Letter written 11/22/2007

To My Family!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I hope you are having a grand time and though I do miss home at times I also know that this where I should be.

On this great day of Thanksgiving I got up as usual at 6:30 and had companionship study, then breakfast, then personal study as usual, but then we (as missionaries) had devotional in place of usual class and guess who came... Elder Holland! He gave such an inspirational talk, that lasted 1 hour 45 minutes, but didn't seem long at all. Let me give you some highlights:

• Be devoted to your mission and have the gospel embedded deep in your heart. Preach my Gospel actually came about because the President was thinking about missionaries who came home and lost the spirit of the mission and the spirit of the gospel. Preach My Gospel is just as much for us as it is for the investigators because aren't we all God's investigators? And that we need to know the gospel well enough so that we can address the need, the individual need of the person.

Before the talk though, we sang prelude hymns and while we were singing I truly felt that there were angels there singing along with us. The promise in D&C 84:88 is true. We are not alone as we do the Lord's work.

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with turkey, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. Actually that was lunch, dinner is sack lunches, but I don't mind.

Tonight we have a Humanitarian Project. We are making first aid kits. They will be held in reserve until a disaster comes, but they seem to come much more often than we would like to think about.

Tomorrow it's back to work as usual. I'll be teaching Lesson 1 in Preach My Gospel again in English. It's so wonderful that we get to practice first, at least I like it, to help build up confidence.

It doesn't look like anybody else is going to be moving up from beginning class to join my class. So I'm solo for the next month or so. I sometimes join other classes during our study time though. So I'm not completely alone. And like I said before, angels are always with us.

I love all of you so much. You are great! Remember to share the gospel, and be not afraid. This is glad news, how can we keep it from others? I can't wait until I actually get out in the field and see the gospel change lives! Pray always and have patience, love, and hope. You are the greatest family in the world.

Hermana Price

What a week! part two (email received 11/27/2007)

Hola Familia,

I received all your letters yesterday. I think I'm pretty safe in saying that I win for the most letters received in one day, and I got my a package too (with my glasses, which I am sporting right now). But luckily this isn't a competition. I read all the letters last night and enjoyed them most thoroughly (spelling? one of the side affects of all this spanish is that I'm forgetting english).

I had a cool experience at the RC last Saturday. The RC is the Referral Center where people can call about advertisments they saw on tv or the pass along cards and receive free Books of Mormon, or Bibles, or church DVD's, or just to have missionaries come by. Well, I was making a confirmation call a man to see if missionaries had been able to visit him yet. What ensued was a 30 minute conversation about the gospel. He asked so many questions from why the elders wear suits, to if we believed in the Trinity, to Heaven and Hell. Some things I could explain, others I struggled with. (Rachelle, I want you to know that explaining the gospel can be hard sometimes, since we grew up with it and are familiar with it. I still struggle doing it, I actually have lessons on simplifying the gospel so others understand. They are new concepts for them. The best thing to do is to bear your testimony and keep it simple. Pray for the spirit as you do. I'm so happy that you get the opportunity to share the gospel to others!) I think the spirit was strongest when I was testifying to him that God lives, and loves each one of us and is watching over us no matter our color, and that salvation and this gospel was meant for everyone. He was from south, so I think he had some apprehensions about going to church (which I invited him to do) and being rejected. I'm still praying today for him, the missionaries who are teaching him, and for the people that are there.

I saw for the first time this week, myself being able to teach and speak in Spanish. I still have a lot to learn and struggle with the language (who doesn't though), but for three weeks I'm not doing too bad. Sometimes it's hard because I feel like a little kid again, struggling to say the simplest things. But I do believe that we receive the gift of tongues not only as we work hard, but as we testify. I find my days are better when I have shared my testimony to others in Spanish. I understand more and the Spirit is with me. El Evangelio es verdadero en cualaquiera idioma hablamos (Trans: The gospel is true in whatever language we speak). I love it! I feel very humbled at times at my inadequecies, but I'm learning to trust the Lord.

Do I sound like a missionary yet?

Mom, about my spanish cards, you don't have to send them until the next package. It's not critical I have them, just helpful. I still have plenty of words here that they are giving me. I love you all so very much. Thanks for your encouraging words, the help me probably more than you know. You are one amazing family.

Love,

Hermana Price

Week 2 in the MTC (email received 11/20/2007)

I'm not sure if I will be able to remember and answer all the questions, but I will try.

The mtc has been a new experience for me. We have speakers all the time that are so inspirational. They also have some good ones on tape. Last week, I was having rather a hard day (being frustrated with Spanish) and my teacher showed a talk given by Elder Holland called the Miracle of a Mission. In the message, he clearly and animatedly said, "Never give up! Do not go home! My mission meant everything to me. If you go home it will ruin your life!" Pretty powerful, huh.

