Distric meeting: Getting ready for spiritual battle

Gravity takes a rest in Japan

Toilet pictures (requested by Trevor)

What's that middle button for??

Hey dad,

i am glad to hear people are being suprised that the success i am having. it will help to dispell even more the mind set that you cant baptise in japan. that mind set is a "lie of lucifer" and we cant have any of thoughs now can we.

its kind of sad that the crandells had to move further down the street. their old house was so convenient. at least they are still in the ward. i am glad that youth came to help out the mormanns. service always seems to make me feel better.

i am glad to hear that jacob is living thedream. right now i am wishing i could stay in yamatokoriyama for one more transfer. NO i have not gotten my transfer announcement yet but you dont stay in your been area for more than 3 transfers and this is my thrid. if you do it is very rare and a very special circumstance. i am starting to reallize how awesome this ward is. the work hear has slowed down abit. the main people that we were teaching are now baptized so we need to build our investigator pool but i wont be around for that. one more transfer would be nice. other than that i am doing great!

chopsticks are pretty easy now. some people are still amazed when i use them. i guess you could say that they are second nature now.

MY japanese. i feel like if i had to i could bet around buy my self. i am hard onmy self and it is no where near where i want it to be. so i am focussing this next transfer on more japanese study. all in all my japanese is coming along just fine.

this week wasnt too exciting. i wrote alittle to mom about it. i am just loving what i do and trying to get better every day

love

elder christian price

ps. the toilet pictures are for trevor gneiting. last district meeting of the transfer

hey mom,

well today was supposed to be the big day but it is tomorrow. i dont know why it was monday one time and tuesday the rest. monday makes life easier. oh well thats how life goes. it was hinted in my interview withthe president that i will be moving, but that is not a 100% garantee.

i didnt know general confrence was that close. it seemed like last month i was in the mtc watching confrence. i dont know what i will do for confrence. i may go to the hombu or i may just go to my ward. i dont really know. i guess i will find out what confrence is like in japan.

life has beengood here. i have nothing very exciting this week to share. on sunday we confired the gift of the holy ghost to yabbuchi san. she is awesome! i am glad i had the priviledge to be here for her baptism. thrusday was my last distirct meeting of this transfer. this transfer has gone by way fast. i told some people at chruch that i may be transfering and they couldnt beleive it. this ward is amazing. i cant wait to come back here after my mission and see everyone agian and how it has changed and progressed. if i transfer i am going to miss this place.

lately i have been thinking about the gospel and the things we beleive. when i put my member ship in the chruch out of the picture i could see how this can seem crazy. we lived before this life. we will live after this life. we will become gods and goddesses. we talk to god through prayer and pray is just closing our eyes and folding our arms. this seem crazy from this perspective but then i think about joseph smith. i know that what he did was not possible by man alone. he was an uneducated 14 yearold boy with a simple question. he found gold plates and showed them to a few select people. he translated the plates and brought forth the book of mormon. no uneducated man could have done this. i am a logical kind of person and even if i cant explain and understand everything that happened and will happen before and afer this life i can understand that joseph smith could not have founded this chruch alone. he needed divine help and he got it! because of this one simple fact that i know that JOseph smith saw god the father and the son jesus christ and that he was a true prophet and he did restore the gospel i can not worry about what i dont know. because of this foundation i can preach the gospel everyday with out a doubt in my mind that this is the gods chruch that existed when christ was on the earth. and i owe this all to you and dad. i have also thought that if i was nt a member would i join this chruch? to be honest i really dont know if i would. but because i was raised the way i was raised and i was taught who to turn to when times get hard i have a strong faith in this chruch. for that i thank you mom and dad.

you mean everything to me. thank you for being great parents and wonderful examples.

love

elder christian price

Yabuuchi baptism

Elders Price and Kurose

Family visit

hey dad

the summer sounds fun. i really want togo to syd's wedding. it feels weird. we have been friends since we where born and now she is getting married and i wont bealbe to be there. Wish I could be there but i know what i am doing is important. i think seeing pictures will be be just fine.

