New pictures of Elliot and other OKC missionaries

I ran across the blog of another missionary in the Oklahoma City mission, Elder Philip Woolley.  Elder Woolley is currently in Elk City.  That's in the same district as Clinton, where Elliot was assigned until today's tranfer to Noble-Purcell.  Elder Woolley was companions with Elder Phillips, who was Elliot's MTC companion.  I found a couple of pictures of Elliot from Elder Woolley's blog.  It's great to see some new pictures of Elliot and other OKC missionaries.  You can see them after the jump.

Oklahoma sports report (sort of)

It's a bit of a stretch to call this an Oklahoma sports report, since it doesn't involve any games played by teams based in Oklahoma, but there is a connection.  First, however, the bad news.

Five days have passed since the Cougars played the Florida Gators in the NCAA Tournament.  After 32 wins, a conference championship, and a trip to the sweet sixteen, the magic finally ended as the Cougars lost 83-74 in overtime.  Jimmer Fredette scored 32 points but was an uncharacteristic 3 of 15 from three-point land.  No other Cougar scored more than 9 points.  My philosophical side says it was a great season and the team was extremely fun to watch, but my other side imagines how great it would be to have made it to the final four and maybe even win the whole thing.  But only one team can win it all, and this year it will not be the Cougars.  So life is good.  And the awards keep rolling in.  The U.S. Basketball Writers Association selected Jimmer as the winner of the 2010-11 Oscar Robertson Trophy, annually presented to the National Player of the Year.  He was also selected to The Associated Press All-America team and the 2011 Lute Olson All-America team.  The list of personal honors for Jimmer goes on.  And in recognition of the team's dedication to academics, DegreeeSearch.org conducted its own postseason tournament for college basketball called the Student-Athlete Championship and declared BYU men’s basketball the champions.

So what's the Oklahoma connection?  BYU coach Dave Rose has decided not to pursue the head coaching job at the University of Oklahoma.  Great news for the Cougars; not such great news for the Sooners.

Elliot's March 28 email and pictures

Here's the latest message from Elliot, along with some pictures.  He's getting transferred to a new area (more on that later) as a senior companion.  You can see the pictures after the jump.

Hola!

So I'm getting transferred! I'm gonna head to the Noble-Purcell area as senior companion. It should be an interesting new challenge but I'm looking forward to it. My new companion will be Elder Endicott. My companion right now, Elder Stephen McCord Kimber, is going to be training out in Clinton, which would be a very exciting greenie area. I love Clinton. It's so fun and the members are way awesome, but a change of pace will be nice. Besides I hear the work is going really well in Noble! It'll be hard to head out I think, but it's fun to get into new areas.

We've been teaching a lot lately and having a lot of fun doing it. A lot of our investigators are progressing well, especially "Bob," who I told you about last week. Apparently he's about to go camping for a few weeks though, so that could make things interesting. One funny thing that happened this past week was that we went and taught a family in "The Flats," the allegedly ghetto part of town. There were like 7 kids all 10 and under while we were trying to teach, which was a little crazy. After a few minutes the kids got a hold of paper and markers and all started to draw. Next thing you know they had given us a total of 38 drawings which we then went and put on the wall of our apartment! It was so fun. And the lesson went really well too I would say. It was just so funny because they were drawing us, trying to draw crosses, and gave us at least 5 pictures that say "I love Jesus." It was awesome. I'm loving the work and those I'm working around so everything's going good!

I gotta be heading out here in a minute, but I'm gonna attach a few pictures first! I got a new roll developed.

I love you all and hope everything's great! Except that all of a sudden OK decided to get cold and stormy. Oh well.

Love,

Elder Elliot Adair

Lots of April festivals in Oklahoma

It must be festival season in Oklahoma.  As a recent news report put it, "April is festi-full" (clever, right?).  I don't know if Elliot can get to any of these events on his preparation day.  But if you're planning to be in Oklahoma in April, there are some great events you have to look forward to.

Check out the details after the jump.

