Christmas and New Year!

Well hello folks!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS WEEK!!

This week was Christmas and it was so fun:)

On Christmas Eve, Sister McMurray invited us over to her apartment after evening planning for a surprise... we went in and all the lights were turned off except for candles lit on the ground... We went in and read the story of the Savior's birth in Luke, watched the Nativity, bore testimonies, and sang together. It was a really special night:)

Christmas was awesome! We recieved special permission to gather together for district meeting and a meal with the Johnstuns. (the senior couple) They made a delicious meal of chicken and... wait for it... .MERSHED PERTERTERS AND GRAVVVY.   Oh man it was such a lovely meal:) They are so sweet! We had a great time together as missionaries and it was a lovely meal:) we then got to skype home which was wonderful! so fun:) after that we contacted (while holding back tears haha) and then took our dinner hour and grabbed some fries at McDonalds which was a cool experience! It was my first time at McDonalds and it is like one of the nicest restaurants here haha. but yes so that was our Christmas!

The next day was a bit hard haha. We had the post Christmas calling drag but we had the opportunity to go to the branch Christmas party and let me tell you. That party was a MIRACLE. I think we had more less actives and potentials than we did members. Really I can't even explain, the room was FULL of people. It was so awesome:)

Well I think that is all for today! Happy New Years!!

Love you all!

С большой любовью,сестра Price

ALMOST CHRISTMAS!!!

Oh my goodness can we even believe it is almost Christmas?? I know I can't!

Krasnodar Zone Conference

This week has been wonderful and has been probably one of my happiest weeks on the mission!!! I absolutely LOVE my companions Sister Derek and Sister Summers!!! they are amazing:) We are all relatively new in the mission so we have had some fun figuring out things together:)

We had Zone conference this week that was amazing! President Miner brought up some great insights and I feel really edified by what we learned. it was wonderful!

With Sister Derek and Sister Summers we have an investigator named Axxxxx and he is awesome! he has been investigating the church for a LONG time. like years. He told us in the last lesson that he knows the church is true and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that Joseph Smith was a prophet. I was absolutely blown away when he said that! but apparently he has said that for a long time and just won't (not won't- hasn't yet:)) committed to baptism. so we are working with him on that! We also found out that he loves table tennis! (not ping pong, mind you) and so we had an activity with him this week where we played table tennis. Man he really got into it! he has a case for his paddle and then he also changed his shoes in order to play. You can only imagine how embarrassed I was when I called it ping pong instead of table tennis hahahaha.

Man we had another Russian missionary play him and they are both ssssoooo good at table tennis. It was crazy how good they were haha. But yes that was super fun and we are hoping Axxxxx can make some more friends in the ward through table tennis (every time I have written table tennis I have had to erase ping pong and change it to table tennis haha)

oh another interesting thing that Axxxxx told us in the last lesson was that one of the reasons why he decided to come back to church and English club was because he saw the great examples of the members. Now this was back in 1998, I was only 3 years old then. In that moment I just wanted to thank all of the church members that were going to church then and now I want to thank all of you for the examples you have been when you didn't even know you were being an example!!

We also had a cool meeting with a recent convert Oxxxxx who is just a sweetheart and has two little kids dxxx and Nxxxx. We shared a spiritual thought with them and then got to decorate the tree with them! It was super fun and I got to help Dxxx put ornaments on the tree:) It was so fun! Not the same as home, but still pretty great:) I felt as if God was really mindful of me in those moments:) definitely a tender mercy:)

ok funny story: last week we were coming home from Rostov and we were in the Rostov train station and I had to use the bathroom SSSSOOO bad. they had a bathroom there so I was so relieved. I went to the bathroom and there is a sign that says you have to pay 20 rubles in use the bathroom. Man I had to go so bad though so i paid that money haha! I walked into the bathroom to see these stalls and I was so relieved because it looked familiar haha. so I walk up to a stall door and OPEN THE DOOR AND THERE IS JUST A HOLE IN THE GROUND. so I check the other stalls and they are the same so I just bust up laughing and took a picture and then awkwardly figured out just how Russian women pee in public restrooms hahha. oh man.

yeah last week (like not this week but the week before) was hard and if paying 20 rubles to pee in a hole doesn't sum it up then I don't know what will:) haha anyway...

I think this week was one of the happiest of my mission and I can't really pick out why:) I know and can testify that I have felt God's love this week and my testimony has grown that he is mindful of us and loves us immensely:) I love that you spoke on the refiners fire this week because I feel like I have been feeling it! even writing this email I feel boring and spiritual haha.

I would like to leave you with this thought: when the wise-men went to visit our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ after His birth, they were instructed to leave a different way (Matthew 2:12). Sister Miner at this past zone training used that scripture and compared it to our missions and how once we have come to know Christ, we should never be the same. It can be compared to real life as well. Once we come to know Christ, know The teachings of the Gospel, know the temple ordinances, and know how much God loves us, we should "leave another way"

Changing is one thing I was really nervous about in coming on a mission and quite honestly it still scares me! I am nervous I will be different and weird and my wants and desires will change. and that is a scary thought! but through this wisdom and through lots of hard work and soul searching I have come to the realization and comfort that change is fine and a lot of the time wonderful. And I guess if we are changing in the way that the Lord wants us to change then we are only becoming the best people we can be. and I guess that is something that I have been learning is to have faith in the Lord that change can be good and he has our best interests at heart always:) May I encourage you all to have the best Christmas ever and to invite the Savior's love into our lives. May we change and become better people this Christmas season!
Jeremiah 29:13

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!

see you soon:)::):):):):):):):):):):)

President and Sister Miner with two of their children

Zone Conference

Practicing Street Contacting (Hannah  :))

Zone Conference

 

 

Krasnodar Zone Conference

Week in Rostov

Well hello! 

