Wiffleball with John Piper

A couple weeks ago, the TBI guys hung out with Pastor John. The first part of the day we had a Q&A with him and he shared with us a few things that were on his heart. We shared our testimonies over a delicious lunch and then we played wiffleball. The first year TBI guys (Primal Truth) beat the second year/everyone else there (Textual Variants) for the second time after the first time at the retreat. They beat us 2/3 in frisbee at the retreat though. Here are a few pictures from our Day with Pastor John...

Pastor John spreading the passion

Tony Romo (Marshall), one of my closest friends out here

Ben, another close buddy wearing some high shorts!

Johnny, a close friend that should stick to skating.

BEAST!!!

Rick Melson, our Theology of Worship prof. and South Campus Pastor

Tom Steller, My favorite person here at Bethlehem (funniest prof)

See Pastor John's joy in all things through Jesus Christ!

"Intense in all things"

Dudi, a man whose mind is always set on things above.

There are many picture that I would like to show because these are all brothers I love and would love to take back to California with me in ministry. Hopefully, I can snag a few :)

The JLA (Jen, Lou, Art) Visit to Minneapolis

I am almost convinced that I don't want visitors here in Minnesota. It's emotionally easier when I visit over there. I think if anyone I know visits me here it will end with me in tears. I was weeping for Joy when my Jennifer, Lou, and Art left today. I was amazed at the love of God that he would give such great friends. It is such a blessing to laugh like I used to when I was back home. I didn't wash my dishes once because these guys were all over it. I miss them already. I can still hear their voices around here, but it's only in my head. I got home after dropping them off and the room was totally silent. I can't stand that. God used my friends to show me the glory in his Love. In return, I worshiped him all the more!

Anyway, here are some pictures of the homies and our grace-filled weekend:

This was @ the scruptuous Famous Dave's in the Mall of America

Us waiting in the front of the line for the doors of the conference to open.

Walking around the city on our Lunch break.


(what is Art looking at?)


On Sunday evening we went out and watched an awesome concert at the Varsity Theater

At the conference, we also saw Pastor Alex and Tita Carol! That was blessing too because I don't think that I have seen them for the past year or so. Anyway, all this to say I had a great time this weekend.

TBI classes

I am back in the groove of school again but these classes are super intense. I love how much I am learning right now. God is much more glorious that I can imagine! I have a pretty wild imagination but God is Super Duper Amazing!!! I believe the angels call it Holy, Holy Holy! He is in a category of his own. I am not a great reader or a fast reader but the richness of what I am reading makes me want to read all day long. I understand why these scholars do it now. To know God more. To know the word more is the aim of my life. Please brothers and sisters, seek God in the Word knowing that is the all-satisfying mission in life.

John Wesley said this way: "I have thought I am a creature of a day, passing through life as an arrow through the air. I am a spirit come from God, and returning to God, just hovering over the great gulf, till a few moments hence, I am no more seen; I drop into an unchangeable eternity! I want to know one thing-the way to heaven, how to land safe on that happy shore. God himself has condescended to teach the way; for this very end he came from heaven. He has written it down in a book. O give me that Book at any price, give me the book of God."

Retreat!

The next 3 days I will be on a retreat with all the other TBI guys. This is the time we build great friendships and encourage one another for the coming year. I am so excited!!! I need all of your prayers because I have so many books to read. They said that we have to read every page and every paper that we write has to show that we have read the book in its entirety. I am not like PJ where I can burn holes in a book with my eyes or cause enough friction between the pages and my hands to start a fire like he can (if you have seen PJ read you know what I am talking about). I am excited for the growth that I will experience over these next few days and over the first semester.

Last Visit

It is 12:53 and I am sitting in the airport at gate 69A in terminal six waiting for my flight. I am exhausted. As soon as I step foot on that plane I am going to knock out. I had such a good time on this trip. I got to see Teddy (puppet) back in action and see some these kids that used to be in my class last year. I miss VBS so much. I have been a part of VBS for the past ten years so you can imagine how hard it was not to be a part of it. I look back and see all these teachers and assistants in this VBS and I am amazed at how many of this staff was in my class at one point.

Xander’s 2nd birthday party was really fun too. It was great seeing everyone there, especially Ruby. Those of us that were there know exactly what I am talking about. Have you ever seen such a competitive spirit expressed in that manner? I haven’t seen it since… Ruby got married (thanks Ben for calming her down). The moon bouncer was fun also. Attacking Mike Pascual is one of my favorite things to do in this world but to do that in the moon bouncer makes it way more exciting. Making him squeal like a little piglet brings much joy to me.

