Elliot's apartment in Moore, Oklahoma

Elliot sent us his address, so I was able to grab a screen shot of it from Google Maps.  It looks like a very large complex and an upgrade over some of the places he has lived.

A new picture of Carlton Reininger

Carlton Reininger's weekly emails from Argentina are always great to read. And he sends lots more pictures than Elliot! I especially enjoyed today's picture of Carlton and his companion making sock puppets with an Argentine family. Doesn't he look great?

Elliot's October 31 email

Happy Halloween!

Wow that's terrible what happened [we lost a member of the Newhall First Ward in an accident]. I don't think I really knew them too well, or if I did I can't remember, I hadn't been to N1 all that much my year before the mission. But I'll definitely keep them in my prayers. That's the hardest thing to go through I'm sure.

Well I'm in Moore now. My companion is Elder Carlos Soto from Chiapas, Mexico. He's awesome. He's towards the end of his mission (he goes home December 20) and is a great missionary. I've already learned so much from him in just these past 5 days. I'm really excited to be serving with him.

And I'm excited about all of what's going on here! We cover Moore 2nd Ward as well as OKC 7th Branch, which is for all of the young single adults in the area. It's sweet. We have 2 investigators with baptismal dates for the 19th of November, so that's something to look forward to. And Elder L.Tom Perry is coming to our Stake Conference this week! I couldn't have come to the South at a better time. Being a Zone Leader is new and challenging, but it's good. We're setting up some practical ideas and goals for moving the work along in all of the areas. It's tiring, and a lot of work, but that's a good thing and I can feel my capacities growing.

Brother Sorenson is in my ward! [My missionary companion in Caaguazu, Paraguay, and a really great guy!] El era tu companero en la mision, verdad? Hable con el ayer y el me relato una historia. [He was your missionary companion, right? I spoke with him yesterday and he told me a story.] He told me about how you were in the Miami Airport and they asked for your visas, which none of you had. So you called Salt Lake and they told you to just get on the plane. He said he had no idea how y'all got on but you did! [I don't remember any of this but if Sorby says it happened, it must have happened!] I'm super excited to be in his ward. Maybe I can get some more stories off of him. [Oh no!]

Our apartment is way nice. We have 4 missionaries in it which is fun. The address is [redacted], in Moore. I'm in President Taylor's ward, and live pretty close to him as well as the APs [Assistants to the President]. I should be here for at least a few transfers and am very much looking forward to it!

Life's good!

I love y'all!

Elder Elliot

Oh and that's me and Mike Oseletto in the picture. He took care of me while I was in Texas. [He must have forgotten to attach the picture. We didn't get it.]

Welcome to Moore, Oklahoma, Elliot's new area

Elliot is now in Moore, Oklahoma, his new area and the fifth area where he has served since leaving the Missionary Training Center. Let's see what we can find out about Moore.

Moore is a city with approximately 55,000 residents, located midway between Oklahoma City to the north and Norman to the south.

According to the Moore Chamber of Commerce,

Moore was founded during the land-run of 1889. The early settlers came on train, horseback, wagon and some on foot. According to local historians, the town’s original name was Verbeck, as designated by the railroad company. However, a railroad employee named Al Moore, reported to be either a conductor or a brakeman, lived in a boxcar at the camp and had difficulty receiving his mail. 

He painted his name – Moore – on a board and nailed it on the boxcar. When a postmaster was appointed, he continued to call the settlement Moore. When the town incorporated in 1893, the name was legalized.

Moore is the home of a couple of people you may have heard of.  Country star Toby Keith (pictured) hails from Moore. So does Danny Cooksey, who joined the cast of Diff'rent Strokes toward the end of its run. Major league baseball pitcher Michael Hinckley grew up in Moore (although it looks like he is looking for another shot at the big leagues after being cut by the Toronto Blue Jays in June).

