Sam's Year of Service Adventure

 Today was another maintenance day.  I started by going to the ridge with Posh because we had to clean up all the trash that the bear had removed from the dumpsters.  When we were done with that, we headed over to East Hills, where we met with the sheriff to do an eviction.  The sheriff went and knocked on the door and was able to confirm that they were gone.  They also said there were dead roaches, which means we aren't taking anything out, and it will all be trashed out.  We also changed the lock.  Then Posh took me over to Bentley, where I continued taking pictures and doing warranties.  I was able to get almost all of them done today, but not without problems.  I found out that some of the apartments that were listed as vacant on my lists had actually been leased out, and I found out the hard way that there were people there.  Then I had to start knocking on all the doors and asking the people who were home nicely if I could take pic...

 Today, I started by doing some random tasks around the office before heading out with Jenni to pick up a Sprouts order.  We got an ok haul.  When we arrived at the pantry, we put everything away, and then I stayed to clean it.  It was all the normal stuff, and I also worked on improving our thermometer system for the fridges and freezers.  I spent a lot of time trying to glue suction cups onto the thermometers so they would stick in the fridges and freezers.  They didn't work, and I just ended up with my hands covered in super glue.  At least there were some good options for lunch that day.  I got some chicken alfredo.  After lunch, we went over to Woodbine, where the main library is for stocking all the little libraries.  We put away all the books that were there, just sitting in boxes.  This took about 2 hours, and when we were done, I was told I could go home early.  It started raining quite a bit on the way home, but I end...

 Today I decided to make some biscuits before church.  They were not my best work, but they were better than cereal.  We had our first week of Sunday school today, and we started a class about peaceful practices.  After church, Christian made some fajitas for lunch, and we had our business meeting.  Then I spent some time on my computer before heading to the park with Naomi.  When we got home, I made myself a tortilla pizza and called my family for a while.  Then we watched another episode of Severance before calling Janessa and heading to bed.

Today I slept in a long time before getting up and heading to church to make bierocks for the MCC sale.  We had a good assembly line going, which was fun to be a part of.  There were also plenty of refreshments.  After bierock making, we headed back home, where we hung out for a while before I went on a long afternoon bike ride.  After my bike ride, I decided to get the grill fixed because I have been craving hamburgers.  I had no idea what I was doing, but I realized all the gas lines had come disconnected for some reason.  It seemed like a simple fix, but it proved to be a little more challenging than it initially appeared.  After the grill was fixed, I made myself a tortilla pizza for supper and then enjoyed more conversation while Naomi was being goofy.

Today I spent the whole time over at Bentley taking pictures and doing warranties.  It was really boring, and the best part of my workday was the leftover grilled chicken sandwich I had for lunch.  When I got home from work, I had my one-on-one with Christian.  Then we headed out for a football game.  This was a big school, and it was homecoming night.  I never knew bleachers could flex like that.  The home team got blown out, but the student section was still really into it.  After the game, we went and got milkshakes from the Milkshake Factory.  By the time we got home, it was after 11.

 Today I got to sleep in for a while because I had a meeting with Julie to start my day.  We talked about the transition into service adventure and made sure it was going smoothly.  Then I headed to work and got there just in time to hop in the van with Tony and head straight to VSR to check on the apartment that had been evicted the day before.  We found out that they had broken back in and trashed the place, so we spent a while watching the security cameras.  When we were done with that mess, we finally headed over to Bentley, where I continued taking pictures for the remainder of the day.  When I got home, it was my day to make supper, so I cooked up some of the best chicken sandwiches I had ever tasted.  We had supper out on the back patio because it was such a nice evening.  We finished the evening by watching the next episode of Severance.

Today was pantry day.  Since Trilby hurt her finger yesterday, she tagged along with me to the pantry.  I started by running to Home Depot to get a wagon wheel for the wagon at the pantry.  When I got back from Home Depot, we picked up Doug and went over to the pantry.  Jenni was sick today.  We dropped Doug off at the pantry and then went to pick up the food at Sprouts and Trader Joe's.  We had a relatively light haul from Sprouts, but a fairly substantial haul from Trader Joe's.  We got everything put away in the pantry in record time and then had time for a good, long lunch break.  There were not a lot of good options for lunch, but eventually I found a pretty good sandwich.  After lunch, we started the pantry and had about 20 to 30 people come through.  It was not that many people at the end of the month, because usually by that time their government funds have run out.  Once we hit about 2 o'clock, we pretty much didn't have an...

