10-18-09

Dear Family and Friends,
I think this past week has been one of my favorites here thus far! Doctor Bauman was with us again, and as always, his lectures are challenging, but always enjoyable! The reason why I enjoyed this past week so much, is because I was able to talk with Dr. Bauman between and after classes, I was able to ask him several of my questions. Through his answers and my studies, I've been able to understand specific points or questions a little more. My most pondered questions from this week are: 1. What does it mean to be made in the image of God? and 2. What do I believe about the giving and using of spiritual gifts?
In one of our discussions about spiritual gifts, Dr. Bauman explained to me the difference between certitude and certainty. The former is what you feel to be true, and the latter is what you know to be true. He told me, "Mae, you can't base all your beliefs on certitude. You need to base what you believe on certainty. Know the foundation of what you believe." Besides for my interaction with the faculty, I've also enjoyed many deep and thought provoking conversations with other students. I love meal times, because it provides such a great opportunity to spend time talking about ideas and beliefs. It's neat to be able to think things through verbally with my peers and we seek to know the truth. This upcoming week we have a new teacher, Don Williams. In preparation for his arrival, we were to read 2 books...I'm still working on them! Our schedule is so intense, but it is so beneficial to have it that way. I'm spending lots of time reading and studying - but I also look forward to the breaks we have: work crew and dish crews. In the last two weeks, I've stained a lot of wood and I've also helped dig a trench! The weather here has been lovely, so it has been great to get outside and work doing manual labor! We also had a special treat this week: we got to do some gun shooting! It was quite fun and everyone was amazed when the "California girl" hit the target 3 times in a row! Friday marked the half-way point of this semester and I can't believe that now, it's more than half over. Time is sure flying by!
I hope you're all doing well!
Miss you!
-Mae