There are lots of places to eat and things to do in Moore, which is the home of Andy Alligator's Fun Park. with go-karts, bumper cars, a 32-foot climbing rock, Bayou Blaster bumper boats, batting cages, and more. I hope Elliot gets to eat at Van's Pig Stand, the oldest Bar-B-Q restaurant, owned and operated by the same family, in Oklahoma.

And then there is Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers:



Moore has three high schools, the Moore Lions, the Westmoore Jaguars, and the Southmore SaberCats, five junior high schools and 23 elementary schools. And Elliot, who loves photography, would undoubtedly enjoy the Oklahoma School of Photography in Moore, a private, family-owned school that trains students to succeed in freelance photography, graphic design, studio ownership, or employment with a company in the graphic imagery industry.

The City of Moore publishes a monthly newsletter with local news and information. You can read the November 2011 newsletter here.

You can find out lots more about Moore on the city's official website and through the Chamber of Commerce. We'll look forward to hearing all about Elliot's experiences in Moore, starting tomorrow with the first email from his new area.

Church-service missionaries

Elliot's mission to Oklahoma is a typical two-year proselytizing mission, where his primary purpose is to share the message of the gospel with those who are interested. As summarized on a Church website, his typical day might look something like this:

A common morning for a missionary might consist of waking up at 6:30 a.m., studying the scriptures, and meeting new people to share the gospel with. The afternoon might include discussing gospel lessons with people they meet and volunteering for service in the community. A good night has them teaching the gospel to interested individuals and helping them learn and keep God's commandments or attending a baptismal service for someone who's decided to join the Church. They return home around 9:30 p.m. and fall into bed, usually exhausted and happy.

But that's not the only kind of mission that members of the Church serve. Sunday's Deseret News features a story about Church-service missionaries, where the primary purpose of the missionaries is to provide service in one form or another. In April 2011, the Church announced that 20,813 members served Church-service missions in 2010.

"At any given time there are 13,000-14,000 church-service missionaries out in the field serving," [Joel S.] Moriyama [director of the Church-service missionary program] said. "During 2010, those 20,813 missionaries donated more than 8.8 million hours of service. How many employees would we have had to hire, and at what cost to the church, in order to accomplish all that these wonderful missionaries have accomplished during the course of a year?"

Unlike Elliot, whose mission took him to Oklahoma, most of these Church-service missionaries stay home for the duration of their service, which can range from six to 24 months. They volunteer for a wide variety of assignments, ranging from service in Bishops' storehouses and at Church recreational properties to serving at mission offices or on humanitarian projects. As shown in the pictures, Church-service missionaries can help build a visitor's center along the Mormon Handcart Trail or help care for the grounds at Church headquarters.

"There is no such thing as a 'typical' church-service missionary," Moriyama said. "They come to us from all walks of life, young and old, single and married. Many aren't able to serve a full-time mission for one reason or another, and so they volunteer for a church-service assignment." 

The Church has a page on its website dedicated to Church-service missions, including videos of service missionaries, current opportunities, role descriptions, and answers to frequently asked questions.

Primary Choir at General Conference

One of the highlights of the recent General Conference was the performance of the primary choir from Pleasant View and North Ogden during the Saturday afternoon session. They were terrific and fun to watch.  I always enjoy when different groups perform at General Conference, like when Elliot sang with the MTC choir during the October 2010 Priesthood session. In case you missed, here are videos of the primary choir's three numbers.  Enjoy.


Medley: "God's Daily Care" and "I Thank Thee, Dear Father"




"Families Can Be Together Forever"




Medley: "My Heavenly Father Loves Me" and "I Know My Father Lives"

Elliot's October 24 email -- off to Moore, Oklahoma

Hola!

Man this may have been the biggest roller coaster of a week on the mission so far. I don't even know where to begin really.

[I redacted a portion of Elliot's email about Adrienne, who has been investigating the church. She's doing great and expects to be baptized very soon.]

