Here and There

I forgot to mention before about my friend Junghyo!

Junghyo is from Korea and studied at U of A this past spring semester. We got to know her there and luckily she was in LA for a bit before she headed back to Korea a few weeks ago.

Sarah and I got to see her for a bit one afternoon after Perspectives. It was really cool to be able to see her and talk to her before she left, because who knows if/when we'll see her again! When thinking about this, I had a flashback to last summer when I made friends with students from China, and the last time we were able to see each other. It really broke my heart to know that I was able to make friends and invest my life in to people who I may never see again. Sad, huh?

On to a happier note...

At the end of Perspectives, we had to write a paper by either researching a People Group or doing an interview with an International Student. Sarah and I decided, since we were hanging out with Junghyo anyway, we would see if she'd let us interview her! It was such an enlightening time and I feel like I learned SO much more about her and her life back home than I ever had before. Also, it was so sweet to hear her talk about her experiences here in America. The one thing that stood out to me the most was when she described what she didn't expect when coming to the United States. It went something along the lines of:

"I didn't expect people to meet me and then introduce me to their friends. Like you, Sarah, you met me, then introduced me to all of your friends, and I was able to make more friends because of you. You were so sweet to me."

It was incredible to see that, by the simple act of someone reaching out to Junghyo, she was able to be impacted in an incredibly positive way. I wish everyone had that experience when coming to the United States, and they could, if we just tried a little harder. 

Ok, no more tangents.... 

Here are some pics from the day we hung out:

Sarah and Junhyo

They're super cute.

Anyway, I just wanted to post some pics from this day before I forgot again.

I will miss this super sweet girl. The day I moved out of the dorms this year, she insisted on coming over to help me pack that morning! It was so sweet of her, and I didn't even ask her to do that! So that morning, after my last final, Junghyo and two of my other friends came over and helped me throw everything in boxes and bags before I left. I was very thankful for them that morning. I wouldn't have been able to do it without sweet friends like them.

Ok enough of the tangents I've taken in this post... 

Bunnies and a Mountain

I'm terrible at keeping this updated...

As I promised, I am going to make a quick post about two fun, adventurous things I have been able to do/see since being out here.

Part One:

Remember the community night I mentioned earlier? Well the first one that my small group went on was to a BUNNY MUSEUM.

I kid you not, a Museum that has over 28,000 bunny things.

Stuffed animals, glass items, statues, magnets, puzzles, food. You name it, they have it. They're even in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the most bunny things.

Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure:

The Front Yard

Just a section of one of the rooms in this house.

Some of the 500+ puzzles that they owned (all bunny themed, of course).

Their TV room.

My small group and I (Shaela, Jennifer, Rebecca and me)

My last words about the Bunny Muesum: one of the funniest, free experiences I've ever had.

Part Two:

Behind the campus that we're staying on, there is a HUGE mountain, called Mount Wilson. One morning we took a hike up a canon within the mountain and went to a WATERFALL!!!

I have never seen a waterfall in real-life, so I was extremly excited. It was SO beautiful, and cold :)

Ok, enough words, how about some pics? 

The canon? valley? surrounding this little area.

The Waterfall!

Some of the group in the waterfall. Like I said, it was very cold!

My friend Lindsay and I.

It was really nice to be able to go out and experience nature. I know that sounds weird, but it is very true! It was a nice break right in the middle of taking the intense Perspectives course. 

That is all for now! I will make a more serious post very soon :)

Temple #1

Okay, so I promised another, more detailed post, so here it goes!

We were able to visit a Latter-Day Saints Temple about a week ago. Before hand, we had a little information session so we could know a little more about what the LDS believe before we arrived.

I'm going to be honest, I had NO idea what the LDS believed. I learned SO much and it was so interesting to finally somewhat understand the similarities and the differences between what they believe and what I believe.

It was also incredibly heart-breaking to see how much they truly believed in what they were telling us. From my eyes, what they saw as truth seemed outrageous to me. Yet, it is only God's grace that separates me from them. It is ONLY by God's grace that I don't believe in what they believe. And that fact made me have a reality slap-in-the-face and I had to check my pride at the door.

(If you want to know details, just let me know, and I could fill your brain with what little knowledge I learned from this experience.)

Anyway, here are some pictures that I snapped while walking around the outside of the Temple and in the (new) Visitor's Center. Oh, also we weren't allowed to go inside of the temple, so I don't have any awesome inside pictures.

The World's Second Largest LDS Temple (Salt Lake City is the largest)

The "Front Doors" to the Temple. Also, our tour guides :)

The LDS focus a lot on family, so this is the family statue outside of the Temple.

