Palmetto has arrived!

July 12th-14th;Day 34-36
    Last Tuesday I really didn't do much of anything.  I started getting a cold/sinus infection and felt pretty terrible for a few days.  I stayed at Jenn's house most of the day and tried to catch up on some sleep.  After the previous 33 days I was pretty worn out.  So I just chilled at the house until that night when everyone started coming back in.  We then went out at Chilli's which was incredible.  It seems like all I want to eat when we go out is pasta so I got this pick awesome plate of chicken pasta and it was great.  There were a few others staying at Jenn Wrights house as well.  David Logue stays at the house with Jenn.  David and Jenn both live here full-time and are involved in a lot of different ministries.  Andy Hubright and another guy named Zach were there for a few days.  They live outside the city about an hour but stay at Jenn's occasionally to use the internet.  Both graduated from Lipscomb in December and I had played frisbee with them at Lipscomb so that was cool to be here with them.  There was also another Jenn staying with us.   Jenn Hines has been here since October and committed to staying here for a year so she has a couple more months here.  Another girl named Kolby was staying there too.  She had been here for 3 months and just went back home the past Thursday.  There was also Jenna Hostetler who worked with the last group and is staying over to work with the Palmetto/Mayesville group.  So we all had a good time even though I had a sinus infection, Kolby had strep throat, Jenna was in the process of getting a sick and Jenn was just getting over being sick.  We still had a fun time for a few days though. 
    On Wednesday I just ran a few errands with the girls because Kolby and Jenn Wright were heading back to the states on Thursday.  They needed to run and do a few things so I just tagged along.  We all went to La Creperia to eat dinner with  Mark and Lori Connell which is always fun.  It was the first time I have ever had crepes (i hope that's how you spell them).  It was pretty good food though.  It's nice to be able to go to different kinds of restaurants down here.  Having a large group is always fun but when there's just a few of you, you have more flexibility to do things like just going out with a group and having a good time for the night. 
    Thursday was another sick day.  I was feeling terrible that morning so I decided to just stay home and rest a little more since the Palmetto group was coming in of Friday.  Thankfully I started feeling better by the end of the day and started to kick out the sinus infection that I had.  Kolby and Jenn flew out so we had to say goodbye to a few more new friends.
July 15th-Day 37
    Friday I woke up and felt much better.  Part of it was because I was getting better and part of it was because I was excited for our group to fly in.  Mark Connel picked Jenna and I up at the house and we ran a few errands before heading to the airport.  We made it to the airport about 10:30 expecting the plane to land at 11 but they were delayed out of Atlanta.  So about 11:30ish we saw the Delta flight come over the mountains and start their landing.  After 30-45 minutes of clearing customs and gather bags, they came out of the baggage claim and we started loading them on the bus.  It was like watching a bunch of zombies walk through the airport.  Everyone of them looked like they hadn't slept in a week.  We then went to lunch at a place called Criollos (again not sure about spelling).  It's a really good Honduran restaurant that I've been to a few times.  They didn't let us down.  The food was incredible once again.  After that we headed to the store to let the group buy some food for lunches for the week and then headed up to the mission house.  We had dinner about 6:45 which was beef tips, incredible, and afterwards had devo here in the cafeteria at 8.  The devo/orientation lasted till about 9:15 and then we headed to bed.  I was feeling much better by Friday night but I had passed on my sinus infection/cold to Jenna, so that wasn't too good but everyone had made it safely to the mission house and needed a good nights sleep for the house builds.
July 16th-Day 38
    Saturday we started out with breakfast at 7-8, a short meeting at 8 to divide teams to build the houses.  Since half of the group are newbies this year, we made each team be half experienced and half rookies.  Danny Mullins led one of the build teams and I got to lead my first house build.  We built in Cataluna (accent mark on the n so it's pronounced Catalunya) which is over behind the dump.  The wood had been delivered on Thursday so we didn't have to carry it, we only had one rock that we had to contend with for the post holes and the team worked beautifully together.  I did have a few issues with getting the house square but after we started putting in the floor I measured and it was 16x16 and only a quarter-inch off square so I was pretty excited that it had turned out so nicely.  The team worked great together and we were done by 2:15.  The lady who we built the house for cried and cried as the people from Mayesville presented the house to her.  It really was a GREAT day.  The team worked just as well as any team I've ever worked with.  This is the first trip down here for my brother and he loved building the house.  He jumped up on the roof and took off once I showed him what he needed to do.  I thought that leading my first house would have been a little more challenging than it was, and maybe it should have been but the smoothness of this build didn't have anything to do with who was leading but how well this group worked together.  Everyone was willing to do whatever was asked of them and worked great together.  We made it back to the mission house about 4 after some crazy traffic downtown and played frisbee for a little bit.  My disc has been sitting in my bag taunting me for weeks because I haven't had a chance to use it but that is changing.  After that we had dinner, baked chicken, potatoes and a salad, then devo at 8.  After devo we sat around and played cards for a while and then headed to bed.
July 17th-Day 39
    This morning we all left at 8:30 to go to Mololoa for church.  The service started at 9:45 and we packed into the building once again.  Sean led singing and Aaron Mullins preached so it was a good service.  Afterwards we headed to the mall for lunch, Matt, Sean and I decided to be brave and buy a corn dog from a vendor in the mall.  That's something that usually you shouldn't do but this turned out to be one of the best corn dogs I've ever eaten and the best part is that we didn't get sick from it.  After that we went to Mi Esperanza to shop a little.  I went straight in and asked Lori if Mark (Mark Connell that is) was in the back and she was like yea why.  I headed straight to the back knowing that Mark was back there watching the USA v Japan women's world cup final.  So for the next 45 minutes I sat back there and watched the game only to have my heart sink as Japan beat us in penalty kicks.  It was terrible to watch the USA blow that game after having the lead twice.  It still stings.  After we left we went to the Valley of Angels to shop a little.  It's a tourist area that we go to to souvenir shop.  We didn't have much time, only an hour, so we had to do it pretty quickly.  We then went to a really nice restaurant in Santa Lucia for dinner.  Sean, Bryan, Aaron and I got this massive plate of food meant for 4 along with another entree.  Once people realized what we were getting, they all started getting in groups of 4 and ordering the same thing.  It was incredible food.  The 4 of us cleaned that tray pretty quickly and then acted like vultures watching for others not to finish.  By the time we left, Aaron and I had 6 of the massive trays of food in front of us with leftovers from the others and we finished almost every bite of it.  We are definitely paying for it right this second but it was an incredible meal.  Aaron and I definitely got the most for our money tonight.  We at more fried beans, plantains, and meat than we ever have and loved every second of it.  We are now back here at the cafeteria and I'm typing as the rest of the group is sorting medicines for the medical clinic tomorrow.  I'll get to lead another house build tomorrow, one of 2 that will be built tomorrow.  We are also having a medical clinic and a sending some people to work in the daycare and kitchen at Mololoa.  Also, Aaron is going to be posting a blog every night about what the Palmetto/Mayesville team is doing down here, here is the link if you'd like to read that blog as well, http://matthew25-31-40ministries.tumblr.com/. We are about to start devo in a few minutes so it's time for me to go. Until next time, Peace Out.