that message was way cool. i never realy thought about ordinations and setting aparts like htat before. its very interesting. this gospel has so much to it. i spent most of my life just looking at the surface of it not caring what was beneath. aslong as it worked i was just fine. this attitude was nt bad but is wsa nt the best either. the mission is changing how i think about chruch and how i veiw the doctrine. missions are the best!!!

the baptism for yabuuchi was the best. she is an awesome lady. we actually had 2 baptisms one was ours and one was one form a different area. their building doesnt have a font. it was such a special day. there were alot of people and we had 8 missionaries there. it was sweet!!!. all of the missionaries sang during th baptism service. it was way cool. my comp preformed the baptism because he has never done one while on his mission and he has been out for a year! i got lucky and did one my first 3 months.

this week i have had a strong desire to change how i am serving. the way up until now has not been bad or wrong there is just a better way and i want to take it. i realywant myjapanese to imporve more rapidly. i know it will take time but i see othermissionaries around me that are 1 transfer a head of me or are on there 6th transfer and i see that there japanese is really good. alteast to me its good and i want that. the people i see are the people that work really hard. my life has been easy so working really hard for knowledge has not really come up. i just kind of let it be.. i 'go with the flow' but out here i cant afford to do that. i need to be always working harder to make my self better. i am applying this to my mission now but after this will be the key for me to succeed in life. i am glad i am learning it now.

thanks for you love and support. i am having a great time.


love

elder christian price

Hey mom,

thanks for sending the items. to be honest i have no clue wha the customes regulations are. i think it will all be fine. thanks.

this week was a good week. i was really busy. i had 3 companion exchanges this week. because of them my week flew by. i had one with our district leaders and one with a district member to help with english class and one with the zone leaders. for half of hte week i wsa not in my area. it felt weird.

the big thing this week was the baptism yesterday. yesterday Yabuuchi san was baptized. it was an amazing meeting. the same day we had an other batptism for another area in our district. their ward building doesnt have a faunt so they come here. they both got baptized to gether. it was amazing. yabuuchi san is an amazing lady. she was so prepared and ready to receive the gospel. i wish everyone could be like her. at this meeting we had 8 missionaries so we sang army of heleman for everyone. it was awesome.

i am still loving life. i am starting to ask my self questions that i have never asked before. the mission is making me activly stretch what i know and test what i beleive. this experience is amazing. i love it!!!!!!

well this week is my last full week until transfer calls. i got the jist from president mcintyre that iwill be transfering. i can only hope to be slaters companion. if all goes well i will be able to tell you monday. if not it will be 2 weeks before you will find out.

thanks for everythink. i love you so much

love


elder christian price

Hey mom,

it sounds like life is crazy. i new gid was probably going to get married when i was in the mtc. i met and elder from sweden who know gid and gave me the low down but i had no clue jerah was getting married. thats crazy! it is going to be weird to come backand see these people married. no more sleepovers at gids or guys only boating trips. i guess thats what happens when you grow up. i am looking forward to seeing the pictures.

i am so proud of erica. i thinkit is way cool that she was able to have a missionary experience. i am glad she has and is learning alot from it. because i am a missionary i have to ask this question. did she refer her friend to the missionaries? missionaries love referrals. this boy probably isnt that old but you never now what will/can happen. i will probably send her and email next week congradulating her on her personal progress. she probably owes alot of it to you:).

the training class isnt that hard. the really only hard swimmin part is the 500 yrd swimm. everything else is more of the saving part. i cant wait to see how she does.

