Friday, March 11, 2011

Friday, March 11, 2011
Earthquake and Tsunami UPDATE

A few hours ago the Tohoku region of Japan was hit by a series of very large earthquakes followed by giant Tsunami waves. All missionaries in the Japan Kobe Mission are safe and accounted for. The impact of the quakes were not felt this far away, but several areas in our mission are still under Tsunami warning. Missionaries have been notified to evacuate to safe ground. The effects of the quakes (which seems to still be occurring) and tsunami's are widespread through several areas of Japan, but the Sendai Mission areas seems the hardest hit. We are trying to make contact with church leaders there but communications lines are still down.
Sister McIntyre's family is from this region and we have been able to make contact via text message and have found out they are safe. We pray for all the people in that regions and others affected by this disaster.

President McIntyre

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Hey mom and dad,

Thanks for the emails. So the big news about transfers is my area got
closed. Kind of sad but I think that is what it needed. I am now in
NISHIWAKI. It is more country than Nabari but the members here are on
fire. They are amazing. I have only been here for 5 days and they
are full of love and want to help the missionaries. I feel good about
working here. I am excited to have a new start. My new comp. is you
guessed it Japanese. He is from Hokkaido. He is way cool and way good
at talking with people. Sorry no pictures today I forgot my camera but
next week for sure.

My testimony has really been strengthened these past couple of months.
Nabari was very hard. It was a struggle. But now I am in Nishiwaki
and this place seems like Osaka city to me. All I can think about is
where to go and talk to people. How to contact them. My whole
thinking has changed. It is like a switch has been flipped. I know
that we all have trials for a reason and if we bear them well we will
receive blessings. I know this without a doubt.

It’s kind of short but thanks for everything. I love you guys so much
and I can’t wait for you guys to come after I have worked as hard as I
can to share the gospel with the Japanese people.

From the land of our ancestors,

Love,

Elder Christian Price

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Hey mom and dad,

Thanks for the emails. It is starting to warm up now which is good but everyone is saying that it is going to get cold one more time. I wouldn’t mind if that didn’t happen.

This week wasn’t too bad of a week. We seemed way busy with appointments because this week is transfer week and I wanted to make sure I met people before I left. Sunday was really good. During our priesthood lesson they talked about when Jesus walked on water and told peter to come to him. I was thinking about that and tried to apply that situation to myself. Christ told, or you could say commanded, peter to come out and walk on the water. Christ new that he could do it. He was doing it himself. But when peter stepped onto the water and saw the strength of the wind he was afraid and started to sink. Then Christ immediately helped him. I was thinking how often the lord gives us commandments. All the time right. We have ones that we need to be always following, then i thought when we hear a commandment how often do we follow it whole heartedly? Or do we only follow part of the commandment (selective obedience) and sink like peter. The lord gave that commandment because he knew that we can do it. All we need to do is trust in him and have faith and we can do anything. This can be applied to missionary work as well as daily life.
As missionaries we have been commanded to open our mouth and if we do this it will be filled. Also when we speak we will speak with the power of the spirit. but how often do I and probably others fear what will happen if I go a little out of my comfort zone to talk to this guy. For me that thought should never cross my mind because if I just go talk to him, no matter what the result the lord will be happy with me because I wholeheartedly followed his commandment. Life is the same. I know I have thought a lot when the prophet says something that oh I am ok I don’t really need to worry about that. It doesn’t really affect me that much. Not always but sometimes this happens or where we follow commandments when it is convenient or just part of it. I don’t know it just hit me while I was listening to this talk that whatever the lord says/commands we can do so why not give it all you got. Don’t go in hesitating like peter did but with courage and with the knowledge that whatever happens god will help us and be there by our side.

Man do I love my mission. There are too many things that I have learned that I would not have learned anywhere else. The fact that I can have this experience is such a blessing. Thank you for raising me in this church. I don’t know what I would do without it.

Love you

Elder Christian Price

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Hey mom and dad,

sounds like your week was good. Again thanks for the messages. I am
still amazed at how there are some things that I am thinking about or
studying and then when I get your emails you seem to talk about them.
Its way cool and comforting.

This week was a better week. Mom said something that I was actually
thinking about yesterday. We need bad weeks so we can have good ones.
I was just thinking that too. We won’t always have bad weeks and we
won’t always have good weeks. The bad weeks test our faith and the
good weeks show us the blessings of hard work through our trials and
also gods love. Man isn’t this gospel great. I would have never
thought about that without his gospel. I would have just thought life
sucked during bad weeks and oh man is I lucky during good weeks. What
a blessing the gospel is.

So for meals, my comp loves rice so we eat rice almost 2 times
everyday but at least once a day. We make spaghetti if you can count
that American. I actually forgot what American food is. All that I
know is that here you can’t get a dirty Mexican taco/burrito. To me
that is American so I would say we don’t make American food that much.

I still use my dictionary. Not so much on the street. I carry the
phone and it has a dictionary on it so I use that sometimes. Also I
can sometimes get them to explain the word or I kind of understand
through the context. And there are of course the time where I pretended
that I understood and continue, but to get better I should probably
stop that.

If you write me letters that’s great but email I just fine. I
probably won’t write a letter back. Email is faster and I am not the
biggest write letters fan. Whichever you want to do.

Mom said that you are going to buy plane tickets soon. Did you by
chance already call the mission home? I was told that you can get a
packet on how to buy me an airplane ticket through the church so you
can organize it yourself and not have to organize it through anyone
else. If you haven’t called them yet please do. Whatever happens
tell me. If you haven’t talked to them yet I can call them and tell
them to send you that packet. I am excited for you to come!

