Elk, WA – Feb. 14- 21, 2026

We had snow several days this week and the snow-covered pine trees and blue sky made the drive to the worksites beautiful. We marveled at God’s creation. This week 10 volunteers from Canadian Mennonite University joined us. They brought much energy and laughter. One evening before supper, some of the volunteers did the polar plunge in Deer Lake. Although it seemed crazy to us, they said it’s not too uncommon in Winnipeg, Manitoba where they live.

Bill’s house – Painting the interior is completed. Cabinets are in the house and are being installed. The flooring has been delivered and is acclimating to house temperature. The trim for the house is at our storage unit and has gotten the first coat of paint. Backfill has been completed on three sides of the house and is ready for the furnace to be installed.

Steve’s house – Painting the interior is completed.

Linda’s houses – The second coat of mudding is complete at the MDS house. In the ADU house, blocking in the crawl space is completed. Insulation of the crawl space and the outside walls are done. The insulation inspection is scheduled for Monday morning.

On Wednesday evening, Bill and Native joined us for supper and shared some stories, including their experience with losing their house in the fire, and how they came to have a pet wolf.

For the cooks, the most momentous event on Monday was when they realized the supper was not going to be done for the standard 6:00 time because the oven wasn’t hot enough. They turned it up higher, but supper was still about half an hour late. Everyone was very gracious, however, and enjoyed the good food. We got a call from the Salvation Army camp telling us that one of their big walk-in freezers had failed, and they wondered if there was anything we would like to salvage from it. We managed to get some food that will fit right into our lunch and supper needs. It was a great opportunity and so thankful they thought of us.

Gayle Frey, Office Manager