Well, to give you an overview of the what's happening.

Rick and Etta got a house since last year. Last year, they had a cabin with no running water. This year they have a full house. Kind of smallish, but big enough for 3 people. Overall it's a very nice house. It's nice to see Rick moving up, even though he says that he misses his cabin.

There is another deck hand here, Dave. He is in his mid-late 30's. He's a Christian, but he has some interesting beliefs, it should be good to work with him. He fished for a couple years as a teenager, and then he started fishing again last year and liked it so he wanted to do it again.

Dave and I are sleeping on the Harpazo (one of Rick's boats) which is parked at Rick and Etta's house.

The temperature is about 30 at night and 60 during the day. So I go from wearing two sweat shirts and two pairs of socks at night (There is no heating on the boat, so when it's 30 degrees OUTside, it's 30 degrees INside. :P ) to wearing just a tee shirt and only a singe pair of socks during the day.

For the next week or so Rick and I are going to be working on the big boat, The Guidance, ready. It needs a lot of work. :) Today, (Monday, 18th of May.) I did a lot of grinding, cutting and little odds and ends.

Tuesday I spend all day (6:30 a.m. through 9:23 p.m.) tying a net. With a total of 2 hours of breaks for meals. It was a very long day.

Wednesday, I did pretty much the same, but we finished sooner so that we could go to the service at the church.

As far as birthdays goes it wasn't very special until church time, because after the service we had cake and sat around and talk. It was very nice, it wasn't a big thing, but it made the day special. :) and that made me very happy.

Thursday, I finished up the net and Rick and I are going to work on the boat in Homer. We are probably going to stay there until Sunday.

I'm not sure when we are going to start fishing, right now we are working on the boats and nets and getting stuff ready. I think that Rick wants to start fishing about mid June, but we'll see.

Thank you so much for your prayers.

Tim

Fire!

We started the day like any other Sunday, had breakfast, then got ready for church. Church went normally, I said hi too many people that I met last year when I was up here. I noticed David Pherson had his radio with him. Pastor Pherson and many others in the church congregation are volunteer responders to fire/medical emergency/accident. So, they get radios and if they hear anything, then they go to the site and help out. They have to go through training first though, so that they can get certified. Anyway, Pastor Pherson was the first to get involved with that; it is a good way to get out into the community and help out.

Anyway, the morning service went well. Afterwards, the Cobbs came over the Rick and Etta's house for dinner. And things were going along well until Sarah Cobbs's radio went off with a beep and then we hear over the radio, "There's a fire. . . " Sarah and her mom scrambled to action and are out the door in no time. We just kept on going as normal until Mrs. Cobbs called Mr. Cobbs and asked him if he could come. So, he asked if anyone else would come, so Rick and Dave (one of the other deckhands), and Jim (Etta's dad), Mr. Cobbs and I all got in the truck and drove over there.



I was able to help get a pump set up to help get the water from the river over to the truck. I helped run the hoses from the pump to the trucks and I helped with other things too. And then at the end I helped clean up, and roll up the hoses and put them in the trucks.

I didn't have my camera for most of the time because I didn't want to bring it with me at first, because I didn't have anywhere to put it, so I left it in the truck and then the truck got driven over to the fire station and got left there. So, I had to wait until I was able to catch a ride to the fire station, before I could retrieve my camera and get pictures. I caught a ride back because they had to go back to refill the air tanks. I helped refill the tanks, that was pretty cool, it was a lot like filling paintball CO2 tanks.

I was there for a little over 4 hours, most of fire men were there for just under 5 hours.

It was tiring, but definitely an interesting experience that I won't soon forget.

I have pictures on Facebook, they tell the story better than words.

Tim

Back to Alaska

Well, first year of college done with, now what?
Fishing in Alaska! :D

Well, I made it safely to Anchorage, AK. Praise the Lord. :)

It has been a long trip with more delays than I had planned. It started in fact before I even got to the airport. I got a call from American Airlines, and the lady told me that my flight leaving from Tampa was going to be delayed, late enough that it would cause me to miss my next flight leaving from Chicago. (What she didn't tell me was that every flight going to Chicago was going to be delayed.) So she put me on a United flight that was going to Chicago at the same time. Well, that wasn't too difficult, they would let me check my bad only to Chicago, (not all the way through to Anchorage) so I had to go get it at Chicago and check it to Anchorage. Aside from the half mile walk I had to walk to get my bad and then check it again, it didn't hurt me any (except for my hands, which got tired of carrying the bag.)

Anyway, my flight leaving Tampa was delayed. We boarded about at 3:45 instead of 2:45. Then, once we were all on board we sat at the runway until 5:00. We sat at the runway waiting for Chicago to tell us that we could go. Chicago was having some very bad storms in the area and it was causing all the planes to be delayed.

