My last week here has arrived! (05 Apr 17)

It's crazy to think that I've already been out here for 5 weeks and that in 5 days I'll be leaving for the mission field. It seems like I've been here forever and just barely got here at the same time. I know for a fact my spanish is not ready for the field, but I know enough to get on by. That's what trainers are for right? I hope my trainer is good. We took an evaluation this past week where we would speak into a microphone answers to questions like, "describe what you think your first day out in the field will be like. Give details." This assessment is sent to our mission presidents and they use it to help them decide our trainer. I'm kind of worried now because my questions were easier than others and I could answer all of them for the most part. Now I'm afraid I'll be put with some native speaker who's accent is ridiculous and they'll assume I can communicate with them because I did decent on the assessment.

But with all that in the past lets talk about conference. This General Confernce was by far the best one I have ever had in my entire life. Probably because I watched and gave my full attention to every single minute of it. Not saying I didn't do that at home *wink, wink* But all the talks were awesome. Hearing from president Monson was good as well and what better things to talk about then charity and reading the Book of Mormon. That just screams missionary work right at my face. Also Elder Hollands was really powerful as always. I really loved the part where he said, "It is by divine design that all the voices in gods choir are not the same." and when he said, "diversity is not a cacophony." it really helped me feel good about what I have to offer in the field.

Anyway wish me luck.

Elder Price

1 Month down - WOOOO! (29 Mar 17)

I have to say I'm doing sooo much better. Before I was being stupid and thinking too much about myself. I've bucked up and focused on the work and I've felt so much better.

To start off Happy Birthday Corry and Deric! You'll both be able to drink now (but you shouldn't).

Congratulations Jacob! One awesome job at festival, don't worry about money mountain nobody likes them anyway, and that's crazy that your lizard was even able to lay eggs. I don't know how that's even possible or what's going to happen because of it, but good luck to you, and yes I miss playing with you to but I know that this work is so much more important.

Physical Activity here has been so much fun playing soccer with all the latinos and us white guys. I've kind of been given the name brick wall because I make sure no one gets past me, not at least without a struggle. The shoes I was given have no padding in the bottom so by the time I'm done playing my feet are killing me. But I won't complain (too much).

So my proselyting activity went awesome. I got paired up with Elder Ponce, from the city by Machu Pichu, and Elder Golzavelez, from La Paz Bolivia. We started off heading to a referral, but had no luck there. So we headed towards another referral and handed out pass along cards to a few people, but didn't get any appointments. The other referral didn't work out either, it turns out they had tried this home many times before, but to no avail. As we were walking along knocking on doors we got a water balloon thrown at us from a second story window (it only splashed our legs a bit) so that was very interesting. Both the Elders told me that was the first time that had happened and it just happened to be when I was with them. We knocked on some more doors with no luck until this one older lady who actually invited us in. She started going off and I had no idea what the crap she was saying. The whole lesson went on like that and we were only able to share one scripture with her because she kept saying that she "saw Christ in our faces" and crazy things like that. I gave a pamphlet and then we left. Afterwards my Elders were saying how that was very interesting and made no sense.

That was my experience I had out in the field and I loved it. I enjoyed every minute of it. Elder Ponce gave me advice with how to deal with snakes (snakes are girls who try to get Elders to mess up) he told to put my hands up like I was going to punch them and when they go in for a kiss or hug to pop em right in the face. He also told me that if I ever come back and go to machu pichu to email him and find him. So if we go back when I get home, help me remember.

That's my experience this week.

Elder Price

Week 3 (21 Mar 17)

Sorry I didn't tell you my Pday was Tuesday this week and not Wednesday, but I didn't find out until Sunday. Anyway things have been better here. For the most part I'm getting into the swing of things, but with General Conference coming up the schedule is getting changed and that is annoying. But the most annoying and more so terrifying thing about the changes is that this Saturday I get to go on splits with the missionaries in the Lima east mission and do actual work outside the CCM walls. This is freaking me out because I barely know spanish and this activity is normaly done our last week here not the start of our fourth. I just barely found out that information last night so I've been praying and studying extra hard in hopes I'll actually be able to say something. So wish me luck.

Today has been so weird because my district of 12 has been the only missionaries here at the CCM. Yesterday and early this morning all of the 3 week and those that have been here 6 weeks left, so it has only been us that have 3 weeks left, but have been in the 6 week program. It feels very different because there are normally an additional 110ish other missionaries so being dropped down to 12 overnight is a big change. I can't believe our district is already the older group called the avansados (or something like that) and we are the ones to set the example to all the missionaries coming in tonight and tomorrow. I still feel like it's my first week here and yet in four days I'll be outside these walls preaching to actual people.

