December 31, 2018 - Midvale, UT

Happy New Year!

Here's a quick update of the week:

We spent all week just contacting mostly members. We emailed all 100+ missionaries serving from our stake. We asked all these people for referrals. We have received over 50 names back! Many are very promising, and it looks like we might start teaching them soon!

Other than finding people, we had Kaitlyn's baptism! It was such a beautiful service! We were expecting less than 30 people and had about 70 show up! She is a very special young girl, has come to church by herself, and last month bore her testimony, and then told us the next lesson she didn't even know what a testimony was! The speakers at the service were people she had met once, but immediately became very close to her. It was a blast to teach her, and then see her choose to be baptized! 

Well, more to come as we kick off this next year 2019!
Love you!

Elder Adams

ps: And one last fast thing, somebody shared this link with me on Facebook: Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission . Look for me at about 2 minutes! 

December 24, 2018 - Midvale, UT

Christmas Eve!

This week was pretty simple. We taught the gospel, lessons every day, and had a baptism for Ayden! It has been 2 years that he has met with missionaries, and finally got the okay! He was so happy! 

Tomorrow 2pm on zoom works perfect, Sister Hillier said it was okay! I'll be looking for the email about that time!

I love being a missionary, it has truly been the best 17 months so far of my life! 

Truly the Lord is shaping me into who I should become! And what an awesome time to be members and workers here in the Lord's church!

Love you Mom, excited to talk tomorrow!

Elder Adams 

Update: a few words from Elder Adams during our Christmas talk through Zoom:
"I pray for you every night by name."
"Heavenly Father loves you all so much."
"Look for others to lift every single day, that's when you'll truly be happy."
"Most important is what can we give back to the Savior for what He has given us?
"Love one another, and bring people closer to Him!"

 

December 17, 2018 - Midvale, UT

I don't have any current pictures from the Light the World giving machines, but we work them Christmas Eve and will take some photos! I too feel I am right where I am meant to be. It is such a great feeling to be doing exactly what the Lord wants me to be doing with my life right now!

This week we had three 24-hour exchanges in a row. This is when we switch companions and go to a different area to teach and learn one-on-one. So this started on Tuesday. The elder I went with was sick, so I spent a lot of time studying, which was pretty nice. This went until Wednesday. Then, Elder Rhodes and I got together to quickly plan for a meeting we had on Friday. We switched again, and I spent time with one of the assistants. It was a great exchange, we had some good lessons, and I learned lots. That exchange finished Thursday at lunch. Elder Rhodes and I quickly held a weekly planning session together, and then started our third exchange. I finally got to stay in my area, and we worked hard. The elder I was with could hardly keep up as we ran door to door, finding tons of new people to teach. We finished this exchange on Friday, at our zone meeting. It was a great meeting. Elder Rhodes and I were back together, and we finished the evening catching up on missed things and preparing for a busy Saturday. 

On Saturday, we started off working the Light the World giving machines downtown. Then, we rushed home from them so we could prepare for the Morris boys baptism! Then, all four Morris boys got baptized! It was such a beautiful service, and there was over 100 people there. We filled the chapel. It was incredible. Sunday, all four received the Holy Ghost, and it was a very spiritual and powerful experience! It was awesome! 

Another crazy week ahead, transfers are tomorrow, Elder Rhodes and I will stay companions for the next transfer. We are excited to help all we have going keep on going! 

Love you all!

Elder Adams 

December 10, 2018 - Midvale, UT

Another fun week wrapped up. I love the ties you sent, they are very fun. I wear one almost every day! Probably we will head over and pick up the package today, we have to drop some things off at the office later. I will confirm whether I got it then. And I'll enjoy the granola very much!

I too love the Book of Mormon. That is so cool you finished again this year. I also love how much it helps me center back onto the Savior, and also how it helps me learn important things pertaining to eternal life. And you also followed the Prophets counsel! I'm still in Alma, so we will see if I can finish by the end of the year, or Christmas. 

So this week we had tons of meetings. On Tuesday we had MLC, and then on Thursday we had zone conference, both went from 9am till about 5pm. So that hurt the amount of time we had to do work. But we tried our best to capitalize on it. We had tons of lessons. In one lesson a man recently had a huge change in his life. He needs help to overcome some things, and said he wanted to "try church" because it is the only option left. So far, it has been helping him in his life. We were able to talk about why church can help, specifically we talked about Jesus Christ, who's Church this is. 

We worked the Light the World vending machines again. The first person we saw when we got there at 10:45 was Sister Jean B. Bingham, the General Relief Society President. She donated! I was the photographer for her and her helpers, so if you see any pictures, I took them, I had like 3 phones! It was a blast to see all these people come and give! 

We finished off last night with some incredible lessons, preparing our baptism for this week, and then finding more people to teach! We are super excited for the miracles we are starting to see! 

