Luke: Today we finished the worksite really fast. So after quick showers we all got in the van and made our way over to downtown Asheville to have lunch at the Mellow Mushroom. I love that place and am determined to build one into my mansion when I’m a billionaire. After that a group of us wandered around downtown for about two hours. We saw lots of really cool stuff, it’s like the whole of downtown Asheville is Hippy-themed. The highlight of our escapades was when we stopped in a bookstore. I originally didn’t really want to go in, but the girls we were with did. My sentiments quickly changed when I saw boxes of legit comic books. Jamie and I looked in those boxes for close to thirty minutes. Of course I bought a couple. It’s pretty sad though. Only 1 day of ASE left. Also I planned it out that this is my last journal. Nikki allows one missed journal the whole week so I saved mine for last. This way I won’t have to worry about writing stuff for the last day. So these are my final words. ASE 2010 has been an amazing experience and I wouldn’t have missed it for anything. Thank you for all your prayers and support and for reading all these journals. God Bless.
Mark: Today was a fairly easy and fast workday. All we had to do was fill in some holes with dirt and take some forms off of our cement job from last Friday. After that we went into downtown Asheville and ate lunch at the Mellow Mushroom. It was a really neat place. I had a cheese pizza that I split with someone else. After lunch we split into two different groups and went shopping in the hippy town called downtown Asheville. We went into some pretty cool stores. One was just like a general store another two were some t-shirt stores and we also went into an ice cream and fudge store. I cannot thank you Hartland for this amazing experience you have blessed me with! Not only have I had so much fun and felt so good about helping people but the friends I have made and the people I have met have made this the best trip I could have ever imagined! I along with Luke will not be journaling tomorrow night. So to all of you who read these may God richly bless you like he has blessed me through this experience! –Mark Calder
Seth: Today we finally finished our worksite. It was a surprise to us, but we did it. It took all day, and it ended with a pleasant goodbye to the Rice family. I am excited for my last day tomorrow, which will hopefully be a day off where we get to go into Asheville and have a lock in at the church. Love you mom and dad, good luck with work.
Adam: Today we finished the work at Cindy’s. She was all misty eyed as we said our goodbyes. I think that she was as thankful for our companionship as she was for the work we did. Afterwards we ate lunch at an all you can eat restaurant and then toured downtown Asheville. The town is a cross between Nashville, Ann Arbor and Royal Oak.
I miss you and love you Lisa and Hannah. See you in 48 hours.
Sarah: Today was a miracle. Our site wasn’t supposed to be finished until tomorrow noon at the earliest, but we did the whole thing today. In the house we had to put down carpet in Rachael’s living room and hallway, finish sealing the roof, and rebuild the landing and stairs for the deck to the front door (among other little things). I got a beautiful tan while I finished the roof, although it’s more like a slight burn. We pulled up two guys, Beau (MN) and Steven (MN), to work on the deck landing. The morning was very frustrating, because it poured. The house crew stayed in Rachael’s trailer during the storm and used the time to be productive and install carpet. It was actually Mike’s first time installing carpet by himself, and he was with three teenage girls who didn’t know anything about the subject, but it turned out pretty well. When I finished with the sealing of the roof (sorry that this journal entry is so unorganized), I hung out by the old septic tank with Meg (OH), Ryan (NC), Chloe (DE), and Kelsey (DE). Ryan had to go into the old tank because they were filling it up with gravel, as it is unusable; it was so funny seeing Ryan get in there, because he had to use his legs and a rake to push the gravel to the back of the tank. Seth went up to him and sniffed and said, “You smell like poop.” It was so funny. And right before we all left site one, Rachael came out to thank us. She and her family were so thankful for everything that we did, but I really feel that I’m the one who benefited. But she pulled me aside to talk to me privately in her kitchen and told me her story of how she got to her present state. It was really touching to know that she trusts me that much and wanted me to know private details about her life. We ended up leaving the site around 4:30, an hour after we usually leave; this meant that our group got back to the church from the YWCA about dinner time. Hartland had kitchen duty, and then the rest of the night passed as usual. PK (MN) really instilled in us the fact that ASE is just about over. It’s kind of depressing, because this is the end for me. I am so grateful that I’ve been able to experience the past three years down here. But now it’s time for bed, so I will hand the computer over to Rachael.
Rachael: Words cannot even describe what a great day today was. I have met people here that I know I will be friends with for a lifetime. It is amazing how closely you can grow with people in such a short time. On Sunday some of the other youth here gave testimonies up at the altar in front of Emmanuel Lutheran Church and a few words that really stuck with me were “I have made better friends here than I have in my whole life back at home” which is hard to imagine but it is so true. This trip is truly an amazing experience and I wish that I could go back again next year, but unfortunately since this is my second year and I have to give some other youth participants at my church a chance to experience the awesomeness of the Appalachian Servant Event. Tonight is the last night I will ever journal for this event, which to me is sort of sad in a way. I wish you all a blessed summer. Goodnight