Just some paintings inside of The Visitor's Center

Anyway, I'm sorry this wasn't incredibly informative, but then again, if you have any deeper questions, just ask!



Prayer Points:

• That the true Gospel will infiltrate the people of the LDS and that they will come to believe solely on God's true, written Word, and not the word of someone else (The Book of Mormon).
• Their hearts will be softened to God's true Word and those spreading God's Word. 
• That believers will initiate conversation with them and know of the differences so as to better minister to those of the LDS faith.

Super Late on the Update

I'm the worst blogger ever. I'm also a very busy young lady. I say this so as to deeply apologize for the lack of updates I have made on this blog. The next few minutes I have set aside to tell you all (whoever you are out there) about my life here at the IT Project the last 2 weeks.

Has it really only been 2 weeks?!?!?

I write these things to you as I am sitting in the beautiful outdoors here in California. California: where it is never humid and hardly ever hot.

I have no idea where to start...

Well I arrived here on my first plane ride ever on June 9th. I expected warm, sunny, LA weather. I was greeted with cloudy, cold LA weather. The movies never told me to expect that... Shortly after my arrival, I was able to meet people literally from all over the United States. It has been such an awesome experience just to get to know people who have similar goals in life as I do and believe in the same things as me, yet are completely different from me. Does that make sense?

First glimpse of "The Valley"

My roommates are incredible. Kaitlen is from Oklahoma, Hannah is from Pennsylvania and Jenna is from West Virgina. It's so funny how incredibly close we have all become in just a few short weeks. I would never trade those late-night convos and laughing-fits for sleep, no matter how tired I am the next morning.

Hannah, Jenna, Me, and Kaitlen

My small group is made of our leader- Rebecca (from Wisconsin orignially), Jennifer (from Iowa) and Shaela (from Arkansas, but not U of A). They're pretty awesome as well. It's weird to have a group of people that I literally did not know until I got here, but it's really cool at the same time because I'm able to make friends with people I would, otherwise, never have met.

Shaela, Jennifer, Rebecca, and Me

Basically, we stay at the William Carey International University here in Pasadena, CA. It's right across the street from the US Center for World Mission. This campus has so much history and each building name has an incredible meaning behind it. I don't have time to go into that though...

I'm sure you want to know what a typical schedule looks like, so here it is:

Since June 14th and until July 4th, Monday-Friday we take the Perspectives course from 9-12pm. Every day we have a new speaker that teaches on the topic of missions in the context of Biblical, Historical and Strategic basis of missions. It has been INCREDIBLE. I have learned so much that I really don't know how to put it into words. Maybe I'll save that for another post...

Just one morning, all ready for class!

On Tuesday nights, we have Small Group night, where we eat dinner with our small group and have Bible Study. This summer we are going through the book of 1 John and working on scripture memory. To study 1 John, we are individually learning how to inductively study the Bible, which really just means taking an in-depth look at what the passage or the verse is really saying. It's very time consuming, but I really enjoy learning details about the Bible. I really love history, and His-Story ;). We've only had one "real" Bible Study so far, so I'll keep you posted.

On Thursday nights we have "project night", which is just when we have worship and then a speaker come in and talk to us on a subject in the Bible other than missions, since we're doing that during the day. Last night Todd Ahrend came and spoke to us on the Trinity and our Eternal Purpose. Yeah, just because it's not on missions doesn't mean we're just snoozing ;).

On (most) Fridays, we have "community night", which is when 2 (or 3) small groups are paired together and go out and do something fun. I guess I forgot to mention that from 1-5pm every day is mandatory homework time. This means that every single day we have about 4 hours of reading to do and questions to answer from our Perspectives lesson that day. Then, the next morning, we have to turn in our assignments and do it all over again. The reading is really incredible and, paired with the speakers, I feel like I'm really learning a lot about God that I, ashamed to say, never realized before. Anyway, we get these nights to go out and have a little break while at the same time building community with other groups beside our own or the people in our rooms. It's a great way to get to know people better. It's really great to have such a small group of people (48 of us, counting leaders) because I'm able to get to know people better than, for instances, last summer when there were just 100 people from MY school. Last week, we had our first community night. I'll make a special update for that one. Haha...

Saturdays we usually go somewhere and have evangelism. We have an illustration that we learned that we go out to the shopping malls or the beach and share with people. It has been very different than when sharing in Florida or back home. We are definitely not in the Bible belt anymore. Oh well, even though it has been challenging, it has been a great learning experience and a lot of fun too.