Well I love you family. I am so grateful to be the son of such
wonderful parents who taught me when I was young to choose the right
and stay on the lord’s side. Being on a mission has really opened my
eye to things. I could kind of understand what life without the
gospel is like but being here in Japan where the standards in general
aren’t as high as they are in America and talking to people everyday
has made me realize how much the world needs this gospel. Ii love it
out here. As the days go by it feels like all that I used to know and
do has gone. I have lost a lot of knowledge about what I did before
the mission. All that I know is missionary stuff. Kind of weird. Very
weird feeling. But life is great I am having the time of my life
and loving every minute of it.

Love you guys

Elder Christian Price

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Hey mom and dad,

I am always grateful for the emails and the news from home. Nabari is
doing well. Could be better but that’s where hard work needs to come
in. I and my comp get along pretty well. He is a little quiet and
the senior. I am the one that is saying `lets go` but he always has
my back when we are streeting or making contacts. I still havent
mastered that one yet. In that way we make a good pair. Yes people do
give a lot of talks but they don’t really rely on the missionaries that
much. I don’t know why. We are always there. I may say something
about that next Sunday. Yes we do a lot of bike riding but my comp
hates hills and Nabari is nothing but hills so the riding has been
a little less.

That fhe sounded way fun. I miss camping so much. I thought it was
just the normal and didn’t see how much I really liked it. The fire
marshmallows tents fishing, all of it I miss. I am glad that everyone
had a good attitude about it too. I am glad to hear Erica’s health is
doing well. I think it will continue.

Well this week was pretty sweet. We had a good zone conference and
then elder cook came and spoke to the whole mission. It was awesome.
I learned a lot. The work in Nabari has been slow. Not for lack of
trying but I really want to apply what I have learned and see what
happened.

To be honest this week has been a struggle for me, I am still way happy
and love being out here but it has been tuff. I am so grateful for
you and dad for teaching me about prayer and the power it has. I know
that I can pray about anything and I will receive help. Yes I may
need to wait and I still need to do all I can but I will receive what
the lord feels I need. Because of this knowledge I will never feel
alone or abandon. I will always have someone to turn to when no one
else is there. Prayer is an amazing thing that our heavenly father
has taught us. We just need to use it. We just need to ask.

Thank you for the messages you shared I appreciate them. It is funny
when I am thinking about something and\or just learned something and
then one of you shares a message about that same thing. That just
shows that the lord is trying to tell me something. Thank you.

I love you both. You are the best parents in the world. I don’t care
what the other kids say about you. I love you guys. Thank you

Love


Elder Christian Price

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Hey mom and dad,

Life is good. Thanks for the emails and news.


So my comp I not too trunky I think, but he is not a go getter. He kind of just waits for me. I am the area sr. but not for long. I dovisit a couple of the Brazilian investigators that we had. My comp doesn’t really like it and I still can’t speak Portuguese so it can be hard. Here in Nabari we mainly do a lot of finding. We haven’t found any really good investigators yet but hey you can’t always. Through hard work us and perseverance we receive blessings so we just need to keep working hard.
This weeks wasn’t too exciting but this next week is going to be awesome. Elder Cook is coming to our mission on Sat. I am way pumped. It is so cool to hear apostle when they come to speak to you.
I will pray for Erica and wish her good luck for me.
I am doing great. This transfer is already half way over can you believe it. Time is flying by. It gives me more of a sense of urgency when I work.
I love you all and thank you for your love. It is amazing to recognize when you feel love. Even when the work is hard and no one is talking to us I can feel the love of the savior because he knows that I am doing what I can to bring souls unto him.
Love you lots
Elder Christian Price

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Christian's Christmas gifts

Family that Christian spent Christmas day with




Family that Christian spent Christmas night with



New Year's Day outside Christian's apartment



Hey mom and dad,

what you got a wii!!!! thats crazy! where did you put it. unless there has been alot of changes to the downstairs there isnt much room for it. i cant wait tocome back and play. talking on christmas was
amazing sorry i wasnt focused 100%. they family was totally ok with me talking to you guys. they said they had fun. sorrymy english isnt that good. my japanese isnt the best either butrightnow i would prefer to speak japanese. thanks for the presents and pictures. everyone is getting so big. maybe i wont be the tallest when i get back? as weird as it is abby and mushmush look even more like twins now. i wonder if they get told that at school?

i am glad you all had a goo time with aunt sherry and uncle ward. i wish i could have been there. maybe next year? new years was good here. we had a crazy sports activity on the 1st which was ablast and we got to watch kung fu panda. i love that movie and it is way funnier in japanese than english. me and slater got to hang out and have some fun. we are trying to work it so we can be comps agian. i dont know if it will work but it doesnt hurt to try.

my love and determination grows everyday. i only have 9 short months left. that is about 5 or transfers. it is funny how your priorities and they way you see and do things changeswhen time is running out. i need to be thank ful for the time that i have been given and really make the rest of my time count as a missionary.

thank you for your love and support. i will probably write the family(gneitings, williams, grandparents)letter but just let them know that i love them and thank them for the presents that they sent. i really felt the love from everyone. i had an amazing christmas and newyear and i am ready to start this year off with a bang.

akemashite omedatogozaimasu!(happy new year)

love

elder christian price

P.S. pic1 is mychristmas presents picture. 2 isof the family that i was visiting while talking to you guys(the 2 infront of me are friends of their daughter)3 is of a brazilian/japanese family that we spent christmas evening with. they are holding pictures that i drew for them. 4 is of my bike when we came out of the apartment. 5 is a picture of me leaving my apartment into the cold.