May 29-June 21, 2022

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We’ve been continuing on with our “Lasts” as we prepare to come home.  We had our last series of Zone Conferences and since we decided not to do interviews in the weeks afterwards, this was our official ‘good-bye’.  During our instruction we reviewed principles we’d learned in previous Zone Conferences.  One of those principles was deciding ‘which way do you face’.  We talked about the verses in Mosiah where the people gathered to listen to King Benjamin, their prophet.  They faced the doors of their tents to the temple so they could hear his words better—and then they followed them.  We also talked about the family of Lot in the Old Testament.  They faced the doors of their Tent towards Sodom—a very wicked place.  As we reviewed the importance of facing ourselves towards righteousness, at the conclusion of his remarks, Gary challenged themselves to not face themselves towards him as their Mission President anymore but to the leadership of President and Sister Thomas instead.  It was emotional.  They are a great group of young people and so fortunate to be able to learn from two mission presidents.

We’ve spoken at several more Stake Conferences this month.  I hope I never forget those chapels filled all the way to the backstage with these good African members.  They come by the busload—and they arrive early.  I suspect many of them never hear the speakers because the sound systems are not good–but they still come.  We were particularly pleased to arrive at the Gardnersville Stake Conference an hour early.  Our missionaries were already there greeting their interested people who they’d invited to attend.

We had a dinner at the Mission Home for the Stake Presidents, their wives, and the Mission Presidency and their wives.  Fortunately, the caterer came with the food on time, and we had a lovely evening!  They presented us with a portrait of us.  It was painted by our Mission Executive Secretary.  Wow!

We’ve been spending more time at the office trying to put things together to give the illusion of order!  As we dig through old files, we are finding all the things it would have been nice to know—had we gone through them sooner!

During our mission, we had the unusual blessing of having all four of our parents living.  They have given us a legacy of example, love, and support—even in their advanced age.  They’ve all been trying to ‘hang on’ until we get home, but Gary’s dad, unfortunately, passed this past week.  Fortunately, we were able to see our parents when we were home in March for Annie’s wedding.  Gary and his dad had a good visit and a happy last memory together.  He was a remarkable man who raised a wonderful family.  What a privilege to be a part of his posterity.

We’ll be picking up the Thomas’ on June 30 and then get on our flight home on July 1.  We’ll be speaking in Church on Sunday, July 10 at 729 Shepard Lane, Farmington, UT.  It has been a life changing event and though there were hard times, there were more joyous times.  This is not unlike the experiences of our young missionaries. They are faithful and dedicated to this work.  This mission is not an easy mission for them.  I have seen their knuckles raw from washing clothes on a washboard.  They haven’t seen hot water for months and in fact usually their bath is done with a bucket and a large plastic scoop.  Their food choices are limited and often not that tasty.  The weather is hot and humid, and they mostly use a fan in the evening to keep the mosquitos and warm air moving away from them.  They faithfully take their malaria medicine and don’t complain too much when they get runny tummy from the street food.  But when asked about their mission, almost all of them mention how much they love it and how happy they are!  They teach many people, often 6-8 lessons each day.  They have baptisms almost weekly and they love the people.  We are so proud of them and who they have become.  You should be proud of them, we sure are and we will miss them.

  • Elders Hooge and Hunsaker at Zone Conference
  • Elders Eplling and Goodrich at Zone Conference
  •  Elders Goodrich, Pelo, Castagnetto, and Hamblin at Zone Conference
  • Elders Butler and Rampton at Zone Conference
  • Elders Berry, Stuart, Clements, and Jensen at Zone Conference
  • Elder Berry and Knowles at Zone Conference
  • Elders Lybbert and Millward at Zone Conference
  • Elders Wangsgard and Huish at Zone Conference
  • Elders Anderson and Glauser at Zone Conference
  • Elders Smout and Morgan at Zone Conference
  • Elders Bingham and Fe’a at Zone Conference
  • Elder Charumbira at Zone Conference
  • Elders Tundu and Kaplan at Zone Conference
  • Elders Shakespear and Castelo our Assistants to the President
  • Elders Banza and Nilson at Zone Conference
  • Elders Kamara and Makieu at Zone Conference
  • Returning Liberian missionary Elder Gbondo with President Price
  • Stake President Gbelee and his wife at our farewell dinner
  • Mission President Counselor Kellie and his wife at our farewell dinner
  • Elders Aspinall, Reber, and Tupou at Zone Conference
  • President Price with a young man we gave a key board to and he has learned to play very well

May 18-28, 2022

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With our time drawing short, I’ve been gathering things I want to take home to remember this special place.  I’m not a big souvenir collector, but I do have a weakness for pretty fabric.  West African ‘Lapa’ fabric brings me a lot of joy.  Everyone wears it on their head, wrapped around their bodies, carrying babies, or carrying goods—they even use it to sew into clothes!  Buying ‘Lapa’ fabric brings me even greater joy!  My motto is:  “the worst thing would be to get home and feel bad because I didn’t buy a particular piece of fabric”!  As it turns out, some of our Elders love the beautiful fabric also—they ‘ooh and aaah’ and get excited when they find things they like…  They make good shopping buddies as they help me find good pieces and encourage me to buy!  Having gone to a few of these fabric finding shops lately, I now feel comfortable that I’m coming home with an adequate stash. . .

We had a member call us to thank us for our time here in Liberia.  He said he wanted to show us his gratitude by having a gift made (some sports shirts).  We thanked him for his kindness and intent but assured us a gift wasn’t necessary.  He insisted however and asked questions about size, favorite number, nicknames, etc.  He then said he needed some money to be able to have our gift made.  We gave him some money and he had the shirts done and delivered to us within a few days.  On delivery, he asked for even more money.  Somehow, these ‘gifts’ felt more like an income opportunity for this fellow—especially when he called a few days later for another ‘shirt idea’ to make for us.  

