California San Diego Mission

California San Diego Mission

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

CHRISTMAS!!!!! 5 months!!!

This week so much happened!!!! 
i will start on Christmas eve! Sister Sorensons grandparents came to the MoBat and then took us out to dinner that night (which i dont think is allowed...) but they took us to this really really nice restaurant. They wanted to take us to the nicest one that they could find to treat us right for Christmas. I got a 37 dollar steak!!!!! Like whaaaa! So that was really nice, we had a lot of delicious food so that was awesome. They also got us Christmas presents! woo! and then i went home and opened all my presents! Because i wasn't going to have time the next morning. All the sisters sad in the hallway of the apartment building and we opened them together so that was really fun!:) I want to thank everyone for all the wonderful things that you sent me!! It was such a memorable Christmas:) So then the next day (Christmas day) me and the comp go to the marnie base and sing to the marines. It was such a cool experience!! we go into this building and it is freezing col because they don't give the marines AC or heating, and these poor marnie's sit down and are allowed to eat one cookie. So we give them a cookie and sing to them and they are all crying. These huge grown men are weeping because they are alone on Christmas. They literally have NOTHING!!! Not even heating! i thought my situation was not fun, NO it could be worse, i could be a marine in boot camp right now. So then after we sing the mission president gets up and he shares this beautiful poem about a marine and Santa. It is the most touching poem i have ever heard and it made me cry. I cried so much. I realized that missionaries are a lot like marines. We both sacrifice so much to serve. We are both fighting. Missionaries are fighting a spiritual battle, and marines a physical battle. But no matter if we are not with our families for Christmas, no matter if we have a lot of presents or just a cookie, the one thing that is given to all of us this Christmas is Christ. Jesus Christ was born so we can all live again. He will never leave us alone. The atonement is available for all that desire it and on that cold Christmas morning that is what i learned. 
After we left that i went to the church and GOT TO CALL MY FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!! shortest 40 minutes of my life, but it was so good to talk to you all even though you all make fun of my for being spiritual...-_-...thanks for being insensitive, but none the less i was so happy to see you all! Truly made my day/ year/ most memorable Christmas ever! and if you are all wondering yes i did cry! Ok does that make me any less of a women if i cried saying goodbye to my family? i say NO! then after that i went to the Battalion the rest of the day. 
Then the nest day something so so so so so so cool happened! it was totally an answer to my prayer! i have been praying to go Spanish speaking because i want to learn Spanish so bad, but i don't think that it will ever happen, so instead i got to go on exchanges with Hermana Barney and i got to go Spanish speaking for one day!!!!!! IT WAS SO AWESOME!!!!!!! we ate dinner with the Aguliar Family at this Peruvian place and man it was so good, and the whole time everyone is speaking Spanish and i understood about 60 percent of what was being said so i was pretty impressed...:) I even got to speak to them and they just laugh when i speak Spanish and tell me how cute i am...but it was so awesome! we went to this lesson and i couldn't say much, but the man could understand English so i spoke English to him and he would respond in Spanish..which i couldn't understand most of the time, but the most amazing thing about it was even when you don't know the language that is being spoken you can still feel the spirit and it still testifies to you that what is being said is true! I felt the spirit so strong in that lesson, even though i didn't understand what was being said!! Like whaaaa??? It was truly an experience that increased my faith and i am so thankful for the time that i had to go Spanish speaking!!!:D 
Then on Sunday sister sorensons WHOLE family came to the Battalion and it was crazy. He family is awesome and fun and it made me wish that my family was here visiting me:) Oh by the way everyone now says that i have the MOST HILARIOUS family:) way to go guys! 

Oh I totally forgot something totally important this week! we baptized FAITH!!!!! wooo! i will send pics of it all! but her baptism was totally the most stressful thing ever....but she did it so yayy! she is in the kingdom now!:)I love you all so much and love all the emails that you send me now that you all have the latest iphone;) talk to you all next week! LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!! 
XOXOXOXO 

Our Apartment


Getting my hair done


Day 146 CHRISTMAS!!!

Hello!!!! 

