Day 3: Game Night

We've only been here for two days and it feels like we've known each other for such a long time! It's ridiculous! We thought the early morning wake up would be hard, but who knew that 7:00 wasn't all that early!? The weather is getting a lot better or maybe we're just getting used to the cold... This morning we were SHOWERED with tasty food: biscuits, pancakes, sausage, bacon, the list goes on =) Singing in the van isn't as bad when you have someone accompanying you.  It sure doesn't help though when Thomas is filming it. Not to call him out or anything, but he also has a knack for switching radio stations from Avril Lavigne to classic rock...yay hotel California.

We met a nice lady named Pat Nelson (and her snappy dog Chloe), who needed help renovating her house and patching it up. After a few minutes of work, we realized how much it meant to her to have company, just people around to talk to. It sounded like she needed more than just physical support, but emotional as well. Painting was an interesting experience for all of us, especially Chloe the terrier who seemed to suspect the roller of illicit activities...mainly dripping on the carpet. Good call, Chloe. (shoutout#2).

The painting was interesting because we found a couple different colors we weren't expecting (who knew purple paint could turn white?!?) and we also found some interesting aspects of Ms. Nelson's life that caught our eyes. Hellooooo class of '87 yearbook! Her daughter was homecoming queen and cheerleader that year, and we could all see Ms. Nelson's face light up when she talked about her. That, and just generally when she talked about her family it always seemed with loving care and attachment. One of the things that Deedee the Ministry Center manager told us was that even though Ms. Nelson had family (that even lived across the street from her), that didn't mean that she was getting the help she needed. It was for this reason that we noticed how thoughtfully she talked about her family.

At the end of the day, we received our lovely service shirts from ASB. The quote was very thought-provoking. So thought-provoking in fact that our mental faculties were on point when it came to playing the game "mafia". Highlights: Diana always seemed to hear people moving as a tip-off for when they were mafia; Manpreet's suspicious silence and Kemi's ridiculous laughter were polar opposites, and gave them away almost immediately; there was only one time when the townspeople won....good job guys.

Excited for more Bland Ministry Center tomorrow!

Deuces, Mariel and Sabrina