Week 60

This week was so great - It flew by! When we were planning for next week and I saw September it kind of freaked me out. 

This week I got to give the talk on baptism at the most adorable 8-year-old’s baptism. It was so sweet to have that opportunity. It wasn't until I saw all of her family there that I got nervous. But it went well! The spirit was so strong; they sang a special musical number that was the sweetest thing ever. I guess its not that exciting to write about it...just trust me: it was presh. 

We found a few new people to teach that I am super excited about. One of our investigators that we found last week came to church this week in the branch and loved it. We were so excited. Not going to lie, I did a little happy dance when no one was looking. He is so cool! He texted us afterwards this long text about everything that he had learned. So sweet. I was dying. 

I got the cool opportunity to have a meeting with Elder Pearson of the 70 this week. It was probably one of the most spiritual meetings I have ever been in. It was about 30 missionaries and him and he was just like throwing revelation at us. It was a little mentally tiring but I go so many answers to what I have been praying about for weeks! He talked a lot about faith and how we can build it and why we need it. One of my favorite things he said was, "If you live your life through the lens of the Atonement you will never loose the path." It just made sense to me. The Atonement is so real and I am so grateful for the ability I have to never feel alone because of it. 

My love for the people here grows everyday. I just can’t get enough of seeing people change their lives for the better. This gospel is true and I know that because I have seen the difference it makes in peoples lives, and I can feel the difference it makes in my day-to-day life. Even as a missionary you have moments where you could have done better to live the commandments, and when I use the Atonement to become better it make me feel so good and so happy. 

Not much else happened this week. We had quite a few really awesome lessons with some really awesome people. It’s hard when writing emails because there is no way to describe the spirit I feel here or the love I feel here, so it doesn't make for a very exciting email. Sorry 'bout it. 

Hope you all have a wonderful week! 

Love you all, 

Sister Doxey

Week 59

This week went by so fast it is kind of scary! We had two exchanges this week and I stayed in my area for both. It was kind of weird to have Sister Garcia gone so much but it was nice to learn from other sisters.

At the beginning of this week I consciously decided to change my mindset toward finding people to teach. Instead of saying "I am going to talk to everyone I see to find new people," I decided to focus on faith. I prayed more sincerely and really had the desire to find those who are ready for the gospel so THEY could receive the blessings that come from it. It paid off! We have three new investigators this week.

Car selfies with Sister Garcia

One night during planning we had a feeling like we needed to go and find this person who had met with the missionaries in the past, even though we were pretty sure he had moved. When we were looking for him we found this guy outside. He helped us and then we started talking to him about the church. He was super interested and then was like, wait, what church are you from? I cannot even express how funny his face was when he found out we were Mormon. But he still said we could go back the next day and teach him. When we came back, he was actually there! That is not very common. And he was ready for a lesson and was super responsive, and accepted to be baptized. It was so cool to realize how powerfully the spirit played a roll in finding and knowing what to say when we were teaching him. Miracles.

We had quite a few really awesome lessons this week that members played a huge role in. The members in our ward and branch are so awesome and so willing to help us with whatever we need. I am so grateful to be in this area, and even more grateful that I have been able to be here for long enough to develop lifelong relationships with these people.

We had one awkward moment this week. We went to go visit a member and knocked on the door. She is super old so when she didn't answer for a minute or so we thought she just didn't hear us so we knocked even louder. Apparently she was right behind the door because she just yells "I said I'm coming! Can't you just freaking hold on?!" ... well, along those lines... and then opened the door. Apparently she forgot that we were coming over, because her face was priceless. She just laughed awkwardly and was like, "Wow, if the bishop heard me speak like that he would be really disappointed in me!" It was so funny because she is just this cute little old lady.

A pool in Phoenix #nofilter

It still amazes me how much strangers are willing to tell us about their personal lives. Details that we really don't need to know. We will be walking down the street talking to strangers and they will just talk to us about whatever problems they are having that week. It was really weird to me at first, but now I just enjoy hearing about people's lives and teaching them about how there is someone who can help, and who loves them - and that is their Heavenly Father.

