Elder Plumb and Elder Kunde his trainer from Idaho Falls, ID. Happy 19th Birthday Elder Plumb!
Monday, September 25, 2017
Pictures from Fleming Island, FL
1st Letters to Siblings- daily details
Marcus!!! I miss you bro! I wish I could play one on one with you dude no one is as good as you out here! There's no competition it sucks! I'm just kidding there's some good competition but not nearly as good as you. That's so cool you guys got a kitten! I'm jealous! I love kittens and she definitely won't be a kitten when I get back. But that is alright I got pet lizards and frogs and alligators out here. There are so many lizards and frogs it's unbelievable! Every door I go to me and my companion Elder Kunde count how many lizards and geckos too and frogs we see on the front porch and around the door! I haven't seen any alligators yet though but that's cuz my area doesn't have too many of them but I'll definitely see some at some point.
That's so cool that your football team is doing great! I hope you're still undefeated. It sounds like you're Antonio Brown and Aquib Talib out there, that's so cool! And also listen to the wise ways of Water Boy and picture the other team as something you hate and destroy them when you tackle them! If you don't understand that ask dad.
That's so cool you went to a Broncos pre season game with your football team! I haven't even done that! I'm so jealous!
I'm glad schools going great. And less homework is definitely really cool! Sounds like you've got a lot of friends to keep you busy.
My letters don't sound like me? That's cuz I'm feelin the spirit brotha! A mission is a great thing and I've only had a small piece of this glorious cake! Make sure you get yourself ready for a mission in 7 years! It's truly a fundamazing experience! Love ya buddy I hope you continue to do well in school and football!
Love,
Elder Plumb
Zhenya - It's really cool teaching real people lessons cuz now I know it's not an actor I'm teaching. They are real people with real questions and they are trying to stump me on purpose lol. And no I don't read the safe guards booklet everyday but I did in the MTC. And so far I've only taught one investigator named Tommy who was referred to us by a youth in our ward named Connor Mendel. Tommy is pretty cool and has a lot of questions but we got him to understand the restoration and the plan of salvation pretty well! Connor is really cool too and he has helped us a lot with referrals. But ya referrals are probably the best way for us to find investigators. We have tried handing out pass a long cards and knocking doors but haven't been successful yet. We got a commitment from someone while knocking to go to church but they didn't show up so ya so far no luck. But it been fun knocking anyway and seeing peoples reactions when we randomly talk to them on the street! I'm loving it and I hope you and Chase are doing well and hopefully school is going great! Love you!
Love,
Elder Plumb
1st Letter from the Mission - He is in Fleming Island, Florida now with Elder Kunde (trainer)
Hellooooooo! I am serving in a place called Fleming island. It's not technically an island but it's surrounded by rivers so it's kind of an island. But it's a super cool area and I see lizards and frogs everywhere I go! I've gotten to know some of the members of the Fleming island second ward very well and they are really nice and interesting people. Some of them have awesome southern accents and are super funny!
My companions name is Elder Kunde and he's from Idaho falls, idaho. He's super cool and loves to hunt so he's got a few good stories about all the big bull elk he's hunted. His favorite NFL team is the Broncos too! He doesn't know like anything about them though but they are his favorite team anyway he says. He's a really good trainer and is really funny too!
My birthday was awesome! First we had a big conference call with president Lee and all of the trainers and he asked us how we were doing and what we have learned so far. Then we went to the church and did some family history stuff that was really boring and afterwards we went back to the apartment and did some studying for about 45 min. Then we heard a knock on the door and it was Brother Mecca who is really funny and has a great accent and he loves the missionaries. But we didn't know why he was here and he just said let's go! So we left with him and I asked him where we were going and he just mumbled something about his neighbor so I still didn't really know what we were doing. So we drove for a bit and then he pulled into a pizza place and I still didn't k ow what was going on until we went in and I saw his wife with a balloon at a table and I finally realized it was a surprise birthday dinner! Elder kunde had set it all up and had some pretty good acting during the whole thing. I thought he was just as confused as I was but he knew the whole time. So we had some really good garlic knots and some pizza and then afterwards we had an ice cream cake! I hadn't been so full for a long time! And then I got pranked again after that by some of the sisters in my district who called us and said one of them was unconscious from a gluten allergic reaction and they needed our help but we could tell it wasn't real. But we drove down to the church and we were right it was another surprise and they had helium balloons which were really fun to use to make our voices super high and they also had some more cake! And to top off the whole birthday was the best thing ever!
