Afternoon
Adam: We had a nice day today. After church, Bible study, and lunch, we went to survey the work sites. The first one seemed the roughest to me. It needs a whole new septic system, the bathroom floor needs to be shored up, and the trailer next door needs work too. The second site has runoff from the mountain rains washing into her basement so we are going to be digging “French drains”. The last site needs a septic field put into a wooded area that is a black diamond ski slope where we come from. More than the jobs, we also got to meet the people who live there. All the people seem excited to have us come and enter their lives in such intimate ways. Here are some additional tidbits to entertain you:
A kid from another group fell into a 2 foot deep sewer puddle… He threw away the shoes.
North Carolina has no shortage of bugs or poison ivy.
All three sights have pitches that are intimidating. Two are built on 40% grades and the other is in a beautiful valley.
Love you Lisa and Hannah. Keep the fort and if there are any problems don’t hesitate to call Al.
Seth: Today was nice; I got the privilege to go to church. After lunch we got to visit our work sites. On the car ride to the sites I met even more new people. I'm excited to visit the new work sites tomorrow. Love you mom and dad, good luck with work.
Mark: So we visited the work sites today. There are three of them I hope I am getting the third one! Which would be putting a septic field in for an elderly woman. The other two are putting french drains in one and another septic in the other. I am excited to finally start work tomorrow! Hopefully I get some people I know but also some I don't so I can make even more friends than I have already. I just want to say thank you to the people of Hartland for letting me go on this trip and for everyone to have a goodnight!
Evening
Luke: I felt so special this morning cause I was one of the select few that 1. knew about the showers and 2. were able to get up early enough to shower before church. Which meant I got up at six. I made up for it napping in the car on our site tour. Good news is I got the site that I wanted. Site number three involves not only digging, but clearing out the whole forest where the trench needs to be. There must have been trees at least a foot thick on our trench path. It also means that the ground is going to be filled with roots, making the task even more epic. So naturally I was assigned to it. Don't know why that North kid is on the same site though... I don't know if he can handle it...
Rachael: Today was so great!! we had a prayer thing at the end of the day where we get together with one person and talk about your troubles and pray about them. I usually find this activity a wee bit awkward but tonight I really liked it. It is amazing how much two peoples experiences relate and how much you can help each other with your past experiences. I really like a lot of the games and things we do here! They are fun, interesting and you learn a lot from them. That is why you come back home with so much more than you left with. Today we had our first state group, on the oh so famous hill that I attempted to roll down after state group. But lets just say it didn't work. We found out our sites today and we will be off to work in the morning!!!! Goodnight.
Sarah: As today is Sunday, we all went to the 8:30 service this morning. I asked Nikki to wake me up when she got up so that I could wash my hair. PK preached at the service today, which was neat, because I always love hearing the different pastors from all over preach. Afterward, we had a Bible study on the Gospel for today, and after that, we ate lunch. I was really happy today because I got to see some NC friends from last year's ASE: Rachel and Sydney. Later, we went to visit the sites; there are three. Site number one requires both carpentry work and a new septic system. The second site needs French drains in order to drain water out of the lady's basement, so that also will need digging. And the third site needs a new septic system because the old one is completely shot. It's to the point that the ground caved in and the hole is filled with septic water. I felt so bad for Zach (Northville), because he slipped and his entire left ankle went into the hole. The new septic system is supposed to go in on a hill that is covered in trees and poison ivy- quite an adventure. We also made a Kmart run today, and I had to buy a new camera card, since I left my 4 GB card at home. Dinner was delicious, and then we had our state meetings, which we always love. After community life and spiritual life, we participated in my favorite part of the day, the 20 minute chapel. Directly afterward, we all had the chance to check the site assignments, which is always super exciting. I am on site number one, which is very cool. I get to work with Mike (DE) for the third year in a row, and I am with a ton of other people that I already know. But now I must pack my shower bag and hit the sack, so goodnight.
Nikki: Well, since all the sites are digging sites, I am obviously on a digging site again. Every site has it's own challenges. I drew the one with the trees and poison ivy covering the area where we are putting the drain field. At this point, we are supposed to dig one 30” deep and 6' wide trench (not sure about the length) which we are supposed to fill the old fashioned way – with wheel barrows full of gravel. I believe the organizers are intending to propose a double layer of easy fill, but we will see what tomorrow brings.
For those of you reading this who might remember, either from being here or from the Youth in Missions dinner, three years ago we worked on finishing the inside of a house for a woman who was wheelchair bound due to physical abuse. We are back at her place this year. It is the one that will be getting a french drain due to mold and mildew problems in her basement from the mountain run-off. Her back yard is a little on the spongy side and the water has no where to go. The french drain should help draw the water away from the house. I am excited that we have the opportunity to return and serve again for someone we have served before. The best part is that she has made some progress is now able to walk on her own. She is very dark from spending a lot of time out tending her yard. Once we get the OK for cameras, I will be sure to get someone on that site to get a good site photo for me so those of you who worked here before can see how the place is doing, and hopefully one of Miss Cynthia too.
God's blessings all!
