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

Yeah, I'll just be in Argentina for New Years. No big deal.

Dear everybody,

It's insane to think that I have been here for five weeks!  After six weeks, the oldest guys get transfered out along with all of the Latinos, and all the new people come in!  And I'll get a new companion!  A LATINO companion!  Yews, that's what the six weekers get: a companion who usually only speaks Spanish.  On January 17th, MTC time is getting reduced by a third for all foreign speakers and on February 12th (Abraham Lincoln's birthday 1809) it'll be reduced by one third for all natives, too.  Missionaries like me will now have six weeks to be trained instead of the old-school nine weeks.  My jealousy is immeasurable...  Either way, I only have another week with my compañeros.  I'll miss Elder Parker and Elder Pointer.  We call ourselves "the Trio" and sing the word "trio" as a trio when people say the work "trio."  It's the best thing ever.

Due to lost classtime on Christmas, we didn't go proselyting in order to catch ourselves up in our studies.  But the days leading up to Christmas were amazing.  We watched  the first Presidency Christmas Devotional (found on lds.org) on Sunday and hearing the choir sing "What Child is This" brought me straight back to singing in the Messiah choir.  I quietly sang my part along during that song as several tears of joy streamed down my face.  On Christmas Eve (which is called "Noche Buena" down here) one of the area authories came to speak to us, the missionaries, about applying the generousity and charity of Christ to our libes and missionary work.  Christ's earthly ministry was only three years, you know.  My ministry will be two. l  If I have faith in Him, I know that I can have the same affect on the people as He did.

Christmas day was the most amazing, most difficult Christmas I have ever had.  We spent the morning studying different aspects of Christ's life and I had the opportunity to bear my testimony to all seventy of the missionaries in the CCM that Christ lives.  He overcame death and now we have the same opportunity.  And, as Christ commands in Mark 16:15-18, I must go forth and share this wonderful message with everyone.  I know that Christ lives; the Spirit of God has made the known to me because I have prayed and asked God.  I know that the same will work for anyone as long as they're willing to act upon his or her answer.  We watched a devotional for missionaries by Elder Holland that night and it completely changed my perspective on how I am going to teach.  Elder Holland...he is amazing.

My Spanish is coming along excellently.  I have learned everything that they are going to teach me and now it's just a matter of application.  English is so much easier!!  But Spanish is a beautiful language and communicating in it makes me feel like a boss.  I love learning about how to teach.  When I taught lessons before my mission, I think I did a pretty good job for the knowledge and the spirit that I had.  But now I feel like the Lord has shown me how to teach in a completely different way.  It's difficult to explain, but it sufficeth me to say that the Spirit knows all things and that I learn more and more every day about how to follow the promptings of God.  Also, Preach My Gospel is amazing.  I never appreciated it like I should have before my mission!!  Time blazes by here and I don't even know what to do with myself other than to get lost in this work.  I love you all and wish you happy holidays.  I love Christmahanukawanzakuh!  And New Years!  Make good resolutions.  I plan to do the same.  I must now go and serve the beloved children of God.

LOVE,

Elder Plautz

Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals!

Dear everyone!

What a week!  Everything just blazes by!  I look at the North Americans who just got here and feel like I was standing in theri places yesterday.  After spending every hour of every day with the same people, everything just becomes really funny.  It's amazing how many little inside jokes three people can develop together.  Getting along with a companion requires a great deal of patience.  Even if he is a wonderful person and teacher, it can be easy to be annoyed with somebody after spending every second of every day with them.  It also requires a lot of apologies and forgiveness.  I know why they say that missions help prepare you for *other* relationships in the future.  It's true!  Luckily, me and my trio get along very well because we're generally easygoing.  I am so blessed to have them; they're wonderful guys.

In the CCM, the secret to making time fly is looking forward to whatever comes next.  Wednesday is temple day, Thursday is email, Saturday is proselyting, and Sunday is sacrament meeting.   Even as a missionary, Sundays are still incredibly special.  The Spirit felt during the meetings and the chance to renew our covenants in Sacrament meeting leaves us rejuvinated for the week.  This is especially needed right after proselyting day.  Proselyting is easily the thing that we all look forward to the most.  It is so tiring and I have a great deal of resepct for missionaries that spend their whole missions doing it.  I have even more respect for the missionaries who always maintain a great attitude, too.  Elder Parker, Elder Pointer, and I have great strength in keeping a positive attitude.  The Lord blessed us last Satruday with a miracle!  After two hours of knocking doors in Vicente Lopez, Buenos Aires, we hadn't seen any success.  But we knew that the Lord would bless us for diligently working.  While the three of us were sitting on a sidewalk, eating lunch, a man of about fifty years rode his bicycle up to us and engaged us in a conversation.  This man recognized us a missionaries from the LDS Church and started to talk to us about himselrf.  His name was Ricarlo and he was baptized in the late 1990s.  About eight years ago, he stopped attending church becuase he had to work every Sunday and on top of that, he was also going through a very difficult time in his life.  He told me that he was still having hard times and that he wanted us to say a prayer with him.  Before praying, I felt prompted to testify to him that if he would start attending church again and start to read the Book of Mormon again, that he would see great blessings in his life.  I offered a prayer and asked Heavenly Father to give Ricarlo strength through his trials and to feel His love.  The Spirit was strong and Ricarlo was so grateful!  He made sure we had his contact information so we could give it to the missionaries that belong to the area.  Ricarlo committed to attending church again and reading out of the Book of Mormon.

