What are we doing while in the US?

Dan Simpson my best friend from Academy

We left Lebanon in mid June, 2016 to attend some meetings for returning missionaries at Andrews University in Michigan. It was a bit strange to be honest as we aren't really returning to the US, but are simply leaving organized church work for self supporting work. The meetings were a blessing though, we met some new friends and were able to connect with old friends. It was good to learn about ourselves, to talk with others who have been through similar experiences to us and to better learn about the One we serve.

From Michigan we drove down to see family and friends in Tennessee and Alabama. One thing we learned was that time was not on our side. Many who we wanted to see were only free on the weekends and we didn't have enough weekends to go around. "Sigh" the joys of living overseas and short visits. After a short stay in Tennessee we flew to Alaska, thankfully this was part of our paid vacation time from our job with the church, otherwise we could not have been able to afford it, God works in amazing ways.

In Alaska I was able to attend the Alaska Conference Men's Retreat, if you are a man and you have the chance to go, you should not hesitate. There are several ways to get to the retreat, walking 13 miles, driving in by ATV, 4x4, or flying in by small plane. I chose to walk so that I could enjoy more

Beautiful place

fully the natural wonders of Alaska. I found out quickly that I am out of shape and that my shoes were not up for the adventure, but I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. Upon arriving at the camp I learned from a local that the leadership had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to get the speaker, whoever did the scraping did pretty good as he came up with Pastor Ted Wilson the president of the SDA church. He spoke to us of our need to stand strong and to be connected with God amidst the trouble we are going through in the world.

Alaska was amazing and we were blessed to be able to go and spend time with LaRae's brother and family. Too soon our time there was finished and we headed south to be with LaRae's parents in New Mexico. But before we could enjoy the mountains of New Mexico we drove over to Phoenix for the Adventist Services and Industries convention. Our aim in going there was to connect with friends and to get resources that would help us in our future work in Senegal. God blessed abundantly and we were able to have some great talks, pick up some useful information and were able to see many friends. Grateful for prayer and God's leading while at ASI.

The home in New Mexico

After ASI we were able to head to mountains of New Mexico to help LaRae's parents. They have been building a monolithic dome house since I first started dating LaRae. We have spent many vacations, honeymoon, etc helping them with various projects on their home. Her parents for the most part have been working on the house by themselves so there is always a lot to be done to help
them out. Our things also arrived from Lebanon and we had the privilege of sorting through boxes and participating in a yard sale.

In New Mexico we can go a whole week without leaving the area around the house. It's a big day to go to church in the little village of Mora on Sabbath. So it was a huge change when after a few weeks we headed to Tennessee to finish up some dental work that we had started during our previous visit. My mother and step father live close to Southern Adventist University and when we visit them we are constantly going. People to see, things to learn, meetings with various ones, shopping and the list goes on. One of the highlights of our time in Tennessee was to attend a three day seminar on how to prepare and use herbs at Wildwood Institute, presented by LIGHT. We learned a lot and hope to implement what we learned in our work in Senegal. I would recommend you the reader to also look into herbs and how you can use them to better your life.

By far the most important part of the trip was connecting with family. On this trip we were able to connect in ways we had not previously been able to. It isn't easy living overseas, you don't get regular visits with family and when you do come back to visit it is so fast that you really aren't able to connect on a deep level. Thankfully on this trip we were able to talk through some issues that we had needed to talk about for sometime and attend a birthday party :)

Some of the rockets

From Tennessee we were able to stop in and see my father in Huntsville, Alabama, near Oakwood University. I have visited Oakwood in the past, but this time I was able to take a real tour and got to see some friends. :) Oakwood has a large beautiful campus and is worth a visit. Another highlight in Alabama was to go with my father to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. They have all kinds of interesting exhibits on rockets, the international space station, IMAX and rides to help you understand what it is like to go up in a rocket.

After Alabama we drove to Oklahoma to be with LaRae's second parents and to attend church near where I used to live for a year. It was great to see friends and to be in a part of the the US that is close to both of our hearts.

We are now back in New Mexico with LaRae's parents. Our work now is to bring in wood for the winter, help with the house, sort through the things we need to take to Senegal and the list goes on.

The plan at this point is to head to Senegal in mid January, 2017. The place where we'll be staying won't be ready until then and Bashir really wants to spend time with family over the holidays. It has been good to have a little bit extra time to be in the US. With the change that we are making in work we do not honestly know when we'll be back in the to see family and friends. So it has been nice to have these few months to spend, reconnecting and networking. Rest though, is not one of the things we have been able to have enoiugh of though.

~~Boaz