¡FA! ¡Estoy en Uruguay!

Dear everyone,

After nine laborious cooped-up weeks in a building in the middle of Buenos Aires, Argentina, I am finally here in URUGUAY!  My area is San Carlos, Maldonado, Uruguay.  For those of you who are google eart lovers, I live on the street called Carlos A Cal. in between the two streets Agorrody and Chavez.  We literally live right across the street from the church building.  And the Bishop lives right down the road.  ¡Qué buenísimo!  

I can't believe that almost a week has already passed since I got here last Tuesday.  I met my trainer on Wednesday.  His name is Elder Sevilla and he's from Honduras.  And he doesn't speak ANY -- wait for it -- English at all!! So I have had to abandon the language of my fathers and really devote myself to understanding these Uruguayos.  It's a good thing that I learned so much in the CCM because I would be lost out here if I hadn't.  I can pretty much understand almost everything when people are talking, unless they are under the age of twenty, inthewhich case I understand about half.  These chilluns talk so dern fast!  

This past Sunday I introduced myself to the ward (with complete fear that they wouldn't like me) and huzzah!  They are so surprised that I'm in my first area because of my language.  I'm telling you, the gift of tongues is so real that I can taste it.  No pun intended.

To add on to all of this new stuff, my trainer Elder Sevilla is also the district leader AAND we were whitewashed.  For those of you not familar with this term, that means that he wasn't already in the area and I just got transferred in.  That would be too normal and too easy for me.  So we have to start basically from scratch for several reasons.  

One, the information that the previous elders from the area left us wasn't completely helpful.  They told us about their investigators (the people who are looking into the church), but didn't leave addresses with the names and some don't even have teaching records.  Seriously, people with baptismal dates that we can't find.  What a drag.  

On top of that, the house/apartment that we live in was left in terrible condition.  It was so dirty that Elder Sevilla stopped the middle of the planning session and in a rage of frustration said "that's it!  The Spirit cannot be present here in such filth!  We are gonna clean this place up!"  Of course, I might be dramaticizing because he just started spitting out Spanish like a crazy person.  So we cleaned.  But we have to clean more today.  Our apartment is pretty spacious, but it is really a piece of garbage.  

Elder Sevilla says that it's the grossest, worse apartment he has been in his whole mission.  And he has been out 21 months!  Why is it so bad?  The toilet is jimmy-rigged very iterestingly so it can flush.  The shower is just...there.  I don' know how else to describe it.  It's like the area of space used for the shower wasn't meant for it, because their is just a random spout coming out of the bathroom wall with no real section away from the rest of the bathroom.  The kitchen is just gross.  Like, honestly.  I don't even want to pain a picutre for you because you would die.  I almost did.  But the Lord spared my life so I could do this work.

We have started teaching a few people, but nobody shows a great deal of promise yet.  We found some of the old investigators that the missionaries were teaching before, but none of them want to come back to church.  We're gonna work hard and find the people that the Lord has prepared to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  

I am having the time of my life out here and it sometimes gets really frustrating, but the Lord provides for me.  I am ready to buckle down and work.  My language is always improving and I'm so grateful to be out here preaching repentance to the souls that have great worth in the sight of God.  I love you all and continually pray for you!  I ask you to do the same!  I must now go and serve the beloved children of God.

LOVE,

Elder Plautz

PS Everybody stop using dearelder and start emailing to the open email  urumontemission@gmail.com.  It's an open email, which means that the mission secretaries read it before printing it out and sending it to make sure that it's appropriate, but they print it out the smae day it's sent (except Saturday and Sunday) and send it out to the missionary, so it's faster than anything else.

From the Mission President to Us

Dear Plautz Family,

            Tuesday we went to the airport in Montevideo, Uruguay, to pick up Elder Plautz and welcome him into our mission.  He arrived full of excitement and enthusiasm to get to work.

            We have spent the day getting to know him, and we recognized that he will be a great asset to us here in the mission.  We know that he will bless the lives of many wonderful people.

            Wednesday was transfer day and after meeting with his trainer, he headed off to his first area so that he could start ¨ [bringing] to pass the immortality and eternal life of man¨.

            We are now sending you a photo that we took with him.  As you can see, he is extremely excited and ready to start.  We are so excited to have your son with us and hope that you receive this photo with excitement and pride in all that your son has done to prepare himself for the opportunity that he now has to serve the Lord for the next two years.

                                                                                                          Love,

                                                                                                          The Armstrongs

The newest arriving missionaries

Daniel with his new companion, Elder Seville pointing at the map

Elder Daniel Plautz and President Armstrong (mission president)

There's a Last Time for Everything!

Dear Everyone,

Due to an area seventy coming to speak to us tommmorw, my email tme has been pushed to today.  After my captivation (capacitation) at the CCM, in a few days, I will finally bust out of this joint and see the world!  I'll be able to do what I love the most: teach and serve.  I don't dislike the CCM by any means; it's intimate conditions (because it's so small) made my stay here amazing and my opportunities to teach, learn, and serve missionaries have been such a blessing.  But it's time to go.  I'm a peacock!  You gotta let me fly!!  And flying is what I'll do come next Tuesday--to my home for the next two years: Uruguay! (*Streamers!  Firework sounds!*)  Words couldn't explain my excitement!