I can't think of too much else to write about, nothing too noteworthy or crazy happened this week. I guess the weather has been kind of crazy - random rainstorms and dust storms. But it’s been nice because it cools it down so it's only like 98.

Anyway, I love you all and I hope you are having the best week ever!

Sister Doxey

Week 58

This week was a very, very long week. We had almost every lesson get canceled and I have been fighting off being sick all week. But hey, it's Monday, and as soon as I’m done writing emails I’m going to go take a much needed nap.

We had another service project this week out in the sun. Most yard clean ups we do are getting rid of a bunch of hoarder’s stuff. So it's just a bunch of trips to the dumpster and back. This one was kind of funny because this elder was there and he was DYING. It smelled like dog poo and he just could not get over the fact that we had to pick stuff up - he was taking like three pieces of wood a time. But it’s a little rough if that’s your first clean up job in Phoenix.

This week Sister Garcia and I have just been so out of it. Here are two examples:

We were talking to this guy and he said that he had a friend who was LDS and he was super nice and always invited him to church. So sister Garica says, "Well would you be... ... ... I forgot what I was going to say." She forgot the word for “interested” in English. She grew up in Texas, she Speaks English just as well as I do. We died laughing afterwards.

Then at dinner, a member passed her a piece of bread and she takes it, she just stares at it for a solid 20 seconds and looks back at the member and says, "what is this for?" The member was so confused and just says, "It's bread...You eat it..." once again we died laughing.

Those were not the only times when we were super out of it, but those are the two that I can remember.

Huge miracle of the week - I will give the back story as well. So when I was in the Central Ward, I taught a part-member family. Sister Martinez and I were pretty close with them. A little while before I left the area we had to stop teaching them. Fast-forward ten months and I go on an exchange with Sister Fukushima who is from Japan. At the time she was serving in a YSA (young single adult) ward. During companionship study I remembered back to that family I taught and realized that their daughter (who was not a member of the church, and who LOVES all things Japanese) was now YSA age. So we decided to visit. When we got to the house she answered and her family wasn't home, which was weird because she was the one who was never home when I used to teach them. So she let us in and I introduced her to Sister Fukushima. They really hit it off with their mutual love for all things Japanese. So sister Fukushima invited her to church and she came for all three hours that following Sunday. Fast-forward until this last Saturday and that same girl got baptized. I got permission to go to the baptism and it was the most spiritual experience I have had in a really long time. The spirit was so strong and she was so ready to make this step to follow her Savior. Sister Fukushima gave a very sweet talk about baptism and she talked about how aware God is of ever person. It is so true! God knows what we each need in every moment, it might not be what we think we need, or the timing that we would want, but he knows us and loves us and will put people in our lives to help us return to Him. It was no mistake that we ended up on the exchange together that day, and it was no mistake that I was put in the areas I was in. The Sisters that taught her were the right missionaries for her. I have come to realize that the best gift and experience you can have is to feel the Holy Ghost work through you. It is such a sweet experience to see someone's life be changed and know it was (or at least it happened at that time) because you were worthy of the spirit and were willing to follow it. And because of that baptism, her non-member stepfather who attended wants to start taking the lessons again and be baptized. The gospel is true and I feel so blessed to be a missionary.

Other great news, our recent convert got to bless the sacrament this week and it was so sweet to see. He was WAY nervous, but he did great! I love the area I am in. The longer I am here the more I don't want to leave it. The joke with the bishopric is that I need to get assigned visiting teachers because I have been here for so long. It legitimately freaks me out to think I would ever have to leave these people.

People are awesome and I love talking to them, even if they say very bluntly, "I don't want to talk to you" and walk away (that hurt my feelings this week, but I'm getting over it :) )

I hope you are having a great week!

Stay awesome,

Sister Doxey

Week 57

This week was really good. It was full of meetings, but we still managed to get a lot done. I have never been so tired in my entire life. I honestly can't really believe how I am functioning right now. Sister Garcia and I just laugh ALL day and it uses up so much energy that I crash at night. Every day we wake up and say, ok I am way too tired to laugh all day. And then we just start laughing all over again. It’s kind of a problem. Luckily it is so worth it to have a busy schedule and be happy all day. There is so much joy in this work, and being able to laugh about awkward or bad moments makes life SO much better. 