We’ve just finished our last transfer week where we had some sad goodbyes sending missionaries home who have become very dear to us.  We also welcomed new missionaries with whom we’ll spend a very short time.  In a perfect world, our missionaries would all come and go on the same day.  Everyone would have their new companions. . .and it would all be very tidy.  Our reality hasn’t been so tidy, however, as each day brought us a new surprise.  One surprise was a Liberian-native missionary who was supposed to go from the MTC to his mission in Nigeria—but his passport was water-damaged and the airline wouldn’t accept it.  He was sent to our mission instead while he gets a new passport—and then he will go to his original mission.  Another Liberian-native missionary serving in another mission won the lottery to get a US visa.  He too was sent to our mission so he could process his documents before going to the US.  A Liberian-native sister hadn’t been successful serving in her mission in Nigeria—it was decided she would be more successful serving in her home country, so she arrived last week. We were expecting an Elder from Madagascar who, as it turns out,  won’t be joining us for another week.  He’ll come on the same day as another Elder who had gone home for medical reasons and will be returning. Our most complicated surprise came when several Elders, who were scheduled to fly out to their new areas, missed their flight and couldn’t be rescheduled for a few weeks.  Their plane was to drop them off and pick up those they were replacing.   One of the Elders who was returning to Monrovia made the flight back to town—even though his replacement didn’t arrive on the flight.  This left him alone. . . without a companion…whoops.  Not. Ideal.  Luckily, our mission driver made the trek to drop them off—a sketchy proposition during the rainy season.  He was successful after two days of driving and our lone missionary has been paired up once again.  We won’t tell you his name so all the parents can think everything is running normally in the mission.

Another surprise came this week under the category of “you never know what you need to know!”  An elder called to say he’d gotten a ring on his finger and couldn’t get it off.  His finger was swollen and very painful.  He’d been trying different things for several days without success  (soap, oil, etc.) and needed some help.  We found some ideas on the internet and with the help of some dental floss, were able to remove it.  I’m not sure what we’d have done if it hadn’t come off because as far as we know, there is nowhere here to get it cut off!

We’ve often thought that our mission home is one of the loveliest buildings in Liberia.  It’s truly our refuge from the storm and we love being in it.  Things changed a bit a few days ago, we learned that because of increased fuel prices, they will be cutting our electricity to 6 hours each day—effective immediately.  It gets very real when we’re trying to plan when to cook, do laundry, run air conditioning, use the internet, etc. .  We have no electricity from 9-12 am and from 2-5 pm… and that is the planned outages.  We still deal with the unplanned outages☺

We had an assignment to speak at a Stake Conference for the Sunday morning general session.  Usually, the traffic is lighter on Sunday morning and we can make the trip in about 30 minutes.  Giving ourselves plenty of time, we left 1 hour and 45 minutes before the meeting was to start and we made great time getting there—until the last two miles.  The traffic was completely stopped and didn’t move at all for the next 30 minutes.  We decided to have Gary start walking while I stayed in the traffic with the car. Fortunately, some Sisters who were transporting to the Conference saw Gary walking and had their KeKe stop to pick him up — he made it there with 15 minutes to spare!  I stayed with the car in some very claustrophobic traffic.  I may or may not have rubbed a few motorbikes and Keke’s on the way and I definitely had some passionate people hitting my car with their hands as they didn’t like sharing the road with me!  As it turned out, I made it to the meeting just before the first speaker began—not bad and the new paint marks on the side of the car can probably be polished out!

A missionary couple from Ghana came this past week and recorded our history as Mission Leaders.  It was a touching time for us to reflect and recount the many experiences we have had in Liberia.  Our lives have been changed forever.  Thanks everyone for your support!

It is rainy season again and really shows as water runs everywhere.  It is a good thing we issue our missionaries boots and umbrellas upon arrival.

  • Sister Price cutting Elder Smout’s hair.  The Americans have her cut their hair when possible because they can’t find a barber familiar with their hairstyle.
  • Sister Price shopping for fabric
  • Elders Ncube and Botsoe arriving in the mission
  • President Price’s office for memory sake
  • President Price’s office and the conference table I am not supposed to have.
  • A wall with one of our missionary boards.
  • Elders helping Sister Price shop for Lapa.
  • Selecting Lapa for Sister Price.
  • Elder Bingham bringing water to the office.
  • Sister Price teaching Reggie, a Liberian Return Missionary, how to sew.
  • Reggie showing her sewing projects.
  • Sister Grace with her twin daughters.  Sister Price loved the dresses.
  • Departing missioaries, Elders Madison, Conner, Mpani and Quaye.  Elder Madison and Conner were both serving as Assistants to the President.
  • Elder Hiatt just returned from his assignment in the Southeast where there are no barbers (obvious huh?!)  Sister Price went right to work to trim his hair.
  • The mission home kitchen where the barbering took place.
  • Back to missionary standard grooming!
  • President Price’s t-shirt “gift”…the Liberians call President Price “Boss Man”
  • Sister Price’s t-shirt “gift: “Fine Ju” means fancy lady
  • The Elder’s stuck ring which Sister Price removed with dental floss.  It was not easy and was certainly painful for the Elder…but the ring came off.

April 17-May 18, 2022

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With our mission coming to a close, we have officially started some of our ‘lasts’.  For example, as President and the assistants headed on his ‘last’ jungle trip to the Southeast Area with a load of Elders being transferred there, we realized this would be our last time to see them as they will still be there when we leave.  This week-long trek never disappoints for adventure  . . .

We had a good week of Zone Conferences and enjoyed this time with our missionaries.  Hopefully, they understood the message to ‘try a little harder’ and work to meet their potential during this sacred time in their lives.  One of the things taught was the story of Zion’s Camp where we showed a video depicting that event.  At one point in the video, many of the participants were hot, hungry, thirsty, and disgruntled—being quite vocal with their complaints.  The prophet, Joseph Smith, approached the group and without saying anything, took a shovel and dug a hole. The hole soon filled with water—providing relief for the camp.  The take-away was:  “Are you one of those who complains about everything that’s hard, or are you one of those that picks up a shovel and solves the problem”.

