"I had Malaria!"

Dear Family!

Hi! I'm not dead! Actually, right now I feel really great. I'm back up to strength! Which is really good, figuring what was making me sick... :) I didn't have Typhoid, don't worry about that one! I actually never took a day off... But... I had Malaria! Yay! It sucked. Not hearing from the Kirkhams or Hezseltines IS a good thing. If you had, I would've been in bad shape. I took some pills for a few days, and now I feel all better! No more pills and no more malaria!

Haha, thanks for your support. :) I'm glad Dad was able to tell you about it a little bit! [replying to our comments about him being a DL now] My health is definitely good enough now. I've lost weight! The scale at the clinic last week put me at 150 lbs. I don't remember if I told you that last week... But it seems true! My face has slimmed up big time, and my arms have lost fat too. The biggest part, though, is probably the lost core muscle and leg muscle and leg fat. That probably contributed the most to the weight loss. It's cool!  [It's not cool, really. He already had pretty lean legs, but he likes his Liberian food so much that I'm not worried.]

Thanks for the weekly waves! I'm going to enjoy those each week. Plus, Dad's arms look RIPPED.  [we sent him a photo of this week's family blog post - Conan the Librarian]

I got some dearelders this week when Elder Curtis was here, and we had zone conference! That was a cool time, except I wasn't feelin' great, so I had a hard time staying awake... I heard it was amazing though! ;) I liked those dearelders. I'm writing some more handwritten letters right now, and I'll send that letter off as soon as I can.

That get together looks like so much fun! The Berrett's are great, and I hope I can see them one one time. (coloqwa corrupts english...) Funny that she didn't know that... But then again, I haven't really shared that a whole ton. I don't go walking around saying I've been on GMA. ;) I'm excited for the referral! [the Berrett's are back in Liberia and they have a referral for the missionaries to teach a special woman in Paynesville].  I like investigators in this area. Which brings me to something else: I haven't seen the baboon, but I met the owner of the orphanage, sister Quita. She's a member in Paynesville branch, and knows Mitch! She was asking me first about a Sherri Price from Pleasant Grove though... Do we know her? Anyway, it was awesome to see that connection! [Mitch Weight is a friend of mine that founded Sahbu - an organization to help the children of Liberia. Click here to learn more, or donate to the cause.]

[The get-together he refers to is a get-together of missionary parents that we had while the Berrett's were home for a bit. We spent the evening with the parents of Elders Witehira, Conners, Zaugg, and Pearmain, along with the Berretts. So this is what the other parents look like!]: 

So, to answer questions: My health is great! I hope that meat kebab I just ate off the street doesn't poison me, but really, I'm feeling good. :)  There are always spiders everywhere. But usually no big ones... I've had a huge one on my net around my bed once... That was freaky. But we rarely see them while out and about. The medical instruments didn't feel archaic... Except the scale. The scale was ancient.

[inserted from his mission president email:]

"This week has gone well, and I feel that it has also prepared this coming week to be a very productive one. Our investigators are doing great, and I am so happy to be able to work with these wonderful people. There was an amazing experience this past week with a man named E. He has been investigating the church for about 2 weeks now, and he has received a change of heart. We taught him the Law of Chastity, he is cohabitating, and he immediately started making plans to be married. He recognizes the need for it, and he has set the day for the end of March to have the ceremonies the way he wants. It was a memorable experience to see his desire to make things right and change his life, and his righteous desire is also for his family; we hope to be able to teach them this coming week. We have had several other investigators who are making large steps towards baptism, and I feel blessed to be able to be among the missionaries teaching them." 

Other answers! Investigator stories... That one about E! That one is good. I'll share more next week, too... There are several great investigators. We are preparing Francis for baptism. He's getting interviewed this week, but he already told the branch mission leader that he wants to be a branch missionary and to be proselyting with us. It's great.

Hm... It rained once this week, which was good, 'cause it's been BLAZING at night. 'cause our electricity isn't on. and hasn't been for the whole week. Old Benson Hospital, where we get our electricity from, ran out of diesel fuel and can't get more until.. hopefully soon. so it sucks. I hope we get electricity soon! [the Hezseltine's blogged about the lack of fuel in the country here]

Transportation is mostly all walking here. Walking a LONG way, everywhere. Yep! I scuffed up my mission shoes... Hey, I think it'd be great to receive some sandals. Maybe keens? The close toe leather kind? My companion has a pair, and they're sweet.

Thank you for all your support. I'm doing the best I can!

Love,
Elder Price

[Another excerpt from his letter to his mission president:]

This past week I had Malaria, but I felt the Lord strengthen me as I worked and prayed for full strength. I am now at full health, and I am happy to be able to serve with a more clear mind and with more strength. My companion and I are working to organize our area more and make each day more effective with our progressing investigators. We are also looking forward to moving into the new apartment, whenever that may be, because of the long time it takes to get into our area from our apartment currently.