HAPPY NEW YEAR

Hey fam!

How was everyone´s Christmas!? I hope you all playing in the snow. I miss the snow so much! But to tell you the truth,  I had one of the best Christmases EVER! It´s was SO much fun. First of all, down here in Peru they celebrate Christmas kind of like we celebrate New Years. Everyone stays up until midnight. They love to eat dinner super late! And being missionaries we got invited to TWO dinners… so the first dinner was around 8 then the other dinner was around 9. We kind of lucked out because we spent the entire night with the family that we live with. So we ate our yummy turkey dinner with mashed potatos and veggies. J Then after that we ate our Panéton (which is like fruit cake/sweet bread). Then when the clock struck midnight, all the little kids started lighting off the fireworks. That´s when the real fun started. These little Peru kids don´t have any fear! All the adults just gave them a bunch of fireworks and matches. J It was like celebrating  Christmas (with the sweet bread) Thanksgiving (with the trukey) then the 4th of july (with the fireworks)

I thought my Christmas would be a little sad without my family, and don´t get me wrong I REALLY miss my family, but I am so grateful that I got the chance to spend one Christmas with my family by spirit. I LOVE my area here. There is so much love and we´re having lots of success. This Sunday I was sitting in church just looking around. I started looking at all the families sitting together and tears came to my eyes. I feel such a pure love for these people. They have stolen my heart. 

I hope everyone at home had a good christmas. I just want to testify of the healing powers of service and prayer. Whenever  you´re feeling down and in a fog, or weighed down with the weight of the world, I know that serving others and talking out your problems with our Heavenly Father, is some of the best medicine. 

It was so fun talking with you guys for Christmas. I hold you all so close to my heart. J I love my mission and I'm learning a lot. Thanks for all your love and support and all your letters. J They really help me when I need it the most. LOVE YOU ALL!!!! Have a happy New Year's Eve!

Love, Hermana Price

CHRISTMAS!!

Feliz Navidad!!!!! J

How is everyone doing this Christmas season? I´m doing great! I´m SOOOOOOO excited for Christmas! I´m in the best area I've had in all my mission. The members are so great here. The bishop´s wife bought my companion and I shoes for Christmas! Really nice ones too! I almost started crying when I opened the box because I really needed some new shoes but couldn't find any that were good and sturdy. I know that that was a little tender mercy from the Lord. J I might not be spending Christmas with my real family but I´m spending Christmas with mi familia peruviana. J There is so much love here. It´s going to be a really fun Christmas and I know it will be one that I never forget.J

I will be skyping this Christmas WOOOOOO! Then after that all the missionaries are putting on a little program for the stake. The zone leaders decided to show a little video of Christ and have some of the stake leaders give talks, and of course the missionaries are going to sing. J And guess who is leading the music… ME! J It´s been so much fun to have to practice with all the missionaries. It´s fun how the missionaries here in Pucallpa have become my family. I love every single missionary here. We have cambios coming up again on the 30th, and I hope things don´t change too much.

Time is flying by. Our work has really picked up this week. Which is always exciting. Last night we went to find this reference that we had from one of our members. His name is Jony and he is 21 years old. We showed up to his house and his sister came to the door and we asked if Jony was at home. Right as we asked, he pulled open the door and said “where have you guys been!?I"ve been waiting for you!” J Right as we sat down he asked when he could be baptized and that he was waiting for us to come to his house to teach him. We invited him to be baptized on Jan. 11th. J He is SUPER excited. We also taught his parents and they didn't accept baptizim but they are thinking hard about it. We hoping that Jony can be an example for them.

OH! One more thing, there is a new store that opened here in Pucallpa. It´s called Totus. It´s just like target or walmart, but bigger! And we´re going to go shopping with this lady in my ward for Christmas. It will be so much fun! Everything there is a little more american… so I´m hoping I can find some clothes that I like, I´ll be sure to take lots of pictures. J Love you all! I´m wishing you all a VERY Merry Christmas! :D

Hermana Price. J     

Hey fam!!!!