Following Zone Conference, we attended our ‘last’ Mission President’s seminar in Accra, Ghana.  We always love the inspired instruction we receive from the Area Presidency and their wives along with a Zoom meeting with Elder Christofferson.  It was very personal and uplifting.  We also love being with the other mission presidents in the West Africa Area!  They’ve become good friends with whom we’ve shared this common experience.  Three years ago, eight of us came together and will go home together—along with President Morrison from the Ghana Cape Coast Mission, who was called as a general authority in the last General Conference.  This means, with nine of us leaving, over half of the missions in the Area will be receiving new Mission Presidents in July.  Two of the members of the Area Presidency will also be changing this summer—-lots of tender good-byes.

While in Ghana, we were able to spend time with our dear friends, the Craigs, who are the MTC President/Wife in Accra.  They were so gracious and welcoming when we evacuated our mission in 2020 and let us live at the MTC in the apartment next door to theirs.  We loved being with them until they were evacuated for Covid a few months later.  We helped tend the MTC for them for the next six months until we returned to Liberia.  It was a treat to return to the MTC and see it functioning fully.  We loved our time there and it felt very much like ‘home’.

Our wonderful assistants ‘held down the fort’ while we were gone.  They carry a heavy load—with a smile!  

Upon our arrival back in Liberia, I immediately drove to the hospital to attend to a sick missionary who ended up coming to the Mission home for a few days.  Also, upon our return, we had a mission audit (aka:  learning everything we’ve done wrong these past three years).  Adding to that tension was learning that a trusted individual who had done a lot of work for the mission by being the go-between with the mission and the government ministries, had been obtaining fraudulent resident permits and providing false receipts to the government.  As a result, over 20 of our missionary passports have been seized. He had collected a lot of money in fees over the past 6+ years and left us in a very difficult position with the government.  Not a great day when we had to involve Area legal counsel to unravel and resolve the mess (to return the passports and legitimize our residence permits).

Two of our three Senior Couples went home this week.  One of the couples had come on a 6-month MLS mission and had served in a community about 2 hours from town.  They had been instrumental in helping us plot the members in various mission branches allowing us to complete the applications to divide them and create 5 new mission branches over the past few months.  They were also a blessing to the missionaries in the community where they served.  They will be missed!

The other Senior Couple had recently come to serve as a Humanitarian couple but had to leave suddenly for health reasons.  Their intent is to return once their situation is resolved

On a good note, we also had our Mission Leadership Council (MLC) with the Zone Leaders and Sister Trainer Leaders.  We have given them a lot of responsibility and they are wonderful!  We love their strong leadership qualities and their desire to help and strengthen those missionaries in their care.

Because we have attended their ward this past month, and have seen the evidence, we learned that one companionship of Zone Leaders had 36 baptisms during the month of April!

Gary realized he had a number of temple recommend interviews in one of our mission branches.  He set up the interviews for Sunday before Church.  We woke up early and drove an hour to their meetinghouse (it’s a rented space on the main road).  When we parked in front of the building, a passer-by was waving to us and pointing down the road.  We shook our heads and went inside, climbing the two flights of stairs to the Branch President’s office.  Gary opened the door to the office space and was surprised to find a family inside, in their pajamas, eating breakfast!!  Awkward.  The sweet lady inside laughed good-naturedly when we explained who we were looking for!  She informed us the Church had moved (apparently, the Branch had moved to another location down the road in the direction the passerby had pointed).  We knew there was a new building being constructed for that Branch and assumed it had been completed—so that’s where we went.  When we saw it was still without a roof, windows, or doors—we figured they weren’t using yet.  After a phone call to the Branch President, he told us the location of the new temporary building! 

 Luckily, the Branch members knew where their building was and we got the temple recommend interviews done.  We finished just prior to the start of the meeting and slipped into our seats at the front of the chapel.  Once seated, we looked around and couldn’t see our missionaries.  Disappointed and frustrated that the missionaries would be late to Church, Gary sent a pointed text to their Zone Leaders (with whom they share an apartment) inquiring why they weren’t in church on time.  About the time he pushed the ‘send’ button, he realized the Missionaries were sitting at the Sacrament table in preparation for blessing the Sacrament!  A quick apology text was sent to the Zone Leaders.  We were chastened more when these sweet Elders participated in the confirmation of a gentleman they had baptized the day before.  We confessed to them afterward of our ‘blasting’ text to their Zone Leaders and then ate our ‘humble pie’.

Serving has been such a blessing and it is hard to begin saying goodbye.  We still have much to do and many people to assist.  We are so grateful for these wonderful missionaries that faithfully fulfill their purpose even in times of great difficulty.

  • Elders on jungle road to Southeast
  • Elder and Sister MacDonald finishing their mission
  • Kakata/Harbel Zone Conference
  • Caldwell/Bushrod Island/Gardnersville Zone Conference
  • Monrovia/Paynesville Zone Conference
  • Sister Price at the Ghana MTC during Mission Leadership meeting
  • Elder Flomo from Liberia with President and Sister Price at Ghana MTC
  • Sister Price with Reggie getting her new treadle sewing machine.
  • Pathway Graduation Ceremony at Monrovia Stake Center
  • President and Sister Bedell visiting the mission office from Peeblo Branch
  • Sister Price’s Mother’s Day gift…nesting Liberia plastic bowls
  • Elders at Kakata Zone Conference
  • Elders at Kakata Zone Conference
  • Elders at Kakata Zone Conference
  • Elders at Kakata Zone Conference
  • Elders Mitchell and Stuart
  • Elders Shakespear, Epling, and Houston
  • President and Sister Price, Paige Price, Elder MacDonald and Elder Conner
  • Sister Price’s barbershop with Elder Rogers
  • Kakata Zone Conference
  • Elder and Sister MacDonald and Paige Price
  • Elder Mitchell’s haircut
  • Kakata Zone Conference
  • Elder Wells and Elder Pongo

March 16-April 16, 2022

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We’ve personally experienced many sweet tender mercies during our missionary service.  One of these came to fruition as our daughter was sealed to one of our former missionaries at the end of March.  They began dating after he returned home from his mission last summer and we are thrilled to now have him as part of our family.  Gary and I were both given permission to slip home for a few days to attend the sealing—it was a wonderful day!  It also gave us a taste of what returning home will be like and it felt good!  It also gave us a good incentive to come back to Liberia and put things in order for the new Mission President.