I had a blast hanging out with my Family and friends. Those of you that I did get to hang out with, thank you for making my visit out to California an extremely fun and memorable one. I love you guys and hope to be serving you all soon through fellowship and the word of God.

I'm Famous

Thursday afternoon, I received a text from one of the new TBI guys (Steven) asking for help to move a couch that he found on craigslist.com. I was excited so I called Johnny (another TBI guy) to help move the couch too and we would be able to get to know each other before the semester starts.

We arrived at the dorm room where we are picking up the couch but the student that was selling it was not home. I then suggested that we go out and eat in the local since all of us where from California. We were talking about how we miss In n Out in the car on the way to the restaurant.

We reach the restaurant area in Dinky-Town and we are looking for some kind of restaurant that we could all agree on. On the way to the restaurant, we see some people filming students sitting at coffee tables on the side walk. I didn't know but in God's providence, this is where my career is about to take off (j/k). They had the bright lights, the foil-covered thing to reflect the light, and big professional cameras. It reminded me of walking through Covina while they were filming Roswell. I am leading the pack and I stop in front of the set and turned to Johnny and asked, "do you think we can walk through?" Johnny laughs and doesn't know what's going on so he just walk right through. I start laughing and Steven, Stephanie, and I just follow Johnny right through the set. We turned the the corner away from the set and were still laughing talking about how we might be on TV. We returned to our mission to find a restaurant. Little did we know one of the assistants from the set followed us and stopped us. He asks "How would you guys like to be in a commercial?"
To that I responded "Cool! What do we have to do?"
"It will only take 20 minutes and all you have to do is sit there and act normal." the Assistant said.
"Do you guys want to do it?" Johnny asks.
"Oh yeah, you get $20 if you do it." The assistant added.
I started following the guy and getting ready to be on camera already when Steven and Stephanie agreed to be in the commercial.

We sat down at the tables where they were filming before and they gave us the instructions. The director says, "thanks guys for doing this commercial for Great Clips."(great clips is a haircut spot out here). His instructions to Steven and Stephanie were to talk to each other and run her finger through his hair. Johnny and I were to act natural and have a regular conversation. The director also said when the camera comes by us to interact with the camera.
They came by and did the powdering on Stephanie but not the guys.

So they start rolling for the commercial and they start with Steven and Stephanie's table and she is running her fingers through his hair. They get the approval from the director that they are doing a good job and then the camera moves over to Johnny and me and we start laughing. The director loves it. I pulled out my phone and started reading a text and the director thought it "looked so natural". I looked up from my phone and into the camera and
I winked at it. The director again was happy in the way this commercial was turning out. Then he gets to Johnny and Johnny takes off his beanie and starts shaking his long hair like he is in a Pantene Pro-V commercial. I started laughing again but the director said he loved it.

The commercial was over. The director was excited about the footage that he got and he said that it will be airing in February. We signed the waivers took the $80 and ate dinner. When it was time to pay the bill we all pulled out crispy $20 bills. We all laughed at out 20 seconds of fame that will be on TV. I started to debate in my head if I wanted to continue in TBI or make a career move and jump into acting :)

Home Away from Home

Today, there was ridiculous storm (a tornado). We had to get everyone away from the windows and get into the stair way. It was crazy!!! It was 1:00pm (11:00am for you guys) and it was pitch black outside like it was midnight only lit by the lightning that flashed every 15 seconds and the headlights of the cars below. The thickest clouds I have ever seen hovered over the Twin-cities Metro area. The wind was so strong the debris was flying up and hitting our windows on the 6th floor making loud noises. After about 30 minutes, the streets were dried up and the clouds past over us. I looked outside and started laughing because it looked like that nothing even happened. The sky was super blue and clear of all rain clouds. I sat in my cubicle and said "This madness would never happen at home!" I miss the weather over there. If you think that you know what a storm is like try visiting me here and see.

DC Trip

I praise God for my trip to DC. I love the city! I don’t care too much for the sites and tourist attractions but I just like the feel of the city. It’s definitely more Cali-like than Minnesota (It’s still snowing by the way). I had a blast even though Frances thought I was bored the whole time. I was able to rest and hang out with Elijah.

