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

May 21, 2018 - South SLC

Holy Smokes this last week has been so crazy but amazing! So we went to the temple last Tuesday, it was an absolutely amazing experience. I love to go to the temple!

Then, things got super wacky! We had tons of lessons, and tons of work, plus we had zone conference, it was super awesome! I learned so much of how I can become a better missionary. 

So some of the crazy: We were planning on 3 baptisms this last weekend, but starting on Friday at 11am until Saturday at 3pm, Satan was all about doing bad. We fought valiantly and overcame all of the trials we faced. While no one got baptized last week, we have even more potential for this weekend thanks to the re-energized effort we put out. This is truly a marvelous work. 

Saturday and Sunday we had Stake Conference, it was great to hear empowering messages about forgiveness and ministering. 

Then, on Sunday the Jordan River Temple was rededicated to the Lord, and that night, all of the Salt Lake East and South Elders went to help clean up. We unloaded 1500 chairs from the building in about an hour, and then had the opportunity of going in and resetting furniture inside the temple. It was a sacred and holy experience. The Spirit of the Lord was extremely strong. 

An incredible lesson I learned this week is just how much God loves His children, and how much He wants them to be happy. We have 2 families we have been working with for some time, and both have been progressing very slowly as of late. We found some powerful videos and scriptures to share, and with the help of a member of the Elder's quorum, we were able to help these families realize the importance of the restored gospel and baptism. Now, they just need to come to church! 

I love these people here so much. I am forever grateful to have been able to come here and serve, not only as a missionary, but specifically here in this branch. This is the last week of the transfer, and who knows what will happen. And who knows what fun this week will bring. But I know that whatever comes, I will love it!

I love you all!

Elder Adams

May 14, 2018 - South SLC

This week has been full of great opportunities to serve and teach. And have fun! To recap a few:

Our zone did a hike last p-day. It was super fun!

We had some crazy lessons helping people get prepared to be baptized. So many people here who love their Savior, and desire to follow Him, it is amazing! 

Got to talk to the fam on Mother's day! It was awesome! 

Had some fun meetings, and inspirational exchanges! Super great! 

Overall, I just love being a missionary! This has been the greatest part of my life! I love my Elder Brother Jesus Christ, and am so grateful to share that love with other people! It is amazing!

Love you all!

Elder Adams

 

Letter from Stake President

Dear Brother and Sister Adams,

My name is Sean Marchant and I serve as the stake president of the South Salt Lake Stake for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Salt Lake City, Utah.

I wanted to send you this email to let you know that your son was assigned to serve in our stake and we are so grateful to have him.  Elder Adams is wonderful to serve with, and he is working hard by serving and teaching both members and non-members here in our community.

I thought you might be interested in knowing a bit about the dynamics of the stake here. We just celebrated our 75th anniversary as a stake, and we currently have 10 units. We have 6 English speaking family wards, a Spanish speaking ward, a branch that consists of two care centers, a Nepali refugee branch and a Burmese refugee branch. It is a highly diverse community where people from all over the world live and dozens of languages are spoken. All this just a five-minute drive away from Temple Square and the heart of downtown Salt Lake City and the center of the Church.

It is considered inner-city and it is a relatively poor community, temporally speaking. However, there are great opportunities to share the gospel. We are blessed with six sets of missionaries in our stake and regularly have over 100 new converts join the Church every year. Much of the credit is due to great missionaries like your son.

Elder Adams is serving in the Columbus branch of Burmese refugees and our members and leaders there love and appreciate him.

He is energetic and loving and I foresee him growing and being a blessing to people far beyond his missionary service.

Thank you for sharing Elder Adams with us. We appreciate all you have done to prepare him for serving here in South Salt Lake. I hope you have seen blessings in your life because of your sacrifice and willingness to allow your son to serve.

Best,

Sean Marchant