New Missionaries and their trainers plus Pres and Sis Callan

Thanks to Hermana Sargent for sending this picture home to her mom, who sent it to Whitney's mom.

Can you find Hermana Plummer?  On the left with a purple top, with her trainer Hermana Lozano.  

This picture must be at the mission home just after getting to there.

I see Johnny Holmgren too with a big happy smile!

Yea for technology!

Dec 30, 2010 She is in Paraguay!!!

hola, my goodness. the past few days have been crazy. well, last time i talked was in argentina, and a lot has happened since then. Well i guess so. Here is a little run down of th past few days. got to asuncion at around 5 pm on tuesdayprs and sis callan were there so meet us where we came through immigrations and i am sure you saw the picture of us when we arrived. i am sure I look just beautiful. awesome. we went to the mission office and had orientation stuff. well we had dinner and then pres callan interviewed all of us and they gave us a run down on all the rules and such. then the sisters stayed at the mission home and the elders stayed in some beds at the offic. I finally got to take a shower the next morning. Longest time without a shower in my life (so far). the next morning we went and signed some legal documents and then went back to finally meet our companions. Then the adventure began. as you probably saw from the picture my companion is a native spanish speaker. like i told you when I first got my call. i already knew I would. she is hermana lozano from el salvador. she is so sweet and I can tell she is a geat missionary and is so patient with me. it is hard to communicate. she talks really fast. she said that the people in paraguay talk slow compared to in el salvador. i said how is that possible? they talk so fast. anyways, we have been assigned to coronel oviedo. this is the only area they send sisters into the campo, or the country. all other sisters are in the asuncion except me and my companion. so we had a 3 1/2 hr bus ride in what they call the colectivos. and then we arrived at our place. apparently it is the nicest apartment in the mission. but i think I sweat more when I walk in than when we are outside. i was wiping sweat off my forehead during study this morning. anyways, here in oviedo, people mostly speak guarani. the members have to come to the lessons to translate. ya. I am freaking out. i tried so hard to keep it in last night, but when we got back, I totally had a breakdown after our oracion. hermana lozano is very kind and loving though and keeps telling me I can do it. i have to be patient. she feels the same way with guarani, but i don´t know either language. so i will be learning guarani and spanish at the same time. i was kind of feeling like it is impossible, but I am comforted a little when i pray and when i remind myself, that heavenly father sent me to this area for a reason. although I have no idea what anyone is saying. i can´t even really make out the words, i know the spirit will help me. i almost cry thinking about it, but i pray for the faith and the strength, and the ability to learn for the sake of these wonderful people of paraguay. the rama was having a navidad y nuevo año celebration last night so we went to a few of the member´s houses and did some contacting and then set up the capilla (church) for it and then the members started showing up. but we didn´t get to eat becaus by the time the food arrived, we had to get back to our apartment since we have to be back by 9pm. so the only meal i ate yesterday was breakfast at like 6. but i wasnt even hungry. the members are so kind. they try and talk to me, but they talk way to fast for me to understand hardly anything. I know it will come though. but I now understand what people mean that the mission is so hard. but i know it will all be worth it. tonight we are going to teach a family. the father is a member but his wife and children are not. i am way excited to meet them. I pray that we can teach with the spirit. we are going to talk about the birth of christ. although i probably wont say much, I am so excited to finally get to teach and be in a real lesson outside of the mtc. this is the real thing now, and when you cant undrstand what is going on, it makes it harder to remember everything you have learned.
anyways, there is is. my new reality. there is going to be a bit of a culture shock. yes, the people are very poor. when you go into their house, there isn´t much there at all really. everything is concrete and the furniture is sparce, but they are so happy. it just goes to show that money or earthly possissions don´t buy happiness; it comes from the gospel and families. i can´t wait to be able to share this gospel with these people, but I have to be patient. so don´t worry, anything is possible with the help of the holy ghost through obedience and faith. the trick is keeping away the doubts, because faith and fear cannot exist together. well, i think that is all for now. we have p day again on monday, so I will write then, and it will be my usual p day. i love and miss you so much! and hope all is well there. oh and i will sent some pictures next week of oviedo.
love,
whitney

Layover in Buenos Aires

Dec 28,  2010

Buenos Aires airport - she sees a Spanish guy with a tennis bag. Of course she talks to him!!! Turns out he is a tennis coach from Mallorca, Spain, her favorite Nadal's hometown. Her first "Real" Spanish conversation and is about tennis and being a missionary - two of her favorite things. Hermana Plummer you rock!!!!!  She arrived in Paraguay about 1 1/2 hrs ago.  I'm sure she is in the loving care of Pres and Sis Callan.  Be the best you can be and jump in feet first.  Let the work begin.  Love you!!!!!