I am only in the airport and I miss him so much. I am getting water-eyed just writing this. We had such a good time together walking in the streets by ourselves, running around his new spider-man punching toy, and laying down together. I don’t think he understood the fact that I was not going to see him for a long time because when I said bye I had to wake him up myself. He was kind of out of it still but I could still hear him say “Lallu” very softly in my ear.

I love that little guy so much! I thank God that I have such an awesome family. I am so excited now to see Xander and Zack very soon. Thank you God!

(I’m full out crying in the airport writing this now)

Never feels like home

I hung out with my closest friends out here the other day and I realized (again) how different life is here. The friends that I have here are so great and so encouraging but its just not home. I don't know if it's because I live alone but as long as I have lived here I have never felt like this was home. Maybe it's because I think of home a lot and I miss my Family. I haven't even seen Zack Zack but I love him to death already. Anyway, I hate to be redundant but I miss you guys and you guys cannot be duplicated.

Sleep to the Glory of God

How do you sleep to the glory of God? I always feel like sleep is wasting a day and that if you are sleeping you are being unproductive. I sleep horribly during the week. I found that takes a huge toll on your walk with the Lord. The devil is trying to attack your heart because that is what the Lord looks at. Your mind keeps you alert and on guard. It protects your heart. When you are sleepy and your mind is prone to wander then your heart becomes an easy target for the devil. So, having said all that, please pray that I would sleep well to the glory of God by refreshing my mind and body for the battle at hand. How do you sleep to the glory of God? Well.

Tough Guy

Ok, so last night I was the bouncer for the restaurant that I work at. I got there around 9 o'clock and I left work around 3:30am. What a night I had!!! I broke up two fights and some people wanted to fight me because I had to go around telling people that they had enough to drink and take it away from them. They did not want to stop so I had to kick them out of the restaurant. They did not want to fight me because they said "he probably knows taekwondo or something." Some drunk people were following me around the restaurant. It was an intense St Patty's day for me.

I had to get up this morning at 6:30 for work at Best Buy.... I'm exhausted.

February Vs. March

March is way better than February. I felt like crap in February for some reason... Things just seemed as they were going wrong all the time. March is 10 times better so far.

The enemy comes back

Man. I don't know what to say. I miss you guys. I miss home. I'm getting homesick and I think it has a lot to do with the weather. I'm getting to the point where I want to go back home but then I think of the growth that the Lord has done in me I get excited to be here for the next few years. Pray for me please. I am running low on the strength because of the two jobs. I am not able to study as much or even keep my eyes open. If you get a chance please do pray that I get used to having 2 jobs. I miss you guys so much!

Wow!

Praise the LORD!!! I was speechless! Here's the conversation...

One of my BFF: Hey Yek, how far are you from E. Lake St.?

Yek: Not too far, why?

BFF: I am sending you money through Western Union and they are open 24 hrs. Call me when you get it.

Yek: Ok, thanks.

So I go to the Western Union and I get the money and I was in shock. The amount of money that I saw was out of this world! I almost peed in my pants! I called BFF back and the conversation continued.....

Yek: Are you Crazy?!?!

BFF: (chuckling) yeah, I knew you would need it.

Yek: Are you serious?!?! That's like... Why would... Wow! Thank you! Thank you! Praise God.

BFF: I'll talk to you later...

Yek: Ok. Wow! Thanks, bye.

I leave the name/s anonymous because the reward is in heaven. It was done in secret where only the Lord would see it so I praise God for the humility and the grace that was shown towards me.

BFF, you are blessed and I praise God that you would are using it to help others in need. I praise God for you and I love you very much and I cannot believe that you would sacrifice that much for me. I know it is because we have a savior that sacrificed everything for you... and me. Thanks again.

This Coming August

As of Friday February 22, 2008 I was accepted into The Bethlehem Institute! The program starts in August, which means 2-3 school years later I will be headed home to California if the Lord wills. I am extremely excited to see what God is going to sculpt out of me through this. I am also Lou-esque nervous because I feel inferior to the other student that were accepted. It's comforting that lot of them feel the same way. For those of you that prayed for me, thank you. Our prayers are answered and please continue to do so for sustaining grace through the program and while I wait. I have been extremely tired because of the two jobs that I have. I work from 8am to 10:30pm right now so that I can save up for school and rent.