Well this week was really good! We baptized Jessica!!! :D Well, okay we didn´t baptize her, Elder Anderson baptized her. Just wanted to make that clear. Lots of people here think that the sister missionaries have the priesthood too… Even some of the members are shocked when they find out that we can´t baptize our investigators. Oh the jungle…. J Sunday was a beautiful day. Just a little back story - Jessica´s husband and all her kids are members. When her family was first investigating the church she wanted nothingto do with it. Tons of missionaries passed by her house for MANY years but she just wasn't quite prepared yet. But then we showed up. She was one of my first lessons in my new area. She accepted baptism in the first lesson and she has attended church and done everything we have asked her to do since then. J She is super prepared for the gospel. It was so nice to watch her and her husband (who is inactive) snuggle up together during sacrament.

The next person we have coming up for baptism is Deibi. He is AWESOME! He is 21 years old and is super funny. He is the most scattered brain person I've ever met. It´s actually pretty hard to teach him. For example, we were teaching him about prophets and the role that they play in God´s plan for us. Right in the middle of what I was saying he said, “What should I do if my best friend invites me to a party?” Then my companion said, “What do you think Deibi?” then he leaned in real close and whispered “la verdad, no mi gusta las fiestas” haha! Or in English, to tell you the truth I don´t like parties. J He also talks SO SO SO SO SO much. He sat by me in sacrament yesterday and he kept leaning over and talking to me about his brother and his house and all about his life. I kept telling him to listen to the talks (Just as if he was a little kid) But then he told me something special. He studied English for a little bit so he knows a few things and he leaned over and whispered in the best English he could use, “ I don´t know why, but here, in this moment I feel happy.” He is also prepared for the Gospel in his life.

Things are going great with my companion and everything. We´re really trying to not only set goals but accomplish them. I love my area and my Ward. These people are so loving and a part from spending Christmas with you guys, there isn't another place I would want to be. Cambios are coming up right after Christmas and I´m hoping that my companion and I stay in our area. I feel like there is so much more work for us to do here. Thank you for all your love and support. Thank you for all the pictures and emails. J You guys give me strength. J

Con mucho amor, Hermana Price. J    

HUGE Man Boots and Lots of MUD

Hey Family!!!
How was Thanksgiving? Did you eat a ton of that good-ole American Thanksgiving food? It was pretty funny the day of Thanksgiving. All the missionaries in Pucallpa were in a conference with the President and while we were in our little 15 minute break Elder Brown (from Utah) said: Whoa! You guys it´s Thanksgiving today!!! Haha! We all forgot that it was Thanksgiving! Then all the Americans went around and said their favorite Thanksgiving dish. It was funny, but anyways I´m still LOVING my new area. We keep finding a ton of new people to teach. We´re really going to try to accomplish 8/4/2 this month. There is just so much potential in my area and I know we can do it if we work hard enough. Nothing too exciting happen this week. It rained SUPER hard the other day so we've been wearing our big bulky rain boots because when it rains here there is always a ton of mud because in my area because there aren't any paved roads -  they are all just dirt trails. I´m sure we look real cute with our huge man boots. But I actually like to use the boots. Its fun to walk around in the mud. This rain storm was one of the biggest that we've had so far. Mom, you would have loved it. The thunder was so powerful that you could feel the pounding in your chest. It only takes seconds for the trails to turn into rivers and all the little kids splash around and scream and play in the rain. It´s really fun to watch.
My companion is still getting use to the mission life. She has had a ton of bug bites on her legs this week. She's been bathing herself in bug stray and anti-itch cream this week. I feel bad,  but there isn't much we can do. With time, it gets better and the bugs don´t bother you as  much. I haven´t eaten rice for TWO WEEKS! It´s the best feeling in the world and I've already lost 4 pounds. Woot! Anyway I love you all so much and I just want you all to know how much I love this work. I can´t believe how fast time is going by! It´s almost Christmas! Everyone keeps telling me that it´s hard to be away from your family for the holidays but I have a family here. I have a family with all the missionaries, my companion and all the members in my ward and all my investigators. I´m so glad to pass Christmas here in my new area with Hermana Centeno I love my area so much. I love you all and miss you a ton but I´m healthy and happy and loving my time here in Primavera Pucallpa Peru. Thank you for all your love and support and all your letters of love. Happy Thanksgivnig!!!!! (I know I´m late but it´s better late then never right?)
Hermana Price

