Happy New Year: Look Not Behind Thee

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR! HELLO EVERYONE!

 
I hope you had a great Christmas and you are just excited for this new year as I am. This week Sister Dunford and I came across a video on Mormon channel about the New Year and how we cannot look back. It is compared to Lot and his family, how Lot's wife looked back and became a pillar of salt. This past year has been amazing because I have been able to serve Jesus Christ and His people. I have made some mistakes but I know through repentance and goal setting, I can make this New Year even better than last year. I am so blessed to have spent a whole calendar year in the Lord's vineyard. I wouldn't trade it for anything! Look Not Behind Thee-- if the link doesn't work then type into the search engine "New Years"


This week President asked us to talk about our contacting, He was challenged us to, "  I am asking each of you to commit to contacting 25 people a day and to teach when you find and to find when you teach.  I want you to set a goal and be accountable to accomplish this goal.  Some of you will find you are able to find more, other will have to set their goal lower and work towards the goal of 25." So here is my reply to it: We have great desires to contact 25 people a day. We are becoming more aware of people and even riding our bikes more. I think to accomplish this goal, we need to be out more, not using the car as an excuse. We have set a goal to contact 10 people a day, which we have done two times but we are always looking to go over. What we count as a contact is talking to someone, telling them who we are and what we do (teaching a principle or so), and inviting them to listen more or blessing them. Not everyone says yes but we have a few return appointments. Overall our goal for the month of January is to contact a 100 people. We know with faith, prayer, and repentance that we can go beyond that goal.
Faith to find: I know the more people we talk to, the more we will find and the more we include Heavenly Father and the Spirit in the finding process we will be successful. It seems like a lot of time, we pray to be led to those that are prepared and we don't listen to the Spirit. I have a great example of finding, it comes from an email I got this past week from my step dad about my little brother, "Yesterday, Kai could not find his scriptures to go to church. Kai has a lot of faith you know. He prayed to heavenly father and then went right to his scriptures, brought them to me, and holding them out to me said "Heavenly Father works fast.'" A simple story but we know that, if like my brother, we pray and GO and not wait we will be led to people who are prepared, just how my brother was able to find his scriptures. It is amazing how we can understand things more clearly, when we trust Heavenly Father to lead us, Jesus Christ to enable us with His atonement, and the Holy Ghost to fill our mouths. The Godhead is a great team!
Overall, I need to get over my fear, something I am constantly working on, and really believe in my purpose and who I represent. I KNOW we can be lead to people who are prepared. I have seen it happen. In accounting this morning, we learned from Elder Finke if plans and back up plans don't work out then we need to repent and listen for the Spirit. He will guide us.

 

Our Christmas was good. Skyping everyone was so great! It was amazing to see how all my younger siblings are much bigger than me, well not Kai, at least not yet. (:

Christmas day we went to the Harris'. Opened stockings and ate a delicious breakfast. later we went out to dinner with Grandpa and the Elders to the Country Club, sounds classy but it isn't. Its like a Denny's haha but we loved being with Grandpa. We stopped by Gwen's, she gave us some Jamaican food which we ate for lunch last week. It was so good! Then we went caroling with the Elders and the Harris Family to some home bound members. It was so great! I loved it. It really helped me not miss home and think about all the family traditions but focus on the true meaning of Christ. To think we get all caught up with that stuff but we are here because of Jesus Christ and because of Him we can return to our Heavenly Father WITH OUR FAMILIES! So sweet!

 

Denie has set her baptism date for Feb 16th. We are excited. She is more confident. Our teaching pool is down but we have some good prospects. Guess we will be biking like mad men this week! The more we talk,  the more we find, the more we teach!

 

I hope yall have a great week! thanks for the cards and packages. i will send out thank yous, it will just be a little slow! hahaha

 

see ya in 2013!!

 

Love always,.

Sister Ploth.

 

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Knowest thou the acondescension of God?I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! 

Well I am glad that y'all made it through the end of the world! We were defiantly anticipating when it would all happen but the work went onward. (:  We had our Christmas Devotional in Lake Mary this week which was amazing. We learned all about the condescension of Christ found in 1 Nephi 11 12-27 (which you can click on that and learn more). It was way powerful. What a blessing to be out in Lord's vineyard during this Christmas Season. Sometimes we get wrapped up in traditions and all the good things about Christmas like gift giving and being with our families but I have loved just focusing on the Savior. I have learned a lot about my Savior. I remember last year thinking how weird everything is and how next year would be closer to home and here it is, a blink of an eye! Life in the mission field is amazing. I am so grateful to be serving the people of Daytona, they don't always want it, but I have learned to look at people as Children of God, my Spiritual Brothers and Sisters. And to give everything for Christ at the same time? Man! I am the luckiest girl in the world! I learned a lot in accounting this morning to Elder Shelley and Elder Norman. I learned about sacrifice. When they were first talking about sacrifice I thought of physical things, like, "Sweet! I wont write any more letters, more nap time for me!" haha but they said, "No Sister. Attitudes and behaviors" They pointed out last transfer at week 5 we were very successful because we were URGENT. I must confess, I don't always have an attitude of urgency. I just want to get things done and count down the time where I can eat or go to bed. Unfortunately, that isn't how it works. I am here to work and I need to, work the hardest. So I plan to sacrifice my bad attitude and repent for my un-urgency. Its amazing what you can learn from other missionaries. One of my fears is coming home and being the same and everyone being like, "Wow, that's it?" haha. 

So we had a funny experience last night. We were asked by Bishop Crookston to check on some new move ins from this past year. There have been 71! wow! So we went to one last night. Our instructions were just to see if they lived there and if they needed anything. Here is how the experience went.

Sisters: knock knock

Lady: Yes?

Sisters: Is this the ____ residence?

Lady: Yes...?

Sisters: Hi! We are the Sisters from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and we just wanted to....

Lady: UM! We are ATHEISTS.....THANK YOU! slam. 

We didn't know whether to say Merry Christmas or not. We didn't want to offend her. also, they had a christmas tree. Hello lady, why the heck do you celebrate Christmas. We will pray for that family though. It was just so funny. 

Our biggest Christmas adventure will be....we are going to go with some members and the Elders and we are going to be SINGING TELEGRAMS for the homebound members that cant come to church. haha we are pretty excited. It will be cool. ALSO! Anyone remember Michael Rossi? Well he came to church on Sunday with his sister. She is home from BYU for Christmas. We are going to go teach him this week. Hopefully it will be good. The Elders just baptized this cool 19 year old kid, Mick, who is going to help us. He is going to be a legit friend for Michael. We hope we can see whats up. 