This week we have spent the week in Rostov! the other sisters are so nice to home us:) I went on a lot of splits this week and so I had the opportunity to work with a lot of sisters! I had 3 days of full splits with different companions/companionships and then also spent parts of days with other sisters so all in all I worked with 8 different sisters this week! It was really awesome and they are just on fire:)

this week was odd because we were out of area so we did a whole lot of contacting which was awesome! we met with so many cool people and  had lots of really awesome conversations:)

I also got to have a sleepover with sister Jameson last night!!! OK not a sleepover but they came over to our apartment to make it easier on the sisters on the visa trip. that was awesome:) 

I just want to share one experience with you this week:) we went and visited a member Lxxxx who is blind. She is a sweetheart and after we introduced ourselves a hundred times, put bags over our shoes, and then signed her missionary book, we had a lesson about love and charity. Lxxxx lives with a roommate who does everything for her but they don't get along. She told us how she can love everyone else in the world except for her and it honestly made me wonder how she could feel that way about someone who literally does everything for her. Now I don't know the whole situation and everything like that, but it made me wonder about times in my life where I haven't treated people the way they should have been treated. I thought about everything that so many people have done for me and if I have a Lxxxx attitude. I also thought about our Savior Jesus Christ and how he literally has done everything for me. I am running out of time but I encourage you to think of the people in your life who have helped you and give something back. Find someone who hasn't done anything for you and give! Think of your savior Jesus Christ, especially during this Christmas season, and find a way to give back to him.

I love you all and I am so excited to talk to you soon!

We will be skyping 6pm on Christmas day here in Krasnodar time.

I think that is like 8 am on Christmas for you but honestly that is just a guess:)

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

Random Wall in Krasnador

Birthday Celebration

Birthday Ballons - Thanks Sis McMurray!

Hello Hello!!!!

Well friends, THANK YOU. I honestly honestly don't have time to respond back to everyone and it makes me super sad not to. but I want you to know that I LOVED your emails and I love you all so much! I am going to write this email and then head back and try to answer some.

WE GOT TRANSFER CALLS THIS WEEK. In training you stay with your trainer for 12 weeks and then usually get transferred... so yeah I wasn't expecting anything... but I AM BEING TRANSFERRED. ok but also not really hahah. I am still going to be here in Krasnodar but I will be joining sister Derek and Sister Summers in the apartment two floors down from ours:) Sister McMurray will also still be in Krasnodar but will be in the same apartment with one of the new sisters, sister Moore who I actually had the opportunity of meeting while in the MTC. I am super excited to be companions with Sister Derek and Sister Summers but honestly very nervous too:) They are on their 4th transfer together (so pretty much barely out of training) and they spent some time being in a companionship in the MTC and then had training (12 weeks ) apart from each other and then were together last transfer and now I will be joining them! so yes yes, you're right in the fact that I very much do feel like I am intruding on their marriage:) :) BUT I am super excited to join them because they are both super sweet and I think we will all learn and grow muchos this transfer! so YEAH!!! 

Sister McMurray and Hannah

I actually am still going up to Rostov this week with Sister McMurray to pick up her new trainee.. We Will be staying there until at least Wednesday but then the plans are up in the air because Sister McMurray has to go on her Visa trip and I don't know if they will let me go down alone with Sister Moore...or If I will come down with other sisters.... so pretty much I will just be on splits with a whole bunch of sisters in Rostov as They do training and such. Stay tuned for my next email to see what happens this week because we have no idea!!! hahahah :) 

This week was a wonderful week and I had a wonderful grandmas birthday and a wonderful real birthday too! ;) 

but let me start at the beginning:

On Tuesday we did service at Axxxx's again!! it was super fun! We served with the same elders (elder Hunt and Elder Burwell) as we did last time. Axxxxx really likes Elder Hunt because he speaks Russian really well. And he actually is on his way home as I type this so that is another reason why we went! to say goodbye! We went to Axxxx's at the time we planned but she wasn't there and we hadn't had lunch so we went to the magneet and got sstuff for sandwich makings! We were still in all of our clothes and didn't have anywhere to sit so we stood on the side of the road and made a sandwich factory line hahah It reminded me of Dad and Kiley!! They love mayo here too. but yes I will send a picture of our sandwicch line haha.

 The Sandwich line in full swing.

Street side sandwiches with the Elders

Axxxxx is so sweet. We went to her house and she gave us cookies and tea which was awesome! then we served. Sis McMurray and I shoveled stuff (now that I think of It i don't know what it was.. just trash that looked like dry wall) and then the elders took out a stump. 

She then gave us a giant frozen duck of hers that she insisted we cook for elder Hunt before he leaves. We told her we couldn't and blah blah blah but she eventually just forced us to take it and told us to cook it all together. We finished up service and got changed. The buses where we were only run rarely so we started to walk down the street and we see this bus pass. it has the number we need so we start booking it! so here are two elders in suits and two sisters in knee length skirts (which in and of itself is news in Russia) sprinting down the street with jars of jam and nuts and a 6 pound frozen duck in a bag. we run for awhile until we realize the bus is going the wrong way but we were all just following elder Hunt hahahaha. but man I want to watch that scene from an outsiders perspective hahahahah. 