PIONEERS in the JUNGLE

Monday, November 25

Well like always when I have a transfer I have a BILLION things to write, now if only I had a BILLION minutes to write everything to you guys. First of all I want to let you all know how happy I am. I haven´t been this happy in my mission for awhile. I GOT A NEW AREA!!!! :D My new area is called Primavera. Just a little info about where I´m living. Where we meet for church on Sundays isn't in a chapel. It´s in a house - we don´t have a Chapel here, it's just a big house that we meet in.  I´m way out in the jungle! My new companion (hna. Centeno from Peru) She and I are the first sisters to be in the area. Every member we meet tells us that we are pioneers because we´re the first Hermanas to be in Primavera. My area is HUGE!!!!!! Which I like because that means that there are lots people to teach. We've been in the area for about 5 days now and we already have two investigators who have a baptism date!!! We´re planning to baptize Juan and Jessica in December 14th. My bishop is AMAZING! I called him our second day in the area and asked if one of the members who has a motorkar could drive us around and help up find some families to teach. At first he wasn't sure who to ask, but then he told us to ask the husband of the lady who cooks our breakfast and dinner - Hno Sanchez. 1: This is a good sign, this shows that my bishop knows his members. Then he told me when I ask Hno Sanchez to tell him that the Ward will pay him back for the gas in his motokar (2. He wants to make sure that Hno Sanchez is taken care of too for his sacrifice) I thanked him and he told me how excited he was to have Hermanas in the Ward now and he gave me a warm welcome. I hung up the phone feel satisfied. But then not even two minutes later the Bishop called me back and told me that he called Hno. Sanchez and spoke with him and everything is planned out, Hno Sanchez is going to drive us around and help us find families to teach from 6 to 9 then he will drive you home. (3. Wow I think I almost started crying when he told me that. I´ve never had a Bishop who made sure we were taken care of like that.) I LOVE my new area. My Ward is the best Ward I've  had in my whole mission. I think we´re going to have a lot of success here.
I´m also training again! Hermana Centeno has a whopping 6 days in the feild. She is AWESOME! She is 23 and is from Peru (but I forgot what part) She is so sweet and is super prepared spiritually for the mission. A funny story: So our first night in our house our district leader called us (Elder Anderson from…. I forgot where he´s from) but he was asking us if we needed anything for our house, I looked around and realized we didn´t have beds or a frige or wáter, so I started naming off my list of things we needed, then my companion said “toilet paper! We don´t have toilet paper!” haha! Elder Anderson heard what she said over the phone and we both started laughing and Elder Anderson said, “oh my goodness sister!” haha Then I told her that we have to buy that ourselves. Haha But something else that´s cool is that we share the Ward with the elders so there is the four of us because Primavera is so huge. But anyways my new Little house is super cute and I´m loving my area so far. The Lord sure knows the desires of our hearts. I feel like I´m where I´m suppose to be. I am in love with my area and the people in my Ward. I am so blessed to be here with this people. I see the hand of the Lord in my mission life every single day and I know He is looking out for my more Than I know. I´m happy and doing great. Things are looking up. Thank you for all your love and support.
Love, Hermana Price. J

