Hello family and friends!
I am alive and survived my first hurricane! It's has sure been the craziest adventure of my entire life! The past week has been a whirlwind of events that all came so quickly! Early Wednesday we got word that we were going to be evacuated! We spent Wednesday helping our investigators strap things down, drill up their metal shutters, and prepare them all for the hurricane! We also had to go buy a few supplies and there is only one Walmart! Just imagine Black Friday but worse! The shelves were empty and people had sorta lost their minds and the hurricane hadn't even hit yet! All proselyting efforts were canceled and we had to all be in at 8:00! We prepared our apartment and packed our food and clothes into the car! We woke up early Thursday and drove inland about an hour to Deltona! We loaded our supplies and watched as the sky grew darker and darker! From that point on we didn't see the outside world till Saturday afternoon! There are three companionships living in the complex we evacuated to and then three other companionships had evacuated there so there were 12 elders that came to our apartment and we played board games and other big group games! There was this really old reel tape projector! We watched a film and then added our audio to it! It was hilarious! The whole day was so surreal and I've never felt more unproductive in my entire life! Power went out Friday morning so I basically just read my scriptures until I fell asleep! My companion played chess for hours with another elder! Well after the hurricane had passed we got the word to go back and assess the damage at our place and report back! Driving home we saw unbelievable amounts of derbies and damage! Our apartment had little damage and nobody has power!
Saturday afternoon we drove back and forth and all over the area assessing where help was needed and collecting information and addresses! We then sent all that into the stake president who complied the information and added it to a data base! The rest of the night we helped members from the stake unload a semi truck and a moving truck full of supplies from the church! I finally understand now why the church is always the first on ground zero and the efforts that go into the church humanitarian efforts! That took the entire night! It was encouraging to see how selfless members of the church are! There was this 70 year old man who spent 14 hours sawing up trees and hauling them away! It was a very humbling experience for me! The stake center was full of chain saws, generators, water, tarps, nails, shovels, helmets, and basically anything you'd need! There were 800-1000 volunteers from the church coming in Sunday morning to collect supplies and then disperse it through the stake and start clean up! Well, we cleaned up the church and we were heading out and we got an emergency call from the zone leaders saying another huge truck was coming in and no one would be there to receive it! We called in all the missionaries from the zone and spent from 9:30-11:00pm unloading the truck! We didn't get to bed until midnight! We were all physically exhausted!
Sunday was very unusual! We met at the church in our helping hands Tshirts took the sacrament in the dark! And spent the rest of the day cutting up trees and cleaning up fallen debris! It was so amazing being able to serve and watch people who would have been closed off to the gospel open up and grow a love for the church! I love this gospel! God has a plan for all of us! He is hastening His work! God loves His children and has protected and watched over me and the other missionaries here! We will be doing a ton of service the next week or so! Just know I love you are so much! Thank you for your concerns and prayers! The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the true church! I love being a missionary and I love serving! I love you!
Your hurricane surfing missionary,
Elder Tracy
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