One funny thing that happened is since the other missionaries were leaving the Elders tried to "throw" a party with the latinos in there room. Which worked out for about 2 minutes before the Sisters in the room directly below them started yelling at them through the window and saying stuff like, ÿou are elders at the CCM act like it." It was funny because they had probably 30 or more missionaries in a room meant for 6 people partying until they got chewed out by the sisters.

That's all I have to report this week, so until next time.

Elder "Bubba" Price

2nd Week Down (17 Mar 17)

So I survived my 2nd week and boy has this week been interesting.

Since a lot of you talked about it, The Dragon has not been a problem for me. I've had no digestional problems this whole time. I've gotten lucky because some missionaries in my district are trying to survive round 2 with the Dragon. I hope I never have to deal with it, but I've been told it's not a matter of if you get the Dragon, but when you get it.

The interesting part started Friday night when I woke up at 2 in the morning to water being splashed on my face. Confused I got up and nobody else was awake. Then I saw a drop of water come off the cieling. It had been raining ever so slightly that day and apparently above my bed there just had to be a leak. Being tired and exhausted as I was I grabbed my towel through it on my bed where the water was dripping and went back to sleep. In the morning I told someone and they hopefully fixed it. I'll see when it rains again.

Also on Tuesday it was the Latinos pday so they didn't have physical activity the same time as us white folks and soccer or futbol was so much more fun! We weren't getting outclassed every single time. Also that night the older american missionaries that have been here 3 weeks longer than us kind of set up a mini rave in the hallway with some latinos. we were singing, very badly as well, justin bieber and katy perry songs with flashing lights and what not. That was a lot of fun even we got yelled at by the sisters at the complete other end of the hall, who were behind 2 huge doors and their bedroom doors. So we were pretty loud, but it was awesome. Definitely something I'll remember from the CCM.

I mentioned the other older missionaries who  are leaving next week and it hit me that I'm going to be the older missionary group. It seems like I've been in here forever and barely at all. I've learned so much and can't believe how much I've grown in the gospel.

One way I've grown is from a really hard experience I had with my companion. It was Monday night and we just got back from teaching an investigator when we find out we have 15 minutes to prepare a lesson for a different investigator. I was thinking lovely, I'm already exhausted so let's keep teaching. We teach the investigator with two companionships. One companionship would teach while the other took notes to give feedback then we switched. We taught second and I was having such a hard time with the language and the investigator asked difficult questions I don't even know if I could answer in english let alone spanish. We got through it, but that wasn't the hard part. When the other group was giving feedback the teacher came up and asked the whole group how the spirit was when we were teaching. Immediately my companion answers and says and I quote (Quotation marks here) At the start the spirit was pretty good, but when Elder Price started talking the spirit went down and I tried to save it, but it didn't work. End quote. Boy that hit me hard. I felt horrible after that. But it gets much better. We went upstairs to get ready for bed immediately after that and while I'm there in my room feeling bad someone from the other room in our district calls me over. I didn't think much of it and walked in. In the room was the 3 companion ships in that room and the companion ship that gave feedback when I taught. They had told the other room what my companion said. One missionary Elder Mallory walks up to me and immediately says, You are a great missionary and I can feel the spirit when you talk. That hit me really hard as well. They started helping me through this and out of luck or inspiration from the spirit our zone leader, who is one of the older missionaries, comes in to find me crying and everyone helping me out. They tell him what happened and he shared his thoughts and love with me, then proceeded to take a few of those missionaries in my district to talk to my companion. While they talked with my companion Elder Lupton shared a letter he has from his girl who is a friend sent him which said, we control how the spirit is inside us and we invite the spirit or something like that. Anyway I felt so happy that they were watching out for me and helped me through that extremely difficult time. I have talked with my companion and we are working things out.

To answer some of your questions. No I can't look at emails other than the hour we get for pdays. Also don't worry about my shoes. I have the pair Hermana Moore gave me and if I need them I'll email you with time for them to get to me. I exchanged money at the airport so I've been good with that. Tie guy is a member who owns a LDS store by the Temple, but as missionaries we can't leave the grounds, so he loads things in his car and brings them to us. He is awesome and is even going to the USA for general conference. Elder Sauve got his name from this program we use called TALL to learn the language because that was the first word he learned and used it a lot afterwards.

Elder Bubba Price

1st Week (08 Mar 17)

Hey Guys what's up?

