Sunday, November 23, 2008
Wake up time was 6:00, breakfast at 7:00, and to the worksite around 8:00AM. The students seemed ready to get the building process going. The day started by forming long lines and passing bricks to each other to move them from outside of the foundation to the inside. There were a lot of bricks, maybe I'll count them after we're done. After moving bricks, the kids learned how to lay brick. They were doing pretty good by lunch time.
There were many other jobs other than brick laying. We had Mr. Hardesty mixing mud for everyone (this is a huge job), he had a few helpers. We then had a few people sifting dirt into gravel and sand piles. We had Mr. Bokov doing the electrician thing, and Mr. Cleveland helping too. We had Mr. Kay bringing the mud to all the brick layers. He was kind of Mr. Popular, everyone needs mud. I can't remember all the different jobs, but those are a few I can remember right now. Some of the kids found brick laying a little harder than they thought. It is difficult to get the bricks just right, all straight, and level. There is an art to getting the mud to transfer just right from the trawl onto the bricks. So far we have a minimum of four bricks high all the way around the building. Some areas are up to six bricks high. Anyway, everyone worked very hard and are now sitting around after having a great traditional meal of "haystacks".
Here are some of the students favorites: Megan Cleveland shares, "It was hard work, but it was fun. We even had time for a mud fight. " Elizabeth's thoughts are, "It was fun to finally get to work, it was nice to be able to feel like you were making more of an impact today, and we're going to sleep really good tonight. I still have mud in my ears." Andrew MItchell shares, "From shoveling so much, my right arm is going to be humungous. I like being an older brother to the orphanage kids also." Derek Dizon says, "Sleepy, where am I?"
Again, thank you for all the prayers.
 
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Happy Sabbath to all! We awoke to a beautiful morning, lots of sun, and crowing roosters. The plan for the day was Breakfast at 9, Church at 11, and so on. Many of the students were up and dressed by 8. I'm not sure if it was the excitement or what, but few took advantage of waiting until 9 to wake up. After breakfast we divided into two groups. Two vans were going to the closer, smaller, church. The rest were going to a larger church a couple towns down. The people were very friendly. You could tell they were expecting us at the larger church because there were chairs set up in the aisle, and we had to set up even more in the lobby. The kids seemed to have fun trying to understand what all was being said. I heard many say that they were catching words here and there, enough to get the gist to parts of the sermon. Luckily, about a third into the sermon, a church member got up and started translating for the students. She was really nervous, but did a great job. Bryanna Clay describes the smaller church experience: " We did a play for the children's story, and Miss Clark translated the sermon for us, and the people were really nice." So overall, the experience was very positive for the students. After lunch, the students got an option to visit the orphanage again. Two vans went over, and the orphanage kids seemed really excited to see them. Mckenzie describes her orphanage experience: "Their energeticness and how they're always willing to play with you, and how they laugh at you when you try to speak spanish is very enjoyable, but overall they're really cute kids." Jeremy describes his orphanage experience: "It was fun, I got to meet Enrique, he didn't talk much, but he likes to play with the ball alot, it was fun." Alex Hutton describes his orphanage experience: "It's amazing how much fun the kids can have with toys that are simple and broken. They're a lot of fun to play with." So overall you can see that the kids are having a really good time. I saw kids on shoulders being toted along, kids playing kickball, kids playing catch, and even kids playing together in the dirt. We then returned to the mission for worship, and had supper. Everyone's health is doing good and spirits are hi. Please keep us in your prayers.
 

Our journey continued on to Ensenada where the students saw Mcdonalds, Starbucks, and a bunch of tourists.  It was kind of funny to hear their comments.  After Ensenada we turned off towards Urapan.  The scenery changed from ocean views, to driving up a desert like mountain pass. The roads in Urapan are kind of the equivalent to driving down the median, a median of  dirt not grass.  If you blink you'll miss the little town, but it is super cute and small.  All of the people were really friendly and waved to the students.  We first went to the location where the students would be staying, yes there are staff here as well, at least eight of us, the rest of the staff are staying by the work site a couple of miles away.  The students got their room assignments, grabbed their luggage, and moved in.  The amenities here are quite nice.  Nice foam mattresses, mattresses, and air mattresses to sleep on.  There is a restroom, with a shower, for every two rooms.  I've stayed at resorts that have less than here.  So it seems we are very fortunate to have a nice location to sleep.
 
We had lunch after everyone moved in and then spent the last few hours of sunlight by running over to the orphanage.  Ellie Manley narrates the following:  "When we got there we saw all of the children jumping on a big trampoline with a hole in it, a big hole in it.  They were all very shy at first, and they opened up a little more and started playing with the students.  For fun they like to ride the dirt hills on their boogey boards and bikes.  I saw a chicken in a tree.  The End."    Maddy wants to include her version: "It was really cute to see all of the people that you wouldn't see interacting with kids, interacting with kids.  For instance, some of the guys playing with the bikes and the orphanage kids.  One student was carrying around one of the smaller boys on his shoulders. "    As you can see, the students really enjoyed their interactions with the kids at the orphanage.  After our visit we returned to the place we're staying, had supper, worship, and are right now, as I'm typing this , heading to bed.

Thanks for all your prayers, we really do appreciate it.