September 12-18

Well the week was a good one.  I didnt do a whole lot.  Most of the week was spent getting over jet lag and getting aclimated to thr area.  So I guess I'll get started. Monday morning I woke up at 11:00 and got 13 hours of sleep.  I dont think that i have gotten that much sleep in years, it was glorious.  Alfterwards I got up and found me some cereal to eat.  So the rest of the morning wss spent having breakfast and watching rugby.  It was a good short morning.  At about 12:30 I got a call from Jeremy and he asked if I wanted to go with him to run some errands.  So after a few mimutes he showed up and we headed out to get the oil changed in his car.  While the car was in the shop we went over to an electronics shop and I was able to get an adapter for my devices and a top up for my phone.  Afterwards we headed to Denny's for a little lunch.  We ate and talked about what I was planning on doing for the week.  After, we picked up the car and headed back to Jeremy's so i could get some internet and hang until what we had planned later.  At around 6 o'clock we headed to bible study.  In the bible study they are going over different religions in the world.  Right now they are talking about Islam and the similarities and differences between it and Christianity.  It was a really cool discussion.  After the bible study Jeremy took me to my new house.  For the next two weeks I was going to be staying at the cherry's house who were currently in the states.  Now I am not staying alone.  The Discover church has an intern, Cody, who is also in the house.  So when Jeremy and I got to the house Cody, Paul, and Scott were playing "Call of Duty: Black Ops."  They asked if  I wanted to join in.  So we played until around 12:30 and then headed to bed.  I got up at around 10 o'clock and decided to watch TV.  I spent the day aclimating and just hanging out.  At around 2 oclock cody and I headed out to do what they call "Icebox."  Icebox is basically an after school program for the local kids.  It is a way to get them off the streets doing something fun instead of causing trouble.  It was pretty fun actually.  I ended up playing Smash Bros. Brawl and schooling some people in that.  Thank you Garrett for teaching me what I know.  That ended at around 5:30 and so cody and I headed back to the house.  We also brought two of the Icebox kids with us and had a great dinner.  Afterwards we played Black Ops until around 10:30.  Aftewards we took Willy and Collum home and then played some more Black Ops. Again I made it to 12:30 and then headed to bed.  Wednesday I got up at 10:30 and watched some TV.  I was lucky enough to be able to catch a replay of the rugby games the day before.  After watching for a bit Cody and I decided to shoot some more people on Black Ops and do we played to an through lunch.  At around 2 o'clock we finally headed to get some.  Afterwards cody went and picked up Stephen and Sara, kids from the local church, and brought them back.  We played a variety of games, Black Ops and Monopoly Deal, and then fixed dinner.  After dinner we played some more and then took the kids home.  Thursday was a good day.  Not because I did anything special, because I didn't, it was because I finally heard back from Arrie, the SA chaplain.  He said that he would be in Auckland on Wednesday and that we could get together and game plan.  So that was a good way to start the day.  The rest of the day was pretty much the same.  Cody got back at around 11:30 and we played some Black Ops.  At 2:30 we headed to the Icebox and did the after school program.  After the Icebox I hitched a ride with Paul, the spiritual formation leader at Discover Church.  We had a really good talk about my story and testimony.  Afterwards we played some more Black Ops and then headed to the Thursday night bible study.  This weeks verse was over John 11:35.  It wasn't about quantity but about the depth of conversation.  It was a good talk and lasted about an hour.  Afterwards Cody dropped me at the house and took Danny, one of the guys at the study, home.  I fixed some dinner and watched TV until bed time.  Friday morning rolled around and it was another lazy morning.  Originally we were going to try and go to the Brazilian consulate so that cody could work out some details for his trip.  He is going to do work there for a couple of months and then come back to New Zealand.  However, he woke up at 11:30 and so we were a bit off on our timing.  We still headed out to try and go to the consulate.  We missed the first time.  After  getting directions we found the correct address and made our way there.  We ended up at this house, not what I thought a consulate would look like, and unfortunately no one was home.  Since we just couldn't catch a break we gave up and decided to try it another day.  So we headed into down town Auckland to meet Danny for lunch.  After lunch with Danny we headed back to the house.  I did some home work that was due later and Cody got ready for some basketball.  At around 4 o'clock we headed out to play.  We ended up playing for a good two hours against some really good people.  I learned that I am indeed out of shape.  After our basketball extravaganza we went and picked up Stephen, Sara, and their mom to go play lazer tag.  Jeremy was taking his youth group and had invited anyone else who wanted to go.  There ended up being about twenty people there to play.  We all had a blast.  We ended up playing three games in which I was in the top three every game and the champion of the last one.  I guess all that Black Ops training payed off.  Afterwards we headed to the Northshore Church for some fun and fellowship.  We hung out there for about an hour and a half.  Afterwards Cody, myself, Stephen, Sara, and their mom started the trip home.  Well we got lost.  So a trip that should have taken 15 minutes took an hour.  Oh well, it was a nice little jont.  After we dropped everybody off, it was dinner time.  We headed over to MickeyD's and got dinner.  Yeah yeah I know going with American fast food, so sue me.  After dinner we played some more Black Ops and then called it a night.  Saturday we slept in again and then watched TV.  After that we started to clean the house becsuse the Discover Church was having a get together on sunday night.  Stephen and Sara came over and helped us clean.  We finished in about an hour and then played some Black Ops.  I know there is a trend here, and I'm not exactly happy about it but good things are coming.  Anyway at about 9 o'clock we took the kids home and then went to grab dinner.  After that we watched the replay of the games that had been played earlier and then headed to bed at 12:30.  Sunday we got up and went to do some errands.  We also went and got our costumes for the night.  It was an 80's themed party and so we went accordingly.  I decided to go as ZZTop.  So we headed over to the Two Dollar Shop, yeah that is what it is called and pick up the stuff.  I did get pictures and will put those up when I get a computer.  So at 5 o'clock people started to show up.  We had a good potluck dinner and lots of fellowship.  After dinner we watched Back To The Future, thought that was fitting, and just had a good old time.  Our night ended at about 10:30 and everybody headed home. Cody and I watched some more rugby and then i turned in for the night.  We were going to get up at 8:00 and play some basketball.  Well that is it for the week.  I know it sounds like I am not doing much, but i have determined that maybe this is what God is trying to teach me.  Patience.  It isnt coming easily, but it will pay off.  I have no doubt that God will work it is just going to let him.  Also Paul said something that is another possibility.  God may not want me here to shape anybody but myself.  Well that is it for now.  Stay tuned for more.  This is Ryan Dillon signing off.