Howdy

Howdy-doody, y'all... Haha, just kidding. I don't talk like that now. But it's been quite a fight between spending three weeks in the south, and the past week in Montana. It's been such an amazing time though. My last group in NOLA was a great way to end my time there, and my first week in Montana included many adventures. Okay, here goes... (I hope I can remember them all...)

I had quite a time getting here with delayed flights, and waiting on others before our flight could take off. So, that being said, I didn't arrive to my "home" in Montana until 3AM. Which meant the majority of my first day was spent sleeping, and not seeing many sights. Once I woke up, Saturday afternoon, we got ready and went to dinner at a *gasp* CASINO! HAHA... and much to my father's dismay (just kidding) I did not play the slots. I did however, have an Indian Taco, which includes all the "taco things" just served on frybread instead of a tortilla. Frybread is kind of like a beignet only not covered in powdered sugar, is a little less sweet, and is flat like a pancake.

The group arrived on Sunday evening, and we had burgers and dogs... and guess who grilled them... MWAH! And I rocked it! They were super yummy, and I only dropped one on the ground. =) During the course of the week I was able to help cook every night. We did spaghetti (I helped make the sauce), we grilled chicken (Oh yeah, rocked that too), we made Indian tacos with homemade frybread (I did not get to help make the bread, but was advised that I would learn before I leave), and finished out the week with chili and cornbread (I didn't make the chili, but my partner in crime, made the best "everything but the kitchen sink" chili, which included everything from leftover grilled burgers, spaghetti sauce, barbecue sauce, onion, and taco seasoning- and let me just say that it was some of the best chili I've ever had!).

For our work projects, we continued work on a family's house pulling up old tile, laying down laminate, and painting their family room. We also helped to set up a camp called "Crazy Head", worked at the Boy's and Girl's Club, painted the equipment at a park in Birney, which is also where we lead our Kid's Club (aka: VBS) program.

Also during the course of this week I: killed a wasp, killed a bumble-bee, climbed through a window at our house (still have the bruises to prove that one), drove an old van with bad breaks, been eaten alive by mass amounts of mosquitoes, and got to experience God's presence on the top of a mountain.

There are these beautiful lightning storms that happen almost every night here, and as I look over and saw the sky light up with the fiery illumination of lightning behind the clouds, I couldn't help but see the God of Israel who showed his power to the recently freed Israelites with fire and thunder on the mountain of God. It was a beautiful reminder that even though I may not have cell service, God is still alive and well in the mountains of Lame Deer, Montana.