hey fam.

thanks for the birthday present! it was awesome. it was hard to wait but it was worth it. i did get one from the gneitings. it had alot of good stuff;coolaid little toys jerky and oreos. thanks everyone for making my b-day in japan special.

missionaries make kind of a big deal of birthdays. i didnt really tell anyone so everyone was kind of mad that i didnt tell them but at the last district meeting we had a little party? more like i got a sausage mcmuffin for my cake and a chopstick for the candle. it was kind of hobo style but it was way fun and i was way greatful.

on sat i actually went to yamatokoriyama for a baptism. sasaki san, one of my old investigators there made the choice to get baptized. it had been almost exactly a year since he first met the missionaries. his is going to be a great ward member. it was amazing that i could be close to my bean area so i could have the opportunity to see him be baptized. it was awesome!

tell maddie that i do know a missionary named sheffield and we are best buds. we are in the same district and we have actually been talking about writing maddie a letter together. so can i get her address. she may have already gone up to byu so any address is fine.

yes erica looks like scarlet johansen which is good but bad. she will be a senior when i get back so that means i am going to be hanging around the highschool making sure no guys hit on my little sister. it just causes more problems for me.

my address is: osaka-fu, tondabayashi-shi suga (2 chome 22-11-303)or(701-2 green heights suga 303) i live right next to takidani eki on the east side.

i forgot the aikidomaster name. i didnt go last week because we had already scheduled another appointment. i will get the name to you next week.

people that come to sports activities are all those that have the money and who live close. sometimes there is alot and sometimes there are few who show up. it just depends on where you are living and which zone you are in.

this week was pretty good. we had a way legit investigator come to chruch. he is a really nice person and he does alot of volunteer work. he is way cool but way busy. we are trying to meet with him next week but he doesntknow when he can meet. the work is starting to pick up in this area. this transfer is starting to come to a close and i am already nervous about next transfer. my comp will probably leave to a diff. area and the rumor is that there are alot of new missinaries coming in and i really dont want to train yet. it is still 2 weeks away but it is hard not to think about it.

live is great. everyday is something different. i am learning alot and making mistakes and having fun doing it.

the church is true no doubt about that one! i have just over a year left in my mission and it feels like i am just getting started. this is where the fun begins.

love

elder christian price

Hey mom and dad,

this week was exciting. i did transfer to a new area. kawachinagano. i dont have the address right now but i will try and get that next week. also i will try and get pics next week. so in my new area i became sempi(sr. comp). its put crazy pressure on me. i am with another japanese comp. named hasegawa. he is actually from Tochugi-ken and that iswere nikko is. he came from the same area as where our relatives lived. cool uh! he is only on his second transfer but he does missionary work like he is older. it is weird being the leader escpecially when i still dontknow the area yet. this is going to be on interesting transfer. both of our birthdays are this month. his is on the 21. by the way can i get 20 dollars for his birth day present?

ya i still use my dictionary all the time. i probably dont use it as much as i should. no i have not been asked by a mom to marry her daughter. the flag is coming. i still dont quite know where to find one. i havent had kobe beef yet. that is in the makijng. it is way expensive and i dont know where to buy it. before i leave i will buy some but when i dont know.

life is great. this whole sempai experience is new and it will be interesting how this tranfer goes. i will keep you updated.

quick question. how does ward missionary work work in our ward?

love you and thanks for everything. if you could pray that i will be a good sempai and that i could remeber japanese better that would be great.

love

elder christian price

Hey mom and dad,

my week missionary work wise was ok. we found one new investigator but we cant meet him till august. that was kind of a bummer but at least we found someone. my spirits are doing well. i am hard on my self so somedays are better than others. i am having fun and trying to work hard even though it is really hot. it is a reall test when it is hot and no one really wants to talk to you. it is a good learning experience but i cant wait for it to be over.

yes tranfers will come next tuesday. i dont know wether i will stay or not. i meet the mission prez for interviews on wed and there i will probably ask him what he thinks. i think if i leave and some new blook comes in to hanayashiki it might jumpstart things but there is a cool activity that we planned for just after transfers so i want to stay. i am not sure what is going to happen but i think i will transfer.

last wednesday was interesting. i experienced my first earthquake. the center was in nara so here it wasnt that bad but is was a weird feeling. on the scale it was a 2 in hanayashiki. it was kind of cool but i would rather not experience it agian.

thats about it for my week. thanks for the messages of incouragement and support. i love you. you can tell everyone that i am doing just fine. i am having fun working in the vineyard of the lord even if it is really hot.

love

elder christian price

hey mom and dad.

it sounds like last week was a blast.i am glad everyone had fun. going shooting sounds like really good right now.. if i can find a big flag i will get it for him. i myself am looking for a big japanese flag but i havent found it yet. when i do i wll get two. thats way cool that erica got a kimono. they are way expensive. people wear them here when they graduate and when they turn 20. maybe she can wear it when she graduates.

this week was a normal week. the baptism we had did not go through. he was 17 and his mom was way agianst him joining the chruch. he said that when he turns 20 he will join. lets hope i n 3 years he remembers.

we are still having a hard time finding investigators. we are trying but i know there is more we can do. it is still way hot and humid so that doesnt help at all. me and my comp still get along great. even in the hot sun we still find a way to have some fun. i have recently learned how to play shogi. it is like chess. it is realy fun. for about and 1 or 2 a day we play that in a free talking space below a mall and we try to contact people through that. we havent made any investigators het but we have made some friends recently so the next step is to as them to come to chruch and hear the lessons. right now is summer vacation for japan. it just started. i think they have too much school.

well thats about it. hopefully next week i will have something exciting to tell you.

