The Week of Miracles!!!

The week of Miracles. J

First of all this week has been one of the best weeks of my mission. We have found so many new people to teach this week!

Miracle numero uno (number one): So my comp and I left for this appointment we had with this one family but nobody was home… It happens a lot in the mission and I’m just kind of use to it. In the mission we have to invite 100 people to attend the church every week so we just decided to walk around and invite people to church. So we took this really weird road that we’ve never walked before We thought we were pretty lost when we saw this family pulling up to their house in the little motokar and I have 9 months in the mission so I have this like family radar so I made a bee line to their house to talk to them. We invited them to church but then asked them if we could share a message with their family for about 20 minutes, they agreed so we sat ourselves down in their motokar while they sat on the ground. We started talking about baptism and before I even knew it we invited them to be baptized and before I knew it they accepted. J There’s another family in our “Banco de Familias!” (Family Bank)

Miracle number 2: So this couple we’ve been working with, Nelson and Yanela. They are all ready to get married and baptized but to get married we needed copies of their ID and they couldn’t find their ID at all they had been looking for about a week and still couldn’t find them and time was running out so we deiced to go to their house and teach them about faith and prayer so we asked them to say a prayer asking Heavenly Father to help them find their IDs so Sunday rolled around and I was pretty bummed that they haven’t found them. But when we started the Gospel Principles class Nelson pulled out his manual and guess what was stuffed in their book… Their IDs! I started to cry right in front of the whole class. Haha :P They will be getting married this Friday at 11 in the morning and then Friday will be their baptisms. J

Miracle number 3: We have this family that we’ve been trying to work with for a really long time. They have this little 8 year old girl who wants to get baptized so bad but her mom and dad would never listen to us. But the other day we decided to give it another shot. They invited us into the house but the second we sat down the parents just left the room like always and I’m not one to baptize little kids so after about 20 minutes of just talking with the little girl we were just about to leave when in walks the dad all showered and clean with a white shirt and nice pants. He pulled up a little seat and said “Ok sisters, tell me what you got to say. Now I’m ready to listen to you” I just kind of stared at him for a little bit thinking I was in a dream. Haha That day we taught the whole family and this Sundaythey all sat together in sacrament. J They don’t have a date set for baptism yet but we have an appointment with them tonight. J

I LOVE Moyobamba. It´s beautiful and the people are so nice. We’re having success and Health wise I feel SO much better. J I know Heavenly Father listens and answers prayers. J I hope you all have a good week. J LOVE YOU!!!!!

Love, Hermana Price    

I AM MY FATHER'S DAUGHTER - LOVE YOU DAD!!

Hey fam!

Just another week in Paradise. J Moyobamba is SO pretty and the weather is a lot cooler here. I´m happy that the weather is cooler, but we still don´t have warm water to shower with so our showers are icy cold, but I kind of like it because it wakes me up in the morning.J So this week we´ve really been working hard to find new people to teach and the Lord has really provided for us. We are working with this one family  - Nelson and Yanela. Nelson is 20 years old and Yanela is 19. They live in this tiny little apartment, I don´t even want to call it an apartment, it´s just a tiny room with four cinder block walls. They have a little 6 month old baby who is so cute and always happy. They are probably the happiest little family I´ve ever worked with in my mission. This week they both accepted marriage and baptism. YAY! But they don´t have any money to get married. It cost 100 soles for the people here to get married which is about 40 bucks in American money. But we´ve already started thinking of ways we can raise the money. I´ve raised money for a marriage before and I´ll do it again. J I want to see them married and baptized so bad! They are so nice and have a ton of potential.

So something interesting that happened this week… I found out that I´m more like dad then I thought before. One day this week we were walked around and we decided to call this less active member to see if we could visit her. The pay phone didn´t work when we tried but then a noticed this nice little old man reading his bible so I asked him what he was reading and we started talking… J He asked me why there are so many different churches so we told him we could answer his questions and we asked if we could talk with him for a couple of minutes. He said yes so we sat ourselves down and started off with a prayer. It started off really spiritual -  we started teaching him about the restoration and the prophets in the bible. Then… someone else decided to join us… This random guy started talking with us. I´m not even sure what religion he was but all he wanted to do was bible bash with us. Usually we try to avoid people like him because we know that contention only drives the spirit away but we were sitting with the other old man and I knew we had to close with a prayer or I couldn´t count it as an appointment for my numbers at the end of the week. Haha So we got into it. I didn´t realize how much passion I have to defend the church. I had to keep telling myself to calm down and not yell at him. He was throwing all sorts of questions at us just to find a fault in our doctrine but from my studies I know exactly where to find every scripture in the Bible and in the Book of Mormon to answer his questions. Well of course it wasn´t his intention to learn from what we had to say so he eventually just left. We closed in prayer with the old man and he actually thanked us for our time to answer his questions. After that I took a step back and just realized what I did. I not only knew exactly where to find scriptures and hold my own in this battle of doctrine but I could also do it all in Spanish. It´s crazy how much I´ve progressed since I started this crazy adventure. J I love my mission. I´m really happy here.

Love, Your Hermana Price J        

ITS FREEZING HERE!!

Well it happened… last week was transfers and guess who had a transfer… ME! I´m no longer in Pucallpa, remember when we skyped and I told you guys about the different places we have in the mission? There´s Iquitos which is probably the most city-ish, then after that is Pucallpa that is city-ish but a little more like the jungle, then there is Tarapoto which is a little more jungle-ish than Pucallpa then there is Moyobamba which is the most jungle-ish in the whole mission, but I told you guys that they don´t send sisters to Moyobamba, I think grandpa must have prayed me here or something because guess who is here in Moyobamba…. Yours truly! It´s SOOOOOOOOO pretty here. One thing that I LOVE is there are mountains here! And the weather is actually really cold. So since I´m use to the heat I´m freezing here!! And I´ve given all my warmer clothes away so I guess I´ll have to buy some jackets. It´s also rained so much since we´ve been here. It's rained every day. It´s very beautiful here in Moyobamba. The mountains are so green and the white clouds hang low. I was actually pretty sad to have my transfer though. We all have different chapters in life and just like chapters in a book they all eventually come to an end. I was sad to see my “Primavera” chapter come to an end. I loved my ward, my district, my companion, and the success we were starting to have. You better believe I cried like a baby when I left. It´s amazing how much the people in your area become your family. I just need to be thankful for the time that I had with them and that I was able to spend Christmas in my favorite area with my favorite people from Pucallpa. However, I´m excited to start fresh in a new area. I´m looking forward to my “Moyobamba” chapter. Like any good chapter in a book I´m sure I will have my ups and my downs, my disappointments and my successes, and my moments of heartache and of joy. I don´t know what the Lord has in store for me here, but I´m excited to learn and to grow.

My new house is the nicest house that I´ve ever lived in and the fun part is that my companion and I live with two other sisters! :D Sister Rider (from Idaho) and Sister Quispe (from Peru) My comp is from Lima and her name is Sister Tenicela. She is 29 years old and has been a member for 2 years now. None of her family are members of the church but she is very spiritual and sweet. She´s a newby and has about 3 weeks in her mission. Anyways I love you guys so much and I hope all is well and that you guys had a good new years! I´m sure I will be sending some pics soon because it´s so beautiful here. J I love you all! Until next week. J

Hermana Price.   

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