Orem and Ogden, UT

During the second weekend in December I made my second trip to Utah.  I flew into Salt Lake City in the midst of what appeared to this flat lander to be a blizzard.  There was plenty of lake effect snow, but it didn't seem to slow things down much.  I arrived on Saturday and after I got my rental car I drove down to Orem (in the middle of the snow storm) to check out the church facility there.  As you can see it is quaintly unique, and even though I couldn't see it I hear it has an awesome view of the mountains and the valley.  

That evening I drove up to Ogden, which is just north of Salt Lake City.  I stayed with the Cadman family and it was good to get to know them.  I went to Graceland with their daughter, Paco, and it was good to see her again.  We are all like to travel and it was good to swap international travel stories.  Bob Cadman is also an avid bicyclist and we talk

ed quite a bit about bikes and biking.  The next morning I preached at Ogden and we had a wonderful Christmas meal afterwards.  The Ogden congregation has a lot of young families and it was good to share with them.  The church building itself is over 100 years old and is on its third location/foundation.  

Boise and Tulsa

With the holidays and end of year church business I seem to have fallen a little behind on my blog posting.  Back in November when I was staying with the Fishers I had the chance to preach at the Boise Congregation.  The Boise Community of Christ is made up of wonderful people, most of whom are fairly progressive in nature.  I was able to sit in on an adult Sunday School class taught by Tony Dennis (former superintendent in the Boise school district) and it was really well done.  I enjoyed speaking there and I hope the folks enjoyed hearing me.  We had a great meal afterwards and then I hopped on a plane and headed home.  It was a bit weird to make it back from Boise in less than two days! (normally I drive).

The week following my excursion to Idaho I spent a day in the town I grew up in - Tulsa, OK.  Oklahoma is now part of my assignment for Disciple's Generous Response and I made an initial visit to see how I could be helpful. 

 The city of Tulsa has changed a lot since I lived there as a kid and the

 Tulsa Central Congregation is experiencing new vitality through their youth outreach program.  I had lunch with Jack Ferenbacher, who is a Bishop and Financial Officer for the Oklahoma Mission Center.  Jack is a straight shooter and it is always good to hear his opinion.  In the evening I spent time with the Adult Class during the Wednesday evening activities.  I really enjoyed reconnecting with people who had been my mentors as I grew up and 

I am looking forward to giving back to people who have been impo

rtant in my life.   

The Fishers

On my trip to Boise I stayed with John and JoAnn Fisher.  The Fishers are warm and hospitable people that were a lot of fun to stay with.  John and JoAnn live about 30-45 min outside of Boise in heavily wooded mountains.  They moved to the residence where they currently live about 12 years ago.  When they moved out there their home didn't have running water or electricity.  John Fisher is a master of many things and he installed a well, installed a solar system for electricity, and remodeled their home from the inside out.  

When the Fishers have guests, they stay out in the "Bunk House" which is a cozy little cabin.  To keep guests safe (not that that is a problem) the Fisher's wolf hybrid (half wolf, half dog) named Jake sleeps on the front porch.  I had a whole lot of fun staying with them and I appreciate and value their friendship.

Baker City

On Saturday, November 15th, I travelled a couple of our Northwest of Boise to the town of Baker City, OR.  JoAnn Fisher had planned to make the trip with me, but unfortunately there was a death in the New Plymouth Congregation and she was asked to do the eulogy.  I heard she did a great job.  

While I was in Baker City I met with the Pastor Kathi and Financial Officer Theresa.  They gave me a our tour of the church and we had a nice lunch with good conversation about the congregation.  The Baker City Congregation is a small group with good hardworking people.  They are doing good things in there town that are inspiring and humbling.  I hope I can be apart of some of those good things in the future.  

Nampa

On Nov. 14th  JoAnn Fisher and I traveled to Nampa, ID (about 20 min East of Boise) and visited with the Connie and Justin Cartee (Pastor and Financial Officer).  We had a good meeting with them and it was particularly for me to put some names with faces and learn more about the congregation and their sense of mission.  Nampa is a small group of about 10 people and I'm looking forward to being able to share with them on a Sunday morning.

Olivia and Cookies

Last Saturday Andi and I took care of Olivia (our niece) for an afternoon.  Andi and I like to cook a lot so we thought it would be cool to make cookies with Olivia.  My Great Grandma Chatburn has an awesome sugar cookie recipe and my Mom found some cool Halloween cookie cutters at a kitchen store in Sandpoint, ID.  Olivia wasn't sure if she liked the dough at first, but after the first taste she was a life long convert.  

Even though Andi and I aren't game to have kids anytime soon, we have fun playing with Olivia. Fun times with the little tike. 

Field Leader's Meeting

Every year all of the staff for a given Apostolic field gets to get together for what we call a field meeting.  This year our meetings were held Oct 20-23 at the Whispering Pines campground near Prescott, AZ.  It is always good to visit with other folks who work for the church and share common experiences and lessons learned.  Since I am a relatively new financial officer it is helpful for me to be able to ask questions of others who have served in a similar role.  Having the meetings as Whispering Pines also afforded me the opportunity to get to spend time with Rob and Barb Mills who served in Korea as WorldService Corps volunteers when I was the Coordinator of the WorldService Corps.  They are good solid folks - they were great volunteers in the WSC and some of the best campground managers and cooks I have ever seen.  

The meetings were good and it was also helpful because the Inland West staff is spread out fairly well and this allowed us to spend some more time together.  Good times and good company.