Home!

Here's just a short post to let you all know that I am safely in Alaska! :) Yesterday was spent organizing my new room and packing. Then Eric and I left for Groome Transportation at 12:15 so that we could catch the 1:00 shuttle to Atlanta. Eric, his sister Crystal, and I were all on the same flight to Seattle, which was really nice! :) So anyway, Crystal met us there and we got on the shuttle and our long adventure began! Things went smoothly through security and everything thankfully, so we had about two and a half hours to wander around before our flight left. And Eric and I found something to eat. Boy is airport food outrageous!

Anyway, I finally got to Fairbanks at 12:20 this morning local time. That's 4:20 AM eastern time... Well, Mom, Caleb, and Charity picked me up and we came to the Regency hotel to sleep. And now it's 7:15 in the morning and I'm just waiting on everyone else to wake up. :p

Well, I guess this blog will be put on hold until January 9 when I fly back to school. Happy end of the semester and I will post again later! God bless! :)

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Last day

It is so sad! I had to say goodbye to most of my friends tonight... I won't see them for nearly a month! :'( Anyway, so yeah, that's sad. Besides that, we had our last final today, then Eric and I are lunch. After that, I hung out with Sarah Dahlstrom for awhile since I hasn't seen her in a while. And then I started moving rooms. Eric helped me, which was nice. So now all my stuff is dumped on the floor of room 1118, but I just got my bed made, so that's good for tonight. But that's getting ahead of myself. At 5:30 all of us who were still here went over to Heldzingers' house and watched Joseph. That was a lot of fun! Then we went over to the little kids park in Collegedale and played sardines in the dark. That was really fun! But we had to rush back to be in the dorm by night check at 11:15... So anyway, I am now off to sleep! Oh yeah, and in case it didn't click, that means my address has changed too, to room 1118. Anyway, goodnight!

December 13

Only one more final to go!!!  Yippee!!!!! :)  Today was great.  We had our last SALT worship at 8:45 this morning with Dr. Beitz.  He talked about the need for evangelism.  It was really good.  And then we kept studying for the Christian Witnessing Final.  And then we took that test.  It wasn't as bad as we were fearing thankfully!  And then we had the Topics in Evangelism quiz, which wasn't too bad because we just had to use a book by Russell Burrell and he gave us a test with page numbers and everything, and all we had to do was find the answers. =P  So that was easy.  And we turned in our exit papers for that class...

Anyway, then we had our Southern Connections party, and we all ended up going over to Parkers' house for lunch!  So that was great.  We had two different kinds of soup and lots of chips and crackers and things.  So we had epic fun as usual.  This afternoon I spent getting some stuff done, then we had a study session with Dr. Parker over the stuff for his final tomorrow.  So that was very helpful.  Eric and I came down to my room after that and went over some Bible texts and stuff that we need to know, then we went and played tennis for awhile. :)  It was good to get outside and get some exercise!  Then I came back in, spent a little bit of time in the lobby with Dara and her boyfriend Eric, because she's leaving at 3 in the morning...  And now I'm getting ready for bed!  So goodnight! :)

Monday

Today was quite the day!  I got to have a really lazy morning! :)  I wasn't planning on waking up early at all, but my roommate was up by 7...  So I kind of just laid in bed until 8:00, then I got up and went to breakfast.  Then I proofread and printed off my paper that was due for Topics in Evangelism.  Then I went to the final for Topics in Prophetic Studies at 10:00, then we had the final for Topics in Evangelism after that.  Both were really easy, thankfully!!! :)

Then I played racquet ball with Eric for a little bit before going over to Joe's house for lunch.  Then we came back and Eric and I studied for a little while and I cleaned my room.  And then we went over to Parkers' house because today was Mrs. Parker's birthday. :)  So we had pizza and chips and stuff and sang to her.  And then I came back home, called Mom and talked for awhile, and now I'm off to bed.  So goodnight! :)

December 11

I was really tired today...  I got to bed at like 11:45 or something last night and back up at 7:15 this morning.  I went in to the church at 8:00 to help them figure things out for livestreaming the Christmas program on Sabbath.  So that lasted about 45 minutes.  Then I had gotten a text from Victoria saying that her son Luciano had had a seizure in the night and they had been taken to the hospital, so I went to pick them up and take them home after that.  So by the time I finally got back on campus, it was nearly 10:00!  And then I ate breakfast. =P  I ate at the Village Market and had biscuits and gravy. :)

Then I did homework!  And homework.  And homework.  But I think I'm ready for everything tomorrow. :)  And after the homework, Hahna and I did a little visitation and then went over to Victoria's place for supper / Christmas party.  It was fun.  And then she took a bunch of pictures of us. =P  After that, I came back to the Dorm, visited with Ryan and Victor for awhile, took a piece of paper over to Emily, Katie's roommate, for Katie, and then came back to the dorm where Eric and I have been studying for our exam tomorrow and writing blog posts. =P  So anyway, I'm off to bed pretty quick! :)

Sabbath!