Then today, Elder Rhodes and I went over to Olympus High School's football field, and played for like 2 hours. It was beautiful. I nailed a shot from the press box into the trash can on the field. Fun times. Then, we went and played basketball for another couple hours, and I slammed some huge dunks. So far a great p-day. We actually had a chance to relax! 

Love you so much Mom! Keep lighting our home, family, community, and world!

Elder Adams 

December 3, 2018 - Midvale, UT

This week has been incredible. We have seen miracles and important ordinances made, and have been able to do some great service. Let me run through each day:

Monday- After a good preparation day, we were able to teach 2 lessons, and have one baptism interview. It was amazing to see how much Nuno has changed, as he bore his simple yet powerful testimony. 

Tuesday- We had an incredible lesson with a gentleman who we have been meeting with for a month. He has really started to open up to receiving answers from the Spirit. We are excited as he continues to seek knowledge from God.

Wednesday- Things really started to pick up. We went downtown to Temple Square to get trained on the Light the World vending machines. Then we crammed in a mix of planning, organizing, training and setting goals for the zone, and finding more people to teach. During our lunch correlation, Elder Rhodes and I took some funny photos in the senior missionary’s trophy room. 

Thursday- We spent 4 hours in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building as the set of missionaries to keep things going on the "Giving Machines". We got to open them up, and then meet loads of people who came to share and serve and donate. It was a neat experience. After a late lunch at 3:30pm, we rushed to start an exchange with some elders in the zone. I was able to go with Elder Boxall, an elder from New Zealand who has been out only 1 month. It was an incredible 24 hours to learn from his excitement, and to be able to hopefully teach him a little more about missionary work. 

Friday- This exchange led into Friday, which was a crazy day. We started off with a busy morning of trying to contact people, picking up mail, and having a correlation lunch. Then, we got invited to go help someone move in Elder Boxall's area, so we did that. After that, we had district council. Unfortunately, we had 6 missionaries, and 4 seats in the car. So I ran with Elder Boxall to our meeting. It was super fun. Then, after that craziness, we spent the evening bouncing between ward parties, and meeting new people who are prepared to receive the Gospel. It also started to snow some!

Saturday- First, we went to 3 Christmas breakfasts! Then, we went to the Jordan River Temple for Elder Rhodes to be able to see a convert he had worked with go through the temple for the first time. Elder Rhodes is Spanish speaking, this is his first English area and I am his first companion from the United States. So this session was in Spanish. Luckily, I got headphones in English, but it was fascinating to listen to both English and Spanish. It was beautiful to spend time in the House of the Lord. 

Then we got back to our area to tract for about an hour, then dinner, then we were able to have Nuno's baptism. It was an incredible service, and Nuno was so happy! Afterwards, we went out together, the whole family was so overjoyed! 

Sunday- We had so many incredible people at church. One of our young 11 yr. old investigators came to church by herself, and even bore her testimony. It was great! Had some fun lessons in the evening. We went to three sacrament meetings and sang Hymn 209 Hark the Heralds Angels Sing in every single one. Dinner we ate with a great family in the stake. They had two BYU football players over, it was a good time. It snowed all day, not stopping once. It's beautiful. 

Well, life hasn't been better, I love being busy as a missionary. This week is looking to be just as crazy! I am excited, and I am grateful to the Lord for allowing me to participate in this great work.

Love, Elder Adams 

November 26, 2018 - Midvale, UT

This week has been incredible, and it just keeps getting better!

So we are teaching loads of people, and have tentatively scheduled someone for baptism every week until the second week of Jan. We are excited to find more, and we will do everything we can to make sure they happen. Plus, this last week, we had a little guy named River get baptized! He is the stepson of another guy we are working with, who wants to get baptized soon as well! 

Sunday night, we went to Temple Square with some investigators to see the lights. There is an incredible spirit there, and you can truly feel God's love and presence. 

We also had interviews with our mission President, it is so awesome to have such a loving support and guide.

Elder Rhodes and I are doing so good together! We are excited to keep on keeping on! 

Love ya!

Elder Adams 

 

November 19, 2018 - Midvale, UT

Time is going too fast! 2018 is almost over!

Alright, so this week has been incredible. It was sad to say goodbye to Elder Beaman, but he is doing so good now! My new companion is Elder Rhodes from Florida! It has been great to get with him and get doing some amazing work. 

Tuesday we worked with some maps a senior couple made for us, and found tons of new people that are open to meeting with us! Wednesday and Thursday, the theme was the same, just finding prepared person after prepared person! 

