I am currently the epitome of a rogue blogger commiting the sin of omission by failing to create new posts. But I have no excuse now since training is over and I'm home and there is high speed internet and its snowing outside and my ankle is sprained so I can't run. I'm reflecting on my two months of missionary training and I'd have to say that the most meaningful aspect of training at the ILC in Virginia was the growing brotherhood with my field partner Taylor. I've learned from experience that a solid, true, and genuine friend is a rarity. Me and T had been looking at similiar jobs at candidate conference in July when we met and had decided to do the Extreme team in Peru. We put Suriname as our third choice together so that if by chance our first and second went through we would be partners since that job required it. I didn't expect our first and second choices to fall through but they did and I know now that it was all part of the Lord's plan. The Suriname job description was similiar to our first choice but Extreme team was not a partner job. After getting a reality check from those who have done similiar assignments describing the isolation and loneliness that comes with living in the interior for weeks or months at a time I was further comforted that I was not going to be going solo. I know that the Lord is always with us as believers and he is all we need but I also know he created us to be in fellowship with others. Our common refrain during the last nine weeks came from Proverbs: "as iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another". This was very much the case for us. We had a consistent prayer time every night and we had a recap of the day expressing our concerns, requests, joys, frustrations etc. We had an open honest accountability time once a week that actually became a highlight for me. I know that every person genuinely desires to be truthful and transparency with others. As it says in John 8:32 "the truth will set you free". I learned a lot about myself and how easily I become distracted by various relationships and lose focus. I was encouraged because Taylor always listened and gave me guidance and encouraged me to stay focused on the objective we have: sharing Christ with others. If I didn't have a brother in the Lord to sharpen me, I don't think I'd be broken but I would be much more dull. All that serious stuff aside, it was a fun just hanging out, playing sports, hanging on trees over the river, playing disc golf in the snow with glow sticks etc. Now our departure is just over two weeks away and the next twenty two months are gonna be a mix of trials, joys, sickness, adventure but through all that I'm glad to being sharing it with a friend who has become a brother.