I attended the most interesting Sacrament Meeting last week.  It was the Fast and Testimony meeting following General Conference.  The meeting started a little early, announcements were made and the opening hymn sung.  After the opening prayer, they then began doing confirmations of baptisms that had occurred during the previous two weeks.  After the first six confirmations, I was thinking: “these missionaries have been busy”—but they kept on going:  . . . . .twelve, thirteen, fourteen. . .seventeen, eighteen. . . .twenty, twenty-one!  By the time they were finished, there was barely enough time to have the sacrament administered—and the meeting was over!  Today we attended the same ward for Easter and another 10 people were confirmed.  It is wonderful to be part of such a great work.  As often happens, we were sitting on the stand enjoying the meeting when as the youth speaker got up to speak, the presiding authority leaned over to us and informed us he was letting us take the rest of the meeting.  We were shocked there was no Easter program or speakers ready.  We scrambled to come up with some messages to deliver.  It always reminds us we need to have talks prepared wherever we go!

We received some wonderful new missionaries last week and are excited for the experiences they will have in Liberia!  We had missionaries arrive on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday which meant we had orientation on Wednesday morning, Thursday morning, and Friday morning. We also had two branch missionaries depart for the MTC on Thursday.  I had to fly to Ghana on Wednesday to accompany a missionary and I returned on Thursday, so Gary was handling much of the logistics on his own with the help of the capable elders we have in the office.  It was also Gary’s birthday on Wednesday so I think he went out for an hour and sat alone at a local grill and had a hamburger.  Between the orientation meetings, the airport runs, and other logistics of arriving and departing missionaries, we were exhausted by the time Saturday came.  We were hoping to relax a bit on Saturday but remembered we had to attend and speak Saturday morning at a Pathway graduation.  It was a great event watching these young people receive their degrees.

Gary traveled to the Southeast part of the mission the weekend before our transfer week.   We had to take some missionaries into the bush and bring others out.  He traveled to Zwedru which took all day Thursday.  He then traveled to Maryland County on Friday arriving in the evening.  Saturday he interviewed candidates to serve as branch presidents for two new branches that he created in Harper and Pleebo on Sunday.  What a wonderful blessing to see the church grow in Maryland County.  He then traveled to Greenville arriving late Sunday night.  On Monday morning after switching out Elders in Greenville he drove back to Monrovia, an all-day trip. He traveled with his assistants who drove another vehicle.  It is the only safe way to go so you can pull each other out of the tough spots because the roads are terrible as you slog through mud and water.  Needless to say, he was tired when he returned Monday night after five days in the bush, but he was ready to go Tuesday morning to start the transfer week.

To see the Assistants driving in the Jungle, Follow This Link: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/svRewA0wydo

  • Stuck on the road in the bush
  • Getting gas in Harper
  • Harper gas station
  • New Harper branch presidency
  • New Pleebo branch presidency
  • We are helping pull out a stuck truck in the bush
  • Getting gas in Greenville
  • Greenville gas station
  • On the road to Buchanan
  • Keke transporting sugarcane
  • Making bagels with the office elders
  • Departing missionaries for April
  • Pathway graduation

February 16-March 15, 2022

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We’ve enjoyed another round of transfers.  It’s always bittersweet saying good-bye to missionaries we love and then welcoming new missionaries who we will come to love!  We were fortunate that our Southeast transfers were able to take the small airplane to get to their destination instead of us having to make that long, seven-day drive over the muddy roads to place them.  Since the airplane is operated by another church that does not particularly like us to fly with them, we had to make some concessions.  One was that the missionaries do not dress in missionary attire or wear their name tags.  We had to laugh when two of our missionaries came marching out of the local airport dressed in matching soccer uniforms.

The week was busy as we made multiple trips to the airport.  We also managed the travel for missionaries from the mission district or branches who are going to the MTC  (Covid tests, setting apart, etc.) and we also are responsible to pick up and release any returning missionaries who live in the mission district or branches.  Our beds in the bunk room were full every night. . .

Sunday evening we received a call from an Elder who had burned himself in a generator accident.  Although the burns are serious they are manageable.  Since there’s not a great choice for hospital facilities, ‘here’ means managing it at the mission home.  We found the supplies and medications we needed and witnessed many tender mercies within the situation.  He’s been in little pain and in good spirits.  He’s been pleasant and very helpful.  He even fixed dinner for us on his last night here.  We felt confident returning him to his area in the hands of his kind and competent companion.  Gary took time in our Zone Conferences to discuss generator safety during our safety moment.  The missionary, as he stood in front of the missionaries wrapped like a mummy, was a great object lesson. 

With the changes that occur during this period of the cycle, many missionaries face adjustments going to new areas and changing companions.  When the adjustments prove to be particularly challenging, we sometimes have to ‘tweak’ some of the assignments.  This week was unusually busy with this ‘tweaking’ (also referred to as ‘emergency transfers’).  Sometimes these transfers are accompanied by some drama (things we can’t share in the blog but now one apartment has been supplied with only plastic knives)—it certainly keeps things interesting!

We received a call from our good friend, who is the MTC President in Ghana.  After having a lovely visit, we learned that one of the Sister missionaries we sent to the MTC last week had a positive pregnancy test and will, for obvious reasons, be returning home.  Now, along with Covid tests, we will do pregnancy tests☺.  Perhaps Gary should do a better job with his interviews.