Mom, you asked about a "dinner story." We have dinner with four elders and us two almost every day. Yesterday we were at this cute little Hispanic lady’s house and she was taking our plates to go get us seconds. When she took mine she also took my fork and knife and when she brought the plate back she didn't give me a fork. I don't know why it didn't cross my mind to just ask her for it - I just grabbed my companion’s because she was done. So then the lady took my companion’s plate to get her more food and then my companion had to ask for a new fork and said she lost hers. Well then the lady found mine and asked if it was hers and she said no. I guess this is really just a “had to be there” moment, but the lady was so confused and we were all laughing so hard. Then she realized what happened and started laughing too. The good thing about having so many people at dinner is that when you really don't like something you can normally get someone else to eat it. Yesterday there was a drink that I really don't like so after an elder finished his he just switched cups with me (although I have never been so thirsty during a meal). 

So this week we had interviews with our new mission president, President Robinson. It was really nice to talk to him for a little bit although it was pretty uneventful. Before I even sat down he asked me to share a scripture that has been on my mind with him. Then we just talked about my area and what it needs to be better. I told him I’ve been here for eight months and he said, "oh that's not that long," so I have hope to stay here for another transfer! I am hoping to get at least one more transfer with Sister Garcia. We also had a district meeting with our new district and it was really good. Our new district leader formats the meetings way differently and I really liked the change. It was much more of a discussion, which was nice. 

With our mini missionary!

A funny contacting story from this week…we were talking to this woman when a man walked by and super quietly says hi in passing. We were not sure if he was talking to us or the woman, so we didn't say hi back. Then we went to talk to him and he gets all loud and was like "oh, you Mormons are so stuck up you don't even want to say hi to me" and goes off on us about how horrible of people we are. We were just trying to salvage the contact so at least he didn't think Mormons are horrible people, and he just wasn't having it. So after a solid minute of him saying mean things I just said "you’re hurting my feelings!" and then he stops and he apologizes and shakes my hand. It totally changed how he was reacting to us. Then (ok he was probably on drugs if I am being honest) he calls me a fragile bird and tells us how he writes spiritual poems. So he makes up this poem for me about how I need to learn how to trust. Then he looks at my companion and says "Oh! And you! Aren't you just a full course meal!" We died. Then he made up a poem for her about forgiveness. He then gave us a necklace that he said he found in a vent. Then we walked away and Sister Garica looks at me and goes "was that a fat joke?" It was soooo funny. Again, nothing is as funny as it is in person. Just take my word for it. We have quite a few contacts like that, I just never remember them long enough to write them down. We have been talking to a lot more people per week now so I guess that raises the probability of talking to...less than normal people. We told our recent convert that story, and after we said he called me a fragile bird our convert says, "boy he couldn't be more off!" Hahaha.

When we were contacting we ran into a member from another ward and she asked us to come over and teach a women she takes care of that lives in our area. We happily agreed. When we showed up the women was lying in one of those hospice beds. She is like 1048 years old and couldn't hear or see us that well. We were trying to share a message and she just kept saying "WHAT?!" (the voice makes all the difference, sadly I can't describe it). So we ended up just showing a video that had words and then singing a song (we were asked to by the member, if she heard me before she asked I don't think she would have asked us to sing). Ok so basically this is a really lame story and the end result that I am trying to get at is that I was just very uncomfortable and now we yell "what?!" in that voice at each other all the time.

Last miracle. I got to go on another exchange with Sister Fukushima this week. She is just so good I can't even describe it. But it was amazing because last transfer we went on an exchange and I introduced her to a teenager I had met in my first area who really loves all things Japanese. Well now she is getting baptized this Saturday. It was so cool to hear about her conversion story and I feel so blessed to have been a tiny piece of the puzzle. I cannot wait for Saturday!

So yeah this week was interesting but it was good. I am just so happy to still be in this area and I feel so blessed to be with Sister Garcia. I hope you are all having a great week!

Sister Doxey