Woke up around 6:30 AM, but didn’t feel like having breakfast this morning. I decided to take my bible over to the library and read a few chapters of Peter. I stuck my head outside and it was about 50 degrees, and there was a slight drizzle. I don’t have a jacket yet and, because it’s Sunday, I decided to dress in my good prison attire. I studied the bible for awhile, checked emails and decided to head back to “A” building. My roommate was still sleeping, but eventually woke up. He’s got the bug that’s going around, so I’m trying desperately not to catch what is going through the camp. People are afraid to go to the infirmary and have warned me never to go there if I’m sick. If someone gets COVID, the whole camp gets locked down for weeks. It has all the symptoms of bronchitis, to which I’m very susceptible. I’ve been praying for God to protect me from this disease; so far I’ve avoided contracting whatever it is.
My roommate cleaned our cubicle by sweeping up the dust and using a mop handle with a towel attached to the end of it. He has a squirt bottle that’s filled with water and he broke up a small soap bar into pieces and stuffed the pieces into the bottle. He added some sort of cologne, shook up the bottle and sprayed the floor with it. Afterward, we had the 10:00 countand I decided to read more of the book I started a few days ago. At 10:30, chow was called so I decided to go over to the mess hall. Pancakes (no syrup), grits, apple and dried potato with the skin still on them–no seasoning, just baked. Mmm. Afterward, I went back to “A” block and then decided to head to the yard. Because it’s a holiday, there are activities planned where we can sign up for events. Just outside the yard entrance, they had a cornhole tournament set up. I decided to sign up for it and there were seven teams competing. We won our first two matches and went to the finals. Our team came in 2nd place, and we got a gift from the commissary.
At 2:30, church service took place in the chapel. The preacher friend I met last night who gave me his shoes was playing the guitar. They led the congregation in “How Great is Our God” and one other song. Pastor Brown made an entrance from the back of the room and walked to the pulpit. He read from Deuteronomy about the story of Moses, where Moses was not allowed into the land of milk and honey because he did not obey God’s instruction. When God told Moses he couldn’t go into this land because of his anger against the Lord, apparently Moses was “cool with that.” Anyway, Pastor Brown was very theatrical and talked about how this country does not have any leadership, and how sinful our world is because of how men lacked faith in the Lord, and followed their own free will. He said that, as a result, subsequent generations do not know God. He threw some politics into the sermon which I liked, particularly about what’s going on in Israel. He discussed how our esteemed Havard, Yale, BYU, etc. scholars and professors sided with Hamas in protests. I really think that if a preacher brings biblical scripture into today’s issues, he’s someone who is not afraid of persecution and stands firm on the Rock. After a turkey and gravy with mashed potatoes dinner, it was a big movie night. “Mission Impossible” (the latest one) was playing on a 42” TV in the courtyard. The temperature was probably in the 40s with a wind chill. An MP3 player and headphones are needed to bluetooth into the sound. My new friends loaned be a jacket and the gear to watch the movie. It was a pretty good day all around.
