Day 1 in Copper Center

We slept really well our first night staying at the Mt. Drum Fellowship Hall. Our local host "Little Man" has shown us around and we are settled in. The kids are getting along very well and eager to help. To keep them focused on the Mission and each other we have taken their cell phones away and although they were not happy after a couple of days they seem to miss them less and less. We met Pastor Todd and he gave us our first assignment which was to strip down all the walls, wash, spackle and paint. We got almost 1/2 of the church done today and should finish tomorrow. We will then wait for our next assignment. While some were painting, Little Man had some of the boys outside taking off the old gutters which will be replaced.
Mt. Drum Fellowship Hall sits on the banks of the Copper River, which is flowing quite rapidly as of now. It is also very close to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. The kids as well as me are getting a kick out of how long daylight is. This time of year it really does not get dark out just dusk. The sun sets around 11:30 and rises about 4:40 or so. We still have yet to see our first wild bear, but we did see some wild moose along the Palmer Highway. We watched a movie as a group last night and all slept well.
Darla and I are enjoying the company of some very wonderful kids. Can't wait for tomorrow.