It has been beautiful here! Sunny and cold but no wind. We are able to get out and enjoy ourselves for a few hours each day. Trent took Friday off so we had a 3-day weekend with him and went to town and got some Idaho Falls culture. Fun!
Yesterday I officially received my first Book of Mormon. One of the gals on my Soul Soup team who has lived in Idaho Falls said I would receive several of these while living here, complete with highlights and notes. Yep, she was right. Trent and I have discussed stacking them by the front door table to display them so people can see how many we have received. Or maybe not . . . . .
It was one of our adorable next door neighbors who brought it over. However, on hearing we were Baptist during our last visit they did contact some of their friends who are Baptist and got us their names and phone numbers and which church they attend. While simultaneously inviting us to a Mormon service. She mentioned she has attended an interdenominational Bible Study before with Baptists in attendance and she said she learned a lot (I bet!). It was CS Lewis who said 'There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devil. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.' It's how I feel about the Book of Mormon--I should give a read and look-through but I don't really want to study it at all. I should know what it says that I don't agree with and I should also have memorized concretely (and believe in my heart) what I believe.
Sunday #3 was much better. We braced ourselves for the Maranatha Singers Worship Band and prayed about the experience (and for those involved in the service) before we arrived. The music was bad as anticipated but focusing on the sermon we did much better. The message is spot-on and delivered well. Jesus was the very focus of all of it and we were edified by it. Fantastic. I think they might be at one of those break-points that the size of the church is such (300 or so) that if they don't make some critical changes they won't grow anymore. The point isn't to get big but I think they have the potential to bring many more seekers and disciples into their fold. They're primary focus is outward: very missional, and small groups are part of it although not at the very center of what they do.
Anyhow, this week went much better in general. We are definitely getting into a groove. I am doing preschool at home with the kids to give us some familiarity and a schedule. I'm pretty horrible at it and we usually end up outside planting bulbs or dancing but it's fun! Next month we are going to do Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace Jr. and that excites me.
We learn things about little Iona each week that we love. I told Trent that if we meet some friends, I might really like this place! But, we still miss everyone . . . .
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Article
I loved reading this article. Ministering to Mormons. I'm not sure where he got these statistics from but I'd like to find out: 'When I learned that Utah, apart from Mormon wards, is actually the most unchurched area in America, it grabbed my heart. Only one percent of the population attend an evangelical church. Utah is one of America's greatest mission fields. There is a smaller percentage here than in places like Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Iraq.' Eastern Idaho has a higher per capita Mormon population than Utah so what is like where I live??
Please share if you have any similar articles for me to read. Whether it be about LDS or Muslim or Buddist!
Please share if you have any similar articles for me to read. Whether it be about LDS or Muslim or Buddist!
Moved. But not settled . . . .
November 20, 2013
I want to start this blog as a way to communicate with my church friends of yore in Tri-Cities. I have fully immersed myself in a Mormon dominated community and am quickly praying and seeking the best way to minister to our LDS friends. I will probably only privately extend invitations for certain people to read this but I also want to write in a way that if our LDS friends stumble upon this blog they will in no way be offended.
So, please feel free to comment with suggestions, admonitions, accountability questions, and the such to me!
As of yet we have tried two different churches and both we were a bit disappointed with. The first had worship music exclusively from the 90's and we're pretty sure it was all the same bad worship album. The sermon was OK--we are so used to Scripture-packed sermons that when there is only a few verses presented it seems slim. The second we tried this week (we had previously tried this church already during our house hunting extravaganza) had a sermon that openly mocked other religions. The pastor was overtly sarcastic and we were not impressed. Back to the drawing board. I think we might go back to church #1 and land there for a while until we can find a church we truly feel we belong at (and try not to cringe at the music). It's hard 'church shopping' with kiddos. I honestly didn't really think this through. We have uprooted our children and know no one here and then hop around churches trying to find which one is a 'fit'. Especially Evan doesn't appreciate this. He is our child that loves a schedule and predictability. So, we are rethinking how we can find a church that will fit us. 'Bethel--Iona' is on the list of possibilities. I listened to one of Dave's sermons while folding laundry yesterday and started crying . . . . oh how I miss my church! However, this move also reminded me of one of our Perspectives classes and the teacher reminded us that our definition of home should be something different than what we normally expect. I can't remember what he said (I need to dig up that lesson now that I have all my beloved books unpacked!) but the idea was our home is in heaven and here on earth is very temporary. We shouldn't be in love with where we live, we should be more concerned with living in God's will and being where He wants us.
