Oct 31, 2011 HaPPy HaLLoWeeN

We even got pictures!!!

Carefully crossing that Nemby River

Hna Little, Plummer (the matchmakers)with their new

 converts -Gloria and Persio...  

Service project with a machete.

New chuchi (fancy) pension.

Subject: Re: Oct 31, 2011

booo happy halloween!!! hola familia, halloween isn't very big here. casi nada. but isidora gave us halloween suckers. just so you know, I expect muchas photos of all those cute nieces and nephews in Halloween costumes. well, this week was better. I am adjusting to everything. I haven’t gotten us lost or anything, and we have some great hopefuls. Ceci is so great. I love her so much. she is teaching me a lot in how to go at the pace of the investigator. hna troecsh and I are doing good. she is struggling a bit in that her body is really tired. she says it aches. I think, oh no. I hope that doesn't happen to me. saturday we moved into our new house. it is soooo chuchi (fancy.) we aren't paying much more than the other one, but it is way nicer. the family next door fixed it up all nice for us. we even have hot water! in the other place. the water was either cold or burning hot, so I usually ended up showering with cold water. and if someone used the microwave while someone was in the shower, the power would go out. so the one in the shower would have to get out, wait in a towel and watch the other run down the way to the power box  and switch it back on. it really wasnt that bad. I was fine there, but pretty funny. president callan wanted something better for the hermanas.
this week I was studying in Ether 12 in the book of mormon. it is so good. I learned a lot. it is amazing how much we can learn from one chapter. anyways, moroni is worried that people will laugh at his weakness in writing, feeling very humble that God commanded him to write anyways. verse 27 talks about how when we realize our weaknesses and humble ourselves before God, he will make these weaknesses strong for them, it says. but the point is that he died with his weakness still. it didn’t become a strength as some would think the verse means. but as we read the words of Moroni, we don’t see his weakness, but we actually feel the power of his words. that is where the promise is fulfilled. his weakness, although seemingly weak to him, is a strength for us who read it. it sure was for me. that is something hna troecsh shared with me that is so true. I never want to accept my weaknesses. I dont want them, but when I humbly  accept them and do what the Lord has asked of me anyways, He will somehow use it to help others and give them strength. I dont know if that made much sense, but it does in my head. you just have to read the chapter. well, my time is up. please pray mucho for Isidora this week that all will go well for her baptism on saturday! I love you all so much. I can't believe it is noviembre. it is getting cold there as is starts to melt me with heat here. love and miss you all tons.
love,
hermana plummer
hi mom and dad, happy halloween! thanks for your emails. the chill pillow is great. I haven’t had a whole lot of need because we have had air conditioning in all of our pensiones, but it is great.  I am still in the process of giving out the bows. they are way cute. the new pension is great.  I took pictures. way chuchi, which is the word they use here for fancy or something like that. there is so much space. the only down side is that it will take some used to adjusting our schedule because it is a bit farther away from the church and stuff. but not too much. I am so glad you are having fun in st george!! how great mom that you could enjoy yourself and play! woohoo. also, can you ask mike his email address. I sent him an email but it didn’t go. I got one of those error emails. also, I just got a package today. thanks mom. I don’t remember what you said is in it, but I am excited! also, mom can you tell stacey wallace that I sent her a letter last week. I sent her a letter way back on july 1st, but a few months later it came back to me. I guess I didn’t have the address right. so I wrote another letter and sent them both to her house address in texas. tell her it is on the way and that she better write me back. well, I love you both so much. I can’t even tell you how much my love and appreciation for you both has grown this past year. and I thought I loved you then. 
Love,
your daughter