Friday after some responsibilities in the morning, we finished out the evening working with some individuals that had moved. Someone I taught in my last area moved into the zone, so I went to see if I could help them get baptized! Then, we talked to another investigator who decided she needs to get baptized soon! Plus she has 3 kids, and her fiancé has 3 kids, and they all need/want to be baptized! Plus, we already have another 4 people getting baptized in December, plus another guy who is also hoping for it as well! It is incredible to see how many people are just opening up to the Spirit, and desiring to follow Jesus Christ. This week has been full of miracles, and we are excited to find more. 

One final miracle: We had our first lesson with a young man on Sunday, and about 3 minutes into the lesson, he said that he wanted to get baptized really bad. We asked why, and he said he wants the Spirit to be with him always! He and his mom decided that he can get baptized in January. Then, in the closing prayer, he prayed that he would be able to get baptized soon! This was our first time meeting him, some members had set this up for us, and it was amazing to see his humble faith! 

Thanksgiving should be fun this week, we have one dinner set, plus about 6 more to pop into! The goal is to not eat too much! 

Elder Adams

 

November 12, 2018 - Midvale, UT

 

 

November 5, 2018 - Midvale, UT

My week since Wednesday has been pretty solid.

The temple on Halloween night was the greatest thing ever. Such a great experience. Thursday, we had our zone conference, and I learned so much about putting off the natural man and yielding to the enticing’s of the Holy Spirit. 

Friday we worked super hard, and we were able to help a family that was baptized recently move into an basement apartment of another person we are teaching. So many new opportunities are presenting themselves! 

Saturday we got to do a mini blitz of some elders area. It was great to not only be working in my area, but also help some missionaries struggling to find. It is a great success! 

Sunday we had so many people come to church. Then we were able to visit some key people, teach some great lessons, and give a blessing. It is absolutely a wonder at how much God's hand is in this work. Truly He loves each one of us, and wants to bless us. 

I love you all very much! 

Elder Adams

P.s. we just did another donut falls hike, once I have the good pictures, I will send them over, probably next week. Here is a picture from Halloween/Temple Trip I just got.

October 31, 2018 - Midvale, UT

So this last week and a half has been pretty good. Elder Beaman goes home the 13th, so we are working hard to finish strong for him. It is great, and we are seeing miracles almost every day (well, every day miracles, big ones almost every day).

We had about 7 people we wanted to help get baptized this month. It didn't work out, but all of them have selected upcoming dates and weekends to be baptized, be sealed, and we are extremely excited for November, and even December. Truly the Lord is hastening His work! It is incredible!

I'll have some pictures on Monday, crazy day with it being temple now, and then lots to do after a long week of work. 

Love you all! 

Elder Adams

October 22, 2018 - Midvale, UT

So some highlights from this last week: My companion has 22 days left. So we decided to get some work done. Tuesday we had 2 lessons in a row, and we selected baptismal dates for both young men. Then Thursday we did an exchange, and we taught a few people. One guy really connected with the Elder that came with me, and it was amazing to see him open up and the Spirit was super powerful. Then we taught another guy, the one we went to conference with, and he is working to be baptized in just a couple weeks!

Then on Sunday almost everybody we were teaching came to church! It was great! Then, we had dinner with the Morris family, which were those kids from Missouri! (Family of 7 siblings adopted from Missouri). We are now teaching them, starting tonight, and I love them all so much already! They are super fun, and super excited to follow Jesus Christ. It is a blessing to be able to serve and teach, most of the time I honestly feel like it is me that is getting more from it, it is unbelievable.

Keep reading the Book of Mormon! So much power! I am taking President Nelson’s challenge too! 

Love you all tons! 

Elder Adams 

P.s. sorry for no pictures today, will have some next week! 

October 15, 2018 - Midvale, UT

Madre! So fun to hear you are getting all of those pictures, and a phone call!

Sorry this email is coming so late we went on a district hike today. Up Big Cottonwood Canyon, the Donut Falls Trail. It was a blast. But it took a while. 

I sent Cody an email, hope he gets it! What a great muddy picture of him. Excited to see and hear how basketball goes! 

An update on this week: We worked. Hard. It was incredible to see how General Conference affected so many people. Some people are coming towards the church again after inactivity or not being a member, and others are responding differently. But the Spirit has given me an absolute witness that President Russell M. Nelson is God's prophet on the earth today and with the testimony, and the Book of Mormon, we are boldly and proudly declaring that this is Jesus Christ's church. What an incredible time to be serving the Lord! I love it! 

I love you all, sorry this is kinda brief! 

Love, Elder Adams 

October 8, 2018 - Midvale, UT

This last weekend was incredible. We got to watch all four GeneralConference sessions with someone we are teaching. Here is the rundown, and some funny stories of it all:

Saturday morning we went down to the conference center with a guy who wants to be baptized. Saturday afternoon we watched at a member’s home with a guy we are going to start teaching Tuesday. He has been coming to church for a month, and has read the whole book of Moroni. After that we visited another person we are teaching who also watched General Conference and decided she wants to get baptized now.