We got to talk to Whitney on Monday Dec 27, from the SLC airport for about an hour and 15 min.  We were able to really catch up on her life as a missionary.  I loved hearing her voice.  We also got a quick call from her layover in Dallas.  The time in Dallas she spent calling her siblings and talking to her nieces and nephew.  We even got a call from Buenos Aires before her flight left for Asuncion.  Whitney was so upbeat and happy.  I couldn't help but be happy for her.  Goodbye my darling Whitney.   See you on Skype on Mother's Day!!!!  Praying for you always.  Love you....

Dec 21, 2010
Mom and Dad
I can't even tell you how awesome it is to be here in the MTC during this Christmas season.  I loved that "10 Reasons why Christmas is different this year."  So true.  I have never felt more love for my Savior and from my Savior as I do now.  This time to really study the scriptures and learn of Christ is something I will cherish for the rest of my life.  I don't have my selfish cares of the world distracting me.  Before coming I was all worried about everything being different when I get back and everyone forgetting about me.  But when I got here and dove in, I don't even remember.  It doesn't matter.  What I am doing right now is all that matters.  I know Heavenly Father has blessed me in this way.  I don't remember what my life was like before.  I feel like Heavenly Father put a block on my previous life.  So I don't get distracted.  What a blessing.  I have learned so much .  I just want you both to know how thankful I am to have your support and for your testimonies starting mine off.  I am so incredibly blessed to have you both and I love you so much.  I know this church holds the keys to the Priesthood just as Christ gave his apostles.  I know Joseph Smith restored the full, true gospel of Jesus Christ on this earth again.  There is no doubt in my mind that the Book of Mormon are the words of real men who gave their lives to write it for us.  There is no way it is not true.  No way.  I know Jesus Christ came to this world to save us all from death, to give the world a chance.  The thought of how much Heavenly Father loves us, that he let His only begotten son suffer and die for us brings tears to my eyes.  Serving this mission is my feeble attempt  to do my part in bringing the children of God back to Him.  I love you.
Love,
Hermana Plummer

Dec 21, 2010

12-21-10

so I just sent my email from last week since it didn't go. i was so mad. I guess you get 2 emails then this week. this past week has been great! i can't believe I am leaving in 6 days. I have loved it here, but honestly, I cannot wait to get out. I need a change of pace. mom, thank you so much for everything you have sent. my companions are so grateful and send their love. everything was so perfect. I opened the package last night before reading the dear elder, so I was like, this is way great, but how come I didn'g get a travel kit. haha. thank so much. you went to overboard. I can just see dad shaking his head. we love you so much though. I will have to send a few things back withmy coat and stuff. sad news though. so ummm, I left my black skirt for the sister missionary mall hanging in the laundry room. I had hung it up to dry. I left it there and I realized it that night. So we went back first thing right after personal study the next morning. no where to be found. not in any of the lost and founds. not anywhere. We have been going everywhere we can think of multiple times, but it is no where. i serioiusly think that someone put it in the lost and found bin in the laundry room and someone else thought that bin was to take from. i suppose there is someone around here wearing my skirt with my initials on the tag. but they probably need it more than i do. but  acutally, i really need it. i feel so bad asking for this request since you just sent me so much, but my other black skirt is so incredibly long. I call it my nun skirt. and no they dont do hemming. they only fix stuff. they won't hem here. we are going to look one more time today, but if I dont' find it, can you please call the missionary mall and have them send a size medium in the skirt I had in grey, black, and brown with the pleat in the front? I am so sorry, but I really need that skirt. I wear it almost every day.

also, i tried to write down answers to your questions mom

I have played the piano a few times. i still dont like playing in public, but i guess I am getting used to it

tights are great that you send me. nice and warm

yes I love having grandma's watch. I do think about her sometimes. I love having something I wear everyday remind me of her.

the cake was SOOO good. thanks so much. we loved it

yes I remember ms scarlett's. i can't believe you still had that receipts. how long do you keep those things? I still remember, and that has always been a favorite dress of mine

and I am so glad you got to go the the tabernacle choir concert. so fun. we watched it here on sunday during the spoken word. or at least something similar.

