Hey guys!!
Well the trip to New Orleans was fantastic! We spent a wonderful 18 hours in the vans to get there, which wasn't that bad i guess. We then spent the next four days gutting the houses. The beginning was always the worst b/c the walls and ceiling were covered in mold and some of their stuff was still in the house. That all made the smell horrible, it was a cold, rotten, sometimes unbearable smell. We had to wear masks and gloves the whole time we were in the house, that made it really hot, but eventually you could just get used to it. I loved tearing down walls though!! Being able to wack the tar out of the walls and just tear it all down!! I had a fun time with the crowbar though, lol. I definitely wacked my finger and got a wonderful bruise. It's still swelled up too. Then, the same day, I was pullin out screws from the ceiling w/ the crowbar and it slipped and wacked me right on the top of my nose. Thankfully I didn't hit myself right in the eye. But my dr. selenke fixed me up! lol. I felt like such a nerd. Anyways, our three teams completely gutted six houses! The reactions from the homeowners was priceless though and made our whole week of work worthwhile! God showed many of us many things physically and spiritually that I'm sure we will all never forget. Anyways, I want to know how everyone is doing, so let me know!! Also, i got to see Jen, Lydia, and Amanda today! It made me cry, i missed you girls so much! I hope everyone has a wonderful week!! And don't ever forget that i love you!
Some pictures from New Orleans...

This was the first house my team gutted and those are all the clothes and stuff that I pulled out of the closet, we had to throw it all away b/c the mold ruined it. All the stuff on the wall is the mold.

This is some of the stuff that we pulled out of our first house, it got about twice as big by the time we were done. There were trash piles just like this all around, and they usually come and pick the trash up twice a week. There was trash everywhere though so it is going to take a long time to get everything cleaned up.

There were lots of abandoned cars everywhere. They said people would just get out of their cars and start walking. The white stuff you can see on some of them is mold, so they are all pretty messed up.

This is a car whose top was smashed in. Just a small glimpse of the devastation that happened down there.

This is the superdome.

Ann knockin out walls and pulling out the insallation. (sp?)

All of us girls! I had an absolute blast with all of them!

This is our whole group!
Sorry that was long! Have a great week! ~Jerrica |