Sunday morning we watched with an Area Seventy, and his daughter’s non-member boyfriend. Then, Sunday afternoon we went down to the Conference Center with a gentleman we just started teaching this week. He is from Cape Verde, and was so excited when the temple was announced. It was super exciting! 

So I am now serving the Holladay North and Holladay South Stakes. We are the Midvale zone leaders, which was the first zone I was in. It is actually my dream area, so I was so pumped to get called here! We are teaching so many people. My new companion is Elder Beaman. He is from Virginia. We have actually served around each other last year in the Midvale zone, so it's fun to be back together as zone leaders of our favorite zone! And He goes home Nov 13(transfers) so we are working hard together! He is a great missionary. 

I am loving my mission right now. I Love the Lord, and all of these people I get to serve. 

October 1, 2018 - Big Cottonwood Stake

Madre! So good to hear that you guys are so excited for conference! Me too!
This week was kind of a slower week. We worked super hard and are super tired, but had lots of great experiences testifying of the Restoration of Jesus Christ's church. Now, after two quick transfers here in the Big Cottonwood Stake, I am off to another area. It will be super exciting to serve the Lord and all of my brothers and sisters in a new area.

I love reading all that you are up too! It is so awesome! It will be treat to share with you next week all my new adventures in my new area! 

I love you so much Mom! Here are some pictures from this last week! One is Our district, and the others are a young man I have been teaching who will hopefully get baptized this next month! I can't wait to go back for it! 

I love you!

Elder Adams 

 

September 17, 2018 - Big Cottonwood Stake

This week has been absolutely incredible! We went on tons of 24 hour exchanges with other elders, and both times I got to stay here and work with the district leaders. It was super great to be able to learn from them, and also help one another grow in the gospel. One neat one was that I got to spend another day with Elder Fisher, my first trainee from almost a year ago. He has grown and changed so much, it is incredible to see.

A great experience from the week- I went on an exchange with an Elder from Brazil actually. We set some goals in the morning, something I usually only do on exchanges because I want the missionaries to have a purpose behind every action. Our goal was to find 2 more people to teach, and put 1 person on date for baptism. At 8:15, after running door to door for the previous 45 mins, we found our second person to teach, which achieved that goal, and then we rushed to our 8:30 lesson, and the guy opened up about getting baptized, and we almost had him on date. It was incredible to set specific goals with the Lord, and then give it my all and see miracles come to pass!

Another great experience this week came from personal studies. As missionaries, one of the first things we teach people is that God is Our Loving Heavenly Father. I have always believed this, and I wanted to be able to teach this important doctrine with great spiritual power. So I knelt down to pray, and asked God if He truly loved each one of us. I then prayed that I myself might know this to be true. The answer I received has changed my life. I know in a very sacred and personal way that God is real. He loves each one of us, and wants to bless us in so many ways in our lives. I testify with all of my heart that if you only follow Him and keep His commandments, he will not hesitate to pour blessings down upon. 

One last experience: we were having a correlation meeting with the best Relief Society President in the world, and my companion wasn't feeling very well, and it turns out this lady sells doTerra. See the photos (below) for what she gave to us, I was literally so happy, it was like Christmas! 

Well, this week is about to blow me away. We are tripling our efforts, and with our renewed spirits, we are going to leave everything on the altar for the Savior. I pray we may bless the lives of many. 

I Love you super much Mom! Thanks for the love and support! 

I Love you Dad! I am grateful for your prayers and support! I am pumped to hear from the prophet and apostles! 

Elder Adams 

September 10, 2018 - Big Cottonwood Stake

September 3, 2018 - Big Cottonwood Stake

This last week was full of being guided by the Spirit. We were exactly where we needed to be every step of the way as we listened to the Spirit. What a neat experience it is to look back on.

Some thoughts: Teaching the doctrine of Jesus Christ in its simplest form has started to really change my life. Starting with Faith, or believing in something though it is not seen, and coming to see the unmistakable hand of God in our lives has brought great joy and a desire to follow God and strengthen those I love. This leads me to desire to follow God's commandments exactly, and to repent when I make a mistake. As I keep myself right in the eyes of God, I desire to commit myself to follow Him. Through being baptized at age 8, and now taking the sacrament every week, I renew the promises I made to follow God, and in return I receive His Spirit to be with me always. This Spirit was also initially received after I was baptized, but is ever with me as I repent and follow God. This is not a onetime deal, but rather a lifelong commitment.

