People Make the Place

Hey hey hey!

Hope everyone was well fed this week! I know I was! Thanksgiving was a

blast and it was something I have never experienced before, but we'll

get to that.

So I got my new companion this week!! She is so amazing! Her name is

Sister Ballard, and she is from Logan Utah. She has 5 older brothers!!

(ya I ain't got nothin on her) she can play the piano like a champ and

she is really good at quoting movies. Well before I even met sister

Ballard I got a call from her aunt who told me if I'm set with her as

a companion we were invited to her house for thanksgiving because she

already talked to the president about it and he said it was ok! So

that's what we did! Her aunt, Sister Rounds, is serving as a senior

missionary in Alahambra where the Chinese missionaries are. So we had

thanksgiving with 6 Chinese missionaries and some less actives of

sister Rounds Ward! It was so cool!! Learned some cool phrases in

Chinese, ate good food, and played uno! Not the typical thanksgiving

I'm used to but you never do get the typical holidays on your mission

do you 

It's been pretty crazy though. December will be my fourth month in

Glendale and I have to say it was a blessing to open it up. It's crazy

how much I've seen it grow since sister Iaboo and I opened the area.

What I love most about it is the people. I truly know that it doesn't

matter where we go on our missions because the people are what make

you love your mission. Because I've been here for a couple months I've

been able to see the progression of people and families, although

slow, but definitely noticeable. I've noticed that as missionaries we

really don't do much. We may be there to teach somebody, but no matter

what we say it is the spirit that works with and teaches them. It's

hard to recognize that at first, but if we constantly pray to the Lord

to know what he would have us do for others he will make the path way

clear. I'm so grateful for the people in this area and I love them and

feel apart of them. You can talk to anyone here about how lousy the

traffic is or how kind of cold and yet still perfect the weather is

and relate it all to the gospel! Hahaha it's kind of fun. There really

isn't anything else I would rather be doing. I love being a

missionary!

Love you!

Training!

Hello again! Is everyone excited for thanksgiving this week? Yep

should be delicious!

Well this week has been pretty good I think!

Brittany has really been progressing and has such a strong desire to

be baptized! It's amazing, She went to church last week and said she

knew this is the place she needs to be, she said it was as if she had

been here all along :) She's only 16 and I think it's amazing how

dedicated she already seems. She needs courage to stand up to her mom

and let her see her testimony of the church.

Maria has been going through a lot of health issues and has been busy

with renovating her apartment. Sister Iaboo and I were praying for her

constantly and stopping by because her feet were the size of

cantaloupes! She hasn't been taking care of her health or diabetes and

it's really been scaring me, but we saw her yesterday, and had a great

lesson with her about the atonement. She's had all the lessons before

and she knows the fundamentals, she now understands that she is

hopeless without the atonement. We can all can move on, change, heal,

hope, live, love, feel free because of the atonement. And it's not

going to be learned all at once! We learn it every single day even

after we're baptized and that is what makes this life and this gospel

so amazing :)

Kanzm, is being taught by the Persian elders and they say he's doing great!

Dmitri, we picked up last week and he's a roommate of one of our

members. He lived in Russia half of his life and came to America all

on his own. He said he really liked the vibe he was getting from us

(*cough cough* spirit!) When we ended he said he wanted to say the

prayer! He said he had tried to pray before on his own just to try it

but now he felt like he really really needed to. He gave the most

beautiful prayer for someone who hadn't prayed before a loud. It's

amazing what the spirit can do through us if only we allow it to.

Justine and GiGi, they have actually been our investigators for some

time now. They are sisters, Justine is 15 and GiGi is 12. They live in

the projects where the blind side was filmed actually. They were

taught back in February, and had gone through all the lessons and even

had a date to be baptized! We met with them and they shared their

great testimonies on prayer, and the experiences they had. They go

every Sunday! So we know they have a testimony, they just need courage

as well.

Well I've been out in the mission for 12 weeks. Not that I'm counting,

I'm not! But there is a new missionary program called 12 week to help

you adjust to missionary life. So just finished that. Last Thursday I

got a call from the assistant presidents that I will be training a new

missionary this coming Tuesday!!! I'm so excited! I don't know who she

is yet, but I love her already!

But that's pretty much it! This week we taught all those

investigators! So I thought i would tell you a bit about them!! What I

really learned this week is that God puts us in places for a reason,

that we're supposed to be where we are now (even if it wasn't in the

plan beforehand) to fulfill a purpose. Nothing that we do goes to

waste. Everything is accounted for, and will have some effect either

right at that moment or in years to come! And I think that's amazing

:)

I love you all! Keep me updated in what's going on!!

