Hello, Florida!

Dear Everyone!
 

This Gospel must be preached to everyone, so if you are not actively seeking to find people for the missionaries to teach, then start.  Do you think that missionaries knocking on doors all day is effective?  It really isn't.  There are those who must be found that way because they have no connection with the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, but almost all of the people who are prepared to accept this true message are your own friends and the people you know.  Remember that success is in the invitation.  For example, your friends could be invited to church, family home evening, mutual, ward activities, or the most important, to talk with the missionaries!  Because the worth of souls is great in the sight of God and He wants all of us to return to him.  How will these friends of ours know how to return to Him if they don't know where to look?  How will they know that the whole purpose of life is to prepare to meet God (Alma 34:32) if no one ever tells them?  We are the answer--the friends, the coworkers, the accquaintences.  So I give a charge to all to pray earnestly for missionary opportunites, and then seek them throughout the day, and then take them.  They will bring you more joy than you can hope for and will bless you with the trials that you are going through right now.  I know that that's true.  The field is white, already to harvest.  The time to reap is now.  The time to seed has already passed.  Let us thrust in our sickles with our might and lay up in store that we perish not, but bring salvation unto our souls.
 

Here I am in the city of Florida in the department (that's what they call states here--"departments") of Florida.  It isn't a Stake quite yet; it's still a district.  But the active members here are really strong and we are going to help them find people for us to teach and baptize.  Elder Gila, my new companion is actually not from Fiji.  He is from Vanuatu, which is close to Fiji, and he is from the island Ambae.  He speaks four languages and he is a super great missionary.  We are working super hard together.  This area, Piedra Alta, is a little bit small, and on top of that, we share the branch with two sisters.  So our working area is a little bit more than a third of the size of San Carlos.  But we will do whatever it takes to find the miracles that the Lord has prepared for us.  I love doing this work.  I love being a missionary.  We are looking to find those who are prepared to hear and accept our message and work has been a little slow, but it is about to pick up.  Our area is a pretty active city and the people are kinda rich, which leads many of them to believe that they don't have time to talk to us.  But there are those whom we are finding that need our help.  I am learning more and more how to depend completely on the Lord for everything.  We really can't do anything on our own.  If we wish to reach our potential, we must go to Him.  And the blessings that He has in store for us are amazing if we are willing to humble ourselves and do what He would have us do.

Also, optimism is the best.  Sometimes it's easy to think that their is no way to continue to have hope that things will get better.  Do you know what we should do if that happens?  Start by smiling.  If you are by yourself or with other people, just smile.  I think that our brains are programmed to be happier when we smile.  Next, we have to realize that we aren't perfect and that the Lord expected us to make mistakes.  We don't let the Lord down when we make mistakes, we only let Him down when we realize we are making mistakes and we don't repent and try to do better.  And even when we let him down if we don't immediately repent, He still waits for us with open arms, ready to forgive us and lift us up.  We truly can be lifted up by the Lord.  So once we repent of our follies and try to do better, we look forward (continuing to smile) and keep going.  And it's not easy, but once we have that hope, it becomes a whole lot easier!  I love this Gospel.  Not just because it gives me purpose, but because it gives me the strength and perspective to fulfill that purpose.  This Gospel is true.  I know it is true.
 

Remember to seek to build the kingdom of God.  Then everything else shall be given to us.  I appreciate all of the prayers and support.  I'm sending it all right back your way.  I love you all!  Keep on rockin' in the free world!  I must now go and serve the beloved children of God.
 

LOVE,
Elder Plautz

Goodbye San Carlos; It's Been Nice.

Dear everyone,
 

I honestly forgot that anything existed outside of my mission this last week.  I am exhausted right now.  Typing is making me even more tired.  But THAT'S OKAY!  Because this work will move forward no matter what.  Our whole mission is seeing more and more success every week.  We saw a ton of success in San Carlos this week and found three really amazing people who have tons and tons of potential.  We received the call from our District Leader yesterday night about how changes would turn out.  I had already felt like I was leaving, so it didn't surprise me when he told me that I would be going.  But I'll be leaving with dignity because we worked super hard in San Carlos to invite others to come unto Christ.  I'll be leaving the department Maldonado and going to Florida!  No, not Florida with Universal Studios and Disney World and Sea World (also, Sea World is super lame)!  I'll be going to the area called Piedra Alta!  I have never heard of it before, but my companion's name is Elder Gila and he is from... wait for it...  not North America!  Not South America!  Give up?  The only place in the world that Truman wants to go!  He is from Fiji!  And I don't know what that means for us, but I think that it's a sign that we are going to see much success together!  He had to learn English and Spanish on his mission: what a boss.  He speaks some other language that nobody knows, too, but that's not important.  What IS important is that I'm leaving!  Yes, I have to say goodbye to San Carlos, my home.  It was very appropriate that I came to San Carlos first, because they call themselves "Carolinos"  and I, being from the wonderful state of North Carolina, was already a Carolino by association.  I don't know what people call themselves from Piedra Alta, but I guess I'll find out this week.
 

