Day 2: Orientation

Today was a gorgeous day in SLC. The sun was shining, it was 70 degrees, and the sky was as blue as can be. We spent the morning in orientation: getting materials (books, binders, journals), going over our schedule for the next 5 weeks, and doing some get-to-know-you interviews. After a brief lunch, we headed out to the Red Butte Gardens for a retreat of silence. The gardens (a little like Huntington Gardens) were amazingly beautiful (I took lots of pictures) and perfectly layed out and maintained. At first, it was a little hard to find a secluded place to sit and read/journal, but eventually I found a spot. God encouraged me with some verses from 1 Peter 3-5 and the hymn "A Mighty Fortress is Our God," which had been in my head since my morning walk. It is quite appropriate for our time here in Salt Lake. If I had more time, I'd write out the words here. =)

Anyway, the bummer of the day is that I'm not feeling well. I've got a few symptoms of the basic flu (stomach ache, headache, very sleepy) and would appreciate prayer for this. Brad and the girls are taking good care of me, though. Brad and Shelley had us over for dinner tonight and Brad even went out of his way to buy some chicken soup for me. =) Shelley donated some extra pillows to help me and Mariah sleep better tonight. So, it's all good. =) I love being here with these 4 women and am really enjoying getting to know them more. God has good things in store, I can tell!