Two Concerts in Two Days

Monday night I went with most of staff guys to the Longview Area Youth Symphony Orchestra (LAYSO) concert in White Oak. It was really good. They sounded great for being almost all high school. I knew about 10 people who were playing. Most of them are staff kids here or Cadets from Henderson. I wasn't going to go but then Mrs. Farr, Katie, and some of the others at my table at dinner convinced me that I should go.

Tonight the Vorgrin family did a little program here at Alert. It was good. They sing, play piano, hand bells, and several other things. http://www.familiesofdestiny.org/

This morning consisted or our Leadership group meeting and then a cadet staff meeting till 11am. So it started out a little slow but then this afternoon I got a little more done. John Freidli arrived today and will be working in the office till mid August. Saturday I leave for the Nashville conference and from there we go onto Richmond VA for a recruiting at a home school convention. I am really looking forward to it. It is going to be a lot of fun and I am going to meet a lot of new people. Please pray for all the staff that God will give them wisdom and strength. And for the people attending that God will be preparing their hearts.

What a Weekend

This past weekend has been one fast paced blast. Friday I am working in the office getting things done when Col. Moulton (my bosses boss) calls Major Farr (my boss) and ask if I can help them with setup for the sound and fixing a few minor problems. a.k.a so much static on the recording that you could hardly hear what you were recording. The problem ended up being in the 32 channel sound board in the field house. The fix involved running across campus to the AV shop getting a nice board that is normally used in the convention center and taking the power supply for it out of the tower. Once everything was fixed it ran flawlessly. Thank you Lord. However other pieces of equipment decided that they wanted a little more attention. For example the DVD player. In the middle of the presentation when we are showing the unit video it decides that it is going to start over in the middle and go back to the beginning. Later after dishes, I went and played soccer with the some of the battalion guys, Red Carpet guys, guest and cadets. Speaking of Red Carpet we had 12 guys. A much better turnout than the normal two or three. Then Jesse Boulden (a fellow cadet from Maryland) came over to my dorm and we talked till midnight. Saturday slept till 8:30!!! After a little cleaning and clothes washing I headed to the Farr's house to help with some yard work. We pulled weeds and cleaned up dirt that washed onto the driveway till about 2:30. Elijah Pendergast, one of the other staff kids, had also been helping us so Major Farr paid him with engines for his model rocket. So Peter and I went and shot rockets with him. Through a long stream of technical difficulties we ended up with four launches and three rockets needing minor repair! :-)Peter and I then headed to Gladewater (about 10 min. away) to fill up the truck with gas and the cans for the mower. After that we went to the local Dairy Queen for a "blizzard". After bringing three heaping melting blizzards home for everyone else we held a conference to determine our next course of action. The final outcome being for Brian, Peter, and I to go play paintball across that lake at Law Enforcement's "shooting house". They have all their own gear and major Farr let me use his. Brian gave Peter and I a little training on some of the things he had learned from classes and training with the "Corps". then we played with one person inside and the other two trying to get in and get him before he got them. After dinner and cleaning the gear I finally made it back to my dorm about 9:30. Sunday I went to church with the Farr's in Kilgore and lunch was at their house. The sermon was on the first part of Luke 16 "Kingdom Economics". Are we being good stewards on not only the money God has given us but also material objects. After Lunch Brian helped me move all my gear to the "Officers" dorm where I should be for the rest of the time I am hear. It is very clean and I am the youngest in here. There are a lot of great guys here. The two other guys in my room are both leaving this next Saturday so it looks like i will have my own room for a while after that. After supper we (single staff guys) were able to finish the dishes in 45 min. Then I ironed chambrays and pants for the upcoming week. Then it was time to study! Major Farr is leading a "Leadership development" class with two of the other civilian staff guys and my self. I am really looking forward to what I can learn from him and our "textbooks", The 21 irrefutable laws of leadership by John Maxwell. So I spent a couple of hours reading the first chapter and filling out the workbook. It looks like it is going to be really good. This next week I have to finish packing all the gear for Nashville, sort a ton of pictures, and several other things.