Denie is great. We just got done teaching her right before this. (attached pictures are of us and Denie and then us and Brother Staley. She got us some presents. Oh and her mom did too)

Her baptism date is for this Saturday but she is still praying about things. She is an amazing lady and we love her. Brother Staley got her scriptures for her birthday and she was excited for them. hahaha. So keep her in your prayers!! (:

Oh and last miracle! We met a guy named Bob a few weeks ago and we gave him a book of Mormon. He told us to give him 2 weeks. We went back and we never got into contact with him. Well we finally did and he had read the BOM TWICE!! It was amazing. He isn't converted t it but he has a lot of questions. We are going to try to bring the Singlers with us, the perfect members to see him this week. 

I hope yall have a very Merry Christmas!! I am excited to talk to the family! woot!!

love always, 

Sister Ploth. 

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Fwd: Happy Christmas!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Aisha Ploth <aisha.ploth@myldsmail.net>
Date: Mon, Dec 17, 2012 at 12:01 PM
Subject: Happy Christmas!
To: Dad <dploth@gmail.com>, Dad and Angela <Danang0504@comcast.net>, Jessica Guinan <jessguinan@gmail.com>, Mema <katc7750@comcast.net>, Mom <lilac_rain66@yahoo.com>, Karl <karlden@hotmail.com>, Papa <robert317@comcast.net>, kendal titus <kendaltitusreynolds@gmail.com>
Cc: Blog Info <amaaazingaish.floridaorlando@blogger.com>, Mission Email <aishaploth@gmail.com>


Hello All!!

I only have a few mintues. We are trying to figure out CHRISTMAS CALLING!! And we get to skype. What a blessing!!

First off check out this new mormon message!http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages?lang=eng#an-unexpected-gift

POWERFUL!!

We had a great week! First it started off with on Tuesday there were some tornadoes down in New Smyrna Beach so we got with the Elders and cleaned up. Way fun and rewarding. Lots of damge but no one was hurt, so we have heard. We even made the paper!! Wednesday we got to go to GArrett and Brooke Denninghoff's Temple Sealing! So cool. It was so great to see and meet the Denninghoff Family. Unfortaunly I didnt take as many pictures like I should have. Shame on me. But I am sure Aunt Heidi took enough. haha. The rest of the week is a blurr. Denie is doing great. She is really searching things out. She is amazing. Andrae came to church. He is acting weird, we might be dropping him soon. Too bad but we are looking for the prepared. We also have been doing the 12 days of Christmas for the Elders. So fun. They said they got us something. hahaha we are very curious. 

This week we have Christmas Devotional. We are excited as well. I hope yall have a great christmas. Can you believe this is the last one?? I can't!!

love always,

Sister Ploth. 

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Without change there would be no butterflies

Hello All!!

Today we are going to Target with Sister Button. We are excited. Walmart is getting lame. (: 

This week was good. We are definatly learning how to simplify and intensify. We taught Andrae a few times, he is still unsure but its more of his fear of changing. We are running into that a lot. People having a fear of change but we know the Gospel of Jesus Christ will transform us into men and women of the eternities. 

We are getting better at blessing homes. By understanding our purpose as representatives of Jesus Christ we can use the Priesthood Power and act as if Christ was there with those people. I feel like the more I understand the gospel, the more I understand my purpose, and understand Christ and His atonement. It is an amazing thing, but most importantly we need to let is heal us. 

Hmmmm. We had the most powerful baptism this weekend. The Elders had been teaching a Mexican man named Luis. He is here ona  work visa, he understands english he just isnt confident. He is a CPA at home where he has a daughter and a small child. Luis went through so much to be able to make that covenant. The service was in Spanish but the Spirit was so strong. Brother Staley and Denie came and Denie felt the spirit too. Way cool. She is an amazing lady. She is so Christlike and humble because she doesn't think she is. She has some concerns and fears BUT she is doing well. We love her. We are so blessed to have her in our life. 

This Wednesday we are going to the Denninghoff Sealing at the Orlando Florida Temple. We are excited!! (: 

I hope you all have a great week!!

love Sister Ploth. 

pic 1: i coordinated well this day. (:

pic 2: zone picture for the christmas. 

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Its begining to look a lot like christmas!

Hello Everyone!

 

What a week! Happy Christmas Season! I hope y'all got to watch and enjoy the Christmas Devotional! If not go to lds.org and check it out!

 

Some things I learned from it::

 

Be a good gift receiver (I need to repent!)

Every gift received helps us strengthen our love with the other person

remember the gifts from our Heavenly Father--Jesus Christ, scriptures, repentance, ect.

find joy in giving to others

gifts can be used to unite families (wasn't that trunk cool that President Eyring made?!?!)

use Christ in your gift giving

true love is a reflection of Christ's love.

rededicate self to principles taught by Christ.

 

 

So our week was good. kind of weird. Denie had her wisdom teeth taken out and she has a real bad infection. ): So sad but we were able to see her with Sister Nichols. They have lots of fun things in common. Sister Nichols just lost her husband in April, she is in her 50's, and she is so strong. She is going through a lot of trials but she isnt letting that shake her testimony. We are having FHE with her and her son tonight.

 

Brittany got another job. She wont be getting baptized this weekend but she still wants to...sometime.

 

We recieved a lot of referrals! Tender Mercy. One was a head quarters one. A baptist man who told us we were going to hell. It was the saddest thing. We were trying not to contend, we didnt bash, we bore testimony and left. I think that was Sister Dunford's first expereince. I felt bad for the man more than anything. he has family members that our members of our LDS church, so we think he is bitter and took it out on us. Just to make things clear...he requested us to come! We didnt randomly knock on his door. Then we went to check on a less active member but we dont think he lives there because the guy who answered was also very rude. Started asking us all these random questions about the bible. We thought it was a joke at first. He also talked about how festuses arent real babies??? I am not sure.

 

Oh Gwen and Charles came to the christmas devotional! She is still reading and praying. She knows the church is true! She is so wonderful. We try to go see her once a week, to keep her spirit up and help her progress.

 

But yeah...thats about it.

 

I hope you all have a great week!!! Remeber what this season is really about!!

 

love always.

Sister Ploth.

 

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The Start of transfer 11!

Hello everyone!

I hope y'all had a great thanksgiving! We sure did! We enjoyed 3 thanksgiving meals thanks to Sister Mercador, the Pillow's, and the Harris' We also were able to have 2 confirmations this Sunday of Morgan and Anthony! 

WOW! I cant believe its a new transfer! And if you haven't been paying attention I will be spending Christmas in Daytona with Sister Dunford. We even started decorating our apartment for the Christmas spirit and we are rocking out to some Christmas music. 