We participated in the creation of the division of the Bushrod Island Stake and the creation of the new Virginia Stake this weekend.  Our Area President, Elder Martinez, along with our Area Seventy, Daniel Kabason came for the Stake Conference.  As Gary was speaking at the Leadership meeting on Saturday, I noticed a pretty yellow butterfly fluttering around the stand (maybe it liked the colorful silk flowers along the rostrum).  It fluttered by everyone sitting on the stand, circle Gary’s head, and then spent a lot of time with the congregation.  It was kind of fun!

Gary created three new branches during the month and applied for the creation of three more.  The Church continues to grow at a rapid pace.  As an update to the family in Tubmanburg who asked to have sacrament meeting (mentioned in the last blog), he invited his friends, and the last two Sundays he has had over 30 in attendance.  Gary has requested permission to establish a group in this town.  This is significant because this is in a county where we presently have no church presence.  This would open up this area to the Church.  If it follows the pattern we have seen elsewhere,  a branch of the church could be established by year’s end.

We had another gas scare this past week.  We couldn’t find diesel or gas anywhere for many days and we had to limit our driving.  I thought there was a shortage of gas.  For the first time since the gas crisis in 2020, lines started to form at the stations.  Gary just about moved Zone Conferences to a later time in the month hoping there would be gas to travel.  However, the crisis turned out to be a political problem where suppliers wanted to charge more for gas than the government allowed so they just stopped selling product nationwide;  there was no shortage of gas.  The government resolved the situation by raising the cap on gas prices and the next day gas was flowing again.

We love this service and the wonderful experiences we are having!

  • All the Liberia Stake Presidents and District President gathered together in Ghana
  • Elder Inganga going home
  • Elder Hamilton arrival
  • Elder Charumbira arrival
  • Elder Phiri arrival
  • Kakata missionaries departing
  • Elder Morgan and Elder Sidhuli arriving from the Southeast in their non-missionary attire.
  • Our US missionaries arrive for March transfer
  • Gas lines again
  • Bushrod Island, Caldwell, and Gardnersville Zone Conference
  • Sisters at Zone Conference
  • Elders at Zone Conference
  • Bushrod Island, Caldwell, and Gardnersville Zone Conference

December 27, 2021-February 16, 2022

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Time is flying by as we approach our last six months of our mission these last two months have been busy and fulfilling.

In January, we were visited by Elder and Sister Martinez for a ‘Mission Tour’.  It’s not so much a ‘tour’ as it is an assessment of the mission and its missionaries.  They come for 5-6 days and teach all of our missionaries at three different Zone Conferences where they get a feel for the ‘culture’ of the mission.  They also meet with the missionary leaders in a council meeting.  The day they were supposed to meet with these young missionary leaders, there was a miscommunication with the young missionaries who were told the meeting started at 9:00 am.  Knowing the Martinez’ were coming, they all came by 8:30 and were seated and ready to go.  Nine o’clock came and went, then 9:30—It turns out the meeting was scheduled for 10:00 am all along. . .but. . .the Martinez’ were sure impressed when the entire group of 25 missionaries was seated and quietly waiting for them when they arrived at 9:45!  It was a good start to their visit and they gave glowing reports of our wonderful missionaries when they left a few days later!

I had an interesting little incident occur when I took one of our departing Elders to the Covid Testing Center for his Covid test.  While he was being tested, since there was nowhere to sit, I waited in my truck with his companion—it took about 30 minutes.  There was a car parked next to me that also had a man sitting in it and I assumed he was waiting for someone like we were.  When our missionary came out, I went to start my car—but the battery was dead.  Luckily, I had jumper cables and asked the fellow next to me if he would help jump-start my car.  He obligingly pulled his car into position and we were quickly up and running.  After we disconnected the cables, the fellow in the other car drove off—away from the Covid Center.  Why had he been there?  Had he been waiting for someone?    Was he just impressed to be there and wait for me to ask for help. . . .

Another drama surrounding this same departing missionary occurred the day he was leaving.  Just prior to driving to the airport, President was having his exit interview.  As part of the interview, he gives him the letters for Church leaders at home along with his certificate and other documents.  When we pulled his envelope of valuables from the safe to return to him—along with his passport, we realized it was empty!  No passport.  We had sent his passport to the Government Ministry Office a few weeks prior to renew his residency permit and we usually get these back within a few days.  Apparently, the Ministry had had some technical issues and still had his passport!  After some urgent phone calls and a dramatic motorbike ride by a ministry employee to the mission office, the passport found its owner and they left immediately for the airport.  Thinking everything was now in order, we were surprised when he went to check-in at the airline counter and found out his ticket had been canceled!  Some anxious phone calls to the Travel Office in Ghana resulted in some quick maneuvering on their part—and a ticket was obtained.  Whew!   Just a reminder that every day is a surprise!

Our mission keeps growing in the number of missionaries being sent each transfer.  For example, when we started our mission 2 ½ years ago, we had 120-130 missionaries.  Last year at this time, we had 60 -70 missionaries.  We currently have 150 missionaries and feel like we are bursting at the seams.  All of our apartments are full and all of the wards and branches have at least one set of missionaries in them.  As a result of this, we’ve needed to consider where the Church needs to be grown next.  We had been hearing about a community about 2 hours from Monrovia called Tubmanburg that might be a good option.  Our Assistants went there on a scouting mission and simply walked around town wearing their white shirts and name tags.  The town seemed to have a more Muslim population and they had gotten to the edge of its boundary when a woman came up to them and said: “You need to come meet my brother,  he is one of your people.”   She showed them where he lived and introduced them.  The man was so excited!  He said he was a ‘bonafide’ member of the Church and held the Melchizedek priesthood. He had joined while living in Monrovia and moved back to Tubmanburg to be with his family but had missed participating with the Church.  The Assistants were thrilled and felt like Alma walking the streets of Ammonihah!  

President has been busy these past few weeks dividing three different mission branches and organizing their new leadership.  The growth is tremendous and we’ve been having many baptisms.   We received our statistics from last year and learned we had baptized over 2,200 people.  These Liberians are truly a humble, God-loving people who recognize truth.  What a privilege for us to be here at this time.

