June! No way!

I can't believe it's June 7! It's been almost a month since my last post, my apologies. I cannot begin to figure out what all has happened in that time, but I'll give a few highlights.

1) We planted the garden! That was a ton of fun and I loved every minute of it. We have stuff sprouting and that is super exciting!

2) I went home for Cassie and Pierce's wedding! It was a joy seeing people I love and celebrating with Mr. and Mrs. Rainey :)

3) Colleen came, so now I have a roommate. Last week was mostly relaxing which was great as we settled into the house. I'm excited for what God has for her this summer.

4) Bible Institute is now finished. I'm thankful for the friendships I made there and for the ways I have grown.

5) I had a crazy busy weekend but all of it was fun! Well, not weeding on Friday morning. I was cursing the effects of the fall as Colleen and I were bested by monstrous dandelions and ungrateful plants that left us with lots of thorns as we tried to defend them from foreign invaders. After that I went to the last day of Bible Institute and day care and then went to the high school graduation of an old family friend. Saturday Colleen and I went to her bf's volleyball tournament and got ready for the bonfire. We worked on the garden for about four hours before it started. The bonfire was a ton of fun. There were about 35 people there from various walks of life and I believe everyone enjoyed community with people they would not have otherwise met. It lasted about six hours so it was a long day but it was super fun. One of the Mormon boys started flirting with my Christian friend and now he wants to go on a hike with us this weekend and wants to meet up at the Blue House. She will def not be dating him, but the fact that he's now comfortable enough with the notorious Blue House to come here willingly is exactly what we want. Praise Jesus! My friend Becky from my ward asked me to take her to church the next morning, at the Christian church I've started attending-yay! It was awesome!! She liked it a lot even though it was outside anything she had experienced before. I'm super stoked for that friendship. We went to ward meetings after that and then to a Christian gathering down in Salt Lake where we hung out at a park all day. It was a lovely summery weekend!

6) At Sunday's Sacrament meeting I shared my testimony again. The first Sunday of the month is Fast and Testimony Sunday and that's when Mormons stand up and bear their testimony. Their testimony is, as far as I understand it, the same thing as the burning in the bosom. It's the feeling that the Holy Ghost gave them when they read the Book of Mormon. That is the confirmation that it is true, so since they have been told it is true, they have the right to "bear their testimony" and tell others it's true. It's sort of confusing but I hope that makes sense. Still, it's an open pulpit and an opportunity I took to share Christ. It was announced at the beginning that Elder Porter of the Quorum of the Seventy was presiding. (In the LDS Church, there is the First Presidency which consists of the Prophet and his two councilors, then below them are the Twelve Apostles and below them is the Quorum of the Seventy-basically that means this guy is an LDS bigwig.) I was scared. And to make matters worse, Bishop Priet kept glaring at me to the point where even Colleen was uncomfortable. I think he was worried I was going to speak and embarrass him in front of Elder Porter. I did speak, though, and I don't think I offended anyone. I shared the stuff I'm learning in the garden (the "warm mud" stuff). I don't think many saw the direct challenge to their system of thought, so they were not mad at me. It went well. They aren't used to having people stand up and speak that have any sort of teaching ability (if you haven't been to one before, just know that LDS wards are as boring as watching paint dry), so they do like it when I share. I ended with "Jesus is God" and then walked back to my pew. I had to pat myself on the back for that. During the rest of the meetings, Colleen and I answered most of the questions and were able to share bits of Jesus throughout. It was a pretty good day.

7) We went to Family Home Evening on Monday night and are getting better about befriending those in our ward. Please pray that as it gets warmer, so do the people. I'm excited to have more casual friendships here and as they realize they don't have to fear me, they will be open to finding Christ. It's cool to be an example of what freedom can look like in their lives.

8) The first team is coming this weekend. Please pray!

9) I set up a schedule of Chi Rho activities to do weekly at the Blue House. Please pray for awesome things to happen.

10) Please pray that Saturday is a great day to grow deeper in Mormon-Christian friendships!

11) I started doing the Community Chaplain thing at the mall today. I went to about sixty businesses and explained what it is and gave them my card. Basically I'll be spending Tuesdays at the mall talking to employees and looking for invitations to share Christ by offering a listening ear and helping them with wherever they are at in life. Please pray for miracles there.