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.”

Elliot's March 21 email

Here's the latest message from Elliot.

Hey family!

Thanks for the package! I love the shirt and the candy helps out a lot when it's 8 in the morning and you feel like taking a nap instead of studying and you need a little sugar.

That's exciting about CJ! [CJ Norris spoke in church yesterday before leaving on his mission to Boise, Idaho.] We're just pumping missionaries out of N1 now. That's great.

So we've had a very awesome week. We were in the City from Sunday until Friday at the Leadership Training Meeting and it's was incredible. I learned so much about how to recognize the Holy Ghost and how to become a better teacher. We got trained in 8 areas: The Doctrine of Christ, Teach People, Not Lessons, The Role of the Holy Ghost in Conversion, Revelation through Prayer, Revelation through Church Attendance, Revelation through The Book of Mormon, How to Begin Teaching, and We Invite, They Commit, We Follow Up. These are specific areas the General Authorities have been putting an emphasis on to help us become better, more effective, and more powerful teachers. I learned a lot that I've already been able to put into practice with myself and with those whom I serve. I felt the Spirit a lot and learned one really great truth: I'm happiest on the mission when the Spirit's working through me or when It's teaching me.

We had 3 investigators at church on Sunday! My companion and I both gave talks and all four of us missionaries sang in Sacrament Meeting. It seemed that our investigators liked it well. One of them is named "Bob." "Bob" is awesome. We had probably the best lesson of my mission with him this past Saturday. He has a brother who's a Mormon which led him to seek out us missionaries. He saw his brother make this positive changes in his life and wanted to experience the same. He's been going through a terribly rough time. But what's amazing is these unprompted changes he's made in his life. We've hardly taught him yet, not even a full first lesson, but before we started to come over he decided to start to quit drinking and do other things like that. He said he was feeling good when he was reading the Book of Mormon and when we come by. I was able to testify that these things were happening because of the Holy Ghost. I bore testimony of the Holy Ghost and he told stories he had when he felt  good like he was. He even said that he was feeling all warm and good right then! There's no way that I could even describe the lesson or how strong the Spirit was there, but we invited him to be baptized and he said sure! He was stoked about going to church and even prayed at the end of the lesson without us asking him to. I didn't even feel like I was teaching, I just had the honor of being there for his conversion. 

Well I'm glad things are okay back home besides the rain! One more thing-

Go BYU!!!!!!

[Sports report to follow, but BYU advanced to the sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament with wins over Wofford and Gonzaga!]

Love,

Elder Elliot Adair

Mormon Messages: "Jarem Frye - Athlete, Amputee, Mormon"

There is little in his pre-mission life that Elliot loved more than his bike (pictured at right).  It's a single-speed/fixie that he preferred to ride without a brake.  He took it to BYU with him (which explains the snow in the picture) and rode all over campus and around Provo.  That's where he also had a close encounter with a Provo driver.  It's never fun to get a call from your son saying he just got hit by a car!  Fortunately, he was fine and the car suffered worse damage than either Elliot or his bike.

With Elliot's love of cycling, I'm sure he'd like to know Jarem Frye.  Jarem is featured in a Mormon Messages video (below) that describes how losing a leg at age 14 to bone cancer did not stop him from becoming a telemark skier, rock climber, wakeboarder, and mountain biker.  Jarem is also a return mssionary (he went to England), a husband and father, and the founder of his own prosthetics design and manufacture company.  I enjoyed Jarem's concluding comments on his Mormon.org profile:

I realized that my simple trust in the Savior had allowed the burdens of my illness to be lifted from me, and absolved in His atonement! It had never clicked for me before, that an infinite atonement could not only save me from sin, but also deliver me from sadness, despair, illness, and pain.

Since that time I have tried to remember that simple principle and apply the atonement of Christ in every part of my life. Every aspect of my life has been a blessing from God! I believe that He has endless blessings for all of us. Some are disguised as challenges and many are difficult to recognize as blessings, but with His help, and just a little bit of faith on our part, blessings we never would have imagined are available to us.

Enjoy Jarem's video after the jump.

