(9/22) There is hope for Hope!!!

Geez, what's with all the questions?! You make me feel like I haven't told you anything. There is a time and a season for everything.

Anyways, to answer the first the question I do indeed remember mom's lecture. My momma raised me right. I know how to keep things clean. But I understand where she's coming from. I have seen some pretty disgusting homes here and the way people live is not that great. You hear that Brent, Jacob, and Alex? I expect you to give mom a great big hug and thanks for all that she does around the house. Don't you be disrespecting her or nothin' when you is asked to do your chores. ;) I love the way some of the people talk down here. Still working on the whole being able to understand it, though.

As a matter of fact, I do indeed get a car. BUT we don't hardly get to use it. The way it works is that we have a certain allotment of miles each month that we are not allowed to exceed. It is quite a fair amount of miles. Just that down in Hope everything is so spread out and far away. We are expected to go to meetings in North Little Rock which is two and a half hours away, using up a ton of our miles. When we are low on miles we bike. And yes I have everything I need for my bike. Also expect the credit card statement for my bike to come.

The Hope area is actually huge but the towns are miles apart. We just don't have the miles to visit everyone and still have enough to get to the meetings. So we get to ride our bikes a lot. Speaking of which, because of all the meetings we have this month our miles are depleted. Not looking forward to three whole weeks of nothing but bikes. I am just glad the weather is cooling down. It would suck to bike in the heat.

As for other missionaries, me and Elder Mulvey are the only missionaries in the area. The nearest missionaries are 50 miles away in Arkadelphia. So I enjoy the meetings, where I actually get to talk and meet with other missionaries. It gets lonely down in Hope sometimes.

P-days are great. There is just something about buying my own groceries that makes me feel... powerful. Laundry is going good. No worries there. As to interesting/fun activities, I honestly have no idea. I haven't been here long enough to know. I have actually gotten to use my piano skills. I actually kind of miss playing the piano. Weird, huh.

I really do enjoy hearing from all of you. It wouldn't hurt if my brothers had anything they wanted to talk about (hint hint). They can put stuff in the email too. Tell Brent that I understand how he feels. Keep in mind I ran over a mail box so I know what he is going through. At first it sucks and you just feel awful. But it does get better. We all make mistakes; it is when we learn from those mistakes and are changed through them, that we become better people. I bear my testimony to you that a mission really does change you. That as you strive to align yourself with God; to make your thoughts His thoughts, and your actions His actions; you will truly feel that love that He has for each and everyone of us. That we are all His children and He is waiting with open arms for us to come home. Never forget who you are and why you are here. I pray that when the time is right; Brent, Jacob, Alex; that you will choose to serve a mission. That you will choose to serve God.

I love you all so much and ask that you continue to be an amazing family.

Elder Price

Trees (not sure if he sent this for the rain clouds or what...)

Spider (ummm, ok...so random)

(9/15) Greetings from Arkansas!!

As you are all aware I am officially on my mission. That means things are going to be different. And they are. So after arriving at the mission home on Tuesday, which by the way is HUGE, we got to meet the Wakolo family. They are just the nicest people. In fact everyone is nice down in the south. Anyway, we had the best meal I had had the whole two weeks of my mission. It was southern chicken with potato salad, green beans, and homemade rolls that can compete with even moms finest rolls. Then we had a testimony meeting and a little "welcome to the mission" meeting. Then after all that fun stuff we finally found out where we would serve for the next 3-6 months. And now for the moment you have all been waiting for. My first area is... (drum roll)...Hope, Arkansas!

You most likely have absolutely no idea where that is, and that is okay because neither does the rest of the world. Let me tell you a few things about Hope. It is a small ghetto town with barely 10,000 people most of which are the nicest people I have ever met. It is famous for watermelon and... yeah just watermelon. The population is mostly blacks and Hispanics making it a very new world for me. There are some weird people here. And guess what the best part is? This is the hardest area in the whole mission. I have only been here a few days and I can testify the truth of that. No one really cares about the message we have to share.

