Letter of Gratitude from Pres. Reese | Teaching 3 Good People | Service Project

Hi all!

Question: What’s going on today for P-day?
Elder Doxey: We’re just here in a church gym playing soccer with 6 of us—four Elders and two Sister Training Leaders from our District. My companion Elder Martinez is a naturally good soccer player. All of us really need exercise so we’re working hard at it. The Sisters in this District are some of the strongest in the mission. All six of us are assigned to this Spanish Ward, so that is unique.

It’s funny, we also all live really close to each other, so there is more interaction on a P-day or at church. All seem to gather at our apartment to start the P-day and are really excited to be together. This of course is “new” to me b/c normally as a missionary you are spread out and may not see any other missionaries in your area for a long time (Panama style).

Question: What can you tell us about your new area (Shadow Hills)?
Elder Doxey: It’s really just more Las Vegas—nothing really special except for it being heavily Latino. One exciting thing is that the Spanish ward we are working in just called a new Ward Mission Leader. This is really good because in Ward Council yesterday there were only two others there, so this will make three from the ward, plus us.

Question: How are you settling into not being an AP anymore, with a month left in your mission?
Elder Doxey: President Reese sent me a personal letter expressing his gratitude for my service as an AP. It was really cool to get that. (NOTE: Shortly after saying this, Nate looked up and President Reese himself walked into the gym to visit with missionaries on their P-day! After interacting with several missionaries, he came over and talked to all of us on the call at the same time—Julia, Elder John Doxey in Washington, Dan) and expressed his gratitude for the great job Nate did as an AP, and talked about our mutual friends the Brysons and Darbys in San Clemente, CA. Cool experience!)

It actually feels good to not be an AP, because that has been a big responsibility and we have two great replacement APs in my former (awesome) companion Elder Sanabria and his companion Elder Kellogg. They are excellent.

Question: Give us an update on service opportunities…
Elder Doxey: This past week we got to do the craziest service project with the new APs and other companions. It was at a non-members home, cleaning up their “farm-like” yard. 

Service project

Most homes in the area have the normal gravel or rocks (instead of grass) with a desert plant or cactus here and there. Well, this house was literally two lots, and had goats, turkeys, 20 chickens, a goose, four dogs, and more. Our job was to clean up some super old dead wood and clean up the place. Interesting arrangement, but great project.

Que lindo

Oh, and by the way we now drive a 2021 Toyota SR5 Truck. This is one of the ones I told you about a few weeks ago.

Our truck

The Church buys these new from the lot (on a deal I'm sure), lets us drive them up to 3,000 miles and then sells them back to the dealership in mint condition.  Many more buyers want a car with 3,000 miles on it than with no miles on it. This ends up being way less expensive for the Church than renting. 

Elder Martinez & Elder Doxey at New Years Eve Lesson

Question: How is your new companion Elder Martinez? 
Elder Doxey: He is a great Elder. He has about 5 months in the mission, and is a relatively recent convert of a couple years ago.

Typically, if someone newish like this has not had consistent training, or training on things that are known to be effective, there is a real need (and appreciation I should add) for good training. So, that is what’s going on. He is chill. (NOTE: At this point Elder Martinez came over and spoke with all of us in Spanish. It was great to meet him). 

Question: One month left. Your efforts in training Elder Martinez seem important. Anything else going on? 
Elder Doxey: I officially started “My Plan” (the Church’s metaphorical off ramp program for missionaries ending their missions). It is super basic, and essentially wants to make sure I remain a strong church member and have a plan. Of course I do, so that’s chill. 

Weekly Call

Question: Tell us about folks you are teaching… 
Elder Doxey: Right now Elder Martinez and I are teaching three people. One is a woman in her 30s and her son, along with her husband in a wheelchair. We’re also teaching a 19-year-old named Kevin. He lives with his family, and they seem to be happy he is being taught the lessons. 

Question: Any memorable lessons you’ve taught lately?
Elder Doxey: One great visit we had recently was on New Years Eve at the Bonilla Family (super active church members) and a guy we are teaching with the Sisters by the name of Jose. Sister Johnson did a great job teaching.

Rico

The Bonillas made us Pupusas and we later had Tortas at an investigators home.

Things are good. This month is going to go by very fast.

Gotta go.

Love you all,

Elder Doxey