JUNIORS -
Matt Markella, Matt Dyroff, Ross Kellar, Christa West, Frances Anne McDonald, Cari Librett, Ian Brown.

Matt Markella - Today, I was put in a group that went to a former Senators house, most likely mentioned in previous blogs, and he wanted to make a doorway through a brick wall to have a second exit to his soon-to-be finished house. So me, Bobby Phinney, Mason Kramer, and Will Kalous (chaperoned by Chris Popoloski) cut a hole in the brick wall and demolished it nearly perfectly with hammers. Along with that we set up the owners water pipe feeding through the new fixtures in the house. Peace.

Matt Dyroff - Today, I was put into a group that went to an extremely nice ladies house to build a fence to enclose her backyard.  At the beginning of this project we had to dig up holes for the fence posts to go into.  Prior to our fence there was a fence built in that place before and the builder left large concrete blocks in the ground so when we dug the holes we had to remove these concrete blocks.  Removing the blocks was tedious but after we got them out it went smoothly.  Everyone did a real good job and I knew it was not what some of the underclassmen wanted to do in the hot sun but they stuck with it and the fence turned out great.

Ross Kellar-Today, and Monday and Tuesday I have gotten the honor to work with my dad, David. All three days I have been dry walling, nothing else. It went smoothly all week with the help of my dad, Doug, and Matt Griffin. I started my day dry walling around a door, then around a breaker box, which was a challenge. Near the end of today, my dad put the pressure on me to mud a corner. This was a long process of which I couldn't succeed. It was stressful as can be, but with others to calm me down, it was okay. I come here each year to accomplish the goals given to us, but that doesn't mean i'll always be successful at what I do here. It was a great learning experience after dry walling so well the three days. The room was hot, making it harder to work, but all of us there pushed thru it. So thankful to spend my April vacation here.

Christa West- Today I worked on the same sight as I did the previous day.  I continued to work on mudding the walls.  Not many could say that they enjoy that type of work, but I didn't mind it. I worked with Mr. Kellar as well as Sue, who are both great work leaders. They are so helpful and are enthusiastic about helping me learn about different types of jobs on site. So far, the week has been flying by because of the people and positive energy I have been surrounded by.  There is no other way I'd want to spend my vacation.

Frances Anne McDonald- Hey everyone! So far we have had a great experience here in New Orleans! Today, I got the opportunity to help work on landscaping a convent that I actually demolished my freshman year, two years ago. We picked up debris and planted some flowers around the complex. I was really excited to be able to go back and see the convent since the last time that I had been there. I still can't get over how much the building has improved. It was also really cool to get to meet some of the nuns that now live in the convent. We met a woman walking down past the complex, and as we got talking to her, we actually found out that she used to live in the convent (once an orphanage) long ago. Long story short, the lady shared a lesson of forgiveness and trust in the Lord and his plan that he holds for us and I feel so blessed to have been able to learn the deeper meaning in that today. I have been having the best time in New Orleans and I thank everyone back home who has sent letters and been praying for us down here. The power of your prayers is definitely shining through the spirit of the whole trip.

Cari Librett- Hello everyone! Today I had the privilege to return the house I was at Monday. On Monday I was dry walling for the whole day with the help of Ross Kellar and Remi Demos, but today I mostly mudded and sanded which I have been doing since my freshman year! It was a lot of hard work because at the end of the day the whole entire house was completely transformed from how it looked only three days ago. The whole experience was even more meaningful because of the story of the owners of the house. The family that we were building for lost their whole entire house in Katrina. However, instead of trying to restore their own house first, they worked endlessly trying to get other families back on their feet. Because of their sacrifice and commitment, they unforunately have not been able to fully restore their own house yet. Their story motivated me and the rest of the group to work even harder this week and I am so thankful to have helped them! As always this trip has been one of the best weeks of my life and we are all so thankful for the letters and prayers all of you have been sending!

IAN BROWN- HEY! This is a day to remember. Today we built a fence for a woman who takes in special children. The fence was needed to insure that the kids would not wonder off. The woman had lost quite a bit in the floods her shed, her fence her furniture washed away. She was welcoming and glowing as she watched us work. She truly was grateful and gave us homemade fried chicken, which was the best I have ever had. As the oldest person there I had to lead by example but with the help of the great and wise Doug we were able to accomplish the entire task with an hour to spare. We actually nearly ran out of supplies. With our time to spare we cleaned up the yard better than we left it. Afterwards we took a tour of some of the less lucky neighborhoods that were ripe with poverty. I realized that I am a lucky person that my life is truly blessed to live where I do. The quote of the day came from Rev. Roy "In hell its not the heat that gets you, its the humidity." which describes todays weather. Wish you all the best.