However, I have the best companion in the whole mission. Elder Mulvey is a wonderful trainer and an even better missionary. I look up to him as an example. The way he can start up a conversion with a random person and give a short message about the gospel is amazing! I have a long way to go before I can even think about being that good. I don't know how Carolyn was when she first started, but I suck at being a missionary. God has humbled me down to the ground. But I am working on it. 

Sunday was really good. It was great to visit the other members, all 30 of them. I knew how small a Branch was compared to a ward, but Hope Branch is just tiny! Half of the members don't even live in the area and only come here so the Branch isn't shut down. Like I said, it is the hardest area. But things are looking better. We got four new investigators to Church, two of which have baptismal dates. Hope can use all the hope it can get.

Thank you for the wonderful emails and prayers. I finally figured out a way to send pictures. Yay!! So please enjoy them. Expect a lot more from now on. However, I would like to know more of what YOU guys are up to. How is school going? Anything new or exciting? How are the doggies doing? This whole email thing needs to go both ways. I love you all and miss you lots!

Elder Price

P.S. This is my new address:
303 W 23 Apartment E 6
Hope, Arkansas 71801

MTC district

MTC companion - Elder Carman

Mission "Dad" (trainer) - Elder Mulvey

(9/9) He has arrived!

Elder Price has arrived in Little Rock, Arkansas safe and sound!

Here's the picture with Corry and President and Sister Wakolo.

(9/5) MTC

Hello most beloved family!!

Thank you so much for the packages and letters! I love to hear about how you guys are doing and to know that I am missed. Every time I get a letter or package I get so excited like its Christmas or something. I even have to wait what seems like forever before I get to open it. One of our District rules is to hand our mail at the end of the day so it is not a distraction during class and such. But it is me and my companions job to get the mail so I get a sneak peak as to what awaits me.

SO MUCH has happened just within this week alone. I don't even know where to start. My companion, Elder Carman, was called the district leader which means that I am the Senior companion for my whole time at the MTC. It sounds a lot more important than it really is, trust me. I sleep a lot better now that have sheets (thanks to you dad), but I still go to bed at night exhausted and well spent. A mission really is hard, and not just physically but mentally too. The days run long with all the wonderful classes and devotionals we get that fill every minute of the day with the spirit. Yep. Every. Single. Minute. I am honestly looking forward for getting out in the field. I don't know how others make it through 8 or 9 weeks. There is something different about actual missionary work than the role plays we do at the MTC. The reason I know this is because our TRC investigator that me and Elder Carman teach is an actual non member. Her name is Alex and she attends BYU so she is quite familiar with Mormons even though she is a headstrong, Bible-loving, Christian. The lessons we teach her just feel more in-tune with the Spirit and seem to have a greater impact. And I can really feel God's love for her and the love he feels for me. We don't expect her to be baptized any time soon, but I know that the message we give her is reaching out to those little seeds inside, encouraging them to grow. The Gospel really is true.

We got a fresh batch of missionaries this Wednesday and it looks like it is going to be a handful. Our district of 10 is supposed to lead and guide this new group of 21 new missionaries. I know it isn't supposed to be easy, but we haven't gotten a break here. Our district has had some trying times.

I know I haven't sent any pictures. You're just dying to get some. The thing is, no one really know how to upload pictures. It just displays an error. It may be a problem with the computers we use here at the MTC, so you may have to wait for when I get into the field (or longer if Satan has anything to do with this). Yeah, but I really want you to see how awesome my district is. Speaking of the field, my departure date is scheduled for Tuesday, September 9. We have to be up dark and early to be ready at 3:30 in the morning. Yippee.Just a few more days and I will be in Arkansas (or as Alex wrote it, Arkanaw). I really miss you guys and love you so much. It really helps me to know that no matter what happens, no matter how much of your lives I miss out on, our family will be together forever.

With love,
Elder Price