Transfer calls was just another hill on the roller coaster that was this past week. I was visiting with a member, Mike, who is incredibly awesome, one of my favorite people I've met on the mission, when the ringtone that sounds like an alarm, specifically assigned for when President Taylor calls, went off. Immediately my heart skips 3 beats, and after almost dropping the phone I answer it. He asked if I would be one of his Zone Leaders. Knowing never to turn down an assignment I said yes. I'm going to be going to Moore this week with Elder Soto as my companion! I have mixed feelings. I love this ward and the people here, but I think a change will be good and I'm excited to go back to the city. I definitely don't want to pack, but oh well.

For our last p-day we went mountain biking this morning. Wichita Falls has some really cool  trails and jumps and stuff, but don't worry, I'm not being too crazy and no one got hurt lol. We had a lot of fun, though we're a bit tired.

!Les amo a cada uno de ustedes! Have a great week!

Elder Elliot Adair

Dallin H. Oaks: "Teachings of Jesus"

Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten and Beloved Son of God. . . . He is our Savior from sin and death. This is the most important knowledge on earth.

This was the message of Elder Dallin H. Oaks at the Sunday afternoon session of the October 2011 General Conference. In concluding his address on "Teachings of Jesus," Elder Oaks reminds us of Jesus' challenge to the Pharisees and Peter's challenge to the Corinthians, then bears his own powerful personal testimony of the Savior:

Jesus issued the challenge “What think ye of Christ?” (Matthew 22:42). The Apostle Paul challenged the Corinthians to “examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5). All of us should answer these challenges for ourselves. Where is our ultimate loyalty? Are we like the Christians in Elder Neal A. Maxwell’s memorable description who have moved their residence to Zion but still try to keep a second residence in Babylon? 

There is no middle ground. We are followers of Jesus Christ. Our citizenship is in His Church and His gospel, and we should not use a visa to visit Babylon or act like one of its citizens. We should honor His name, keep His commandments, and “seek not the things of this world but seek … first to build up the kingdom of God, and to establish his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33, footnote a; from Joseph Smith Translation, Matthew 6:38). 

Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten and Beloved Son of God. He is our Creator. He is the Light of the World. He is our Savior from sin and death. This is the most important knowledge on earth, and you can know this for yourself, as I know it for myself. The Holy Ghost, who testifies of the Father and the Son and leads us into truth, has revealed these truths to me, and He will reveal them to you. The way is desire and obedience. As to desire, Jesus taught, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Matthew 7:7). As to obedience, He taught, “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself” (John 7:17). I testify of the truth of these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

The full text of Elder Oaks' address may be found here. You can see the full video below.

A surprise text message and picture

Last December, we got a text message from the branch president where Elliot was then serving in Oklahoma City. It was great to get that message, which included a picture of Elliot. We assumed that would be the only time we would ever receive such an unexpected and wonderful surprise.

Wrong. Late Thursday evening, as I got into my car to drive home from a work event, I glanced at my phone and saw I had a message. I didn't recognize the number but I saw there was a picture attached. It turns out the message was from Adrienne from Wichita Falls. She has been investigating the gospel and meeting with Elliot and Elder Jacobson. She told us what a blessing Elliot has been in her life and thanked us (meaning Lori, obviously) for raising him so well. She included a picture of herself with Elliot and Elder Jacobson. What a treat! We really appreciated hearing from her and wanted to share the picture she sent to us.

Elliot's October 17 email

Here's the latest message from Elliot.

Hola mi familia!

[Family stuff redacted.]

And you're always welcome to ride the fixie [pictured] dad. It needs to be ridden every now and then I would think. And I got the package mom! Thank you so much. I need the socks and the Subway gift cards are awesome. And I already ate all of the taffy. It was way good.

We're planning on baptizing Adrienne tomorrow! We have a lot of things we need to get done before the baptism and we have to scramble a bit, but it's great to see her making this covenant. We're really excited for her. She's made so much incredible progress and her increase in faith has strengthened mine as well. Her baptism will be one of the great highlights of my mission for sure.