The biggest thing to happen is that Denie, Brother Staley's girlfriend, accepted baptism for December 22nd! She is amazing!!! She is so sweet and the nicest person. She has concerns of changing but we know that she will change but because she will want to, not for us, because we want Denie and we know Heavenly Father wants Denie in the Gospel. Last night we taught her the plan of salvation and she soaked it up. Everyone needs Denie in their life. She is probably one of the most Christlike people I have EVER met. And plus her and Brother Staley are adorable, but you didn't hear that from me. (:

Brittany and Eric are doing good. They didnt come to church because of sick kids but they are reading The Book of Mormon and praying. And Andrae is doing well too. We are really blessed with the people we are teaching. We just need to keep finding. This week we biked, not a  lot of luck. We did meet a man who said he lost his faith because of the death of his wife 7 years ago. We talked to him about eternal families but he wasn't interested, alcohol is his comfort right now. He was really nice, he even kissed our hands goodbye. Kind of awkward. ahahhaha. 

So with the Holiday season, check out  http://mormon.org/christmas

Lots of cool Christmas things!!

Have a great week everyone!

love Sister Ploth. 

picture 1: beautiful people of Daytona ward at the Harris'. Love these people! (: 

picture 2: the start of our decorating! 

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HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Hello Brothers and Sisters!

So if you scroll down to the pictures you will see that we didn't have just one baptism this Sunday but we had 2!!!! Crazy week!!!

Okay...where to begin. So we had two trainings this week. One in Eustis about closing the gap and we found out that there will be NO TRANSFERS next week. President doesn't want the trainings to get lost so the only thing is changing is those that are leaving and training. With the new age limit for missionaries I also got the news that I will be coming home March 27th. Crazy! Its only a week but it feels so much closer, I wont lie, I kind of had a panic attack but I know this is what the Lord wants and I just need to continue to work hard. Home seems so close but so far. 

Wednesday we had the craziest day!! Back to Back appointments. Brittany and Eric accepted baptism for December 8th. They are awesome! They even came to church on Sunday! She even looked me up on Facebook hahaha. so whoever is checking on my Facebook if you see a request from Brittany Yocum, accept please. (: 

We taught Morgan at the church that night and her mom was there. She signed the record and we thought it was all ready for what we thought would be the 24th, just wait for that part...

Thursday we had Sister training, that 2nd picture is of all the sisters in the FOM. Silly picture huh? I love these Sisters so much!! They are amazing and beautiful and wonderful. I am so lucky! We found out the increase of missionaries the FOM will have 76 sisters within the next 6 months. Holy Talitos Batman! We will all be training, so chances of me "dying" as a training are high AND 4 new Sister areas will be opening next month! this work is progressing and its so awesome to be apart of.  Friday night we had dinner with Brother Staley and his girlfriend, Denie. She is amazing!! We love her and she is so prepared for this gospel. We just need to set a baptism date!! She has come to church the past two weeks. Our biggest obstacle is getting Brother Staley not to take her out on so many dates so we can teach her! hahaha. 

Saturday was my first funeral. It was for Brother Davis, who passed a week ago, What a great guy. It was a really good funeral! I have heard that mormon funerals are really happy and different. it wasn't sad, it was all happy memories and laughing and a big party after...kinda....lots of food. Sister Davis looked so good! She is an amazing lady and she was sure to come and give the missionaries some loving. it was weird to see my first dead body in a casket but he looked at peace and I just kept imagining him in the Spirit World teaching the Gospel. Brother Davis was a dedicated member until the day he died. He magnified his calling, had 100% home teaching, knew the temple ordninaces in english, french, spanish, and portuguese, and gave out Book of Mormons like crazy! I was so privileged to have known him. He and his wife are great examples! 

So with the funeral we had to push back Anthony"s baptism and then with thanskgiving the ward is so busy so Bishop wanted us not have baptisms next week so we called president and he said if morgan was ready then do it tomorrow (sunday). We pretty much texted her and arranged it all!! amazzzzing!! she was crying so hard. she is an amazing 16 year old girl, she is going to go so far!! we love her so much!! and all she kept saying was "thank you so much for being the ones to push me to do this" so great!! she will go on to do amazing things!!

well. HAve a happy thanksgiving!! I am thankful for this gospel. being a missionary. YOU ALL. my family. ect ect.

What are  you thankful for??

Love, Sister Ploth. 

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Thank you for loving me so much to cut me down.

 In order to better understand how I have felt this mormon message does the trick: http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages?lang=eng#the-will-of-god

I hope and pray that you will be able to feel the excitement that I have and the lessons I have learned. 

I am sooooooo GREAT! From the mormon message, by Elder Christofferson about the Will of God, I feel like a current bush that was cut back by the gardener. Week 3 was so tough. I strongly disliked week 3, but it built us up to prepare for all the miracles that we saw in week 4 and prepared us for week 5 as well. This week we were challenged by Elder Finke to study the Atonement and I learned a lot. And it was a nice reminder of what the atonement is for and how it can help me. One of the big things is understanding physical death. 

This week two amazing people passed away. First off, I got a call Wednesday night from the Eustis Sisters, The Chandlers, one of the twins passed away. I was so sad but grateful for the opportunity that I had to be apart of them! Little Faith Chandler taught me so much and I never even met her! She taught me the pure love of Christ and mighty prayer.  I have learned that because of the Atonement of Christ that baby is PERFECT and will return to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ with no problems. AND! The Atonement helps the parents understand the Plan of Salvation! WOW! It does cover all. I am just so grateful for Jesus Christ and His perfect example of obedience and love. 

Alos Brother Davis, a beloved man of the ward, sealer and past Bishop had a stroke and died yesterday. Looks like I will be attending my first funeral this Saturday. 

WOW!!! Gators out of the woodwork this week!

Anthony came to church Sunday! He is ready to go for this weekend. We had to change the baptism to Sunday since Brother Davis passed away yesterday and his funeral is Saturday at the church but Anthony's mom is okay with that. We just have 2 more lessons and the interview. One of his mom's home teachers, Quincy, is 16 and isn't a Priest and the ward wants him to baptism Anthony, well Quincy was ordained a Priest yesterday! Everything is falling into place!!

Morgan Osborne- Our 16 year old friend came to church yesterday, after church she came to us and said, 'Sisters, I cant wait anymore, I want to be baptized ASAP!" We went over the interview questions and she is set for the 24th! yay!!! The YW's lesson was powerful and the Spirit taught her. Pretty amazing since she hasn't been to church in a month. Maybe that is what she needed

Andrae Gilmore- We met him on Halloween and we taught him last week and we exercised our faith and invited him to be baptized in 2 weeks, Nov 24th. He came to church and loved it. He is ify about the 24th but we are confident that he can make baptism but by being obedient and listening to the Spirit we were able to help him understand our purpose.