Oct 24, 2011

hola familia, I don't think I have time to write to just mom and dad this week too, sorry mom and dad. I ran out of time reading a few things. thanks for your letters. I am glad you were able to get everything sorted out in the flooded basement. how great you had stake conf! la obra misional is always an important subject and of course connects in every way with putting aside material things and serving.
news of the week. I have a new companion. I was shocked that hna little left me. she went to barrio lambare. you can look on the map. should be able to find it. hna lavaka went to leopardi with hna ramos. I got a letter last tuesday from christian and a picture of his baptism. We heard he received the priesthood!!! also, of course when I left they found another chica that was super prepared and was baptized in 2 weeks. also, hna ramos told me that a family that we had been working with for a while but didn't seem to be progressing much started progressing and are coming to church! also, a family that we found the week before I left were going to be baptized. i was so excited to hear of so many miracles that were happening there.
I am still kind of missing hna little, we got along so great. we both wanted to work hard and put into practice what our leaders told us to do. my new companion is hna trosch from panama. in the pictures, she is the really short, dark one. she is shorter than me if that is possible. this is her last change in the mission, so after her I will get a new companion again. she is really great.  I was reading in preach my gospel this week about praying with faith. i learned a lot. I feel like improving my prayers will be something to help me trust in Heavenly Father more and also know when I can just accept myself for who I am. prayer can be so powerful.
also, just to let you know. hna little and I are match makers. we already knew it, but gloria and persio (who will get the priesthood this sunday by the way woohoo) ¨like each other¨. it is so funny. she just says. I dont know what happened. it just happened. it was so hard not to laugh as she told me so seriously. I will have to come back for their temple wedding in a year. haha.  (The hermanas found Syliva and Persio separately, who both got baptized.. fun story)
isidora is doing good. she is still good with her baptismal date for the 5th of nov. so many elders and hermanas worked with her, but she just wasn't ready. her daughter tati is so excited, as are we. please keep her in your prayers!!
I can't think about you all too much or I get distracted, but a lot of things were reminding me of my great family this week. I just want you all to know how much I love you all. hna trosch said that one of her teachers in the mtc said that a lot of them might have temptations to go home to help their family or something. or many doubt about going on missions because they feel like they need to stay and help their families, but her teachers said, the best help we can do for our families is to serve the Lord. he can do way more for our families than we can. I am here also for you all, because I know He will bless your lives more than I could. maybe the miracles won't come immediately, but they will come.
love,
hermana plummer

Oct 17, 2011 Hna Little the Guardian Angel

Baptism for Percio

Great ward support

Very happy for Percio!!!

Looks like Hna Little comes to Whitney's rescue again.  She must be Whitney’s guardian angel.

hola familia, how are you? this week was pretty good. we found some really golden investigator jovencitas. they are so great. I am excited to meet with them again. also, we ran into susana yesterday after church. remember susana that we were visiting. well, she had told us she wanted to stay with the catholic church for now, but yesterday told us that she wanted us to come back and visit her. when we were visiting her I know she felt the spirit, and during that time also found a good job, a ton of blessing were pouring in. but seems like she doesn't have that job anymore. I don't know. maybe she realized that the spirit she felt when she read in the book of mormon and prayed had left. she is so great, and I love her so much. it broke my heart when she didn't want to meet with us anymore. but I know one day she will be baptized. I hope it is sooner than later! P was baptized and confirmed this weekend. he is such a changed man. he is 43 years old. the day of his bapism, he showed up with his hair cut and a white shirt and tie. he looks like a totally different person. he wanted to be the new person in every way possible. he had a lot of opposition the few days before his baptism. he had the support of his family. his mom came to the baptism. but a lot of friends calling him saying awful things about him and the church and how could he change his religion. but he stood so firm and said, this is my decision and I know it is right. I am so happy for him. Isdora came to church for the third time in a row yesterday. she is so great. I just love these people so much. I can't even explain it. you just love them and want so much that they are happy. so many missionaries have worked with isidora. a ton. but all of a sudden she wants to be baptized. we are working so hard to do our part to help her be ready for her baptism  nov 5.
on another note. remember the stream we crossed? we do it all the time, but this week it rained almost every day. so when we went, it was a bit more difficult. the way over was all good. hna little got her shoes really muddy, but that is just because she doesn't know how to dodge the mud like i do. haha. but on the way back. ha. we started across the stream, which appears to the mid calf, but little did I know if was going to turn into quick sand. all of sudden, when i stepped, my foot sunk up to past my knees. so I tried to step again and that foot sunk too. so hna little turned around to help me and when she did that, her flip flop when running down the stream. so she hurried and pulled me out, which left my flip flop under a foot of sand while she ran down stream for her flip flop. as she ran, it was like all quick sand. so I sat there trying to find my flip flop laughing hysterically as she kept falling  running after her flip flop. there aren't rocks or anything, just trash and sand. it was so funny. then we finally made it to the edge one flip flop less sadly. then as we were putting on our socks and shoes, a group of jovenes  (young boys) came with their sling shots and said, pistola (pistol). so I dropped a sock too that disappeared into thin air. they were joking. actually really nice, and we just all laughed. so the story why we were all wet without any socks is that we almost died in a rushing river that we have to cross when a band of robbers came with pistols. haha. anyways. always an adventure. I love you all so much. I am so blessed to be here and be a part of this amazing work. I hope you all know how much I love you. until next week.
love,
hermana plummer

