Greater Western Slope Mission

Day 0

We arrived safely after what seemed like a long drive to me.  It really wasn't that long of a drive but it seemed long for some reason.  John and LeeAnn Miles met us here when we arrived and gave us a great welcome.  It is clear to us that we are supposed to be here and that our presence is welcome.  Our whole team is committed to doing the best we can to share the love of Jesus and not leave any kind of residual effect in our wake.  The spirit among the group is great and it has been a pleasure watching them play games together during our short down times and hearing them laugh at all kinds of things.

We are going to learn a ton about the LDS beliefs simply by being exposed to them and being thrown into the culture.  After we were unpacked and set up we went out and had a big dinner together.  It was great to walk downtown and see the shops and streets that are normally so littered with people that they are hard to walk.  However, today they were nearly empty.  

We arrived on "Pioneer Day".  I had never heard of it before today but it was obvious to us that it is a bigger, more important day, than July 4th.  Downtown was almost ghost town like in its emptiness and I cannot begin to tell you how many people were at the park we went to in Spanish Fork to watch the fireworks.  There were people everywhere and we had park about a mile away just to find a spot (in front of a house in fact).  Let me tell you, the people here know how to put on a great fireworks show!  It was a pretty long show but some of the fireworks they lit off were really impressive and we were close enough to feel the blast of more than a few.  

We also walked down to the park where we will be meeting teens and doing our best to engage them in spiritual conversations.  After we showed them the park we split in to groups and walked back while we prayed for the town and each other.  Everyone has had a great attitude and it has been really encouraging to me to watch as they have responded to each request and each instruction with excitement and a desire to serve.

I am really looking forward to tomorrow as we get to go to church in the park and meet many of the Christians from around the area.  Roughly 8 churches are coming together to worship, sing, hear the word preached, and play.  It will be great to be a part of an evangelistic community int he heart of an area that is dominated by religion.

Please continue to pray for us and for our witness to the community we are serving this week.

- Jared