Today was a maintenance day.  I went over to Bentley right after the morning meeting and continued taking pictures.  Since I had finished building four last week, now I was going around to the 8 other buildings and taking pictures where needed.  This was at least a little more interesting since I got to do some handicapped rooms, which are very well designed for someone in a wheelchair.  About halfway through the morning, my tablet died, so I went and helped Josh and Posh for a bit while it charged.  We were trying to put up some dog poop trash cans.  Eventually, my tablet was charged up enough to work until lunch.  While I ate lunch, the tablet charged, and by the time I was done eating, it was charged enough to finish the day.  I rode with Tony back to the office, and on our way back, we stopped at VSR and visited with the leasing agent there.  I learned that they have some interesting people there.  After work, I biked to Walmart beca...

I started my day by doing random jobs around the office before going to help with a food pickup at Sprouts.  We got a decent haul of stuff, and then we spent a while putting it all away.  Then I cleaned the pantry before going back to the office for lunch.  After lunch, Jenni and I took some books to the libraries.  Then I went back to the pantry with a shelf that I then spent the remainder of my day assembling.  After work, we had worship night and Christion told his life story.  I learned a lot about him.  Then we ate some spaghetti that Michael had cooked.  After supper, we had our business meeting before learning another new game.

Today we were able to get a little extra sleep.  Then, we headed to church to hear Shane Clairborn preach.  It was a really good service, and I was glad my family got to hear it.  After church, we went out to Chipotle for lunch.  Then I said goodbye to my family, and they hit the road.  We headed back to the house and had a pretty relaxing afternoon, including a nap and some good conversation.  After supper, I learned a new card game that I actually managed to win.

We got up at 3:30, hoping to hit the road at 4 and then be on the trail at 4:30.  We were pretty close to on time.  We were hiking Mount Princeton.  Since we were in a van, we had to hike from the lower parking lot up a Four Wheel Drive trail for 3 to 4 miles.  When we finally hit single track, it didn't take long for us to be rock scrambling.  We had about 3 miles of rock scrambling to the top.  About half of it was just along the side of the mountain, but then we really turned uphill and had a pretty steep scramble to the top.  We finally made it to the top, and it was an amazing view for a little bit.  A snowstorm was moving in quickly, and we watched it start from a nearby mountain and slowly come toward us.  We had a slippery scramble down the shale on the mountain.  Then the snowstorm caught us, and it was kind of just a sleet, but it made all the rocks very slippery.  By this point, some people were fighting headaches.  ...

Today I started over at Bentley, finishing up the pictures finally.  I was done by about noon, and then my family stopped by to see where I was working.  I gave them a few room tours a told them about Bentley.  Then I had lunch before being picked up by Doug and Jenny to go do a food pickup.  After we got the food, we went to the atrium, where I dropped them off.  Then I went back to the pantry and put away the food from the pickup.  Then I went back to the atrium to help Doug and Jenny with the care and shares mobile market.  This is just a big truck that sets up in the parking lot and hands out fresh produce and bread.  There were hardly any people coming through anymore by the time I got there.  I did end up getting a big bag of corn out of the deal.  Then we went into the atrium because Doug had to help serve an eviction notice.  This ended up taking a while, but eventually we made it back to the office, and I headed home. ...

Today I was with maintenance again.  We started off by going to Arcadia to do some inspections.  These rooms were much better kept than the last apartment we did inspections in.  We only had to do 3 rooms, so it didn't take long.  Then Bill took me over to Bentley, where I continued taking pictures again.  I did pictures most of the day, and then Bill picked me up at about 3:30 and we headed back to the office.  It was my day to cook, so I decided to make a pizza, which turned out pretty well.  After supper, we decided to try another community youth group for young adults again.  It was kind of like a church service with singing and a sermon.  I was not super into it because it was a non-denominational group, and they just do things a little differently.  On the bike ride home, my chain fell off while crossing the bridge over the highway.

Today was food pantry day.  I started the day by airing up some tires on our wagon and 2-wheeler.  Then I went to do the food pickups by myself.  When I got back, we got everything put away and then had lunch.  Then we got the pantry opened up.  It was another slow day.  I met a lady who had car troubles, and she was a little difficult to deal with.  I also installed digital thermometers on all the fridges and freezers.  I also got my own box of food from the pantry, and when I got back to the office, I loaded my food in the bike trailer and rode home.  I warmed up some more soup for supper and ate it with some sourdough bread that I got from the pantry.