On Mon, Oct 17, 2011 at 11:37 AM, Whitney Plummer <whitney.plummer@myldsmail.net> wrote:

dad and mom,   dad what a blessing you decided to go back home. I am sorry I am not there to help with the flooded basement. even though things happen, Heavenly Father always answers our prayers that he will protect us and our homes. we talked about the gift of the holy ghost in our gospel principles class yesterday, which was perfect for persio, since he was confirmed in sacrament meeting right after. I have a strong testimony of the gift of the holy ghost and that he guides us and directs us. yesterday the elders were teaching the lesson, and he mentioned about how many are trying to follow God in their lives, but after being baptized and receiving the gift of the holy ghost, Heavenly Father will guide our lives instead of us. what a blessing.  I hope the wedding was great! tell them I said hi, and if mike is climbing any cool mountains that I would love some cool pictures!
thanks for checking on all that mom. I think it is because I am not getting many nutrients. I am not depressed by any means. quite the opposite, but there is a lot of stress without a whole lot of good food. but I am trying to eat veggies when I can. my complexion is fine. I was feeling a bit more tired than usual these past weeks, but I think it was just the change of weather to a lot of heat and my body was trying to get used to the days being a bit more strenuous. no I havent gotten any scripture covers yet. I think there is some one I can ask, I just have to remember to do it. yes I need face wash and bug spray. I dont know elder clark. persio is 43 years old and christian 17 years old. oh and hna little´s mom is going to send you a blog message from the elder in the mission office who found our new house and his experience with that. hna little´s boyfriend found it and sent it to her.
thanks for everything. love you both sooooo much.
love,
your daughter

Oct 10, 2011 And the Mish continues...

Haha... I don't have to send peanut butter any more.  Whitney found a better replacement.  

hola familia, this week was sooooo hot. I got burned one day. but then we had a tormenta. a huge storm one night. our power went out. well that isn't such a surprise where we live. if someone uses the microwave while someone is in the shower, the power goes out and one has to wait at the door in her towel while the other runs down to the power box to switch it back on. it happens a few times a week. anyways, in the middle of the night I woke up way hot because the air of course went out too. and the rain seemed like it was going to break down the ceiling. then I realized that I had to use the bathroom way bad, but the lights were out. we have to go down stairs to go to the bathroom. the apt has two stories. knowing me, of course I was scared, so I made hna little come with me with the cellular for light. she was laughing at me. it was a night with little sleep. haha. 

all in all this was a good week. we progressed in a few areas, and percio is doing so good. he talked with his family, and his mom agreed to come support him at his baptism. at first his dad wasn't very supportive since they are all catholic of course, but he said that his brother who lives with them, who never says anything about anything spoke up and told them to support him in his decision because he is changing so much and so much happier. what a miracle.  it really is a miracle how he has changed his life. he realized that he has lost a lot of opportunities because of his addiction to alcohol, and he is ready to make the changes. actually, he approached hna little and hna quartino a few days before I got here and said that he had a Book of Mormon and wanted to meet with us. when I got here he had this very old Book of Mormon that he had marked a passage that he has read and re read over the years that he found when he really needed help. it was so awesome. 

we are also way excited that a recent convert's mom finally accepted a baptismal date for nov. 5. she always said no because she can't comply with all the commandments, but says she is ready now. the recent convert of almost a year is Tati. she is so awesome. she wants to go on a mission and comes with us in lessons a lot. her mom is Isidora. she is like our mom. I love her so much. she came to church yesterday!!! woohoo. please pray for her and percio this week. oh by the way, I finished my peanut butter that you sent mom, so I bought it here. they have it but I heard it was weird and that it was expensive. but I bought it because I can't live without peanut butter. it is soooo good. it is different because it is sweeter. you don't even need honey or anything. so that is my new thing. I will bring some home with me. along with dulce de leche. oh, it is the best. they eat it with almost everything here. that for sure I will bring back too. it is kind of like caramel, but way better. anyways, I am out of time. I love you all so much!!!!! one thing I learned this week in my studies is that heavenly father answers our prayers way more than we realized and in ways we look over sometimes. He is so mindful of everything in our lives. of every one of us. how incredible. heavenly father answers my prayers for you all everyday- you are safe and sound. love you tons!!!!!!

love,

hermana plummer

yay dad!! I am so glad you had fun playing tennis in the senior games. 

how awesome the sister missionaries bore their testimonies at your St George branch. it is so true. I cant even describe how much one's perspective changes in the mission. I feel like heavenly father blesses us with forgetting things of our past lives to help us focus on preaching the gospel. even if I tried, I don't think I could remember any of the words to music I listened to before. haha. 