My New Apartment is my Happy Place

Monday, November 18, 2013

Hey fam!!!!
Yet another good week here in the Jungle. We had a bautismo this week!!! WOOT! Luis got baptized this weekend. It was a great experience. So here in the mission we really try with all we've got to teach families. It´s not really “frowned upon” to have a baptism of a Little teenage boy but it´s better to have a baptism of a family than just a teenage kid, however Luis´s baptism was one of the most spiritual baptisms I´ve had in my mission. The person getting baptized has the chance to share his or her testimony. Luis got right up there and gave the sweetest testimony ever. He got all choked up and tears started to roll down his cheeks. You guys know that right now I´m not having the success I would like to, but when I was sitting there listening to Luis´s testimony the spirit whispered to me that even though Luis is only 14 years old he can feel the spirit and be converted to the gospel, and his soul is a soul and it doesn't matter at what age. But the neat part was, that Luis´s parents (who aren't members or even attended church before) came to his baptism to support him. While Luis was giving his testimony his mom started to cry. After everything was said and done I went over to talk to her. I grabbed her hands and told her that this church is for the family and that one day she and her husband could join Luis in bautismo. Tears started to well  up in her eyes and in mine,  then she whispered “we´ll be coming back”.  This work is so sweet and even though I have my moments of trials and tears, those powerful moments with the spirit make it all worth it. Today is Cambios!!!!! WOOOOT! We´re all really excited to see what´s going to happen. We have a TON of new elders coming in. Oh and by the way my comp and I are changing houses today our new apartment is SO nice!!!  Hopefully that will help lift my spirits. My house that I´m in right now….. is the prettiest thing I've lived in…. Haha but anyways we had a great week and we´re excited for a new one, I hope everyone is doing well and is happy. Thanksgiving is coming up!!!! Woot! Thinking of mom´s cooking make my mouth water. Love you all!
Love, Hermana Price.  Hugs and kisses!

ALL FOR YOUR GOOD

Hey fam!! This week went by SO fast for me, I can´t believe it´s P day again.  This week has been great! I´ve really felt a lot closer to my Heavenly Father this week. We still don´t have the success we would like and we´re still trying to find ways to get more support from the Ward. It´s not an easy task. :) My companion and I are still having lots of fun together but she is still SO SHY! She really does´t say much but she is such a sweet heart and she has taught me a lot. For example the other day I just wasn't feeling the best. I was tired and stressed out. I spent a lot of that morning on my knees. Then I went in the other room to finish up my study time and my companion and I started talking. She told me something her friend, who is a returned missionary, told her. She said the mission isn't supposed to be easy. If I had to sit at a dinner table with everyone in history who have “served great missions” like prophets from the bible or Nephi, or other prophets from the Book of Mormon or with people like Joseph and Emma Smith and even Christ himself, would my trials that I have here in my mission even compare? It really got me thinking. The Lord gives us trails and experiences to help us learn and to grow and even though we don´t know the reason behind the trials, our Heavenly Father does. And one day we´ll be able to look back at our life and those hard times and it will seem like a small moment in time. I love you all so much and I pray for you often. Thank you for all your love and support.
Hermana Price.

PS Sorry this letter is so short!

IT TAKES MY BREATH AWAY!!

November 4, 2013

Hellllllllllo Fam!

Is it Monday already? Crazy! This week FLEW by. This week was SO much fun and SO crazy. J First off, we are teaching this little boy named Luis and he lives in Kil. 14 which is way out in the middle of nowhere. We went to teach him in his house Tuesday and it took us 45 minutes to drive there. We asked our neighbor who is a member and has a motorkar if he would be willing to drive us because it would be pretty expensive to pay for a car to drive us out there. My companion and I were in HEAVEN on our way out there. His houses is way out in the jungle, and guess what little miss Hermana Price forgot, HER CAMERA! Hmmm I must take after my mom. J But it´s ok we´re going back out there again on Tuesday. When we pulled up to the house it almost took my breath away. It was the cutest little jungle house ever (I´ll be sending pictures) It was so quiet and peaceful out there. First they showed gave us a little tour of the house and their farm land, they own cows and tons of fruit trees. Then we taught little Luis in their backyard about Joseph Smith and the Restoration. It was one of the coolest lessons I´ve ever had. We talked about how Joseph Smith was only 14 when he started searching for the truth, we then applied the life of Joseph to the life of Luis and how the both of them are farm boys and how Joseph went to a field of trees near his house to ask which church he should join and how Luis could do the same with all the jungle that surrounds him. It was really cool and very spiritual for me. Later his aunt (who is a member) made us dinner. By the time we ate it, it was night time and where they live they don´t have electricity so we got to eat our dinner of rice, eggs, and fried bananas by candle light. It was such a neat experience. While we were eating I just keep thinking to myself, I am so blessed to have the opportunity to go out in the middle of the jungle to teach people like Luis the gospel. When we finished dinner, we walked to the motorkar to leave for our next appointment when I looked up at the sky and once again the beauty of the jungle took my breath away. THE STARS WERE INCREDIBLE! I´ve never seen so many stars and so bright. Our heavenly father sure made a beautiful world. J

