Wednesday, July 18th, 2007

     Groan. 

I wake up to the sound of my screaming alarm clock.  I fumble for the switch to turn the alarm off but my fingers are numb from a cold nights sleep.  I rip the battery out of the clock and hop out of bed.  By hop I mean a slow and tedious physical and mental challenge of trying to overcome my body`s need for sleep. 

Once I am actually out of bed I grab a pile of clothes that I had worn days before and head for the shower.  Military shower has a new meaning when you are washing in water that is just above freezing.  The only way to avoid getting hypothermia in a matter of seconds is to create friction on the area of contact at the exact moment the water touches. 

I finish my shower and head out to breakfast which is located across a soccer field and through some bushes which I again for the thousandth time scrape myself on.  Once I arrive my body catches up to my brain when it smells breakfast, ham and scrambled eggs, a variety of different rolls and biscuits, corn flakes and puffed wheat, just squeezed orange juice and Coffey its all there. 

We headed back to Nocheto where we did VBS.  This is my favorite part of our time here in Peru I just like to step back and take a look at some of the amazing things going on around me.  First of all there is the amazing blanco giganta Zak Rupert in the foreground swinging kids around and around.  Then you see Tom Hamil showing the kids how he got an invisible hook caught in is lip.  The rest of the picture is sprinkled with team members playing catch, basketball, volleyball, and jump rope with the kids.  Everything has a warm glow about it as we head back to the seminary after an incredibly fun time. 

  We also switched rooms today so now I don´t have to hike all the way across the soccer field.  We eat dinner which is an amazing combination of beef patties and french fries with ketchup.  After dinner we head to the conference hall to worship. 

We worshipped together as one team and Andy, Jess, and Ginny gave their devotionals.  We finished the evening by sending Simon Johnson off back to America.  I headed back to my room knowing there was a warm shower waiting for me in the morning.


Michael Patton

Dear Parents,

There are so many amazing things happening here in Peru both between the team and the beautiful kids and between team members that I could not possible write them all down.  Believe me when I tell you that we are One Body In Christ. 
 
Team Leader,
Tom Hamill