Wednesday we went and visited Lxxxx  who we have served a couple of times. Whenever we call she never wants us to come to our house but we just felt like we needed to go visit her. we went to her apartment and all I can say is NUTS. no like, literal nuts. Walnuts everywhere. I think it is what she lives off of. She was kind of in bad shape..... she is feeling sick and is trying to get better. So I was glad we went and talked with her I think she enjoyed it. We told her about transfers and then asked if we could do anything at the end of the lesson and she said, "never leave krasnodar" so that was cute of her:) 

On wednesday we also had set up a meeting with Azzzz. We wanted a member there but oculdn't find anyone. so we decided to ask Mxxxxxx boyfriend Junior who is from Brazil and speaks English. We were running late so we like literally ran to his house and picked him up and then slightly jogged on the way back to get to the lesson on time. we got there on time and waited.. and waited.... :) so we are looking forward for a lesson this week!!! hahaha. yes she didn't make it but we had a great english club all together. 

We have tried to meet with Ixxxx twice this week but she hasn't made it either time... But we are still in contact and are hoping to meet. 

Thursday we had FHE with the Xccccccc family which was awesome! the senior couple- the Johnstuns (actually from Utah) came with us! after our lesson they brought out all this cake and banana bread and wow it was a lot and we couldn't eat it but we couldn't not eat it.... so yeah that was fun! these members just want to give... luckily with the new mission pres it is now "Never eat at homes. But never offend" It is just hard to find that balance haha. but yes that was wonderful!

Friday we went to Ixxxxx for a contact.. but then we ended up unexpectedly serving! We moved rocks but didn't bring a change of clothes so we moved them in skirts haha. man she is so sweet and we promised to come the next day too so that we could actually serve. 

On Saturday it was my birthday!!!! It was a fun day:) Sis McMurray blew up balloons for me and so that was fun to wake up to! we did our studies then headed over to Ixxxxx's again to serve... and she had made us lunch! (again with the food stuff) we had split pea mush and unidentifiable meat chunks!!! it was delicious!! She also made us belinis which in all serious were really delicious. and she gave me a candy bar and sang to me happy birthday in english and russian multiple times!! haha she is so sweet and honestly made my birthday. then we had choir practice with the othere missionaries and then had an apartment inspection and then we did training and ordered pizza!!! then Sister McMurray made me apple crisp and we had warm apple crisp and ice cream:) it was wonderful!!!

Doesn't look like her birthday Pizza or Apple Crisp, but she looks happy!

Sunday was great! we went to church and then had a break the fast young single adult activity. our investigator Axxxx actually came!!!!! so we all headed over to the Johnstons apartment and had taco soup and watched Meet the Mormons!!! It was so fun and I really think Axxxx enjoyed it. She is so shy but she got to meet and talk to people her age! it was wonderful:)

things are great in Russia and I love you all and miss you!!! happy almost Christmas!!! 

-- 

С большой любовью,сестра Price 

AAHHH I DON'T HAVE ANY TIME - with pictures

Man, this week was super exciting but I don't hardly have anytime to tell you all about it! BUT I do have the opportunity to send pictures this week so that is a blessing!

Sunset View

Sister McMurray

Monday night we had planned to meet with "d" and so we brought pizza to them (long story- his referral would only come with pizza haha) but they cancelled right before we got there so we contacted! woo hoo! 

This week we had two opportunities to do service so on Tuesday we served "A" and then on Wednesday we served "L" again. "A's" house was so cool and I took a video (well I have taken a few and I am so excited to show you all! ) (maybe I can show you during our Christmas chat or something?) but yes we helped her clear out her chicken pasture yard thing and we chopped down trees. She is so nice and gave us a whole bag of walnuts and jam and flowers!!! she was so nice and I have loved the walnuts. mmmmm! I will send a picture with her (sorry, we can't post images of Russian Citizens, so it will not be on the blog post). I think it is my favorite mission picture so far! she was so nice!!! 

Our changing room for service project

Hannah - Burning weeds in Russia

(More pictures at the end of the blog)

Then we served " L" and she is just this sweet little Russian lady who loves to do karate and loves to like hang out in the woods.  I have a hard time remembering people here (because there are literally like 16 Russian women names here so I have met like 1 million cvetas and 2 million larissas and Irina's haha) so we remember her as the cute karate wicken.  :)   We invited members "M" and "J."  "M" is a Russian member here who unfortunately had to come home early from her Russian mission due to health issues. Her boyfriend, "J" is from Brazil and he is staying here for 3months! I think they might get married but it is just so cute to hear them talk both in their second language (English) in these thick thick accents, haha man, they are awesome.