We went fishing this morning at Lake Arrowhead with Brother Thompson. I didn't catch anything though... Oh well it was still fun. We have Zone Conference this Wednesday. Elder Packer of the 70 (President Packer's son) will be there. It should be really cool. We have to be in Norman at 7:45 which will be very hectic, but that's okay. This past week we didn't end up having everyone come down to Texas, just our regular district. It was a pretty normal week. We've been having fun and everything's going well. Transfers are next week. We'll see where I end up!

Les amo, y'all,

Elder Elliot Adair

A couple of changes to the blog

There have been a couple of changes to Elliot's blog. First, there are quite a few new pictures in the scroll at the top of the page. I added all the pictures of Elliot that he has sent to us from his mission or that we got from other sources (e.g., the Mission President's blog). Take a look if you want to see the new ones. If you've been following the blog, you've probably seen all the pictures but there may be some you've missed.

Second, having done a little reading, I've discovered that auto-play music is one of the biggest pet peeves of people who enjoy exploring new blogs. (Read here and here.) I haven't deleted the music; I've just changed the settings on the music player. Before, the default setting was for auto-play. Now, if you want to hear the music, you need to scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the "play" button.

Third, I added a gadget that allows you to search Elliot's blog. Check the top of the right-hand column for the new "Search Elliot's Blog" box.

That's all the new stuff. Hope you're enjoying the blog.

"Missionaries Are a Treasure of the Church"

Elder Kazuhiko Yamashita of the Seventy spoke at the Sunday afternoon session of the recent General Conference.  His address, "Missionaries Are a Treasure of the Church," struck home and reminded us of the important work that Elliot is doing in Oklahoma and Texas.  Elder Yamashita started his remarks with a great story of a young missionary whom he met in Japan:

One night a number of years ago, a newly called missionary named Elder Swan and his Japanese senior companion came to visit our home. Fortunately I was home, so I invited them in. When I greeted them at the door, my eyes were drawn to the coat that Elder Swan was wearing. Without thinking, I said to him, “That sure is a nice coat you are wearing!” However, it wasn’t a new coat, and it was rather faded. I assumed that the coat was one that a previous missionary had left behind in the missionary apartment.  

Elder Swan immediately responded to my words, and it was completely the opposite of what I had been thinking. In halting Japanese he replied, “Yes, this is a good coat. My father wore this coat when he served as a missionary in Japan over 20 years ago.”  

His father had served in the Japan Okayama Mission. And when his son was leaving to serve a mission in Japan, he had given his coat to him. This picture shows that coat that two generations of Elder Swans wore in Japan.   [You can see the picture at 1:25 of the video, after the jump.] 

I was touched when I heard Elder Swan’s words. And I now understood why Elder Swan wore his father’s coat while he was proselyting. Elder Swan had embarked on his mission having inherited his father’s love for Japan and its people.

Elder Yamashita shared the story of his own conversion and baptism, and then offered the following advice to young men and women in the Church preparing to serve missions:

So I speak to my sons and to all of you preparing to serve missions. It is necessary to bring three things with you on your mission: 

1. A desire to preach the gospel. The Lord wants you to search for His sheep and seek them out. [Ezekiel 34:11.] People all over the world are waiting for you. Please go quickly to where they are. No one strives harder than missionaries to go to the rescue of others. I am one of those rescued.
2. Develop your testimony. The Lord requires your “heart and a willing mind.” [Doctrine and Covenants 64:34.]
3. Love others, just like Elder Swan, who brought his father’s coat and his father’s love for Japan and its people with him on his mission. 

And for those of you who don’t know how to prepare to serve a mission, please go and see your bishop. I know that he will help you.

The full text of Yamashita's address can be found here.  And after the jump, you can see a video of his address.

"Fires of Faith: The Coming Forth of the King James Bible"

This is an important year in the history of the King James Bible.  As we noted on blog previously, this is the 400th anniversary of that version of the Bible.  A special traveling exhibit of the history of the Bible, "Passages," has been on display in Oklahoma City since May.  And the Church produced a special video on the contribution of William Tyndale to the development of the Bible.

