12/28/2015

From: Ronald Adair <ronald.adair@myldsmail.net> 
Sent: Monday, December 28, 2015 11:14 AM
Subject: Last Christmas on the Mission (Week of Dec. 21st- Dec. 27th)

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was wonderful! We went on exchanges this past week and it was amazing! So we had a fun time playing basketball most of the day in Stanley and then Elder Maxfield, whom I came out on my mission with, came with me to New Town Monday night. We spent Tuesday proselyting in White Shield and we decide to visit a

member's house. The member's less-active daughter was there and we got to talk a lot with her about her struggles and she agreed to come to church! And guess what! She did and it was the second time she had been to church in 5 years! Woohoo! That evening in White Shield we ate pizza and wings at a member's house whose son is getting ready to be baptized. We had a fun time there and with Elder Maxfield's expressiveness we were able to create a better relationship with the boy looking to get baptized. We went to Family Dollar that night to pick up a few things and this African guy came up to us and started asking us questions about the Church. He told us he might come visit sometime on a Sunday and as we were talking to him, another Family Dollar employee came up to us and told us he was a member from Utah. We got his number and invited him back to church and he said he might come sometime and bring his mom too! The roads between Stanley and New Town were super icy that night so we decided that Elder Maxfield would spend another whole day there! On Wednesday we were at the library and a lady came up to us and said she wanted to come back to church and bring her fiance and her step-kids! 

On Christmas Eve we had a good dinner at the Wilkinsons' house and had a fun time with them. We went back over on Christmas morning to open presents, eat a delicious breakfast, and Skype our families! I had a splendid time talking with my family and I can't believe it was already the third time on my mission! We then ate a big, delicious Christmas at the Johnsons' house:)

On Saturday this crazy guy came up to us on the street and talked with us about the good work we were doing and how awesome God is. He was super nice and seemed really spiritual. Haha then he mentioned that he was King James from the Bible and we knew he was crazy.

On Sunday only a few of the people we contacted that week showed up at church, but we have their phone numbers so we are hopeful for the coming weeks! 

I hope y'all had a splendiferous Christmas and drew closer to our beloved Savior Jesus Christ. Have a happy new year!

Love,

Elder Adair

12/14/2015

From: Ronald Adair <ronald.adair@myldsmail.net>
Sent: Monday, December 14, 2015 2:17 PM
Subject: SNOW! (Dec. 7th- Dec. 13th)

Dear Family and Friends,

This week it finally snowed again! It was about 2-3 inches. And it got a little colder again. It was in the 50's for like a week! That is unreal for this area during this time of year. Now it's still pretty warm in the 20's.  

We taught some pretty good lessons this week and we have one, possibly two, people lined-up for baptism this Saturday! Woohoo!! We are pumped! 

We gave a baby blessing the other day! Haha the Wilkinsons' baby boy was sick so we him a blessing. And it healed him! :D

So since a lot of people have been absent from church lately, not including our investigators luckily, Elder Ashe and I were asked to talk in Sacrament meeting along with teaching the young adult Sunday School class. We were visiting the Wilkinson family Saturday night and while we were there they had to rush to Minot because Sister Wilkinson got super sick. They asked us if we could teach the adult Sunday School class for them on Sunday and we said we could if we could combine the adults with the young adults. So we were planning on having a lot of responsibilities in church yesterday, but when we woke up Elder Ashe was sick and we couldn't go! Haha I don't know whom the Branch Presidency was able to assign to talk in Sacrament for us or teach two Sunday School classes!

We had to say goodbye to the beloved Sabin couple this week because they are going back to Provo to go to school for a season. We will sure miss them and their food! But mostly them. :(

A member family in our ward that fed us on Thanksgiving fed us twice this week at a delicious restaurant AND gave us each a bunch of Christmas presents! 

Well that's my week! Merry Christmas, everyone! I love y'all! Thanks so much for your prayers!

Love,

Elder Adair

12/07/2015

From: Ronald Adair <ronald.adair@myldsmail.net>
Sent: Monday, December 7, 2015 2:25 PM
Subject: Progressing investigators! (Nov. 31st- Dec. 6th)

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was the bomb! Unfortunately, Glenn's baptism had to be pushed back at least a week due to complications with receiving a guardian signature on the baptismal form. We taught Seth about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it was way cool! The lesson went very well and he was so interested! We definitely were a person instead of a lesson. We also taught Jada the Gospel of Jesus Christ and she was way interested too! Woohoo! We had four investigators and three less-actives at church this week! Sister Canyon might need to get re-baptized since the Branch Presidency can't find her records. We were able to bring her to church this week and hopefully she can get baptized this transfer. I am staying another 6 weeks in New Town btw! We knocked on this less-active ladies door and she let us in for the first time and we talked a lot about getting her and her grandchildren back to church. We got two new investigators using the "A Savior is Born" Christmas video too! We had a Zone Training Meeting in Minot and had a great time. 

You all should watch the new video called "A Savior is Born" and share it with as many people as you can! It invites people to discover why a Savior was born. Then invite your friends to meet with the missionaries to learn more! 

11/30/2015

From: Ronald Adair <ronald.adair@myldsmail.net>
Sent: Monday, November 30, 2015 12:15 PM
Subject: Thanksgiving! (Nov. 23rd- Nov. 29th)

Dear Family and Friends,

Well this was another fun week! 