None of us expected something huge to happen that day, but the Lord blessed us with a man who needed help.  This was no coincidence.  This is why I'm here.  On top of the present miracle, we were only speaking in Spanish, something that continues to amaze me.  The Lord is pouring blessings on us!  I am so grateful for this opportunity to represent Jesus Christ; I wouldn't do it if I didn't know that this was His church.  This is His church.  We, as the missionareies, hold His authority spoken of in Matthew 10:1.  Our appointment with everyone else feel through that Saturday; we went to Graciela's and Matías' house and Graciela said that he wasn't home, but that she wanted us to come back.  I have great hopes for those whom we have come in contact with.  The language of Spanish is making more and more and less and less sense every day.  People say that missionaries eventually start to think in the language and that's starting to happen to me.  It doesn't happen all at once.  It just starts with words and phrases that you would noramlly think, except it's in Spanish.  It's a miraculous process!  Continue to pray for me and I will do the same for you!  I must now go and serve the beloved Children of God.  MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

LOVE,

Elder Plautz

P.S. Shout outs to Catherine, Amelia, and Sydney for birthdays!  One year older and wiser, too!  I love you all!

We are no longer the new guys!

Dear everyone!

This week has been fantastic.  I think that once I got over the phase where I really missed home, everything just took a turn in a positive direction.  My Spanish is still rapidly imporving and I know that it is becasue the Lord has poured the blessings of heaven on my head.  I know that if I dedicate myself to this work, the Lord will belss me and my family.  More importantly, I know that he will bless the lives of those whom I will come in contact with.

On proselyting day we went back out into the cramped city of  Buenos Aires and invited many poeple to hear our message.  I think that last week was a humbling experience, but this week, we were ready to trust in the Lord.  He blessed us with a lesson!  That's right, we taught a lesson to a guy names Matías and his mother Graciela.  They are Christians and already hae tremendous faith in Christ.  With our two-and-a-half-week knowledge of Spanish, we taught an hour-long lesson about the Restoration.  It was the biggest miracle I have seen so far on the journey.  Somehow, I understood the most part of what they were saying.  Somehow, I conveyed everything that I was thinking.  Our district's first goal ever was to memorize the First Vision in Spanish.  I'm so glad and grateful that we did, because amidst all of my broken Spanish, my recount of that sacred moment was gramatically spot-on perfect.  It really drew in the Spirit.  We gave them a copy of the Book of Mormon and two pamphlets adn set up another appointment with them for this Saturday!  Even writing this down now fills me with the spirit of gratitude.  That they accepted the invitation to read the Book of Mormon was an absolute miracle.  Heavenly Father loosed my tongue like He promised He would in D&C 11:21 and 84:85.  This is yet another of the infinite miracles that the Lord has put in my life.

I have grown to love it here at the CCM.  President Openshaw is an incredible man with an immeasurable knowledge of the Scriptures.  He is the literal definition of a scriptorian.  Seriously, he has every scripture memorized and connected.  I want to be him when I grow up.  Not just because of his knowledge, but becasue of his love for missionaries, our work, and the Lord, Jesus Christ.  Having a trio is difficult at times, but I couldn´t ask for better companions than Elder Parker and Elder Pointer.  They are so much fun and so determined to learn and set amazing goals.  We work really well together.

I can't wait to be able to proclaim this Gospel every day when I get out of the CCM.  I have been here for three weeks and my testimony of this Gospel has doubled.  We said goodbye to plenty of missionaries this past Tuesday who had served their time here at the CCM.  I had to say goodbye to my roommates, Elders Castro and Puruncajas.  We got a new flock of missionaries in today and my district decided that we are going to try to make them feel as welcome as possible.  The first week and a half is the hardest, no doubt.  I walked into my room today, though, and saw a Latino passed out on my bed with his stuff all over my bed, too.  Even though my bed is distinguishingly different than every other bed, because of my super fluffy soft blanket, he still felt that that bed was the one he could sleep on.  I was so confused as to why he picked my bed, but I don't blame him.  I do have a super fluffy soft blanket.  Please pray for me and I will do the same for you.  I love you all.  I must now go and serve the beloved children of God.

