The first snow at the Mission! :)

 All I could say is WOW! 

 Afternoon work can be some of the best times ever.

 great fun

I always wanted to fly since I was a kid! 

This past week we have had a great time in Bible class! Dan Hayden taught on Spiritual gifts which was great because I never had much training on the subject. To give you an idea of what we studied the categories were as follows: The test of truth(1 John 5:8); The trial of truth(2 Cor. 11:3,4); Why Miracles(hebrews 2:1-4); Gifts for the Church(1 Cor. 12); Orienting the Gifts(Eph. 4:7-16); Categories of Gifts(eph. 2:19-22); Perfectly Clear(1 Cor. 13) "Whoever boasts himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain.";  Gifts that were(1 Cor. 12:8-10); Gifts that are(Rom. 12:3-8).

Thank you so much for all your prayers! I was provided a 4-wheeler for the rest of the year when I go back to Chambersburg for Christmas! I am so thankful for the way God has provided the material things I need! I love it here at the Mission-it feels like my home. :)

Thanksgiving is just around the corner!

oh wow! Its been awhile since I have updated about what going on here at the mission. Recently most of the time spent in the day is on preparing for the first Bible test. In a nut shell the test is on the covenants(abrahamic, mosaic, new etc.) and Methods of Interpretation(face value, near and far prophecy, etc). So that is where most of my time has been today. It is very helpful to organize my thoughts and notes through the last almost 3 months of 5 days a week 1 1/2 hours of Bible class-we go through quite a bit of material in that time! Part of me is scared but I am excited to see on paper what I have learned!
On Friday we pored 7 yards of concrete and I had the chance to screed and finish a 8' by 4' slab. Growing up around concrete I did some but it was fun to be able to work on a slab from start to finish that Tyler said, "when people go by they will know Joel did either a good or not so good job." :)
I am looking forward to coming back to PA to give thanks for all the good things God has given me! Thank you so much for your prayers!

4 stiches and a buz! :)

When today started I didnt think it would end the way it did! :) I guess many days are that way. TMM instuled a ram pump using a spring coming from the lake bottom. It works by using the force coming from the spring dropping about 30ish feet to ram a valve up and down to shoot water up 200 feet to jacks house to water animals etc. The coolest thing about the pump is it does not need any electricity! Well because it is not protected we(Dan Teasdale and i) brought it to safety. We disconnected it and Dan carried the 50-75pound pump most of the way. about 10-20feet from the truck I decided to help him out. I took 6 steps and slipped on the wet leaves and my left pointer finger was pinched between a rock and the steal fitting, creating spgettie on my finger! It looked/looks pretty sweet if you ask me but Ethan being the awesome doc he is stitched me up. :) great to have him around, we are one body with many members!(rom. 12:4)
so this morning i decided my hair was getting a little long, so Haley cut most of it all off! The first buz i have had in a long time :)
The last 2 days in Bible class have been great! :) We have been studying men and women's rule in the church and leadership. A passage that stood out to me was Isaiah 3:1-12 and highlighting vs. 12 which says: "Youths oppress my people, women rule over them. O my people, your guides lead you astray; they turn you from the path." This is challenging to the men of our day. We must stand up and for whats right and take Biblical leadership in the church. Men, and mainly young men do not stand up for leadership as a whole, in our feminized 21st century. This is a challenge for me. I would encourage you to read this whole passage in context. :)
We also had a time of prayer tonight which was so much like prayer meeting at home on wed. nights. It was a awesome time to lift up our concerns to the lord! Thank you so much for your prayers! :)

before stitches

after stitches

before hair cut

after!

oh boy! lots of hair!

Beautiful fall colors in the smokies! :)

Last sunday was a beautiful day and we had a out door service on the cherahla skyway! the leaves are changing and are absolutely amazing! :) God paints some amazing pictures for us to enjoy! To bad me forgot my camera but I hope to get some awesome fall pics up.
ok so if you have any questions about this blog please comment or shoot me an email. I really have no idea who reads this other than those who follow it. so moral of the story please comment and give some feedback! :) please and thank you!
Thank you so much for those who are praying for me! I think I am slowly getting Bible class, slowly. We have recently been going through Romans! oh wow jam packed book! good stuff!
And well our dam teacher is now our air strip teacher! never really realized all that went into a airstrip until now. Our test will most likely be this week.
Today was great! After church we went to a southern gospel concert that was amazing! :) South has some good singin, and mainly the Robbinsville Quartet. Then we finished the night with a good old fashion game on back church football at the base of the mountain at Little Snowbird Church. Great fun, wish it was tackle but last time they did that 2 people went to the hospital-sad day, but it would have gotten alot more exciting.
so moral of this post I am doing very well, God is good, life is good eternal life is better!
SMILE :)

 the best place to sleep :)

 yeah i eat fairly well if i want too :)

 fontana dam

fall is creeping in...

