locale
hero
girl
villain
cause of conflict
villains scheme against hero
heros method of thwarting the villain
a counteraction by the villain
test between the two
crit situation or jeopardy
hero wins

(these were taken from "creating plot" by J. Madison Davis)

Of course some of these can be taken out, but it gives a basic outline of what needs to be there. If someone writes a story and because of the locale being the west, and they have a hero and a girl with the only villain being the bank, who really doesn’t care as the hero walks in and pays the bank in the opening scene, then proceeds to have some talk between characters with no other conflict then, where did the plot go??

In the same book it is discussed that there are two plots: someone came to town, and someone is going on a trip/adventure. Again, if all the plot for the story is in the first paragraph, then is it really a story or a travel article?

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making sure that I hit all the elements of a plot

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Looking at the simple romance plot above, with only three elements, I maintain that you'd still have a plot with only the first one, though it may not be a formulaic romance. It could be a coming of age story with a socially inept fellow in which the whole plot is how he conquers his awkwardness to approach his ladylove.

Actually, I look at plot like the verb of a sentence -- it's where all the action is. Consequently, I don't understand your statement,

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if all the plot for the story is in the first paragraph

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How can all the plot be in the first paragraph? Except maybe in flash fiction. Not even there. Hyper fiction maybe.