Baptisms :)

I love it when people get baptized! :) Last Saturday, Elder Coleman and I got to go back to Hermiston for Mo and her daughter Iyanelli's baptism. Then this last Saturday, we got to go back again and see Robert's baptism! I am so glad and grateful that our mission is small enough that we can see those we taught get baptized. There is nothing more rewarding or fulfilling as a missionary than to see someone you have worked so hard with and prayed so much for be immersed by someone who holds priesthood authority from Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. 

Elder Plehn

Eventful week!!

This was a crazy week! We got our transfer calls last week! I have been transferred to Richland! Now there are only two zones in our mission that I haven't served in! My new companion's name is Elder Williamson. He's been out for 6 months, and he's from Riverside, California. Our ward here is fantastic. We have a lot of investigators who are really close to baptism, but just need a solid baptismal date. 

We had an awesome evening last night. We had a good dinner with an awesome member family. Then we took that member with us to give a blessing to Jennifer, one of the investigators that I hadn't met yet. She has so many crazy things happening in her life, including a daughter who is addicted to heroin. We had a great lesson with here, and really felt the Spirit. And now she is excited to come to church and work towards being baptized! We followed that up with a lesson with a new investigator, Phil, who committed to read the Book of Mormon and continue to meet with us! We've had a great first week here in Richland. 

I got an email today from Elder Brinkerhoff, one of my old companions who is in the Yakima Mission now, today. This is the first paragraph:

"This week began with the news that my dear friend Brian Kisner had passed away. This is news that came only soon after I was given word that another dear friend Mike Gilbert had suffered a heart attack. I found out last p-day from a Zone leader currently serving in second ward and also Elder Thompson that Brian had passed away while traveling in Idaho over the Christmas break. Christmas Eve was his last day on Earth. I had the wonderful opportunity to attend his funeral this morning and be reunited with my Yakima 2nd ward family. The funeral was presided over and conducted by Bishop Christensen: A very spiritual giant and one of my heroes. He bore powerful testimony of the Savior and His love for us. Brian's powerful passion for life was remembered by his loving mother Rochelle and his son Jeremy. They had many wonderful memories to share with us and lots of laughs from his former days fixing up and riding motorcycles! That made me very happy. We enjoyed a luncheon afterwards with lots of catching up and friendly faces to remember while I felt down. I was looking much forward to when Brian would be able to receive his endowment in the Columbia River Temple in a few months but I know that God has other plans for this great man! :) I love him and my Heavenly Father very much."

Brian was a convert that Elder Brinkerhoff and I taught and baptized in Yakima. This happened a month after Mike Gilbert, another convert we taught and who was eventually baptized also passed away. It's incredibly reassuring to have a knowledge of God's Plan of Salvation. I am very blessed to be able to share this message. I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is Christ's church on the earth.

Love, Elder Plehn

It's a good thing we're in a small ward and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hello Everyone!

 

Important items from this week:

• It's a good thing we're in a small ward,
• I have learned that I have forgotten how to drive in snow,
• the Church is true and Jesus Christ is our Savior,
• And HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! :)

I love you all!

Elder Plehn

Christ The Reason (CTR)

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

Christmas time as a missionary is the best. We are so spiritually spoiled. :) We've had a great week. We found a great new family to teach that we are really excited about. Yvett and her son Xavier. They are so cool. We knocked on their door late on Wednesday night, had a quick lesson with Yvett, and then taught Yvett and Xavier on Saturday

 night. We taught the Restoration, and committed them to be baptized on the 23rd of January! Our next scheduled lesson is going to be a church tour at the stake center. It's amazing what we can promise to people as we teach them the Gospel! We get to tell them that they can be with their families forever! That's pretty cool! What's also cool, is to see people accept that unique doctrine and commit to act because they have faith that it is true, or even if it's just a belief that they can come to know that it is true.

 

We also had a great lesson last night with Milo and Sammy. Sammy is not a member, and Milo is an excommunicated member that is trying to come back and be baptized. We asked them what changes they had felt in their lives as they have met with the missionaries (for the last 15 months), and they just started talking and talking about how much the gospel has blessed their lives and the lives of their children. It was good to just let them talk. They are doing so well. We committed them to take time everyday and give themselves the opportunity to feel the Spirit. Even if it's just 5 minutes a day. We know and they know that that will allow them the opportunity to give the Spirit a chance to resolve any lingering concerns that are holding them back from being baptized.

 

Taking time every day to feel the Spirit is a must in this crazy world. That is my invitation for you! Take any amount of time you can and set it aside to read a scripture or two, say a prayer, or just sit still. I know that you will be able to find answers to questions and peace in a upside-down world. Jesus Christ is the Reason that we can feel peace, despite the mistakes that we have made. He Lives!

 

Love, Elder Plehn

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

 

This week has been good one. We had our Christmas Zone Conference, we went hay-ride caroling with the ward, and found an incredible new family to teach.

 

We have been studying the Gospels as a mission, and reading them has been a testimony building experience. I have learned a lot about how the Savior taught simply, but with power and authority. He was bold in warning against sin, but he was very willing to teach personally and lovingly. For as little as we have about the Savior's earthly life, we can learn so much from him.