After spending this last year focused on these principles of the Gospel, I have come to realize that this is not just a nice thing or some menial task we have to do in this life. The Book of Mormon says, "For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors."(Alma 34:32). Another verse reads, "And moreover, I say unto you, that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent."(Mosiah 3:17). Only one church has God's authority and priesthood power. No other church claims it, not even the Pope. Only one church has a prophet who actually speaks to Christ. No other church has apostles and seventy. No other church has baptism for the dead (something practiced in the Old Testament). If God's prophets themselves said there was only one way, then it must be through Christ Jesus. And only one Church is His very church, even the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. So pretty much, any baptism into any other church is false. [Without proper authority] it does nothing, and as Joseph Smith said, you might as well baptize a bag of sand. I have a firm witness that this is the way to live with God again, and there is no other way. Only through Christ and His atoning sacrifice can we become pure from our sins.

So we need to find people to teach and baptize. We need to invite everyone to church and invite everyone to meet with missionaries and receive the correct ordinance of baptism. Do not be shy or ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Pray for strength, confidence, and opportunity. We are running out of time. There is nothing as important as everyone repenting of their sins and being baptized, and then STAYING ON the covenant path. This simple Gospel has changed my life. 

I'd invite who ever to read or listen to Elder Jeffrey R Holland's talk "The First Great Commandment". It is so good. 

I love you all! Elder Adams

August 28, 2018 - Big Cottonwood Stake

This week was a blast! My new companion is Elder Adolpho! He has moved a lot over his lifetime, due to his being in the air force. Most recently, he is from Italy. He has been out about 20ish months, and will go home right before Christmas. He is a great missionary, with a great desire to teach and help people repent and be baptized so they can receive eternal life. We are doing great together, and are enjoying the learning process, as transfers changed the demographics of our zone and we are relearning the areas and missionaries entirely.

Transfer week is when the zone leader has the most administrative stuff. Between carting missionaries and bikes around, and making sure that everyone is with their companion, in their new area, and working hard, we keep pretty busy when you add our own area on top of that. Luckily, we are able to keep ourselves teaching a lot of very amazing people, many who are looking to be baptized soon! We also continually seek for more people to teach and help be baptized. One interesting idea we got from experiences this week goes with fin ding prepared persons. Lots of times, we spend our time in apartment complexes, due to them being more humble and transient than a home. Occasionally, as we knock on homes, the person answering will be opposed to the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the church which bears His name. So we move on, and sometimes just stop going into those neighborhoods. We realized that if the adversary wanted this work to slow and wanted to hide humble people from us, he would stick them next to those more anti-LDS people. So we started knocking the 5 doors around each of those homes, and we have seen miracles already! The Lord works in mysterious ways, yet He knows all our doings.

This week has been full of miracles big and small. Some are still in the process of happening, and may lead to an even bigger group of people we are teaching. While the big picture is still forming for us, it suffices me to say that the Lord is ever present in the small details of our lives. Sure, as missionaries, we are constantly looking for and seeking His will. But as an observer in the lives of many, I see His great hand manifest many times in their lives. I know that He is our loving Heavenly Father. Because He loves us so much, He sent His Son, even Jesus Christ, to take upon Himself all of our pains, sorrows, sadness, and sin. Because Christ descended below all things, and then triumphed over all, even death, we can overcome all in our lives. We need only Faith in Him, and turn to Him and repent, and he will lift us up. Of this I have a firm witness. 

Elder Adams

Anyways I love you so much! Here are some fun pics of elder Adolpho and I, plus my desk (and shake) and window through which I have seen Brother Mitt Romney 4 times this week, and where I do my sprints. 

 

August 20, 2018 - Big Cottonwood Stake

So to start things off, earlier this week, I was just sitting at my desk, reading from the Book of Mormon, and I looked up out the window, and watched Mitt Romney go on his run past our home. Welcome to Walker Lane, where the smallest house costs over a million dollars!

Here’s a run-down of the miracles from the week:
Monday, we met a guy named Gus who has lots questions. His questions are answered in perfect order through the message of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So we set up a return appointment! 

Wednesday, we had Daxton and Aidan's baptism! It was so awesome! I love these little guys so much! They are truly converted to their Savior Jesus Christ. We also had a guy use a loudspeaker thing on his truck to shout out to us to cheer us on! We also didn't have a dinner, stopped by to talk with a Bishop, and his wife, who is our mission cook, and they fed us. This was a miracle visit, because while we ate outside, we saw a guy ride by on his bike, and we shouted him down. He expressed his desire to find if God was real, and we immediately set up an appointment.

Thursday, we taught the guy we stopped on the bike, and he wants to be baptized! It was an absolute miracle! 

Friday, we had three lessons fall through in a row, and then we prayed, and the next guy we talked to told us he actually had just decided on his own he wanted to be baptized. We also met a Jewish lady who has lived in Utah for 8 years, and has wanted to read the Book of Mormon, but never got one. So, we gave her one. She said to give her a month to read it, and come back so we can talk more. 

Then, on Saturday, we knocked on a random door, and the guy answered. He told us that the night before he had prayed because he wanted to come to church. So, we gave him the information, and he is coming next week! 

