Get ready for a load of pictures.
This week started with me attempting to curl my hair with the instructions a grandma in the ward gave me--thus this happened.
We tied quilts with all the ladies in our ward to take to shelters at the Shore.
This one spraying the crawl space.
Dear Maddie after cleaning out her home.
The walls of rubble dumped on the curbs.
Moving the pool with the Mennonites, Michiganites, and Mormons--though I didn't get the former two groups in the picture for some reason, but it did happen!
Sister Peterson and I in a soon to be filled to the brim tank.
Sisters Soto and Coley resting with the Book of Mormon after a long day.
Sister's Sleepover! Plus two elders who let us in and then scooted out of there very quickly!!
Half a house :(
I found a Karl Malone in the collector man's flooded house!
A Swiss Elder admiring a mandolin from a pile.
Biolena and Torgerson putting more on the pile,
The innards of the collector man's home after taking his things out--it was really sad.
They did make eating easier--also note the guy in the corner.
Where do you even start?
The ten foot surge--maybe it was higher--took a house and a boat from who knows where and sandwiched them here.
Our team in front of the New York Skyline that you can't see, after the service weekend.
Dearest Family!
This was the best week-end ever!!!! We got a text from our Zone Leaders friday night telling us the next day and Sunday we'd be doing hurricane clean-up at The Shore from sun up to sun down. We were to meet in Eatontown at 7 am, serve all day, go there at night for some regular missionary training, then the Elders would sleep at the Chapel and the Sisters would sleep at the Elder's apartment. Then Sunday we'd take the sacrament and go back to service all day. This weekend has strengthened my testimony soooooo much. I can't believe how much God loves all of his children and how much they love each other during disasters. There are no boundaries or walls when people need so much help.
This was the best week-end ever!!!! We got a text from our Zone Leaders friday night telling us the next day and Sunday we'd be doing hurricane clean-up at The Shore from sun up to sun down. We were to meet in Eatontown at 7 am, serve all day, go there at night for some regular missionary training, then the Elders would sleep at the Chapel and the Sisters would sleep at the Elder's apartment. Then Sunday we'd take the sacrament and go back to service all day. This weekend has strengthened my testimony soooooo much. I can't believe how much God loves all of his children and how much they love each other during disasters. There are no boundaries or walls when people need so much help.
We stayed at the New Brunswick sister's apartment and carpooled to service the next day. On Saturday our team went to Union Beach to clean up. When we drove through for the first time, it was devastating. There were houses completely smashed. Houses had been picked up by the wave and thrown into other houses and backyards. Boats were in normal neighborhood streets. It was incredible!
We walked down the streets in our yellow Mormon Helping Hands shirts and a lady flagged us down. Her ground level home had been flooded with water and a huge oil tank had smashed into her house. She wanted help wrapping up what she could and discarding the rest. Her name is Maddie. We did as much as we could, then we sang "Called to Serve" to her. She was bawling and so were we. The poor Elders couldn't stop her from hugging them. Then Sister Torgerson and I went into a crawl space to spray bleach. It was scary. The house was totally stable, but it was dark and only 3 feet high, eek!
We found another man who needed help in his backyard. It was toast first of all. His pool was all over the place. His deck flew into his neighbor's yard. Two houses got washed into his yard from the beach a number of blocks away. It was nuts! There were Mormons, Michiganites, and Amish Mennonites from Pennsylvania helping in his yard. That was pretty cool. We had to cut roofs in half to carry them to the curb. There was furniture everywhere. Woof.
That was our last house before it got dark, so we went to the firehouse to get some free food offered to residents and helpers. They were so kind to make hot food for everyone and provide bathrooms. There were some interesting folks in the food tent--I felt a little transported to the sixties--but that's ok!
We all met back at the Chapel and had a training about the Book of Mormon. It was mostly a testimony meeting about the power of the Book of Mormon and how it has changed all of our lives. It was so powerful. And weird, to be in the chapel in jeans, and some in pajamas because their clothes were too gross. I especially love how the Book of Mormon relates to me personally and how it testifies of Jesus Christ. The whole thing is perfect. There is so much I learn every day from that book. Harry Potter is amazing, but the Book of Mormon is probably the most precious possession anyone can own because it contains the words of the person who created the universe and it hasn't been corrupted. I love it.
All the sisters slept at the Elder's apartment (which smelled like boy, but thankfully they had cleaned it). It was quite cozy with thirteen of us, but fun, especially since three sisters leave tomorrow.
Sunday we met at the Chapel to take the Sacrament. It was nice to have a moment to ponder on the Atonement and what Christ does for us, which has been in our minds constantly with all the service we've been doing. We sang a hymn, then went back to work.
Our first house we took stuff through basement windows and off to the curb.
We walked down the street looking for more work, and found a man and his two sons trying to deal with their home. The water was up four or five feet in his home and everything had to go. And there was A LOT of stuff packed into that small house. This man collected maybe twenty binders of basketball and baseball cards ($40,000 worth!) plus boxes and boxes more. He had collector trains cars, and tons of brass statues of animals and such. Plus all their normal things. It took us a couple hours to clear up all their ruined possessions. Sister Torgerson and I took on the fridge, which was terrifying! And it smelled terrifying! That food has been there for almost a month now, in a dead fridge, yeah, woof. Sister Biolena took care of most of the baseball card room. Then we had to gut the inside of all the walls and insulation. We filled an entire semi-truck sized bin with his house, plus a mountain across the street. Then the U-Haul converted to "U-Hungry: We make eating easier" truck came through with a man on a megaphone saying they had "hot food for everyone and lots of bacon! Plus hummus for the vegans!" They, for lack of a better word, the hippies, had a grill in the back of the truck and were giving out chik-fil-a and bacon sandwiches, meatball subs, bacon wraps, burgers, blt's, anything! They were so kind. Another lady, when she saw us in line for a port-a-potty told us to come into her house to take care of things and clean our hands. So nice!
Then we got to the worst house ever. Three houses in a row came off their foundations and the debris was everywhere. One of the homeowners told me the pile of wood and cement rubble I was standing in was a bedroom, and over there was their dining room. And that huge piece of wood floor that landed in someone else's yard had been laid piece by piece by her husband. There were probably thirty or more people piling everything up. And it didn't look like we'd made a dent in it.
It was neat to meet so many from New Jersey who's houses were fine, but they drove down here to see what they could do to help. All I can say is.... community:)
I love you guys and I'm so grateful you're all safe and sound. Sister Biolena found out she's being transferred, which I'm super sad about as we only just got to be companions. She is such an amazing, strong person. And this next transfer will be my and Sister Torgerson's fifth together! Yeesh!
Happy Thanksgiving, I love you!
Sister MerglePergle
