Friday, May 29, 2009

Elder Forsyth's first letter home

We received Elder Forsyth's first letter. I will just say that it was addressed to "Steve Forsyth", but I will be correcting THAT error in address as Steve will probably read Adam's letter once, and I'll re-read it until the paper is worn! LOL

So here's his letter...

Dear Family!

So today was day one of the best days of my life! Its been absolutely amazing! Its been a long day, but way awesome! I met with another [Hmong] speaker in line named Elder Josh Hunter from Calgary, Canada. He ended up being one of my companions actually. I say 'one of' because Elder Hill was also called to be my companion, so we make a three-some. That's kind of nice because we only have 3 to a room instead of 4, so we have lots of room. There are 5 new Hmong speakers including myself in our district. We have 5 districts in our branch. It is an awesome branch, I'm going to love it here! I already do! The spirit has been extremely strong today throughout our meetings. I'm so blessed to have this opportunity! They called me as a District Leader (DL) over our 5 Hmong Elders, so I already have a great chance to serve in a leadership capacity. I emphasize serve because that is truly what I will be doing here.

Our zone leaders are awesome! They actually transfer out in a week, so a companionship was called to take over for them. Anyway, sorry that this is so short. I have a lot ot do and I need to get to bed. Obedience with exactness!... The church is true! Of this I have no doubt. I urge all of you to grow closer to Our Savior. Through Him and no one else can we be saved and raised up to receive eternal salvation. I love you all very much. Give Nathan a hug for me. To the children: love your parents. They're amazing and I love them so much! Hug them often. Thank you for your prayers and support! They are felt. :-) Love you all! Pray often! Or better yet, pray always!

Love,
Elder Forsyth

P.S. Mom, get my address to RaeAnn and others please. Thanks! :-)

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

A Young Man Prepared

We LOVE our missionary!

He's got that look...

Elder Forsyth (and the rest is in Hmong)


So excited to walk through that door --- FINALLY!


The obligatory picture in front of the MTC sign.

Proud Papa!

Grateful Mom! I just love this young man!

Adam... trying to sneak into the SL temple. We had a wonderful time there on Tuesday. We first did baptisms & confirmations with Aubrey & Cody. Then, Steve, Adam & I went through a live endowment session while Aubrey & Cody explored Temple Square and the Visitor's Center.
There is no feeling better in the entire world than being in the temple with your family!

A wonderful day at the Salt Lake temple.

My Missionary Man!

This blog is being kept by Adam's mother, to share with friends, family, and the world, the testimony and missionary efforts of her eldest son, Elder Adam Prescott Forsyth, as he goes out into the world to share his great love for the Savior, as he serves a 2 year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Adam has been called to serve in the Minnesota Minneapolis Mission (Hmong speaking). Adam entered the Missionary Training Center (MTC) today, May 27, 2009. It was a bittersweet moment, mostly filled with joys and a few tears. What a blessing to have a son SO well prepared and eager to serve the Lord. The day we left for the MTC (Tuesday), Adam finished the Book of Mormon for the 10th time on his own! He is a great student of the gospel, and loves his Savior very much.

Adam has further prepared himself by attending 13 endowment sessions since being endowed on April 2nd. We spent Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning in the Salt Lake and Draper, UT temples, respectively. We did baptisms, confirmations and endowment sessions in Salt Lake, but only had time to do baptisms and confirmation in the Draper temple. Adam really enjoyed performing the ordinance of baptism in the Draper temple for Aubrey & Cody (who stood in as proxies for those deceased persons). I teased Adam that he'll be able to go into the MTC with 20 baptisms under his belt already!


Most future posts will be excerpts from Adam's letters, but we'll have to wait until Adam has time to write. Here are a few pictures of the past few days...