On Sunday we had another new investigator (who preparing for baptism the 2nd week of September) come to church for the first time! It was great! 

I am so grateful to be serving the Lord. I love Him, I bear witness that He lives, and I love our brothers and sisters. 

Unfortunately, Elder Johnson is getting transferred, but I am excited to meet my new companion tomorrow! 

I love the pictures you sent, you all look so great! 

And I love you so much! -Elder Adams

Pics below- The baptism boys! Zone photo (we are loosing 4 to going home, and another 6 to new areas.) And Elder Mushet, my first district leader goes home on Aug 21st (tomorrow).

August 13, 2018 - Big Cottonwood Stake

So this last week has been full of miracles and other awesome experiences!

Tuesday we had an awesome meeting for zone leaders, and it was super great to learn loads. Then, we had 2 mini exchanges where we put many people on date to be baptized. We have two planned this Wednesday; I am so pumped for these guys to get baptized!

Then, Saturday, President M Russell Ballard came and talked with our mission. It was The Coolest Thing Ever. He spoke about how we could improve, and was joined by three other Seventy. One thing President Ballard said was "Oh that I were an angel and could get into every members heart, and teach them the importance of Christ's atonement. Nothing would stop them from sharing this."  

I wanted to share my personal experience with the Atonement of Jesus Christ. As a missionary, we constantly are inviting people to repent from sin and live all of the commandments. Watching people trust 100% in the Lord, and then living all of what I am asked to do has brought the Spirit of the Lord into my life so strongly. As we labor, study, and teach, I can literally feel a power beyond myself leading me in all I say and do. I have had moments where I have a sure knowledge of God's love and existence. I love you all so very much and want you to know that God loves you too. When we sincerely pray to Him, He will hear and answer out prayers. 

Anyways, I love you all! 

Love, Elder Adams

Sweet family feeding our missionaries

August 6, 2018 - Big Cottonwood Stake/Holladay Zone

Happy Birthday to Carson! I thought about him a couple of times yesterday, I hope he is doing so well. I love the pictures! All the kids look so big and grown up, and Dad looks great! 

So these last few days have been insane! We have worked so hard and so long, and miracles are occurring! We are teaching lots of people who have been prepared by the Lord. Hearing some of their back stories, if we had contacted them in a year or a year ago, they would not have been open and ready for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. We have 3 set with dates for the next couple of weeks, and it is incredible to see people feel God's love, receive answers from Him, and desire to follow all His commandments. 

I personally am doing super well! My shoes are solid, they might make it till next July, and as for clothes, I am doing great. My socks are fine for now, I will keep you posted if that status changes. And we have too much food! Luckily Elder Johnson likes to run as well, so we go about 20 mins every morning! It is so nice! And that is genius to bring my bike to college! I will for sure be doing that! 

I love this work so much! The short hair feels great, it got cut shorter than I intended, but oh well, it grows back! I love you so much Mom! You keep on keeping on too!

Also the Jordan River temple was awesome! Here are some pictures from it. My companion, Elder Johnson, is the one wearing the matching tie with me, in the picture of 4 he is far left.

August 1, 2018 (Wed. P-day) Big Cottonwood Stake/Holladay Zone

Yes, things have been amazing here! So many people to teach and help get baptized! The couple that just got baptized are from Bosnia. They have been a joy to teach because of their simple faith and desire to do what God wants them to do. For example, when the Word of Wisdom was taught they immediately took the coffee maker outside, and were done with coffee. It was an absolute  spiritual experience, and they are so happy and excited to continue on this covenant path to live with God again.

The Petersons are awesome, we are blessed with some stalwart members of the church. The work is hastning and it is a blast.

Being a zone leader is great, it really just equals more meetings and less sleep. So I am in a zone of 22 missionaries. 6 are sisters, and each area covers either  1, 2, or 3 stakes. We just have one stake, which we bike, and then we also have a car for transporting bikes, people, stuff, and ourselves to meetings. We are on an exchange weekly, with mini splits throughout. The new bike is a blast, I bought it new, got a nice discount and it is hastening our work! We are headed to the Jordan River Temple now, which is going to be awesome!

A fun story for the week, and then some spiritual experiences: So we were teaching some kids who are preparing to be baptized in a couple of weeks, and the youngest guy, who is only 8, is super funny. We asked him what he had learned from reading a pamphlet, and he said, "That Jesus has super powers!" It was super cute, and he loves His Savior so very much.

