May 29

Today was awesome. Started the day bright and early at the church. It was a bit hectic because I was doing music at the last minute and running around resolving techie problems. Jon, who usually runs the powerpoint, wasn’t there today, so I was left to figure out how the Open Office presentation system works in about 15 minutes. After that I stayed at church for a little bit to figure out the ins and outs of Open Office so that this morning doesn’t happen again. Then I was planning stuff for the movie night. I don’t know if I ever mentioned it, but I’ve been planning a High School aged movie night at the church for the last week. It went really well. We had about nine people and it was just good clean fun. Played some Wii and foosball, talked a little bit, ate some burgers, then watched “The Patriot”. My only grievance was that all the people that came were ones that I had invited, so I didn’t meet anybody new, and it also means that the people I know were a little bit wary about inviting other friends. I’m hoping that we’ll get some more people at our next get-together, because this one went so well. I think it will be something people tell their friends about eventually. Fingers crossed and head bowed.

I’m headed to Boise tomorrow for some supplies, and some time off. We’ll be there until Thursday morning, and I don’t know if there will be internet access, so don’t be surprised if there is no post until Thursday night. As always, thanks for reading!

May 28

Today was rough. Lots of work. It was the last day of the yard sale, and there was a little bit of rain off and on all day. I got put in charge of the grill, making burgers, because Pastor Jim had some counseling to do. Afterwards there was a lot of tear down, and throwing away some of what we didn’t sell and running tables back to people who had leant them out, ect. ect. There was another yard sale going on down the road, and I bought a pair of snake skin boots that were easily $150 when they were new. It was exciting. Once we were done packing up, I had dinner with Pastor Jim and Mrs. Judy, and I helped count the money from the yard sale after dinner. We ended up with a profit of $1378.21 . With a good possibility of about $1000 more after we sell a magical 64” TV and an antique stove on ebay. I say the TV is magical because it “appears as if from nowhere” by rising out of an oak cabinet by itself. That’s all I got, and I’m really tired. So I’ll see ya’ll later!

My Boots!

The toyota. I'll try to get a better picture tomorrow.

Mrs. Williams and I. She's the one who's RV I'm currently staying in.

May 27

Today was fun, as well as a lot of hard work. We set up for the garage sale at 8:00 am today, which meant a lot of lifting again today. We went and picked up some other really big items this morning that got donated at the last minute. The sale went alright, but I wish we had gotten more traffic than we did. Then, at around 3, it started pouring down rain, so there was a lot of running around and covering stuff with tarps and all that jazz. I got a little break in the middle of the day because of the rain, in which I took a nap. Then it was off to the high school graduation ceremony. I did the math, and based on how many kids my class had and the amount of time we took, it should have taken the Riggins class around 6 minutes to graduate… it didn’t quite happen that way, but it was a pretty good graduation all in all. I got to hear the book “Oh The Places You’ll Go” read to me… twice. My jokes are making it sound a lot worse than it was. It was a nice ceremony. Afterward I had my first contact with some youth. I went and hung out with Mark and some of his friends. They could definitely use a Christian influence, but they are a group of kids that have potential. It’s hard to describe… they just need some help. I’m just praying God will show me how to provide it.

May 26

Well today was pretty full if I do say so myself. I started today with the senior’s breakfast, just like last Thursday, and I’m kind of in the mood to buy myself a meal… but I’ve been assured that won’t be happening any time soon. After breakfast I drove my car ( :-) ) to the church where Pastor Jim and I planned the day’s pick-up schedule. We picked up a dryer, a refrigerator, saw horses, plywood, 10 foot boards, a desk topper and something else which escapes me at the moment. Tomorrow we have a TV cabinet that’s got to be at least 300 pounds, and an electric organ. Just to make my mom angry I had Pastor Jim lean each heavy item onto my back then I carried it like a backpack for two miles all by myself, did a lap around the church, and held a “wheel” yoga pose afterwards. Just in case that wasn’t enough, I had Pastor Jim hit me in the lower back with a sledge hammer a couple of times every hour. I’m taking very good care of my back!