Today I made it to work without getting hit by a car.  We were moving residents today because the place they were staying was falling off the mountain, and Greccio has sold the building.  The first guy we went to move was quite the character.  He wouldn't wake up when we got there and then yelled at us.  He eventually fell back asleep while we were moving.  He then woke up and started yelling at us again because he thought there was a dead body in the back of his apartment.  Thankfully, there wasn't.  When we were moving his huge wardrobe out, it fell over and broke because it was so top-heavy.  We broke one of the doors off, and then we had to go to Home Depot to get some new door hinges.  I put the hinges on, which was a pain, and then we had lunch.  After lunch, we went and unloaded his stuff.  While we were doing that, some other volunteers were moving the other person.  When we got there, all we had to do was load a disgus...

Today started as a normal day when I got hit by a car on my way to work.  This person was not very nice, and I had to call 911 and talk with the police.  When I finally got to work, I went with Doug to do a pickup.  When we got back, I started cleaning the pantry, but then the older lady who volunteers there sent me home because she was worried about me.  When I got home, I had some lunch and then took my bike to the bike shop to get it looked at.  When I got back from the bike shop, I mowed the lawn and then was lazy the rest of the day.  In the evening, I got the quote for fixing my bike and then had a whole ordeal about trying to get some payment.

We started the day again with a light breakfast before going and playing some pickleball.  Then we had a hymn sing before the church service.  After the church service, we had brunch again.  Then we headed back to the Springs.  When we got home, Christian and I biked to pick up the battery for our van.  When we got back to the house, I put the battery back in the van and pulled the fuse for the radio so that it couldn't draw the battery down anymore.  Then Christian and I went grocery shopping for the week.  When we got home, I made myself some supper and then figured out how to put Farming Simulator on the unit computer.

We started the day by going down to the lodge and eating a light breakfast before going to the chapel for a reflection service.  This involved some singing and a few ways for reflection.  I chose to draw while listening to Christian and Leigha play piano.  After the reflection service, I apparently got put on boat duty and had to help all the kids out of the water with their boats.  Then we had brunch.  After brunch, we had a disc golf tournament that I finished second in.  Then we had more time for games and snacks.  After that, there was a church meeting, but we got put on childcare.  I ended up having to officiate a pillow fight before they all turned against me.  Then it was time for supper, and Mary made brisket.  It was delicious.  Then we met some new friends and we played a game called Terraforming Mars, which took three hours.

Today, I was back at Bentley, taking pictures of the rooms again.  That is all I did all day.  I did discover some new room layouts that I quite liked.  When I was switching levels in the building, I found someone's pizza delivery that looked like it had been sitting outside for at least a few weeks because the squirrels were feasting, and the pizza was very moldy.  When I took lunch, someone had brought crumbl cookies to the Bentley Commons, so they were pretty good.  After lunch, my tablet for taking pictures died, so I helped Josh with some work orders while I waited for it to charge.  Then I finished out my day taking more pictures and then riding back to the office with Posh.  When I got home, we packed up and headed to camp for a church retreat.  When we got there, we had time for snacks and games, and there was some really good carrot cake.  Then we headed to our sleeping accommodations.

Today I started my day by going over to Moreno Apartments with Posh.  He is another maintenance person.  We had to go over and fix a ventilation fan.  Then some of the leasing agents and Bill met us there, and we did some inspections.  We have to go through the house and make sure appliances are working, outlets are good, the fire extinguisher is good, and access overall cleanliness.  We had to write a few people up for having a dirty apartment, and we found a few issues with the apartments.  When we were done with inspections, I rode with Bill over to the Ridge.  We had to check on a make-ready apartment.  The previous tenants' kids had drawn on the walls with crayon, so not only did the whole apartment really need to be cleaned, but it also needed to be fully repainted.  We were there after the cleaning but before the painting.  When we were done with that, we headed over to Bently, where Bill showed me what to do to take pictures of t...

Today is food pantry day.  I started by loading up boxes of plates, cups, and silverware that were donated.  Then we headed to the pantry.  I got to drive while doing the pickup, but I had Gordon ride with me.  He is one of the volunteers.  We had to do a pickup and Sprouts and Trader Joe's.  After we were done with the pickups, we got everything organized and then had some lunch before opening up.  There were not very many people at the pantry today, and we didn't have a whole lot of food either.  It was mostly the usuals.  Some people were really nice and sweet, some were grumpy, and some were drunk or on drugs.  When we were done running the pantry, I made myself a box of food to take home, and we got the stuff that would expire packed up and took it back to the office for free pickings.  Then I had to wait around for Christian and Leigha to meet me with the bike trailer so we could haul stuff home.  On the way home, Christi...

