The Work of the Lord keeps moving forward in Dunellen, NJ April 28, 2014

Transfer Day

Hola familia,

     How are you all doing? Thank you so much mom for translating those documents.  My investigator really appreciates it and says thank you.  Last week we earned five new investigators!  The first family is an elderly couple that I told you about last week from El Salvador.  We visited them on the return appointment and taught them the 5 steps of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  They accepted these doctrines and asked why so many churches are corrupt.  Elder King had a great scripture in Mormon that talked about churches that were built up for only gain and stray away from the things of God.  It was a really good visit and have another return visit.  The other family was a referral from the English elders.  We went to visit this referral and met Rebecca who is from El Salvador who wanted us to teach his 17 year old son who does not really believe in God.  He was not really excited to have us over so we set a return appointment with Rebecca and Pablo.  The next time we went Jorge the 17 year old son was more willing to listen and Rebecca and Pablo were very attentive.  We taught them the importance of the Book of Mormon and committed them to read the introduction.  They all said they would even Jorge.  Jorge understands English better but the parents only know a little English. So we taught in both languages.  It was a great experience.  We have mostly been working with less actives and had actually five less active show up to church.  We have been proud of our less actives as we reminded them that attending church is a commandment and will bless their lives.   On my mission I have learned to be patient and kind.  I have also gained a greater love for the scriptures especially the Book of Mormon.  I am excited for Tanner for his Prom and know he will do great and have a good time.  Thank you mom for sending the white short sleeves!   Last week we had Elder L. Tom Perry visit our mission.  It was an amazing experience as he talked about priesthood power and missionary work.  One thing he said," The time is NOW to hasten the (missionary) work!  We have never seen a time like this in the history of the church."  It was a powerful experience and we all felt the power and authority that he carried as he walked in the room. We all got to shake his hand. It was so cool.   I love you all!  Grateful to be a missionary.

Hope all is well and love you all so much!  Thank you for your prayers and love.  Excited to see you all on Mothers day.

Love,

Elder Plummer

Our Branch Building (part of an old factory building)

I love my Mexico MTC t-shirt

Helping a less active member

Elder L. Tom Perry visited our mission yesterday, Monday, April 21 - It was amazing to feel his presence!

Elder L. Tom Perry, he is very funny and uplifting!!

Thank you so much mom.  I will send the translation over.  It is on a hard copy if that is ok.  The music CD is great!  Thank you!  Today we have time to write to our families because of the all mission conference with Elder Perry yesterday.  It was an amazing experience.  He shook all 250 missionaries hands and I could feel his strong spirit.  He talked about religious freedom and said that "the laws of man should not be contrary to the laws of God."  He also talked about the job of an apostle who is to be a prophet, seer and revelator.  But "also to keep the doctrine pure within the church and to correct the affairs of mankind."   He said that he talked with Joe Biden about the new marriage laws and said it is important to listen and then to comment.  He also talked about how he really looks up to Elder Packer and how he goes to bed at 8 every night so he can wake up at 4am to have time to pray to our Heavenly Father.  Elder Perry said that it is really hard for him to go to bed that early because he wants to check the Red Sox score.  He is really funny.  I love you!

Elder Plummer

 Dear Family,

     Yes!  Elder Perry is coming to our mission today and is going to speak to us.  Thank you so much for the speaker and the CD.  They work great!  Unfortunately the CD player doesn’t work.  Probably it broke on the way here.  But we have one, so it is ok.  We had a great Easter. Yesterday it was a long day.  Most of our appointments fell through and none of our potentials were answering their phones or doors.  We then decided to try a less active with a nonmember spouse.  Fortunately they were home and we started teaching Soniya the restoration.  We asked if she has ever wondered why there are so many churches?  She suddenly became interested and said she has always wanted to ask someone that question.  As we taught about the apostasy and the first vision she said that this all made sense.  The spirit was so strong in the room as we testified of the validity of the Book of Mormon and committed her to read the introduction.  We have a returning appointment with her.  Last week Santos put his baptismal date for April 27!  We are going to go through the baptismal questions with him tonight and get a better feel if he is ready.  We are excited!!.  We also got two new investigators last Saturday.  They are an elderly couple from El Salvador and wanted us to come over to teach them English.  We slowly connected our English lecture to the Book of Mormon.  They said that most of their extended family are members of the church but they are strong Catholics.  We focused a lot on the Book of Mormon and committed them to read the introduction.  We have a returning appointment with them as well. Also this couple received a letter from the immigration office that is all in English.  They asked us to translate but there are a lot of words we don't know how to translate.  I was wondering mom if you have time if we could send the letter to you to translate.  It is three pages long telling her that she needs to stand before an immigration judge for overstaying her visa.  But there are many details we do not know how to translate.  Let me know if you have time.  We also could put it through google translate and send it to you to correct.  Whatever works for you.   I am grateful to be a missionary and have learned so much in my mission.  I love you all so much!  Grateful for your prayers.   

Love you,

Elder Plummer 

Easter Week - Nice weather to do missionary work! April 14, 2014 God speed the right!

Elder Plummer and Elder King (New Companion) at the City Library

New Study Room (We are Peru)

April 14, 2014

Hola familia,

General conference last week was amazing.  I enjoyed all of them.  President Uchtdorf's talk about gratitude was great!  My favorite quote from his talk was, "Gratitude is the catalyst of all Christlike attributes."  That really hit me and have been trying to give at least one prayer of gratitude every day.  I have already seen a difference and really start to appreciate life more.  This last week most of our investigators canceled but visited many less actives.  We were visiting this one less active from Guatemala who has not had contact from the church for months.  He still has a strong testimony of the church but has been having to work two jobs because of his tough financial situation. It is hard for him to attend church.  We promised him that if he found time to go to church he would be blessed spiritually and whatever he stands in need of.  It was a great lesson. Grateful to be a missionary.  I know this is the Lord's work. 

Thank you mom for the cookies!  They were so good and made our day.  Thank you for the Spanish Strength of Youth cards.  We will use them.  Thanks for sending the shorts and Peruvian jersey as well.  It has been a busy and hard week, but worth it.  We made 100 contacts this week because of the good weather.  Sometimes I really forget I am still in the US because all we hear is Hispanic music and only see Hispanics and speak Spanish.  It is so fun because of the good weather everyone is outside with their music and family and usually they are playing soccer.  People are usually very kind.  Last week Santos and Melvin were very busy and we did not get a chance to visit them.  We did visit with Luz who is from Colombia and has been investigating the church for a year and a half.  She made us dinner but really did not listen to our lesson.  Her husband Hernan who is a less active did listen to us and we taught him the importance of obedience.  He received the message very well and the spirit was so strong and we shared with him the verse "if ye love me, keep my commandment" (John 14:15).  He committed to come to church with his wife which he did.  Last Saturday we were visiting an inactive who has not had much contact with the church.  His name is Wilber and still has a strong testimony of the church.  He hasn't been able to come to church because of work which is a common problem here. His wife was also there and is not a member.  She is a devout Catholic but accepted to come and we teach her every week.  We testified to her about the Book of Mormon and felt the spirit.  It has been a slow week because every one has been cancelling.  But we have been busy working with less actives.  I have been learning to really stay focused on the work.  I have learned a lot from Elder King already.  He is very obedient and hard working.  Grateful to be on a mission.  I will try to send some pictures later today.  I will also find out the rules on skyping as well.   I love you all so much.  It has been a hard week, but I know this is the Lord's work.  Thank you for your love, prayers and support.  Have a great Easter!

Love you,

Elder Plummer