Brittany and Eric- Kind of weird situation. They are engaged and Eric is working on getting a divorce from his wife, who he hasn't seen in a year and a half. Well they came to the EQ Thanksgiving dinner and loved it. Eric even told Brittany that he will give up chewing tobacco! They want to "transition to being mormon" PRETTY SWEET! 

And some big things to happen, Brother Staley (he is the one we check our iPad to at night) he brought the girl he is dating to church and she wants us to teach her. She doesn't want to learn for him but to learn. She is way cool! Her name is Denie and is so loving and giving. She gave us some girly shampoo and lotion and stuff this week. 

AND! Friday night!! Our neighbors decided it would be cool to go streaking so Sister Dunford and I had the privilege to see 5 white booties!! hahahahaha. So funny!! They were very drunk. Everyone says to report them but we aren't. We will next time though! 

Also Wednesday President Hall called and because of my wonderful mom and step dad, I get to go to my cousin's sealing next month at the Orlando Temple!! In the Florida orlando mission, we arent allowed to go to the temple expect for departing and when converts go. I am pretty stoked! 

This week is going to be so busy! We have training  in Eustis and Sisters Training!! yay a!! and a million appointments already! This Gospel is sooooo true!! i love you all!

love, Sister Ploth. 

This is from President Hall's email this week: 

CHRISTMAS

Notify your family that they need to have all Christmas packages to the mission office no later than the 12^th of December to ensure we can forward it in time to reach you.  Secondly, tell them you don't need lots of stuff.  Ask for things that you can use not just move around the rest of your mission.

Pictures: Sister Durr and Wes and Brandon at the temple!

Pic 2: Sister Dunford pre election day last week. We exercised our right to vote! 

Vote of Die??!?!?!

Hello Everyone!

 

I hope all is well. For awhile we were getting some chilly weather but its back to normal but not too hot. Nice and cool. We biked lots this week. Including the Granda bridge. Oh my, our thighs and bottoms were in some pain!

 

This week was kind of slow. Really sad. NEVERTHELESS, we had a good time and tried to make the most out of it. We taught 10 lessons, probably the weakest in my whole mission. We also didnt find a lot of people. No body wanted the Gospel. But we know and belive that "....for ye recieve no witness untl after the trial of your faith." Ether 12:6. We are being tried but we arent letting go. We arent coming down from the wall, we have a great work to do! (Nehiama reference). Halloween we werent bale to go out so we bought some halloween candy, got into our moo-moo dresses, and updated our area book. We are making mega map book so if appointments fall through we have solid back ups. We are going through our area book like crazy. Which leads us to Sunday, we made contact with a former, his name is Wolfgang and yes he is from Germany! He is intersted in Jospeh Smith and more specifics. We are going back there this week. Good thing Sister Allen is from Germany too and her husand is the stake patriarch.

 

This upcoming week is the elections and I was able to fill out my ballot this week, with much prayer, since I dont know a lot, I was able to exercise my right to vote in this country and its always an exciting time. Which brings me to share a few articles of faith from what the Church has put out for the world. The Articles of Faith are the official doctrine of the Church. Here is just two of them, if you would like to see the 11 others you can CLICK HERE

 

 11 We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

 12 We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.

 

I picked these two to share this week in order for others to have a better understanding of the LDS Church. We believe everyone has a right to worship how they please and we arent here to take away from anyone, just build on to what they know to be true. If they want. We dont forec anything on it. Also, church and state are seperate but we know that our religious views effect the way we see the world and how we beleive the things should be done. The next article of faith, we believe in goverment. So we beleive in being active in goverment. We live in a country where we are free to choose. Heavenyl Father paved the way for the Restoration of the Gospel to be in this country for that reason. So we need to ACT. And this week I was able to exercise my right as an American Citizen. And just some fun facts about the church and goverment.

The Church does not:

• Endorse, promote or oppose political parties, candidates or platforms.
• Allow its church buildings, membership lists or other resources to be used for partisan political purposes.
• Attempt to direct its members as to which candidate or party they should give their votes to. This policy applies whether or not a candidate for office is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
• Attempt to direct or dictate to a government leader.

The Church does:

• Encourage its members to play a role as responsible citizens in their communities, including becoming informed about issues and voting in elections.
• Expect its members to engage in the political process in an informed and civil manner, respecting the fact that members of the Church come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences and may have differences of opinion in partisan political matters.
• Request candidates for office not to imply that their candidacy or platforms are endorsed by the Church.
• Reserve the right as an institution to address, in a nonpartisan way, issues that it believes have significant community or moral consequences or that directly affect the interests of the Church.

So go out and vote! and have a great week!!

 

love, sister ploth.

happy halloween!

This week Presdient asked us two questions to report on, I think the email to him covers pretty much this week. Here is what he asked:

1.       I would like each of you to tell me if you are happy or not happy in your missionary service and why?

2.       Secondly, do you feel you are productive in your missionary service or not productive and why?

Hello President.

The questions you asked us to report on, are very interesting because this is something I am asking myself. I love missionary work. I love being involved. I love serving. But this week was hard, but the good ALWAYS outweighs the bad. We were suppose to have two baptisms this Saturday, and we didn't. Gwen Ross, was unable to be baptized because of her husband. He didn't want her to be because of his involvement in his church. It was such a confusing week. Here we see people who get baptized all the time and you question if they are ready but Sister Ross was more than prepared. She wanted it so bad but she couldn't act on her agency because of the respect that she had for her husband. He didn't tell us we couldn't come back or that she couldn't come to church BUT she wasn't able to act. I was mad, frustrated, confused, sad, and so many other emotions. I didn't understand what Heavenly Father wanted me, Sister Dunford, or even Gwen to learn. SHE IS READY HEAVENLY FATHER!! WHY CANT SHE DO THIS?? Those were a few things I asked while praying. I have trust in Heavenly Father but it just seemed unfair and from PMG it kept running through my head, "As we rely on the Atonement of Jesus Christ, He can help us endure our trials, sicknesses, and pain. We can be filled with joy, peace, and consolation. All that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ." I was prideful last week. I wanted Gwen to enter into the waters of baptism but I wanted her to enter into that covenant on MY time, not the Lord's time. We aren't sure why Sister Ross isn't able to at this time. A member we have been serving told us, "Sisters, you did your part. You brought her the gospel! You helped her convert. Now its the Lord's will what happens." 

Later in the week, Elder Shelley asked us when do we feel like we are fulfilling our purpose the most. The answer..when we are teaching. And if we follow PMG we need to always be TEACHING! I know sometimes I don't always give 100%, thank goodness for the Atonement. I cannot worry about what I cant control, but worry about what I CAN control. I control my attitude, I control how "wide I open my mouth", I control my obedience. No one else has control of that. I have my agency and I can act on it. 