A few days ago I gave myself a haircut for the first time, using scissors and the works, and it actually looks good! Cutting hair is easy haha;)

The weather has been in the teens and 20's this past week so it's not very cold yet. It has been a very mild Fall. There is some crazy fog in the mornings sometimes! 

I had a splendid Thanksgiving! We ate a bunch of wonderful food and played board games and even tag! It was awesome!! We were invited out to Makoti to eat with the Hathaway family. They are the bomb! Thanksgiving morning we tracted for about an hour trying to share a short Thanksgiving video with people, but it was to no apparent avail. One guy was pretty rude and was like, "Nope, nope, don't wanna hear it! No thanks! Save you speech!" To which I replied, "I don't have a speech, Sir. We were wanting to share a Thanksgiving video." He still didn't let us in. It made me angry then but now I just laugh thinking about it. Before dinner with the Hathaway's we also went to another family's place and had a decent-sized meal there too. After the Hathaway's we drove to Stanley and went "black Friday shopping" with the Elders there. All we had for options were a Shopko and a Cash Wise which are two little grocery stores basically. 

Last night we had a wonderful time with the Cook family. They are newlyweds so they are very young and don't have any kids yet. Brother Cook actually served his mission in Gilbert, A.Z. and got home last November. I definitely wouldn't complain if I was married, to the right girl of course, as soon as he was after my mission! They also let us hold their baby hedgehog and made delicious, huge candy apples with us:)

Saturday we were having a lesson with an old member lady in a wheelchair. She was babysitting her little granddaughter and the during the whole lesson the little girl was climbing all over us and throwing food at us! Haha it was rather humorous.

It finally snowed some and Tuesday morning we got to go running in the snow:)

We have a baptism coming up this Saturday for this 14-year-old named Glenn and we are way excited! He is very ready to make this big step in his life and he is very mature for his age:) Woohoo!

Today for P-Day we are in Minot to play basketball with some more Elders. We went to Denny's and I beat the restaurant record for most pancakes eaten in one sitting! Score!

Anyways, it was a great week and I hope everyone else's was also great! I love y'all! 

Happy Holidays and thank you so much for your prayers!

Elder Adair

11/16/2015

From: Ronald Adair <ronald.adair@myldsmail.net>
Sent: Monday, November 16, 2015 2:05 PM
Subject: Week of Nov. 9th- Nov. 15th

Dear Family and Friend-People,

Another week has gone by and we're having fun still! Elder Ashe and I are getting good at teaching together so that's good! We are working hard to get all of the people we have on date for baptism sufficiently ready. Last Tuesday we went on exchanges with the Stanley Elders, Elder Trejo and Elder Brinkerhoff. I was in Stanley with Elder Brinkerhoff and we had some fun together. We also spent last P-Day with them and played basketball for many hours. It was one of the my favorite P-Days ever! I have been drinking a lot of different flavors of Martinelli's and Welch's Sparkling Cider and also a lot of flavors of egg nog. My favorite so far of the Martinelli's is Apple-Grape and my favorite of the egg nog is Pumpkin Spice. Running in the morning has also been a lot of fun. We are careful walking around at night because of the many dogs in New Town. There hasn't been a mean dog come try and do anything to us yet, but I keep my knife with me just in case.

I hope everyone's week was splendid! I love y'all!

Elder Adair

11/09/2015

From: Ronald Adair <ronald.adair@myldsmail.net>
Sent: Monday, November 9, 2015 1:28 PM
Subject: And he's dunked! Week of Nov. 2- Nov. 8

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was wonderful!! 

We were teaching a friend of the Olson family at the Olson house last Tuesday night and it was awesome! He's 18 and we taught him the Restoration and he accepted to be baptized December 5th!! Woohoo! He is a really cool person and a super nice guy. We also contacted these two boys who had been on date before I got here but had their dates pushed back. Now they are both on date for December 5th too! AND these two girls that belong to a member in the ward are scheduled for baptism on the December 5th! 5 baptism scheduled for the same day! I am confident they will all be ready by then as well:) There was a lady that came to us during church that told us she would like us to start teaching her little girl so she can get baptized. We have an appointment scheduled with them for Wednesday and we're excited! The members here are wonderful and way fun! We get fed almost every night too!

Elder Ashe and I get to go running every morning on the school track across the street from our trailer. It has only been in the low 30's in the morning so it's not too cold yet. 

We had a baptism this past Saturday!! It was awesome. Austin is one of the coolest kids I've ever met. We had the our district leader from Stanley give him his baptismal interview and then right after we found out that Austin's dad is a member so Austin wasn't a convert baptism technically. So the morning of his baptism he was interviewed by a member of the branch presidency instead. It was somewhat a bummer that his baptism didn't count toward our numbers, but what's important is that he got baptized and entered into a covenant with his Heavenly Father! We are way happy for him:)

This week was the bomb and I hope everyone else's weeks are going great too! Thanks to you all for your prayers!

Love,

Elder Adair

11/02/2015

From: Ronald Adair <ronald.adair@myldsmail.net>
Sent: Monday, November 2, 2015 11:57 AM
Subject: New Town, new adventures! (Oct. 26th- Nov.1st)

Dear Family and Friends,

Boy is it weird to be back in oil fields again! I have been here in New Town since Thursday night and it's awesome:) 

Monday, Elder Gines and I drove to Pierre for one last P-day with our beloved Zone Leaders. We ate delicious food at a nice restaurant and played board games.The next day we ate lunch at Pizza Ranch one last time and I finished with a new record for number of plates! We traveled to each of our 3 areas, packed up all of our stuff, and said goodbye accordingly to people and places:( We got back to Pierre and finished packing and spent the night with the Zone Leaders. 