Thank you to Sister Stullers Valiant 8 class for the pictures of

turkeys and encouraging words :)

Sister Plumb

Speaking in Tongues

Family and Friends,

First off I would like to thank you all so much for your love and

support and for reading my emails! Maybe you don't read them every

week that's ok. Some of my stories are random or boring or gross (like

big Bertha) but I do hope to share a message about Jesus Christ in

each one.

Alright well this week, I think I was really feeling a sense of

urgency and determination. With our new missions theme "We are on

fire" by having 5 new investigators a week, I felt more inspired. We

had one true investigator last week, and she has been progressing off

and on. This week we were able to find 3 new investigators and we got

one progressing. We didn't get our goal of 5 but I'm so grateful for

the people we found. They are each so unique and willing to accept God

and Jesus Christ in their lives. So I'll share one neat experience I

have found to be true on my mission so far. It has to do with our new

investigator Kanzm. Sister Iaboo and I talk with many people whose

first language isn't English, and who know only a few words in English

though. I have come to find though that if we talk with everyone, even

those who don't speak English that well, they are able to say enough

in English for us to get their information and refer to other people.

That said, I know that God has put these people in our paths for that

very reason, and that they were able to speak English well enough at

that moment so that they could hear our great message that will change

their lives for eternity. So that's what happened with Kanzm. We met

him at a bus stop in which he spoke perfect English. Then we had our

first lesson with him and we had to use google translate the whole

time. I believe we will be sending him to the Elders who speak Persian

now but the situation is hazy because he doesn't live by Persian

members. What matters though is that he is learning the gospel of

Jesus Christ and is willing to accept Him as his savior.

Ok crazy story time:

Well only thing really is when we were Tracting we met this really

cool Catholic guy who gave us prayer necklaces. So that cool.

Something I might be keeping for a while. don't ask why. I thought it

was nice.

But ya! I love you all!!!

Thank you to all those who have sent me letters and packages!

If you all need my address again

614 W Foothill blvd

Arcadia, CA 91006

Have a great week :)

Sister Plumb

Cutest dog in the world

Mission on Fire!

Hey everyone!

This week went by so fast! Just like last week! I'm not sure I can continue to keep up, its amazing!

So P day was super fun! We went up to La cañada and played soccer barefoot. Sister Iaboo was goalie and she screamed so much when the ball would get close to the net it would scare the other players it was so funny. A lot of people got foot injuries and I dislocated my toe but it's back where it needs to be now :) we then ordered pizza but when the zone leaders went to go pick it up a member who was there had already paid for them! So we got free pizza it was awesome! We also had cake and soda too, it was a party. Oh then it started raining!! El Niño has come! Haha actually idk if it has or not or if it will be as crazy as people say it will be. 

Tuesday and Wednesday went by in a blur. We met with some less actives, and we met with Maria! We have been praying for a baptismal date for her. We told her we believe that she'll be ready by the 28 of this month. We wanted her to pray about and she said that she would. She wants to be baptized but she said that she wants to gain more knowledge about God and Jesus Christ. She wants to be 100% sure that this is what she needs to do. She took lessons in the past with her friend who is recently baptized and she has been saying that she wants what she has- she just knows that she needs to get there on her own and that it won't take her all at once. I love Maria so much! She knows the importance of everything we are teaching her and she knows how much it will help her life and she knows that it won't be easy at times, but she knows it will be worth it. There's not much that sister Iaboo and I do then let her talk and let the Holy Spirit teach her and testify the truth to her. I know that day by day she will grow stronger in her decision to change. 

Ok so my crazy story happens Thursday:

So first off we had a bomb awesome zone meeting! President Villanueva wants our mission to be on fire! Not literally hahaha but like in sports terms. In order to be a mission that's on fire we are challenged to get 5 new investigators a week! I know sister Iaboo and I can do it. Anyways it was super inspirational. So inspirational in fact that that the next decision I would make wasn't given too much thought. So as a zone we went to Los Gringos. So there's a challenge there called the Big Bertha, which is a huge burrito with.... Well idk what's in it really, but a lot of meat, cheese rice and random vegetables, it's basically everything and anything you could put in a burrito. So Elder Stooky, Elder Nelson, Elder Flowers, and yes myself, decided to take on the Bertha. And well I did it. I did the big Bertha challenge, and I got 3/4 of the way through, I'm proud to say. Hahaha Elder Flowers, Elder Stooky, and Elder Neilson finished the whole thing! And then Elder Stooky had ice cream and then finished the rest of my burrito!! I was still full by Friday! I've had 4 brothers and I still don't understand how they could eat so much hahaha

                                                   The Big Bertha!

Beautiful Art on Buildings in L.A.

                                                         I need a tan! I am soooo white!

We played soccer bare feet and in our pj's! Yep those are PJ's the Elders are wearing!