Anyway, we finally left Tampa, and then arrived at Chicago at 7:02. I went and claimed my bag, then checked it again, went through security and then waited for my flight to Anchorage. It didn't really matter that my flight coming into Chicago was delayed because my flight leaving Chicago was also delayed. My flight leaving Chicago was delayed because it was delayed getting into Chicago, so, obviously the plane couldn't leave Chicago, until it had arrived at Chicago.

But enough about late flights. I was feeling hungry because it was about 8 o'clock my now, so I stopped at the McDee's and grabbed a double quarter pounder with cheese. Very tasty. Then found an outlet and plugged in to power and watched an episode of mythbusters before my next flight. :D

I caught my plane from Chicago to Seattle. I arrived at Seattle at 12:04 am Saturday morning, a few minutes after midnight. There I stayed the night on a bench until 5:30 when we started boarding for my flight to Anchorage.

I arrived safely at Anchorage, I claimed my bag and met with Mr. Dicks. He took me out to breakfast, and then to his hotel room, where I am right now, sending this from.

So, that's what's happened so far. This afternoon I'm catching another flight to Kenai where I will be picked up and then I'm not sure what'll happen.

I'll be at Calvary Baptist Church tomorrow for the service. Abi Dainels, and Anna Sutton, students at BJ, go to this church.

Then, Monday I'll get busy with work probably.

I'll try to keep you guys updated if possible.

Added:

Ok, Here's the plan as far as I know it. Salmon fishing season just opened yesterday, but I won't be fishing right away. The first thing that I'll be doing is working on the new boat, getting it ready for the end of the season. It's a larger boat, a seiner. I'm not sure what we are going to use it for because it is too large to fish with, it's 50 some feet long. (32 feet is the maximum length by law.) But we'll see.

Thanks for all your prayers,

Tim Petersen

Tim Petersen

My College experience

It is hard to imagine that Thanksgiving time is already upon us. It doesn't seem like I've been at college all that long, but then when I think about it, it seems like I've been at college for a really, really long time. Memories of my time at the Anchorage camp fade, though I still vividly recall my experiences on the boat in Alaska, probably because it is harder to forget traumatic experiences.

But I might as well start from the beginning.



My first week at College.

I am working on Public Safety, (security) at BJU, so I got there a week earlier than everyone else.

There not much to tell, we had a lot of training going on. They taught us how to direct traffic, and how to deal with people. All different kinds of people, dumb people, angry people, stubborn people, important people, emergency people, problematic people, yeah, people. So we got a crash course in how to act like we know what we are doing, so that we can fool everyone into thinking that we really do know what we are doing. And basically that's it.

During the first week, I had a couple of meals with Jennifer and some of her dinning common friends and I got to know some people that way. All in all, it was a nice week. I was able to settle in and get everything ready, in a very relaxed and quiet environment. By the time the week was over though, I was ready for some people to be there, because it was getting a little boring.


Then Friday came around, and people just started popping up everywhere. The campus seemingly exploded with people. I finally got some roommates. And I saw Jeremiah, Sarah, and Aunt Rachael. Yey! It was nice to see people that I had knew really well. I can remember how excited I was to see them. I can remember how I was the first week, I was quiet, reserved, shy… But when I saw them, I was… well like I am around them, open, loud, outgoing, a funny jokester kind of guy. We went off campus together to do some shopping and stuff, which was fun, I got some things that I needed. So, I was thankful for that.


Another thing I was thankful for was that they brought with them, most of my stuff, because I had flown into Greenville I was limited to 1 bag and one carry-on, I didn't have much baggage with me. So, a lot of my stuff had to be left behind for them to bring when they came up. One of the things that they brought up was my beloved camera. I was so happy to see that wonderful device, it brought joy into the inner most parts of my heart. I'd have to say that it was the first thing that I took out a played with. My happiness was so great, that words cannot express my intense, fervid rejoicing. :P


Time quickly went by, and soon the first day of classes had arrived. I will admit, I was scared. What will I do? How will I do? I want to do well, but everyone keeps talking about how hard it is. Jeremiah did it though, so I should be able to do it. But how? I don't know what to expect. Things are real now, no more putting off tests until I'm ready, and no more games on the computer. How am I going to handle this? I don't think that I can do it. All these thoughts were rushing through my head, as Wednesday came closer, and closer.


On Tuesday night I was especially worried, knowing that classes started the next day. I didn't express my worry to anyone and pretended to be fine. At the time I barely knew my roommates, so I didn't feel like expressing my deep anxiety with complete strangers. So I kept to myself.