My emotions tend to go up and down. Some days I'll be excited about Spanish and teaching the gospel, while other days I wonder if I can ever do this. I think I've been praying here like I've never done before and I have felt the Lord's hand and his Spirit. I found a scripture (sorry I can't remember the reference) that said to look forward to the fruit of your labor, with patience and faith. So that is what I am really working on this week, being patient with myself and having faith that the Lord will keep his promises. (Dad's note: possible scripture reference Alma 32:41-43)

I do enjoy the mtc. I'm learning how to teach and about the gospel (though I must say that most of it right now is review), but I do learn new things and come to understand each doctrine better and how they all connect. I taught my first lesson in the TRC this last Friday. I had to talk to the volunteer in Spanish and set up an appointment for "later." It wasn't so bad. The lesson was in English and went well, I even did it with minimal notes. I'm so excited now, to be able to know the doctrine well enough that I can teach without notes and instead be guided by the spirit. That's one of my goals for the mission.

My companion is very nice. Hermana Silva, she will be going to the Provo, Utah mission. She understands a lot of Spanish because her parents are Cuban and Puerto Rican, but she never learned to speak it. In her words, she was a rebellious child. She has a great love for the Lord and is a great example to me.

I did meet an elder who was going to the same mission as me last week, but he left that week too. A couple who were going to the New York, New York South, but as far as I know, I'm the only Spanish speaking sister who is going to the New York, New York North. The other day I met an elder who was from New York City and he showed me some pictures of it. It looked quite colorful with all the graffitti :). It was kind of cool to me (being somewhat of an artist) to see, but I guess it is against the law to do those sort of things. But I have a feeling that I'm going to love New York. I will definitely have to send you pictures when I get there.

I haven't been able to send any pictures yet because my batteries don't work. It's very tempermental, when it does work I can only get 1 or 2 pictures out of it, even though the batteries are fully charged. I'll have to buy some different ones.

I did receive the package yesterday and your letters. I love hearing from you and am glad to hear your prayers. I have a lot to learn and all faith from family is appreciated.

Oh, something fun. I play volleyball during gym time, which is so much fun in itself. But what's even better is that because I can do decent serves and I dive for the ball everyone once in a while, people think I'm amazing!I love you all and pray for you as well. Thank you for all your prayers.

Love,
Hermana Price

First week in the MTC

Hola Famila,

Are you surprised to hear from me through email. Apparently they have it now, they just haven't updated the books. The one catch is that I can only check it on Tuesdays and I only have 30 minutes. So I would still appreciate any letters you can send through the mail. Because I can read those at night any day. It is PO Box 100.

It has definitely been a new experience for me. Pero me encanta el mtc, it is so uplifting and spiritual. The first day I came here I found out that I was a solo sister, which means that my companion is in a different district (or different class). But not only am I a solo sister, but I'm also the only one in my class, so I get a lot of attention from my two teachers. Hermano Ezpinoza (He's from Mexico) and Hermana Cochrane.

I was quite overwhelmed my first day. Since I was the only one who came in that was intermediate spanish, I was introduced to the mtc with a group of elders that speak fluent spanish and I didn't understand a word they were saying. Thankfully, I understand much more already. Almost everything... if they speak slow and use basic words. But everyone is so encouraging and nice.

Yesterday I had a zone meeting and my zone learned some spanish grammar. That wasn't too hard, I already knew the concept, but then we had a gospel section about doing street contacts. And they had us practice, so I was put into a companionship (my companion was not there) and we practiced doing street contacts in spanish! (the teachers pretended to be people on the street). At the first one I literally froze and my companion did all the talking, until she prompted me at the end, "Ask for his address." I stared blankly at her for a moment, but regained enough composure to ask him for his address and when we could come by to "teach him." She had me start the second and third one, but after getting so far I froze again and she had to pick up the slack. I am happy to say that by the last one I did alright, though I had to switch back to English to finish the contact.

I am sleeping well at night and getting used to the early mornings. Sometimes I get frustrated (already) that my spanish isn't fluent, but I keep reminding myself that I need to be patient and work hard. I am playing a game with some elders called nativo, where if you pick the nativo slip of paper you can only speak spanish the next day. It was our first time doing this and I was the lucky one to get nativo. So I haven't said very much yet today, but I'm trying. I'm also practicing bearing my testimony in Spanish, so today I want to practice on you.

Yo se que JesuCristo is my Salvador y que El murio por mi. Yo se que Dios y JesuCristo viven y me aman y se ama. Yo se que Dios llamo un profeta y el profeta hoy es el presidente Gordon B Hinckly. Yo se que familias son eternos. Digo estos en el nombre de JesusCristo. Amen.

The time left is short, but I want you to know that I love you and feel your love even here. Know that I am well and that I am enjoying myself, but also working hard. They dont' waste time here at the mtc. I only have a 25 minutes to shower and get ready for the day! But I am on the Lord's time and I am here to learn and work.

Also, I think I forgot my debit card. I haven't finished unpacking completely, but I'm not sure where it is. Could you please keep your eyes open for it. It is the gold card. Don't panic though. Remember Mom, everything can be resolved.

Love you,

Hermana Price