NBC News blog: "In Japan, the Mormon network gathers the flock"

Kari Huus, a senior reporter for msnbc.com, posted a story on an NBC news blog this morning about the Church's efforts to reach out to missionaries and members in Japan in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami.  It's a very well-written report about how the Church can quickly and efficiently contact its missionaries and members in emergencies.  I recommend reading the entire story and have also excerpted some passages here.

Within 36 hours of the earthquake striking off the coast of Sendai on March 11, the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced that all 638 of its missionaries in the country -- 342 Americans, 216 Japanese and 80 from other nations – were safe.

Within a few days, the church also had accounted for all but about 1,000 of its 125,000 members in Japan.

“Whether it is Haiti or Japan,” said David Evans, a senior leader in the church who serves in the missionary department. “This is how it works everywhere.”

The story adds some insight into the challenge of ensuring the safety of all the missionaries in Japan, including the last four who had to walk out of the most devastated portions of Sendai:

The missionaries — young men and women who work in pairs – all have cell phones, but with cell networks down in most cases, they instead followed disaster plans that directed them to predetermined locations. Most of the young evangelists were accounted for within 18 hours. The last four, who had to walk out of one of the most devastated areas of Sendai to reach their assigned site, were contacted within 36 hours of the quake, church officials said.

Ms. Huus also commented on the Church's ability to reach members through home teaching:

Under what they call the “home teaching program” each church assigns a member four to 10 people to visit at least once each month, checking in on their physical and spiritual wellbeing. So essentially everyone checks in on others and is checked in on themself. That means when a disaster hits, church members know exactly where to look for the folks that are normally part of their rounds.

The story also notes that the Church's rescue efforts are not limited to missionaries and members:

The church has made substantial contributions to the Japanese Red Cross and is coordinating with other aid organizations to assess the need for food, housing and fuel in the disaster zone.

“We strive to help people whenever there is a disaster,” said [Steve] Allen [a public affairs officer with the church]. “Our desire to help is not based on religious affiliation or any other affiliation.”

It's comforting to know that the Church has the ability to respond so ably in these types of emergencies, especially for those of us with sons and daughters serving throughout the world.  Thanks to Ms. Huus and NBC News for a great report.

Oklahoma sports report

It's basketball tournament time.  While there are lots of teams still playing, we'll focus on the Oklahoma State Cowboys and Elliot's BYU Cougars.

The Cowboys are playing in the National Invitational Tournament.  On Tuesday, the Cowboys played the Harvard Crimson in Stillwater, Oklahoma.  Led by Marshall Moses with 18 points and 8 rebounds, the Cowboys beat the Crimson by a final score of 71-54.  OSU next travels to Pullman, Washington, where they will play the Washington State Cougars on Monday, March 21.

The Cougars qualified to play in the NCAA Tournament as the number 3 seed in the Southeast bracket.  Tonight they played the Wofford Terriers in Denver.  The game was close most of the way, but the Cougars eventually pulled away mid-way through the second half and held on for a 74-66 victory.  Jimmer Fredette led the way with 32 points and 8 assists, with strong support from Charles Abouo, Noah Hartsock, and Logan Magnusson, each with 10 points.  The Cougars play again on Saturday, March 19, when they will face the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

Update on missionaries in Japan

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland (pictured at right) spoke at a press conference yesterday to give an update on the status of missionaries and members of the Church in Japan.  He said that all missionaries are being evacuated from areas of greatest concern:

Given the radiation issue, we have taken the precaution of moving them out of the immediate area of concern in the Sendai and Tokyo missions. We are moving the missionaries as safely as we can, given the transportation and infrastructure being what they are. No one’s panicking. We’re doing this in a calm and reasonable and very optimistic way.

Around 200 missionaries are being evacuated to other missions north and south of Sendai but will remain in Japan.  “We are moving them to very safe distances. Whatever the government is saying, we are doubling, we are tripling, that distance.”

He also spoke about the local members of the Church.  Of the approximately 125,000 Japanese members, all are safe and accounted for except for members in three congregations.  “We know of no loss of life of a member of the Church yet. That doesn’t mean that we won’t learn of that, but we don’t know of any at this point and we’re very, very grateful for that.”

Click here for further updates.  Also, you can watch Elder Holland's full press release after the jump.