I have SO much I want to tell you but I think I´ll wrap this letter up with another animal story, so… Almost every time we get back to our house from our day of work there is always a little bit of a surprise. Well last night threw us a curve ball. I walked in to our house and put my bag down and walked back to the room where we sleep and turned on the light, and there waiting for me was a HUGE SPIDER!!! Not just any spider a tarantula. I screamed at the top of my lungs and yelled for my comp to hand me the broom. With all my might I tried to kill the little monster WACK!!!! I missed! Good thing this spider was a little slower than others and I had time to try another swat. WACK!!!! Mission accomplished. And of course this whole time my comp and I are screaming like there is a murderer in the house. Not even 3 seconds later Hermana Rubi was pounding on our door yelling for us to open the door. Once we knew our little visitor was dead, we opened the door and showed her what had happened. She told us that whenever there is a lot of rain the spiders start to come. Great! The only time I´ve seen a spider that big was at the zoo safely behind a glass cage. Oh I´m just livin it up here in the Selva. J Love you guys and thanks for your love and support. Hugs and kisses!

Hermana Price. J Aka Jungle women

Started off Running!

October 28, 2013

Hello fam!
Wow! What a week. So my companion and I started off the week running. We found two new families to teach! But at the beginning of the week,  I was a little bummed that we weren't going to have a baptism for this month. It would've have been my first month without a baptism in my mission. We had problems with one of our investigators named Victor. Victor has received the missionaries on and off for about 8 years. All of his family are members except him and his and his girlfriend (the mother of their three kids). We've been working with him for about the whole time I've been in Pucallpa. The problem was that we couldn't find his paperwork to get him married and of course we don´t baptize people who are living with their girlfriends or boyfriends. Our Zone Leaders knew about our situation and told us they would do some work and find a solution. So when we were teaching another investigator Friday night, our cell phone rang. I walked out to the front porch and answered the phone… It was my Zone Leader Elder ...... “Sister Price! I have some good news…” (But in Spanish of course) “You and sister .....  are going to have a marriage and a baptism tomorrow!” Tears started to well up in my eyes and I think I screamed a little bit! FINALLY this family could be united in marriage and Hno. Victor could FINALLY enter into the waters of baptism.  YAY! We weren't planning on a wedding or a baptism so everything was a little crazy and we had to throw together a baptism, but it all worked out. It was a beautiful day with a marriage and baptism. Then yesterday we had a family home evening with a bunch of people from the ward in their house.  I wanted to send pics but my computer isn't working! Only in the jungle.
Something else that has been going on this week is the members from the Ward are going to the temple this weekend. Mom, you asked me to send you a little info for your lesson this week. We have two families who are going to the temple for the first time this weekend. Let me tell you a little bit of what these people have to do in order to go to the temple in Lima. They have to take a 20 hour bus ride to Lima. It costs them about 80 soles ($30) and for most people here 80 soles is a stretch. The road to Lima is SUPER crazy with all sorts of bumps and crazy turns. They don´t make any stops and they have to pack their own food. Every time I think about it, puts a lump in my throat. When I was at home and wanted to attend the temple I would just hop into my heated or air conditioned car and drive a whopping 6 minutes to the temple. I cannot testify enough of how blessed we are to live in Utah and have so many temples so close. I wish I could write more but I don´t have much time for the internet today, but just tell the sisters in the Ward to take advantage of the temples so close to you. It is such a sacrifice for these people to attend the temple and sometimes takes years to prepare to attend. I love this gospel so much and I know that temples are houses of the Lord and I miss the the peace and revelation that can come from the temple.
Love, Hermana Price.