life this week has been great. we found 2 new investigators. they are both referrals and we would have not found them without the help of members. one seems like a good guy and the other really want to be baptized. i am excited to get to work. this week we ahve received alot of referrals and my testimony on member missionary work ahs grown immensly. before the mission i shyed away from it because it can be weird but after this experience and after my mission i am going to do what i can to help themissionaries is the area that i live. i want to help other missionaries like i have been helped. gordan b. hinckley siad that the best way todo missionary work is through the members. elder eyring said that japan will become one of the most successful mission when the members start to do more missionaryy work. this is so true. this is a prophesy by elder eyring and iam starting to see it happen. how cool is that! it makes me want to work harder. if i can get 2 new investigators through referrals plus the people we find during our own work how awesome will that be? if every mission injapan could do that the chruch in japan would explode! i am excited to be apart of the beginning.

that was the main topic of this week. i am amazed how everyday i can find more love for this play and find more desire to work harder and be a better missionary. i love it!

thank you for you love and supprot. i would not be here with out you

love

elder christian price

hey dad,

it is sad to hear that trader joe died. he was one of the best parts of mountian man. he will be missed. it sounds like it will be fun i wish i could be there. i want some pineapple upside down cake! there is always next time. mom told me about the receptions. i have only been out for 6 months and already 2 of my friends are married and i have heard of some engagements. at this rate when i get back there will be no one to hang out with.

my main missionary message this week was on member missionary work and referrals. i worte about it to mom. it was way long so i wont write it agian. sorry. but i do have a funny story for you.

so japan is a very polite place and bowing is like waving good bye. so one day as we were biking to the chruch there were 2 old ladys one on each side of the street. they had just finished talking so they bowed to eachother, but this wasnt justt any bow. they kept bowing and bowing and bowing and bowing and bowing. i am suprised no one hurt there back. the best part is as they bowed they spoke extremely extremely polite japanese. it was one of the funniest things i have seen so far in japan. i call these 'BOW BATTLES'. they last along time and it is funny to watch.

even though i am ahving some much fun i am still working hard and trying to becomea better missionary.

thanks for the support you have given me. i dont know where i would be without it.

love


elder christian price

hey mom,

it rained for 3 days strait this last week. it makes missionary work interesting. oh well, the work needs to be done and i have been called to do it. i am glad to say that i have not yet been a victim of the cold this year. i countmy self lucky. i hope chloe and abby get well soon.

i will email grandma next week. it should get there before her birthday.

it seems to offten as missionaries we only talk about the gospel. people want to know how this gospel can help them and what better way to explain how it helps than by sharing how it has helped you! i think that this is a good way to share this gospel. i am excited to use it. one cool thing that i did was during zone confrence 2 weeks ago i used my ukelele and my rubix cube in a mogi(role play). they went really well and it really got the fake investigators attention. i probably will try to use them more.

this week have havent found anyone new. kindof a bummer but thats how life goes. they members are starting to adjust to the new member. they are realizing that he is going to be here so they are trying to work it out. they look better and better each week. yes i was able to open the pictures for chloe's birhtday thank you so much. they were awesome.

the best news i have from the 'land of the rising sun' is that this chruch is true and that christ live. through this gospel we can not only have happiness in this life but eternal happiness in the life after. i know that this is true and that is one of the reasons why i chose to go on a mission.

i love youand i thank you for all that you have done for me.

love,

elder christian price

hey dad,

last week was good. we havent found anyone for a long time. it feels weird but you win some you lose some. all you can do is keep moving forward. every day is great. i am speaking alot of japanese now. my comp said he heardme sleep talk injapanese! i hope thats a good sign.gid sent me a wedding invitation. i heard he was getting married when i was in the mtc from a elder from sweaden who new gid. i cant beleive the little gidder is all grown up now. good forhim. the baptism for the 21 is almost a definate. it would be earlier but the week of the 14 is supposed to be the coldest week and she is worried she might get a cold and not beable to come to church. other than that she is what we call a 'kinjin' which litteraly means gold person. she is awesome. i cant wait till the 21. this week was kindof a boring usual week. i will try to and do some crazy stuff so i can have some cool stories to tell. right now i have no cool stories. sorry. i have only been to 1 soba shop. an eternal investigator owns it. it was way good. normaly we cook our own food.

