The House the Elders' Quorum Built

I mentioned in a previous post that the Elders' Quorum in our branch built a new house for Yesénia and her family.  Yesénia is a young 22 year old mom with three little boys--four year old twins David and Julian, and two year old Daniel.  Her cousin, Vicki, and her uncle, Oscar (who is handicapped because he has only one useful leg yet still cuts firewood and helps with the boys), live there as well.  They literally live on a hillside in a humble home they built themselves which has no electricity or plumbing.  It's one room with two beds, some drawers, and a fridge they use for storage.  The kitchen is outdoors with a tarp roof.

Several months ago the missionaries met Yesénia and began teaching her.   We also visited them on occasion and when Yesénia decided to be baptized, she asked Brent to baptize her in the ocean.  We have become very close to this dear family and wanted to share a little of their story.

Yesénia's husband died about three years ago of cancer.  Yesénia and Vicki earn money by making 200 tortillas early in the morning, six days a week, then Vicki walks around the neighborhood selling them.  If they sell them all, their net earnings for the day are 130 pesos, about $7.00, used for food, water, and other necessities for their family of five.

A few months ago the neighbor told Yesénia her house was on the their property so they had to move it to the other side of the kitchen area.  They began saving money to buy the supplies with plans to rebuild their house little by litlte.  Who knows how long it would have taken to save the money.  About six weeks later the Elders' Quorum President heard about their situation and formed a work project for the men in the branch.

With the little money Yesénia and Vicki had saved plus some donations, they were able to buy enough new wood for the walls to add to the usable wood from the old house, and cinder blocks to build a foundation wall to keep water out.  They even put in a cement floor (which was mixed by hand and hauled with a wheelbarrow).  It was so amazing to watch the weekly progress of the house and the dedication of the men.  All this was done with no power tools, not only because there is no electricity at the house, but also because that's how things are done here--everything by hand and manual labor.

When it was time to buy the materials for the roof, amazingly more donations came in from branch members.  One branch member donated two doors so they could lock up the house. The men are planning on putting a proper roof over the kitchen area when they can.

So below are several pictures of the process and the family.  What amazing church members here. The gospel truly blesses lives in many ways.

The old house

Kitchen/cooking area

The house sits on the top of a hill so dirt had to be hauled over
to make the land level.  Elder Rullan and Elder Truesch are strong workers.
 

 And the boys were good helpers too.

The four missionaries serving here during the project.

This was fascinating to me.  They used plastic tubing with water inside to level the posts.  These men are geniuses.

Making the post hole a little deeper.

A short break while waiting for supplies.

And a new house!

A few pictures of the family

Yesénia doing the laundry

If you look across the little valley you can see a flat, brown building halfway up the hill.  This is the new house, kitchen, and part of the old house.  I also included this picture because it shows how very dry and brown the trees and hills are.  It was so green and beautiful when we arrived last year.  Hoping for the rain to begin soon.