I am also asking you if you read this to help me out financially. I have to give a $200 deposit for the school by March 15 showing that I want to be in the school. I ask unashamed because the Lord will provide if it his will. Right now I am living check to check so I do not have the extra $200. If the Lord moves your heart to help a brother out please do. Thank you for your help.

Update

Sorry y'all. I know its been a while.

Nothing has changed. I still miss home. Still miss my nephews. I miss Grama so much.

While in the middle of writing this I had my second interview for the school. An elder of the church and the school called me and I had a phone interview. I think it went rather well but its hard to show what you can bring to the table over the phone. I think that it is much easier to have someone right in front of you because you can judge how it went by the demeanor of the interviewer. Anyway, if I don't get it I will move around into different areas of the country and see what the Lord will do with me. I'm looking into moving to NY, KY, or DC once my lease is done from here. If I do get into the school then I will be working my tail off so that I can save money and use it for school in August.

Please pray for the Lord to pull some strings for me and get me in the school. Also pray for Scott, Karl's roommate. Karl is the one I shared the gospel with lately and have been discipling recently. We had a discussion in Scott's presence and he got into it with us but he is an agnostic. Pray that the Lord will open his eyes and that God will breathe in him new life that the Gospel brings.

Ps. I miss True and Sabrina too!

Dang it's cold!

Ok don't need to say much...

It was -40 today with the wind chill and my eyelids were freezing shut. I could barely open my eyes. I miss home very much in this type of weather. I'm getting sick again. Please pray for me while I go through the last month and a half of this horrible winter.

It's been a while...

I just wanted to update you guys on my life out here...

I shared to the gospel to a friend that used to work at Best Buy with me and it seemed to have went really well. His name is Karl. He has been going with me to the church and he is asking a lot of questions. I have been discipling him and it has been working out great so far. It is really convicting because he seems to be a lot more hungry for the word than me. Not that it is a race or competition but I don't want to lose a hunger for the word.

My interview went went well for those of you that didn't know. I talked with him for a while and we were laughing and just having a good conversation. It didn't feel much like an interview. I also got another job out here. I work at Macaroni Grill in the evenings now. God has just been faithful to answer prayers. I'm not sure if you guys prayed but if you did I hope your faith is strengthened because he answered the prayers.

I do miss you guys a lot. Not that I get lonely anymore but the difference in the level of friendship is not even close. There are no Lous, Arts, Rubys, Jennifers (This list can go on forever so please don't feel left out). Being out here really makes me appreciate my Homies back home.

Answered prayer

I am almost over my sickness and colds. There is but a remnant of mucus left (pretty nasty, huh). I have been trying really hard to pray and not pray aimlessly but to see the Lord's faithfulness in answering them. I have been praying for my cold to go away and the Lord has slowly helped me recover. Today was my first day back in the gym. I am so thankful for the gym and how it releases stress for me. It helps me put away for a while how much I miss you all back home and how I wish I were there with you.

For those of you that will actually pray for me, here's some things that I have been lifting to the Lord and I pray that you will join me in...

1. Diligence in studying and reading the word.

2. That prayer becomes as much apart of me as breathing

3. Another job. Not that I don't like where I am but I want to get into a job that I can have during the program.

4. Getting into the program. My first interview is on Jan 14th (happy birfday, Neen!)

5. My struggle with loneliness and being away from my Family and y'all.

Thank you to those of you that read this and actually comment back. I really do get excited when I have comments. If you do read this please pray for these things because I want to see the Lord's faithfulness and the joy that I will receive from Him. Love y'all.

Yek's Attire for Minnesota Weather

Many of you ask me how cold it is out here followed by what I wear to deal with the madness. Well, today I decided that since it was 6 degrees below zero today, I would show you what it takes for Yek to be a Minnesotan. I'll show you one by one.

I didn't want to start off in my underwear because y'all might stumble (j/k) so I am showing you the bottom part all at once... Boxer briefs, thermal pants, jeans and a wife beater.

Next is the tight long sleeve shirt...
T-shirt for work...

The light fleece jacket. This is a must!

The winter everyday jacket...

The ear warmers are awesome...

The beanie and the face mask that I was telling some of you about...

Last but not least are my wool socks, leather gloves, and waterproof boots.

Those of you that are complaining about the cold in Cali are insane. Come out here during the winter and see if you can hang out for a week. It's so intense over here. This would be a good time to pray for me and this madness. Oh yeah, this is me in the apartment...