Today was another maintenance day.  I rode with Frank again.  We first had to go change a mailbox lock, and it just had me shaking my head.  They had tried to use a pry bar to open the mailbox and just messed up everything.  Then we had to fix the parking signs we had put up last week because they were already messed up, and someone was mad that we had put one on a tree.  Then we had to go over to East Hills and unclog a toilet.  I didn't enjoy it, but it could have been much worse.  Then we headed to lunch, which was provided by Sherwin-Williams.  They wanted a chance to try and sell Bill some paint, so they brought us out for lunch and we ate in the park.  Then we went out and did some more basic work orders.  A new one today was fixing some plumbing under a sink that I'm not even sure how it ever worked the way it was.  The other new one was fixing a flimsy closet door, which again made no sense given how it was messed up.  ...

I started out my day by sorting some bread and throwing out the moldy bread.  I met a new volunteer today, Joel.  He went with Jenny and me to pick up the donation from Sprouts Natural Grocers.  We got a lot of stuff, and we finally got a bunch of meat.  Then we went to the food pantry and put everything away.  Then I stayed after everything was put away and cleaned the pantry.  Then, for lunch, I helped myself to a frozen meal from the pantry, which was mushroom and kale lasagna.  It might have tasted better if I had been patient enough to let it warm all the way through.  After lunch, Jenny and I went out and restocked some of the little grab-and-go libraries around the apartment complexes.  When we got back to the office, we put some of the extra books and movies on the shelves at the office.  Then I headed home for the day.  When I got home, Michael already had supper almost ready, and it was rice with a chicken curry.  It ...

Since it was Sunday, I was able to sleep past 8, which was awesome.  We went to church by ourselves and were greeted by lots of people wanting to talk to us.  Apparently, we were there for budget Sunday, which was actually kind of interesting, and I learned that our church has a much higher budget than Beth El.  After the service, we were recruited to help move in the winter clothes for the church's mobile clothes closet.  This is a program the church runs where they give out clothes and shoes to anyone who needs them.  We also enjoyed more conversations and some donuts after church.  Then we headed home and had a bite to eat before enjoying a lovely afternoon nap.  When I woke up, it was time to go to the first person's house for our progressive dinner with the support committee.  The first stop was at Adrian's house.  They gave us chips and dip.  We also sat and watched some football and played some badminton in the backyard.  The...

I got up at 5:40 am and then got picked up at 6 by Mike from church, who runs Raw Tools.  We drove up to Denver and got set up for a gun buyback.  We had to set up lots of metal chop saws and lots of tents.  Then we had about 50 volunteers show up to help run the event.  Here is the rundown of how it all works.  We were set up in a church parking lot, so we directed people into the parking lot where there were greeters waiting to thank them for coming.  We try to be extremely welcoming because you never know where people are coming from when they show up with guns to turn in.  We had a huge turnout out so the line was very backed up.  Once people are in the parking lot, they are met with a shepherd.  That was my job.  We took whoever was next in line and handed them a quick survey, which we make sure there was no pressure on them and that they would be kept anonymous.  Since people are not allowed to get out of their vehicles, it is...

Today, we started off by going and changing a mailbox lock.  The key was messed up, so we had to drill it out.  Then we went and inspected the biggest dump of an apartment I have ever seen.  We also changed the lock.  Then we went and installed an AC unit for a lady, looked at some carpet that needed fixing and changed some smoke detectors, and replaced some fire extinguishers.  Just a lot of odd jobs.  Then we went and took out the trash and one of the apartment complexes.  That pretty much finished the work day, but then I had to navigate town without my phone to go get it from the repair shop.  It was a nightmare, and I couldn't believe I actually made it there.  Then I had to wait for an hour for them to finish my phone.  Then I easily biked home using my phone and then watched Goessel play the season opener.

Today was my first day of being on the maintenance crew.  And let me tell you, they are a rowdy group.  We started by having our morning meeting, where we discussed what needed to be done today.  I got partnered with Frank, who is a really nice guy and also pretty funny.  We started our day by going to Home Depot to get supplies.  We found T posts and a pounder, but we couldn't find a reserved parking sign to hang on them.  We then went to Lowe's to try and find them, but they didn't have any either.  Then we went to a residency and hung up some blinds.  This took only about 10 minutes, and then we headed back to the office because Bill had found us some signs.  Then we went back and hung up the signs.  We did a very rough job with my disapproval, but Frank said they would probably get stolen or destroyed within a week.  Then we went to Lowe's again and got some locks that we needed to change out.  Then we went to the locksmith...

