Transfers! Nothing new. :)

27 July 2015

Transfer calls came on Saturday! Elder Malcolm and I will both be staying here. That means that I'll be here in this area for at least six months! I'm really glad I'm staying, because some great things are happening in our area. 

Mike is still coming to church! Which is awesome! He went to the hospital on Saturday for dehydration, but he insisted on coming to church anyway. :) He is so cool. The biggest thing holding him back from committing to baptism is either his wife (she's just not that interested) or his desire to make sure that he is really committed to the Church and to the Gospel. He finished reading the Book of Mormon this week, and is going to be starting on the Gospel Principles book. :) He knows the Book of Mormon is true, and he has relied on that testimony as his family is questioning him. 

The Gospel is true, and really can help us as we turn to our Savior! 

Love, Elder Plehn

Picture: Our District!

Hayden was baptized!

Hayden was baptized!!!!!!! Elder Malcolm and I have had so much fun teaching him. He is super humble, and read to follow His Savior. We've had a great week. We found two fantastic new investigators, we had a baptism (always a good thing) and had a great time at church. And it's cooling down!! It's only in the 90's! :) Which is actually really nice. Last week ago, I was saying thank goodness that it's only 100 degrees. :)  

I've been thinking a lot about how the Savior is always ready and willing to reach out to us, even if we are not reaching out to him. No matter what we can do wrong, he'll always be there to help us. And all we have to do to receive his help is to be obedient. It's as simple as that. :) Just ask your self what could possibly be worth turning down exaltation and salvation for. If you do that, you will be happy, because you will be doing the Father's will. That's what the Savior did, and what he asks us to do.

Love, Elder Plehn

Hayden with his dad (who's on date for the 1st of August) and his grandpa

Yellow watermelon. Weird. But delicious.

And I love to see the temple... Which happens to be across the parking lot from our stake center. Which is a mile and a half from our normal church building. It's like Utah here. :) 

The best welcome sign ever. And Elder Malcolm just happened to be wearing his whale tie. Too perfect. :)

It's really hot... But we have people to teach, so it's ok! :)

Things are awesome here in the WKM! Everything except for the heat... It's really hot. I'm not quite sure that I've ever been in 110+ weather. Consistently. But that's fine, because we've had a great week. 

Our mission officially splits on Wednesday when President Lewis gets here. There's a pretty big chance that I'll be in one of the three Tri-cities for the rest of my mission. :)

We had Mike and Hayden at church yesterday! And Mike brought his wife for the second time. They are both doing fantastic. Hayden's baptismal date is set for the 11th, and he's looking forward to it. We're meeting with him today to teach tithing, finish up lesson four, and schedule a baptismal interview. Mike is also doing well. He's still waiting for his answer, but he's still reading. He's somewhere in 3 Nephi right now. 

We found two new investigators last week, Andrew and Chris. We found them both on Thursday, and had another lesson with both of themon Saturday. And they both committed to baptism on the 25th of July. 

Elder Malcolm is a fantastic missionary. I keep telling people that he's really just training me. He is awesome. He's figured out the area really fast and he's been a really good help for the investigators we have. 

I absolutely love being a missionary. There is no greater work than this!

Love, Elder Plehn

It's a Boy :)

Hey Everyone! 

Mission calls came this week! I'm going to be staying in the Washington Kennewick mission! My companion Elder Brinkerhoff is being transferred to Wenatchee, which means he will be in the Washington Yakima Mission when the Kennewich mission splits on the 1st of July. And I am going to be receiving a brand new missionary, straight from the MTC! It's going to be awesome. :) I loved my trainers, Elder Schoenberger and Elder Asplund. They were awesome. And now I get to train a brand new missionary. I am really excited. I am going to miss Elder Brinkerhoff, but I am excited for the fresh perspective and the "greenie fire" that my new companion will bring to this area. 

We have had a good week here. just in the last two days, we have set up appointments with three or four part member families that area excited to have us share a message. We also had two investigators at church: Hayden and Mike! Hayden's dad came too. Hayden is on date for the 27th, and he is getting excited. We are going to be meeting with him three times this week, just to make sure that we have enough time to cover all the material with him before we schedule a baptismal interview. Eric, Hayden's dad has been less-active since he was 15 or so, and he is making a ton of progress. He quit drinking cold turkey and is eager to come to church. At church he was talking about bringing his two other children who are going to be staying with him for the summer to church next week.

