I was blessed to have two days away from school to help Amazing Grace Mission evangelist Rob Holm and Pastor Tracey Ross at the World Ag Expo. They boast that it is the world’s largest farm show and I believe it! Second to the California State Fair, I haven’t seen so many people walk in front of our 3-door display as I did during the last two days. I was excited that I got to go through the Gospel with at least 20 individuals each day. Most of the time it was in groups of 2 or 3, but on one occasion occasion I witnessed to 5 FFA girls who were all about 17 years old. That was especially neat because one of the girls was a Christian, but the rest of her friends were Catholic, and she clearly wanted her friends to hear the Gospel and was an active helper.

Each fair I work at there is some aspect of the Gospel that seems to be a real stickler for people to understand and believe. At this fair an unusually high number of people didn’t understand that when Jesus died to pay for our sins, he died to pay for all the sins in the world forever. I also noticed that I was “out of shape” in my Scripture knowledge and referencing and it seemed like by the time I got back into the groove the event was over. Nothing like stepping into the spiritual battles of lost people to reignite a desire for Scripture memory and meditation.

Finally, I noticed the great need in people’s lives for biblical pastoring and this stoked the flame for learning as much as I can about this from good Pastors. So much need in the world for preachers of sound doctrine who are willing and able to preach the whole counsel of God. By God’s grace I want to be that man.

I rejoice to announce that finals week is upon us and I will be going home for winter break in one day!!!! Today, in celebration, our room got together and went out bowling and then had In-N-Out burgers for supper. It was amazing! Here are some pics. Oregon bound!

My roommate Ramero inviting me to his house for thanksgiving break and it has proved to be an awesome experience. On wednesday we headed to LA to meet his family. His mother greeted us and heated up homemade tamales for us. We setup camp in his back room and then went to the LA auto show. I am not a big car fan but I was amazed at the amount of work that went into making the car show spectacular. I kept noticing how professional and extreme everything was. Here are a few pics to get the idea.

Thanksgiving Day

Ramiro’s Uncle had the entire family over for thanksgiving dinner as he traditionally does. Ramiro’s father is from a family of 13 and his mother is from a family of 12. There were 40 chairs set out at the extra long dinner table. We had the usual turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing; but we also had some killer steak, green bean salad, ham, and unlimited Marie Calendar’s pies (Ramiro’s dad manages their restaurants). I was so welcomed into their family and felt as if I had always been a part. After the dinner they let me play pool with them in their garage. It has been a long time since I have been able to do that.

Black Friday

Romero and I did not want to do very much shopping so we slept in while everyone waited in line for their cloths and video games. His mom made some breakfast with fried tortillas and eggs which was really good. Then we went with Romero’s sisters and friends to buy suits in downtown LA. They know of some cool shops that sell good suits for cheap so I picked up a navy blue suit for $65 which was a pretty good deal. Later that night we went to the youth pastor’s home for fellowship and enjoyed several board games and leftover turkey. All of Romero’s friends and family were very welcoming and friendly.

Saturday

If Wednesday through Friday wasn’t packed enough, Saturday just added more to the pile. We started the day with the Spanish ministry soul winning meeting which was attended by over 200 people and preceded by a Mexican continental breakfast complete with Conches (sweet bread) and beverages. After the soul winning meeting we split into groups and went door knocking around Long Beach. This worked up an apatite so the gang went to Tommy’s Burgers and had chili cheese hamburgers and fries. After that we did a little clothes shopping around Long Beach and then went to a birthday party (the Pastor’s 2-year-old grandson). It was well attended as can be seen from the pictures. The food was wonderful and the fiesta–muy bien. When this was over we went to the “Juevenes” which is the Spanish youth group. The youth pastor preached a powerful message about conforming to the world which was translated into English using these fancy wireless headsets that we got a picture in. It felt awkward sitting in church and having the message translated into your language. Now I know how a lot of other people feel. Afterwards the guys played basketball until 930. Phew! I need some rest!

I thought it would be high time I provide a photo update of a couple of activities we have been up to since I have time on my Thanksgiving break to get on the internet.

Towards the beginning of the break we went on a field trip to the Reagan Library, which is a museum dedicated to the life of President Ronald Reagan. I thought the most interesting thing in the museum was the part about his experience working for GE communications where he got a lot of experiencing working with the common people and solving problems.  My absolute most favorite part of the whole place was the piece of the Berlin wall outside in the back courtyard. I got a picture of that.