So long story short, I am HAPPY about my missionary work. Why? because its a constant battle of learning. The Lord guides this work. He gives us multiple chance. We just had a return missionary in the ward speak yesterday and one thing he said was if we saw all the good that came out of our trials we wouldn't work hard for our "prizes". I love missionary work. I can confidentially say, I have no regrets. There isn't room for regrets in this gospel, only improvement. It remind me of a quote from Elder Nelson, "We all need to remember: men are that they might have joy—not guilt trips! We also need to remember that the Lord gives no commandments that are impossible to obey. But sometimes we fail to comprehend them fully."

Next part, do I feel productive? Well, baptism wise, no...not at all. BUT I know I am doing what the Lord wants me to do. I know how to utilize the time as a missionary and find meaningful activities. I have really grown out of the habit of saying, "Well what should we do now" Instead, my mind is constantly thinking about back ups and we pray we aren't sure and we let the Lord and His Spirit guide. I need to stop being a perfectionist and remember the Lord and keep reading and re reading "A successful missionary" PMG PG 10. 

love, Sister Ploth

So thank you all who kept Gwen in your prayers. On Saturday we were able to go down to the temple with Bishop and Sister Crookston so she could see it. We all forgot that the grounds would be closed but just her seeing it was amazing. As I looked at this beautiful, daughter of God, I wept because I knew her desrie and I saw her patience. I have no doubt that Gwen will be able to enter into the Lord's house one day. I am not sure when. Maybe she needs to wait for her family to come here from Jamaica. Maybe her husband needs the Gospel. Who knows. For now, we will involve her as much. She is still going to work on getting Sundays off so she can more fully participate in Sunday services. 

We did meet a cool guy this week. His name is Travis...actually we met him two weeks ago, in the rain while biking. He is 22 and so awesome! He grew up in foster care but you would never guess it. He is going to school to be a sports journalist and has a job! He is pretty self sufficient. He was asking amazing questions and he is looking for more in life. When we invted him to church he said, "Whoa Sisters, baby steps...baby steps." ahahah and the lesson was AT THE CHURCH! We are seeing him on Thursday. 

Saturday night as we were driving home, we went through the neighbor right before our complex...we were at a stop sign and I looked at Sister Dunford and I saw this creature thing on a driveway.....I point and say, "WHAT IS THAT!!!" Now...what do y'all think it was??!?!?!?! Okay, I will tell you! A BEAR!!!!! WE SAW A BEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We watched him walk over to a tree and climb up. It was in a cul-de-sac so we drive slowly to see if we can get a picture. I roll down my window and it sounded like it was hissing at us! We quickly took a picture of the tree and sped off. SUper cool. So the second picture...there is a bear up there! 

There is our week. I hope y'all are doing well! We are now back to an empty teaching pool but the Lord needs us to go out and find someone. And we will! Maybe it will be a family!! Oh and dont worry...we didnt get bunch from Hurricane Sandy...but it is really windy and cold. So weird!!

Have a great week!

love, Sister Plorh. 

Happy Bike Week!!

Hello Everyone!

So its Bike Week and its SOOOOOO cool. So many people biking around. I am super jealous. And I guess Romney was in town this past Friday so Daytona Beach is a jumping place to be right now.

But a s a missionary its always great! We had a great week. First off, we have Gwen. She will be getting baptized this Saturday, OCt 27th at 6pm BUT she needs all of y'alls prayers. Charles (her husband) at first said he supported her but now he doesn't so she is struggling because she doesn't want to upset him but she knows this is what she needs. We will be seeing her everyday. Pretty much, this whole week is playing it by ear. But yesterday she tried on her baptism clothes and got a blessing from OUR NEW BISHOP!! yes, through all this we have a new Bishopric. Bishop Crookston. He is legit though. The Crookston's were the first member meal I had here. I love them! They have been so involved with Gwen too. So its really cool. Oh and Dad you would love SIster Crookston, she has like 13 guns...hahahahahahahahaha. They are super cool. I love Gwen so much. She is an amazing lady and everyone should know her.

Next big miracle, Morgan, the 16 year old girl we are teaching has a baptism date for December 22nd!! Yessss!! Finally!! I love her. She is so cool and so spiritual. you would never guess she isn't a member. She is legit. We taught her the Word of Wisdom and Law of Chastity yesterday, She agrees and knows they are good. We taught the Law of Chastity by using this video,http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages?lang=eng#i-choose-to-be-pure   Its an awesome video. One of my favorites. 

We biked in the rain again. So fun. Its easier to talk to people when you really look like a goofball. We have been working with Sister Mercador a lot. she said she is coming back to church because of us. I love her to pieces. She is so giving and loving. Unfortunately, sometimes people aren't kind to others but she came to church! 

With the pictures attached... I just hit my 400 days and we were by beachside so we thought we would snap a picture, don't worry, we didn't go on the beach...thats from the parking lot. Then!! Sister Durr...I mean Shannon.....came to visit!! It was so cool to see her. So weird. But cool. I love her and I am so lucky to have served with her.

Well I am still lvong this work. I am so grateful for this chance to be able to do this. What a blessing. I wish everyone could go on one. 

Until next week,

All my love, 

Sister Ploth 

oh and check out the latest mormon message...POWERFUL!!

http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages?lang=eng#daughters-of-god

Today is district prep day...we are going on a tour of a chocolate factory!! woot! 

Transfer #10...ready...set.....GOOOO!!!!

Hello All!!

 

So here I am..10th transfer! And I will still be In Daytona with Sister Dunford. Woot woot!! Sad news though, Lake Mary now has Elders. So no going to Lake Mary to end this 18 months. But thats okay, we have some great things going on here In Daytona, and a lot of progressing.

 

First off, we had Mission Conference this week!! What a crazy adventure. We woke up at 4am to be at The Elders' by 530 to be in Orlando by 730! Oh man oh man! Crazy!!

 

But Mission Conference was mind blowing! We had Elder Zwick and he is way cool. He and his wife have been doing missionary work for 23 years!! And not just member missionary work, but for the church headquarters. CRAZY!! I learned a lot, mainly how to improve teaching. We need to shorten and intestify. When people are exposed to short, powerful, pure doctrine and testimony, they can feel the Spirit. It was a great chance to be spiritual fed. I wish I had my notebook to share more, but I left it at the apartment.

 

But we had a good week! Besides from eating......SALMON CASSEROLE!!! I wanted to DIE! A member made it and when Sister Dunford put some on my plate, the member said, "Oh you need to eat more than that!" And Sister Dunford looked at me with the saddest eyes and put more on my plate. I kept saying to myself, "Okay...this isn't too bad" but oh man, It was! THEN! She gave us the leftovers, but we threw them away. Heck no! That isn't going anywhere near me again! About a hour later from that appointment, our investigator, Sarah, cooked us dinner. It was super good!! But we were full! BUT! It was worth it.

