Woe is me Mission Home

The Mission Home has been getting more attention lately.  It took a shaking during the earthquakes (which continue to recur), but the problems are escalating.  A week or so ago we found out that there was a water leak on the uphill side of the home, which is built on a very steep hill.  That spells TROUBLE.  About the same time we finally got workmen in here to strip the plaster off all the cracked walls, and that revealed more TROUBLE.
    Today, we got a plumber out to fix the water leak.  As he dug out, I was relieved to see that the ground is not as sandy as I thought, and when he got a little deeper he encountered thick clay.  Good for the house, because clay doesn't wash away as badly as sand, but bad for the plumber because it is so hard to dig.  He found the leak right where he'd thought it would be, and now we aren't leaking water.  Yeah!

This photo was taken from the 2nd floor balcony, so it's pretty far down to it.  The hole is wide enough for a big guy to stand or kneel.  It was a chore getting the fancy paving bricks out, and I shudder to think of trying to put them back.
    The fix is especially good because the building inspector who was here this week was close to declaring the house a total loss.  Water seepage was a big factor, and now that has been solved, he should back off a little.  On the other hand, they dug out a lot of rocks, and it seems that a rock pressing on the plastic pipe is what caused the leak.  So they will bring in some sand to cover the pipe tomorrow.
    In addition, the house continues to show us more problems.  I've posted photos of the bricks behind the inches-thick plaster in the living room.  This photo is the bearing wall just outside our bedroom on the 2nd floor.

First. there is a brick standing about an inch and a half proud of the rest of the wall.  No self-respecting mason would drop a brick that far off plumb - ever!  So if he's not self-respecting, what is he.  When the building inspector was here he took one look at it and started to tell about a video he'd seen recently on Croatian TV, of some Russian workers slapping bricks into a wall while drinking heavily.  They were just throwing the bricks into place, and occasionally also throwing some mortar at it.
    Just above the proud brick there is no brick at all!  There is some mortar in there, and lots of plaster was smeared over it, but no brick.  What!
    And then notice that the left side of the proud brick has no mortar in the joint.  We see this kind of sloppy, criminally casual workmanship every place we've removed plaster.  It's why the plaster is inches thick - to cover up the crappy brick-work.
   The result?  The building inspector still won't clear the house to be fixed.  Now he wants to have all the plaster removed before he will certify what needs to be done.  He said he isn't sure whether it will be a few wall re-builds, or a totally tear-down and start over rebuild.  He's already talking about up to a year before it will be ready.
    The new mission president and family will be here July 1 if travel is allowed by then.  But it is clear that they won't be moving in here.  We will all have to be gone before they can remove all the plaster.

Good News!  We are scheduling church meetings in our chapels in Croatia and Slovenia, tentatively, for June 7.  The other countries still won't allow it, yet.   And, the Area President has to approve the plan.  If it goes forward, the meetings will be less than an hour long, and there will be no further meetings that day.  Everybody will have to wear masks, and maintain social distancing.  Sacrament will be administered by brothers wearing masks and they will wash their hands immediately before administering it.  Also, the building will have to be sterilized every Sunday, with all high-contact surfaces disinfected.