After all the pick-ups were done, we went to Yuna’s house and played guitar and sang hymns for her. She is very weak and can’t come to church, and you could tell that it meant a lot to her to hear some of the old songs she loves. When we were done with that we went to the awards ceremony at the high school. It was kind of funny. Since SRHS is such a small school, there’re only so many kids to give awards to. A graduating class of ten leaves the choice of seniors who have achieved a lot somewhat to be desired, and when the valedictorian of the class is a track star, math whizz and student body president… the award giving get’s a bit one sided. I felt kind of bad for the other graduating seniors, but it was an enjoyable night nonetheless. To end the evening Pastor Jim, Mrs. Judy and I played crazy rummy and now I’m getting ready for bed. The yard sale is tomorrow and the day after, so please pray for clear weather… it’s a 40% chance of rain right now. Thanks for reading. God bless.

May 25

Today has been a great day. I started today with yet another meal with a group of elderly people, this morning being the old guys from around town: Buck Fitch, Doug Crump, Pastor Jim, and a few more men that I didn’t know. Doug wasn’t there today because he went to Boise for a doctor’s appointment, but it was fun all the same. I’m hoping to start hanging out with some more teens, particularly after graduation this Friday. After breakfast, Pastor Jim and I cleaned up the Toyota Camry station wagon, which will be my car while I’m here. It’s pretty awesomely old and junky and I’m excited to drive it around town. It needed a new battery, an oil change and a new tire though, so it won’t really be drivable until tomorrow. After that we went to the church and did a little bit of Bible study and devotion, which was really good. There was some good discussion between pastor Jim and I. When that was done Pastor Jim and I had a PowerPoint lesson. I taught him how to make a new slide, how to change the background, insert photos, videos, and text, and format a heading. We’ll probably do transitions next time. Afterward I went to dinner with Mrs. Williams and her brother and daughter. We went to Back Eddy’s. It was fun, and the food was pretty good too.

The yard sale is this Friday and Saturday, so the next couple days will be labor-filled as well as logistical as all get out. Can’t wait though. Also, I put up a WBQ… first time in a while… so you should check it out! Ok. Good night.

May 24

Today I got to sleep in a bit. We didn’t get moving until around 9:30, which was nice. It rained pretty much all day, so we did indoor work. Mrs. Judy and I worked on signs for the yard sale and VBS week. I also went to senior’s lunch, because Doug Crump wanted to buy me lunch, so that was pretty fun. The remainder of the day was spent in the word, playing with old computers, and playing guitar with pastor Jim. Definitely one of my chillest days so far. Hopefully I’ll have more for you to read tomorrow.

May 23

Today was a bit of a different day. I started it with coffee and a weekly planning session with Pastor Jim and Mrs. Judy. After that I went to help Buck Fitch out with what I thought was a little loading job. It turned out that it was a very very big loading job. Buck had bought a shop full of big shop machines from another man here in town. There were table two table saws, a large belt sander, two big drill presses, 3 huge shop vacs, and a lot more. We got them all out of the shop and into the huge trailer of one of Buck’s friends named Ray. We worked on loading the trailer from about 10:00 am to about 2:00 pm. Then Ray left with the trailer and Buck and I made a run with a load of smaller things in his pick-up to his storage facility in rapid-river. In the end, we finished the “tiny loading job” at 5:30 pm. After that I went to Pastor Jim’s house for dinner, guitar, and a game of “Crazy Rummy” which is basically a combination of canasta and gin rummy… (it was really laid back like this, because Monday is Pastor Jim’s day off)… it was an ok game, but I’m not very good at it yet. We also got some rain for the first time in a while and according to the weather app, we’ll keep getting it until the yard sale. Pray for good weather on Friday and Saturday please!

That’s all for today. My feet are sore, so I’m gonna go lay down with a glass of water, my computer, and a home-made cinnamon roll.