Now, a special three-part documentary, "Fires of Faith: The Coming Forth of the King James Bible," will air on BYUtv beginning this Sunday, October 16.  Take a minute to enjoy the trailer:



According to the Church website,

The three-part series, Fires of Faith: The Coming Forth of the King James Bible, follows the complex history of the book—the sacrifice of countless people to bring it to pass, its violent beginnings, changes over time, and its influence the world over today. At the forefront of the history is British religious scholar William Tyndale, who was responsible for the original translations that make up more than 80 percent of the Bible’s text.

* * * * *

“Few milestones in history have had greater influence and significance than the translation of the Bible into English,” said Derek Marquis, executive producer of Fires of Faith and managing director of BYUtv. “The director, writer, actors, scholars and religious leaders in our film combined to create an extraordinary chorus that transcends any one religion to truly celebrate the most influential book of all time.”

Much more information about the documentary may be found here.  The schedule for each of the episodes is as follows:

Part 1 Fires of Faith: Yearning for the Word

• Sunday, October 16: 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. eastern daylight time/ 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. mountain daylight time
• Wednesday, October 19: 9:00 p.m. and midnight, eastern daylight time/7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. mountain daylight time

Part 2 Fires of Faith: Martyrs for a Book

• Sunday, October 23: 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. eastern daylight time/6:00 p.m. 9:00 p.m. mountain daylight time
• Wednesday, October 26: 9:00 p.m. and midnight eastern daylight time/7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. mountain daylight time

Part 3 Fires of Faith: The King James Bible

• Sunday, October 30: 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. eastern daylight time/6:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. mountain daylight time
• Wednesday, November 2: 9:00 p.m. and midnight eastern standard time/7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. mountain standard time

It will also be available for viewing on demand on the internet on BYUtv.

LDS Church News: Hispanic conference in Oklahoma City

200 Hispanic members of the Church recently gathered in Oklahoma City for a conference, according a story in the LDS Church News.  What started out as proposal for a volleyball and basketball challenge between the Oklahoma City 6th Branch (Spanish) and the Norman 3rd Branch (Spanish) morphed and expanded into a three-day activity, with sports events, leadership training meetings, a temple day, a day of service, three devotionals, and lots of food and activities.

The featured speaker at the conference was Elder Romeo Villarreal, an Area Seventy.

Elder Villarreal spoke at devotionals for the youth and the young single adults and then spoke in Spanish specifically to the Latino people in a third devotional. He admonished them to progress and refine their lives like silver is refined until it is pure and shiny and reflects an image, like we are to reflect the image of our Savior. He also addressed concerns specific to Latino culture and urged them to diligently keep a budget, to buy life insurance and sacrifice to keep savings. He also urged them to pay tithes and learn to control their appetites through fasting and explained that Fast offerings are the Lord’s way of providing for the poor as opposed to lending each other money.

I do not believe Elliot was able to attend the conference since he was in Wichita Falls.  But there is a direct Elliot connection, beyond the fact that the conference occurred in OKC.  One of the organizers of the event was President Espinoza of the Oklahoma City 6th Branch.  President Espinoza has been featured on Elliot's blog before.  Way back in December 2010, Elliot's mom and I were grocery shopping when we got a text message from President Espinoza.  It turns out that Elliot was eating dinner with the Espinoza family, so President Espinoza took a picture of Elliot and texted is to us, with a very nice message.  You can see the blog story here, with the picture.  President Espinoza was quoted in the LDS Church News story:

President David Espinoza, of the 6th Branch, said, “This kind of activity helps the Spanish-speaking members in our area get to know each other. They find a place where they don’t feel alone. They feel more like a team. It is important for them to feel a part of something. In the Church we are no more strangers but we are a family in the Kingdom of Heavenly Father.”

And there was a picture of President Espinoza and others (left to right: President Carlos Arturo Barboza, President David Espinoza, President Bean, Elder Romeo Villareal, and President Porfirio Ochoa):

The Church News story has additional pictures.

