It was September of 2014, a little over a year ago, that my wife and I had a real decision to make. We were living in the 700 E. Stanford house, and we knew that it would be another two years before we could fix up the house next door enough for it to be livable.
Which would mean that we could not start a sober living home to help others till 2016. The end of 2016. That seemed a long time to wait to start helping others.
Then we realized, after much number crunching, that if we could some how live in the house with no amenities, that the revenue from having a sober living home, while not enough to pay for the actual costs of it, would defray things some what.
And that living in the house with no electricity or plumbing would focus our time and attention on it far more and far faster.
We were right. When we moved over to the broken house, it did focus our attention very fast!
It was very hard at first. We had electricity by a series of extension cords running across the back yard from the shed of the fixed up house to ours. We had water because the ladies of the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had gave us enough water containers and milk jugs to fill up a lot of them from the outside faucet next door.
I remember when we first got the toilet working - in that as long as we hand poured water into the tank from a jug, it would actually flush! That was actually pretty exciting! And then, the even better day in October of 2014, where we got the plumbing fixed enough to have cold water turned on, so we could have a flush toilet without hauling the water in, and even water for the kitchen sink!
The shower was plumbed in and fixed in November, but was only cold water. We had no water heater. Not till after that first winter was over, and a kindly brother from the Church donated one to us in March of 2015.
Also by November of 2014 we managed to get half power on. Enough that we could remove all the extension cords from next door to here but one. That one was for a heater in the basement, to keep the pipes from freezing, because we have no furnace.
But we had enough wired electricity for one space heater in the bedroom, and a four hundred and fifty square foot house can get moderately tolerable with just that! That and the clever idea of running the dryer to blow hot air into the kitchen! And putting extra wall insulation over the windows!
And yet it was all good, as after some false starts, we were able to have a sober living home - called The Liahona Home - up and running and aiding four men. We have, since opening it, managed to aid, at least partially, and at least for awhile, 18 people.
That's 18 people exposed to the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Who each got a copy of the Book of Mormon. Who each got to see all the posters, pictures, copies of the Ensign, and such, all around the house.
Who got to learn that at least we "Mormons" were not a bunch of crazies. Who got to talk to me and get to know me, and in some cases, to get to know the missionaries and other members, and learn that we are Christians, too.
Who got - however briefly - a safe place to attempt sober living, if such was what they truly wished, and to learn new habits and behaviors. We've aided with resumes and job hunts and giving rides and just talking and advising. Some of them have talked with the Missionaries, some have come to our Church, some have done service work for various members in need of it.
It's been a good year. We got many things done we wanted done. And some things, not quite yet. A roof we hoped to do this Fall, has had to be delayed to Spring. And while we've made some progress on our basement, it is still not sufficiently "done" for us to accept two more guests.
The program fees have helped a bit. In making some repairs, and defraying some maintenance and improvement costs. At $150 per person (includes shelter, utilities, internet, trash, netflix, etc.) we're still not on a "break even" basis yet. It's hard to run a house for four guys on $600 a month, if by "hard" we mean "not really possible at all"!
But we're getting there. And when we can get the next part up and running, we'll be doing a bit better. So we've a lot of hopes for next year. A finished basement. A new roof. Two more spots for more guests - heck, we've already got the beds and dressers for when we can take them in!
And we're hoping for more baptisms. Four people have learned of our Church through our efforts, then took lessons with the missionaries and got baptized. We're hoping for more of that next year! We think that's possible!
And the groups we run online, sixteen and counting, are humming along. Those alone counted for three out of four of this years baptisms, so that's something!
And our regular offline outreach is going well, though we want to try to do more and better next year. Still, we've aided in a lot of non-member moves and yard work and general advice and assistance this year, and we hope that's planted some seeds.
Baby steps. First things first! For now, we'll focus on that basement. We just recently got a door installed, and next up, we'll be working on that electrical box, as in replacing it. Time to go from half to full power!
