Its hard to believe the summer is already half over, and a lot has happened since I last blogged. Two weekends ago we had the guys and girls retreats. All the girls spent two days in the California wilderness at Indian Hills Campground, surrounded by sagebrush (tumbleweed,) rocky hills, and dirt. The cabins were designed to look like an old western town, with painted store fronts and everything! It  was so wonderful to have an entire weekend to be with just the women on project, studying the women in the Bible! That Saturday we spent the morning doing team building exercises and competing in an obstacle course, something I loved. However, the best part of the weekend was seeing most of the girls go make-up free, not shower for two days, and just enjoy being themselves. Meanwhile, the boys, who had already had their retreat, spent the weekend cleaning our condos, buying us chocolates and flowers, writing us letters, and preparing a formal dinner for us by the bay. The cool part was that each letter, although written to us individually, was anonymous, and signed as being from "Your Brothers in Christ." I have never felt so pampered before in my life.
     Project, even though it is fun, is also exhausting and challenging. As I am volunteering with the full-time evangelism team, the Fireseeds, I spend four out of the five workdays at various campuses sharing about my faith and listening to what people believe and have to say. I have been spending most of my time at Grossmont Community College, which is almost two hours by bus and trolley from where I live. Because it is a small college, it can be really hard to find people to talk to, and often those you do find have already been approached by someone else on project. I have had a couple of really good conversations though, including one this week with a Mormon woman. It was hard to really challenge her because I don't know that much about Mormonism, but I was able to learn from her, and hopefully I will be better prepared for the next time I am in the same situation. Sadly, the only reason she would say about why she believed what she did is because thats the way she was raised. And even thought some of what she believed is true, such as that Jesus is the Savior to the world, and that there is a Holy Trinity, there was always a slight twist or a little lie that held her back. To her, there are three tiers to Heaven, and where you end up is based on how well you followed the laws outlined in the Book of Mormon. These levels are the Celestial, Terrestrial, and Telestial. If you die and end up in either the Terrestrial or Telestial kingdoms you can work your way up to the Celestial kingdom, which is reserved for those Mormons who accepted Jesus, took all the ordinances, and followed all the commands in the Book of Mormon. While Paul, in 2 Corinthians 12:2, talks about a man he knew who was taken up to the "third heaven," so it could be that there are different levels in heaven, but the Mormons believe you can progress when you are already in heaven. I don't understand how this could be, because there is no sin in heaven, there is only God's glory and righteousness, so how can it be judged if you have "done enough good" to move up? Also, they believe that most souls only go to Hell temporarily, just until the final judgment day. After that, the only people to stay in Hell permanently are the Sons of Perdition. It is unknown who these Sons of Perdition are, but it is said that they are the few people to completely reject salvation, people like Cain and Judas. Needless to say, my conversation with Becca, the Mormon woman, was really interesting, but she was so set in her beliefs, I wasn't able to really share the Gospel with her. I was, however, able to leave her with the following question: "If Jesus is the Savior to the world, and salvation is only found through him, why is Mormonism so works based? Is that truly what God wants?" I hope she takes the time to really think through what she believes, and that God will soften her heart and keep putting Christians in her path.
     One really encouraging thing from being on campus is that I have been able to get connected to a Bible study that meets every Tuesday and Thursday at Grossmont. It was started last fall by some students and young adults from the community who, for the most part, moved to San Diego with the intent of starting a church and running campus ministry. The people in it are so solid, and I am really excited to support them for the summer and encourage them for the upcoming school year!
    God bless!