April 3,2005
After church, members of our congregation and some youth group members went to work on the church. Yet another productive day. Sooner or later we'll get this thing done. Please continue to support and pray for us.-Bunna
March 26,2005
Happy Easter, Journal! Today, we celebrated Easter and had lots of guests visiting our church. We sang "When You Believe" by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. As we were singing, I looked towards the audience at the Youth Group from Iowa. I saw some of them smiling and applauding throughout the song, I saw Kim mouthing the words to the song as we were singing, and saw Bogey leading the applause after the song was over (not sure if he was applauding because he loved us singing or if we were so bad he applauded because it was over). After the service, we all gathered downstairs saying our goodbyes, exchanging phone numbers and e-mail addresses, and giving each other hugs. As we waved our goodbyes, and they waved back, I thought about Thursday and Friday how hard those kids worked for us. I want to wish them a safe trip back to Iowa and hopefully we will get to visit them in Iowa.-Patrick Prum
March 25,2005
Hello again, Journal. Once again, another productive day with the Young People's. The only bad thing that happened was the snow. It was non-stop snow til the time we started to the time we finished. Did you think the snow was going to stop us from working? "No Way!!!" was the response when I asked a couple of the members of the Rock Valley Youth that question. Today was the day all of us could have some fun. Today was Demolition Day! Along with the Youth Groups, I totaled the garage that was meaning to be destroyed for quite some time. The Rock Valley leaders were also very kind as they rented a wood chipper for us to turn the branches and twigs into wood chips. Without us asking, they took thrie own money out of their pocket and rented a wood chipper for us. As lunch time approached, we all sat in the building listening to Pastor Charlie's story. I was so happy to see the Young People's so interested in our Pastor's story, asking him questions and just having a good time. We wrapped up work at about 2 PM. Later that night, we went back to Mountain Springs to join in a Good Friday service. It was unlike any service that I have ever been to. I loved the atmosphere of the whole thing. After that, we decided to go to the home of Pastor Mike Menning, the Pastor of the Mountain Springs Community Church, for banana splits. We had lots of fun talking about ourselves and other things. We were also fortunate to hear the story of lady who was part of a polygamist's family. Luckily, she got out of it in time and met a guy who was right for her. After the ice cream, we went bowling. It was unfortunate that the Rock Valley Youth couldn't stay to bowl with us, but what can you do. I look forward to seeing them for the last time in a long while on Sunday for our Easter Celebration.-Patrick Prum
March 24, 2005
Hey Journal, this is my second Journal entry . Today, the Rock Valley, Iowa Youth Group came down to help us clean up the church. I was the first one to go up and greet them and my first reaction to when I saw them was, "Wow, they are all tall!" Well, as the day progressed, I got to know them a little better and they all were a bunch of neat kids. We worked on picking up branches and cutting down the trees. Man was I suprised to see how much firewood they made! It was raining the whole time and I was amazed by the dedication from not just our group, but the Young People's of Iowa as well. These kids really want to help us with this project. We stopped at about 3 PM so that we could get ready for the combined youth activity at Mountain Springs. We talked about how we could build better relationships we our Mormon neighbors. It was a very interesting discussion because we, living in Utah, know what it's like being surround by Mormons. Coming from Iowa, they didn't have that experience. It was cool being able to hear both points. As I was making my way home, I was just looking forward to tomorrow for another exciting day with those kids.-Patrick Prum
March 24,2005
Pastor Charlie's trip continues to pay big dividends. This weekend, a youth group from Rock Valley, Iowa answered the call. Together, with our own youth group, we ripped out the chainsaws and tore down the rest of the trees in the backyard. Some people, namely Bogey of the Iowa group, had a little too much fun manning the powertoys. However, the real fun didn't begin until we unsheathed our sledgehammers and demoed the garage. Truly the only correct way to do a service project. Thank you to the Iowa group and we'll update the youthGROUP page with pictures and junk pretty soon, so be sure to check that out.-Bunna
March 19,2005
Hello Journal, looks like this is my first journal entry. So today, the InterVarsity group from Boise State University came to our church and helped us with cleaning up the building. I didn't really get to talk to them much because I was out running to get some food for the group. Though I did get to converse with them a little bit. They seemed like a bunch of cool kids when we talked during lunch. We picked up debris, cut down trees, and joyfully knocked down fences (Oh, there is no experience like kicking something down. You haven't lived until you kick something down.). We finished at around 4 PM and unfortunately, I wasn't able to say goodbye because I was at the dump. Oh well, it was fun and hopefully, the Iowa Youth will be just as cool.-Patrick Prum
March 19,2005
Today, the Intervarsity student group from Boise State University came down for spring break to help us clear the land. We picked up debris, cut down trees, and knocked down fences. It was a very productive day. We are extremely grateful to the Boise group for spending part of their break to help with this effort.-Bunna