Several weeks later we went to the Santa Monica Pier. I got to walk on the California beach and write my brother a note while sitting in the sand. It was a nice diversion from the norm .

We also had the opportunity to go to Tom Cantor’s creation museum which was previously belonging to the Institute for Creation Research. They needed to sell it and Tom Cantor was willing to purchase it. The most interesting part was the butterfly exhibit. A Christian couple collected every single one of those butterflies and then donated them to the museum. Here are some pics.

Recently we went on a hike on top of a rock formation near Lake LA where we are doing door knocking. The desert is peculiarly fascinating to me and I enjoy studying its beauty and biology when I get a chance.

2011 Team

I can hardly believe that our third annual summer backpacking trip has come and gone, and now we are left to linger on all of the wonderful memories and experiences from it. I am so thankful to the Lord for wonderful friends, a wonderful state that I live in, and the opportunity to be in excellent health and mind to enjoy these kinds of activities. Over the course of 6 days, our trek team covered 40 miles in the Three Sisters Wilderness area.

This year’s team was the largest (seven) and included a variety of experience and backgrounds. I thought it would be fitting to share a brief bio on the team members to compliment the online photo album.

Temo

Zach

Temo joined the team as a first-timer and did remarkably well considering his inexperience. Temo grew up in the LA area, and it wasn’t until coming to Oregon a few years ago that he experienced the outdoors for the first time really. The mosquitos were particularly attracted to him for some reason, so he spent the most time under a the mosquito net or in the tent J. Interestingly, he was the only hiker that didn’t experience the standard foot problems of new hikers: blisters, cramps, rash, etc.

Zach joined the team as the only other first-timer and did amazingly well. This was the first major woodsman experience for him and he is looking forward to more opportunities in the near-future to stretch his hiking legs. Towards the end, he became very popular on the team as the official “goodies supply” since he ended up taking an excess of treats and stuff with him that the rest of us coveted. Of course he was generous, and willing to be free from the excess weight, which we all heartily assisted with. J

Will

Will flew back to Oregon for his second year of backpacking with us and brought a lot of experience and cheer to the trip. He was the most prepared with his gear, and probably had the lightest pack on the team. Consequently, he took the initiative to help with camp setup, filtering water, etc. Will also brought two devotions to the team that were a blessing and a challenge. It saddened all of us to realize that this was probably our last hike with Will due to his future ministry plans and mine.

David F

David F. returned to the team, after taking a break last year, and contributed incredibly to the overall moral of the trip. He willing took loads from the less experienced hikers and stayed ahead to scout trail problems and potential camping spots. It was good to have David back on the trail with us and his devotion on Charity was a sincere blessing to everyone too.

David T

David T. made up the critical core of the team and was involved with planning this trip ever since last fall. We have hiked many miles together and have developed a mutual trust together that few have. He was known on the team for being the pyromaniac since he was always the first to start fires at the new campsite and seemed to be the only one who could figure out how to get them going again in the morning lol.

Daniel rounded out the core team with his humor, experience, cooking expertise and character. He covered everything from first-aid issues to trail songs to peanut butter fails. When the fishermen banked some trout in the evenings, he masterfully prepared and cooked them to perfection (I have never, and I mean “never”, tasted better fish than the ones from this hike). Although he was mysteriously plagued with awful blisters the entire time, he courageously kept up the spirit of the team and shared his equipment and provisions generously with the less-prepared on the team.

Daniel

And then there’s me: checklist nazi, trek superintendent, cocoa hoarder, and overall slowpoke . I would like to say that I enjoy being in the woods and that it energizes me, but that is not true. If I went into the woods by myself for a week, it would be the most depressing, boring and draining experience I could ever imagine. I rather enjoy sharing new experiences with people and got a real kick out of watching Zach and Temo

Allen

adapt to backpacking life, among other things that they didn’t expect. I’ve always believed that you don’t really know somebody until you’ve had to make it through tough times together, and backpacking is one of those self-inflicted trials that does just that. I also treasured each one of the random campfire discussions and the “you know what I’ve been thinking” moments too. Neither will I forget lying in our sleeping bags for hours,

under the stars, in a moonlit meadow, counting how many shooting stars we saw, as we discussed life and solving its problems… [sigh]… anyway, at this point I’m rambling.

With all of that for an introduction, please click on this link to enter the online photo album for our 2011 hike and enjoy the 500+ pictures that we took.

Please enjoy