To start, off Mom don't worry about my shoes. I went through the first day and played soccer in my flip flops and after that talked with Hermana Moore, the MTC president's wife, and she had a pair that I'm able to use. I may need them down the road, but for now don't worry at all.

Now that that's out of the way I'll start off with my travels down here. Yes I did meet Elder Shaul and a lot more other Elders. All of us that traveled down together, except for two that are in the three week program, are in the same district. We were able to get to know each other before we were even put in a district together. My companion is Elder Haws from the LA California area. Everything is going fine between us, except he's a little bit of a know it all and that can be annoying. On our way to the MTC/CCM Centro Capotasion Misional or something like that, we were driving through Lima at 3 in the morning and the place looked like a map out of Call of Duty. The place is so cool and totally different. Driving here is crazy. Our bus driver is literally going through town at like 60 mph and cutting people off, just going ham. At round abouts he barely stops and is blazing through anybody in our way. A cab driver literally got on the sidewalk to pass by us.

The MTC/CCM is an awesome place. It's basically a prison, because we have a strict schedule and are trapped behind a bunch of walls, but it's a good prison. There are only 3 buildings here, The dorms, The offices, and the cafeteria/auditorium. With a full size soccer field to the side. The food is pretty much what I expected, rice with some sort of meat. The peruvian food is very bland without a lot of spices. So it fits my taste perfectly, because I suck at eating spicy food. Story time. While we were waiting at interpol on Monday to get our visas one Elder had some Takis, or some spicy chip thing, and gave one to the peruvian brother that was helping us and he was dying because it was so spicy. Any way back to the CCM. The older American missionaries that have already been here for 3 weeks longer than we have told us about something they call the "Dragon". Basically with the adjustment to the food we will get the Dragon which is mainly raging diahrrea. Already some of the Elders in my district have faced this problem and they say they have never gone to the bathroom so many times in one day in their life. One Elder gave an analogy of a popular club that everyone wants to go to aka the toilet. We are the bouncer at the front holding the crowd back that wants in the club. So we will let some people in, but eventually the club gets full so you have to stop the crowd. But while this is going on more and more people keep getting in line to get in the club. You have to keep going through that cycle until eventually the crowd dies down. So yeah thats the Dragon.

Another thing about the CCM is all the Latinos. This is their main MTC so a lot come here and they speak so fast and mumble that I can barely undstand what they are saying, if I understand, and then it takes me so long to respond, or I don't respond, and it's difficult to communicate. Also they are extremely good at soccer so all us white guys get destroyed.

The language is coming along... very slowly. The second day we are here at the CCM they already had us teach an investigator in spanish and boy was that something to see. It was a lot of reading my notes I had taken and hoping they understood what I think I might be saying. But I am able to speak and understand so much more than I thought I would in my first week. I am able to pick up a lot of what the teachers are saying when they speak spanish and it's crazy to me. I knew no spanish and now I can understand what people are saying, for the most part. Speaking is a whole other thing though because I don't remember a lot of the words so I will have part of a saying in my mind, but can't use it. But I just have to keep trudging along slowly getting better.

So today was my first Pday and we got to go to the Lima Temple and do a session in english! It was awesome and the temple was super cool. Even though the temple was small and the sessions could only hold 25 people I still think this temple is bigger than the Monticello one. Hopefully I can figure out how to attach some pictures I took of the Temple, sadly I don't have any of me. I forgot, because this temple is cool. Also the Older missionaries told us about a guy they call tie guy because he sells ties and stuff and that guy is legit! He had handmade peruvian ties, scripture cases, and all sorts of LDS things because he runs a store that sells this stuff. Then he comes up on our Pdays in a car and sells stuff to the missionaries. I got 3 ties from this guy for 35 Soles or about 10 bucks! That's an awesome deal. Hopefully I can send you guys some back because these things are legit.

One last thing. My district is full of 18-20 year old guys so of course we have some stupid saying in spanish we came up with and it's Fuego Directo. Which roughly translates to direct fire and we use how you'd think we would. When ever someone says something that's the shiz, we need to get pumped, or really whenever we feel like it. Yeah we're dumb, but we're dumb together. All the teachers we have that actually speak the language just laugh and think we're idiots. So Jacob if you want another stupid thing to say there you go. A little humor from me to you.

I love you guys lots!

Elder "Terminator" Price

Sorry I have to include that Terminator part because one teacher called me that since I answered in such a deep voice. We also have an Elder Sauve in case you were wondering.