Happy 4th of July

It's hard to believe that summer break is already half over.  Many of our teachers and staff have left for vacation, so the few of us that are left are holding down the "fort".
The teen group from Wisconsin Lutheran High School flew back home last week after spending the week in Arizona.  They worked around the mission moving mulch on our playground.  They also helped with a basketball camp before heading to Springerville to canvass there.  They had an eventful trip.  The week they arrived was one of the hottest weeks for June that I can remember.  It was around 100 most days.  Then when they went to Springerville, one of their chaperones was bit by a pit bull and had to go to the hospital for a few hours.  The other chaperone also got sick during their stay, so I'm sure they will have some memories of this trip for years to come.
I am using the break to catch up on some repairs around the church that have been sitting for a while now.  The bathroom that we installed four years ago at East Fork Church had been getting clogged on a regular basis.  I finally tackled that project today and found a pencil lodged in the piping.  Once the pencil was free the restroom was back in service.
In the past week I've also been working on some computers to use for providing hymns during the summer months when we don't have an organist.  The computer we were using at Canyon Day still had Windows 95 installed on it.  I've "upgraded" with slightly newer used computers at both churches to Windows XP.  This past Sunday we used them for the first time and they worked great.  We still need to find a better PA system/amplifier for Canyon Day but we're going to make due for now.
On a side note: In working with Windows again, I realized how much I like my Mac.  I also worked with Windows 7 for the first time this week and also Windows 8 which I really couldn't understand after so many years away from Windows products.
We were saddened to hear of the 19 wild land firefighters that lost their lives battling a blaze north of Phoenix.  We offer up our prayers for their families and all those who have lost homes from this fire.  It has been an incredibly dry and hot summer here and we give thanks to the brave men and women who fight the forest fires around here and the United States.  We had a 800 acre forest fire burning about four miles east of the mission last week.  But that fire was contained and today it finally rained again.  We give thanks to God for the monsoon rains that seem to be upon us.