The next morning we traveled to Bismarck for transfers. I then rode with the Minot Zone Leaders up to Minot where I was picked up by my new companion Elder Ashe who is way cool:) He is from Rock Springs, Wyoming and has 3 younger bros like I do. He is 1/4 black which is pretty cool because he has blonde hair and blue eyes but his hair is way curly! He has been on his mission for three months. Our district consists of only us and the Stanley Elders. If you add up how long the 3 other Elders in my district have been on their missions collectively, it only reaches 9 months which is 5 less than me! 

New Town is a little town on a reservation in the middle of nowhere in the oil fields of North Dakota. We have 5 people on date for baptism and they are all under the age of 15! One kid is getting baptized this coming weekend! The branch members are way cool too!! On Halloween I was given some candy while tracting so that was pretty cool:) Church yesterday was a lot of fun and we also have a half hour extra sacrament session each Sunday at 7:30 pm for oil workers in the branch that can't make it to church earlier. We live in a trailer right behind the church and it's pretty nice for a trailer. I get my own bathroom! So yeah, I very much miss Gettysburg, Miller, and Chamberlain, but New Town is great too luckily:) 

I love y'all and hope your holiday season is splendid!

Elder Adair

P.S. My new mailing address is P.O. Box 1336 New Town, N.D. 58763

10/26/2015

From: Ronald Adair <ronald.adair@myldsmail.net> 
Sent: Monday, October 26, 2015 2:29 PM
Subject: WHAT THE?! (Oct. 19th-25th)

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week was sweet! We spent most of our time in Chamberlain. And guess what! We have had unlimited miles this WHOLE TIME and didn't know about it!! Haha that is so frustrating! There must have been some miscommunication in the miles department. Our toilet overflowed somehow in Chamberlain a few days ago and it leaked into the apartment below us. Luckily things turned out all right. On Friday we traveled to Valentine, Nebraska and had a fun District Meeting. At church yesterday we contacted a referral at church and then taught her at a member's house. She is from the Philippines and is one of the most golden investigators I've ever met! At one point she said to us, "I can tell that you guys represent Jesus Christ and that you have the authority to teach me about His church." It was so cool!! She accepted a baptismal date for November 14th! Yippee!!

 

We got transfer calls today and I have been praying that I don't get transferred but that I will be able to accept the Lord's will whatever it may be. It turns out that they are closing down Gettysburg and Miller for the time being and Chamberlain is getting white-washed (two different Elders). I am going to New Town, N.D. It is on a reservation and I will be with a missionary that just finished being trained named Elder Ashe. Elder Gines is going to one of the wards that I used to cover in Williston and I am way excited for him. I am really sad because of all the people we have to leave behind in our areas, but I know the Lord will take care of them in His own way. Crazy stuff.

Love,

Elder Adair

10/19/2015

From: Ronald Adair <ronald.adair@myldsmail.net>
Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 1:15 PM
Subject: The Gospel Makes More Sense Now! Oct. 12th-18th

Dear Family and Friends,

So this past Monday we were in Gettysburg and had a very boring P-Day as expected:) We did get to throw around a football some which was fun. On Tuesday I rode up to Bismarck with the Zone Leaders and Elder Jackson who is the other District Leader in the Zone.

 

That night we went through the temple and I got to do baptisms, initiatories, and confirmations!! It was so much fun:) We spent the night in the mission home with about 30 other Elders and had a blast! I was reunited with so many missionaries I have known from past areas. 

The next morning on Wednesday we missionaries had a large council meeting with President Hess, his two counselors, former mission President Donaldson who created the Preach My Gospel DVD's, and Brother Glazier who is the head of all the trainings given at the Provo MTC! There were about 80 missionaries. Boy was

it an amazing meeting! We were trained on how people CANNOT access the Atonement of Jesus Christ without baptism and receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost. And they CANNOT receive those things without being taught by missionaries. So the duties we perform somewhat of a big deal! We were then trained on how we need to have more effective planning as missionaries if we are to help others access the Atonement. Awesomeness!

On Thursday Elder Gines and I got two new investigators and taught three lessons in 

Gettysburg! Woohoo!

Friday we drove to Pierre for a Zone Training Meeting. The purpose of it was so that the missionaries that were not able to go to Bismarck on Tuesday/Wednesday could be given a similar, more condensed version of the training in Bismarck. It was a very spiritual and valuable experience. My and Elder Gines' planning sessions have been so much more effective and we LOVE IT!

We then drove over to Miller and that is where we have been since then. On Sunday we had Branch Conference so there were a lot more people in church in Miller than usual. We had a potluck afterward and it was delicious!

Last night we were tracting in an apartment building and we taught two lessons to some old ladies. The Spirit was so strong!

So that's pretty much our week. 'Twas very great! I hope y'all had a great week as well!

Love,

Elder Adair

09/08/2015

From: Ronald Adair <ronald.adair@myldsmail.net>
Sent: Tuesday, September 8, 2015 10:39 AM
Subject: Well this is a pretty great 3 days if you ask me. (week of Aug 31st-Sept 7)

Dear Friends and Family,

Hey, everybody! This week was the bomb-diggity! 

Last week on Monday we played basketball in Miller with this kid named Junior and had a blast! We also checked-out the new Dollar General store and it has some sweet deals! I bought a body spray that smells just like Acqua Di Gio and it was only 4 dollars! And the smell lasts too!