Today was a lot of fun.  I went to church at Chat First this morning, then came back to the caf for lunch.  After that, I went to the greenway and walked with Matt, Stefan, LisaMarie, Sarah, her roommate, Kayla, Dara, Dara's boyfriend Eric, and Travis.  Oh yeah, and Ernest, aka Squealer, Kayla and Dara's child (football... =P)  That was fun!  And then we went to the Christmas program at the church and after that, a whole bunch of us went over to Stefan's house and watched Scarlet and the Black.  That is such an amazing movie!  Definitely one of my favorites! :)  It's about a Catholic priest during World War II that helped hide a whole bunch of prisoner of war and Jewish people.  It was amazingly powerful!  Anyway, and now I'm back in my room and getting ready for bed.  So goodnight! :)

Wow, I don't really know what to say...  I'm a SALT graduate!  A lot of mixed emotions are running through me right now...  But anyway, the graduation went really well.  And Matt got the video done for the beginning.  So both the graduation and the music video are embedded below, so make sure and watch them!  Tim Taylor did the livestreaming for me using my iPhone. :)  I tell you, my phone can do anything! lol  Leslie and Trenton came as well as Doneskies, so that was nice.

After grad, we came back to campus and caught the last half or so of the Christmas concert.  That was really good!  And then we had nachos in the guys dorm and then the hymnsing thing.  And now I'm off to bed!  So goodnight!

Last day of school!

So today was the last day of regular school for this semester!  The rest is just finals and stuff.  And grad tomorrow night.  That's exciting!  Today was spent just doing homework, outreach, and helping Matt get started on the short video that will hopefully get shown at grad.  So yeah, now it's 11:30 and I'm off to bed!  Goodnight!

PS:  Hopefully I'll be able to livestream graduation.  The address to go to is: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/joelcsutherland  The graduation is at 6:00 PM Eastern time, so that would be 2:00 AK time and 3:00 Pacific.  So anyway, hopefully that will work.

Wednesday

Wow, what a day.  I went to the prayer group at 7:00, which it was good to be back in.  And then I had Hebrew at 8:00 and it totally made my day!  I found out that I got 86% on the last test and that my final grade is 92.6%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)  I am SO happy!  So I get to waive the final!  Anyway, so yeah.  NO MORE HEBREW until January!!!!!!! :)

Anyway, then classes and this afternoon homework.  Then we had supper and the Daniel study tonight.  And the SALT team all got together afterwards and spent nearly 45 minutes on our knees praying for contacts and the church and what-not for the last time in the sanctuary...  It was really sad.  And then we finished by singing We Have This Hope of course.  Then I got back to my room and worked on homework.  I think I'm getting ready for bed now.  I'll do the rest in the morning...  Goodnight!

December 6

In some ways it feels like I got a lot done today, and in other ways, it certainly doesn't.  We had class all morning, and then after lunch too.  After outreach class, I ran a whole bunch of errands and got a lot done.  I decided to skip outreach today because both of the Bible studies we had canceled...  So we'll just get extra time in on Thursday...  Anyway, I was starting to get some stuff done that's due on Thursday when Katie texts me and says that LisaMarie's van died again.  They were in the middle of our territory doing outreach...  So I ran over to the Tractor Supply and bought jumper cables (funny how you never get something until you absolutely need it...) then I drove over to our territory and gave them a jump.  Then I went to Amir's room and we had prayer, then I came back to my room and continued sorting through papers for the portfolio that's due in Michelle's class...  And now I'm off to bed...  So goodnight!

December 5, 2011

I can't believe it's nearly Christmas!  In some ways, it doesn't feel like Christmas, due to the temperature and lack of snow.  But in other ways, it definitely feels very much like Christmas, because we are constantly singing Christmas songs and everything...  Anyway, it's weird.

Today went well.  The Hebrew test was horrible, but oh well.  Hopefully it doesn't effect grades too much...  Joseph said that Dr. Klingbeil was trying to punish us for something...  The rest of the day was fun.  After classes, we had a photo shoot for the SALT advertisements next year.  We went to a house and staged a whole bunch of Bible studies and door-to-door stuff and everything.  It was lots of fun.  And then I had my interview for the Bible Worker position at the East Ridge church at 5:30.  That went well...  After that, Eric, Matt, and I went through all the video footage I took over the semester because we're responsible for putting together a 5-minute video for grad.  We'll see if it actually gets done...