I got my travel plans last thursday!!!

here is the plan:

12-27-10 monday American Airlines SLC to DF leave @ 12:35 pm, arrive in Dallas @ 4:10 p

hang out in dallas for a while

DF to EZE leave @ 7:35 pm, arrive in buenos aires @ 9:00 am

hang out for a while

EZE to AS (Asuncion) leave @ 2:35 pm, arrive in asuncion @ 4:25 pm!!!!!

oh and do you think you can check and see if the phone card can call from international? because the cards they sell in the book store here you can call from the states to international, but they don't work to call from outside the states into the states. I will take a closer look at mine. thanks for the card too though. it will be great. and thanks for the sd card. mine was only 1GB and I think I will take more pictures than that. so muchas gracias.

I report to the travel office here at 8am on monday. i dont' know exaclty what time we will be getting to the gate and stuff, but i imagine I will have time to call. just be home that morning. if for some reason I dont call in slc, I wil for sure call in dallas. so plan ahead. and please send me phone numbers of the family so I can call them too. well I got to go. sorry if I left anything out, just ask me when I call you!!!! I can't wait. love you so much. I am so blessed.

love,

hermana plummer

Dec 14, 2010 that was 1 week late

Dec 14, 2010

hola familia, i am so glad you got my pictures of my christmas tree and of the mtc. just a little piece of my everyday life here in the mtc. i can't wait to get to paraguay and send you pictures from there! yesterday we officially had 2 weeks left. i can't believe how fast the time has gone by. i feel like i have been here forever, but at the same time it has gone by way fast. weird. Thanks mom for the packages. Ahh We loved them so much. Please tell the ward thank you for the sweet messages of encouragement. That made my day, and i loved it so much. i didn't get the package slip in time to get the package yesterday, but it is here, so I will go get it after I send my email. thank you so much for sending it. i can't tell you how much I appreciate and love everything you send. aspecially since once I get to paraguay, the amount of letters will significantly decline since it takes so long. thanks for the lil excerpts from the blogs too. i had our elders read them too. There is also a teacher here at the MTC that works in the TRC right now that is from paraguay. two of our elders made an appointment with him since they heard he is from paraguay, to talk and stuff. they said they couldn't understand a word. haha. apparently they have some weird accent in paraguay and a lot of the people mix in guarani. this will be fun. but then I will come home with a sweet accent, so it is all good. You never told me brittney's friend is going to california. so awesome. no reason to be worried. she will be an awesome missionary. i can tell. and tell Brittney to have fun in london. that is so fun! i knew a girl from my freshman ward that went and loved it!

This week has been good. We prepared to teach the plan of salvation including the word of wisdom to a man who was recently divorced, had recently lost his brother, and was turning to alcohol. i learned a lot about the doctrine behind the word of wisdom this week (read "Things as they really are" by elder bednar). Makes you really understand how important our bodies are, and how important it is to keep them in a condition condusive to feeling the Spirit. it strengthened my testimony of why God has given us the word of wisdom. he wasn't finding comfort in alcohol, but when he read the book of mormon. Real peace. what a blessing to have these bodies to learn and grow in ways that we never could have without them. ahh. just read it. i love it. On sundays we like to go print out talks form the general authorities and such. another talk mom that you have to read is "come what may and love it" and "hope and anchor of the sould" just type them into lds.org. don't remember who they are by right now. changed my life. Those men are truly inspired for our day.

no I didn't get any other christmas decor from my companions' family. just my beautiful  christmas tree. they both hear from their boyfriend's a good bit, but their families not quite as much. both of their parents are divorced. Hermanan Lavaka's dad isn't a part of her life sadly. my heart goes out to the both of them. Many times growing up hermana gonzales went to church by herself. her mom is not active and her dad just joined the church a year ago! hermana lavaka's mom and brother are good members, but her dad left when she was young. sometimes when i have ever thought my life was hard, i think how strong others have been in the face of much more adversity than me. they are so strong and amazing in standing up for what they know is right, and I respect them so much. I am so grateful for you both, mom and dad, for sticking together and always being an example for me. i think I have taken advantage of having you both as such constants. I love you so much.

well i got to go, but i love you all so much. i can't believe how blessed I am to be able to do this and to devote everything to telling people the happiest message they could ever hear. this message of hope. i won't ever get this chance ever again, and I can't believe I am here. next time you hear from me will be my last email in the MTC before I head out to paraguay since I leave on a monday. But i will get to talk to you soon.