I did just hear a car radio playing Selena, you should go listen to it.

Yes, we encounter a lot of pèople who think that we are a cult or something. that we worship Joseph Smith. the other day a woman told us that we worship Joseph Smith and we said that really we actually don't worship him at all, and she said. ha of course you do. 

some think we just want their money. they say all sorts of crazy things. but it is so true, if anyone were to listen to the brethren, they would realize they are very mistaken. how grateful I am to know the truth. well, I love you so much dad. have fun with golf this week!! next year I will be there to cheer you on.
no right now we arent teaching any lessons of some sort - piano or English. we are a lot farther from church in this area, and we haven't organized anything. maybe soon we can try out an english class again. summer will start soon, and people will be more free I think. we have lunch appointments here, but they fall through a lot. they aren't as sure here. there is one sister who we eat with on sundays. familia gomez. she is great. even when they can´t eat with us, they give us food to eat at our place. oh and, can you send me my pin number again? I forgot it again and need to buy something. by the way. you asked me what american banks are in paraguay? we have a western union here in ñemby. so maybe they can use that. oh and ya. I got a letter from kate!! I was so excited. she sent a picture too. she is loving her mission, and I am going to write her back today. love you tons and tons!!
love,
your daughter

Oct 3, 2011 Conference Weekend Full of Miracles

 Hna Little had to carry Whitney across a large puddle..  Now that is a sweet companion.  Maybe she'll carry her across that creek from last week.  Whitney, either catch a ride with Hna Little or the cow...

hola familia, hetere´i guarani for rico or to describe that the food is good or something. mom that is your gurarni phrase for the week since I didn't want to forget. ahhh conference was spectacular!!! I was so sad when it ended. well, this week was pretty good. it is so incredible to listen to the words of a living prophet and apostles of God. missionaries run around like crazy the week before conference to invite all their investigators and plan to get them to the conference because it is so awesome that they can hear the testimonies of the prophets and apostles. so we worked super hard. of course Saturday morning it began to rain and rain and rain. and when it rains here in Paraguay, it rains and floods. last time it rained a lot, hna little carried me across the river in the road because she has boots. it was so funny. I ended up soaking my shoes anyways. it has happened a ton already, what is once more. anyways, so not one of our investigators came on Saturday.  When it rains everyone stays home, including the members. but Sunday was full of miracles. our two investigators geronimo and richard, that we are focusing on, had to work at the last minute, so they couldn't come, but their moms came and percio came to both of the sessions on Sunday and was able to see a baptism between the sessions. he loved it and is doing a lot better this week. I am so happy for him!!   he had such a big smile. we were able to watch the relief society session on Saturday morning. what Pres Uchtdorf said, I needed so much. I was so grateful. I know everyone who prayerfully prepares for conference feels like the speakers are speaking to him or her. it was so incredible. I absolutely loved elder Callister's talk on the Book of Mormon. the Book of Mormon is so incredible. what a blessing to have had it my whole life.  I am about to finish it again. the power the Book of Mormon has is incredible and has changed my life and the life of millions of people. also, I noticed the theme of conference "The Love Heavenly Father has for us."  we are so insignificant compared to Him, but at the same time we are everything to him. no one is insignificant to Him,\. it doesn't matter where you are or who you are.  one of the biggest miracles of the conference was gloria. she went to every single session, even the sociedad de socorro (Relief Society broadcast Sat morning.) she was just soaking it all in. after the session on Sunday morning where the prophet spoke, she looked at me with tears in her eyes and said that she knows. she still didn't have a firm testimony that he was a prophet. Couldn't say that she knows. but she said. I know now. she said, I understand now why you stood up for him when she was pointing out his flaws and why she didn't think he was a prophet. then I started crying. she is so incredible, and I love her so much. we take her with us to lessons all the time. her testimony is so powerful. well, I have to go, I love you all so much. you are all in my prayers every day. I know with such certainty that Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ are real. they live. they love each and every one of us. I know it. I know this is the true church of Christ and that the Book of Mormon is true and is what brings real happiness. I hope you all have a great week. 

oh and by the way, I look like a brand new missionary with my new plaque since mine just fell off and disappeared. it is really sad. maybe I will find it on a drunk like some other sister missionary did when she lost her plaque (name tag). haha

love,

hermana plummer