I began my day at work by doing some cleaning in the kitchen, organizing the library, and restocking snacks.  Then I got to drive the work van, and we headed to the food pantry.  We dropped off Jenny, and then Doug and I went to pick up donations from Sprouts and Trader Joe's.  When we got back with our donations, we got the pantry organized and then had some lunch.  After lunch, we got the pantry started, calling in people in the order they signed up.  They could shop around the pantry and pick out what they wanted.  I pretty much just stood around and assisted when needed.  When we were done giving out food, we had to pack up all the stuff that people didn't take that was going to expire.  There were a lot of really gross-looking salads.  Then Doug came back from the office to pick us up.  We also got to keep some food for ourselves, so I got some chocolate croissants.  When we got back to the office, we put out some food for peop...

Today was my first day of work.  I made sure I was there plenty early, and by plenty early, I was there 20 minutes early.  I started my day by cleaning up some stuff from the Labor Day lift-off event.  After that, we headed over to Goodwill to pick up some books for the libraries that Greccio runs.  Then we headed over to the food pantry, and I stayed there and cleaned for a few hours.  Then we headed over to one of the local grocery stores and picked up a food donation.  We then took it back to the pantry and put everything away.  We had some pickle de gallo, which is a unique version of Pico de gallo.  Anyway, it exploded because it was bad.  Then we headed back to HQ.  Then I met with maintenance, and we decided it was too late to start anything for the day, so I just cleaned up trash around the building for a while.  You wouldn't believe some of the stuff I found.  Then I was done for the day and headed home for some rest....

I got up plenty early to go watch Labor Day Lift Off.  This is when all the balloons from the night before take off.  We got there right as the first balloons were taking flight.  They took off pretty consistently for about an hour.  They were really cool to watch.  There were also a few balloons that didn't take off that were there for show and no fly.  Michael and I got separated and then had to figure out how to find each other again.  After we were done watching the balloons, we headed back to the house, where we then decided to try and get the van going.  We first tried the neighbor's jump pack, which didn't have enough power to do anything.  Then we tried the battery on their car, which kind of worked, but it still wouldn't start.  I tried to just get the cables to make a better connection, but that didn't work either.  Eventually, I ended up pulling the battery out and then hauling it to Advanced Auto Parts in the basket of a...

I began the day by waking up early and hiking up Raspberry with some people I had met the day before.  The way up was very smooth, and the top provided a lovely sight of Pikes Peak.  I decided to take a different way back down, which didn't go as well as the way up.  I hiked about an extra mile past camp and ended up having to hike the road for about a mile.  I made it back about 20 minutes late for church, but still caught the sermon, which is obviously the most important part.  After church, we had brunch and fellowship time.  After brunch, I went on a treasure hunt and was unsuccessful.  Then I decided to take a nap on the swings.  After my nap, I hiked up Monkey Rock and got a good view of Pikes Peak and the camp.  I also checked out the mine.  After that, we had a few exciting games of phooseball.  Then it was time for supper and more fellowship time.  Then we got packed up and headed back to Colorado Springs.  When w...

I began this day by enjoying some time in nature, sitting by the creek before heading up to breakfast.  Cook Mary made us cherry coffee cake, which was a new one for me.  After breakfast, we divided up the tasks for work and split up.  My group first headed up to the chapel, where we reset it for church the next morning.  There was a wedding the previous weekend.  After we reset everything in there, we went to the shop and moved some tables and benches to the chapel.  When our Mennonite moving services were no longer required, we went and worked on campsite 6.  We had to move some big logs and re-level the tent pad and the picnic table.  We hauled all the firewood up to Sky Hi View, where we unloaded it and loaded the truck with split wood, which we then took over to Eagles Nest.  Then it was time for lunch.  After lunch, my group was assigned to weed pulling, which we did from about 1:30 to 5:00. We were pulling weeds on the mountainsid...

We started off the day by getting to work by ourselves.  We just had to make sure we wouldn't get lost on Tuesday when we start.  After the bike ride, we had another meeting as a house and just discussed things that came up throughout the week, or just things that we missed.  After that discussion, we ate some lunch and then had our last meeting with the Alaska unit.  After our meeting, we got packed up and headed out to camp, which is only about a 40-minute drive for us, which is awesome.   We are tenting for the first time and Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp.  Michael and I got our 2-person tent set up in record time, even though we were basically pounding our stakes into solid rock.  We learned that there are about 150 campers out here this weekend, which is more than any of us have ever seen out here.  There is a college cross-country team and another church group alongside the work and play group.  Once we were settled in, Corvin led us on...