  • Pizza  for Elder Gutura’s farewell
  • A Keke with a Book of Mormon message
  • Swimming with our friend Favor
  • Departing missionaries
  • Sister Chilangwa arrives
  • US missionaries arrive
  • Kakata/Harbel Zone Conference with Elder and Sister Martinez
  •  Caldwell/Bushrod Island/Gardnersville Zone Conference
  • Monrovia/Paynesville Zone Conference
  • Sister Odunga arrival
  • Elder Mulangu and Sister Bokonya arrival
  • Sister Price and Paige at the beach
  • Elder Nielsen and Elder Madison
  • Elder Muhlestein
  • Elder Kabongo and Elder Obasi Eze
  • Elder Wilcox and Elder McArthur
  • Sister Price cutting Elder Glauser’s hair
  • Elders waiting for haircuts (or their companion’s hair cut)
  • Elder Gutura trying to “crack” Elder Fe’A’s back.  They are companions.

December 20-26, 2021

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When we started our mission in 2019, we were counseled to develop a close relationship with the Stake Presidents in our Mission.  We started out by inviting all of them to our home for dinner.  They loved coming to the Mission home but didn’t love my cooking.  They asked if they could come back again but also asked if I would have someone else prepare the food!  Being a quick learner, as we prepared to have them back to our home for Christmas dinner this year, I arranged with a caterer to have the food brought in.  On the scheduled day, we cleaned the house, set the table pretty, bought their gifts, and waited for the caterer to arrive.  I had talked to her several times but when her planned arrival time came and went, I was a little concerned and gave her a call.  It turns out she had misunderstood which day we were meeting—and she had no food ready. . .  With our guests starting to arrive, I called a hotel restaurant we often go to and asked if it would be a problem if we brought our group there for dinner.  He then suggested a room they had in another part of the hotel for private groups and could have a buffet-style meal prepared in a relatively short amount of time.  If we were willing to pay extra, they would even turn on their big generator so we could have air-conditioning!  We did our usual after-dinner program at the Mission Home before dinner and then piled into cars to go to the restaurant to eat.  The food was good—we loved being with our Stake Presidents and wives and just laughed at the averted disaster.  We also love the Murex Hotel for saving the day!

On December 22, we had our Mission Christmas Party/Zone Conference.  Everyone was there except for our missionaries serving in the Southeast Area.  They loved seeing each other and loved to be together!  We watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional, had presentations about the nativity from each of the Zones, ate lunch, and played some games.  It was a really nice day!  

We were particularly thrilled to visit with our newest missionaries who just arrived a few weeks ago—they were happy and seemed to be adjusting well.

We shared our Christmas Eve tradition with a few of the missionaries by eating some finger foods and playing pipe-chimes made of conduit pipe.  It was a sweet evening.

Silent Night on pipe chimes
Happy Birthday
Sister Price Happy Birthday
12 Days of Christmas parody
  • Keke spotted in Monrovia
  •  Dinner with the Stake Presidents and wives
  • Quickly prepared buffet for Stake Presidents dinner
  • Missionary choir at Zone Conference
  • Missionary choir at Zone Conference
  • Spelling game at Zone Conference
  • Spelling game at Zone Conference
  • Sister Price and daughter Paige relaxing in the pool
  • Christmas Eve with missionaries
  • Christmas Eve with missionaries
  • Christmas morning with the Prices
  • Missionary choir at Zone Conference
  • Missionary Christmas reading at Zone Conference
  • Missionary Christmas reading at Zone Conference
  • Missionary Christmas reading at Zone Conference
  •  Zone Conference
  • Elders Rampton and Reber conducting phone audits
  •  Lunch at Zone Conference
  • Dessert table
  • Lunch at Zone Conference
  • Lunch at Zone Conference
  • Lunch at Zone Conference
  • Lunch at Zone Conference
  • Lunch at Zone Conference
  • Lunch at Zone Conference
  • Zone Conference

Nov 14-Dec 19, 2021

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They say that often on a mission, the days drag but the weeks fly by.  This has certainly been the case this past month as I realize it has been over a month since writing last!

We traveled to Accra Ghana for our semi-annual Mission President’s seminar with the Area Presidency.  As difficult as it feels to leave Liberia and our missionaries, we are so well instructed during those few days!  It’s also great to meet with the other mission presidents in the Africa West Area–who are also our good friends and have great insights into the similar situations we are experiencing.  The other upside of the visit to Accra was the good food. . .!

We were surprised and excited when the Area President and his wife (Elder & Sister Martinez) accompanied us back to Liberia and stayed with us for the weekend while Elder Martinez reorganized the Caldwell Stake Presidency prior to their travel to Sierra Leone for a mission tour there.  We know the Martinezes well from our months spent in Ghana and it was delightful being with them.  We celebrated Thanksgiving while the Martinezes were with us.  We found a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store that was pretty mediocre, but the rolls and pumpkin pie sure hit the spot!

While the Martinezes were with us, our daughter, Paige, arrived for a long visit.  She’s a nurse and has been working on a master’s degree in public health through a program at the U of U at an offsite location in South Korea.  With Covid, movement has been more restricted and she jumped at the opportunity to do an internship for her program here in Liberia and will be staying for several months.  Her mentor is the director for Maternal/Child Health at the Ministry of Health.  Every day, her mentor and team members bring in Liberian food for her to try.  She’s a good sport—but it’s not easy!

