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16 June 2014

I Caught a Fish

Dear Family!

Your trip looks awesome! I do miss that, I do. :) The pictures are great! Plus the stories are good too. I miss the temple, that's for sure! I sometimes think about the last family reunion; I can't wait for the next one!
[This week's letter from us was mostly a photo log of things we did in San Diego last week--part of which was celebrating my parents' 50th wedding anniversary.]

That's a sweet Father's Day article. I forgot about that picture! I'm glad you used it. :)
We took this last summer, shortly before Rain left for Liberia.
The work is great! I'll start with my notes ('cause I didn't prewrite this one):
I spent three days proselyting with Elder Gharbin! That's the first note. My companion was showing Elder Osatohangbon his area, so that's what we set up! It went really well. It was good to feel like I really have a handle on my area, where things are, etc. It felt like a strong week for me, just in my mood, etc.

"How much of life do we miss by waiting to see the rainbow before thanking God that there is rain?" --great quote from President Uchtdorf. :)  [I'm always thanking God for "Rain."]

I caught a fish! I'll get back to that.

Still no package, but it'll come eventually, right? ;)

Uh... I have a story about a breast infection thing that I saw this week, I'll get back to that.

Did I ever tell you that I got a paintball jersey? Heck yeah! It's a Proto jersey. It's not bad, I like having it out here! The only problem is that it's huge. I wear it around the apartment.

This transfer is 5 weeks! [instead of the normal six week duration]

Okay, here's some real email stuff:
Tuesday: Proselyted. District meeting first though! The two districts in our zone combined so that President Kirkham could come to them (he was expecting our zone meeting this week. But that's this coming week! Tomorrow!) and that wasn't bad! We taught six lessons, and it looks like J's husband isn't helping her for the marriage. Ever since that lesson, we haven't seen her anywhere. People told us that she went to Red Light, but we don't know if she's coming back.. I think it has something to do with this marriage stuff and that her man isn't helping to reach that goal. Su. bounced us all week, so we haven't had a single chance to see her. We've been helping some less actives and recent converts more, though!

Wednesday and Thursday: Another couple of days! Five lessons on Wednesday, Six lessons on Thursday. Saw some people, I taught a man named Vorkpore for the first time. He's working hard to get married, Elder Zaugg and Elder Kamara taught him a bunch before. He's awesome. Nothing of note, just preparing our four people to be baptized that Saturday!

Same with Friday, really. But we had a bunch of bounces throughout these days. So many people not being there, it was unusual for Doe Community! Our investigators promised on Sunday to be there better, though.

One one of these days we were by Samuel's house, which is on the riverside (I've taken some pictures in the past [although we have yet to see said photos]), and there were some kids fishing on the edge! They just had a hook, a small piece of metal tied as a weight, the fishing line, and the bait. Just throw the line into the water and draw it in! I caught a fish! A catfish. It was pretty neat. :) [Did you keep the fish?] Haha, no, we put it in a bucket with the other fish. :) [for the fisherkids to eat]

Saturday was the baptism! We baptized Ja, Ev, Bl (Fa's sister), and Ch (our security guard!). It was a good baptism. :) Afterwards we went and taught people! We saw A. again, but on our way something gross happened. We were walking when we saw this guy who contacted us once, so I invited him (again) to church ('cause he's never visited). He was telling me that his wife/woman/or something was ill, and that it was a hard time for them and that they didn't have money for the treatment or anything. He proceeded to go into his house and bring out a woman holding her exposed breast. Now, seeing that out here isn't uncommon, but this was different. There was some greenish/grey paste around the whole thing ("country" medicine), and there was a giant infection. Giant one. My companion was texting the APs at the time, so he didn't see, but... yeah. I did my best to look at the man, even though he was pointing to it a ton, and I just invited him to church. Cool thing about it is: HE CAME! That was sweet. He's only here from Sinoe county to try to get some big position in the government, so we can't baptize him 'cause he'll be going back. But if he ever moves, he said he's going to join us. The branch president had a good interview with him. :) Well, seems like I've jumped to Sunday. Sunday was a bit smaller than usual at church, only 14 [investigators] (in comparison to the 24 of the week before? yeah, small...) but it was good. I think it might be because we baptized four investigators, so they stop counting. We're going to be filling our pool of investigators in the coming weeks. :)

It was a good week! APs told us last night in followups that this transfer is only five weeks long because of missionaries going home, etc. So it might be my last five weeks with Elder Kamara, but then again, he might stay... Who knows! The apartment has been different now that we have four people there, but I'm adapting.

The work is great. I'm trying to really find myself lost in it more, and I've been trying to improve so much. It's crazy that in two transfers I'll be one year on mission, but at the same time... It feels like I'm still a young guy on mission. I know this mission is different, but I'm sure there are reasons for me being sent here and learning these things.

I love you all, have an amazing week!

Love,
Elder Price

Q: What happened with your cold last week? Are you feeling better now?

A: yep! feeling better. I've been working out a bit harder every morning, too. So that's helped my energy. Gonna go play some soccer on the beach today!

Q: Cool!! Do you guys hear much about the World Cup there? Dad said that Portugal is playing this morning. I think he may watch it. 

A: Haha, yeah, we do. :) Ghana vs USA! Can't wait to hear that result. I knew that one was today. Isn't it at 10 pm Liberian time? yep. It's cool. I like watching football... but we aren't allowed to, really. We see it in passing. Us elders are really looking at who wins that one. Two Ghanaians in my apartment complex. ;)

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Dear President,

This week has been a week of adapting for most of the missionaries in the zone. It has been a good chance for the missionaries to put into practice all the things they have learned about finding families and kingdom builders. Both Logantown companionships, the new Doe Community elders, and the Point Four sisters reported an increase in their finding opportunities because of the recent changes, and they all reported to be searching for families. Even in my own area my companion and I have been teaching several families, and I found the Lord's hand in our missionary work as we have begun teaching a man named A. He's been coming to church, and we recently discovered that he's already legally married! This felt like a miracle to me, because not only is he coming to church and married, but he has a very strong desire to join the church, a desire that has been created through divine preparation. I was planning to share this experience with you before I came to email today, and after reading your email, my testimony in the Lord's hand in our missionary work, who we're supposed to find and HOW we're supposed to find them has been strengthened. They really DO come and ask to be taught.

The zone is doing pretty well. We struggled with member presents this week, but after doing some follow-up we discovered that it is because of the high amount of contacting done this week. It was a good week, however, for recent convert and less-active lessons as well as having new investigators.

My companion and I are doing well in Doe Community. The branch is doing great, and many members are working with us. Of course, just because the branch is awesome doesn't mean there isn't anything to improve on! One thing I see that the branch can work on is home and visiting teaching. As missionaries we are trying to help by teaching less actives more. The branch previously had assignments made, but now several of those assignments are less actives, so we are working with the branch to bring home teaching back and reactivate less actives.

I'm trying to really understand the lessons we teach, and I'm working hard to be a better teacher as well as a better missionary. I will definitely pray more sincerely for miracles, thank you for the counsel. I am trying to remove my habits of pontificating the lessons, and I know this will help in all the ways you have mentioned.

Thank you,
Elder Price

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