 

We have one week until Gwen's baptism! She is doing so great!! She is an awesome lady. Everyone needs to know her. The ward already has her a visiting teaching companion and they are working on home and visiting teachers. We are working on the baptism program this week. A perfect program is on its way! She also asked us to send the missionaries to her daughter and grandchildren in Jamaica!!!

 

We did some service for a less active lady. She is so fun, kind of crazy! We were there for 2 hours cleaning her trailer and she kept giving us stuff and we didnt want to say no, so we have to get to the goodwill sometime. We gave a lot of it to Elder's Recent converts, jade and hope, they are 12 and 13 and sweet girls. They dont have a lot to begin with. And the less active lady gave me....A SKANKY NIGHTIE!! hahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahaha. Last time we were there she gave Sister Dunford a string leopard print bikini so of course I needed something...ahhaha.

 

Well time to make this the best week 1 in the history of the FOM!!

 

love ya all!!

General Conference this past weekend, Mission conference this week!

We dont have to email president this week. We have MISSION conference! so we get to see the whole mission! And a general authority, Elder Zwick, will be coming. I am really excited. General Conference this past weekend and now a mission conference!! 

It has been a year since I have been in Florida, this past wednesday! Conference was so good. I loved Elder Holland's talk. I actually read about Peter this morning. He was the apostle who denied Christ three times! But he showed his love for Christ and went on to be the senior apostle. It shows that we all will doubt but we can all return. I am learning to forget fear. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are constantly by our side. I really liked Elder Nash;s talk. Remember him? He was our stake president in Lynnwood a few years ago. So funny to see him there. I just loved all of GC! I am excited to go back and re read. How blessed we are to have modern day propherts, seers, and reveltators. I know that Christ's church is restored! 

Our dear friend, Gwen Ross, came to Conference. She is scheduled for baptism on oct 27th. She is an amazing lady. She wants her family to be part of the gospel so bad but she realizes it that she needs to take the first step. I loved sitting by her and watching her take notes. She has so much compassion. She is a beautiful, Jamaican lady who has a heart of GOLD. She is working her tail off at Walmart so she can bring her daughter and 5 grandkids to the states, She went to school and is a CNA but she needs the constant work. I love her so much. She is so sassy. She loves reading the Book of Mormon. She calls us HER missionaries. I know she will make it to baptism. 

We took Sarah on a temple tour. She is also a neat lady. She has had a lot of trials but she is so grateful. She always prays for gratitude. She is feeding us this week. She went to culinary school and loves cooking. 

The Rossi's are doing well. Michael Rossi (20 year old) accepted baptism on Oct 27th. His sister is at BYU Provo right now and she is a driving force for her family. I have heard so many good things about her and I hope I get to meet her. I know her family will follow her into the gospel. Right now we are teaching her dad, older sister, and older brother. I love them all. They love the Gospel and I really believe that Heavenly Father has a plan for them but lame Satan gets in the way. 

We started teaching Anthony, a 9 year old, his mom, Ashley, is a recent convert who is so sassy and funny. She cant come to church because she has MS. She comes when she can. She has three kids: Anthony, Aiden, and Ayana. They are all so cute. Missionaries before would try to teach Anthony before but he never paid attention. With us, he did. He really was into it and made comments like, "When i pray I feel good. I haven't prayed in awhile. I should start praying again." hahaa. so cute!! Children are so inspired! They have so many gifts and talents. They are in-tune with the Spirit. That is why we need to come like children ourselves. 

I went on exchanges with Sister Kerns this week. so fun! I was nervous but dang, in 5 weeks she is so bold and daring and loving. I was so proud. I just kept hearing from people how great she is and sister kerns would proudly say, "Well Sister Ploth is my trainer!!" and I was just like naaahhh....she did it all herself (:

Missions are crazy. You learn so much. You are constantly being compelled to be humble. You feel the Saviors love, not only for you BUT for others. You love to serve. You just become a better person. Sometimes its hard to accept the Lord's will, but I am learning.

Well I hope you all have a great week!! Just a little BTW's...my mailbox was kind of empty this week. I cant write unless I get letters. (;

love always.

Sister Ploth 

A year in Florida!

Hello Everyone!! Yes, So many 1 years coming up! SO Wednesday, October 3rd will be 1 year in Florida! It has gone by so fast and I have loved every minute of it!

So this last week wasn't AS stressful. Man, this transfer has been full of so much drama and confusion but Sister Dunford and I just laugh and brush it off. We aren't letting Satan get us down. (SATAN?? WHO IS THAT GUY?? I DONT NEED HIM!) 

We have a lot of cool things planned for this week..or the next 2 weeks. We have exchanges, I will be with Sister Kerns for the day tomorrow, temple tour on Wednesday, we have ZTM, GENERAL CONFERENCE, Zone Conference, and a few more things in between but I am ready for an inspiring next two weeks. 

We met the coolest mom and her daughter a few weeks ago and last Monday we actually got to see them and later that week teach them. They are sweet! The girl, Marcala, is 14 and amazing! She is so smart and focused. Her mom is so involved with her schooling. When we dropped by Monday they were sitting on their porch doing homework together. it was cool. Marcala is just the coolest. We think she will be the key in getting her mom to come into the Gospel. This 14 year old girl has overcome a lot and is still loving. Whenever we go over she perks up and listens. She doesn't have religion and her mom wants her to...and look we show up! We are going to try to stop by tonight. 

Gwen is doing so great! Last night we talked about the temple and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She is ready for baptism, we just need her to get to church again! Her job holds her back from church. Dang those stores that are open on Sunday! Its so annoying, and Sister Dunford and I don't think its our place to tell someone to quit their job but we know the Lord provides for His Children. We feel Gwen will be a powerhouse in the Gospel, she already talks about it with others. And she is sooooo sassy!! I love her!!! Her husband, Charles, doesn't want to learn anymore, but thats okay, he supports his wife and wants her to. So thats cool. We are going on the Temple Tour with Sarah. She is a neat lady. She is a chef and so spiritual. She also works Sundays but she is close to quitting her job so she can come to church. haha. She is excited to see the temple. We feel it will be really good for her because her husband has passed away and so she will be able to learn more about eternal marriage!! (:

The Relief Society Broadcast was amazing wasn't it?? I loved the first talk byt the new RS President, I forget her name. The Doctrine of the Atonement. WOW!! Powerful! I felt the SPirit so strong. its what I needed especially in this work. I have to repent, I haven't been relying on Christ as much as I should. But I have come to the realization that if I am too stressed out, I cant have the spirit with me. Elder Finke challenged us to write down a list of all the things we can and cannot control. I realized that I cant control a lot, but I can control my attitude. 

