Under The Banner Of Heaven: Book Review

1. Under The Banner Of Heaven: A Story Of Violent Faith

This book is about the Mormon faith. It is written by Jon Krakuer an investigative journalist author. The premise of the book is built around 2 murders, that were committed by Ron & Dan Lafferty (Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints). They "heard" from God that they were supposed to kill these two people because they were in the way of God's plan.

The backstory goes into the entire history of Mormonism, to it's beginnings from Joseph Smith, through the persecution the Mormons face in Missouri and Iowa. How polygamy came into the picture, and how they had to flee to Utah to "escape" so they would not be persecuted.

It is a very interesting book, and I definetly recommend it if you are interested in this "cult". Living in a place where I come into contact with many Mormons it has helped in how to relate to them, and to call into question that their beliefs might not be all they think they are.

2009 Book List

I have come up with an idea. I am going to write a little book review for every book that I read in 2009. That way I will have a complete list of all the books that I have read for a year, and I can also write a little bit about what I found in the book.

And then maybe all of you out there will want to read a book that I have read because of my review! Or I can save you the agony of reading a book that really isn't worth your time.

Either way I figure it is a win win situation.

So on to the first review!

Time for Pictures Only

My good friend Adam and I at my B-day party in Haviland

Audrey and I on our first plane ride of the trip.

Sunset over Salt Lake City.


And last but certainly not least is my nasty swollen ankle. It looked like a tumor.

my weak ankles

Well, i sprained my ankle on tuesday of last week, and it is now monday. it is still swollen, bruised and looks like a club foot. somebody told me that it looked like i stepped in paint. probably didn't help the situation that i subbed at the h.s. all day on friday, and then traveled and flew all day on saturday to kansas.

i'm supposed to be training for a marathon, but haven't even been remotely close to running since my ankle decided to snap and revolt against my body. it's probably like, "I hate running, so i'm just going to injure myself so you can't do it anymore." well, too bad for my ankle that i'm going to start again here soon.

i have pictures, i will put them up later.

This Past Weekend

This past Sunday was a busy one, for quite a few people as it turned out. We had Church on Sunday morning, which I preached at. Then at 3:00 p.m. we had an Installation Service for me as the Pastor of Valley E-Free Church. Audrey's parents came up and Rich did the message. Heather & Kevin led us in worship during the Installation Service, and quite a few people from the Rock Springs Church came up in support of our Church.

It was a good service, but also very tiring with everything else that already happened that day. Oh did I mention that I got up early on Saturday morning to finish my sermon, ran 8 miles Saturday afternoon, and then worked at the Teen Center till Midnight on Saturday?

Sunday evening we got to enjoy supper with Audrey's parents and Heather and Kevin and their family. It was a nice evening to a long day. Rich & Jinny wanted to give everyone a "living" Christmas present this year, so on Monday we drove up to Pinedale to go down hill skiing.

We arrived in Pinedale at the Ski Rental Shop only to find out that the Ski Slopes were now closed on Monday & Tuesdays. So we decided to go Cross Country Skiing instead. But to get up to where the trails are, you have to drive quite a little ways up a forest service road that isn't really that well taken care of. Needless to say, with a rear-wheel drive car, things don't always turn out how you had them planned. We got stuck.

Luckily a man with a tow rope drove by within about 2 minutes and he helped pull us out. Except that I had to drive backwards down the road back into town where we jumped in with Rich & Jinny so we could make it up the mountain.

Finally we got to ski. It was a lot of fun, and the weather was gourgeous. Sunshine, and where we were back in the trees there was no wind. Here are some pictures from the afternoon of skiing.

My only snow gear. Hunting gear. That way other skiiers couldn't see me coming.

Audrey gearing up before we started.

Rich & Jinny on the trail. Thanks for the great day!

Taking a little break at the top of a hill.

Audrey and Jinny racing! Not really, but it would have been funny!

My first drug test

Since I am a director at the Teen Center here in Kemmerer, I was required to have a drug test to make sure I didn't have any illegal substances in my body. This was a first for me, and it happened this morning. Kind of an awkward situation if you've never done it before.

I had to empty all of my pockets, wash my hands, not flush the toilet, and I had to get enough pee pee in this little cup so they could test it for drugs. All the while there was a lady standing outside the door waiting on the cup.

Needless to say, I'm glad it's over. And the only thing that I had to drink this morning was coffee, so hopefully they don't flag me for that one!

New Year

Here's goodbye to 2008, a good year in my books.

And hello to 2009, hopefully better than 2008!

And my first blog of the new year.

A record for the books!

We had a great new year's eve party here at the Church. Lots of fun with friends, games, food, legos, and more. We didn't quite make it all the way to midnight, but hey we tried. I think I made it home right at midnight.

Happy New Year!