Flood Service

Ok well im at the public library so i have limited time to type today. so ill see what i can muster up in 30 min.

this week we were called to serve to help new jersey recover from the hurricane irene. they also got flooded again last week so the damage there was alot andit was kinda sad to see everything and everyone and the state they were in. the first time we went it was a wednessday. we went with our zone in the mission and met up with the elders in new jersey. the houses we did then werent really that bad but still effected. the first house we helped out was this guy in his 50s and he had a dodge viper and then his wife pulled up in a bmw z4 and THEN he drove away in his ford f350 with a full cab.

it was kinda wierd serving someone who was well off but still his basement was flooded out and all the walls had to be replaced. we ripped out the wood 2x4s that were holding up his walls and that was pretty much it. the next house we needed to wear masks cause of the mold that had started to grow from the water. it was 2 weeks past the flooding so add that with sitting water and thats what it looked like. anyway they ran out of masks so i didnt get one and they didnt want me to go in the house cuase i could have gotten sick. so i just kinda sat outside like a bump on a log cause they had nothing for me to do, i talked with them a little and made em smile so at least i was helping their spirits.

the next day we went was on saturday and this day we went with the ward. there were only two people who went on the bus with us cause everyone else drove their own vehicles. so we only worked with the ones on our bus. it was kinda sad that we only worked with only two members cause we were hoping to get to know the ward better but it was all good cause we got 2 referrals off of them and they said they wanted to help come teaching. it was a small but needed testimony that alot of help comes from the ward that is much needed.

so the first house we went to was this guy who was about 70 and his house was RIGHT by the river that flooded... so everything from like 6 feet up and under was destroyed and needed to be replaced. it was so sad cause he was sleeping in his car cause he had no where else to stay. his house was BAD. everything had mold on it and worst of all he had a hobby of fiddeling around with electronics so we hauled a bunch of computer equipement out and i just about died. the poor guys kitchen was even worse. good thing that the sister missionaries took care of it though cause i couldnt even breathe neer the kitchen. anyway we had the task of removing his carpet and move stuff out to throw out. i wanted to do more but there wereother people that needed help just as bad.

we did a short job of removing some dry wall for his neighbor after that. it was fun cause we got to remove whole walls with nothing but a crowbar and a hammer. verry fun for 19 year old guys. after that short work we went to another neighbor down the street and moved everything out of his place to the couches to dressers. we then TORE DOWN a shak that had floated into his yard. that was sooo tiring.

i have 5 min left :O our investigators are going well. they showed up to church and are keeping commitments. i think we will baptize one this next sunday and two next sunday. these are all in the same haitian family we found last week. we have a lot of people to see that were referred to us but the service toook alot of our time last week. so pretty much we have a lot of potential and just need to hit the pavement hard. oh and i made a kiech that is gunna be eaten today by our district. ill tell you how it goes. and we FINALLY mopped our place and so its clean!! yay!!! anyway love you all and write me some more!!!!!!!!! 

elder Johnson