We worked a ton today and helped Honorio understand how important going to church is.  I had this amazing inspiration to take him to his backyard, where he has planted tons of fruit trees and bring a seed with me from an orange that I ate.  We compared the seed to faith!  (Sound familiar?)  And I took him to different trees in his backyard that were at various stages of their growing process.  We talked about how a tree needs things like sunlight, soil, and water to grow.  Without one of those things, the tree simply will not grow.  If we take one of those things away from a grow tree, then it will die.  We compared those tree things, sunlight, soil, and water, to three things that are completely necessary to grow faith: daily prayer, daily scripture study, and weekly church assistance.  If we don't have all of those things, then our faith cannot grow.  Maybe it will grow a little, but it in no way will be able to reach its full potential.  If we do those things for a long time, but then stop after a while, then our faith will not only stop growing, but it will die.  After this lesson, Honorio understood very well.  The reason he hadn't come to church was because his mother (who is against this whole thing) had asked him to stay with her (there was a little bit of mother-induced guilt in there, too).  A question came to my head:  "Honorio, do you think that your mother is blessed because you come to church?"  "Of course," he said.  "So do you think that the Lord will bless her more if you come to church or if you stay with her?"  "If I go to church,"  he said.  And so it is.  Going to church is blessing.  We shouldn't ever forget it.  On Sunday, he came and said "my mother didn't want me to come; she wanted me to stay with her, but I knew that I would do her better coming here than staying with her."  That, everyone, is a miracle.  True doctrine understood changes attitude and behavior.  And now he understands.

I love this work.  I love how I live a life that is conformed to the Spirit and the relationship that I have with the Spirit as a missionary is undoubtedly different than anything I have every had before.  Just coming to understand this relationship has been a gigantic blessing in my life.  I know that a life lived by gospel standards is what brings true and everlasting happiness.  I'm gonna go to my house and fall asleep now (it's okay; today is Preparation Day).  But after I wake up, I will go and serve the beloved children of God.

LOVE,

Elder Plautz
 

Pictures, anyone?
 

Picture 1 is an accurate representation of how cold it is getting outside. Winter's a-comin'. I have never been too big of a fan of feeling cold, either...

Picture 2 is with my amazing Zone Leader Elder McLuckie from England. (He trained my new companion Elder Gila). He leaves in two days for home and I'l miss him tons. But seriously, he is a stud. Just look at him. And then eafter hearing him speak, any girl would literally just fall head over heals for him.

 

Picture 3 is us with Honorio. I love that guy.

 

Picture 4 is us with Sister Ofelia. She is super active now. She's great.

I'm an official Uruguayo now!

Dear everyone!
 

I sit at the computer in Montevideo right now!  We had to come to sign our visas so we could become residents.  And now we are!  Soy Uruguayo, por fin!  I'm finally an Uruguayan!  This week was a difficult one.  We worked super hard and I have had to be very patient.  Because San Carlos is filled with people that aren't from San Carlos, very few people came to church yesterday because they were all with their mothers.  Honorio hasn't come to church for the past two weeks now, but we're gonna find a way to help him back to the strength and conversion that he was developing.  He has chosen to get married no matter what and I think that he doesn't really want to, so he is having a lot of difficulty with this.  We can't tell him what to do, so we can only invite him to pray and make sure that he is going the way that God wants him to, and then support him in his decision.  It has been tough, but we continue marching forward with hope!
 

We stopped teaching Mirta because she has decided that she's not in a place to talk about spiritual things because her life continues in a downward spiral, as she says.  She continues to come to church, but only out of obligation to the man she nurses.  We started teaching a boy of 17 years named Franck from France (what are the chances!?).  He is super prepared to hear the Gospel and is excited to be baptized, so we're helping him through the repentance process.  We keep working hard and we are seeing success as long as we look for it in the right places!  Sometimes it's tough to keep your spirits up as a missionary.  I'm not gonna lie, sometimes it's really tough.  You constantly reevaluate yourself and try to change so that you will be worthy to receive all the miracles that God can give you.  But even after all that, it can be difficult to accept the success that you are given.  I really thought about what makes a successful missionary and I have realized that it comes from love, patience, and repentance.  Even if we do all we can do, we still will not be perfect.  We can do everything to live a holy life and try our best, but we will all still fall short of the glory of God.  That's where grace comes in.  The grace of God saves us after all we can do.  And I know that if I am doing all I can do, and repenting when I notice that I can do something better, then I am a successful missionary.
 

I love learning these life lessons on my mission.  It is turning me into the person that God wants me to be.  I'll continue to fill my purpose, looking forward with a perfect brightness of hope!  I love being on my mission.  I love being a missionary.  I wouldn't rather be anywhere else right now.  I must now go and serve the beloved children of God.
 

LOVE,

Elder Plautz

You'll never be anywhere in Uruguay at any time without being able to hear at least one dog barking.

Dear everyone,

 

Unfortunately, I have absolutely no time to email today due to travels to Montevideo so my companion could sign his name on some paper to verify his Visa.  Oh, Elder Teran...  He used to be Mexicano but he is Uruguayo.  I'll get there one day, too!  This week was the fastest week ever of my life.  I was just writing my email to you guys yesterday.  Stop going to fast, time!  Párate!  We saw great success this week!  It is really true that the Lord blesses us if we do everything we can to follow His commandments and choose the right.  We have started teaching some wonderful people and things are starting to pick up in San Carlos.  People are starting to come to church.  If I had more time to write, then I would, but I really have to get out and start working!  Those people need us out there!  Thank you all for your support and I hope you have a wonderful week!  I must now go and serve the beloved children of God.

 

LOVE,

Elder Plautz

 

The picture is me with my zone!  That thing I do with my hand (the thumb up and the pointer finger out) is something everybody does in Uruguay.  It means a smile and it's like a thumbs up.  Although they use thumbs ups, too.