 Mike, our other investigator at church is progressing well too. And he said that his wife will be coming to church next week! It is so cool to see investigators filled with a desire to share what they have found. Mike probably won't be baptized in June, but that's ok, because that means that he and his wife are going to be baptized together. :) My new companion's first week in the field will be awesome! The Morgans, a Recent Convert family in the Willowbrook ward went to the temple for the first time to do baptisms on Friday, and they had some truly incredible spiritual experiences as they were baptized and confirmed for their parents.

Missionary work is awesome! 

Elder Plehn

8th Month Mark/33% done

Well, today is a special day that I wasn't really looking forward to. :) I am 1/3rd of the was through with my mission! I can't believe that I've really been here for eight months. It's been an amazing experience so far, and I am so excited to see what is going to happen in the next 16 months. 

Well, with that out of the way, we've had an  interesting transfer here. We got to Kennewick almost three weeks ago. Replacing another set of missionaries is very unusual. There was not very much left for us in terms of people to teach or things to do. But we've been finding new people. This past week we've found 4 new investigators. :) We've also had General Conference, which was an amazing experience. If you haven't seen it, go watch it. Or just watch it again. :) 

Because of General Conference, we've only been to church twice here, so we're still trying to get to know everyone and get everyone's names straight. And to add to that, the Kennewick Stake was completely realigned this week, so our boundaries have changed. More people to know and forget which ward they live in! :) But it's fun. We've been having a lot of really cool lessons with some amazing people. 

In one of our wards, there is a recent convert named Grant. He was baptized the Saturday before we got to Kennewick, so we've been teaching him the new member lessons. Grant is so cool. He was introduced to the church by meeting missionaries at a service organization that helps people with learning disabilities. So when the sister missionaries knocked on his door, he let them right in, and he was baptized within three weeks. He has such a strong testimony, and he is very excited about the Gospel. I'll include some pictures of his basement. He propagates live coral and clown fish for work. :)

One of the new investigators we found this week, Mike, was given a Book of Mormon by his friend. By the time we talked with him, he had gotten up to Mosiah. And he loves the book. We had a lesson with him about the Restoration, and committed him to baptism. He said he would when he receives a spiritual witness that the Book of Mormon it true. We tried to commit him to a date of May 9th, but he's going to be out of town. So I guess we'll have to give him another one. :) 

Good things are happening! :) I'm very glad for this opportunity I have to be a missionary, and to represent Jesus Christ. I may not be perfect, but I know that as I live the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I can be strengthened and made clean through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and that that can happen to anybody!

Love, Elder Plehn

Temple Trip, Baptism, and dog bite! :)

Hey Everyone!

Sorry this is on Tuesday. I forgot to mention last week that our temple trip was today, which means our P-day was moved. 

This week has been super eventful. We had the opportunity to go to the temple earlier today. It was wonderful. I love going, and I wish we could go more often.

Brian was baptized and confirmed this week! Brian is one amazing man. He is the happiest guy I know right now. He is on cloud nine. It's been so cool to work with him and help him along. 

And I got bit by a dog! I am really, really, really sorry, but I left the cord that I need to upload pictures. It's pretty nasty... :) But I'll be fine. I just have a few holes in my leg(s). :) Brian actually asked me to baptize him, but I got bit the day before, and the doctor said I shouldn't get it wet, so Elder Brinkerhoff baptized him and I confirmed him. 

Have a great week! :)

Elder Plehn

PS: In case you can't tell, we barely have any time to email this week, so I'll write a longer one next week with pictures. (Later he sent these photos from his companion's camera.)

Brian

Hey everyone!

So, we have had some very, very cool things happen. I've been in Yakima for almost a month now. When I got here, this area was pretty dead. But now, we have a baptism this Saturday, and another one scheduled for next week. And please don't think that I'm saying that because I think I'm so great, and that I did so much. I'm saying it because I know that Heavenly Father rewards us when we are trying our hardest to improve and to do His will. 

Brian, the person getting baptized on Saturday, is awesome. He has completely stopped drinking, is paying his tithing, has come to church every week I've been here, and has an incredible testimony. Right before I got here, he had failed his baptismal interview the day before his baptism. He just was not ready. But now he is. He is absolutely incredible. He has completely changed his life, and is now ready to make a sacred covenant with God. 

We have had a lot of cool, small miracles. Like locking ourselves out of our apartment, and only being able to get in because we left a window unlocked the night before when Elder Brinkerhoff burned our pizza. :) And other cool things like that. God is very aware of our lives, and He can take an active role, but only when we ask Him to. 

Have a great week!

Elder Plehn