We had a large incoming group of missionaries come in for the December transfer.  We’re so excited to have them!  It was a typical transfer week beginning Dec 2:

  • Thurs (Dec 2)—Farewell dinner for 4 departing missionaries
  • Friday-4 am–4 missionaries from South Africa depart 4 days early due to concerns about possible airport closures due to the Omicron Covid Variant
  • Sun-Covid tests for Tuesday’s departing missionaries
  • Mon—Set apart 3 new Liberian missionaries
  • Mon—Farewell dinner for remaining 5 departing elders
  • Tues  (Dec 7) 4am—4 departing African missionaries to airport
  • Tues pm and Thursday pm–1 missed outgoing flight for US missionary due to Covid policy changes/thus incorrect testing date/covid test redone/flight rebooked
  • Tuesday pm–4 new arrivals from Ghana MTC—except the airline they were supposed to fly on stopped flying to Liberia effective Monday—quick rebook—1 lost luggage
  • Tuesday am–3 new missionaries departing for the MTC  (from the Mission branches)—except the airline they were supposed to fly on stopped flying to Liberia effective Monday—quick rebook
  • Wednesday–Redo of American Missionary’s covid test
  • Wednesday am–Orientation for Tuesday’s new missionaries
  • Wednesday pm–2 new arrivals from the Johannesburg MTC—flight arrived 6 hours late—missionaries required to quarantine at Monrovia Military Covid Facility (Covid Jail) because of Omicron Covid variant for 7 days—no vehicle available to drive them there—President allowed to drive them but was threatened with arrest if they were not delivered. . .President made it home @3:00am  (I guess his being exposed to them wasn’t a problem?)
  • Thursday pm (late)–10 new missionaries arriving from the Provo MTC—1 lost luggage; Arrived home at midnight.
  • Friday @5:00am—President departed for SE (Zwedru, Harper, Greenville) areas to transfer missionaries and organize branch In Zwedru—will return in 8 days
  • Friday morning—orientation of new American missionaries and delivery to their companions
  • Sat—drove to airport (one more time) looking for lost luggage—unsuccessful
  • Sun—South African missionaries surprisingly and suddenly released from Covid Jail with instructions to self isolate for 3 days  (meaning they couldn’t go to their companions—welcome to Hotel Mission Home—unfortunately it was an Elder and a Sister—meaning they can’t be left alone—and we can’t leave either. . .)  Good news,  lost luggage found!
  • Mon-airport (again) to pick up found luggage
  • Tues (Dec 14)—‘Covid Jail’ missionaries taken to companions
  • Friday (Dec 17)—President returned from trip to SE, taking those missionaries to their new companions—transfer complete—total transfer days:  15.

Our family was blessed by the arrival of a new Grandson on December 7.  He’s our third grandchild to be born since we left home 2 ½ years ago.  Our youngest daughter just announced her engagement to a wonderful young man.  We love them both and are thrilled! Even with important events happening at home, our parents and children have been so supportive of our opportunity to serve.  We are very grateful.

President’s Report from the Southeast Mission tour:

I departed Friday morning December 10th at 5:00 am with four missionaries to transfer. The road was a bit difficult and we only had to use the tow strap once to pull out of a mud hole.  We arrived in Zwedru Friday late afternoon.  Saturday was spent interviewing people for the organization of the new Zwedru Branch.  All organizations were staffed.  Sunday morning was a wonderful day as the new branch was organized.  The new branch presidency will do a wonderful job.  In the afternoon we drove to Ziah’s Town, about 20 miles away where a group of 60 people was waiting to meet us.  About 11 are members and the rest want to be taught.  I dropped off one missionary and picked up one missionary.

Monday morning we departed for Maryland County.  This was another very difficult road trip and we arrived in Harper in the late afternoon.  The following day, Tuesday, I held meetings with the Harper Group and the Pleebo Group.  I conducted various ecclesiastical duties and met with the missionaries. I dropped off two missionaries and picked up two missionaries.

Wednesday we traveled to Greenville.  The direct road was washed out so we had to backtrack for about 100 km and then take a road up through the National Park and drop down to Greenville.  This was another very long day.  I stayed at the Mississippi Inn.  It is not very nice, but I was happy to rest.  The mice keep me up during the night and the cold bucket bath was not that welcome in the morning.

Thursday I met with the Greenville Branch Presidency and held a special meeting.  We made some leadership changes and conducted other interviews.  I dropped off one missionary and picked up one.

Friday we began our long trip back to Monrovia.  We weren’t sure if we would make it on the direct road but crossed our fingers.  We only hit two really bad spots, but we were able to push through the water and mud.  It was great to arrive back at the mission home after 8 days on the road.  

Food is always hard for me to find on these trips so I always have cold cereal and powdered milk with water for breakfast, bread and peanut butter for lunch, and a can of Chef Boyardee ravioli or spaghetti that I heat up using a Sterno can.

We are certainly having some wonderful adventures!

  • Muddy hole we pulled out of on the way to Zwedru
  • My car upon arrival in Zwedru
  • My associate getting fuel in Zwedru
  • Zwedru meeting place for the new branch
  • Elder Lybbert in his traditional farewell suit provided by members
  • Zwedru newly called Branch Presidency
  • Children at our Ziah’s Town meeting
  • The Elders in Zwedru the morning of our departure.
  • Assessing a mud hole on the way to Maryland County
  • Gas station in Harper
  • Getting my 12 gallons of gas in Harper
  • Elder’s Lybbert and Jensen on the beach in Harper
  • Group meeting in Harper
  • Cooking dinner in my hotel room in Greenville
  • Bad mud hole on road from Greenville to Buchanan
  • The mud was as high as the roof of my car
  • While I’m on the muddy roads, Sister Price and our daughter Paige are back in Monrovia putting together Christmas stockings for the missionaries
  • Elder Juru helping with the stockings
  • Paige Price with Sister missionaries
  • Arrival of 10 missionaries from the US

November 1-14, 2021

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As we come to know the stories of some of our missionaries, we appreciate their testimonies and desire to serve:

One Sister who recently came to our mission knew she needed to financially prepare to serve a mission.  When she was 16 years old, she opened a bank account so she could save her money.  Because she was underage, the banking laws required her father to be a co-signer on the account.  She worked hard and saved her money, but when it came time for her mission, she discovered her father had used all of the money.  .  .