Thursday we left to Rostov! We got to stay with sister Jameson and Eliason that night! we got in at about 9 though, so we just  had time to plan and then go to sleep. The next day we dropped off Sister McMurray at her conference, then went back and did studies together in their apartment. Then we went and picked her up and left to go back home! You are about to hear the story of the two most frustrating days of my mission so far hahaha. We called a taxi at 3. it takes about 30 minutes to get to the train station. Our train left at 4:55. so we were giving ourselves a considerable cushion to get to the train station and get it all figured out. So our taxi comes late (but no big deal because we planned for that) so we leave and Sister McMurray is having this awesome conversation with this taxi driver about the plan of salvation but he is acting kind of weird and is like yelling. So we just kind of thought he was Russian hahaha but he was like really getting into it. We keep going and we should be at the train station but traffic is bad. So, it gets to be about 4:15 and Sister McMurray asks if we are close/almost there and he was like "yeah yeah we are almost there of course! you don't think I know where I am going?" so we said ok ok ok ... well then sis McMurray recognizes where we are (and oh my goodness I don't have enough time to tell this story haha) but pretty much we end up having to call the assistants and then elder Belon had to tell him, where we needed to go and he was just really obnoxious and a bit inappropriate and made us miss our train. So then we go to the train station and we completely missed our train so we called another taxi to get back home and we had our first police stop! All this after I tried to order subway in Russian while Sister McMurry was on the phone (which turned out better than I thought it would honestly haha) but the police man was super nice and we didn't have any problems. just scary hahaha

Then we went back to the other sisters house. The next day we contacted. Then left EVEN EARLIER well, long story short, there was confusion again with our tickets so we almost missed our train but just ended up needing to buy new tickets.  You would have thought that we weren't supposed to come home haha. 

SUNDAY MIRACLE

We had a primary program on Sunday:) it was super cute!

There was also a lady at church that we didn't know so we snatched her up and had a meeting with her after church! It really is such a miracle. She actually really wants to know more about the church and just kept saying "What is this Book of Mormon?!?!" We had an awesome lesson with a member all about... well a lot of things, and she is super interested and works right by the church. It is so hard not to get our hopes up, but really, honestly, in one meeting she is already our most promising investigator!  And hey, she has gone to church more times than our others!! hahahaha

I am out of time but I can see how the lord is directing his work through us small and simple missionaries. 

I am hoping to have a wonderful birthday this week and I hope you all think of me :0   hahahahaahaha man, I am funny!

I miss you and love you all so much!!!! 

I love Russia!! 

Weird thing in Russia you see that you don't see in America; Every man here has to serve 1 year in the army so we see all of these super young men decked out in army uniforms on the street everywhere. They look like they are 14 and in all honesty some of them probably are. 

I LOVE  YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!! 

С большой любовью, сестра Price 

My Companion, Sister McMurray

Some Kind of Food.

We always love letters!

Dinner?!?!?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

hello family!

This week wasn't super exciting! hahah:)

We had FHE with the lumpovwee family (man that looks weird in English haha) and we played a scripture finding game... it was really awkward though because we didn't realize just how inactive they were.. she served a mission so she was ok with the game but her husband is super inactive and really didn't want to play so they kind of fought with each other about playing and then finally did play.. so yeah that was a little rough hahhahaha BUT they have the cutest daughter ever and after she gave us hugs and it is probably the cutest hug I have ever received.. (Ok maybe not now that I think about Rowynne and Kynnedi and Andi and Alyssa(Familia not Roth although I do love them both:) :):):)) BUT the cutest hug I have received in Russia!

Tuesday Night I got pretty sick in the middle of the night and had my first Russian throw up! so glad we had pigs in a blanket the night before:/ but the next couple of days I just didn't quite feel myself but I feel a lot better now!

Wednesday night we met with our investigator Anna. She is super sweet but just loves her church too much:) we can't really progress with her because she won't come to our church and so we can't really move on with the lessons because she doesn't agree with (or grasp, I'm not quite sure..) the concept of Priesthood. So I feel like we have had the restoration lesson with her about 10 times but she just won't commit to do anything... We are debating on what to do about that.

We had a wonderful English lesson about learning how to receive answers to prayers! It is weird teaching English because we aren't authorized to teach English here so we have to all be sitting down and then we have to talk about gospel topics. but it is also really awesome because we get to teach gospel topics!! :) There was a lady we had never seen before at English club who looked like she was mid 20's and was honestly the most beautiful human being I have ever seen. She stayed for English and we had a short lesson after. She told us she wouldn't read the BOM but we gave one to her anyway and then we walked her home a bit. Ok but really people. She is the most beautiful person I have ever seen AND she is 34.. I seriously thought she was like 22. she is the most put together and classy person ever. Man I think I'm in love! hahaha ;) but we are hoping maybe she will become more interested in the gospel..

Ok I also met the nicest Russian on the face of the planet!!! Her name is CBeta (sveta) and she is a member here. we traveled in the rain to find her house which was hard to find and it was raining so I was a bit flabbergasted.  We went to her apartment (which is actually huge in Russian standards) and she offered us milk so I declined and then she kept persisting so we said yes and THEN SHE BROUGHT OUT ALL OF THESE COOKIES AND TREATS THAT SHE HAD BOUGHT JUST FOR THE MISSIONARIES. so we got to sit on her nice comfy couch in the warm and drink milk and have pastries while she read us a general conference talk and it was literally the best day of my mission so far haha. She is so nice!!! she has really bad scoliosis and her son left her daughter in law and grandson so she talked to us about that and I could just see how sweet she is. man she is amazing. she also talked to me in Russian!!! it was the best. people here don't really like to talk to me because I can't understand but she talked slow and I got to show her pictures of my family and she asked about everyone and we even talked about curt and marina and man. I could just feel her love. She is amazing!