Many of the North Americans agreee with me that our first day a the CCm doesn't feel like it happended that long ago, but the last time we saw thome feel like FO-EVA (forever) ago.  These two months, though, have seriously been the fastest of my life, so I try to soak in every moment.  My companion Elder Bohorquez and I get along amazingly except for the fact that he takes forever (not FO-EVA, that would be much longer) and a half to get ready for everything, but this doesn't bother me too much because he is getting better and he's already an amazing companion.  We were able to teach two lessons this past Saturday during Proselitismo and I was amazed at how much I could both comprehend and contribute.  (I have met many Latinos from almost every country in South America and the Chileans and Argentines are the most difficult to understand, so you can imagine my excitement when I went out this past Saturday and felt really good about my language.)  I have been so blessed with the gift of tongues.  I'll never cease to give gratitude for it.  Also, I don't know why, but groups of Argentine men are always obsessed with trying to get missionaries to drink alcohol.  It's kind of funny . . . for the first ten seconds.  And then I just wanna go.

After we received Latino companions, our districts were jumbled up and althought I'm still the district leader over district Mormón, only one of my formber members, Elder Ratleiff, is in my distict.  There's another North American and six Latinos.  I could tell how much my Spanish had improved with every one-on-one meeting I had with members of my district, solely in Spanish with the Latinos.  But don't worry; there are still plenty of things that I don't understand.  And when this happens, you just copy their facial expressions and say "sí."  The trick still never fails after all these years.

I just started the Book of Mormon in Spanish and plan to finish it by the end of my fourth month of my mission (March 22nd for those not counting) and I'm right on track!  Reading it in Spanish is . . . not English.  That's for sure.  But I feel that by the time I'm finished,  my language skills will be near perfect.  I love you all and ask for your prayers, promising that I'll do the same for you.  Make this January AMAZING!!  Just do it!  I must now go and serve the beloved children of God.

LOVE,

Elder Plautz

I Guess You Could Call Me a Latino Because of How Much I (Attempt To) Speak Spanish

Dear Everyone!

After all of this waiting and anticipation, I finally have a Latino companion!  And he is eighteen years old!  What is this!?!  A Columbian named Elder Bohorquez.  Seriously, in this past week, have never spoken so much Spanish compared to how little I did before.  He speaks barely any English at all, which is actually great for me.  What's ever better is that we can communicate!  We tell each other stories about this we did before our missions and our family and our friends.  he's a great guy and a wonderful missionary.  He's exactly like I was when I got here (forever ago, right?), in that he knows the doctrine, he just needs to learn how to teach according to people's needs (the hardest and most important thing a missionary can learn how to do).  But he is already becoming fantastic.  We get along very well for a Gringo and a Columbian!  Already, I have developed a great love for him.

Although proselyting was mildly okay this past weekend, we didn't see a great deal of success.  We tried visiting Miriam again (without having set up an appointment) but only her kids were home, so we told them to tell her that we stopped by.  (This was our last day in Banfield, Buenos Aires.)  But I WILL spend the rest of this letter describing Argentina to the best of my abilities!

1) You don't knock on doors.  Most house have buzzers (like doorbells), but if not, then you clap outside their gate (almost all houses have gates out front).  Initially, this makes a missionary from the United States a bit ridiculous, but we eventually get used to it.

2)  Traffic laws are NOT implemented by any sort of authority.  This is most evident from the things I have witnessed while riding in the bus out to our area, or walking on the road and seeing up close just how insane Argentina drivers are.  They are the most impatient drivers.  It doesn't help that there are no road signs outside of highways and gigantic cities.  Nor are the lines that divide the lanes in the road.  Anywhere!  Cars do whatever they want to.  Like flying.  True story.

3)  There is a variety of ways to vend, or to sell things.  In larger areas with more people, some have specific portions of their houses set up as little fruit markets (mostly fruit; sometimes cheap toys).  There are also pickup trucks whose beds are filled with anything from squash to sun dresses.  In almost any area, you'll find a kiosco (or multiple) that is basically the equivalent to a small gas station without the gas part.  So just a station, I guess.  Those fruit markets are everywhere, though.

4) Fifty percent of men do not wear shirts.  And it doesn't matter how much they weigh, if you catch my drift.  They'll be proud to show off their bodies.  Self-confidence is not an issue for these gentlemen.

5)  Something that would perspectively be classified as a rich area in Argentina would just scrape by as lower-middle class in America.  These people simply don't have what we do.  America is SO MUCH cleaner.  There are plenty of houses just made of cement (or bricks, if they're lucky) and the windows and doors just have cloth draped over them instead of actual doors and windows.  Also, there are piles of trash.  Everywhere.  Not just tiny piles, I'm saying that this trash has been collecting and building for so many years with dirt and mud that it has been turned into a super trash pile that no mere mortal man could remove.  It would take the work of a superhero.  Or a very dedicated sidekick.  The piles are around three to four feet tall and eight to fifteen feet in diameter.  That's big and gross.  I don't care who you are.