May 22

Today was a good day! Started the morning bright and early at the church, and set up the new copier… you might have noticed a trend in me setting up electronics for the church… and made copies of the bulletin for Mrs. Katie to put together. Then we had the high school class down in the basement, and I met John Joyce, who seems like a nice guy, as well as saw Mr. and Jill Folwell. It was a nice class, and we had some good discussion. The main service was great and I got to stand up and be introduced to the congregation. After church I went out to lunch with the same group that I had gone to breakfast with on Thursday. They were just as talkative as ever. I went back to the church after lunch and finished up with the new copier (we had some paper tray issues that I was resolving) as well as the new computer for the soundboard. I also finished connecting the Wii downstairs to the internet in the church and “tested” it… all part of suffering for Jesus.

Pastor Jim and Mrs. Judy had gone to see their son today afterward; so all of this was by myself in the church. Once all of that was done I came back home to my RV. I’m hoping to have a group of teens come over to the church and play with the Wii sometime, I just need to meet some more young people around town first. I’ll keep you updated on how that goes!

May 21

First of all, might I say that we are all still alive! It’s nice to know that God’s word is upheld, since it’s pretty obvious that the world wouldn’t end today thanks to Matthew 24:36. “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” So if somebody claims to “know that the world would end today” then that scripture wouldn’t be true… so there’s no way that the second coming will actually happen on a day that someone predicts!

Ok enough about that. Today was interesting. I spent most of my time at the church for a change. We got up early today because we were cooking breakfast for the men of the church. It was the last Men’s breakfast of the year, but it was fun nonetheless, and I got many compliments on my ham frying ability. Afterward Pastor Jim and I did some office work, as well as some physical labor. We moved the parking stops back into place since we had pulled them out to grade parking lot. (They’ve had some problems with water flowing into the basement.) After that was done I went back to the office and set up a new computer for Mrs. Judy, and once that was done we made a run with a load of trash to the dump. That was pretty much it for the “working day”. This evening Pastor Jim and I went up to the football field and hit a few golf balls. He’s helping to fix my slice. I invited Mark Stokes, who joined us even though he couldn’t play (broken hip). It was a fun evening. Tomorrow is myfirst Sunday at the church, so if you could pray for a good morning and that we’ll learn lots I’d appreciate it. Thanks for reading!

also here are a few of the pictures I've promised.

The Garage sale sorting... LOTS of boxes... I did all the lifting, and the lovely old ladies inside did all of the sorting.

Mowing Ray and Freda's lawn while they're out of town.

May 19 & 20

Howdy! Yesterday was a pretty good day. I went to breakfast with “the senior’s” group at Salmon River Community Church (SRCC) and a few of their friends. It was actually a lot of fun. Old people with funny old people stories make for a fun morning. After that I went to the church and set up their new wireless printer, a feat that baffled the breakfast table, and I tore down their old computer to be packed up for the garage sale. There was something else I did yesterday that I can’t remember at the moment. After that I came home to my RV and played guitar for a few hours, working up some hymns mostly. Then it was off to bed.

This morning Pastor Jim and I started the day with a trip to the church to practice some of the hymns I had worked up and a general guitar session. We’re going to go around to some of the houses of people from the church and play them some music later on. It was then that Mr. and Mrs. Fitch called with the news that Mrs. Fitch’s mother had fallen this morning and broken her hip, as well as cut her arm up pretty bad, so Pastor Jim and I went over to their house and prayed with them. She’s 89 years old and there have been a few complications with her treatment because she has a rare blood type. If you could please keep her in your prayers I know that the Fitch’s would appreciate it. After we left the Fitch’s we picked up an antique stove for the garage sale and went and mowed a lawn in town for a couple who is out of town. After that we went and met with the Folwells about what sort of vision they had for the youth and where I was going to be fitting in at the church. It was nice talking to them to get an Idea of where they are with the teens at the church. Then, to cap off the day, we went up to the high school and watched the Riggins adult softball game which was a lot of fun. We met a young man from Germany named Johaness. He was biking across the states and had come all the way from Virginia. It was really cool to talk to him and see where he’d come from.