A spiritual experience came when the Spirit led Elder Johnson to the side of an apartment building. He told a lady who was sitting down that someone on this side of the building needed to be baptized, and that the Spirit had told him that. She went through all her neighbors, nobody seemed right, she was already baptized, and then finally she was like “oh yeah, my 14 year old son isn't baptized yet. Do you want to talk to him?” Well, he is now also growing his faith in Jesus Christ, and hopefully will be baptized in August as well. Another experience was last night. We have been trying to find people to teach every day. Everyone kept pushing us off until last night. Then, last night we taught the message of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ three times in a row, and each time, the person we were teaching was touched by the Spirit, the first guy will take more time, the second guy desires to know the truth and then be baptized, and the third guy is a professional basketball player for the Jazz video gaming team (yes it is real, and he is super famous I guess) wants to get baptized. 

I know that this is Christ's church, and that we can now this through reading and asking God if the Book of Mormon is true! 

It is so great to be serving others! This is the greatest thing I have ever done in my life!

I love you all!
Elder Adams

July 23, 2018 - Big Cottonwood Stake

I have been doing terrible with all my emails. It's time I reported on some stuff!

So first off, the 4th of July, we went on exchanges, so I was in South Salt Lake, on a bike all day. We biked everywhere, and talked to every person that was outside, for like 9 hours straight. We stopped twice, to eat some food, but the rest of the time we were sharing with others the good news of Christ's restored gospel, and how this is the Promised land. People loved it! 

Here in Holladay it is quite the same. We work as hard as we can, talk to every person we see, and try to help each individual claim the blessings of eternal life and the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Some of the people (specifically those whose houses are bigger than church buildings) don't want to hear a thing. Others, those in the rest of our area, are so willing to accept this message from God. We will randomly stop and help people all the time. One lady didn't want to talk, she told us to leave, so we started cleaning up the things she was trying to clean. Her heart softened so much, and it was great to see the Spirit touch her, and help her feel God's love. 

A miracle we saw was with a man named Todd. Many people in Utah have lived here very long, and supposedly "know all about the church", and have talked to missionaries "hundreds of times". Well, that may be the case for some, but not everyone. Todd was out in his yard, so we stopped to talk, and we actually thought he was a member. Nope, he just has lived here 38 years, takes clients to tour Temple Square, but has never had missionaries in his home to present the message of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So we did. It was so powerful, and he committed to read from the Book of Mormon and pray about it. We are excited for our follow up date. 

So yes, that is what is going on. We have 2 people preparing for baptism this week, more to follow, and this is the best thing I have ever done in my life! 

Also, my bike I had was starting to die on me. It actually wrecked itself twice. So we went to get it checked out, and with the grinded gears, broken chain, broken brakes, and snapped frame, I decided to buy a new bike. It is great because now we are able to up the speed of the Lord's work even more. 

We see miracles every day. I love serving these people and the Lord! 

I love you all!

Love, 

Elder Adams

p.s. picture of me and my new bike. Also, for Pioneer day, one ward held sacrament meeting outside, everyone dressed in Pioneer clothes. Then, Tuesday we will have a huge breakfast and fireworks all day!

July 16, 2018 - Big Cottonwood Stake

Dad! I love you!

I am in the Big Cottonwood Stake, right next to my first area. My neighbor is Mitt Romney. No kidding. I am with Elder Johnson, he and I actually roomed at the MTC together! So it is super neat to be back together again. And we are the Holladay Zone Leaders. It is super awesome! We have a car, which we really only use for meetings and helping people, the rest of the time we bike, and talk to literally every person we see! We have 2 on date for baptism right now and like 8 more soon to be on date. It is an exploding area!

Time is flying; I can't believe it's almost halfway over. This year has been great. And yes it's downhill from here, but I'm not coasting... 😎 But I will pace myself and not sprint too fast yet... I love the idea to write down my thoughts and reflections of the year, I will do that on the 19th.  I love the statement you made (dad) that it doesn’t necessarily mean to work harder, but to work smarter.

Anyways, we are doing a great work. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints is Christ church on the earth. I want all to come unto Him and be baptized for a remission of sins so they can live with their families forever. 

So good to hear that Nauvoo was great! It looks beautiful, and I love you all! We will for sure go again! I love that you (mom) shared your BOM reading experience with us. I love your testimony. I know it is true! 

I love you Mom! It was great to hear from you! I'll keep working hard! So many people to save! 

I love you all! 

Elder Adams! 

July 19, 2018: Note from Sister Holli Adams in Brazil to Elder Clayton Adams in Utah:

No way, 1 year?? Wow Elder Adams! That´s pretty awesome!! Keep working hard, I love you!! <3 :)  - Sister Adams :)

July Updates -Salt Lake City Mission

July 2nd, 2018: Well this week has been great. Loads of diligence, and that is about it. Everyday was pretty typical, just work, work and work. We had some wonderful opportunities to teach people about the restored gospel, and it was great. We spent a lot of time following the Spirit in each lesson, which lead to great and inspired questions and statements. We shared with many people the Savior's own words found in the Book of Mormon, especially such verses as 3Nephi 11:33-34 and 2 Nephi 31:15-16. It was a great experience to testify powerfully and feel the Spirit bear witness to these people of the truth. This week, I deepened my conversion through fulfilling my purpose and teaching repentance, and look forward to baptizing converts!

