After a persistent M
ontana winter, I'm finally convinced that summer is here to stay. For the past ten days the temperatures have been in the 80’s and 90’s--beautiful weather for door-knocking! All along I had a few misgivings about this summer job. I mean, are 9-year-olds really capable of selling Christian books? Nonetheless, I was very excited about the possibilities and thrilled to be working in Montana. As I look back on the three finished weeks of canvassing, I can’t help but be awed by the degree of success that we’ve met. For example, one evening I had two boys working together, ages 11 and 13. It was only their second night out canvassing. In three hours they had sold 16 books. Unheard of! I've seen God work miracles in many 
different ways. If you saw three guys sitting in their front yard drinking beer, what kind of Christian books would you expect them to buy? Yupp. We were a little skeptical too. I managed to tell them about the Great Controversy while leaving the word “Christian” out of the whole thing. “Is this Christian? Cause we only buy Christian stuff,” one guy slurred between gulps of beer. I about fell over backwards when they all bought their own copy of the Great Controversy. Praise the Lord! Man looks at the outward appearance, but God reads the heart. But the reality of the program hits home when we're not knocking on doors. Sometimes training sessions can get a little crazy! then again, what do you expect when
you unleash the energies of 8 kids in one cooped up area? Nonetheless, these kids are incredibly fun! I love their spirit. One girl (9 years old) told her Mom, “This job is an answer to my prayers because I really wanted to tell other people about Jesus.” That’s what makes my job rewarding way beyond the effort put into it. I’m thrilled, too, about the many people already that have signed up for Bible studies that I'm following up on.
Don’t worry, my summer isn’t all about work! I mean, what can one expect when you’re hired right next to Glacier Park? Last week a group of us hiked out to
Avalanche Lake, a hike that some refer to as "highway cruising". Upon arriving after our two-mile jaunt, our adventuresome spirit just wasn't satisfied. We made sure to ditch the adults before taking off on our bushwhack excursion around the lake, wading through incoming glacial waterfalls, and other challenging obstacles. This hike was not for the tender-footed as evidenced by one young man's humorous attempt at crossing an icy mountain stream twice before at last turning back for the shore. 
However, the best fun was yet to be had. Once we had come nearly full circle we discovered that all inlets have outlets--the many tiny waterfall streams had merged into one powerful, gushing, icy river at the south end of the lake. After unsuccessfully searching for a fallen log to cross on downstream, we pondered the option of turning around and hiking back--an option that was quickly rejected! We had only one choice left
: we must cross the river. But if the water was deep enough and the current swift enough, we might end up swimming. What about our valuables? Someone came up with a brilliant idea--since Camel Bak's hold water, they must be waterproof. Therefore we dumped the water out and started shoving in cell phone's, wallets, and digital cameras wrapped in dirty socks. To everyone's relief, the icy water came up only waste high before we were able to hop up onto some floating logs and balance our way back to shore. I was thrilled that we had pushed ourselves to take on such an exciting adventure!
And the fun continues as I look forward to a white water rafting adventure this Friday. Next week I plan on canoeing out to Hungry Horse Island and caving in a locked up cave up at Trail Creek. After that we have an overnight backpack trip, a midnight bike ride on Going-to-the-Sun-Road, and hopefully I can squeak a hike on the Highline Trail in before taking back off for Michigan. It's just really rough working in Montana.
Hope you are all enjoying your summer as much as I'm enjoying mine. I'd love to hear from you!
-Kristi
P.S.--Sorry for the random-sized fonts. I have no idea why it looks like that! :-D
In spite of many apprehensions and against my better judgment, I decided to join up with the theology majors for their Sabbath afternoon retreat. While facing foreboding thoughts of endless "Daniel dissertations", I discovered to my surprise that even theology majors are capable of having fun and being kind of crazy! Don't believe me? Take a look at it for yourself! I do have some doubts about these guys, nonetheless. When their combined genius's couldn't figure out which way the waterfalls were, I began to feel as though we were sheep without a shepherd. Haha... (P.S. I should take time here to make a special mention of the fact that Ricky has redeemed himself by the fact that he is P.T. :-P) 
