This weekend has been pretty awesome and fun! Thursday afternoon (not really the weekend, I know, but hey, it's my post, so... hahahaha :D) I rode a jet ski for the first time ever which was insanely amazing! One of the staff guys owns a jet ski and was giving people rides, so that was a really cool experience! Friday, I ended up singing for our chapel service, which was fun! We also had a fire safety drill (not quite as fun) and then played Ultimate Frisbee (YES!!!). Then Saturday, we went on a 6-hr canoe trip. That was pretty awesome! I'm a bit sore today, but it was definitely worth it! Sunday, we visited the same church that we went to last week, Lake Area Evangelical Free Church. It's a very small church, but the people are very friendly and they do a lot of outreach. The pastor, Jim, is a staff member at MTC, and he and his wife, Connie, are co-leaders for my E-linc group (which is a small group program that we have on campus where staffers meet weekly with designated groups of students for fellowship, encouragement, fun, and accountability. it's really neat program!). Interestingly enough, they are also the people who interviewed me when I came out here in May to visit. They are a really neat couple! Jim asked me to help lead worship yersterday morning with their music team, and I was absolutely thrilled! That is definitely one of my passions, and they really need some help on their music team. I think that God might be wanting me to go there, which is awesome!

Oh, and as promised, I am posting some more pics. Enjoy :-)

Day 4

We just learned in our NTM History class today that Day 4 of classes was the day when 14 of the first New Tribes trainees were killed as they helped fight a forest fire out in California back in the 1940s. They tried to escape the oncoming fire, but, instead of moving uphill as expected, the fire moved down into the valley where the men were hiding. The underbrush was so thick that they couldn't escape. Yikes. That was a pretty sobering (not to mention slightly nerve-wracking?) way to start out the day.

But the cool thing was, the widows of the men continued to work with NTM, and they didn't take the disaster as an opportunity to give up. They were so dedicated to getting the Gospel out that they didn't leave, even though their husbands had died.

All that to say, NTM has a very rich and deep heritage. Many people have given their lives for the cause of winning souls to Christ, and that is so cool to hear. It challenges me to be willing to give everything as well. After all, that's what Christ calls us to do, right?

Ok, so on a lighter note, we've finished orientation (finally!) and we had our first official class today about learning styles. It was SUPER fun and interesting! We'll be continuing this class through Tuesday. I learned today that I am a Concrete Sequential learner. This means that I like order, logical sequence, following directions, predictability, and getting facts. I think this is a prety accurate description of myself, but I might be slightly biased... :D

Work detail has been pretty fun so far since I've only had to work one day this week haha. I'm working at the Front Office, which is pretty cool! I get to answer the phone, make copies and send faxes for people, and do other administrative tasks. It's kind of nice because I get air conditioning (and heat in the winter, yay!), and apparently, I'll have a lot of extra time for homework. That will be great!

Speaking of homework, we got our first assignment today (due tomorrow afternoon). We have to describe a worldview and where the concept is found in the Bible. Should be pretty fun! This will probably be the easiest assignment we get the whole semester hahaha. ;-)

I'll be taking and posting some more pics very soon!

First Day of Orientation

Our first day of orientation classes has gone really well so far! Our first three sessions (starting at 8:30 and ending at noon) were led by missionaries from West Brazil. They worked for many years with the Yanamamo tribe, and their stories and experience were very beneficial. We also watched several short videos that gave us a vision for what we will be learning and doing this year, namely reaching tribes and transforming lives (that's the theme for this semester here at MTC). Later today, we'll be having a session about our work details. Each student is required to do at least 7 hours of work on campus, which helps keep the costs low and cut down on the number of staff required to be at the training center. I think we're also going to have some safety/general information for our campus life.