This WEEK IS CHRISTMAS AND I GET TO SKYPE/FACE TIME HOME!!!!!!!! i am seriously sooo so so excited even though we get less than an hour to do it....-_- (still trying to love mission rules even though it seems like they were made by satan) but i will be calling home around 12:00 san diego time, so i have no idea what time that will be in Roswell so make sure you are all ready!

So this week was awesome! The Bills family came to the Battalion this week and IT WAS SO AWESOME!!!!!!! I got to take them on a tour and i hope that they enjoyed it! It was literally just what i needed! To have someone that you know come through the Battalion is just about the best thing and especially the Bills family because they are so awesome and Sister Bills and I have such a strong relationship and the entire time i took their family on tour you could feel the spirit so strong and ahh i will tell you more about it when i Skype home:) 

not trying to scare you mom, but i almost died this week....because i ate nuts.....and had to use my epi pen.....in the middle of a lesson.....because i ate a cookie that had nuts in it at a members home and.....i couldnt breath....but used my epi pen and now im ok:) I will also tell you more about that lovely experience when i see yall on friday! 

Yesterday was the Christmas devotional and what that is, all the missionaries in the entire mission get together (which never happens) and the mission president talks to us and they show this huge slide show of all the baptisms in the entire year and by watching that it made me SOO motivated to go out and baptize everyone!!! it was a good way to end/start the new year! :)

So i am geting my hair colored today so wish me luck that she does a good job or i might just kill myself because i feel like an ugly nun here on my mission because i literally have 0 time to get ready and take care of myself....not even kidding i usually have about 20 minutes in the morning to get ready, and Dad i already know what you are going to say "thats more than enough time to get ready" no its not! being on a mission you can control absolutely nothing except what you eat and what you look like and so the fact that i cant even control that really makes me angry/sad/anxious/nervous/angry/angry/mad....:) 

Well i only have a tiny bit of time on the computers today...:( but i will see you all on Christmas!!!! woooo i hope you are all as excited as i am! and Shout out to Tori for writing me an email this week! first time in basically forever!:P woo i love you all so much! thank you for all the wonderful Christmas present:s):):):) you sure know how to treat a girl;)

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE 
Sister Olivia Ann Price


MoBatRap



Swimming pool lust


Faith and San Diego



Mission life

Christmas is a wonderful time of the year! It is full of songs and
presents, toys and tinsel. Beings a servant of the Lord you experience
Christmas in a very different way. I don't get to put the Christmas
tree up with my family, I don't get to watch the Christmas story, I
don't eVen get the chance to wrap presents. Every morning I wake up
and I put my beloved name tag on prepared and willing to go out and
teach the world about our Savior Jesus Christ. I get to tell the city
of San Diego about the reason we celebrate Christmas. And it has never
brought me so much joy! Serving others is truly a gift from God. As I
think less about myself this Christmas season I am filled with the
love with joy, not a joy that I usually feel around Christmas time,
but a joy that fills every fiber of my body! It makes me want to sing
and dance because the message I have to share can help every single
person. It can benefit the rich and the poor, the young and the old
and I rejoice because I have confidence that I can walk up to every
single person I see and know for a certain that I have what they need.

But does this mean that it is easy? NO!!! I now know what people mean
when they say a mission is going to be hard. No one really ever
prepares you for what you are going to experience so I made a list so
other can know how a mission is hard. A mission is hard because
everyday you wake up willing to serve others and doors get slammed in
your face. Over and over again. Rejection all the time. You have a companion
that you have nothing in common with except the Gospel. You try as hard
are you can to invite other to come to Christ but someday no one wants 
to listen. You work long hours
to serve your investigators, you think of ways they can get to church and 
certain scriptures that can help them, and in the end they don't listen. They don't
keep commitments, don't answer your phone calls or texts. You are always
thinking of ways that you can improve and rarely ever think of the good 
that you are doing, all that you knew before the mission is taken away. 
No more music, family, friends, normal clothes, normal food, normal 
sleeping time, vacation, relaxation, exercise, games, school, all gone. 
You are ripped from a world you once new and are thrown into a new life 
of rules and obedience. A new life that is never about you, but in the same time 
all about you. A life that is no unnatural and bizarre. 

