeney's

Sister Sweeney

I went on an exchange to another zone last week and now this week I have two exchanges that I will be staying in my area for. It is so much fun to be with different sisters and learn from them. The only down side is that three exchanges in six days makes me really need a nap.

Our investigator passed his baptismal interview and will be baptized this Saturday. He keeps telling me that I have a big mouth because I invite literally everyone to his baptism because I'm just so excited for him. But what he doesn't get is that that just makes me invite more people. It's cool because we found him just knocking doors and his life has changed so much since we found him. He is so much more lively and in good spirits. Plus the ward loves him and he loves the ward. It has been probably the biggest blessing of my mission to get the opportunity to teach him. I asked him how he knew the church was true and he just looked at me confused, "Well it's just the things you two taught me. Read your scriptures, go to church, and pray." Oh yeah, silly me - duh. But it's so true. The only way we can feel the peace of the gospel is by doing the simple things consistently and happily.

I love the gospel and when hard weeks come and bad days seem to last a little longer than I would want, it all comes back to knowing why I am here. I love my God and I know that the gospel can help people. It is through Jesus Christ that we can have peace and a fresh start every day. In fact we get a fresh start every moment of every day. All it takes is the desire for the redo and we get it. How lucky and blessed are we?

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

Sister Doxey

Week 49

Happy Monday everyone,

Transfers were this week and I am officially still in the same area with the same companion. Sister Jackson is my first three-transfer companion and we are ready to have another great transfer together. We were one of the like 5 companionships in the mission that didn't get changed, so that was a little crazy. This whole week has been a little crazy. The sister we live with who was waiting for her companion for a week was with us in a trio off and on, and then when she finally got her companion President Sweeney called us and told us we were going to go pick up a mini missionary for the weekend. So we spent the whole week in a trio. 

Our "mini missionary"

Our mini missionary was awesome. It was super fun to have her with us and show her what missionary life is like. I hope she had a good time - it was a strange weekend to be with us. We had a few big meetings and went to a baptism with our investigator. It was super fun, just a little different than the norm. Awkward ending with our mini missionary - we had ceviche at a branch party right after church. Sister Jackson was in a meeting with the ward while I was in the branch sacrament meeting and she had not gotten out yet, so Sister Orozgo and I went to go eat. The Ceviche made our poor mini missionary and I SO sick. We went home so Sister Jackson could eat and we just curled up on our beds from the horrible stomachaches. Then I accidentally passed out and woke up twenty minutes later when we had to leave to go take her home. Oops. It was a blessing though because I felt like two hundred times better after the nap. 

We got the opportunity to have a mission president’s fireside this weekend, which is when a member from the mission presidency goes and speaks with recent converts at a little devotional type thing. It was so amazing. The spirit was so strong. We got to sing in a missionary choir "Hark all Ye Nations" and it was super cool even though I can't sing to save my life. Our investigator was there with us and said he really liked it. Even though we went for our investigator to hear those testimonies, I felt like they were all for me. It was exactly what I needed to finish off the crazy week. 

When you're in a trio you obviously have to
buy matching pajamas

We also had our big Zone Training Meeting this week, which was really good. We had some great trainings by a bunch of different members of the zone and everyone did a great job. We have the biggest zone in the mission with 30ish missionaries so it’s always a fun time. Plus then we had a potluck afterwards and holy cow there was so much food. It was delish. I am now the missionary who has been in the zone for the longest consecutive time. I guess that's what happens when you spend your whole mission in one zone. Not complaining, I love our zone.

That's mainly what happened this week. We had some really good lessons with our investigators this week, but we are spending a lot of time just trying to find new people to teach. It is getting a lot hotter here so people tend to have a little more pity for us, which can be nice. 

I am doing great and I really appreciate all the emails, so thank you to everyone who sent me one.

Have a great week!

Sister Doxey

Week 48

First of all, thank you for all the birthday wishes! I had a really great birthday. I sent some pictures that cover most of what happened. My district made me a cake and then we went to my favorite place to eat, Two Hippies Tacos. Then we had dinner with one of my favorite families in the ward. Then we had the best lesson ever at night and our investigator accepted a date for baptism. So yeah I was like dying of happiness. Plus all of the notes from everyone made me feel very loved, so thank you all. 

Birthday District Meeting

Other than my birthday, it was a pretty normal week. We did a bit of service for this adorable old lady in our ward. We went over to share a little message and check in on her and then convinced her to let us move some plants and boxes around. She was adorable. 

I also had an exchange with a sister who serves on the reservation but she came to my area so there isn't much to tell about it. It was fun to hear stories about different areas. Our mission covers so many places that are SO different. We had a great day together but I felt bad because all of our lessons were just kind of weird to be on exchanges for. Two of them were our last lessons with the people so it was probably a little uncomfortable for her. But it worked out, so all is well. 

Baseball game from last Monday

We found out this week that we get to go to Girl’s Camp with the stake young women! I am SO pumped! I have to go home a day early to get to a meeting but we will be there for three days. It’s just going to be hiking and singing songs and talking to the girls about missions. I just talk about it all day long because I am so excited. Its extra cool because the camp is in Payson, which is a part of our mission I have never been to before. Its not until the end of the month, so I get to be really excited for a long time - I don't think my companion is as happy about that as I am :)

One of the sisters we live with, Sister Villalta, finished her mission this week so it was a little bitter sweet to say goodbye to her. We have lived together for six months now so it just feels weird at home. We are in a trio for a week until Sister Patterson's new companion gets here (transfers aren't until next week). Being in a trio brings me back to my MTC days. 

Saying goodbye to Sister Villalta with
my crazy eyes

That is pretty much all that happened this week. I love it here in Phoenix, although it is officially "stupid hot." I have just come to accept the fact that I will be sweating for the next five months. We have a car so I wont complain, although the first 116-degree day did catch me off guard. I forgot what that felt like and it is a little brutal. But even with the insane weather I am doing great. The people are extra nice to you when you knock on their door super sweaty so it all works out. 

I love you all - have a great week!

Sister Doxey