Roomies! :-)



It's been pretty great getting settled here and starting to meet new friends. My roommate is awesome! Her name is Elise, and she's really sweet! She went to New Tribes Bible Institute up in Jackson, Michigan, so she actually knew my cousin, Josiah, previously. That was a cool connection. Josiah has a great roommate as well, Jared. We've all been hanging out a lot and having lots of fun playing games and fellowshipping together (and I'm cooking for the guys... don't know how they convinced me to do that, but hey, it's kind of fun :P).

I really miss my family and everyone back home, but it's been awesome hearing from friends and chatting with some of you on Skype! Now that we have internet up and running (at least most of the time :D), I'll try to update more frequently about the things we are learning and doing around here. It's a really beautiful area, and I'm sure we'll be pretty busy learning, working, serving, playing sports (ultimate frisbee!!! hurrah!), and hanging out!

We're Here

Just wanted to post this so that everyone can finally rest easily and breathe a sigh of relief (oh yes, I know you all were holding your breath and sitting on the edges of your seats just hoping that we'd make it to Missouri safely...). Well, we made it (though the van was so stuffed that at times, I wondered if we might have to get out and push it up the hills. Actually, it wasn't quite that bad, but it did make starting and stopping rather interesting... :-) ) Anyways, we made to Missouri without any problems (thankfully!). Yesterday and this morning, we set up things in our apartments. Thanks so much for everyone who contributed to our stash of stuff!! ;-) It's really been a HUGE blessing! It's starting to look a bit like home. We even took a shower in the shower house... definitely not what I'm used to, but I'm grateful to have warm, running water hahaha (waayyy better than the jungle showers in Nicaragua for any wondering :D)! I'll post some pics ASAP!

Departure Day!

So the day has finally come. I kind of can't believe it, but at the same time, I have to. I'm feeling excited, nervous, and sad simultaneously. It's been hard to say "good-bye" to all of my friends here. I'm going to miss everyone so much!!!

Today, Cari, Marissa, Josiah, and I are heading out around noon (at least, that is the plan haha). We'll stop overnight at Josiah's grandparents' house, and then we'll finish the trip to MTC Friday. We'll drop off all of our stuff and stay overnight at our apartments there. Then, we'll head to Branson, MO to meet the rest of the family for a few days for a family vacation. It'll be great to spend more time as a family!

Thanks everyone for your love and support over the past few days! I'm excited about this new opportunity, but I'll definitely miss all of you!

The Countdown begins... in earnest

So we leave Thursday (yes, I know i said the 10th in a previous post, but, hey, things changed). Cue theme music "Frantic People Packing". Or is it "People Frantically Packing"? Something of that nature...

It's funny how you never know how much stuff you have until you empty ALL of the drawers and pull ALL the stuff out of the closet. And then you find even more stuff. My sisters are enjoying it, though, because they are getting all of my extra things. One of them (I won't release names) was picking up things that weren't in boxes and asking "Are you taking this???" very innocently. She ended up with a lot of things too... don't really know how she talked me into it, but... :D

The one thing that is sad is leaving everyone here!!! I'm saying good-bye to a lot of really good friends, and that is hard. Thank goodness for Skype!

So... 3 days left until we leave!!!

Commissioning Service

This last Sunday, the 29th, our church, Mountain View Alliance, had a wonderful commissioning service for me and my cousin, Josiah, as we prepare to head out to MTC. It was really special! Our pastor Ed preached a very encouraging sermon for us about focusing on the cross of Christ, no matter what others may say, think, or do. Josiah and I were also able to share for a few minutes each how God led each of us individually to be a missionary and to go to MTC. At the end of the service, many of the members came forward to lay hands on us and pray over us as their first full-time missionaries. What a blessing!!!

My parents hosted a reception afterwards with some delicious food and great fellowship with friends, including many I haven't seen for years (such a cool surprise... thanks guys!!!).

It's been so incredible to see the love of all my friends and family. I'm so excited to see what God is going to do through our relationships over the years!

Thanks again to everyone who made Sunday so special for us!!!

By the way, 9 more days until Missouri!!! It's coming up SUPER fast!! :-)