On Friday we had a district meeting about getting people to come to church and keep the Sabbath Day holy. We had a good Indian taco meal with Whitehorse and his family on Friday as well and had a great time! 

The most significant part of our week started on Sunday though! There were 14 other people in church in Miller so both Elder Griffeth and I ended up bearing our testimonies. And I sure am glad that we did because I could definitely feel my testimony be strengthened because of it! I know that our testimonies are strengthened every time we bear them to others, so I thought of a cool FHE idea where families take turns bearing their testimonies to each other! I suggest that everyone should try it!

Right after church we headed to Pierre so we could ride with the Zone Leaders (Elders Thatcher and Bell) over to Rapid City. The Zone Leaders had a meeting while Elder Griffeth and I went with a missionary in Rapid City (Elder Fillmore) to work in his area. We also climbed a big hill and took pictures with some giant dinosaur sculptures. We ended up spending the night with 7 other missionaries in a little tiny house (it reminded me of the Williston house) that some members let people use and we had a blast! The next morning we woke up at 6 and got ready for our Zone Conference with Elder Dale G. Renlund of the First Quorum of the Seventy! He gave a superb talk in General Conference this past April about what it means to be a Saint. It was awesome because I got to stand right behind him in a picture, be the first to shake his hand, and sit right in the front middle of the chapel as he spoke to us! He, his wife, President Hess, and his wife all gave us amazing individual trainings. Oh goodness was the Spirit so strong in there! And it made it all the better to be there with so many of my fellow beloved missionaries that I have been so privileged to know! We all had a lovely meal afterward in the cultural hall.

Elder Griffeth, the Zone Leaders, and I all left and started driving through the black hills. They sure are beautiful! After a while the Zone Leaders let the cat out of the bag and told us we were driving to Mount Rushmore! Woohoo! It was my first time being there and it was so cool! After that we went to Scheel's (it's like Cabela's) and a random guy gave us some money to play this mini bowling game! It was a blast! After that we went to Golden Corral and there were a bunch of people there from Utah that were on a tour of the U.S. So about 15 old tourists all periodically came up and said hello and asked us where we are from and things like that. One guy actually paid for all of our meals!

We headed back to Pierre and slept in the Zone Leaders' apartment. This morning we woke up, had studies and now we are starting an anticipated awesome Pday! Woohoo!!

I love you all and I can't wait to see in you again!

Elder Adair

08/31/15

From: Ronald Adair <ronald.adair@myldsmail.net> 
Sent: Monday, August 31, 2015 11:25 AM
Subject: Two Investigators at Church!

Dear Family and Friends,

Salutations! This past week in Gettysburg was great! 

We went to Hoven twice and found a new investigator! He's a really loving and God-respecting man and was taught down in California by missionaries a bit ago. We need to help him stop smoking and drinking coffee and he should be ready to get baptized! He really wants to quit so we will do our best to help him. We talked with a lot of people in Hoven and even though they didn't quite accept us fully, I think a seed was planted in their hearts!:) 

Saturday we did service most of the day for some members. They live in Hoven but have a house a few miles away in Tolstoy as well (Hoven has about 500 people and Tolstoy has about 40). We helped them clean out a big shed and it was a lot of fun! One of the walls was tipping a little so we helped jack it up with some fun tools:)

We found an underground baptismal font in the Gettysburg church building! 

We caught yet another turtle! This one was the biggest so far. We let it go instead of eating it:)

Last Tuesday night we were walking around Gettysburg and these two young guys drove up next to us and asked if we were some Jehovah's Witnesses. We told them we were Mormon missionaries and they said,"Alright cool! Bye! I'm sure we will see you again later tonight!" A few minutes later we were still walking and we saw the two guys across the street and they actually asked us to come over and tell them what we're all about! What a surprise! We had a good conversation with them answering their questions and such and they liked everything we said about the Church. We hope to be able to teach them again.

Elder Griffeth and I taught a Sunday school lesson in the Gettysburg Branch yesterday about member missionary work. We invited everyone to share something about the gospel with at least one friend this week and the lesson went well!Member missionary work is so crucial so I hope it works out! 

We had two investigators surprise us at church yesterday! Woohoo!

We got back to Miller yesterday afternoon and we found some maggots crawling around in our sink!

A year ago already today was my last day in the beloved Provo MTC. Oh how I miss those days!

I love you all and I hope you all are faring swimmingly!

Elder Adair

08/25/2015

From: Ronald Adair <ronald.adair@myldsmail.net>
Sent: Tuesday, August 25, 2015 11:34 AM
Subject: Why does the calendar say August 20th? I thought my mission started that day?

Dear Family and Friends,

Well we sure had a fun week! Nothing to exciting with the work= happened unfortunately, but I have faith that the efforts we are putting in are not in vain. At least some people are letting us inside and teach them! Saturday we helped out on Brother Jones' ranch pulling out old stalks of corn, weed-wackin', and putting up some shock wire so the cows couldn't get away into the corn fields. I can't believe it, but I actually really like farm work and wouldn't mind living on a farm for a while (with my own family of course)! Haha I thought I was a city boy through and through! 

On Friday we had District Meeting about talking with everyone and being persistent with people. I am so grateful for all the participation the district members have in the meetings or else the meetings would be so boring and short! 