Next we have what I like to call Frustrating Friday hahaha In the morning we went to take a less active treats. It took us a long time to find her house and when we did she said she didn't want the treats so we didn't even get to talk to her. Later that evening we had plans to meet with Larissa so we bought her flowers and then rode the tramby a ways a way and then got to her house and she wasn't there and wasn't answering our calls... So we decided to take the flowers to another less active that lived nearby and went there and the person said that it wasn't the same house.... SO. after literally every meeting had fallen through it was finally time to go home but we still had these flowers. I saw this lady on the street and in my very very broken Russian told her that our friend wasn't home and asked if she would take the flowers for us. she was really hesitant when we walked up to her but when I gave her the flowers her face just lit up and she was trying to hide her smile. It definitely made my day and it made me realize that sometimes the best things come when plans don't work out how we would like them to:) we also talked to a really nice Jehovah's witness on the tramby which was awesome.

We went contacting to the botanical gardens again- i would look that up.. but idk if they have pics online. but boy it is pretty there! Last week I went on splits with sister summers there and we met a man named vladimir.. well this week we saw the same vladimir and he recognized me so we stopped and talked again! he was with his old friend who is also named vladimiar who could "control the elements" so yeah that was a really fun and interesting conversation! they were super nice though. I opened up the book of Mormon for the 1st vladimir and he was so interested in the picture of Jesus on the American continent. he says he really doesn't want to know more but I saw how he looked at that picture:) maybe we will see him again!

Funny story: we were teaching a recent convert who is 19 and her member friend (who is also 19) Anna and Marina. (SHOUT OUT TO MARINA JOHNSON hahahaha) and we were talking about commandments and I was trying to tell them that while I was in the MTC my testimony of the word of wisdom and the law of chastity grew because I recognized how they helped my life but somehow it came out as "When I learned about the law of chastity I thought, "I cant do this!!" hahaha so luckily Sister McMurray was there to help me out hahaha.

Other funny story: (Its another tramby incident haha) I was trying to get off of a tramby fast so I ran to the door and my purse looped around the railing so I thought someone was trying to grab my purse; so I screamed and by then I was on flat ground and looked up at the railing and saw my purse all tied up haha. man yeah that was embarrassing. after I got it unhooked I yelled in "Bco Hapasho!" which means "It's all good!" haha oh man

I am so happy to be here! my favorite talk this week was "the prodigal son" from I think 2 conferences ago. I love it. I also finished the BOM this week! woo hoo!

I love you all and I will be thinking of you immensly this thanksgiving! I love you so much and I am thankful for you!!

I LOVE YOU!!

С большой любовью,
сестра Price

Nov 16th - Miracles and the Mall

Hello friends and family!

Thank you so much for your letters!!! I absolutely love them! really they are wonderful so thank you!

This week has been a lot better as far as homesickness goes so thank you for your thoughts and prayers! I have felt them!!!

This week has been a really good week!!

Last P-day we went to the mall and oh my golly goodness I was taken aback. It is the nicest mall I have ever seen. Way nicer than any mall in America which I find to be crazy because when you walk out onto the street you think, "is this the same place?" hahah crazy. I also had blenis which were so good!

Tuesday we did service for an inactive. We drove really far away from the city and walked down these old farm-like paths and finally got to her dacha (like a summer house). Boy it was spooky hahah. They hadn't actually finished the dacha so it was this huge cement building with a whole bunch of overgrown weeds and just crazy stuff haha. If you have seen any scary movie ever, this house was probably in that movie haha. Plus the day was foggy and there were lots of dogs barking and stuff. hahaha spooky!!! :) but we worked in her yard which was fun! Then after she wanted to have a bonfire and roast potatoes but we couldn't do that because of rules you know.... but she had set up this table full of apples and nuts- pretty much just everything she had (also the things that she got from her garden that day) so we sat for a little while and ate apples and nuts:) she also offered us milk, but we couldn't have it because it was like real life milk haha. so we refused and she was a bit annoyed with us and then said, "well OK at least have some water!" (and mind you- we can't drink the water here, we have like big storage containers we drink out of.. and we bleach all of our food..) but she said that and we all looked over at her water and we could literally see bugs at the bottom so we had to refuse that too hahaha oh man... but she was a sweetheart and it was really fun to do service! the sisters don't get a lot of opportunities to do service here because it is "man's work" psh. whatever. I could do it better than anyone!!!! :) (still working on my pride out here in the field!!! :))

Russians are really weird about what they think is acceptable for women to do and not to do. They are really worried about fertility so they don't think women can sit on the floor or sit on cold seats because they will go infertile.. also people think you are crazy if you eat ice cream this time of the year and they will yell at you for doing so haha. also you have to wear tights here (as opposed to bare legs) or else the babushkas will hit you with an umbrella (hahah true story!!!)