We began our day by riding our bikes to the bus stop and then taking the bus over to Michael's placement for the year.  He is working in Our House, which is a place for adults with disabilities.  After our trip there, we tested out some tents in the backyard to prepare for our upcoming camping trip to Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp.  After that, I went on a walk with Christian for our 1 on 1 conversations.  We talked about what my goals are for the year, and we also talked about how I'm feeling physically, mentally, and spiritually.  Once we were back from our walk, we had lunch.  After lunch, we had another meeting with the Alaska unit.  This time, we were joined by Julie Lehman to talk about transition.  We talked about how to handle big changes like the one we all made.  After that meeting, we rode pike rides down to a bus stop and then rode the bus over to the church.  At the church, we got a full tour, and then went over the huge lis...

On the morning of day 4, we visited the Garden of the Gods.  We rode the bus most of the way there and then rode e-bikes into the park and around the loop.  Halfway around the loop, one of our e-bikes died, so we had to ride it the rest of the way with a dead battery.  We made it back to a station and exchanged it for one that worked.  When we got back from our adventure, we had a session about goal setting.  We decided as a unit that our goal would be to try to stay on or under budget for our food.  Our budget for food is 520 dollars a month.  We also spent some time writing personal goals.  Then it was time for lunch, and I again had Mac and cheese with pulled pork.  After lunch, we had another meeting with Michael Oyer and the Alaska unit.  This time, we were joined by Travis Durksen.  He talked to us about how MMN used social media and the safe ways should use social media.  He also talked to us about how we should stay con...

On day three, we went on another early morning bike ride over to Greccio Housing.  It's only about a 15-minute bike ride, depending on your luck with stop lights.  I met my boss, and I got a tour of the facility.  I also met a fellow Chiefs fan.  When we got back from our bike ride, we discussed the roles of living together, cooking, cleaning, etc.  For lunch, I had mac and cheese with pulled pork and some more cobbler.  After lunch, we had a Zoom meeting with Michael Oyer and the Alaska unit.  We talked about how to take advantage of your time here with service adventure and to be curious.  After our meeting, I went for another bike ride, this time I went to explore a nearby park with some trails.  They weren't the best trails, but there were some good views.  After my bike ride, we had boundary training, which was a little awkward but probably a good reminder.  For supper, another member of the congregation made us some soup, sour...

I woke up plenty early on Monday because I was still on Kansas time.  We threw together a quick breakfast and headed out to the Pike Ride bike stop.  Pike Ride is a company that stations e-bikes all over the city.  They are really fun to ride.  We rode our bikes to the huge library and got library cards.  Then we rode downtown and checked out some of the popular bike trails.  When we got back to the unit, we learned about service adventure policies for a while.  Then we had mac and cheese and enchiladas for lunch.  We love leftovers at the unit.  Then we went and checked out the local Mennonite attractions, meaning a big thrift store and the grocery store with all the best deals.  I then spent my afternoon break taking a bike ride to Old Colorado City.  For supper, we were provided with pulled pork and peach cobbler.  It was delicious.  After that, we played arguably the best Mennonite game ever, Dutch Blitz.

          I arrived at the unit on Sunday afternoon after going to Beth El Mennonite Church in the morning.  At church that morning, I immediately learned how the church was going to feed us because they had given us a lot of leftover food from the previous week.  I spent most of my first afternoon at home unpacking my bags and setting up my room.  I am sharing a room with Michael, who is from Germany.  For supper that evening, a member of the church made us enchiladas.  The conversation around the dinner table mostly consisted of the leaders asking us a lot of questions, trying to get to know us.  By the way, the unit leaders are Christian and Leigha Stolfutz, and their 2-year-old daughter Naomi.  After supper, we got basic instructions on how the house worked, like how to use the washer and the dishwasher.  We also learned that if you try to use the dryer, a lot of water might come running down the wall behind the d...

Hello, this is Sam.  I will write here as often as possible to keep people updated on the things I'm doing.  I will also be having my Grandma's share a short bit in church about once a month for anyone that doesn't read this.  I will try to write in here every day about what I'm doing, but my entries may not always be very consistent.  If you would like more details or have a question, please don't hesitate to reach out, and I'll be happy to discuss further.