Another Elder was born into an affluent family in another part of Africa.  His father owned 7 homes and they were very comfortable.  Unfortunately, his father died in a car accident when he was young and his mother died a few years later, leaving him and his siblings to be raised by an aunt.  An uncle was responsible for the various properties and has gradually been selling them.  While our Elder has been on his mission, the uncle has sold the remaining three properties and the young man has essentially nowhere to go when he finishes his mission.

We have a returned missionary friend who has been going to school.  Several weeks ago, she became very ill with typhoid and malaria.  We went to visit her and found that an aunt was there taking care of her.  They informed us that while the young woman was receiving treatments at the local clinic, there was no money for food or medicine.  We left some money with instructions to help with the needed items.  The next week, we learned the aunt had taken the money and our friend had no food at home and still needed medicine.

Unfortunately, stories like this are far too common and it can be disheartening.  It’s an exception to find anyone here that has enough for their basic needs.  We’ve also realized money only plugs small holes here and there.  The people really need to learn principles of self-reliance and integrity.

We’ve loved seeing all of our missionaries this past few weeks in Zone Conferences and again in interviews.  We’ve counseled with our Mission leaders who have wonderful insights and we’ve also met again with our missionaries who came in a few weeks ago.  Those new missionaries get stronger every day and are sensing the joy of their missionary purpose.

Primary Choir
Caldwell Stake Choir
Traveling from the Caldwell Stake Center to home
  • Incoming missionaries from the US…they are amazing
  • Elder Kabeya’s arrival with his new companion Elder Jensen
  • Preparing for Gardnersville Stake Conference
  • Kakata Zone Conference
  • Bushrod Island Zone Conference
  • Monrovia Zone Conference
  • Baptism photo
  • Baptism photo
  • Baptism photo
  • Newly baptized family in Harbel
  • Girls at church
  • Members at church
  • Young woman at church
  • Elder Mikanda farewell
  • Elder Shakespear pondering
  • Elders Hiatt, Houston, Shakespear and Parker
  • Sister Price’s African doll
  • Door at clinic.  The man said African women are bigger than men thus the size difference in the door

October 16-31, 2021

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It feels like we’re bursting at the seams with new missionaries!  We received another nineteen newly trained and excited missionaries this past week.  Five of these missionaries were Africans who came from the Ghana MTC and thirteen were elders who came from the Provo MTC.  We had a single missionary coming from online training in the DRC.  The DRC elder speaks only the very most basic English—but he has a great smile!  The Americans had some drama with their flight connections, and some were diverted to another flight.  Miraculously, they all arrived at about the same time (with all their luggage).  After 36 hours of travel, they were glad to get here—although tired, hungry, grimy, and a bit overwhelmed.  While exiting the airport, they were greeted by a real tropical downpour.  They were impressed!  The Africans have settled in quickly.  The Americans are adjusting to life with hot humid weather, no washing machines, and no hot water showers.  It usually takes a few weeks and then everything clicks.  We look forward to seeing them all at Zone Conference next week.

One of our elders from Nigeria shared his conversion story with me:  He said his mother died when he was very young, and he was sent to live with his grandmother.  When he was six years old, his grandmother kicked him out and he was left to live on the streets.  After living on the streets for 4 years, he met up with an uncle who took him to live with his father and stepmother.  One day, he passed by an LDS meetinghouse and had a very strong desire to go to church there.  His parents allowed him to go and he really liked it but his parents became uncomfortable and eventually forbade him from going.  When he turned 18 years old, he went to his father and asked him if now that he was an adult he could make his own decisions.  His father agreed that he could.  This young man then asked his father if he could attend the LDS Church again.  His father said he hadn’t realized how badly his son had wanted to go back to that church and gave him permission to go.  He was thrilled to return and found out about going on a mission.  His father had money saved for this son to go to school but gave permission for him to go on a mission.  While he’s been on a mission, his father has had financial difficulty and no longer has to money to help him with school when he returns.  As we talked, we began talking about festivals, holidays, and traditions.  He says when he sees pictures of families sitting around a table at Thanksgiving or Christmas, it seems so nice.  He says: “Someday, I’d really like to have that experience, I have never done anything like that before.”

Last time, I mentioned a young woman preparing for her mission who needed a lot of dental work.  I took her back to the dentist for the appointment that restored her two front teeth.  It was a remarkable transformation! I don’t know who was more excited, me or her or the dentist!

The missionaries seem engaged and excited and are seeing wonderful miracles!  We had about 116 baptisms last Saturday and ended up with over 300 baptisms for October.  This is an amazing work.  The people are prepared for the gospel and the members are so excited for a temple to come to this country.

  • President Price Proselyting with Sister Opar and Sister Parker
  • The Sisters teaching a lesson.  We almost always teach outside
  • Elder Ntanga and Elder Kreipl returning from the bush after a three month assignment.  They are not allowed to fly on the small aircraft with missionary attire.
  • Harbel Branch baptismal font –  water is a bit dirty
  • Elder Eastwood’s last baptism before returning home from his mission.  He and his companion, Elder Madison had 13 baptisms this day.
  • October missionary departures: Elders Wale, Eastwood, Kabunyu, and Saunders
  • October arrivals from Ghana MTC: Elder Monday, Elder Kamara, Sister Danquah, Elder Conteh, and Elder Asadu
  • Doris Williams, a Mission Branch sister that President Price set apart before her departure to the Ghana MTC.  She is with her parents and brother.
  • Arriving October missionaries from the Provo MTC:  Elders Smout, Castagnetto, Horner, Harrop, Butler, Wells, McAllister, Peterson, Goeringer, Wilcox, Nielsen, McArthur, and Houston with President Price and Sister Price
  • Elder Kabeya arriving from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
  • Elder Jensen with his new companion, Elder Kabeya
  • Asatue Bestman preparing for her mission getting her dental work finished.  This is before the dental work.
  • Asatue after the dental work.  She is thrilled at her new smile
  • President and Sister Price with Elders Edeh and Eko
  • President and Sister Price with Sister missionaries after Bushrod Island Stake Conference