Despite all my wishing and hoping that it would go away, the fateful day arrived. I went to my first class not really knowing what to expect. "Ok, Computer applications, I don't know what I'm suppose to do, but I guess that I'll just go, and find out." And so I went, and they passed out the class syllabus, and talked a little about what this class was about, and stuff like that. That first class really calmed my spirit I think, because I realized that they don't expect anything of me yet. They will teach me, and then expect me to know what they taught, but they didn't expect me to know about things that they hadn't taught me. On to my next class, History of Civ. Uuu, I've heard about this class, it's supposed to be really hard, I guess I'll see what it's all about. Well it was pretty much the same thing, we got the syllabus, and were told what it was that we were expected to know.


The rest of the day went pretty much like that, I didn’t have a problem finding my other 4 classes, well… Except for Speech. Did you know that the signs in the Fine Arts Building, don't specify that there is a 3rd floor. The only signs that indicate that there is a 3rd floor and the signs in 2 of the 4 stairways, all of the other signs don't even acknowledge the 3rd floor. But I eventually found my classroom, and made it in. On time.


Things quickly picked up the pace, but it wasn't too bad. I didn't miss not having the time to play Mount&Blade, or reading camera forums. I had stuff to do now.


Things were going well, and I was pleased with how I was doing. I was able to -- by the grace of God -- handle everything that came my way. It was actually a very exciting feeling, feeling like I was on top of things, like things were under control. I kind of impressed myself with how much I was able to get done when I organized everything and sat down and worked on things. There was a distinct sense of satisfaction in accomplishing everything that I need to accomplish, in the time that I had.


Papers, projects, tests, and quizzes began to accumulate, but even though I thought that I didn't feel as though I was adequately prepared for college, college sort of prepared me for itself. Query.


The weeks began to pass by, I had my share of nerve racking moments, -- my first speech comes to mind -- but by the guidance of God's faithful hand, I was able to overcome those moments. In some I was satisfied with my performance, and with other, I just had to learn to just live and learn.


Ah, yes, then midterms. The week before midterms, I freaked out. Then I calmed myself, recomprised my thoughts, and freaked out again. This cycle repeated itself again and again, all through out midterm week, until the end of my last class for the week. But after my last class on that week I can remember doing spins and tap dancing my way across the Bridge of Nations, as I came out of my last class on Friday. People were staring at me, but I didn't care, More people stared at me when I rode my unicycle, so why should I care that they stared at me?


But lets change gears a little bit. For college isn't all about classes. I mean, let's be perfectly honest, college is about girls too. Oh, the drama. Well right off the bat I got the reputation for being a crazy guy who had flocks of girls around him. I don't know how anyone got this impression, but I think that part of it was because I had several meals with Jennifer and her friends, who happened to be girls, so I would often be the only guy in a group of about 4 or 5 girls.


I consider it my "duty," as a guy, to ask girls out to Performance hall plays, and Artist Series. Considering that it is improper, for girls for girls to ask guys out, guys must take the responsibility of asking the girl. So, anyway, I asked a girl out to The Tempest. I must say it was pretty strange to ask a girl out on a "date," because I had never done it before. But I didn't experience the same, knee-knocking-stomach-turning-belly-flopping feeling that I thought I might go through according to all the stories and movies. But it wasn't really that way, at least for me it wasn't. Anyway, I asked a girl named Kendra to The Tempest, and we had a very pleasant time.


My didn't have another "date" until Artist Series. I took a girl who is named Abby. (The same name as my sister. :D ) I'd say that we both had quite a pleasant time. We saw the Pirates of Penzance. A Gilbert and Sullivan opera, performed by the New York Gilbert and Sullivan players. The show was hilarious, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, not only because the show was good, but also because I was accompanied by a very lovely young lady.


So far I have had pretty good experiences with dates that I've gone on. We'll see if that keeps up. I currently have 2 tickets to another performance hall play, Arsenic and Old Lace. And right now I don't have anyone to go with. I asked one girl, but she was already going with someone else. Oops. So now I have to find a girl that is desperate enough to go with me. :P Another Artist Series is coming up soon also…. Hmmm….


Well, on another note, I've been able to get out some, and help with different projects, like the Big Dig, and Farm Fest. Both of which were very good by the way. I've also been able to go on extension pretty much every week since the second week of school. I go with Agape Bible Club, and we have a Bible club for the kids in the neighborhood there. I never really know what to say about it though. It's a Bible club, we play games with the kids, then the kids get a snack, and then we sit them down tell them a Bible story. So, that's basically how it goes. Pretty much like every Bible club, there are of course certain things that make this Bible club special and unique. And some of those things just can't be expressed in words, they have to be experienced, in person.