Well, that's it, we don't even have any pictures! I hope everyone has a wonderful week! Exciting things ahead! 

Elder Adams

July 9th, 2018: Sounds like you are all up to lots of fun. What a great week it has been, and what a great week it will be. Have a great time in Nauvoo!

This week has been amazing for me as well! We worked so hard I actually got a cold! It was crazy. Transfers are tomorrow, and I am off to a new area! I find out tonight where! It will be great! 

That's pretty much it! Short on time so quick email!

Love you! 

Elder Adams 

Pic- ensign peak hike

June 25, 2018 - South SLC

So this week has been great. We biked to temple square on last Monday with our zone leaders. That was super fun. From the stake center to the temple is 3 miles, plus we started at our apartment, so it was 6 miles. I attached some photos of the adventure. It was really fun!

We had pizza twice this week, and knocked over 1000 doors. We had interviews with President Hillier, it was super great to talk with him. 

We also had lots of highs and lows this week. For example, we had lots of people lined up to teach, but we couldn't get translators, and because of that, some of them fell off. But the high this week was Paul Lu's baptism! He is a great kid, who I have known and worked with the entire time I have been here. He was not sure he wanted to get baptized because he wanted to do the right thing, and finally he decided to take a step of faith and be baptized. It was amazing to see him be baptized by his good friend, and then receive the gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday. He was so happy!

Well, that is the week. Loads of fun exciting things! An organization put on a world refugee day(they are done all over the country) and we were able to attend a little to find some people to teach. It was super awesome! 

Here are some pictures: (Paul lu is the boy next to me)

         

 

                      

June 18, 2018 - South SLC

So this week was absolutely incredible!!!!!! There were so many highlights, I don't even know where to begin! 

So the biggest miracle was all the people we had at church. We have been trying for months to get a group of 17 people to church. 5 of them are good, they have been a few times, but the other 12 wouldn't come. So we have tried so hard to get them, we got the head guy for 2 weeks, then he got a job, and couldn't come to church this week. So we decided to stop by and see who else we could bring, and all of the sudden, we had every single girl(except one)in the whole group of 17 come. There was 8 of them! We had no idea what was going on, so we had to call a translator fast, and then get them a ride! This led to some other very spiritual experiences for some of the members to help these people out. I am so grateful to the Lord for His Goodness in allowing us to see His hand manifest. 

Another great part of the week was all the work we did. We had some great lessons, and absolutely taught with and by the Spirit, but the best part was the 6 apartment complexes we tracted all the way through. It was incredible to testify to so many people of their loving Heavenly Father, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to do this incredible work.

I love this so much! 

Love you all!

Elder Adams

P.s. We also had our mission tour, and Elder Brian Taylor of the Seventy came to speak with us. It was super awesome!!!!! I learned so much, and we have just attacked the work! 

June 4, 2018 - South SLC

This week has been unbelievable. Lots of miracles happened, we had tons of people come to church for the first time, and it was excellent. I had taco stand tacos twice. They were good. We also had some wonderful lessons, it is amazing to see the Gospel of Jesus Christ working in people's lives, helping them to change.

So Sunday we had a very special day. Elder Gerrit W Gong, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, visited our church meeting. It was very special. He spoke with Elder Mulcahy and I for a few minutes afterwards, and gave us some counsel and encouragement. Attached is a picture of us. 

I did get to watch the "Be One" celebration, not live, and the Youth Worldwide Devotional live. They were both super awesome! I hope that Carson, Cody and Heidi are all following the 5 things that President Nelson invited them to do. 

A great experience from the week: Elder Mulcahy and I have covered a lot of ground looking for Burmese people. We look everywhere in the valley. We tried a new area, the Greater Avenues, just northeast of Temple Square, for a couple of hours on Wednesday. We were blessed to be in the exact right spots at the exact right times to bless not only many Burmese peoples live's, but also many other meek and humble children of God. Like you (Dad) told me before the mission, because of my badge, people will open up and tell me their life story, which is always crazy, but to be able to testify of the Savior, His Atonement, and the power of the Book of Mormon is incredible. It is such a blessing to serve!

A busy week of lots done, with lots more to do for God's children! I love serving a mission so much! It has been the greatest thing in my life! 

I love you all! 

Elder Adams

May 28, 2018 - South SLC

This week has been stellar! We had 2 baptisms, plus a miracle for the sisters to have a baptism, too. NM got baptized on Thursday, and NMeh got baptized on Saturday. It was wonderful, they were both so happy.

Transfers are in; Elder Mulcahy and I are staying together. This will be a great chance to baptize and teach and serve many more people!

That's about it, lots of hard work, and we will keep working harder! 

Elder Adams