We all met up in Las Vegas around 9:00 AM in Las Vegas on Wednesday 12/27. The group consisted of 4 cars and 25 people:

Car 1:
Alan Westenskow
Kristen Proctor
Will
Dave

Car 2:
Paul Proctor
Peggy Proctor
Paul Proctor
Shayna Proctor
Emily Proctor

Car 3:
Joyce Green
Shon Conover
Annie Conover

Car 4:
Scott Isaacson
Sharon Isaacson
Steve Isaacson
Levi Isaacson
Daniel Isaacson
Spencer Isaacson
Christopher Wertz
Joss Wertz
Cord Wertz
Scott Isaacson
Eric Newren
Blaine Evanson
Scott Evanson

We made it to the Otay border by about 4:30 PM. We arrived at Patti's and Alicia's and started to unpack and move in. Procotors and Alan brought tents which were a big help. We set the tents up in the courtyard of Alicia's house. The men were in one room, the women were in the other. We brought our own for dinner Wed evening. One group was assigned to get food for breakfast and and lunch the next day.

Another group cleaned up the kitchen and organized. The project leaders met with Carmina at Christinas and Suzannas to view the projects and start work on designs and think about needed materials.

The next morning we got a late start, but had everyone working by 9:30 or so. Alan took over at Suzannas and had Kristen, Dave, Will, Joyce, Shon, Annie, Christopher, Joss, Daniel, Eric, and others. The took down the tarp patched roof and moved the family out of the house. With used sheets of 3 ply (plywood from Martha's hardware store) they began to put up siding and raise the rafters to give the roof some slope. They make a center beam and had most of the framing done by the first day. The sheets of wafer board and other scrape were used for the roof the second day

(Friday). Graveled rolled roof was put up, tarred, and sealed up. They put up facia board and green fiber glass panels to cover between the walls and the new higher roof. They put up insulation on the south wall (we bought out all the stores we could find, no more insulation) and the sheet rocked, taped, and painted the inside. They trimmed and painted (two tone, "melon" and "white") the outside on the 3rd day (Sat). Most of the team sacrificed any rest or play opportunities to work hard and fininsh a big job. The salvaged, fixed, repaired, put in windows, leveled, cleaned, moved, hammered, sawed, build walls, etc, etc, etc. They did a great job. They were able to get most of the young neighborhood kids involved. Chino took the lead is a great "man of the house" Suzanna now has a home, not just a shack or a set of walls and a roof. She lost some money in the move and the team was able to help make it up to her. She has the heavy stuff moved back in and is now deciding what to keep and what to throw out. She suffered 3 days of disruption, but still had a happy strong attitude and she was so greatful. Thanks to Alan and Kristen for their leadership and example and to all the workers for their sore sweaty bodies at a hard job in lots of sun and heat. Frequent drinks and a few popcicle breaks helped.

The windows are on the North and East sides to help with ventilation in the hot summer. Paul Proctor took over a supervisor at Christina's house. He had Steve, Scott, Paul, Shayna, Peggy, Emily, Blaine, Scott, Levi, Joyce, and others as a work crew. They had to saw through cement floors, walls, and almost everything to make room for new windows and plumbing. The team decided to do rough plumbing for hot water some day. The crew has some hard, heavy labor. They dug a sewer pipe trench from the back all the way to the front sidewalk. They dug and dug and dug. They found a water source and tied that in and hooked up the new house to the sewer with a 4" pipe. They cut the floor for sewar and water. The walls were crooked and hard to deal with (rebar, scrap, etc). It looked like a war zone after one day but they had it all putback together with cement back in by Saturday evening. They fought one battle after another. They laid a lot of pipe and moved a lot of dirt. The water was turned on to the house and the finish plumbing almost got done by Sat night (10:00 PM and later!). The crew decided to rest on the sabbath and stay an extra day and finish up the left over tasks on Monday.

We asked Carmina and Patty about other potential jobs, but we never started on those, we had so much to do with the 2 projects.

Some of the group left to go shopping in El Centro late friday night. By the time we got there, many of the stores had closed. We got a late start because of all the work we had to do that was not getting done. Many sacrificed a fun personal trip shopping for more work. On Sat afternoon, we had two full crews going but some of the extra helpers got a quick trip to a foggy and cold beach. Many worked until late each night.

On Sunday we found Mormon chapel in Otay that started at 10:00 AM. After moving out of Alicias at 8:00 AM we got to the Catholic Mission at 9:00 and showered and bathed for the first time. Many had been eager to shower either Fri or Sat but we were just too busy to take a break. We got to church all spiffed up by 10:00 or so and found a meeting that was 3 wards in a dedicatory service for a new building.

The Stake President was there and he said there would be a new stake formed in March 2001 and that building would be the stake center. We returned to the Mission to change. We took a trip to the beach for an afternoon break and then to Tecate to see some of the previous work projects. We found the building that Steve and Sharon and Christopher helped to build 5 or so years ago. Spencer found the house near Oscar's that he helped to build last Christmas. We all returned to the Guadalupe Catholic Chapel near Cristina's for a Posada at 6:00. Our group helped to decorate and knocked at the door with lit candles. Patty, Suzanna, and Chrisina had all worked hard to cook tamales and Champrada (sp?). It was fun. The pinata was a blast and many of our group got to take their 3 swings. The group up on the roof holding it made it harder of course! We finished up the evening with a severe cut to Luis' finger that as fixed up and 5 stiches to the head of one young man who slipped and fell on the hard tile. Paul Proctor (the dad) was Santa and gave out packets of chocolate, peanuts, hiccuma, cane, and other goodies. We returned to the mission at 10:00 PM where they were holding the last 2 benches for us as special visitors for the last part of Mass. The meeting was packed and at the end the had a round of applause for us and there were MANY happy new year hugs and warm welcomes from kind hearts. Later they had sweet rolls and more hot cocoa and rice type drinks. Their choir came and sang to us and we sang some english songs. Most were in bed before 11:30 on New Years Eve (tired from so much work and an early and long day the next day). Shon, Annie, and Joyce left earlier that afternoon to finish cleaning Suzannas and head for home since they had a long drive on Monday. A small group went to El Centro for a New Years exploration trip.

Steve got sick one day and Levi was ill on the way home but for the most part we were blessed with health and protection.

The Isaacson van left at around 8:00 AM on Monday and most arrived home to Utah by around 10:00 PM or so. The Procotors and Alan and Dave and Will stayed on Monday to finish Cristina's and return a borrowed extension ladder from Marthas hardware store.

It was a very productive SHORT trip. Most everyone felt like it was too short. We skipped some of the more typical relaxing moments because of the work. Scott Isaacson, the Project Director, spent the whole time shuttling between projects making sure supplies were there and people that needed help had help. As we separated on Sunday and Monday there were many hugs and happy hearts. We all felt like we had done something good in this world, making it a better place, one step at a time.