oh ya i had to talk in church yesterday. it went ok. my japanese still isnt very good so it took me for ever and i was way nervous so that didnt help either. all in all it was ok. it could ahve been worse. lets just say that after giving talks in a language you dont know when i return and have to give a talk in english it should be a walk in the park.

i love you and thanks for your love. you guys are the best.

love

elder christian price

Hey mom and dad

thanks for the pics. its good to see familiar faces.

like uncle jd said it is starting to get hot and i mean hot. the apartment is way hot when we come home from working out in the humidity. we dont get to stay in side or shall i say we have been asked to continue working rain or shine. we have been doing some work inside of malls and stuff. we try to talk to people in sitting areas. not the most effective so we cant do that all day. lets just say when i get back az summers will feel like spring.

the combinations of the missionaries went well. i dont think anyone has any hard feelings ore anything like that but there is definately a difference. our mission president is loving haveing more misionaries. next transfer he said he will be mixing alot of us together. it is going to be fun. it is weird to intorduce yourself to someone that is going to go home in 1 tranfer. i dont think the change will affect us that much at all.

even though it is hot i am still haveing a great time. the sports activity was awesome. it was way hot and some people got sick but it was still way fun. the matching out fits that me and my comp wore was interesting. some people didnt recognize it. i am still studying japanese hard. i dont want to settle for ok japanese. i can communicate and i understand alot but i want to be good at japanese not just ok. it helps to have a native but i wont always so i am still working hard.

yes, thanks for the reminder about the birhtday. i was actually trying to forget it. i dont really want to be older. i actually do love what i am doing and the older i get the less time i have. so, some money would be great but alittle suprise would be also nice. if you could send me just alittle something. i dont want anything too expensive just alittle suprise. so... some money and alittle suprise.

thank you for you love and your prayers. i pray for you always. i love the power of prayer.

love

elder christian price

hey mom and dad,

life is great here but it is getting way hot. if you think arizona is hot come here and you will think arizona is paradise. the humidity is killer. i cant stand it. i cant wait to have az summers agian. like uncle jd said it is going to get even hotter and and when it rains the humidity gets worse. it makes missionary work way hard. it is either poring rain or squorching hot. not the best combo.

i am glad to here everyone is having fun in utah. it sounds like some may have had too much fun. so erica wants to drive the jeep? i wish her luck in mastering the clutch. so marshal is wearing polo shirts. does he pop the color? if he does i may need to come back and right now and have alittle talk with him.

yes the bus picture is me and my comp in sumoto.

the work is doing great here. we are seeing many miracles as a mission. this week the kobe mission and half of the hiroshima mission merged. this thursday we ahve a huge confrence with all the missionaries. it will be fun.

this week went ok. i am really imporving as a missionary. not every day it the best but some days i just feel like i could go on all day with out stopping. my comp has been such a blessing. with out him i wouldnt have changed and i would not have become a better missionary.

my japanese is ok. i still feel like it is the worst but that is probably me just being to hard on my self. when i speak with my comp. i speak ok japanese but during lessons and with other people my japanese goes sour. i am still self concious about how my japanese sounds and if i made a mistake or not. little by little i am getting over that but it is going to be a alittle while before i obtian the `i dont care what people think` mind set. it is coming but i dont quite have it yet.

well, be safe driving home Happy 4th. actualy today we have a 4th ofjuly sports event. i am looking forward too it. em and my comp bought matching cloths to wear there. it will be fun.

From Japan, with love,

elder christian price

PS the frist pic is me and my comp in matiching cloths and the other one is a picture of a snake that we found right outside of our chruch building. my comp said it was a viper and that it is one of the most posionous snakes in japan.

Hey mom and dad,

i dont know everything about the special transfer. i vaugely know the reason and it was not health problems. sumoto was fun. it kind of felt like a vacation. it has a weird feeling though. the only way to get there is by a hour and a half bus ride. you feel seperated from everyone else. you get phone calls every night but you still dont feel connected. i think that might be alittle like what island fever feels like. all in all it was fun and a good experience.

but

i am back in hanayashiki with my same companion. we are doing great. when i got the call saying that i am staying the ap also said that not alot of people will be transfering because the hiroshima mission and the kobe mission are combining. i dont know if that is a forshadow that i will leave next transfer or not but i am glad to be here still.

the baptism didnt happen. the investigator was only 17 and it turned out that his mom was really agianst him joining the chruch. he can still talk to us on the phone and he said that one he turns 20 he will be baptized. i hope he keeps that goal in mind.

it was a bummer that imanaka-san didnt get baptized but we had 2 new investigators come to church. their mom has called us a couple of time saying that she and her daughters have interest. only the daughters came on sunday because the mom had to work but i think the will progress really fast. we are trying to meet with all 3 of them at the same time. the amazing part is that we did not find these people. they called us. what a blessing from the lord. he really does prepare people for us. i never really realized/ thought about that until now. it is amazing!!!! no i just need to know let this blessing slip out of my hands.

i am doing great. i am still loving what i am doing and i am doing it with a smile. this is the best ever. i have recently got in touch with garen(do you remember him. he was one of my room mates during summer semester). it has been great to talk to him. he gave the addresses to the other guys in our room and i cant wait to get intouch with them. this transfer i am really trying to focus on having no regerts. it is easy to just do the work day in and day out but i want more. i feel i am still missing something when i go out to work and i think working as hard as i can and doing all i can will fill that spot.

i am learning so much about my self. i love the work for that reason and more. with out this experience i would not be haveing the same growing experience and life lessons. MISSIONS ROCK!

i love you and thanks for your love

elder christian price