Day Two - Men's Monterrey Mexico Mission

Day two started early for Howard and Brian (well, early by our standards).

Our first task was to retrieve our tools from the storage compartment under the front steps at Camino, Verdad y Vida Church (The Way, The Truth, and The Life). Both our tools and the tools that the Senior Highs use are stored in this space and it is full and pretty akward to get into! We decided to pull out everything and do an inventory of all the tools. This turned into about a three hour project with lots of dirt and dust. It is a mundane but very necessary task. We verified that all the power tools were functional and then made an equal distribution of tools back into the storage boxes. Here are some pictures of the 'cave' and the tools being sorted.











Then we loaded Pepe (our truck) with all the tools we will need this week.



While we were working, we were listening to the radio in the truck and managed to run down the battery. Fortunately, Marcos' sister Lali was home and graciously gave us a jump start from her car. After a delicious Big Mac lunch from McDonalds we made our daily trip to Renacimiento. Our framing lumber was being delivered just as we got there,so were able to get it and our tools stored in Casa Samuel's building and locked up. This is a young man from the community that helped us load the lumber into the building for safe storage. We were very grateful for the help!



Our next task was to select a family to replace the family that had moved away. Pastor Eva from Casa Samuel gave Marcos a list of seven or eight families that were eligible and identified which families had the greatest need. We visited the first family's home, but no one was home. Fortunately,the second family was home and eagerly agreed to let us build a house for them. Of course they only have about a day to clear the site and move the bano (bathroom), but they agreed they could get it done. This is a picture of Beatrice.



After a quick shopping trip to Walmart to buy a coffee maker (an extremely important piece of equipment!), we were off to the airport to pickup the rest of the team. The severe thunderstorms in Atlanta delayed their takeoff for about an hour and a half, but they arrived safely and in good spirits. Thankfully, we can all sleep in a little tomorrow before heading off to church.

Buenas Noches from Monterrey!