Two nights ago we packed up our stuff and drove on over to Pierre to spend the night with the Zone Leaders before specialized training the next morning. We sure have a lot of fun with them! We all woke up at 6 the next morning and the Zone Leaders drove us all to Rapid City. It was so way great to see all these missionaries again that I hadn't seen in a while! And there are so many new greenies too! Haha I feel so old! Specialized training was superb andwe learned a whole lot of good things. We sure have a wonderful Mission President and Assisitants to the President.

After District Meeting and after specialized training we went to Pizza Ranch (one in Pierre and one in Rapid City). I tied my record for number of plates of food eaten and even though I wanted to puke afterward it was still worth it!

We finally got to go to the famous Wall Drug tourist attraction in Wall, S.D. on our way back from Rapid City! We didn't have a whole lot of time to spend there but it was TEEMING with souvenirs and things like that! It's a HUGE place! We spent the night again in Pierre and then drove back to Gettysburg today to start out a week here.

Members and nonmembers alike give us free sweet corn a lot and it tastes delicious raw!

We find and catch (and release) little toads all the time too!

Thursday the 20th was my year mark! How the heck did that happen?! I feel like I entered the MTC pretty recently! I burned a white dress shirt in traditional commemoration of the special occasion and it was great!

I love you all! I hope your lives are TEEMING with blessings like mine is:)

Elder Adair

08/17/2015

From: Ronald Adair <ronald.adair@myldsmail.net> 
Sent: Monday, August 17, 2015 11:20 AM
Subject: 

Dear Family and Friends,

Greeting from South Dakota! This week we are in Miller. It almost feels like the Arizona summers here sometimes when it get to 100 degrees! But it's way more humid:/ 

Elder Griffeth and I are working very hard and definitely seeing some blessings. We spent two days in the little Catholic town of Hoven and found some nice potentials! We knocked on doors for about 3 hours with a bunch of immediate "not interested" remarks thrown at us. But we knocked on the door of a family and without much introduction they just invited us inside! They let us teach about the Restoration and they agreed to read The Book of Mormon! We also taught a brief Restoration lesson to a young guy working on a tractor and he seemed interested too! And then we taught this member's boyfriend briefly and answered his questions about how the our church is different from the Roman Catholic Church and he agreed to let us come by and teach him again! Woohoo!

Elder Thatcher and I were on exchanges last week and we found another turtle on the road! I decided to let it go this time:) We also got some sweet pics in the sunflowers! There are giant fields upon fields of sunflowers out here!

 When my son and I were in Hoven we walked around inside this GIANT Catholic church building known as The Cathedral on the Prairie and it was way cool! There was this statue on the outside of the building of the Ten Commandments. We read it and it's missing the 2nd Commandment about not making unto thyself any graven images! To fill in the space it split the 10th Commandment into two! Very interesting...

For fun Elder Griffeth and I play "water chess" for fun at night sometimes. It's where you play chess and whenever one of your pieces gets killed you have to drink a glass of water.

We had a great Zone Training in Pierre this past Friday about getting the members involved in the work. I have a testimony that when the members do their part, the work exponentially increases. There are 11 places in the Standard Works where it uses the wording, "love thy neighbor as thyself." The first greatest commandment is to love the Lord they God with all thy heart, might, mind, and strength. The second is like unto it, which is to love thy neighbor as thyself. Seems pretty important. I think that when we love others we want to share with them the greatest things we have? What is the greatest thing we can share? The restored gospel of Jesus Christ. One of the easiest ways we can share the gospel starts with being a good example to those around us. Then they will be more open to accept when we simply invite them to meet the missionaries. Let the Spirit guide you!

Love, 

Elder Adair

08/10/2015

From: Ronald Adair <ronald.adair@myldsmail.net>
Sent: Monday, August 10, 2015 10:34 AM
Subject: My boy is a champion!

Dear Family and Friends,

Wow, this week has been crazy! Elder Worthen and I spent a relaxed and boring P Day in Gettysburg and then went back to Miller last week.

by the Missouri River in Pierre

On Tuesday night we drove over to Pierre and spent the night with the Zone Leaders Elder Thatcher and Elder Dibble. We had a fun night with them and the next day I went with Elder Thatcher and worked in Pierre. We had a good time together. For lunch we went to Pizza Ranch which is the best buffet I have ever had!! Deliciousness. At 5 we said goodbye to Elder Worthen and Elder Dibble for the last time:( They had to drive to Rapid City and eventually to Bismarck so Elder Worthen could go home and Elder Dibble could go to Minot for his last transfer. I will miss both of them dearly! Elder Thatcher and I helped out at a food pantry for an hour which was fun and then we had dinner at a member's house. We then played a round of Frisbee golf with him and it was way fun! The next day Elder Thatcher and I went out and worked again in Pierre while we waited for the new Elders to get there. Friday morning we went to the church and just before District Meeting my son and the new Zone Leader Elder Bell got there!

 

Elder Griffeth my son!

I saw my son Elder Griffeth for the first time and he's a good-lookin' Elder! He must have gotten it from his non-existent mother;) But he is 195 pounds and way jacked! We had a decent District Meeting that I prepared about humility, diligence, and patience. There was a lot of great participation from everyone! Elder Griffeth then drove us to Walmart (I am still blackdotted) and then to Gettysburg to stay for the week.  Wow, he sure is a champ. He is one of the most consecrated, mature, loving missionaries I've ever met and he just got out in the field! Sometimes I feel like he is training me! We have been working very hard in Gettysburg these past few days and things will pick up sooner or later! If they don't pick up while I am here and we are just planting some seeds, things will definitely get going sometime after I'm gone! I love my Father in Heaven and I can tell that he has put me in this position for a reason. He has a Magnificent plan for each of us!!

