IT's been nice. Real nice!

Well. It seems like it has been not that long since I arrived here in LA, but time has flown by and I find myself with only 1 week left of the project. Yikes. Where did this time go?

The past few weeks have flown by as the student have been busy taking the course this project is sort of centered around. It is called Perspectives on the World Christian Movement. This is an intense course. The students out here take it in 15 days. They hear from the speaker from 9 in the morning till Noon. After lunch the students proceed to spend the rest of the day doing the heavy reading load and completing homework assignments. Now, the natural response to hearing something like this is probably, "eww gross. Class is from the devil!" Well, my friends, this is false. The reading and the homework required for this class are life changing. They challenge you and cause you to redirect your heart towards the scriptures and towards God. No doubt God is using this course in huge ways all across the globe!

Besides perspectives there have been many other awesome activities happening out here in LA.


First: The Beach





You can't be in California and not hit up the beach, right? Right. The beach is awesome. I'm more cold blooded and anything that makes me sweaty is usually something I try to avoid. But, the beach is a good thing. I like it. I will go back in the very near next few days. :)

Second: Justin Kron

I first met Justin Kron when I was at my IT Project in Philly. Justin is an incredible man with a huge heart. Justin is Messianic Jew, meaning he is a Jewish follower of Jesus. Justin came for two days and led us through a traditional Jewish Seder Passover meal but with the emphasis being Jesus and what He has done for us. It was so awesome to see how this Jewish tradition was basically set up for Jesus. Jesus led his disciples through it and when you view this occasion through the eyes of Jesus in his Jewish context it really brings it alive. So cool.
The second talk Justin gave was called "Following a Rabbi". This is one of my favorite talks of the summer. Justin goes through the scriptures and shows Jesus in his Jewish context and brings some of Jesus' stories alive like never before. Both times that I've heard this talk I have walked away with a greater understanding of Jesus and a greater love for my savior. Needless to say, J-Kron is the man.

Third: Date nights/Community Nights

I enjoy these times.

I've gotten to take a couple nights off and just go on a date with Jillian and it has been super sweet. She is really caring and encouraging and puts up with me when I do stupid things. Bless her heart.

Jillian and I got to sample some local eats and even explored some cool things around LA. A mutual favorite of ours has been the Griffith Observatory.




In fact, we loved it so much, the night that our two small groups had to hang out we decided to go back. This is a picture of our two groups in front of the Griffith Observatory.



This place is legit. It's nestled on top of a mountain in the Hollywood Hills area and provides a stunning view of LA at night. Even better, though, is what you can see at the observatory. This place has many things to see inside the building: exhibits dealing with anything and everything space, you can step on scales and see what you would weigh on the different planets, learn about the solar system, and pretty much anything else you could ever hope or dream for. My favorite part, though, is the big telescope on the roof of the observatory. Starting at 7:30pm every night they open this bad boy up and you can stand in line and wait for a turn to look through the telescope while it is focused in on a planet like Venus or Saturn. Both times I went to Griffith I had the pleasure of seeing our ringed planet and two of it's largest moons. It was incredible to try and comprehend how far away this was and how I could see it clearly from Los Angeles, California.
Needless to say, it was a worship experience. I have always loved outer space and astronomy and this just made my night(s). So cool to see God's unimaginably large creation through a tiny eyehole. Humbling.

Fourth: Hollywooooooooood!

We went to Hollywood. Duh!



This is the Chinese Theatre where all the famous hand and footprints are. For example:



No big deal. Just some William Shatner.

I'll write about the temple visits and other activities next!

Blessings!