The Wall Street Journal: "From American Idol to Mormon Missionary"

Our blog has recounted the stories of Sid Going and Will Hopoate, two young athletes who interrupted promising rugby careers to serve missions. Now, American Idol runner-up David Archuleta recently announced that he will leave his music career behind for two years while he serves a mission for the Church. The video of his announcement is posted below. He has not announced whether he has already received his call or where he is going. Who knows, maybe he'll end up in Oklahoma City with Elliot.

Today's Wall Street Journal has a good op-ed piece on David's decision to serve a mission. Written by Allison Pond, herself a former missionary who served in Rostov-na-donu, Russia, the op-ed describes the experience of being a missionary:

For Mr. Archuleta, age 21, life is about to change considerably. He'll trade a life of stardom for the rigor of waking up at 6:30 every morning, studying scripture for a couple of hours, then working 10-hour days teaching interested people in their homes and taking on other community-service projects before falling into bed exhausted. He'll also join the ranks of other prominent Mormons who have served missions, including Mitt Romney (France) and Jon Huntsman (Taiwan), Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings (Spain), and actors Aaron Eckhart (Switzerland) and Jon Heder (Japan). 

Missionaries serve on their own dime, swearing off dating, entertainment and even most Internet activity. There is relatively little direct supervision; they have at once rigid structure and significant autonomy. They work in pairs, reporting weekly in writing to a mission president, an older man called to serve a three-year stint.

Sister Pond concludes her piece with a perspective on David's preparation for his mission and the experience that's in store for him:

Because of his time in the spotlight, David Archuleta may already be more grown up than the average 21-year-old, but a mission will challenge even him. It will put him in the company of hundreds of thousands who, by the end of their missions, have firsthand experience with the biblical injunction to lose their lives and thereby find them. 

The full op-ed can be found here, and a related story from the Church website can be found here.

David will undoubtedly be a great missionary wherever he serves. We'll keep track of this story and see where he is assigned.

Woody Guthrie's archives to reside in Oklahoma

Woody Guthrie, the Dust Bowl Troubadour, is one of Oklahoma's favorite sons. Born in Okemah on July 14, 1912, Woody became a prolific singer-songwriter whose Oklahoma roots colored his artistry. Speaking of his hometown, Woody said:

Okemah was one of the singingest, square dancingest, drinkingest, yellingest, preachingest, walkingest, talkingest, laughingest, cryingest, shootingest, fist fightingest, bleedingest, gamblingest, gun, club and razor carryingest of our ranch towns and farm towns, because it blossomed out into one of our first Oil Boom Towns.

Bob Blackburn, executive director of the Oklahoma Historical Society, described Woody:

Woody Guthrie is the greatest American folk singer/songwriter of all time. His art is deeply connected to Oklahoma's people and its history. It reflects the Oklahoma experience, from mobility and immigration to diversity and the longing for a sense of community. Whether it was the Indian forced onto a reservation, a farmer looking for new land or an oilman driven to find one more gusher, Woody gave voice to their hopes and dreams.

Oklahoma fans of Woody got some great news yesterday, when it was announced that the George Kaiser Family Foundation purchased Woody's archives and will move them from his daughter's home in New York to Oklahoma. The Woody Guthrie Center is expected to open in late 2012. The center will be housed in the Mathews Warehouse, a building in downtown Tulsa being converted into space for museums and arts organizations. The archives include:

• Guthrie's original handwritten copy of "This Land is Your Land"
• Original musical recordings
• Nearly 3,000 song lyrics
• Rare books by and about Guthrie
• More than 700 of pieces of artwork, letters and postcards
• Manuscripts and personal journals
• More than 500 photographs
• Handwritten songbooks
• Guthrie's annotated record collection
• Personal papers detailing family matters, Guthrie's World War II military service and musical career
• A research paper detailing Guthrie's mental and physical deterioration from Huntington's disease

And what would be the point of a story about Woody Guthrie without examples of his music? Enjoy two of his great songs after the jump.

Elliot's December 27 email

Here's the latest email from Elliot, a day later and a lot shorter than usual. We had a great phone call with him Sunday so he didn't have a lot of news to share in the email. Only one more phone call to go (Mother's Day), then home in August.

Hi!

I forgot my camera! I'm on exchanges with Elder Gonzalez today. All of the libraries were closed yesterday so I'm emailing now. But yeah I forgot to take my camera with me so sorry I don't have pictures. Next week for sure.