I love you all and I hope you are having as great of a time as I am!:)

Love,

Elder Adair

08/03/2015

From: Ronald Adair <ronald.adair@myldsmail.net>
Sent: Monday, August 3, 2015 10:55 AM
Subject: I'm going to be a dad!!! Week of July 27- August 2

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week was pretty cool! We decided to stay in Miller again so we could teach our two investigators here. Yesterday in church Elder Worthen and I bore our testimonies and had a great time. It was his last Sunday as a full-time missionary so I'm sure it was very special for him. I am definitely going to miss serving with him. He has had such a great influence on me and I am forever grateful for his loving example. The women better be watchin' for his plane to land in Salt Lake City this Friday because he's a boss and will make his future wife very happy! 

After church yesterday Elder Worthen packed his stuff and we drove to Gettysburg. Before we actually stopped in Gettysburg we drove a bit further to Lowry to visit a member named Sam. He goes back to Utah in a few weeks and he's a stud! We had a great time there and then drove to Gettysburg. 

Last Monday we got to watch our Branch President in Miller give us a giant presentation on Mount Rushmore and the history behind it. It was pretty sweet! I hope to go see Mount Rushmore someday. 

This past Wednesday we went to a ranch out in the MIDDLE of NOWHERE that belonged to a few people we met at the party we found ourselves at last week. We got to use all our strength to pull these giant weeds out on the pasture for about 1 1/2 hrs and had a great time! We then ate a nice meal in their house with them. We had planned to watch Meet the Mormons with them but unfortunately the man had to do some more work with his cattle, so we left the movie with them. 

The next day we went out to a member's ranch and helped get rid of little trees in the ditch by the road. Brother Jones would cut them down with his chainsaw and then I would grab the part he cut off and give it to Elder Worthen who would then give it to Brother Jones' son who would throw it in the back of a big truck. Elder and I got a little scraped up because we wore shorts and t-shirts but it was fun! We were then treated to a nice home-cooked meal and were given fresh vegetables from their garden to take home. 

So...today is transfer call day and we just recently got the call. Of course Elder Worthen is going home because his two years are up. And I am now being called to be the Disrtict Leader and also train a new missionary!! In missionary lingo I am going to have a son! I am so way excited and I can't believe it! Being a District Trainer will definitely be a challenge, but I am up for the experience and I am so grateful for the opportunity.

I love you all and I hope your lives are going swimmingly!

Elder Adair

07/13/2015

From: Ronald Adair <ronald.adair@myldsmail.net>
Sent: Monday, July 13, 2015 11:01 AM
Subject: Hey, Elder, I just blinked twice and our GPS says we just past 3 towns!

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello! This last week has been stellar! Last Monday Elder Worthen and I went to the basketball court in Miller literally three times! We went and played for about 2 hours and then went to get Elder Worthen a haircut. Afterward we didn't know what else to do so we went and played some more! And then that night we went again in our proselyting clothes so we could teach and play ball with this guy we met there the day before named Jake. We played some more while waiting for him but he didn't show up! 

We went to go eat dinner with some members that just got sealed in the temple and the husband showed us the two huge hunting lodges that they rent out to people from all around the country! They are stinkin' nice! 

We did service three days in a row pulling weeds at the nursing home in Miller so that was fun!

The last night last week in Miller we decided that we should try to set something up with Jake again and it worked out! We played basketball with him and then taught him about The Plan of Salvation and he seemed to have received it well! We now have an investigator and we might try to put him on date for baptism next week in Miller! Woohoo!

Friday we had a wonderful District Meeting in Pierre and then went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders. Elder Worthen stayed in Pierre with Elder Thatcher and I went to Gettysburg with Elder Dibble. He played baseball in high school so we had a fun time talking about that. We helped some people move (in our proselyting clothes) and we got drenched in sweat! Haha but it was fun anyway and we were glad those people could receive some help moving. We did a lot of other missionary stuff too on the exchange but nothing too exciting. I did learn a lot though from Elder Dibble because he's great!

Church yesterday in Gettysburg was a good time and there were 20 people there this time. Afterward we had a lesson with this awesome guy named Sam again who is coming back to church and is way cool! He also has one of the best mullets I've ever seen!

Saturday Elder Worthen and I took a look around the Gettysburg museum in hopes we'd find a lady that worked there that Elder Dibble and I had tracted into the day before. She wasn't there unfortunately. But it is an awesome museum! Gettysburg is a very old town!

Anywho, I love and miss you all!:)

Elder Adair

07/06/2015

From: Ronald Adair <ronald.adair@myldsmail.net>
Sent: Monday, July 6, 2015 11:51 AM
Subject: Weekly letter to family and friends

Queridos Familia y Amigos,

I felt like typing a little Spanish:) Well this past week was interesting! 

Elder Worthen and I were driving around the town of Hoven last week and we saw a turtle on the road so we turned around and went and picked it up! I said, "Let's eat it!" and my comp said, "Ok and we can keep the shell too!" So we stuck it in our trunk and drove off. 