This week we contacted an old woman and when we asked if she needed help she looked at us and gave me this HUGE hug and she gave me a couple of kisses!!! hahahah man it was so weird. I thought that maybe I just didn't recognize her or something... but nope!!!! hahah man she was so happy to see me and sister Mcmurray because she has two grand kids who need wives. oh man hahahahaha many marriage proposals here in Russia for any American girl haha. but yes she continued to tell us all about her two boys and how they needed wives and told us about them and then asked what ones we wanted hahaha. She was also a very very touchy person and was like really into me for some reason hahaha..... yyyyeeeeeeaaaahhhhh hahhaa oh man. During that same contacting block we met a really promising potential! it was so great too because that morning had been a little bit rough... :) :)

Here are my miracles of the week:

Last Monday morning when we were going to service, I had felt a little bit of a wave of homesickness (ok maybe a lot:)) and so I prayed so hard to just let me be happy and be able to do the service and have a great day.. but also not to forget about family or friends. We went to the bus stop and I was feeling better... but then.... the cutest little girl with down syndrome got off of the bus:) she was probably about 6 years old and I just felt the spirit when I saw her. I could feel the love of my Savior comforting me and helping me through this time:) I then also got to see her play with a puppy that was at the same bus stop:) definitely such a tender mercy! and then the puppy came and played with us too while we were waiting for a different bus:) oh man such a cool experience! I testify Christ knows us and knows what we are going through. and he wants to help us! He wants us to feel his love! I know this to be true:)

We had one really great lesson this week with our investigator Anna about the book of Mormon! 80% of the branch is inactive so we spend a lot of our time visiting them and taking treats and flowers and such:)

update on pregnant Julia: still can't tell if she is really pregnant or not, but this week we are leaning towards no:) I'll keep you posted!!!

This week we were sitting at a bus stop and this guy ran out of a car and took a picture of us sitting there and then ran back to the car... so we had to go home a little bit early that day. But everyone is safe and it really isn't that big of a deal:)

Larissa came to church!! we went and visited her this week and talked about sacrament and I was a little bit nervous because we were a little frank with her about how important church was BUT SHE CAME!! really so neat:)

We went to the pblhok today (ree-nok) and man it is so cool! I bought socks. I am obsessed with socks hahahaha. But man it is like this underground place with just like thousands of these little stores just selling everything and anything. if the black market was a place I think it might look like that hhaahaha but man it is so cool!

I have seen 2 black people in Russia.

The Russian is.. coming!!! haha oh man.. Russian. I can really clearly understand when people say "she doesn't understand a lot of Russia" but that's about it!!! hahaha no just teasing. I have actually seen a lot of great things coming from my language studies! it's coming!

I love you all! thank you for your support and love! I miss and love you but I am loving it here in Russia!!!! :) :) :)

I LOVE YOU!!!

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY JARED. I too remember when I turned 16. You've got some great years ahead of you! ;)

С большой любовью,

сестра Price

Bus Doors

Hello hello!

Oh my golly goodness I am so happy to say that I don't hav as much to write as I did last week! haha. 

This week has been good! Not as many crazy things have happened and I am so incredibly grateful for that! :)

We visited with some members and in-actives this week! We met with a in-active whose name is Valentina. She tried to hide from us, but we told her that we brought her a gift so she let us in! (when in doubt, buy either a flower or a snickers bar for your inactives hahaha) She is a sweetheart but our lesson was really odd. She has been baptized but we don't know how long ago or anything like that... but she would know really random things but not others.. for example she knew what baptism symbolized and knew exactly where the church was... but then she said she didn't know who Joseph Smith was or if she thought there was a God and offered us tea.... So! we are going to try and figure out what will be best for her:) 

We had a member lesson with Natalia! and boy we didn't teach that lesson! haha she is this sweet babushka with no teeth who practically yells when she speaks. well no, not practically, she does yell hahaha. She had 8 kids! THAT IS CRAZY. Well I guess sssuppppeeerrrrr crazy by Russian standards. If you have 1 kid in Russia you are craz and if you have more than 2 you are really crazy haha. I miss seeing families around! but anyway.. so she has had 8 kids and used to be a professional ballerina! she is so awesome:) She showed us lots of pictures and told us stories about her trips to the temple. Man these members here are amazing:) If you have a temple recommend, I would PLEASE ASK you to go to the temple this week! It is such a blessing and I think we have all taken the temple for granted in our lives:) so please go to the temple and if you don't have a temple recommend work towards one or spend some time on the grounds:) can you do that for me? :):):)

Anyway, after our "lesson" haha she asked us if we could help her with cleanig the church basemet so we went and helped her with that and boy oh boy I have never met anyone so particular about how to mop! she asked me to mop and so I was trying to mop but she kept yelling at me in russian and trying to show m how to do it and then Sister mcmurray was tring to translate so I had these two sisters just staring at me/yelling at me at how to correctly mop haha so I was trying and trying and trying and trying an she kept yellig "harder!!" so then I like did it really hard and kinda started jokingly screaming out of frustration haha. Then they both got quiet and the babushka said "see! now you know how to do it right." hahah man we laughed about that and after that it wasn't so tense haha. 