But this new life as bizarre and different as it is, is so wonderful at the same time! 
Helping others change and see the hand of God in their life has never been so fulfilling! 
Meeting someone new and immediately loving them the way God would touches your 
heart in an unforgettable way! And that's why i do this! That is why i put up with rejection! 
That is why i push through my tiredness! That is why i learn to love my companion! 
I do it all because loving someone the way God loves them out weights everything else! 
Seeing a child of God change their life toward happiness gives you power in those days 
of loneliness and sadness! 

That is why i am here. That is why i stay. Even though i miss my family and friends 
more than they can imagine, the experience i get to have and the lives i get to change 
are helping me so i can be a better friend and sister to all those that i have left for 18 months.

I want you all to know that i LOVE Jesus Christ! I LOVE God!! And i am so grateful for this 
Christmas season, even though i don't have a tree or gifts to give, the greatest and most 
important thing i can share with others is the message of the restored gospel, and i don't just have 
to chance to share it around Christmas time, i get to share it all year long!!! But during this time of 
the year don't forget the true meaning of Christmas! Jesus Christ the Savior and redeemer of the world 
was born in a tiny stable. He was born so we can be born again! If we love Him, remember Him, follow Him!! 
I invite you all to remember Jesus Christ this Christmas season and help others 
to come closer to their Savior Jesus Christ!:) 
I love you all and wish you a very Merry Christmas!!!!<3

Day 140

Buenos tardes!!! 

So this week has been crazy! Being at the Battalion we have so much less time in our area to proselyte.....which makes it seem like we are not doing missionary work. I calculated it, Tyson imagine only spending 2 and a half days in your area a week, how much missionary work and lessons could you get done with that amount of time? Yep that's how much time Battalion Sisters have in their area....even though we have so little time in our area the Lord blesses us with lots of people to teach and i am so glad for that! We definitely see miracles from it. But don't get me wrong i love working at the Battalion as well:) Except for on Sunday....i hate working at the Battalion on Sunday...lol and i will tell you why. So on Sunday for my entire life i am use to not doing ANYTHING!!! its "the day of rest" WRONG!!!! when you are a missionary it is the most busiest day ever. And on fast Sunday it is literally the worst. On fast Sunday i am tired, and super super hungry. i get up at the crack of dawn and go to ward council, then go to church, then go and work at the battalion for 5 hours and then we get to go to our dinner appointment. Well those 5 hours that i am at the Battalion i have to act happy and cheerful, and i have to act like i am so happy to serve the people that walk in the door, when in reality i don't want them to be there and i want to be eating thanksgiving dinner in my bed. So the other Sunday i was at the Battalion (starving and tired)  and a bunch of families walk in and i think to myself "No go away!" but of course i don't say that, i put my "golden retriever" smile on and take these people on a tour. Well these people are members of the church and sometimes members of the church act like they are entitled to everything that the church has (that includes visitor centers like the Mormon Battalion) and they treat me like i am their servant.....and that i have nothing better to do than to serve them...(which not going to lie is the truth but i like to think that its not...) and so in my tour i am talking and doing my MoBat thing that i normally do informing these peeps about the Battalion and they look so bored and i don't know why but i just got so mad. I have never been so mad in my entire life before, and i think it was because i was tired, hungry and i was giving all that i had to make the tour fun and to give these people (that were not very nice to me) a tour that they would enjoy. And in the mists of my extreme madness a quote by Jeffery Holland came to my mind and it says "when they are cast out, and spit upon and made a hiss and a byword, they are standing shoulder to shoulder to the greatest life this world has ever known, the only pure and perfect missionary that has ever lived and they have every reason to stand tall" At that moment i thought about Jesus Christ. I thought of how He knows what i am going through, and how Jesus Christ is standing right next to me in my trials willing to help me if i ask. I thought of how He would respond to the situation and when i thought about that i was immediately comforted and my heart was softened for these rude people i was taking on tour. It is so amazing to me the power of Jesus Christ!!!  He can literally help you thorough ANYTHING that you are going through! No matter what, even if you are a missionary the atonement can still lift you and guide you in your life and that is something that i came to realize this week:)

