West Virginia Mission Trip, Day 5, Thursday August 10

   Wow, what a day!  First I must thank the most High God for it.  Most of us went to the West Virginia State Fair in the evening.  But perhaps I am getting ahead of myself.  The day started off partly sunny, was cloudy in the afternoon with rain late, which let up in the evening for the most part.  Did I mention the  Fair?  I digress again. 
   Team Joni started with Dave driving Shawn and Greg to Lowe’s for yet more plumbing supplies.  The rest of us, Donna, Kelly, Jean, and I waited a few minutes outside for them to return with the key.  Once in we got down to business.  Kelly and Dave continued with applying mud to perfection in the laundry room, the living room, and of course the hallway again.  Donna and I tried to keep up with the sanding of what we mudded yesterday.  Cool fact: Donna went on a Joplin mission trip after the tornado.  She is a teacher, and was helping out moving school material from the damaged building to the new makeshift facilities for the students.  Therefore I am sure she was especially enthusiastic about carrying the stuff up all those stairs, knowing how much the students of Joplin needed them.  Jean spent part of the day cleaning up after we messy people.  Thank you very much Jean!
   Shawn once again outworked all of us by doing the dirty work, of laying more piping under the house, and cutting and screwing more beams to shore up the floor in the bathroom.  One more trip to the local hardware store and they had almost everything they needed to complete that important project.  Shawn made one more trip to Lowe’s in the evening.  God Bless You!!   Another Fun Fact:  when Shawn is working hard he sometimes lets out an excited whoop.  Nothing to be worried about though, as I have found out.  Project Manager Gary showed up to inspect our work and to install the kitchen cabinets with Donna in the afternoon.  His mother showed up and thanked us for all our help on Monday and Wednesday.  She even encouraged us to use her house when we needed to so we could avoid a trip to the local gas station.  Joan Stewart showed up to do a brief inspection too.  She is the executive director of the West Virginia Ministry of Advocacy and Workcamps, the Presbyterian organization that coordinates visitors like us to the state to help those in need.
   Team Michelle continued the projects they have been working on all week.  Bob and Elvis have rebuilt an entire roofline to guide rainwater away from a door that had rotted away.  We were worried that they were working for two hours on a wet metal roof in the rain, but fortunately there were no injuries.  Peter, Pete, Autumn, Kyle, and Becky continued their work of drywalling the room we’ve been working on.  The work is going well, even though Pastor Pete seems to have a mental block on Autumn’s name.
   We had heard from various people about the big upcoming West Virginia State Fair in nearby Lewisburg.  So of course we had to check it out.  After we were done working at our designated site we took a quick shower at the church, then headed off there.  It was quite crowded as usual.  I had seen a flyer left at the church, and seen a picture of Jocelyn in it, this year’s 2017 Association of Fairs and Festivals Queen.  I might have mentioned to a few people that I would be excited to meet her, never expecting to actually do so of course.  But meet her I did, and a picture follows to prove it.  Turns out she is a Steeler Fan, and an even bigger Pirate Fan.  What a small world God has made for us, some might say.  And I even rode the big Ferris Wheel with Kelly, while Donna looked on.  We two actually followed Kyle, Autumn, and Pete who had just gotten off.  And of course I had to buy a world famous Cinnamon Roll at the concession stand. Gary’s Mom had told us to not to miss them.  And several of us even met Joni, who had just quit work for the day at the pizza place there.  Her husband worked at a nearby food truck, and we met him as well.  Hugs were plentiful from her, and Donna showed us pictures of what we had done at her house today.
  Once again we had many blessings, and greatly appreciate your continued thoughts and prayers.  One more work day left, and then we must sadly go back home.

   Signing off, Clark, God Bless!!!

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