Short One 10-23-14

This week Sister Stufflebean and I were able to get a hold of Carina our new investigator in Romania. It was our first time talking to her since we met at Temple Square. Because of the time difference it is easiest for her to be taught through email. Still, we will try to continue to keep in contact with her over the phone. We are praying to get her in contact with the local missionaries, we just need Carina's address.

This morning the outbound sisters were announced. 25 sisters are going outbound! Sister Stufflebean and I have been busy arranging the needs of 60 sisters going to and from the airport on the 29th. It is interesting. Seems like despite my wishes Sister Stufflbean and I will split and she will remain as fleet. On Monday I will find out who will kill me. (who will send me home).

Well take care everyone!

Love, 
Sister Price

Sister Price next to Joseph Smith

10-16-14

On Wednesday we were on exchanges so my companion for the day was Sister Hadzik from Germany. We were able to take one tour in German. The season is slowing down. In the summer the German speaking sisters are taking many German tours a day.

Even with the season being slow (slow compared to summer) Salt Lake City hosts many conventions and meetings of sorts. Girls Scouts of America have been everywhere recently. 

Thanks to the Leavitt's of our home stake Sister Stufflebean and I had the pleasure of giving  Kateryna Yushchenko, the former first lady of Ukraine and her assistant Maryna Antonova a tour of Temple Square. They were so kind and both my companion and I enjoyed showing them Temple Square.

This week we took a lesson with sister missionaries who brought there 9 year old investigator and her member mother to Temple Square. The young girls was so cute and after watching a touching presentation and talking with her, she began to cry. It was sweet to see the spirit touch a young girl like that.

On Sunday we received news that the entire mission would meet in a theater at 7pm until the rest of the night for a special fireside. This was puzzling considering the question of: how will the square function without us? About 40 return missionaries of Temple Square came to cover assignments and organize the square! The square wasn't able to function it's usual way, but they made it work. Well ANYWAY the fireside was so special because the guest was David Archuleta! It was so great! His family even came. With 200 sister missionaries going reverently crazy we organized pictures according to zone.

David sang the following for us:
http://meetthemormons.com/post/98919605769/david-archuleta-glorious-music-video

He also shared experiences that prepared him for his mission and experiences he had on his mission. It was a fantastic fireside! There was a Q&A as well.

As usual, all is well here!

Much Love,
Sister Price

Conference Weekend 10-9-14

The Sunday Morning session of General Conference was great! Especially since we got to also be there for Music & The Spoken Word. For studies we have been trying to catch up and watch the other sessions that we weren't able to attend.

Local wards were kind enough to provide lunch and dinner for us since our 20min meals didn't give us enough time to prepare food.

We talked to hundreds of people at Conference so to be honest it just flew by super fast and seems like a blur now.

This week we took a group of people from a motor coach tour around Temple Square. These are always fun tours, but since there are many people from different backgrounds it can be more difficult to personalize the tour. There were 3 young adults from Romania in the group. One girl had great questions and was very interested in learning more. After the tour ended I was able to talk with just her. She accepted a copy of The Book of Mormon and gave me her email and phone number. She will return home to Romania on the 14th so I will call then and hopefully get her in contact with local missionaries too!

Fleet responsibilities will be passed over to a new senior couple in our mission. Sister Stufflebean and I have been meeting with them to teach them how to do the paperwork and organization of fleet.

Back to General Conference weekend: Saturday and Sunday we were on the square 7:30am to 9:45pm. We had a mission meeting Sunday evening where we shared experiences from Conference and heard from President and Sister Poulsen. Then we were surprised with watching Meet The Mormons! It was very inspirational. I am so excited for everyone to see it!

Well that is all for now!

Love you all, 

Sister Price

1. Us Sunday night after all the sessions were over
2. Sister Stufflebean and I after the first day of Conference
3. Us in the Conference Center

Temple Square = a real mission. General Conference WATCH IT 10-2-14

The Woman's Broadcast was fantastic! This weekend our zone will go to the Sunday morning session of General Conference. For the other sessions we will be on the square talking to people. So we get to listen to the other sessions later. We are expecting to be very busy this weekend though. I am so EXCITED! For real it will be fantastic.

Last October conference I was still new in the mission and it is interesting to reflect on how I have changed since then.

Last week our investigator Beth from California was baptized. We are so happy for her decision. It has been a long journey for her.

I am feeling much better, but I can't say much for my roommate Sister Bryuzgina (Russia) who is now sick no thanks to me.

Last week we had a crazy thunder storm. Sister Stufflebean and I were walking around the reflection pool when it began. The entire cities lights flickered and the rain was nuts! We were trying to act professional but decided to run when everyone around us was (including a newlywed bride and groom-haha!) We huddled against the east gate wall with other people who were trying to save themselves. Then we ran into the South Visitors Center and we were drenched! It was crazy. I included a picture of the aftermath. ​

Please bear with me for a moment: I love everyone who comes to Temple Square. It is funny however when members say "Oh I am already mormon" and awkwardly ignore sisters. It's like what??? Then we have the people who ask or say things like:

Is this a real mission?

Is it hard not being on a real mission?

Do you ever teach anyone?

Is it true you get extra time to get ready in the morning?

Don't you get to serve in another mission for 6 months?

and the list goes on...

Pretty sure every Temple Square missionary has to defend their mission the rest of their earthly life. Because in the next life everyone's eyes are opened and they realize it is the BEST MISSION. To clarify yes we are a real mission and we teach people over the phone and on tours everyday! Let me repeat: we teach everyday. We don't get extra time to get ready in the morning, we follow the missionary white handbook you can find the pdf for this on lds.org. Since we are a full time visitors center some things are adjusted. For example we can't accept visits from friends, BUT if we see someone we know we aren't going to run away (that would be awkward). We can have one visit per family member. The First Presidency has approved this. When I served in Pocatello Idaho (Outbound= 12 weeks) we were so busy and we walked everywhere because we had no car. Yet, my body was sore for weeks while I readjusted to serving at Temple Square. It is an incredibly hard working mission! Well if you ever hear any rumors please help clarify for me. Luckily the atonement is real so we may all repent.