Today is transfers and i am staying in Linda Vista 1st with Sister Sorenson! wooo party! we decorated our apartment with all kinds of Christmas stuff so it looks legit, even though we don't have a Christmas tree..lol so John Preston my recent convert blessed the sacrament this week!!!! and HE WENT TO THE TEMPLE and did baptisms for the dead!! it was the coolest thing ever to have helped him get to do that, that that is for sure my favorite thing as a missionary!:)  

and i know you are all dying to know when i am going to skype home.....wait for it.....wait for it........I DON'T KNOW?! haha i dont know when i am going to skype home, they have not told us yet..-_-..... but im hoping that its in the morning, so make sure you have skype open and ready to go and send me the skype address so i can call you ok!!!! DONT FORGET TO SEND ME THE SKPYE ADDRESS!!!!!!! 

As for Faith, she decided that she wants to get baptized on her birthday which is the day before Christmas so she will be getting baptized next week, but she is still awesome!:) The work moves on and i wish that i could tell you all everything, but i have already spent an hour writing this email so I'm going to go!:) 

Also there is never a dull moment with my companion, she is crazy and i have finally come to love her:) 

have a great week!!!:D

Sister Olivia Ann Price 

PS its freezing here in SD! 47 degrees!!!

Switching the room around


Mostly Temple pics





Never a dull moment


Temple shift


Blackout


The District


We need cars like this!



I Lover her



Construction at the Batallion




Outside my apartment


Our first baptism



4 months!

This week was thanksgiving and it was good, ate lots of food which was really nice since i thought that i wasnt going to be getting a thanksgiving:) It sounds like all of you had a great holiday week, but the most exciting thing about this week was i had my first baptism!!!! JOHN is now baptized! It was one of the most spiritual baptism i have ever been to! And i have to admit i cryed, i cryed because there is something so special about helping someone come closer to Jesus Christ and helping them enter into the sacred covanent of baptism. I taught John all of the missionary lessons, we over came his trials together and he is now the newest member of the Church of Jesus CHrist of Latter Day Saints!! wooooo go john! the next step is to get him to go to the temple and do baptism for the dead, and he is getting the preistood next week so that is awesome!!:) (side note, i want you all to know that i suck at writing emails about myself....its not normal for a missionary to think about themselves so its really werid to talk all about my week, and thats why my emails are always terrible so i apologize) 

Sothis week a new christmas movie/mormon message came out and IT IS AWESOME!!!! if you go to christmas.mormon.org you can watch "A Savior is Born" and "A World without A SAvior" both amazing videos that as missionaries we will be using a lot! before every battalion tour we show those two short videos and they are so powerful! So i challenge you all to watch them and to discover why we need a savior and how you have come closer to the Savior this year as compared to last year:)  

as a missionary you really learn to love your companion even when you two are totally opposite, and that is what i am learning to do right now, there is never a dull moment with Sister Sorenson and i really enjoy it! Yesterday we were walking around this apartment complex and this security (hard core secrutiy guard) comes and asks us what we are doing and we act like we are lost so we can talk to him, and he angryly tell us where to go and we tell him that we are going to be visiting a member of our congregation and my comp asks is he wants to come with us, and he starts to walk away and yells no and she says "oh come on it will be fun" and he just starts cussing at us and saying all kinds of horrible things about God and wow it was terible, but i couldnt help but laugh because God never did anything to that dude, and my comp was totally egging him on, and something else that i realized is that he needed our message the most. This angry mean man that said he was athist needs the message of the restored gospel the most! and that is why i am on a mission is to share this wonderful message to peeople like this angry security officer! 

another side note is that i am a total noob when it comes to talking to boys now....like i cant even act normal around them. And you want to know why? its because i spend my day around 21 other sisters and its a horrible sin if you talk to boys in person on a mission....the missionary struggle...im awkward now.....grrr 

welel i am super short of time but i will attach pics because lets be honest those are the best part:)

XOXOXOXO 
Sister Price