It was great talking to y'all on Christmas! I'm glad to know that everything's going well. And I appreciate the gifts! The watch works well mom and I like everything else too.

I don't know how much more there is to say than what we talked about yesterday but I appreciate all of the support and love! Have an awesome week and New Year!

Love ya!

Elder Elliot

Oklahoma bowl games

NCAA bowl season is upon us and the major Oklahoma teams are in some big games. Let's see what's in store for Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, and Tulsa.

Oklahoma State was edged out of the BCS national championship game by Alabama by a mere .0086 at the end of the regular season. Thus, despite having already lost once to number one Louisiana State University, number two Alabama will play LSU for the mythical national championship and OSU will play number four Stanford on January 2 in the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona.

Oklahoma finished at number 14 in the BCS standings and will play Iowa on December 30 in the Insight Bowl in Tempe, Arizona.

And finally, in a match-up of an Oklahoma team against Elliot's own school, Tulsa will play BYU in the Armed Forces Bowl on December 30 in Dallas.

A Los Angeles Dodger Christmas in Midwest City, Oklahoma

Much to his father's dismay, Elliot has always been a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers. One of the Dodgers' star players, Matt Kemp (who recently signed an eight year, $160 million contract extension through 2018), is a native of Midwest City, Oklahoma. Midwest City is a suburb of Oklahoma City, about 10 miles as the crow flies from Moore, where Elliot is currently serving.

The hometown hero paid a Christmas visit to Midwest City yesterday afternoon. As reported by The Oklahoman, he stopped at the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, where he packaged meals and made a $10,000 donation. Later, he distributed coats that he purchased for children at the Riverside Mobile Home Park. He also bought and distributed toys to 140 kids at the FaithWorks ministry.

"He is one of those people who never forgets who he is," said Jim Tribble, youth minister at the First Baptist Church of Midwest City. "(Success) hasn't changed him any. He is still the same ole' Matt. He loves people and is quick to say hi to people and helps anyone who needs it."

Matt added:

"I am blessed to be in the position that I am," Kemp said. "I am in a position to give. This is where I come from. This is the city that made me. It's just something that I wanted to do, to give back to where I came from."

And his generosity doesn't end with the Christmas season. He has promised a donation of $1,000 to the food bank for every home run he hits in 2012. I hope he hits 70 (but only when he's not playing against the San Francisco Giants)!

Enjoy a video report of Matt's visit to Midwest City after the jump.

Merry Christmas from Elliot, Elder Soto, and Elder Karl!

What a great Christmas card from Elliot, Elder Soto, and Elder Karl! Matching pajamas?!

Elliot's December 19 email

Here's the latest email from Elliot.

Hola!

I got the package this morning! Its so hard for me to not open it. I actually even had Elder Karl open it so he could look at it but I didn't see and he didn't tell me. I love Christmas! I think I'll call around 3ish if that works for y'all.

And that's cool that you heard from Adrienne! I didn't know she was heading to SLC. That's way cool that she met Elder Ballard. I need to write her and see how everything is going.

Jan was baptized this weekend! I'd send a picture but I forgot to bring my memory card reader today. It was a really nice service. She had to be baptized 3 times though because the first time her toe came up and the second time her dress did. Still nowhere near the record of 8 times someone had to be baptized that I've seen on the mission. It was so apparent in her countenance what the gospel had done for her in her life. She just seems so much more peaceful and happy now. We're excited for her and she told us her goal now is the temple.

Speaking of the temple, I'm going to have an opportunity to go this Thursday. A convert in Noble will be going for the first time and asked if I could be there. I'm super excited. His name's Bryan and we took him out teaching quite a few times when I was there. He had probably the coolest, most dramatic conversion story I've ever heard. So that's a pretty sweet Christmas week gift.



This past week was really great. We have 4 new baptismal dates for the 14th and 21st of January. We also went to a really awesome Native American themed Nativity Play [link to 2003 photos] at the Glorieta Baptist Church on Saturday night. It was a lot of fun. I also went to Midwest City with Elder Garner on exchanges and got to interview one of their investigators, Clifford, for baptism. His uncle baptized him on Saturday. It was just a really awesome week. Things are looking up and the work is moving forward greatly!


Well I love you and will talk to y'all on Sunday!

Love,

Elder Elliot