Mormon Messages: "Mormon Temples: The Blessings of the Temple"

I have posted about temples several times on Elliot's blog (here, here, and here).  The Church has posted another great video about the blessings of the temple, narrated by Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.  The video is based in part on Elder Nelson's address at the April 2001 General Conference, "Personal Preparation for Temple Blessings."  Elder Nelson explains:

The temple is the house of the Lord. The basis for every temple ordinance and covenant—the heart of the plan of salvation—is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Every activity, every lesson, all we do in the Church, point to the Lord and His holy house. Our efforts to proclaim the gospel, perfect the Saints, and redeem the dead all lead to the temple. Each holy temple stands as a symbol of our membership in the Church, as a sign of our faith in life after death, and as a sacred step toward eternal glory for us and our families.

Enjoy the video after the jump.

Oklahoma sports report

Time for an update on our favorite college basketball teams at tournament time.

The Cowboys saw their season come to a close Monday night when they lost 74-64 to the Washington State Cougars in the National Invitational Tournament.  Despite 17 points and 11 rebounds from senior forward Matt Pilgrim, the Cowboys came out on the short end of the score, as the Cougars limited OSU's leading scorer, Marshall Moses, to just two points.

The Cougars played the Gonzaga Bulldogs on Saturday, March 19 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.  Gonzaga has family ties for Elliot, since his dad lived in Spokane for several years as a kid.  Elliot's uncle Don still lives there and does some work for Gonzaga.  And John Stockton, a Spokane native who played for Gonzaga and whose son David now plays for the Bulldogs, is a long-time favorite of Elliot's brother Keith.  But Elliot and his family bleed Cougar blue so there was no doubt about which team to support.  The game was reasonably close through the first half but the Cougars pullled away in the second half, winning by a final score of 89-67.  Jimmer Fredette had another spectucular game, scoring 34 points, including seven 3-pointers, some from the next area code.  (Jimmer is also a finalist for the 2011 Naismith Men’s College Player of the Year Award.)  Noah Hartsock made all five of his shots, including three 3-pointers on his way to 13 points, and Jackson Emery tossed in 16 points.  Next up for the Cougars is the number two seed Florida Gators, Thursday evening in New Orleans.

And after the jump, you can watch a great video: "We Are BYU."

NBC News blog: "Quake gives new meaning to a young man's mission"

Thanks to Lisa Peacock for spotting this follow-up story about the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.  (Lisa's son Justin is on a mission in Mexico.  He and Elliot, who were in the MTC at the same time, are pictured here, and you can find Justin's blog here.)  It's another NBC News report from Kari Huus, a senior reporter for msnbc.com.  She tells the story of Elder Patrick Hiltbrand, a missionary from Pocatello, Idaho, who is serving in Japan.  Elder Hiltbrand and his companion, Yuji Aiura, experienced the earthquake and tsunami up close and personal.

Dressed in the standard issue white-shirt-and-tie, he and his “companion” Yuji Aiura — Mormon missionaries always travel in pairs — had arrived by bicycle to a small restaurant in Tagajo, a river town about two miles from the ocean.

They were discussing the power of God with two local Japanese when the shaking began. They ignored it at first says Hiltbrand — there are so many small quakes in this region — but not for long.

The growing fury of the rumbling drove them to take shelter under a table. Then they decided to run outside.

“There was a loud bang and everything was moving in every direction,” Hiltbrand says. “Cars were rocking on the street.”

When it stopped, the two missionaries jumped on their bikes and rode to check on their apartment, then headed to the Mormon church in Tagajo, dodging newly created crevices and open manholes.

But the earthquake was just the beginning of their troubles.

Any illusion that the disaster was over quickly passed as traffic built—with cars heading inland toward Sendai. Then police and fire vehicle sirens began blaring tsunami warnings.

Hiltbrand and Aiura climbed to the second story of the church, a building that is raised 4 to 5 feet off the ground.

The watched out the window as the water level rose rapidly, aided by the river that wraps around the town—and sucked their bicycles into a torrent, along with cars and debris.

Water began pouring through the church’s mail slot in the door of the first floor.

“From the second floor it sounded like a waterfall,” said Hiltbrand. “I went downstairs, and as I watched it coming in … the glass on the door shattered and water came pouring in.”

When the water subsided, Elder Hiltbrand and Elder Aiura made their way to Sendai with the aid of a local church member, arriving some 24 hours after the earthquake.  We're glad to hear they came through unscathed and undaunted by the experience.

For his part, Hiltbrand is itching to get back to the disaster zone.

“I really want to be in Tagajo helping people,” he says. “I have many friends in Tagajo and I don’t know how they are. I don’t know how they will clean it all up and I want to help.”