That is just a little bit of insight as to what the magical land of Argentina is like.  At first glance, I thought everything was pretty similar to America.  That's false.  It is so very different.  What I have written, or even what I could have written will never do justice to what this place is actually like.  But I do love it here.  I love talking to the people.  I love it all!  Keep me in your prayers as I do the same for you.  I wouldn't rather be anywhere else besides my mission right now.  I love you all and encourage you to pray and find missionary opportunities!!  I must now go and serve the beloved children of God.

LOVE,

Elder Plautz

Now I'm a Veteran!

At the end of another three weeks, I must yeat again part with a group of missionaries. The Latinos, like always, but this time the group of Americans whom we have overlapped six weeks with.  They departed for their missions yesterday.  Parting is never easy, but when you know it's for the best cause, you can be patient.  Me, too.  Even if it means I won't see them for at least two years, especially because I never plan on attending BYU!  One of the Elders that just left, Elder Myers, said that he recognized me from when I went to EFY in Rexburg, Idaho back in 2010.  He said that he remembered that I was "the guy that everybody knew!"  It's kind of funny how I'm from North Carolina (the greatest place on earth), he's from Arkansas (don't even get me started), yet the only two times we have been together were in Idaho and Buenos Aires, Argentina.

We said goodbye to our two Latino roommates again, Elders Marín and Goncalvez.  Being in the CCM really makes you appreciate seeing young men and women willing to give up their livers for two years in service.  I'm so grateful to have known all of these wonderful people.  I'm also super grateful that I get to play soccer with them!  Because every day, soccer becomes more and more fun for me.  What started off as a burden (and frankly a joke) has now become an amazingly enjoyable sport for me, which I look forward to every day!  How about that?  Daniel Plautz?  Playing sports? Like, ones where you have to exercise?  And DO stuff?  Even though I'm not really horrible at sports, I have hever really enjoyred playing them until soccer in Argentina!  Against Latinos who are eons ahead of me in skill! (Sometimes I see five-year-old children playing and they're way better than I am.) I guess that's what happens when I'm forced to play it for an hour every day.

Proselyting day was once again amazing.  After a mildly successful afternoon in Banfield, Buenos Aires we were heading back to the bus stop and on the way, we passed a house where a lady was cleaning her drivedway.  We simply asked her if she would have liked to hear a message about Jesus Christ and fifteen minutes later, she had finished telling us her incredibly difficult, incredibly personal life story.  She told us that she was just looking for peace.  I felt inspired to ask several questions, some of which Elder Pointer asked before I could, which reassured me that we were both being inspired by the Spirit.  Now let me state a fact: everybody has problems.  

Something I have learned: reading the Book of Mormon can literally solve them. Before my mission, I would alwasy be timid to share a scriputre from the Book of Mormon to a person who had never heard of it before.  But the Book of Mormon carries the Spirit of God.  If someone has an ear to listen, they WILL hear the still, small voice whispering to them while reading it, bearing testimoy of truth, regardless of whther or not they know what the Book of Mormon is or is about.  I, having no idea why this scriputre popped into my head, but also knowing both what it was about and that I had to share it, had her read Ether 12:6.  The scripture talks about faith, "dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith," I believe it says.  

By her contemplative look, I could tell that reading this scripture had caused some introspection.  I told her that we were here for a reason and asked her what she thought the reason was, to which she replied "because God sends angels."  She told us that she would attend church (and bring her children) the next day and look for missionaries like us.  She also wanted to read the Book of Mormon.  The Spirit was incredible and we were about to leave for fear of missing our bus, but I couldn't go without offering a prayer.  It's amazing how a simple prayer can have such a powerful effect.  I didn't say anything that I felt was out of the ordinary, nor could I have with my limited knowledge of this language, but I do know that prayer in faith produces results for those who are looking for answers.  

Her desire for peace was met, at least for a brief moment, when I closed my prayer and she looked up with tearful eyes of gratitude, thanking us profusely for our help.  This is the reason I am here.  God is changing lives and I am witnessing it as His vessel to carry the Spirit.  Missionary work is the most gratifying work there is!

I'll get my Latino companion on Monday!  This six weeks has come and gone so quickly and I can't wait to learn to soley communicate in Español.  Which, by the way, is still coming along at an accelerated rate.  The Lord is blessing me because of my faith.  To learn as much as I have in six weeks just isn't possible without the help of the Lord.  

For anybody sending mail, cease sending it to the CCM address and begin sending it to Uruguay because it takes about three weeks to get here from the United States and I would prefer to wait a few more days if it lands in Uruguay before I get there rather than having to wait a few more weeks because it has to be forwarded.  I appreciate mail from all who send it!!  I pray that all of you continue in (or begin) your faith!  I hope it's cold enough in North Carolina; it feels like the beginning of July here!  I must now go and serve the beloved children of God.

LOVE,

Elder Plautz

Me, Elder Pointer, Elder Parker

Me with el Presidente y la Hermana Openshaw

Elders, Marín, Pointer, me, Goncalvez, y Parker

The Buenos Aires Temple