Anyway, I'm off to sleep.  Have a great night! :)

Sunday

So today Eric and I got up at 7:20 and ran down to the pool to go swimming.  We even convinced Ryan and Ashley to join us. :)  Anyway, it was lots of fun.  There was a hot tub and pool outside, and then a heated pool inside, so we made our rounds through all three of them.  Breakfast was at 8:30, so we had to run back up to the room by then.  And then we packed everything up, loaded them into the vehicles, and then went up to the Smoky Mountains where we went hiking for awhile.  We went to this waterfall and went down the creek for a ways.  Nobody got too wet. =P  Then we just wandered around the streets of Gatlinburg for nearly an hour before heading back towards Southern!  We got back by 5:30, then I did a little homework before openhouse at 6:00.  Kayla and Dara put me first on their list, since I had to leave, so they came, saw my room, and visited for a little while.  And then Katie came down, and I took her to all the other guys' rooms in SALT.  Then we went to Magnify's Christmas Concert.  That was really good!  Magnify is a girls quintet.  Most of the girls are students here at Southern and go to the Eastridge Church.  I know 4 out of the 5, so I guess I know most of them. =P  Hahna used to be a part of them for awhile.  Anyway, there were refreshments afterward, so we stayed and visited, and then came back to campus.  I worked on the Study Guide for awhile, and then studied for my Hebrew test in the morning.  Yes, I'm really worried about that...  But it will all be over by 9:00 in the morning...  Anyway, I'm off to bed.  So goodnight!

Sabbath!

So today was epic! But since the Internet isn't working, I'm using my iPhone to post this, do it will be shorter. :p In summery, we spend the whole day at the It Is Written Partnership meetings. They were very inspiring. And of course, our very good friend Pastor Bradshaw was there, so it had to be awesome. :) We had a whole half hour slot in the afternoon program to share testimonies and things from SALT. It was really inspiring just to hear and tell the stories over again.

It's incredible the people that are partners with them! They gave the total of the offering from today and it was $782,200. And there were only 150-200 people in attendance! Yeah, pretty impressive...

After the meeting to tonight where he gave his testimony (which went really late), we spent quite a bit of time taking pictures and visiting with Pastor Bradshaw because he had been too busy during the day with all his partners. But we had a lot of fun after the meeting. Then we came back to the condos and made cookies and played charades and stuff. And then we finally are heading to bed. So goodnight!

Happy Sabbath! :)

We are in Gatlinburg!!!!!! :)  It's so exciting and happy and wonderful.  Anyway, yeah, this morning in Hebrew we finished our reading competition, and I was one of the three winners.  So we got Swiss chocolate. :)  And then we had class from 9:00-12:00.  James Hartley was up from Wildwood and he talked about Medical Mission work.  It was incredible!  Health fairs and health as the entering wedge.  I definitely think I need to study more into some of that stuff.  It's incredible the results he's gotten from that!

At 1:30 we all met at Wright Hall and loaded the van and Expedition for Gatlinburg!  We left somewhere around 2:00 and got here around 4:30.  It was a lot of fun.  Some of us played Amen (Christian Uno =P) for a lot of the way.  And took silly pictures with LisaMarie's computer and other such nonsense.  After we got here, we got settled, looked around a little, then got supper ready and ate.  We started worship at 7:00 with singing, then Dr. Parker had us do some activities, then Michelle had a worship thought on Creationism versus evolutionism and how a lot of Christians are actually evolutionists, and then we had prayer.  I definitely need to explain that other more.  The principals of evolution are that things have to evolve, whereas when God promises us something (aka victory), we have it!  The same voice that spoke the universe into existence is still creating each of us on the inside.  And it's not a work of evolution.

Anyway, I was thinking during worship how many other groups of young people would enjoy having a 2-hour long worship.  No, we didn't get done until after 9...  But it was so wonderful!  And we spent at least 10 or 15 minutes in prayer.  And then we all sang "I Want to Go to Heaven" afterwards of course.  That's a FountainView tradition that's crept in through Sarah's influence. :)  Every time we sing it, it makes me want to go home more...

Oh yeah, I didn't say where we are staying!  We're staying in a condo!!!  Us guys have a room upstairs and the girls have one downstairs.  These are 3 bedroom apartments with everything you'd ever want!  We're eating and living in the girls' one, though, and just coming up here to sleep...  Anyway, I need to get to bed, because I'm on breakfast prep at 7 in the morning, then we rush off to the It Is Written Partnership meeting.  So goodnight! :)

Thursday

Today was so awesome!  Christmas is officially here!!! :)  We had the Christmas on the Promenade event tonight with the lighting of the Christmas tree and everything.  Oh yeah, but before that on outreach, Hahna and I were riding in my 168 horse open sleigh with Christmas music playing. :)  Yeah, I think some people think I'm crazy for still insisting to have the top down on that car, but oh well.  Hahna and I both agreed that it was far too nice a day to have the top up!  And it was still around 40 degrees! :)

Anyway, the program here at Southern was really nice.  Hot chocolate and Donut Holes and everything!  And lots of music from different people.  Anyway, it was a great evening.  I'll put pictures below. :)  Goodnight!