My first Sunday back in Oregon June 4

Everyone was so delighted to see me in church yesterday. They said how much they had missed me while I was gone. Those 2 months went so fast and my mind is atill back in MS. I woke up the first night at home and wondered where I was as it looked different than my trailer and then I realized I'm in my own bed.


On Sun Pastor Michael called me forward during the service and presented a plate to me for Hillsboro PResbyterian Church. It came from the mission commission of the Cascades Presbytery to churches who have sent teams to help Katrina victims in MS. Our church has the plate on display for the month of June. It was so appropriate that it was my first Sun back and it was the day that the HPC group was doing a presentation about their experience in MS.


John and Yvonne from LaGrande, OR came over for the weekend to be part of the presentation also and share in a mini reunion. Everyone wore their blue PDA shirts and/or badges which was neat. I wore my blue manager shirt and I spoke more about the job of the manager, process for people getting assistance. J R did a DVD show that covered some before and after pictures of Katrina, pictures of what their group did on the job sites. We had a sandwich lunch after the service so people could eat while we did the presentation.

Thank you all for reading this blog, praying for me, encouraging me as I've had a good time in MS and will go back. I have no specific plans for the summer so probably won't be adding to my blog site for now. Blessings to you.

Phyllis

My trip back to Oregon May 31

I was scheduled to leave Gulfport MS about noon on Wed May 31. There were storms in the Houston area so our flight was cancelled. We (a number of us) waited 2 hours for the plane to head to Houston. I missed my connection to Portland, OR by 15 min so they put me on an evening flight. I was to leave Houston about 4 pm but didn't leave until 9:30 pm. Many of us tried stand-by on the 6 pm flight but it was full and no room for us. I was 6 hours late arriving in Portland so my son who works nights came to pick me up. They live close to the airport so I just stayed at their house for the rest of the night. That way I could see my granddaughters in the morning and take them to school while their dad slept.

It takes a little adjusting to the routine of life back home after the busy, hectic pace in the village. There the day started at 5:30 am (sometimes earlier) and ended about 10 pm or later. I liked driving my truck so a big change to my little Ford car except my car is so much easier to manuever in and out of parking spaces. I now have to cook for myself as I ate meals prepared by the groups each day. There were piles of mail on my table. My sister picked up my mail every week and sorted it into piles so I could check the important stuff first. I looked at the table and thought where do I start. 2 months is a long time to be gone. I balanced my checkbook as I had left it so my son could pay my utilities. I had had a couple deposits, used my debit card a few times but it came out to the penny with all the interuptions. GOD IS GOOD!!!

The weather is so much cooler and rainy. The overcast here is much darker than in MS or my house just seems darker. The huts with the white roofs had a lot of glare when the sun was shining. I was used to wearing shorts and tank tops many days and now I'm back to warmer clothes.

Sun June 4 the others from HPC and I will be sharing after the service. We'll speak and share pictures of the experiences. Mission trips are life changing. I will go back sometime but in cooler weather, I hope.

Blessings to all of you who have prayed, supported the volunteers, read this blog site, touched my life. Only God knows what is next for me.

Phyllis

My last day as manager May 30

Today is Tuesday and my last full day as manager at Gautier. Kathryn will be taking over for 2 weeks until a permanent person gets there. But I'm leaving her with an issue. Mon afternoon we couldn't seem to keep the air conditioners going. Today was worse as circuit breakers weren't popped but I couldn't reset the GFI's. I made a phone call and we decided there was a power problem. I called the electric company and he discovered that the wires at the base of the meter were burned out on one side. All the insulation was burned off. So we only had power in half of the outlets Tues night and Wed. Thankfully the refrigerators and freezers were running okay. Every other outlet didn't have power. Men's showers had lights but the women's showers had no lights. There were no lights for the driveway or open area in the middle of the village.

I thought what a problem to leave the new manager!! But there was an electrician at another of the villages so they came on Wed and replaced the wiring. Power was restored to the village. It was hot these last couple days. The groups at their work sites worked on homes without any air conditioning. But the breezes come in mid-afternoon which make the day more pleasant or tolerable even with the humidity.

One of the pleasant things I got to do before I left was purchase 2 new gas grills. A lady had come down with memorial money from her husband's death recently and I was to buy things for the village. We had gotten the lawn weeder/mower earlier. When the village gets to be capacity for volunteers, we need several grills to be able to cook for everyone.

Then I also arranged to get a new garage door for an elderly, disabled lady. She was living in a FEMA trailer but she can move into her house now as the work has been done. Garage door was ruined so she needed a new door and opener. She had no money so I used some of the gift cards I had for Lowes to pay for it. She was so appreciative as she wanted the security of the door opener. She said her dad was a Presbyterian but I didn't ask where or if she went to church somewhere. When she comes to the village, she drives up to the gate and honks her horn and I know who it is.

I needed to get my suitcases packed as I leave Wed morning. I did have power in my trailer so I had lights. We so easily take some things for granted. I will add one more report about my trip home back to Oregon.

Phyllis