I am really sorry that I havent updated this blog in so long. It has been hectic in my life to say the least. The second group of students arrived, we took off on the trip, and when we got to Seattle Andy and I drove the RV's all the way back. That is just a little introduction to what I have been doing in the past days. Starting from where I left off last time, we continued to prepare for the next trip. The second group of students were in their classes while we debriefed the first group of students. On July 2nd the office had a catered party for many of the surrounding supporters, so they could come and meet some of the students and see in action what their support was doing. Im sure it was really cool for them to see what their contributions were going towards. On July 4th the office had a cookout at a nearby park. We had hotdogs, hamburgers, and played a bunch of games. It was really cool to have a little break before the 2nd trip started up. That night we went to the Colorado Rockies game, and there was a huge fireworks show afterwards. The next day we went and got the RV's and packed them up and headed out later that night. We had a short little drive to Cheyenne, Wyoming where we stayed the night at an RV Park. The next morning we headed to Utah. We drove all day and arrived there around 6. Along the way the scenery is unbelievable. I do not understand how someone can think that the earth was created in any other way other than by God. Some thought had to go into the intense detail that you see in creation. That next day we headed to Mormon temple square again. Since we had been there before the Mormons seemed to be acting a little shady towards us. A couple members of our group had on shirts with scripture on them, so we stuck out like a sore thumb. There were a couple of heated discussions that went down with a couple of the elders that were walking around, but we weren't there to bust any bubbles so we kept our cool. All I can say about the experience is that we should be in constant prayer for the Mormon people bc they had a jaded view of the truth. I think that they have truly been deceived by the false teachers that the Bible warns us about. It blows my mind that they can say that they believe the Bible and that they follow its teachings, when clearly the book of Mormon contradicts that. John states CLEARLY in Revelation 22:18-19, "I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away form him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. It doesn't get any more black and white than that. Did Joseph Smith skip over that part? Who knows, but Mormonism is one of the fastest growing religions in the world now, so we have some work to do. Maybe if Christians were driven enough to hop on their bikes and go from door to door sharing our faith, then the TRUTH would spread throughout the earth. Clearly we need to sow for ourselves righteousness, and breakup the unplowed ground (Hosea 10:12). The unplowed ground is all around us, especially where people have been subject to a false truth. Anyways, after that we all went to a park in Salt Lake City for lunch. This wasn't your average family friendly park. Personally, I saw drug deals going down, prostitution, and some other shady activity. Needless to say Salt Lake City Utah is a dark place, but it is encouraging to know that Jesus is the light of the world and that we take him everywhere we go. That night it was a relief to be in the Christian environment of the Salt Lake City Mission. As I wrote a couple weeks ago, this is an intercity homeless mission that we go and serve at. We sat through the worship service that the Bikers For Christ put on and then we cleaned up the worship area and served the food to the homeless. Afterwards we ate dinner with some of the staff that works there. I got to hang out with Mike again, the ex con that I met the last time I was through. It was a blessing to hear what God had been doing in his life since had stopped in last time. I got his address and plan to keep in touch with him from now on. The next day we headed out to Idaho. This is a 600 mile trip. Along the way we stopped for a little dip in the river. The testosterone was flowing and most of the guys decided that they would cross the creek. When on the other side a couple of the guy, including me, decided to climb some rocks that were going up the side of the mountain. About 5 of us got to the top which was about 35-40 feet from level ground. I wanted to take the "challenging way down" and as I started down the tree that I was holding uprooted. To make a long story short, I beat everyone else down. I fell about 35 ft. hit a tree on the way down, did a flip, and landed on my back. Everyone thought I was dead, but I hoped up and exclaimed, "YEA, that was awesome." This little event proved to be very preach-able for my future. See if I wouldn't have hit the tree on the way down, then I would have free fallen 35 ft. to the ground. But when I hit the tree it broke my fall and redirected my path. Just like God does when we get off track, he breaks our fall and redirects ou im r path. Maybe the only one that could get that from an experience like that, who knows...Then we crossed back over the river bruised and battered, knowing that we conquered the rock..haha sorry Mom. We got to the 3 rivers RV park and went to sleep for the night. We woke up and found out that our rafting reservations were not what we thought they were, so we could not raft that day. We had no phone service of internet so we loaded up and headed for Washington. On the way Terrence set up a rafting trip down the Wenatchee River for the next day. We stayed in Wenatchee that night and rafted the next day. It was cool for the leaders to get to go down another river this time. Not as intense of a ride but we still got to wear the cool wet suits...haha. After the trip down the river we loaded up and drove to Seattle. When we got to the church, where the team was staying, the students cleaned the RV's spick and span. Andy and I crashed for the night bc we had to drive the RV's back the next day. We got up at 4:00 am and headed out for Colorado. We drove a 21 hour trip in about 30 hours. We stopped to nap for 3 hours, eat, and get gas. We we got back on Saturday, Colorado never looked so beautiful. I have rested for 2 days now and am back in the office to help out with whatever there is to do. Tomorrow the students get back, so we will have to go pick them up at the airport. This experience has been so great. I have really learned the importance of looking at the world through the eyes of Jesus. I have really gained a desire to serve others in my everyday life. I am looking forward to taking these lessons home with me and applying them to my everyday life. I appreciate the prayers that have been prayed for me during this time. I can honestly tell you that they have truly been answered. Until next time...God Bless...
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