LOVE,

Elder Plautz

(From left to right): Elder Parker, me, Elder Castro, Elder Pointer, Elder Puruncajas.

Life in the CCM!

Dear everyone,

This week went by so much faster.  I have been learning so much that it's unreal.  In two week, I have learned more Spanish than I did in two years of school and another two years of working with the Hispanics at Chick-fil-A.  A usual day at the CCM (which I mistakenly called the "Centro de Captivaciòn Misional" last email; it's actually the Centro de Capacitaciòn Misional, although sometimes it feels more like captivity rather than capacitation...).  A usual day is as follows: we wake up at 6:30 am and take showers, get ready, etc.  Breakfast is always cold cereal and some sort of pastry.  (Lunch and dinner is real food and the food here is amazing.)  I'm not sure if this is a CCM thing or an Argentina thing, but the milk is never cold!  It's in between warm and cold.  This is inexcusable!  It might be time for me to break my covenants and put ice milk.  Just kidding.  They won't break me.

After breakfast is personal study.  Before my mission,k I never really understood personal study like I do now.  The purpose of personal study is to study for our investigators (as long as we have people to teach) and their needs.  If I were teaching a guy named Pablo and he needed to learn about the Atonement, then I would pray for guidance and receive inspiration about which principles he needs to know about the Atonement.  Following personal study is companionship study, where we come together and decide how we'll teach our investigator(s), like who will cover which principles and how we are going to convey our message (in Spanish!).

We then have language study, which is usually the time my disrict loses focus (because they are anxiously waiting for lunch).  Trying to keep us focused is getting easier.  ONe of our teachers, Hermano Antoniette, says that our district is the perfect median between having fun and begin serious about learning.  It's great to have a bright and willing district.  Two of the Elders are struggling a little bit with the language, one of which is one of my companions, Elder Parker, because of his thick southern accent   (Still very entertaining to listen to in any language.)  During our studies, we also teach investigators played by the teachers.  We have investigators that we visit frequently and also some that we just visit with once.  This is to prepare us to teach any principle we want to.  Finding the needs of an investigator is like a spiritual puzzle.  We seek divine inspiration  which takes an ear for the Spirit, a lot of patience, and discussion with my companions.  We have lunch, then go back to the classroom for more Spanish study.  Everything moves so quickly, I know that without the Spirit  none of us would be learning this fast.  Following Spanish class is MORE Spanish class (on the computer  and the we have Actividad Fìsica (Physical Activity).  We are expected to do something active so let me just say that you KNOW I'm being exactly obedient whin I subject myself to basketball ad soccer.  Sometimes we play volleyball, which I'm much better at, but seriously, I'm in SOuth America.  Everybody wants to play soccer.  I will probably be pro by the end of my mission.

We clean oursevles up and then you guessed it!  MORE Spanish class!  We can never get enought of it.  More vocbulary, berbs, tenses, irregulars, an grammar.  Spanish grammar is super confusing, buy I'm understand more of it with every passing day.  After we've had about as much SPanish as we could take for one day, we have dinner and then doctrinal class.  We watch a lot of "the District" movies (documentaries about missionary work) and read a TON of Preach my Gospel and talk about how we listen to the SPirit and meet investiagors' needs.  Our evening teacher, hermano Melerio, ust got off his mission in Argentina six weeks ago and he is great at helping us realize what our necesities are as teachers of the Gospel of Jusus Christ.  We finish up our day with planning, where we talk as companionships about the needs of our investigators and what we feel they should learn and then we go ack to uor dorms to get ready for bed and go to sleep.  Elder Parker, Elder Pointer, and I share a dorm with a Latino companionship: Elder Castro from Columbia and Elder Puruncajas from Ecuador.  Both of them are helping us with our Spanish in any way they can.  There aren't really any restrictions about where we can't speak English (except in lessons and most of any class), but my district is making several goals to speak as much spanish as possible.  Since Elder Puruncajas can understand most of English, he is my human dictionary!  I love that guy!  Both of them have taken me to new levels of Español.  

On Saturdays, we go out and proselyte!  From 12-6 we dive into the cities of Argentina and put our limited knowledge and sub-par speaking skills into action!  Try to undersatnd an Argentine's Spanish is harder than using a whisk to scoop ice cream.  It's no walk in tha park.  But somehow we manage to convery our message...long enought for them to say that they're not interesed.  It was frustarting (we've only gone out once so far), but then a few people listened to us for five or ten minutes and I had the opportuniy to bear my testimony to a lady in Spanish.  This is no easy work, but it definitely has its rewards.

If I had more time to write, I would, but they only give us 30 minutes!  Take solace and comfort in the fact that CHRISTMAS is coming!!!  Read your scriputres!  Look for missionary opportuniteis!  If you pray for them, they will come!

LOVE,

Elder Plautz