Pearlington: Tuesday

Sarah:
Yesterday was a day to learn about a lot of stuff. We woke up at 6:00 a.m. for breakfast at 6:30 a.m. Then we waited around to find out where we were supposed to be. Then we got there and put dirt in a hole. After that we took a lunch break and it started raining. Once we got to the work site, it started too hard to get out and work. So we came back and some of us decided to play in the rain. We played in the mud, in puddles, and port-a-potty tag. After that we went to get a snow cone when we got dried off from playing in the rain. When we got a snow cone there were these people sitting on the porch. So we decided to go up and talk to them. When we started talking they told us all the stories about Hurricane Katrina. They had a beautiful statue with a plaque under it. The plaque said “I survived Hurricane Katrina with water over my head.” Then it had this big statue of Virgin Mary. What they were telling us was very inspiring. It made me find God right away. They said that when they left they put the statues in the ground and when they came back, everything was gone and the statues were still there. Today was a lot of fun, and then at the end of the day, me and Rachael fell in the mud before devotional.

Matthew:
Today we bailed water out of pier holes that the storm had so nicely filled up for us. But we needed something to do this morning. After that we ate lunch then went back to the work site and waited for the cement trucks. When they showed up we were ready for them. We would fill the wheelbarrows with concrete and roll them on our picket fence boards to the pier hole. After we filled all the holes we headed back to camp and hung out for a while before dinner. The guys and some girls wanted to play ultimate Frisbee, so we played for a long time. We then had our evening devotional where they told us that Philip isn’t going to be able to come. I am disappointed because I was looking forward to working with him. But I understand that it is more important that he should be with Keith.

Chris:
Dropped the trailer at Berta and Brett’s today. Talked to Berta for a while and asked her of her experiences. My question to her and all who live here … after all this, how do you keep going? Her answer was, “God doesn’t give you anything you can’t handle.” That was so moving to visit with her and be moved so much by her. I am proud of the kids for the incredible effort in helping people who need them.

Tyler:
This morning we had cereal for breakfast. I went to the same work site as yesterday. We had to shovel (I mean power-pump and scoop) rain out of the pier holes. We also had to shovel around mud to level the ground. Lunch was hot dogs and macaroni. I took more than I should have (like usual), but it was good. In the afternoon most of the guys went and helped dump cement in the pier holes. The cement was unloaded from the truck (actually two trucks) and put into wheelbarrows. They could weigh as much as 300 pounds! I got to push the wheelbarrow some, but I mostly help guide. It is the hardest mission work I have done so far. After we came back, we just chilled for a while. Then we went to dinner, which was some kind of bean-sausage mixture. You poured it over rice. It tasted better than it looked. The guys played ultimate with three of the adults. Ms. Lofland played for a little while too. At devotional we sang “grin-again-gang” in honor of Mr. Keith Friend.