Sundays we have church and then the afternoon to ourselves to work on Perspectives, Inductive Bible Study, or just catch up with people back home, or sleep- whichever is more pertinent at that time. ;)

Then Monday we do it all over again. After July 4th, though, our schedule will completely change. I'll let you know specifics about that when I get a chance.

Ok, so this update was just an overview. I will make more specific ones when I get a chance (maybe tonight before bed). I have LOADS of other things to tell you about. Here's a preview: Latter-Day Saints, Bunnies, Jewish things, and a waterfall.

My great friend, Sarah :)

IT Project

I'm going to the Intensive Training Project (IT Project) this summer!!

I am SO excited! It's in Pasadena, CA and I can't wait to go! It's June 9th-July 28th (roughly 7 weeks). I just wanted to go ahead and make this post for those of you who read this blog/will read this blog.

If you're supporting me financially or through prayer, this blog is for you! I can't wait until I get to upload pictures and such for you guys to see what I'm learning and the people I'm meeting this summer.

Until next time,
XOXO

woops

AHH I have been meaning to update this thing for weeks. I'm really sorry. This will probably be long. Bare with me.

Quick overview:

Work every Tuesday-Saturday. 6 am shifts have by far been the best part of my summer (yes, that is sarcasm). Overall though, I've love the people I work with. I'm really sad that I will be leaving them and probably won't see the majority of them ever again. Really sad is an understatement. I'm going to miss Jeanane (my second mother), Donna, Lori, Lori K, Yan, Zaya, Jason, Rocko, Jay, other Jason, Yani, Alex, Dimi, Illia, Kostia, Shay, Marietta, Kayley, Julia, and anyone else that I didn't mention. These people have been in my life for the last 2 months. It's so upsetting to leave them. What makes it harder is that they're sad for us to leave too.

Things that have happened since my last post:

Another social- it was "twinkie" themed. So OF COURSE we went all out. I would go as far as saying that we were the most original group there. Then again, I just really love my dgroup.

Gotta love Goodwill :)

The Fourth of July was a couple of weeks ago. Most of Kaleo went to Seaside, which is about 30 mins away. It was a lot of fun. We all hung out in the town and then saw fireworks on the beach. Once again, I think we should have gotten a bested-dressed award :)

Out on the beach before the fireworks started.

Last weekend was MISSIONS CONFERENCE. One word: amazing. It was probably my favorite thing so far. Todd Ahrend, who is part of The Traveling Team spoke and it was incredible. I also bought his new book "In This Generation." Get it, read it. 

After missions conference, I really wanted to just jump on a plane. Physically, I'm ready to go overseas. Mentally, I think I'm ready to go overseas, but probably not. Spiritually, I need to grow even more before I can go overseas. 

Kaleo people from Panama and Gulf Shores came here for missions conference, so when it was over on Saturday, we all went to the beach and hung out. It was really fun. We haven't done something like that in a really long time. It was great to just relax. 

On Monday I was able to go with some of my friends to Panera and talk to the Stumo Team Leader in Hyderabad, India. It was great to talk with someone who has been there for the last 5 years and is getting ready to head back this weekend. I learned so much from talking with him for only an hour and a half. I didn't realize until later that I chit-chatted with a real missionary. I find that so cool. I am so blessed to be where I am here as well as back in Fayetteville.

Let me introduce you to some of my friends that I met at work:

(there is a pic of all of the "Whataburger crew" from the 4th, but alas, it's not on my camera)

Me, Yan, Nika (Kaleo) and Zaya

Micah (Kaleo), Jason, Rocko

Yan, Jason and Rocko are from China and Zaya is from Mongolia. They're awesome and I love hanging out with them. They came to Stumo with us last Thursday. After, Emily, Kelsey, Yan, Zaya and I went to Books A Million and bought them Bibles. Yan asked us "Can anyone buy a Bible here? Even if you're not a Christian?" That was so heartbreaking because we are so blessed to live in America where anyone can buy anything whenever they want. Where Yan is from, you can only buy a Bible if you're a Christian, sometimes. That is such a reality check for me, because I am friends with someone who is interested in Christ, but knows nothing about Him because she has never been able to read a Bible. 

I think that's just about all I have to talk about right now. Rent is due next week, so bye bye paycheck! It's okay though, because even though I didn't raise all of my support to come here, I am SO glad that I came anyway. It was one of the best decisions I've ever made. 

Well, we're about to leave to go to Stumo right now. Hopefully I'll update before I leave IN 9 DAYS. That is crazy.

XOXO

coffee.

I am currently sitting in our condo with my group, sipping a cup of coffee, listening to some "sweet jams" and learning about God's word through inductive study.

I never want to leave.


I will update soon with pictures and details, I promise :)