May 18

Today was a pretty busy day. I met Mrs. Anita Williams this morning who is the absolute softest eighty-three the world has ever seen, and spunky and energetic enough to come up with a simile here... which I obviously don't have the energy for... let's just say she's really spunky and energetic. Then we went to the church and sorted through all of the stuff that has been donated for the upcoming garage sale. There were A LOT of boxes and it took about 3 hours to haul them all inside, repack them and hall them back out to the shed.

On a side note, I had my phone interview with Paul Scrabeck about the Dangerous Men Man Up Advanced Training and I will officially be going to Colorado right after I'm done here in Riggins.

After the the garage sale sorting at the church (of which I I will post a few pictures later, courtesy of Mrs. Judy) I met up with a guy named Mark here in town and met a few other people who go to the High School.... Jordan and Caleb Hackler, who seem really nice. I also got to see Hannah Cornforth who has evidently been anxiously awaiting my arrival. It was really nice to see the old faces and meet the new people, and I can't wait to get to know them all better.

After Mark showed me around the Assemblies of God Church, across the street, Pastor Jim, Mrs. Judy and I went to Mrs. Williams's to have dinner. She cooked us some great burgers and we talked about her recent trip to California and all sorts of other fun things.

I'll try to snap a picture of Mrs. Williams some time as well as the rest of them. Can't wait to see what tomorrow holds... particularly since Mrs. Williams is taking me to breakfast with all of her friends...

Pictures!

Welcome to Riggins

I’m on the flight right now and Rob and I are SOO tired. Waking up at 3:45 to get on a plane does that to you. So far everything is going well. No problems with our flights or anything like that. I’ll write more when we get to our layover in Salt Lake City.

We’re landing in Salt Lake City!

Well now we’re in the air, and I was going to post this while in the air on the plane’s wifi… but I didn’t want to pay six dollars for it. I’m a little bit worried because when I got on the plane the flight attendant told me to leave my guitar next to the door at the end of the bridge, I just hope somebody put it on the plane!

Rob and I just stopped at the Carl's Jr. for lunch and the blue turf at Boise State's football stadium. Pictures to come. It was pretty cool, and I'm ready for the drive to Riggins!

I’m in Riggins!!! My guitar got off fine, and I am so excited that I am here. Rob and I had dinner with Pastor Jim and Mrs. Judy, and we went on a quick tour around town.

I’m staying in a mobile home belonging to a lady named Mrs. Anita Williams and it’s really amazing. I’m going to post a picture of it later. The weird thing is that she isn’t here yet, and she won’t be here until Wednesday. We also visited a man named Don and Pastor Jim showed us the work that they’ve done on Don’s new house. Their building a porch and they cleaned out the inside and a lot of other stuff. Well that’s all I have now. I’ll write more tomorrow!

It’s Tuesday now and we had a full day. Drove to McCall with Pastor Jim, Mrs. Judy and Rob to go and visit a lady in the hospital, then did some shopping while we were there. This afternoon we went to a performance/fundraiser that the elementary students put on called the Spring Fling. None of the pictures I took turned out well so I deleted them, but the kids were really cute, and Pastor Jim had taught a few of them a song on guitar. Lots of the kids I recognized from VBS, so it was cool to see them again. I also saw Jill Folwell, Charles Swan, and Megan Long, who I had met from last year, so it was really cool to catch up with them a little bit. That’s all for now! Thank your for reading and for your continued prayers!

57 hours!

We’re getting down to the wire now. I leave on Monday morning. 57 hours from now! It’s so crazy to think that it’s already here! I met with Rob today and we talked a little more about “stuff we’re doing”. Something new is that I will be moving around between different houses while in Riggins, instead of staying with Pastor Jim the whole time. Lot’s of it was just talking about what I’m going to be doing while I’m there, which you probably have a good idea of already if you’ve read all my posts. Rob also showed me a cool website that really gives a good defense for why we do rural mission trips like this instead of just international ones. http://rhma.org/index.php/resources If you have time I would suggest reading the articles on this page. Well that’s all for now. I’ll be having more frequent blog posts when I get to Riggins so keep your eyes pealed for new info!