My first and most interesting conversation with a Mormon happened to be with the guy I hired to pick up the massive amount of leaves that was in our lawn. I was out front talking to him and he blatantly said, "There's a difference between a Mormon and someone who is LDS. I'm just Mormon." He is currently attending BYU-Idaho. I must reek 'non-Mormon' (surprise, surprise) because everyone I meet instantly knows we are NOT Mormon. Hmmmm. We have had several people stop by our house and outright ask if we are LDS. When they find out we are not they smile and say 'Oh. That's ok!' I'm glad because I'm living here no matter what. There are two Mormon churches within one mile of our home and the community we live in is only 1800 people. No joke. The per capita of Mormons is higher in Eastern Idaho than in Utah. They're everywhere and obviously not all of them are happy with their religion and are seeking. I guess what I'm wondering is what are some non-threatening questions to ask to get that information out of them if they are willing to share??
Our second more interesting conversation with some neighbors that stopped by was Trent explaining to them our small group concept at Bethel (and many other evangelical churches). They didn't understand at all. They kept thinking we did it with high schoolers or middle schoolers but not with families just like ours. When they finally got the concept they were completely intrigued. Something to think about.
Probably enough for now . . . . Love to all.
I want to start this blog as a way to communicate with my church friends of yore in Tri-Cities. I have fully immersed myself in a Mormon dominated community and am quickly praying and seeking the best way to minister to our LDS friends. I will probably only privately extend invitations for certain people to read this but I also want to write in a way that if our LDS friends stumble upon this blog they will in no way be offended.
So, please feel free to comment with suggestions, admonitions, accountability questions, and the such to me!
As of yet we have tried two different churches and both we were a bit disappointed with. The first had worship music exclusively from the 90's and we're pretty sure it was all the same bad worship album. The sermon was OK--we are so used to Scripture-packed sermons that when there is only a few verses presented it seems slim. The second we tried this week (we had previously tried this church already during our house hunting extravaganza) had a sermon that openly mocked other religions. The pastor was overtly sarcastic and we were not impressed. Back to the drawing board. I think we might go back to church #1 and land there for a while until we can find a church we truly feel we belong at (and try not to cringe at the music). It's hard 'church shopping' with kiddos. I honestly didn't really think this through. We have uprooted our children and know no one here and then hop around churches trying to find which one is a 'fit'. Especially Evan doesn't appreciate this. He is our child that loves a schedule and predictability. So, we are rethinking how we can find a church that will fit us. 'Bethel--Iona' is on the list of possibilities. I listened to one of Dave's sermons while folding laundry yesterday and started crying . . . . oh how I miss my church! However, this move also reminded me of one of our Perspectives classes and the teacher reminded us that our definition of home should be something different than what we normally expect. I can't remember what he said (I need to dig up that lesson now that I have all my beloved books unpacked!) but the idea was our home is in heaven and here on earth is very temporary. We shouldn't be in love with where we live, we should be more concerned with living in God's will and being where He wants us.
My first and most interesting conversation with a Mormon happened to be with the guy I hired to pick up the massive amount of leaves that was in our lawn. I was out front talking to him and he blatantly said, "There's a difference between a Mormon and someone who is LDS. I'm just Mormon." He is currently attending BYU-Idaho. I must reek 'non-Mormon' (surprise, surprise) because everyone I meet instantly knows we are NOT Mormon. Hmmmm. We have had several people stop by our house and outright ask if we are LDS. When they find out we are not they smile and say 'Oh. That's ok!' I'm glad because I'm living here no matter what. There are two Mormon churches within one mile of our home and the community we live in is only 1800 people. No joke. The per capita of Mormons is higher in Eastern Idaho than in Utah. They're everywhere and obviously not all of them are happy with their religion and are seeking. I guess what I'm wondering is what are some non-threatening questions to ask to get that information out of them if they are willing to share??
Our second more interesting conversation with some neighbors that stopped by was Trent explaining to them our small group concept at Bethel (and many other evangelical churches). They didn't understand at all. They kept thinking we did it with high schoolers or middle schoolers but not with families just like ours. When they finally got the concept they were completely intrigued. Something to think about.
Probably enough for now . . . . Love to all.
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