This must have been a tremendous event.  It's great to see members of the church gather and share these kinds of experiences.

Elliot's October 10 email

Here's the latest email from Elliot.

Hola mi familia,

We had a pretty cool week. Adrienne didn't get baptized just yet. We just have a few things to overcome first, but she's so solid. It's incredible to see how strong her testimony is. She's been sharing what she's learning with her family and her friends at work (she teaches 5th grade). We had an awesome lesson with her this past week. I really felt the love God has for her in such a powerful way, and she felt it too. I hope we can help her to have all the blessings that come from living the Gospel of Christ here soon.

Yesterday we had a really cool lesson too. It rained hard on Saturday and continued for the better part of Sunday as well. It looked like it might start raining again at any moment, and where we felt we should go was pretty far from our apartment, but we went anyway. Well it was smart to trust in the Spirit. You can count on Him whenever he tells you to do something. Mary, who has been investigating the Church for pretty much as long as I've been here (without much success, frankly), invited her daughter and 2 granddaughters to sit in on the lesson. Well it turned out that She now has a testimony of the Book of Mormon! The rest of her family very much wanted to learn the same things she had, and we gave them all copies as well. We taught the Restoration and gave Mary's daughter a blessing. It was such a powerful lesson. I could tell they had real intent and were excited for us to come back! Good times.

It rained hard this weekend! It was pretty chilly too. And I learned I don't really have a very good coat. So I think I'm gonna buy one today. I saw a really nice coat on sale at the mall the other week and I think I'm gonna buy it. Other than that everything's going well. I'll let you know when I get the package!

It's amazing how fast this transfer's gone. It feels like every other day is a Sunday. I think we only have like 2 weeks left. And tomorrow is my 14 month mark. It's flying. I really like Elder Jacobson and this ward, but if things change that's okay. It seems like I always leave right before all the fruits of my labors come, but if that's what God wants who am I to say that I know better. I'm just super grateful to be out here serving these good people and serving the Lord. I love being a missionary! It's the best.

And I love y'all too!

Elder Elliot Adair

Newhall First Ward missionary newsletter

Here is the most recent Newhall First Ward missionary newsletter from Sister Connie Hollingworth (pictured), with reports from Elliot, Javan Hatch, Merisa Hicks, Kyle Hill, Ian Loveland, CJ Norris, and Carlton Reininger.  We really appreciate Sister Hollingworth putting this together every month!  Enjoy the newsletter after the jump.

"Marking Time: Voyage to Vietnam" exhibit in Oklahoma City

A fascinating exhibit, "Marking Time: Voyage to Vietnam," is schedule to open October 13 at the Gaylord-Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.  The exhibit will feature original and recreated graffiti from inside the General Nelson M. Walker troopship, which carried American soldiers from the west coast to Vietnam.

According to a report in the Oklahoman:

Corie Baker, spokeswoman for the museum, said she got the idea to bring the traveling exhibit to Oklahoma City when when she saw a special on TV about the decades-old graffiti. Her late father also was a decorated Vietnam veteran.

“These graffiti images feature what the soldiers were thinking at the time,” Baker said. “Kind of like messages back home throughout the war.”

The exhibit's website, which includes stories of individual soldiers, some great audio clips, and a wealth of historical information, explains:

Marking Time: Voyage to Vietnam presents the stories, through graffiti left on a troopship’s bunk canvases, of young American soldiers and Marines going to Vietnam during the 1960s. Their stories reflect the attitudes and events during a turbulent decade of our nation’s history—the 1960’s.

The exhibit was developed by Art and Lee Beltrone of Keswick, Virginia, founders of the Vietnam Graffiti Project (VGP). When the graffiti aboard the troopship General Nelson M. Walker was discovered in 1997, the VGP was created to preserve examples of the historic canvases by removing them from the ship and placing them in museums throughout the country. The Walker was destined to be scrapped and everyone feared the historic canvases would be forever lost.

