Today was slower than normal since the team from Virginia that sort of adopted me when I showed up was leaving and a new one from there was arriving. We did end up going out to Pass Christian in the afternoon to work on the house of one of the member's in-laws. They were over a mile from the coast but right on a small bayou so the water reached to the second floor about 23 feet above what appeared to be the normal level. This house was far worse than the one the previous team had thought was the worst. The mold was very bad and it had thick, black bayou mud everywhere on the first floor. Even though they saved many things on the second floor, they would have been "luckier" if the house had been destroyed as far as rebuilding is concerned, but you can't tell them that.


You must admire the spirit of some of the people here who are determined to resume normal life. They have hope and it's encouraging to see signs like "We will rebuild" and American flags and to know that the Church is a very big part of that hope. Even churches totally destroyed are nurturing that hope. It's amazing to see the impact we have and it's just a drop in the Gulf so to speak for the needs are so immense and so far reaching.