thats about it for this week. thanks you for all that you have done for me.

love

elder christian price

hey dad,

i am glad you think miura will be a blessing for the ward. i think he will be in a different way than you and the ward thinks. he has a mental illness. PTSD. it makes him act like a child and he doesnt know when to speak up and when to keep things to himself. he just likes to speak up all the time. this ward is an awesome ward and they are blessed to have no weird member. so when we gave them miura san they kindof freaked out. it has been a real test for the leaders. miura has progressed so much but he still has a longway to go. some of the leaders think we should have waited to baptism him. maybe they are right but whats done is done and i dont think waiting would have been any different. i dont know if i mentioned last week or 2 weeks ago but elder oaks came to our mission and we had the wonderfull oppurtunity to meet and listen to him. a story he told really made me change my thinking of chruch and its members. elder oaks tells a story about how one time he was giving a talk somewhere and he spoke about how the chruch is not a retirement home or the righteouss but it is a hospital for sinners. after his talk he meet the people in the congrigation and one of them was a recent convert. the convert says something along the lines of "thank you for your talk now i know why you call your congrigations 'wards'" yes, it is a very good joke and me writing it does not do it justice but it is the meaning behind it. it feels like some of the ward is pushing miura san out because he is not only spiritually sick but physically sick as well. after hearing elder oaks talk it drove in the principle that we need to help everyone not just the people that we like or that make life easy. i wish this ward could have hear him share that message. miura will be a great blessing to this ward if the ward can realize that there ward is not a 'retirement home for the righteouss' but a 'hospital for sinners'. i feel that miura san will humble the ward and that after they do that miura san will no longer be problem.

sorry i kindof went off on this subject but it is dear to my heart. everyone has problems but miura san shows his problems differently than others. i just hope and pray the ward sees him as some one that needs help and not as a problem.

enought of that. japan is great! i am glad to hear the party when well. the work is going great. we have another person lined up for baptism for teh 21 of march. i am way pumped. she is a very prepare lady. so far she has had no problems withthe lessons and no problme with the word of wisdoms. the sad thing is that we can only meet 1 time a week. i am so excited. other than that it is the usual. weare working hard to find people. we dont go to ward leadership council. the ward does not invite us which is kind of weird but it is theri ward not mine. i feel like my japanese has improved. with my new companion we speak alot of japanese so i am getting more comfortable with my speaking skills. speaking alittle better japanese takes of some of the stress when talking to people because now i can kindof understand what they are saying. me and my new comp. get along great and i am glad to be his companion.

thats about it for this week. i have a story but i will put it in next weeks letter. ilove you and miss you to.

love

elder christian price

hey mom,

thanks for the news. my new companion is awesome! we have great time together. i know you will do great during the fireside. the spirit is the real teacher. we just get the awesome opportunity, as teachers, to invite it. i love the spirit!

the asian party sounded fun. i cant wait to have an asian party when i get back. parties are awesome. good to hear that erica is getting her life back and that youa re getting part of yours back. i think i bought my suits at 'eastvalley sports'. its on southern if i remembe right and between higley and riggs? i am not 100% sure but i amalmost certian it is call east valley sprots. i hope erica has practice her swimming.

i have been healthy so far. suprising sense it is really cold and i didnt really wear a good jacket all winter. good blessing. i love writing letters to all of the gneiting's. it was fun and it made me feel like i was talking in person to each of them. it was no problem.

the main bulk of this week is in dads letter so please read his sorry. it is kind of long. the main message is that japan has is struggles but it is still great. i am still loving the people and my ward. i love seeing the lords hand in my life. i never really took the time to realize it before my mission. man this gospel is great!!! i love sharing the gospel.

thank you for your love and support. love has such a great power. thankyou


love


elder christian price