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).