We also went and visited a less active sister named You-lee-ya (julia but russian haha). We had a lesson planned and we were really excited but we knew that she lived pretty far away and it would probably take like 3 hours there and back so we were hussling. We bought a snickers before we went there (see either a snickers or a flower haha) and found her house. She was super sweet and let us in! but her brother was there visiting and sleeping and their houses are so small we can't like just have a lesson so we dropped off her snickers. She was in a robe and she kept like grabbing her stomach and told us she was feelig a little sick so that was the other reason we didn't stay.. Well we started going down the stairs and sister mcmurray asks, "did she look pregnant to you?" haha oh man. So yeah she is a baptized member who like a couple of months ago told the other sisters she was going to be married in January an they thought it was really weird... well now we might know why! I told sister mcmurray that the only thing that would have been weirder would have been if we prepared a lesson on the law of chastity and she said "well we talked about temple marriage last lesson so we might as well!" hahaha oh man. yeah that was funny haha. then our saying that night was "we drove three hours to bring you a snickers!" hahahahaha 

This week we were getting off of a bus an people were taking a long time to get off the bus. Sister Mcmurray had already gotten off the bus though so I really needed to get off so I stated to go but the bus door started to close so I panicked and just kept going and they got me! my legs and bottom half was in the bus and my head a arm was outside hahaha. I was stuck in betwen the bus doors just wide eyed as sister Mcmurray was pulling on my arm and my legs were still in the bus. I could hear this Russian man yelling from inside th bus too and then they finally opened them but Sister Mcmurra was like pullig pretty hard on my arm so I did this spin fall backflip thing(haha just kiding not the backflip) but yeah that was fun!!! hahaha oh man. 

Russia is hard. hahahahahaa 

I love you all and things here are just dandy! So far it has been a lot warmer than I expected:) 

I know this church is true and I love and miss ou all. please go to chick fil a and in N out this week for me! (oh and the temple:))

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С большой любовью,сестра Price

RRRRRUUUUUUSSSSIIIIIIAAAAAA

OH MY GOLLY GOODNESS ME OH MY WHERE DO I START!?!!?!?!!

hello my dear friends and family:)

let us all take one big deep breath together:)

first off, 

THANK YOU so much for your love and emails! I love to hear from everyone and I read every letter! I am still working on having time to respond to everyone, so if I don't respond I am terribly sorry but I can tell you that I thouroughly enjoyed your letters! :) :) :) :) :) 

RUSSIA. 

I'M HERE. 

I ABSOLUTELY AM IN LOVE WITH RUSSIA.

OK but first things first I will start off with my travel and just give you kind of a play by play of my time here in Russia haha. 

we flew to NY which was 4 hours and then to Moscow which was 9 hours. man that plane was cramped haha. We made it to moscow and the airport seemed like really abandoned which was weird but also really nice after NY crazy airport. We walked out and met a man who said he was from the church... but one of the sisters didn't believe him so she made him show his credentials and everything hahahaha. man it was kind of funny.. and made the rest of the trip just a bit awkward. no vot! he was who we needed hhaa and he was a sweetheart. We drove throught Moscow to get to the US embassy... and I have to be completely ho
nest here... I was a little bit worried about what my time was going to be like here in Russia. They have these giant apartment buildings that just look like communism. It's terrible to say but... well anyway I was just very shocked and a little bit worried because it just felt very... eerie?? but then we got more into the city and it was absolutely gorgeous:) I fell asleep in the car (as did everyone else) but I did see some pretty cool bridges and buildings! man it is just so russian here hahaha. but yes that was a fun trip. 

Then we went back to the airport and everyone just felt like so incredibly terrible ahha I have never been so tired in my life! One of the sisters got quite sick but felt better after she let some of the borscht come back up :/ haha man it was rough. We also went to this restaurant  in the airport and they brought like 3 ectra 10 dollar burgers and so that kind of was a mess hahaha so we just paid a lot of money for a really crumy meal!!! hahahah BUT VOT (vot means like see or behold) we made it to Rostov! It was night time and we met the miners and boy it was so nice to see a face I knew. 

We made it back to the mission home with lovely chicken noodle soup and a warm bed:) the next morning we met our trainers! my trainer is sister mcmurray and she is wonderful:) we had balenies (oh gosh haha that's not how you spell it) but like russian pancakes that are like crepes. they were SSOOO GOOD.  I put like bananas and nutella on them so it was pretty much a dessert. Oh and we can get peanut butter here we just get it throught sister miner. then we had training! which was good because I learned lots of wonderful things but it was also very boring! hahah but so good. Then that night me and sister mcmurray joined sister jameson and sister eliason to Zapony and joined their apartment. man I can't even explain the love I feel for russia. We were driving on a train and I just felt so much love and excitement and curiosity and I know that it was such a blessing becuase I was so nervous about it being super american or it being super like I don't even know-- but I was worried haha. sO all day when we were drivving down the streets or passing people I just felt this extreme love. I was actually sitting on a bus and I let jsut a couple of tears fall because I just felt this love and excitement and appreciation for Russia. I definietly think it was one of my "oh my goodness I love russia" moments:) I LOVE RUSSIA!!! The sisters lived on i think the 9th floor and we took this old haha old and just ratchety elevator that was like the scariest elevator ever up to their apartment. I had very low expectations of their apartment... but man IT WAS SO NICE!!! like really. I looked out the window too and was just overwhelmed by the view. ok I am taking too long... we went and that night we contacted and no one wanted to hear! haha but in our last 10 minutes we met a very nice lady who didn't want to hear but was nice:) :) 

The next day we headed to Krasnador (which is my actual area) and I couldn't see a lot because we got there in the evening, but the next day I got to see more and it is BEAUTIFUL. everyone says I am so lucky to be in Krasnador (nicest city) and to be with sister mcmurray (nicest trainer:)) so definieily feeling blessed!!! OK. and. I don't want to brag. but our aPARTMENT IS SO NICE. I FEEL LIKE A MILLIONAIRE hahah man yeah they take care of the sisters:) I am still waiting to have like a really really russian meal, and I think we might do that today on the renik (ree-nick?) but sister mcmurray has taken really good care of me. Ok sorry I just HAVE SO MANY WORDS THIS IS LIKE THE MOST STRESSFUL THING EVER. ok yeah and I talked to a lady on our first day on the bus in zapony..... didn't understand a word she said but somehow we made it through that one!!! hahaha

we have been contacting a couple of times. 