When we got home there was a mission wide conference call that our district leader said was VERY IMPORTANT!!! So we got on and president Lee talked for a long time about how technology helps us teach a lot and then he told us all that starting Monday (which is today) we are going to start using Facebook and Google plus to prosilite! And we are also getting smart phones!!! But those aren't until like two more Wednesdays but all district leaders, zone leaders, and sister training leaders get smart phones today. I'm so excited to get started on all that it will be so useful!
I love Florida so much and the people are amazing, funny and really nice it's so great! I love y'all and email me if you got anymore questions!
Love, Elder Plumb
Sunday, September 17, 2017
First Letter to Elder Plumb from Dad - Made it to Florida!
Elder Plumb,
Wow, the last time the title of Elder Plumb was used in this family was your grandpa serving with grandma in Pittsburgh mission in 2000 to 2001 and me in 1987 to 1989 in Missouri,St. Louis mission.
It was tougher to say goodbye at the airport than I thought. I miss doing stuff with you, but after reading your letter, I could not be more excited - both the goodbye and your letter were emotional for me. I'm glad you are enjoying the MTC. It's hard, but with the right attitude it's an awesome place to learn and grow. It looks like when you get to Jacksonville, you will be helping with hurricane clean up. Mom is glad you are not in Jacksonville right now going through the hurricane, but I kind of wish you were there experiencing the hurricane. I think that would be a cool, but crazy experience. I told mom that I doubt the Jacksonville, Orlando, Ft Lauderdale, Tampa Bay, Miami mission... will lose any missionaries because of the hurricane unless the missionaries do something stupid.
Today at stake conference this 17 year old girl named Haley spoke. She is from the Catholic church up on the hill from our church. Her dad had died recently and she was struggling to find comfort and so a few weeks ago she decided to come down the hill with her younger brother and sister to visit the Mormon church. She showed up at the Foothills Canyon building and timed the Saddle Ranch wards sacrament. She felt a great spirit during the sacrament and then after big Jim Hanchett from basketball went up to her and introduced himself and they ended up staying for all 3 meetings. They've taken the missionary discussions and she has received permission to be baptized I think when she turns 18. She goes to seminary and her talk in church was amazing - and she's not LDS yet. Her mom and siblings were in the audience and after her talk, I have a hard time believing mom and the rest of the family won't get baptized soon as well. Another young man and young woman, Kennedy Babbitt spoke, it was pretty cool to hear the youths testimonies.
How is your daily reading of the Book of Mormon going? In family night tonight we made a commitment to read the BOM personally daily. I have gone years reading it every day and it's interesting how I'll miss days at times and it really bothers me that I haven't craved that book like I used to. I'm looking forward to my recommit and I think I'll set the goal to read the whole BOM by the end of the year. What a powerful book and like President Benson would say - we all need to read it again and again, rediscovering the Book of Mormon each time. I don't know if this is Mormon folklore or not, but I heard that President Monson has read the Book of Mormon so many times that he has it memorized. Fact or Folklore??? You'll hear a lot of Mormon folklore I'm sure as a missionary if you haven't already, I'm pitching your first folklore possibly.
I look forward to your next letter and hope you continue with your great attitude and desire to learn and grow. May the spirit continue to lead and guide you. Remember that obedience is what gives you power as a missionary to receive guidance and direction from the spirit.
