missionaryMAC

This week we hosted the group that I think wins the award for coming from the furthest away: Sherwood Park, Alberta, CANADA! They divided up between 2 sites in Sparks; 2/3 of them finished building Concepcion Guzman's home that another group began back in June, and the remaining third went to fix--for good this time--Rosa Chavez's roof. A group "fixed" it in June but Rosa said it still leaked, so hopefully the over-roof we built will take care of it! In between enjoying glasses of her AMAZING iced tea, the insulation and ceiling panels inside got replaced too. The group also fixed some hazardous wiring and hung some cabinets that Rosa had been given but unable to hang by herself. Back at the Guzman home, the majority of the group spent their week stuccoing, drywalling (or "gyp rocking" as it's called in Canada), taping, mudding, painting, and tiling. Since there were 2 carpenters by trade and several others with a sufficient experience and knowledge, the...

I am in the middle of doing a lot of traveling--Chihuahua City, Colorado, home, Colorado again--and 2 of my trips were/are wedding related. The second wedding I am leaving for on Monday; the first Chris and I just got back from this past Sunday. It was his sister Stefanie's, on August 15th, and because there were no groups the week of the 8th-15th, we got to spend a little downtime in Colorado although we did have to arrange things such as airport pickup and meals for the group from Canada that arrived the day of the wedding. Much of the week was consumed doing wedding-y things like double-checking the seating chart, putting programs together, and taking Chris to get his tux (3 times!!!), but we also slept in, read, made Chris's special chile rellenos, went to the outlet malls in Castle Rock, went to a Rockies game--the worst one under their new manager, go figure--and went to Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. Here are some pictures from Garden of the Gods and some from t...

This morning I took Kristine, YLM's summer volunteer who had been here since May 18, to the airport because today was her last day in El Paso. She's probably sitting in the Denver airport right now (or maybe at the art museum/out to dinner with Chris's dad!) because she had some insane layover there, like 7 hours. Everyone was sad to see her go and is looking forward to seeing her next summer when she comes with her church group--a year from last week actually--but we bade her goodbye in style. The festivities began last night when the BBQ dinner requested by one of the groups turned into a farewell party complete with a surprise visit from the Moraleses, cake and ice cream, and LOTS of pictures. Stephen even gave a brief speech and presented her with a Siervo de Cristo certificate. Then this morning, after the 2 of us took a group to the airport at 5 am, we decided to go to Scenic Drive for sunrise, which turned out to be a fantastic idea. We were the only people there for...

This past week was spent working with a group of 13 youth and 3 adults from Fond Du Lac, WI, at 2 sites in Sparks. Monday through Wednesday the whole group was spent at the Caballero home, tearing off an old roof and putting on a new one. Thursday and Friday the group was divided: part of us did the same thing, only with the ceiling on the inside, and the rest went to the Morales's to finish up some odds and ends. It was HOT! Not quite the hottest week of the summer, but we usually drank all of the water we brought and had to go fill up the coolers (thanks to Maria and the Community Center for the water and ice, respectively) even when we brought FOUR, and we were all a little worn out by the end of the week, especially Chris since he and I have been doing the same thing for going on 12ish weeks now. Something that helped get us all get through the week was candy breaks: whenever one of the chaperones yelled those words, everyone had to leave their post, even if they were on the ro...