The picture attached...THE AMBS! From Eustis, were in Daytona for the weekend and decided to stop by for the church service. It was so great to see them!! (: 

Well I hope you all have a great week. Prepare well for conference!! I know the Lord will provide for us and we will be able to recieve revelation through His Prophets. (:

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/invite-others?lang=eng

Love always,

Sister Ploth. 

At the end of a hard week, you see the FRUITS!

Hello All!! THis week was crazy! Satan really worked on us! 

But the tears, sweat, and not understanding was all worth it...WE HAD A BAPTISM!! Yes! Theresa entered into the waters of baptism on Saturday night and was confirmed a member on Sunday! Wonderful experience! It seemed like all the trials were never ending this week. It seemed everyday was a bust but the Lord provided! We are defiantly being looked out for by Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I am really coming to understand that this is the Lord's work and He wont let it stop for anything. 

We were able to have FHE with Bishop Pillow this week. Gwen and Charles came! Gwen and Charles are a Jamaican couple we are teaching. Gwen is the coolest lady and Charles is so spiritual! Gwen accepted a a date for baptism on Sunday for October 27th! She has a philosophy for life, you should only be married and baptized once, and she has already done the first one. We asked her if we could work for the goal of the 27th and she said yes but if its sooner than we will make it sooner! Her and Charles came to church on Sunday! She cooked us dinner last night. So good!! Jamaican food is nice and spicy! And we had watermelon, cucumber, celery juice! 

I am always amazed by the power of prayer as we.. A recent convert who went through the temple recently took us out for dinner and she made the comment, "When you pray, you create intention" How true is that?? We pray and the Lord expects us to act. We cant just pray in vain. If we want to find people to baptize, we need to be boldly praying and acting on it. I am also once again learning about the importance of members in this work. We need the members of Christ's church to be opening up their mouth. WIthout them, this work is nothing. Missionary work is simply being a good example and inviting people. So CHALLENGE:: All you women, invite a friend to watch the Relief Society Broadcast with you this Saturday! What an awesome experience to share with someone!!

Well, we are off for the day! We have a great week planned and I am ready!!

All my love,

Sister Ploth. 

Heeeeyyyyyyy Daytona!!

So week 3 already?? WOW! Time sure does flyyyyy!!!

Its been a great week. We were blessed with some awesome referrals and
we were able to bike our hearts out. This next week we will also be
biking and talking to all the people the Lord puts on our path.

We have a baptism this week, Theresa. She is legit. She had her
interview this weekend and she is excited. She has overcome smoking
this past week and her spirit is so strong. now we just have to pray
that the Lord will continue to strengthen her and Satan wont get to
her. (he is a jerk!)

Our AC was broken and it sucked. Waking up in the morning sweating was
nasty. Luckily, Elder Gebs (the man in charge of all that) went all
Papa BEar on the apartment staff for us. The solution? Bang the pipe
thing with a spoon. hahaha. yeah, i know. weird but it worked!!

Tonight we are having FHE with the Elders and some investigators at
Bishop's. The treat....banana splits!! yum! this weekend Daytona Beach
Ward will have 5 baptisms!! holla!!

the Lord's work is awesome!! i love it out here!! Bring on these last
6 months! I am ready to shine! And of course, to be humbled. the Lord
is really throwing some curve balls.

well!! thats it for now,

all my love,
Sister Ploth.

Greetings from Daytona!

 Life out here is great! We defiantly hit the ground running. I wasnt unpacked until Thursday night/Friday morning. We have been really busy and I love it. I even jumped back on the good ole bike this week. I am excited to use that again! 
Its crazy how transfers works, as soon as you are comfortable the Lord decides to rock your world and move you. The coolest thing is that everything I learned in Eustis I am up against again but, this time I can solve the problem quicker because the Lord already showed me how to do it. I have pondered a lot about what Elder Bott says on the District 2 that the last 6 months are a time for a missionary to shine, they have been trained and they know how to do missionary work. I am excited to see the miracles unravel. I know Daytona needs to be built up and we are exctied.

 

This ward is great! Its very diverse and they love their missionaries. We got an ipad yesterday! YES AN IPAD! We get to use it for our teaching. We have some rules so dont worry, we cant use it in our apartment. Right not its still in the box until we can get it all set on Wednesday. so cool!!

 

My new comp: Sister Dunford is great! This is her 2nd transfer so I am finishing her training.She is great! She is from California and has a great testimony. She is really short and so everyone talks about the height difference, now I am really self concious about my height. hahaha.

 

We are working with some great people and have a baptism lined up in the next few weeks. Oh and Elder Finke is my district leader, if you remember he was in my disctrict my last transfer in lake mary. Also Elders Ashby and Oliver are in my disctrict again. So cool!

 

Well the lady in the same room is a cussing up a storm so I am very distracted.....ack!!!!!!! so awkward!!!

 

This Friday is my 1 yr out. Crazy! I still havent seen the ocean, rats. But it will come!!

 

Love you all!!

 

Sister Ploth.

Daytona'ing uuuuppp!!!

So transfer day and I will be serving in the Daytona North area. How exciting! This past weekend, we have been a tri, Sister Showell came here from Lake Mary and she will be staying here and also Sister Barlow will be coming as well. So the Eustis sisters will be a tri.

I must say, I have felt my work in Eusits was a success. I didnt baptize 100's like Alma did but the work that was accomplished here was far greater. Yesterday, we got to see Johnathon Sinkovich get the Priesthood from his dad. What a sweet moment. As soon as Johnathon got the Priesthood, I knew my work here was done. Its like a feeling of peace and joy. I have loved less active work here. Its just as important I have love rescuing members and helping them make and keep commitments. I have seen so many people grow and the ward has seen it too. I know the gospel is real and I know its needs to be shared with everyone--member and non member-- that is why home teaching and visiting teaching are so important. As members we have to come together to help one another. This world is hard, it s a test, but with the Gospel anything is possible. I love this work. I just love it. I cannot believe I will be hitting my one year in only 11 days. Its surreal. But I know I am where I am suppose to be. When we give it all to our Heavenly Father and rely on our Savior, His Atonement can carry us.

Sorry this is so short but....I have some packing and some good byeing to say!!

love you all!!

Sister Ploth.

Picture attatched! Our trio!

Hurricane?!?!

Hello All!!

Well it was back to President;s email, so I am almost out of time. Rats. Its raining a lot and I love it! Feels like Seattle. Everyone here is exciting about that Hurriance or they just dont see a big deal in it. I think missioanries are excited in hopes for some extra sleep. haha.

Well Missionary Olympics was a blast! The Elders were crazy and they loved it. A lot of them said that it was the best district prep day they have had. 10000000000000000 points for the Sisters!! 