Sister Stufflebean and I are doing well and staying busy. WATCH GENERAL CONFERENCE EVERYONE! It will be fantastic!

I love you all,
Sister Rebecca Price

hello! 9-25-14

This weekend is the General Woman's Broadcast and my companion and I get to go! We will also be able to attend one session of General Conference, but we don't know which one it will be yet.

Fleet responsibility have been busy lately. We have monthly reports coming up and on top of that we are switching out 4 of our vans next week. We do a van share with the service missionaries at the History Center. So we have to coordinate with them about the vehicles as well. They use the vans, but don't have to take care of them like us.

Sister Stufflebean and I have still been able to take a lot of tours recently. The other day we showed 25 people around. They are in a tour bus of 50 people, but we had to split the group for the tour. A majority of the people were from Pennsylvania and Ohio! A couple even knew Bishop McCort where I went to HS. Giving tours are fun because I enjoy interacting with the people and trying to make them laugh and enjoy there time here. It can be awkward when they don't think my jokes are funny...

This morning (7:30am) Michael Otterson from Church Public Affairs came and spoke with us. In the middle of the meeting his assistant came in and handed him a not. Brother Otterson read it and said "Elder Holland needs me to call him before he goes to the temple this morning, so excuse me for just a moment." How cool is that? He casually received a message from an Apostle. SO COOL!

My roommates are so awesome! Sister Weidmann (Switzerland) came home last night and was stressed about college plans after the mission since she goes home in January. She brought up how she is considering going to BYU IDAHO! SWEET! Sister Bryzgina (Russia) is super fun and is teaching me some Russian. It came in handy when Sister Stufflebean and I ran into a woman from Moscow the other day. I learned how to say good morning so I said it to the woman (even though it was night time) and she was so excited and wrote down other things for me to say. Turns out the lady speaks English too though because she lives in Boston now.

We literally meet people from EVERYWHERE! It is awesome.

Sister Stufflebean and I were approached by a woman from Mexico who speaks no English. I couldn't respond, but I understood that she was asking how to get to the family history center. While taking her there Sister Stufflebean and I took turns trying to talk to her in Spanish, she appreciated it. Luckily a sister from Guatemala walked by to help her more.

Hope everyone has a fantastic week!

Much love, 
Sister Price

11th Transfer Begins 9-18-14

It is a new transfer. Same zone and same assignment as fleet coordinator, but new companion and roommates. My companion (Sister Stufflebean) and I get along well and already are comfortable with each other. Yesterday morning we had to be in the garage at 3:30am to begin our busy transfer day. Only a couple things went wrong with sisters getting lost and flights being delayed, so all is well. My new roommates are so fun. Sister Weidmann from Switzerland and Sister Bryuzgina from Russia.

My district leader is still Sister Yang from Taiwan! I am very happy about that, but she is great. Her new companion is Sister Hadzik from Germany. Our district meeting is coming up so I will get a picture of all of us to email next week.

The mission has many new sisters. They come from California, Arizona, Idaho, South Africa, Pakistan, India, South Korea, and Australia! It is exciting.

This morning for Relief Society we had a man (his name slipped my mind) share a story of how he was captured as a missionary while serving in Lebanon. What saved him was a man in a high place who had toured America. Temple Square was a stop on the tour that gave the man admiration for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A returned less active spoke as well. I can't retell the stories they told very well, but everything became "happily ever after" because of Christ. Mankind can not soften hearts, but Christ can. We missionaries don't convert people, we invite people and good comes through Christ.

It can be hard to accept that people disagree about this or that. I wish everyone would just chill and love one another despite religious differences. One day...

That is all from me for this week. Love you all very much!

-Sister Rebecca Price

Trunky Papers ? ! 9-11-14

Wow things have been so busy lately.

There was a car accident on Saturday in West Jordan that sisters in our mission were involved in. They were on their way to a baptism. Sister Hardy and I sprinted to our car and then drove safely to the rescue :) Everyone was okay. Just some sore legs and necks. They will be okay. The van (named 007) is in the shop for a couple weeks though.

With transfers next week we have been very busy coordinating drivers and airport greeters for returning and departing outbound sisters. It is madness! Somehow we have managed to teach and contact many people this week though. All is well.

Sister Hardy and I use Microsoft Excel to organize the flight schedules and departure times for 29 departing outbound sisters, 3 sisters going home, and 18 sisters returning from outbound. After sitting at the computer for hours we become what is equivalent to space madness! 

While walking to email I saw Meghan Kevesdy and we ran dramatically into each others arms! What a happy reunion!!!!

Yesterday was Sister Wu's (former companion) 23rd Birthday! It was also her 8 year anniversary of being baptized. Sister Hardy and I surprised her with a cake and we celebrated with her.

You may have noticed the title "trunky papers." So the other day I go to my mailbox to find these papers to fill out confirming what airport I will fly home to and all this other information that freaks missionaries out...hence the name TRUNKY PAPERS. I just realize I lost them! OHHH maybe they are in our cubicle. Well good thing I don't need to hand it in until next week.

For those of you who may not know. Trunky refers to a missionary who is thinking about home so much they can hardly function properly. From talks with other sisters we have decided that Elders are more trunky-prone because sisters can think about more at once. Who agrees?

All is well here though! Missionary work is getting done in a fun way. I love you all!

Love, 

Sister Price