We drove over to Lowry and met with a member in our branch named Sam. He's 21 and he's from Utah. He was out in a big field (imagine that) and he was herding a bunch of cows. We showed him the turtle and then met him at his his house and watched all the cows get some water. Cows are HUGE! We also got to try his sweet rope swing he has

in his yard! After our lesson with him we drove home and stuck the turtle in our tub with some grass and water. He made a bunch of noise trying to get out all night! The next morning we butchered him and stuck the meat from his legs, heart (still beating), and liver in the freezer. We cut off his head FIRST THING so he would die, but his legs and muscles were twitching all the way until I cut them off! Freaky! We plan to eat it next week sometime. 

This past Friday we had a great District Meeting and then drove to Miller for my first time! Miller is a little farm town and it's slightly more active than Gettysburg. On the 4th of July we watched a bit of a cool parade, had a nice meal with the branch president's family, and watched a bit of fireworks from our car at night. There about 15-20 people at church and our branch members are awesome! The branch president's son is leaving on a mission in August to Ecuador!

Last night we were walking around and we saw this young guy playing basketball. We went to go talk with him and it turned out very well! He's a 20-year-old and he plays college basketball, so we instantly clicked with him since my comp and I are both 20 and will play college sports. We talked for a while with him and then the gospel was finally brought up. We testified and shared the first vision and he seemed somewhat interested! The Spirit was definitely there. I believe we met him for a reason. We also got to play some street ball against him and it was way fun!

Anywho, the Lord's work is moving forward! I love you all!

P.S. My Miller address is 

215 E. 4th St. 

Miller, SD 57362

06/29/2015

From: Ronald Adair <ronald.adair@myldsmail.net>
Sent: Monday, June 29, 2015 3:14 PM
Subject: Weekly Letter to Family and Friends

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been crazy! We got the call last Monday that I was getting transferred to Miller, SD and I left Williston on Thursday. Since Elder Walker was the Elder in our missionary district that can drive, he drove me and himself down to Dickinson, ND where I loaded all my stuff and boarded the "transfer train" (it's a 15-passenger van) and rode all the way to Bismarck.

 

There were four Elders with me in the van that were going home the next day and then three that were going home in 6 weeks! It was the trunkiest van I've ever seen (trunky means that you are excited to go home and figuratively have one foot in your luggage or trunk)! We got to Bismarck and there were so many missionaries waiting there to get transferred to different areas and it was great to say hello to so many people I knew. I also met an Elder that went to school with me almost my whole life so that was cool!

My new companion Elder Worthen drove us all the way down to Gettysburg, SD. We actually cover both Miller and Gettysburg and switch off every other week between towns. I haven't even been to Miller yet!

Gettysburg is a sleepy little town with about 1500 people. I haven't felt more in the middle of nowhere in my entire mission! Most of South Dakota is a lot like North Dakota with it's endless empty fields of grass...except South Dakota is even emptier and even flatter! 

The missionary work has gone very slowly in both Miller and Gettysburg for a long time, but Elder Worthen and I are going to get things movin'!! We went to church yesterday in a tiny little church building and there were 19 people there including us. It's a little different than what I am used to but they all have such strong testimonies. We only go to church for two hours. This is also the last district in the United States! For those who aren't aware, a district, not to be confused with a missionary district, is a group of branches. It's comparable to a stake, which is a group of wards.

We go shopping at Walmart on Friday's after district meeting in Pierre. My district is so awesome! We have two senior couples in our district and they are both so funny!

I'm in the process of killing Elder Worthen...which in missionary lingo means he is going home after this transfer. He's a tall, thin track runner from Syracuse, Utah and he is so goofy! He knows so much after his almost two years in the mission field and I'm going to milk all the knowledge and learning out of him that I can!

I love you all!

Elder Adair

06/22/2015

From: Ronald Adair <ronald.adair@myldsmail.net>
Sent: Monday, June 22, 2015 10:16 AM
Subject: Goodbye Williston!

Dear Family and Friends,

Wow, I am so filled with conflicting emotions right now! This past Saturday Elder Bewall and I moved all of our stuff out of the infamous Williston house into our stinkin' nice new apartment! It's a brand new building and we are the only ones living there so far! It's probably the nicest apartment in the mission! Too bad I don't get to enjoy it much! In the clubhouse we get free soda and we can reserve the lobby for Bible studies with people and there's a sweet fire pit right outside with some nice grills! Right now I'm emailing from the computers that tenants are allowed to use whenever we want!

 

Yesterday at church we talked with a man in our ward and he gave us 3 referrals! Woohoo! Then we went and taught one of them last night with him and new people kept piling in the room one by one and we ended up teaching 5 people! Most were from Africa. I can just feel it...we keep meeting and teaching all these new people finally and we will probably have at least 2 baptisms this new transfer...but I won't be here for it!

We have been biking for the past few weeks because Elder Bewall's little accident got both of our driving privileges taken. Biking is way fun though!!

Today we had the possibility of getting a transfer call and surprisingly we got one!

I hit my 10 month mark the other day! Wow, this mission is flying by so fast it's ridiculous! Shout out to all of my friends and family out there on missions or preparing for missions right now! I really hope that one day when we aren't so focused full-time on doing missionary work that we can all reminisce with each other and catch up:) 

The Lord is real. I know that is true. I know that God has an unimaginably magnificent plan for each and every one of us. He loves us, and if we listen to the whisperings of the Holy Ghost we will feel His love every single solitary day. May we all press forward each day continually becoming more like our Savior and our Father in Heaven. It does not happen all at once. That is for sure. But I am a living witness that through our Savior's infinite and eternal Atonement our hearts really can be changed! He has paid the price! His grace is sufficient! Grab hold of it! Let it change you.