I had some pretty cool stories...gimmie a second....okay! So Thursday we got to go to Belleview and do a big church tour with the Belleview elders (E. Pearce and B. Bennett). That was way cool. A group of people contacted the church there and asked if they could come tour, we talked about missionary work and what we do to prepare and what we do when we are out here. it was cool. After the Bishop had a little Q &A and oh my, that got crazy. There was this Rabbi there that got up and compimented the church but then started criticziing about baptisms for the dead, epsecially Holucaust victims, and then some lady got upset about the idea of being baptized under the Priesthood authority. The poor Bishop. No Spirit. The whole time I am thinking of Ephesians (One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism) and how God is a loving Heavenly Father. So I ask the Bishop if I could speak, so I testified of those things. I cant remember exactly (directed by the Spirit) but I want to share it with you all:: I know that we have a loving Heavenly Father. How can I tell specifically, because I have loving Earthly parents. My mom has always told me if I am hoenst with her and communicate with her, even if I am in trouble, she will do everything she can to get me out of trouble. if my earthly mom can do that, why cant my Heavenly Father do that. I know He doesnt want to save just a few people, He wants us all. Just like how my parents want me home and all to themselves...haha. Heavenly Father does all He can, including sending His Son. I am so grateful for that! I am NOTHING without the Atonement of Christ.

Also something really cool. Brother Saurette got the Melchizdek Priesthood yesterday and he was going to give it to J, his 12 yr old son. It was after church and we were talking to some and J and Cody run up to us and pull us and say "Come with us to the Bishop's office!" J wanted us there to see him get the priesthood. Brother Saurette was so nervous! But it was amazing! i love this family so much! they are so special to me and I am so grateful to be apart of their lives!!

Well I love you all!!

have a great week!
sister ploth.

Hellllloooooo!!!!!

Hello All!

No letter to President again this week but I have wasted my time on who knows what!!

This week was great! We had zone conference and it was so good to be replenished. We brought back a lot of good things to the area. I have this problem where I want to fix so much but I know I should focus on just a few things. Our investigators this week were kind of AWOL but we saw a lot of less actives which was cool.

We are going on a cool adventure to Belleview this week. They are doing a church tour for a group of people and they want Sisters there to show how the church respects women. We are really excited for that!

OH AND ALSO!!!!!
The Chandlers had their Babies!! I dont know if I have mentioned this BUT Brother Chandler is a former FOM missionary and he came back and married a gal here and they were pregnant with twins. Well she had to go on bed rest because baby B wasnt doing so well. we have been praying for them so hard! i didnt know that they were only trying to keep B alive for A and they were expecting only A to love. Well 5am on Tuesday (sis kerns) birthday Sis Ray (Sis Chandlers mom) texted us! they are both our and breathing on their own!! woot woot! Baby B's name is Faith and baby A is Allie. I am so excited for them but they still need all the prayers they can get! i truly love this family!!

well time is up and we have to get ready for the 1st annual FOM Missionary Olympics!!
We are America!! woot woot!!

all my love,

sister ploth.

picture 1: zone conference with zone leaders
picture 2: i gave brother reising a panda tie!! (:

Longer than usual....

Hello everyone! We have zone conference tomorrow so President didn't send an email and we don't have to email him...so it feels weird to have all of this time.

We were informed of some sad sad news. So sad, that I might cry just writing this. Well our TOP investigator, our 1 baptism we would have this month, isn't in our area. ): For awhile we were told by members that they didnt think it was, but our map and our area book said it was. Sister Kerns had so much faith, but I should have taken the lead and really found out. Gina has been doing great. Reading and stop smoking and all this. She just couldnt go to church because she had a family emergency in Deland so of course her date how to get pushed back. I started thinking that this was only happening because she wasnt under our stewardship. BUT the Bishop and other members saw her address and nobody still said anything, the Zone Leaders even went over and gave her a blessing and nothing was said. So I thought we were good but still something didnt feel right. We thought we would ask our district leader again this morning. Yes, her road was in their area (Leesburg E). I called Elder Gubler this conversation went something like this...

Me: Hey Elder Gubler, we have a refferal for you

E. Gubler: Really?

Me: Yeah. Her name is Gina.

E. Gubler: WHAT?! We dont want it! Are you sure? Do we need to call the mission office???

I love the Elders is this mission. They are so sweet. Especailly the leadership ones. I couldnt stop crying and apologizing to him but of course we didnt know but I still felt bad because I ignored a prompting. I dont know if it was me being selfish and wanting a baptism or just I was so excited because she is so prepared. So we are doing a hand off lesson. All that matters in the end is that Gina found the restored Gospel, not who baptizes her.

As many of you know, I am so hard on myself and being a missionary I am even more hard on myself. But I am so grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Through Him, my pain can be lifted. I can find peace not only in this work but in this life. I know that I am here for a reason. I want to serve people, I want to teach them about the restored Gospel. It doesnt matter whom, I just want to fullfill my purpose and I know that I am. We had an expereicne with a member who asked us if we would ever marry someone who isnt LDS, my answer, "No." I know there are a ton of GREAT people out there. I dont beleive in one person for us. But with the truth that I know of the restored Gospel and the commandment of Celestial Marriage, I cannot afford to be disobedient to the Lord. I have no doubt that I could marry a baptist, methodist, muslim, ect and be happy but I dont want to risk not having children and husband for eternity. That is the power of the Priesthood.

Another cool miracle::
Yesterday morning, we went over to the family of 5 we are teaching, so they could follow us to church. We got there and they were just waking up. Dellan (boyfriend/step father) told us to go ahead, they still needed to get ready, and they will be there. Well sacrament starts, nothing. Sacrament ends, nothing. Speakers....still nothing. I have grow to dislike the word "try" on my mission. I will try shows our lack of commitment, did Christ TRY to atone for us? No, He did it. Well that was what one of the talked was about. The Atonement. So I was sitting there, doodling on the program, thinking of the atonement and all the blessings I see in this great work. When I feel Sister Martin tap me on the shoulder, "Sisters, that family you are teaching is here" YES!!! 10 mintues before sacrmanet endsand there they are!! I couldnt sing the closing hymn, I was crying because I was so happy. The Lord really extends his mercy. Everything is on His timing, not mine. no matter how frustrating it all is, it works out.

So we had a GREAT work. Tons of miracles. And you know what?? Next week is going to be even better!!

love always,
Sister Ploth

Matthew 11:

 28 ¶^aCome unto me, all ye that ^blabour and are heavy laden, and I will give you ^crest.

 29 Take my ^ayoke upon you, and ^blearn of me; for I am ^cmeek and ^dlowly in ^eheart: and ye shall find ^frest unto your souls.

 30 For my yoke is ^aeasy, and my burden is light.