I'm Back

Tuesday night I made it back to Alert after taking Michael, John, and David home from LTC Camp. Mom was very glad that I was able to be home for Mother's day, and I was glad to see everyone else Then on Sunday some of our relatives on my mom's side came over and we all went to lunch together.

I am still working on sorting all the pictures from LTC camp and the ALERT Cadet challenge. Once that is done I will post a full rundown on the past two weeks.

Last night at Wisdom Search at the Behr's house we watched a movie called " Twice Pardoned". It is about a star athlete who gets in trouble with the law and then someone comes and shares the gospel with him and accepts Christ as his savior. It really stress loving others even when we don't feel like it or when it is not "cool". If you have not seen it, you should. It will really get you thinking about Christ love for us and how we should love others.

Wow!!! Rain...................................and more rain.

Last week it rained and raind almost the entire week off and on. Right now we are in the middle of our LTC camp so things are terribly busy. Pray for all the guys that are here and for the leadership. Specifically for the guys on the "Big Hike" later this week. That they will have the endurance and streangth to finish. And for the leadership in how we respond to the men. Once things slow down next week I will try to get some pictures and other things up.

So much is going on

Wow, things are going crazy around here. Last week we shot more pictures for the Servant handbook and are now about 60% complete. I really like shooting the pictures but after taking aver 100 for this handbook I am ready to be done with them for a while. Major Farr left Friday morning and flew to Kansas for a squad chartering and then on to Pennsylvania for the camp this week. He will be coming back Monday then the conference starts on Tuesday. Saturday Andrew Stevic, an Alert man who I've worked with for LTC camps and conferences last year, arrived and was put in my room. It has been such a blast having him here and working with us. He is going to be with us doing Logistics for the Cadet challenge and then for LTC camp. This week has comprised of many phone calls and a whole lot of driving around gathering up supplies for the Challenge and LTC Camp. We are now finished with everything for the challenge and only have LTC camp left to finish this week. Monday night we played soccer after dinner. I was center D and then goalie. It was a pretty good game except for where I slid over to take the ball away from an opposing forward and ended up sliding right across one of the sprinkler heads in the field. I will state for the record that sprinkler heads and the side of your leg do not feel very good at all. Tuesday we finally got our walkies that we were supposed to get last week and after many phone calls finally got our on campus logistics vehicle. Last night I ironed three of my chambray's and two pairs of BDU's, went and talked to some of the guys in Aspen and still got to bed by 10pm. Then last night we had an awesome thunder storm with tons of cool lightning. It was so cool to stand at our door looking out at the lightning and the pouring rain. Today we are going to go hike part of the trail for LTC camp. I am really looking forward to to LTC Camp. I pray that all of you are doing well and staying healthy. A few things you can pray for us is that we all stay health, that all the loose ends will come together, and that the people that God wants at the camps and conferences will be a able to come. Also pray for the rest of the staff that God will give them an amazing amount of strength for the task ahead of them.

Blessings to all of you,
Richard

Howdy!

Well I made it safely to Alert about 1pm Monday afternoon. Since then I have been working in the Cadet office from 8-5 and in the Library from 6:30-9:30pm. Tomorrow Major Farr flies out for the LTC camp and Father Son camp in Pennsylvania and doesn't come back till 1 or 2am on Monday morning before the conference starts on Tuesday. So today we are going over both the conference, ACC, and LTC camp so that while he is gone I am supposed to finish getting everything together. Later today Reuben and I are going to finish shooting pictures for the Servant handbook. So I am looking forward to doing that. Oh, by the way I got my second drivers license yesterday. I now have my on campus drivers license for campus vehicles. This morning was all staff cleaning day so Major Farr and I were making beds then Reuben and I mopped all the tile in Chestnut. Then it was off to the laundry building and many, many sheets and towels waiting to be folded. So all in all it hasn't been to bad.