love,

hermana plummer

Merry Christmas Hermana Plummer

Merry Christmas Whitney.  We love and miss you more than you'll ever know.  We hope you enjoy your Christmas tree as much as we loved making it for you. You were our Thanksgiving craft.  Hudson, Harper, Leilani and Raelyn all put decorations on the tree all by themselves.  We wanted you to have a little bit of home for Christmas.  We know you are doing the Lord's work and are all very proud of you.  Every time I see Raelyn (in the picture) she says Whitney on mission about Jesus.  I miss her.  Who else misses Auntie Whitney?  My Grammy and Lani.  Who else?  Boppa, Mommy, Daddy, Hudson and Harper.  Raelyn and I were listening to the Motab Christmas CD while making a gingerbread house.  Raelyn says that is Whitney's music.  She recognized the choir from Whitney's blog that she always wants to see and hear.  Whitney, thanks for being an example to your nieces and nephews and to all of your family and friends.
We can't wait to talk to you Dec 27 from the airport.  Then on to the wonderful people of Paraguay who are waiting for you.
Love you,
Mom, Dad, Brian, Amy, Raelyn, Chris, Keri, Nicole, Justin, Hudson, Harper, David, Lindsay, Leilani, Miles and Mike

Dec 12, 2010

No Email today due to computer error. But we get  2 emails next week.  Therefore I posted some pictures of the day we took her to the MTC, Oct 27, 2010.  Good bye our darling Whitney.  Our promise to each other "We can do this!"  We are doing this.

                                                                           Goodbye..

Dad and his little girl.                                        

Families can be together forever!

I miss her already!!!!

Our last goodbyes.  Until we meet again April 2012

Whitney, your luggage is bigger than you and weighs more than you too.

hola, I get to write once again. I swear it seems though that it was just yesterday that i wrote you, but when I think about it, a lot has happened since last tuesday. I am still just diong the same thing. haha. learnin spanish and learnin the gospel. Although i am way excited that as of tday we have 20 days left here, I have loved it here in the MTC. The things that I have learned are invalueable, and I will never forget these memories here in the MTC. It will be so nice to get out of the cold soon! it is not fun walking around in the cold in a skirt, but at least it is only for a while. i tell the elders they are lucky they get to wear pants and they tell me I am lucky that i don't have to wear the same thing everyday. but i feel like I do. don't have too many winter clothes considering I packed for paraguay, not utah.
Thank you so much for my CHRISTMAS TREE. i almost cried. it is the sweetest, cutest christmas tree in the whole world! i love it so much, and felt so at home hanging it up in my window (I will send a picture of it all hung up). Thanks for remembering me and sending me a piece of home. You have no idea how much it meant to me.
As always I love getting the letters and hearing about life back at home. thanks mom and dad! it helps so much to be able to have a letter to read when I get back to my room at night after a long day. it lifts my spirits a lot of the time, and I always look forward to hearing about everything. sounds like things have kept busy enough. hope the christmas party was fun with Raelyn and Leilani!
Dad, that is way cool Justin's relative was part of the Mormon Battalion. When I went to SanDiego to visit my friend kate, we went to some exibit thing in old town put on the by the church. I learned a bunch about it that i never knew. They were pretty incredible what they had to go through. I am excited for you to be able to give a lesson on gifts of the spirit. what a blessing they are. I can testify that the gift of tongues it real. i see it everyday when other missionaries and i are able to speak spanish as we teach. somehow, after only 6 weeks, we are able to speak just enough so as to provide the right environment for our investigators to feel the spirit. Whether they are members of the church or not here in the trc where we practice (sometimes they are not members), the spirit is what does the real teaching.
Thank you also mom for sending that talk and the part from that elder's blog. it was cool to read the blog. all of us read it. my companions love you by the way. they think you are the cutest mom ever with all you packages and letters. They say thank you for kindly including them in your christmas package. that was so sweet. we have the stockings on our window sill. i have the best family. also, hermana lavaka is in need of socks. kind of like the ones i got at target that are a regular sock material but the ones that don't show. if you could please send some, that would be great. she wears a size 10. 7 pairs would be great. if you don't remember what they are, just write and ask for more details. she says she will give me some money, she jsut needs them and doesn't have a way to get them. thanks mom! just when you have time.
this week was really rough, it was eithere wed and thurs or thurs and fri. But I was for some reason having a really hard time and everything was just going wrong. my companioship wasnt getting along. i felt defeated with spanish, and i just was not happy. kind of had a breakdown. but when I read your letter that you heard me calling your name, it brought tears to my eyes. heavenly father knows me, and answers my prayers. I needed help, and needed encouragement, and I was praying my heart out for heavenly father to lift me up. i love you. and I am so blessed with parents who are a righteous example.
love
hermana plummer