Another Week Flies By.....

I absolutely cannot believe how fast time is going by.....Week 3 bites the dust! I had 150 hours in the kitchen last month and Beth calculated that we have put in over 45 hours in the last 4 days! Our boss "Carina" said a tearful good-bye on Friday morning and so far we have managed to continue to feed the brothers!!! It will just take a little while to get into our own routine with her gone...

This week the brothers have been working on painting the metal roof trusses and other metal parts of the roof, and then yesterday was the ENORMOUS job of actually putting the trusses on the walls! I knew that it would be a big day for the brothers when at morning breakfast the construction group prayed for Jehovah to keep everyone safe due to the dangerous work that they were going to do that day! I was a little nervous! But, everything went well. They don't use cranes or heavy machinery...it is kind of like a "Amish barn-raising"! They have a whole bunch of brothers that lift these HUGE and HEAVY metal trusses up by hand and ropes! Of course, you just know that Chad had to be right there in the middle of it all! Don't worry about your back or anything! hahahahaha

I also am making progress in my "Yuckometer"! Last week when the sister was cutting up the whole chickens: heads, guts, feet, everything...I was a little grossed out. But, sure enough yesterday I got my first lesson in how to do it and gut it and everything! They have a system: First, you cut off the wings, then the legs, then you split the torso in half into breast and back. You then clean off the breast half and clean out all of the organs (saving them of course for the next soup!) Then you cut off the neck and head. They haven't used the head for anything, although some sisters do. You cut the neck into 3 pieces which goes into soup also! After you have cleaned and skinned the torso, then you cut the nails off the the feet (almost any chicken soup here will have claws floating in it!) Today I did one all on my own and it wasn't that bad! (although the chicken's one eye was slightly open and so I felt like he was looking at me!) I am going to be a REAL woman before this is all over! Although I did tell them that when a live pig or cow comes walking through the door, that is where I draw the line! hahahahaha I have posted a few more pictures so you can see what's been going on!

Chad always likes to play...

I now have new appreciation for "cranes"!

My "chicken gutting" lessons!

These 2 fleshly sisters arrived here last week from Georgia. They are here to serve for at least 6 months. They will be going to Canar, which is about an hour from here. There is a HUGE need there to cover the territory. That congregation has 40 publishers and an average of 100 in attendance at the meetings. There are people who want to study and no one to study with them! We are very excited for these sisters! Last week they were kind enough to come after lunch for a few hours just to help us with the dishes!

...and Fernando, our new Chef! Fernando had to quit his job a few months ago because he was missing some meetings. He decided not to find another job until after the remodel, because he wanted to be there to help out everyday! Out of the kindness of his heart, he has been coming for a few hours everyday just to help us with the dishes and the cleaning since he knows we are tired! He also works at the construction site everyday, guard duty at night sometimes, and since many of us have to walk home in the dark, he waits around so that he can drive us all home! The other plus to him working with us in the kitchen is that the sisters all love him! So, we have been getting more help with the dishes! hahahahahaha He recently just sat in on his first pioneer meeting with us. We were SOOO excited when he turned in his reg. pio. application last month!