PS Thanks everyone for your letters :)

A 20-Second Choice

October 21, 2013

Hey fam!!!

So I don`t have much time to write: So my week was a little interesting. First of all, you know about that rash that a lot of the North American kids get when they come here to the jungle? Well…… It broke out all over my neck and lips like there`s no tomorrow! All week my lips have been white and swollen. It itches SO bad it´s the worst thing ever. So I asked this lady in my ward what I should do to make it better and she gave me this cream that has helped a little, but that was one crazy thing that happened this week. Then our baptism that we had planned fell through. Her name is Claudia and her cousin is a member, but her parents aren't, and her mom said no. She doesn't want her child to get baptized. That was really hard for us because we haven`t had one baptism all this month. And just when you think the disappointment and the sadness was over…. NOPE our only hope for a baptism this month was Victor but he didn't attend church this week so we can´t baptize him. L We have to wait until next month for Nov. 2nd. I was sitting in sacrament this week thinking about my investigators and everything and I felt super sad and disappointed because none of them attended church. I think while in the mission we get a little taste of how our Heavenly Father feels about us when we don´t obey basic commandments. Then I realized when we have disappointments in life we or moments like I had in church this week when you feel like nothing is going right, you have 20 seconds. Twenty seconds to be sad and disappointed. Then when that 20 seconds is over you have a choice. You get to choose what you are going to do about it. Are you going to let the sadness and disappointment continue, or are you going to do something about it and work harder to change the negative into a positive? This mission is still the hardest thing I´ve done, but I wouldn't have it any other way because I`m growing and learning about myself and my about relationship with my Heavenly Father. I am so thankful that we have experiences in life when we get to learn and grow and stretch ourselves. I love you all so much and I´m so blessed to have you in my life. I cannot testify enough about how blessed we are to live in Utah where the church is established and going strong. Thank you for all your prayers and love. J

Until Next week… Your, Hermana Price. J

Hugs and Kisses!!!!!!  

Having Faith that Things Will Get Better

Monday, October 14, 2013

Hola fam!!!!!

How is everyone doing?? I´m missing you all like crazy. This week has been great. J I LOVE MY NEW COMP! Her name is Hna. Montoya from Bolivia and she is the cutest Little thing ever. She is very sweet and always has a smile on her face. It´s been a Little difficult getting to know her because she is pretty shy but I just keep asking her questions about her and Little by Little i´m finding out more. Of course I asked her about her family and everything and she has 8 brothers and 1 sister!!! What a house full. J But her parents and most of her family are inactive, then I found out that her family hasn't written her the whole time she has been out on her mission. I could tell she was just brushing it off to like it didn't matter to her but her eyes started to water. I got a big lump in my throat. 

But anyways this week has been okay. Our numbers aren't where they should be and my district leader wasn't every happy with me this week but I know we´re going to do better. We FINALLY had a meeting with our leaders in our Ward this week and we´re constantly making changes to work better with the Ward so we have a ton of faith that things will get better.

Little animal story: So my companion is SUPER scared of all types of bugs and animals. She screams every time she sees those Little lizards that are here in Peru. But the other day we were walking down the trail and she stopped and froze up. Then she pointed to a Little tree on the side of the trail and asked why it was shaking (it was shaking pretty violently). I walked over to the tree to see what it was. It was a monkey!!!!! :D I LOVE it when we run into Monkeys! She wouldn't go near it and I wanted to hold it but I didn't want to risk the chance of being bitten. Haha

Love you all, Thank you so much for all your love and support. J I´m still loving my mission and all the experiences here. I´m learning so much. HUGS AND KISSES!

Con mucho amor, Hermana Price. J

PS DAD HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! I started reading the New Testament and I LOVE IT! Want to have study dates with me when I get home?:)