After the jump, you can see two videos from the exhibit's website.  One details the history of the troops aboard the Walker.  The other is a CBS News report about the exhibit.  There are also several pictures from the exhibit's website and from The Oklahoman.

The World Report features stories on Joplin and Japan

The October 2011 edition of The World Report, a semiannual report of news events around the world pertaining to the Church, was released yesterday.  It includes reports on two topics that we have covered on Elliot's blog, the tornado that struck Joplin, Missouri, and the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.  It's good to see missionaries featured in both videos.  With introductions from the website, here are the videos.



Church Provides Relief to Devastated Joplin, Missouri: A string of tornadoes swept through the Midwest on 22 May 2011. Local leaders organized relief groups and hundreds of volunteers to help with cleanup.





Japan Earthquake Relief Efforts: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints continues to help in the effort to rebuild Japan since March’s devastating earthquake and tsunami. One recent effort includes the donation of a new industrial-size ice maker to fishermen in a small village near Sendai.

Elliot's October 3 email

Here's the latest email from Elliot.

Hello!

Man, General Conference and my Leadership Training Meetings were all awesome. I feel rejuvenated for sure. I learned a whole lot. I got to watch all of conference fortunately. The LTM is pretty much for all of the DL's, ZL's and AP's [District Leaders, Zone Leaders, and Assistants to the President], as well as trainers, those who have a special assignment, and those who will soon become one of these. And all of the sister missionaries came to this one.

Yeah, transfers are October 26th and happen every 6 Wednesdays. I'm pretty sure I'll be heading somewhere else here soon. I'm just glad I got to stay for 3, but I wouldn't mind sticking around for longer. Wichita Falls is is so sweet.

This past week was spent mostly in meetings and Conference. We did watch the Saturday afternoon session with Adrinne. She's great. She should be getting baptized this Saturday!! If not it'll be really soon. We have a pretty open week, and the Zone Leaders are coming down for District Meeting here in Texas on Friday, so so we'll have 14 people in it. Basically a zone. The next week we'll possibly have them again with the APs and maybe President and Sister Taylor, which might be the largest district meeting I've heard of. That's okay. Everything is well and I'm happy and healthy.

Sorry for the short email but I gotta run. We have zone p-day today and are meeting up in Lawton in an hour.

I love you!

Elder Elliot Adair

Mormon Tabernacle Choir: "Called to Serve"

This video of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was played on KBYU on Sunday morning before General Conference. The song, "Called to Serve," and accompanying video remind me of Elliot and all the other missionaries of the Church serving throughout the world. Enjoy the video.

President Thomas S. Monson announces six new temples

Yesterday, in the Saturday morning session of the 181st Semiannual General Conference of the Church, President Thomas S. Monson announced six new temples around the world:

• Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Durban, South Africa
• Barranquilla, Colombia
• Paris, France
• Star Valley, Wyoming
• Provo, Utah

President Monson had previously announced the Paris temple in July.

Speaking of the Star Valley Temple, President Monson said: "I think I'll dedicate that one.  There's good fishing up there!"  And I suspect he will!

The new Provo Temple, the second temple in that city, will be built at the site of the Provo Tabernacle, which was badly damaged in a December 2010 fire.  From a Deseret News story:

The announcement of the new temple in Provo drew an audible response from the Conference Center congregation. President Monson explained that the temple would be built on the site of the recently burned Provo Tabernacle in downtown Provo. He indicated that the current Provo Temple is among the busiest in the church — the new temple will take some of the pressure off that temple.

We're delighted that the Provo Tabernacle will be restored.  It is the site of my graduation from the BYU Law School way back in 1990 and brings back great memories of friends and family on an important day.

In speaking of temples, President Monson said:

No church-built facility is more important than a temple.  Temples are places where relationships are sealed together to last through the eternities.  We are grateful for all the many temples across the world and for the blessing they are in the lives of our members.

More information about temples and their significance to the Church may be found here.  You may also want to read past temple-related stories on Elliot's blog (here, here, here, here, and here).