Today was a wet relaxing Sunday. I decided on Grace Fellowship Baptist Church (http://www.grace2032.org/home.html) which is amazing! The people are very kind and the four candidates that decided on this church were invited to Dan Larsons and his wife's house today for lunch. It was super having a home cooked meal again, and also tonight they made chili for supper at the church too. good stuff! my tummy was very happy today. :)
Tyler, Kate, and I(all the singles) went to Knoxville to load up on some food for awhile! Tyler just picked up a grill last Saturday so we wanted some meat. We got 60 pounds of hambergers, 4 big bags of chicken, lots of hot dogs, a cupple bags of stir fry, and some more food!!! We should be set for a long, long time! i love food, but like Mr. Hussack says "if you like to eat you gatta learn how to cook. :)
Yesterday Brandon and Natasha(candidates that live 2 cabins up from me) invited us all up for a cookout. So we had burgers, fish, and steak. That was an amazing treat and it was also good to get to know everyone better. I am looking forward to doing this more. Good times.
Scott Kamps is the youth leader at Grace Fellowship and he went through TMM in 2001ish I believe. He is doing a Bible study on Thursday nights with the college kids on John Pipers book-Dont Waist Your Life. This has always been a book I have wanted to study more. I am excited to have this to motivate me to read it. He is also the Program Director of the Stable. This is a stable environment for kids from kids that dont need baby sat to seniors in high school. Its a lot like NET Work. I hope to help out with this some on fridays also!
Thanks for praying for me and all your support! please pray that I will get direction for my next step this year!

well, well another week has passed...

So This past weekend took many of us off guard. we were told 1 hour before we needed to be packed for the night in the woods because "we were in danger" so i packed my backpack and got ready for a night in the woods. It ended up being quite enjoyable. The ladies killed, cleaned and cooked chickens for us all-very chewy but edible. I also thought I would take a chance and sleep in my hammock over the stream which actually went really well and I got a decent amount of sleep.
The past few days we have been doing alot of chain saw work for fire wood-the 1 and only way our cabins stay warm this winter!
thanks so much for your prayers-Gods creation amazes me every day...the half moon is shinning brightly along with all the stars right now :)

an super Sunday! :)

I couldn't just explain this place in one word already. I know that when I am done it probably is going to take a couple days to explain all thats happend! So anyways I went into town to go to grace fellowship baptist church fairly close to robbinsville today with my parents. They were very welcoming and I enjoyed it. The pastor preached on Jude 1:24-25 which says: ²⁴To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— ²⁵to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. It was a great reminder to Keep God central in our lives and to give him all the glory and honor he deserves!
After the sermon the morisons(family at the mission), my parents and I went to eat at this legit Mexican restaurant. I got NY strip stake because that just might be the last time for stake in long while! Thanks parents! :) Then I had to say goodbye to my parents and thank them for dealing with me for the last 19 years and 1 month and 19 days. :( I love you!
It was great, now my afternoon was chill-I could do what I wanted(with in reason). So I did what most teenagers do, I slept and got my room almost all unpacked! happy day!
I love how spontaneous things are when we dont have cell reception(which is amazing!) I kinda love not having to deal with it for awhile, it has its uses. so haley pulled up on a 4wheeler and invited me to go play vball down at snowbird church! so much fun to even get down the mountain and then i got to meet some more great people and play vball.
once again thanks much for your prayers! I can see God in an incredible way through His stars tonight! it is amazing, doesn't compare to anywhere i have been. In closing please pray for my roommate tyler as he is traveling today and tomorrow!
p.s. i have already made friends with 2 black labs and a smaller puppy! I love it! :)

The time has come!

I am leaving here soon! Please pray for safety as I travel. Some pictures are to come :) Thanks for your support.

Promotional Video

I am planning on leaving only in a few weeks on the 2nd or 3rd of September! If you haven't yet please check out the Promotional video. This will give you an overview of what the year is going to be like for the other candidates and me.
prayer requests:
Safe travels down to the Mission in September
A 4wheeler/dirt bike for my roommate Tyler
Spiritual, mental, and physical health
Gods provision in the next 2 weeks
PRAISES!!! :)
Ford F150 given to me for the year
2 painting jobs that have been helpful for funds
A full time job working for my dad this summer