We found an incredible new family to teach! (the cool thing about the Pasco 1st Ward is that everyone we talk to here is a family. Everyone. :) ) The Hernandez family is a family that has been prepared! We had a fantastic Restoration lesson with the husband (the wife and the two kids had to leave before we really got started). We had a member with us, and we were able to answer his questions, teach to his needs, and invite him to be baptized! He said that he absolutely would as he comes to know that the Book of Mormon is true! We're really excited to teach them.

 

On a more serious and somber note, last week, Mike Gilbert, who was an investigator that I taught and who was baptized in Kennewick, had a heart attack and passed away. We went to the viewing on Saturday. He was doing really well, and this kind of shocked everyone. Brenda, his wife, was at peace during the whole thing because she knew that Mike had found the truth and was going to be fine. The hope is that now she will continue to meet with the missionaries get baptized, and be sealed to Mike in the temple.

 

It's amazing what the Spirit and the gospel can do to comfort those who need it. This message of the Restored Gospel really does change lives and gives people a hope for a better world. Ether 12:4. With all my heart, I know that God is real. He is literally our Father in Heaven, and he loves us deeply. Christmas is a time for us to remember that we have a loving Father who sent His Son, Jesus Christ to die for us, and give us the opportunity to live with our families in God's presence for eternity.

 

Have a Merry Christmas!

Love, Elder Plehn

Hello!

Hello! (sorry about that blank one)

Transfers happened! Elder Coleman and I both stayed in Hermiston. This will be my third transfer here. All but one member of our district stayed here in Hermiston, and we added another companionship to our district: Elder and Sister Rathbun! They are a senior couple serving a proselyting mission down in the Monument and Fossil Branches. (It's about two or three hours away from Hermiston). They live in the Tri-Cities, but will be coming down here during the weekends. Our district is by far the biggest geographical district in our mission (it covers probably a little less than half of the mission. :) 

This week was awesome! We're teaching a man named Joseph. He's in his early 30's and he's an incredible guy. He's served about three years in Special Forces, he has multiple degrees, has owned several businesses, and wants to be baptized!!!!!!! (We all know what's most important there... ) Unfortunately, due to his military service, he is in the process of getting several knee surgeries that will prevent him from being baptized until probably the end of December. But he knows that this is Christ's Church on the earth! The biggest thing that helped him with that was the service that our Church renders to it's members. As the Body of Christ, we truly do take care of each other, and seeing that is what helped Joseph to accept the Gospel. So serve, and do it with joy! :)

We had a cool experience this week. In Elder's Quorum, our Elders Quorum President was teaching about missionary work last week, and he was telling us about an experience he has with giving a Book of Mormon to one of his neighbors. Well, on Saturday night, we were walking around in the dark (don't get me started on how dark it gets at nighttime here. We are dreading daylight savings time this week), and we start talking to a lady, and it is the same lady that our Elders Quorum President was working with! So we taught her about the Restoration, shared the First Vision, and set up and appointment for tomorrow night! It's not everyday you get a bio on your new investigators in church the week before you find them. :) 

Also, we were sitting in the Hermiston Ward's sacrament meeting, when in walks an investigator that I had taught in Yakima! She was baptized in August and had just moved to Hermiston on Saturday! It was so cool to see her and get to talk with her. 

Anyway, this week was awesome, but it always is when you are in the service of the Lord (Mosiah 2:17). As we serve those we love, our hearts are softened, and we are more able to reach out to more people in love. We are also able to discern the promptings of the Spirit more readily, which is something I've been noticing this week. I also wanted to follow up with the invitation I extended a few weeks ago. I asked everyone to pray and ask these five questions:

1.  Heavenly Father, are you really there?
2.   Do you really have a body of flesh and bones?
3.   Am I really your son or daughter?
4.   Do you really know me?
5.   Do you really love me?

What experiences have you had? I would love to be able to hear about them from you. 

Love, Elder Plehn

5 Questions

Hello Everyone! 

We just had a mission tour by Elder Daniel L. Johnson of the Seventy. He used to live in my grandparent's ward, so he actually knew how to say my name! :) General Authorities are the best! We only had a three hours with him, but I learned a ton. He talked about how our goals are only as good as our commitment to achieve them. We also talked a lot about how important the first principle in PMG we teach is (God is Our Loving Heavenly Father). One of the first things Satan does when he wants to draw us or people in general away is to confuse or destroy our image and knowledge of who our Heavenly Father really is. Elder Johnson instructed us to recommit ourselves to gaining and maintaining the strongest testimony we can muster of the nature and the reality of Heavenly Father. That's definitely something that I would invite you to do as well. Elder Johnson gave us five questions to ask Heavenly Father: 

1.  Heavenly Father, are you really there?
2.   Do you really have a body of flesh and bones?
3.   Am I really your son or daughter?
4.   Do you really know me?
5.   Do you really love me?

I know that Heavenly Father will answer those prayers if we are sincere. 

Elder Plehn