The Kachers are here (from the 70) and they have been doing activities and sacraments and zone conferences which have been super great! we had an activity on sat. night that we were able to go to (cuz our invesitagtor was there) and these three russians sang love at home and I... yeah I shed a few tears hahah. I just couldn't believe I was in russia and they were singing love at home and they just sounded terrible but they were just so happy and man... it is one of my favorite memories:) I have also seen some of the most beautiful things here. I was sitting on a bus and there was a little girl standing and facing the sunlight all dressed up so cute in this dingy little trolley and the sun was just hitting her face and she was just smiling and giggling... but the best part was that she was blind:) she was just sitting and talking with her grandma and just taking in the sunlight and man I just loved it., 

ok I am running out of time

we went street contacting with sister kacher and sister miner (yeah NO PRESSURE!!!!) haha and it was fine. We met a really cool potential whose name is Bella and she is interested in english classes and maybe a bit of the gospel?\

OK and here is my coolest story of the week: We have lots of different rules than regular missions... and I think we kind of already knew about this haha. but we just can't talk to men at all like contacting... there are some different rules and stuff with teaching and yada ya da (mostly because i don't know them all yet)  but yes we are not supposed to talk to men at all. so I was sitting on the trolley thing and this man comes and sits next to me. He was older but I just didn't talk to him. Well I had a book of mormon on my lap (which we aren't actually allowed to give out... hahah yeah its a  little bit differnt of a mission haha) but yeah so I had it on my lap and he started talking to me and boy haha didn't understand that! but he started pointing at the BOM and got really into it (just because he is like that I think- not because he was mad or anythign) and I got out that he had a book of mormon!!!! so I testified of it!!! and he said a lot of othere things!!!!! and i just testified !!!! haha and we got off at the same stop and then sis. mcmurry helped me and anyway he met with the missionaries before and has a bom and pretty much he might be our next investigator:) which reminds me of the account of the loaves and fishes. in the account of John, the specify that it was a lad that brought the loaves and fishes. He brought all that he could and the Lord helped him the rest of the way and boy oh boy have I seen that in my short time here:)

We had Zone conf yesterday with pres kacher which was awesome! He also asked to have an interview with me so I had an interview with a member of the quorum of the 70 yesterday ! crazy

we went to a members house (less active) and drew on fruit and told them we did it in american too for pumpkins hahaha man. 

OK here is a crazy story but I want to let you know that everyone is safe and good. Two days ago, On sunday, we had had a pretty crazxy and stresful day with the kachers. it was just a crazy crazy day and we were kinda feeling down and exhausted haha and we were sitting and eating dinner and sister mcmnurrary says "hey we should call the sisters" so we called the sisters. It rang once. They answered and were screaming "FIRE FIRE FIRE" so oh man. so scary. so we just dropped everything and ran down to their apartment. Sist. mcmurry actually grabbed salt on our way down. we didn't know how big of a deal it was, but when we opened the door we smelled smoke. so we booked it down the stairs. We got to their floor and saw their door cracked open. I didn't see any smoke so I didn't think it was a big deal but then we got closer and the smoke was THICK. we ran in the kitchen and there was a grease pan on fire and I kid you not the flame was about 3-4 feet high. yeah. and the sisters were inshock so they were just standing there. S mcmurray starts screaming "CALL SOMEONE" but like holy cow no one knows who to call because no one is nearby and calling the police would probablymake it worse... so we are just frantic. I keep thinking about the balcony which is like through the hallway and through some doors. and so I grabbed the pan and crouched down (which I am now teased for because I was crouching hard core hahaha) (haha ninja mode) and just like ran out and set it on the balcony- flames still flying haha. that gave us some time and then sis mcmurray poured salt on it and it went out. but yeah holy cow. Ss mcmurray called the exact moment they were running to grab the phone to call someone. I don't Think I need to tell you how blessed and inspired that expereince was and honestly I keep it pretty close to my heart. I really can see the Lord's hand and help in my work here aalready and sister mcmurray was very very sure to tell me that things like that don't happen very often hahahahahah yeah IT HAS BEEN A CRAZY CRAZY CRAZY WEEK hahhaah man. But man. The holy ghost leads and guides us and I have a really strong testimony of that. Ask the Lord-- He will answer

Sister Sue and James Family. I love you so much. 

Sister Parrish. I love you and your family. 

I have a testimony this church is true and that the spirit speaks to us:) The Lord is ever mindful of us!!! I love you all and I am happy and healthy and safe! Thank you for your prayers:) 

Also yogurt here is SSSSOOOOO GGOOOOOD like I think it is my favorite food here ( and that is saying something I don't like yogurt! ) 

the light switches are outside of the bathrooms

they have like towel heating racks in every bathroom

it is absolutely gorgeous here:)

and tell grandma the sunsets are beautiful:) (especially from the 13th floor!! AWWW YEAH!!!) 

\

I feel so blessed:)

I love you all:)

please feel fee to share this with anyone mom! I love you:)

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С большой любовью,сестра Price