Btw, after just 3 short months in this beloved Williston, North Dakota, I am privileged to go to Miller South Dakota. I'm way excited:)

I love you all! You are all my brethren and sisters in the Lord. Keep up the good work and I'll see you sooner than we know it:)

06/08/2015

From: Ronald Adair <ronald.adair@myldsmail.net> 
Sent: Monday, June 8, 2015 10:09 AM
Subject: weekly letter to family and friends

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was sweet! We had ZTM in Minot on Friday and it was very much a learning experience. The main trainings were about the importance of teaching the message of the Sabbath and keeping our surroundings clean, physically and spiritually, so that the Spirit can be with us. When we consider our activities on the Sabbath, let us examine our intentions and also what we are showing our Father in Heaven by participating in that activity. The Sabbath is the day that we take the most time to prepare to meet God, and if our actions on this day don't either give us rest or prepare us further to meet God, then we shouldn't do them. The Sabbath was created for mankind's benefit. 

To speak of keeping our surroundings clean, if we knew that the Savior were going to come to our house tomorrow, what would we do? I'm sure that we would all clean our house. Why? Because the Savior deserves to dwell in holy and clean places. Now chances are that the Savior won't physically be in our homes tomorrow, but His spirit can always reside there! If we keep our surroundings clean His spirit can reside there in more abundance. 

We found four new investigators last night and they are all recently from Turkey! They are interested to learn more about what we believe.

The weather here has been magnificent lately!

Love,

Elder Adair

06/01/2015

From: Ronald Adair <ronald.adair@myldsmail.net> 
Sent: Monday, June 1, 2015 10:34 AM
Subject: Weekly letter to family and friends

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was a lot of fun and it went by so fast! Unfortunately this week we had 10 appointments cancel on us!! We did a whole lot of tracting. We didn't see much success but I know the Lord will bless us for our efforts. It was pretty funny the other day! We had about 10 minutes before a baptism so Elder Bewall and I decided to go watch about 10 minutes of a baseball game that these 12 and 13-year-old's were playing. We stood by the dugout and during those ten minutes two of players came up to us and shook our hands and someone's mom told us she would take our pictures and send them to our mother's! Haha it was pretty unexpected! My Spanish nametags finally arrived in the mail so I was excited to receive those! My Spanish is coming along decently well. I can't say I'll be anything close to fluent when I get home but I'm trying!

05/18/2015

From: Ronald Adair <ronald.adair@myldsmail.net>

Sent: Monday, May 18, 2015 9:22 AM
Subject: weekly letter to family and friends

Dear Family and Friends,

Crazy stuff this week! So in order to have Elder Wright at their baptism, our investigators that got baptized last week asked to move the baptism to last Tuesday night instead of Saturday! Their baptism was so awesome. They asked me and Elder Wright to baptize them and I could feel the Spirit so strongly. Their confirmation was yesterday at church and it was great too. 

So last Thursday Elder Wright and I drove to Dickinson to drop him off and pick up Elder Bewall. I'm confident that Elder Wright will sufficiently fill the role as Zone Leader in Rapid City! Elder Bewall is the bomb! He's way nice and he has such a strong desire and focus to find, teach, and baptize. He also LOVES to workout and he dragged around 210 pounds of weight equipment in his suitcases! He is way cool because he's totally jacked, but he doesn't workout for pride or vanity; he just has a passion! I'm learning Spanish with him and it's going swimmingly! I love it! My Spanish name tags should come in the mail shortly.

Today we are heading off to Bismarck for Tri-Zone Conference tomorrow. And guess what! We get to go to the temple afterward!! I'm am way excited to go for the first time after 9 long months! We are going to Minot today first to catch a ride from there to Bismarck with the Zone Leaders. Hopefully we can get to Minot a little early so we can have fun celebrating my 20th birthday today (keeping it missionary appropriate of course)! I cannot believe today my teenage years end...they have been inexplicably valuable to me in countless ways and I will miss them.

I love you all!

05/11/2015

From: Ronald Adair <ronald.adair@myldsmail.net>
Sent: Monday, May 11, 2015 11:04 AM
Subject: weekly letter to family and friends

Dear Family and Other Nice People, 

This week was another good week. A less-active in our ward called us and asked if we would start sharing the missionary lessons with him. We got there and realized that his wife wanted us to teach her as well. They are a really sweet, young family with a little baby boy. 

This coming Saturday we have two investigators (husband and wife) getting baptized! We were at their house the other night with one of our bishops and they were telling us how desperately they wish they could have raised their children in the gospel. That night one of their sons asked if we would start teaching him as well!! Their prayer was answered pretty quickly! You see, here in Williston we don't need to go finding people. This is such a good area that people come to us and members refer people to us all the time!

Today we got transfer calls and Elder Wright is going to Rapid City to be a Zone Leader and my new comp (Elder Bewall) is coming to be District Leader in Williston. He is a Spanish-speaking missionary.

We went paddlefishing today with a member and it was pretty fun! We don't have licenses so we just watched him do it. Paddlefish are HUGE and they require a 10-foot fishing-pole! Look them up! He unfortunately didn't catch any:/

Last night after church we got to Skype our families at a member's house (the same one that feeds us breakfast a bunch and took us paddlefishing) and it was great! My family is so awesome:)

Anywho, I love you all!

Elder Adair

my tiny new scriptures!

paddlefishing on the Missouri River