Day 4 | Paul Summers

I thought I was done with sanding and painting, but I was wrong. I forgot we would have to put a second coat on the floorboard and doors. That took most of the morning, and I was sent to clean paintbrushes and buckets. Tim is a stickler for perfection—a good quality to have if you are working for God—so it took me a while to get the stuff clean. I started at about eleven thirty, and finished at four. What happened was that Tim saw how great of a job I was doing and decided to let me continue. Or at least, that is what I tell myself. I have had a great time working with my crew, but I am looking forward to coming home.

Day 3 | Paul Summers

We worked inside of the barracks today, building the walls for what will be the offices. Luckily, our barracks are air conditioned, so we weren’t roasting. The high point of today was when we got all the walls up and the level was telling us that we were way out of plum. After wallowing for it for about forty minutes, bracing, pushing, shoving, and pulling the walls this way and that, we finally figured out that the level was faulty. Boy, that made our crew leader both mad and happy. He was mad that we wasted so much time, and happy that we didn’t have to tear down and rebuild the walls. Other than that, my day went fine.

Day 2 | Paul Summers

Imagine for a moment that you are experiencing an earthquake. Now imagine trying to sleep while the earthquake is taking place. That is what it is like sleeping on these bunk beds. They are made of aluminum and look and feel like they were engineered by a second class scout. I was looking across at Heath and Bill’s bunk, and it was looking like the leaning tower of pisa for a while, but so far nobody has tipped over. You can be sure that I will report it if anything happens. One of the things I enjoy about these mission trips is that I always learn something new. Whether it is how to put on a shingle or tin roof, landscape with rocks, or paint floor trim, I truly enjoy learning a new skill. The latter was today’s lesson. Our crew leader, Tim, patiently demonstrated how to carefully hold the brush so it wouldn’t put paint on the wall or the floor, and how to go at the proper speed so that it would neither dry nor stretch the paint too far. A skill learned today is a skill you won’t have to learn tomorrow when the need arises.

Day 1 | Paul Summers

When I was planning for this trip, I was expecting something similar to Montana: a long van ride with my knees tucked up beside my ears, scorching heat, and jobs like rock landscaping and/ or roofing. So far for me, only the heat expectation is accurate, yet there is even a cooling sea breeze that takes the edge off. I still drunk about twenty bottles of water today. I was assigned to a group that is on finishing side of house building; cabinets, floor trim, caulking, and door-painting were the items of the day. Me and Hunter Mitchell—and Tate Roach when Hunter was reassigned—put the spackling into the nail holes. Hunter and Tate packed the holes, and I sanded the putty. I sanded the floor trim all day. And drank lots of water (thanks, BSA). It is amazing being here and hearing the stories that the landowners tell, of where they were when they lost their home, and how they are recovering, and what Christ has done both for and with them. Please continue to pray on their behalf.

Day 8 | Paul Summers

Yellowstone was neat, although Old Faithful was a little overrated. The sights I saw on the way was what I enjoyed most. You’re driving along a grassland, and suddenly you see a tree… and then another one… and another one. Soon, you are tired of seeing trees. Same deal with the buffalo… unless the thirty-eighth happens to be running two feet from your window. Today was hot. In the morning, I was on the crew that cleaned the church. In the afternoon, I was sent to weed-eat a field with a push weed-eater. No, I didn’t make a mistake typing that. I could have gone faster with a pair of scissors. It was slow, but neither me nor Logan dehydrated or ran into a rattlesnake, so it was a very good time.

Day 6 | Paul Summers

I have no idea what I did to make mom mad. She spent the day throwing rocks at me. I think she enjoyed it a little too much.

Day 5 | Paul Summers

Remember what I said about the mosquitoes yesterday? Well, I wasn’t kidding. Eladio went to slap one with his hat, and the mosquito promptly disarmed him and threw his hat across the room. I am on the painting crew. It’s a two-story house… and no one brought ladders today. It was so hot that the peanut butter on my sandwich melted. I had another good day, and I can’t wait to see what else is in store for me this week.

Day 4 | Paul Summers

For being in a cabin full of snorers, I had a surprisingly good night of sleep. Me and Andrew had a mosquito killing festival in our cabin. To say they are bad out here is an extreme understatement. You had better kill them on the first slap or else you will get involved in a fight against an angry mosquito. I didn’t end up swimming when I went to the lake with the others; I ended up climbing on a rock cliff mining flint.

Day 2 | Paul Summers

I had a pretty good day today, except for the minor issues that arose from being in a seat that is built exactly the right size…for some one five foot six. The snacks make up for this (Thanks for the pepperoni rolls, Maresa). The atmosphere in the van is surprisingly quiet, due to the amount of sleep everyone but me gets. I read or watch the cornfields and windmills go by (492 cornfields, 1,386 windmills).