Love,
Dad
Hey dad! Thanks for this email it's good to know you got emotional over me haha! Even though I didn't really show it at the airport I was really sad to leave guys. I'm gonna miss doing stuff with you too especially basketball so make sure you can still play when I get back. And thats pretty cool to think that I'm one of the rare Elder Plumbs! I love serving out here and this is only the mtc which Iv'e heard is the most boring part of the mission and I can tell I'm kinda starting to get some cabin fever here. I just want to get out to Florida and help real people instead of being couped up here teaching fake investigators. But I know its good practice here so I'm making the most of it. And ya that hurricane Iv'e heard did some damage so honestly I'm pretty excited to get down there and do a lot of clean up. It will be a good opportunity to teach people while cleaning up I'd imagine so I'm excited for that.
Stake conference sounded pretty good I'm sad I missed it but at least I got to hear from Dallin H. Oaks instead! It was a very good talk on how to become a missionary. He talked a lot about it being important that we don't just need a testimony but we also need to be converted. I really liked it and it helped me to learn to rely on Jesus in everything I do here on a mission because everything is possible through him. I also watched a talk by Elder Bednar called the character of christ. It was an amazing talk that he gave in the mtc about 7 years ago. He talked about a lot of stories of people who showed characters of christ but what I got out of it is that this mission isn't about me and my wants. This mission is about doing the Lord's work and helping others find salvation through this gospel. I am just one of the saviors many tools to help him build his church and get Heavenly Fathers children to return to live with him again. I am here to learn and grow but I am mainly here to do the Lord's work. It was a great talk though and I wish you guys could watch it but I think it's only available at the mtc but Im not quite sure so you could try to look it up.
My daily Book of Mormon reading is going pretty good I'm only on 1 Nephi 8 but that's because I've been busy studying preach my gospel cuz I was a little lazy on that back at home. But it's going great and me and my companion have a lot of great discussions on stuff we learn in it. And I havn't really heard really any Mormon folklore but I wouldn't doubt it if President Monson had the whole Book of Mormon memorized.
I hope everyone is doing well and let them all know that I love them and want to hear from them cuz this is the only day in the week I can talk to them so make sure that they all email me. Love ya!
Love, Elder Plumb
Elder Plumb's Trainer, Elder Kunde from Idaho Falls, Idaho. He is a Bronco fan too!
All the new missionaries straight from the Missionary Training Center
Elder Plumb with President and Sister Lee
Jacksonville, Florida Airport meeting President Lee for the first time.
MTC is Life - 1st post from the MTC
Yooooooo! The MTC is amazing! I'm learning so much here and it's been so much fun. Sorry I have not been able to reply to some emails because we can only reply on p-days which is today but I can read any emails during the week. But seriously this place is bigger and better than I thought it would be! First of all my companion's name elder hatch. He is Tongan but was adopted into an American family and he is the chilling guys I've ever met and we have so much in common! There are a lot of elders and sisters that we hang with but we mostly hang with the elders in our room. They are elder Richardson who is from Arizona and elder lamb who is also from Arizona and elder boemee who is from Canada and lastly elder maschek who is from Idaho. They are all really cool elders and we have a lot of fun together. The campus is super cool because of the add on! I'm so glad we are in the new building for classes because it is bigger, has more windows and is a ton more lively than the old buildings. So we have learned how to teach investigators and we have practiced many many many times. Elder hatch and I are amazing at it and we just started teaching out first fake investigator and it has gone great. My testimony has grown 10 times since I've gotten here and I've loved every second of it. I've seen a few elders from Colorado including elder Robison, elder kopp, elder Hanson, and elder Gibb. Lastly the elders in my room and I started an awesome game! So we are supposed to call each other elders and not guys or dude or any slang terms so we decided to tally any time one of us say that and at the end of the day the elder with the most tallys gets whipped by a big rubber rope! It hurts so bad! So far elder hatch and elder maschek are the only ones to not have gotten whipped. We are hoping to continue this tradition with all the elders who come in after us. I'll send some pictures and videos of us doing the ceremony of punishment. But overall it has been an amazing experience and I can't wait to get out to the field and bring real investigators into this great gospel!
Love,
Elder Plumb
Classroom studies with District 37
Elder Dallin H. Oaks (A Twelve Apostle) came to speak to them at the MTC
Sunset at the MTC with Calvin's district Elders
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