So, I feel as though I have been able to experience a whole lot in those past few months. Both on campus and off. I've been through some things that I have never had any experience with before, and some things that I'm quite familiar with.


Now, it's Thanksgiving break. I am very much so enjoying the rest and relaxation. I haven't been able to get as much done as I was planning, but I was kind of expecting that. I still have time though. I have been able to do a lot of things that I have enjoyed a whole lot. From playing games, to taking pictures. I am very thankful that I am able to go somewhere for Thanksgiving, because I know that it just wouldn't have been the same, if I had to stay on campus.


Ever since high school I've been looking forward to college because I would finally be able to be around other guys and girls my age. So, now that it is here I am enjoying it very much.


Someone asked me to describe my college experience in only a few words, and the words that I chose were, challenging, terrifying, and very, very profitable. I have learned so much, in my classes, and just from college life. And I have grown in so many ways physically, mentally, and Spiritually. So, yes, it has been a very profitable semester so far, and the Lord has taught me so much, I am just very thankful for being at BJU.


Thank you for reading, I hope that that will bring you up to speed, on where I am, and how college is going for me. :P



If you wish to see pictures you may do so here. ;)

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=11327&id=1109395541

To Date, or Not to Date

It is again time for me to share with you my various embarrassing, and otherwise self-consciously distressing tales.

Today was the date of my first “date.”

The girl in question is Kendra, and the place to which we were to go was Performance hall, where a play called The Tempest was to be performed. I was to meet said girl at ten minutes following the hour of seven o’clock. After a quick rundown of everything that I would need, I was off to meet my fair lady, at the last minute remembering to grab the tickets. (Boy, that would have been embarrassing if I had forgotten the
tickets.)

On the journey to the girl’s dorms, I proceeded to talk myself into being nervous, even though there was no need to be nervous. Several girls giggled at me as I set foot inside the girl’s dorm’s lobby, but I paid no heed to them. I stood there in the lobby for approximately 30 seconds before a young lady kindly informed me that, contrary to my understanding, men were not allowed to wait for girls in the lobby.
Acting upon this new knowledge I escorted myself to the door with the big “EXIT” sign hanging above it. Again I paid no heed to the girls who proceeded to giggle at my breach of the well established rules of BJU.

Shortly thereafter, a being emerged from the doorway. Not a mere girl, but an angel. She was pulchritudinous in every sense of the word. Her radiance shone round about her like the sunbeams of midday. No maid have I seen so fair in all my days, for it seemed as though the whole world was beautified by her presence. As she walked there was as if, an aura surrounded her making her 3 stops brighter than anything else around her. (lol photography joke) An aura surrounded her, only to magnify her beauty by tenfold. A stream of light shone down upon her from the sky, like a giant spot light from heaven.

She descended the stairs with the grace of a princess. With a smile sweeter than fructose, she looked at me and said, “Shall we?” The warmth radiated by her expression nearly melted my inner being. It took all my strength and will power to resist the overwhelming urge to pump the air vigorously, and shout “YES!” at the top of my lungs, but resist the urge I did.

We walked slowly along the road to the Performance Hall. Every bystander could not help but stare in awe and amazement at her matchless beauty.
All too soon our walk was over, and we had we reached our destination.
We were ushered in and directed to our seats.

The lights were dimmed, and the play commenced.

Though spectacular in both plot and performance, it was a constant struggle to keep my focus on the play. My eyes continually longed to gaze into Her eyes, but using every ounce of will power that I posses, I managed to keep my eyes on the stage.

The play was in short, hilarious. But the thing that I loved the most was when I could hear Her laughing. Her laugh is like none other, the perfect balance of everything lovely and desirable one could possible posses in a laugh. Every time I heard her laugh my heart overflowed with joy and excitement. Just knowing that she was joyful, caused me to be satisfied.

When the show was over we all were quickly and quietly ushered out of the building. We walked along together to Her dorm, where we said our heart wrenching farewells, and she disappeared from my sight. Once she had departed, I turned and embarked on my lonesome journey back to my place of residence, saddened by the separation from my soul mate, Kendra.

. . .

. . .

Ok, in all seriousness. We had a great time. The show was extremely funny; people would be speaking in Shakespearian one sentence and then modern English in the next. I’d say that we enjoyed one another’s company, because going with a friend is more fun than going alone. Oh, and Micah Coston was one of the performers, he came to Poland on the BJU mission team back in ’03 I think, so seeing him on stage was cool too.

Anyway, we had a good time, but neither one of us is looking for a boyfriend/girlfriend. We just went together because we both wanted to see the show, and like I said, it’s more fun to go with friends.

Timothy

P.S. I finally used pulchritudinous in a sentence. :P