Missionary Chronicles: In A Matter Of Hours It Was All Gone

Hey y'all!

Just a fair warning, this is going to be a little different than my other emails because this week was a little different than most weeks. Before I get going, I just want to give a birthday shout out to my cousin Lexi! Happy Birthday!!

Alright, so on Tuesday night we had the worst storm that I've experienced here in Georgia. I've been through hurricanes and this was a pretty similar experience. Even though we heard the storm, we had no idea how bad it had actually been. Early the next morning we got a text from the Portuguese Elders saying that there had been a huge sink hole that had opened up outside the gate of their apartment complex and they were trapped. This was our first hint of how bad this storm had actually been. We didn't hear too much more on Wednesday from anyone, but on Thursday while we were sitting in Zone Conference we got a text from our ward mission leader telling us to call him as soon as we could. When we got out of our meetings, we found out that a brother in our ward (Brother Talerico) and a couple of his neighbors had been hit super hard and had some severe damage.  We were finally able to make it over there on Friday and what we found was absolutely devastating. Brother Talerico and his neighbors all had between 16-20 inches of water flood  their houses during that storm. We got about a foot of rain in a matter of an hour, and down here close to the Chatahoochee River the flooding was very devastating. For the past three days, Sister Christman and I have been doing non-stop flood cleanup for anyone who will allow us to help. 

It's super sad and difficult to see something like this happen to people you love so much, but often times experiences like this soften people's hearts. I would like to tell y'all about one person we met through all of this. Her name is Miss Baker and she's Brother Talerico's neighbor. She was the first person who's information we were given. While the Elders Quorum was over helping Brother Talerico, she started talking to them and said she'd like some help as well so the ward reached out to us. Miss Baker was hit super hard and had about 16 inches of water in her home. These past few days we've been basically throwing away all of her belongings on the bottom floor. Her car along with all of the others on that street was flooded and totaled. She's lost countless photo albums and will have to tear out the bottom half of her walls and basically start over. You'd think an experience like this would break a person....but not Miss Baker! In fact, while we were over there on Saturday she said "Ladies, I think the reason the Lord sent this storm was so I could either meet y'all or find the church". I about started crying when she said this. In her most humble state, Miss Baker saw the good and blessings that have come from this storm. We were able to give her a Book of Mormon on Saturday and we are going to start teaching her this coming week as we continue to help her get her house cleaned up.

This week, I have seen countless times how this less than ideal situation has brought this community together. It's been a very humbling experience to witness these people who I love so much turn outward and help their neighbors in need. I have learned so much about loving the people around me and I've been very humbled by their faith in this difficult time.

This week I want to invite y'all to look outward and search for opportunities to serve those around you. As I've gone about this last week, I've reflected on my past experiences with storm cleanup and how amazing it is to watch people leave their own disasters and rush to the help of others. Times like these are always hard to go through, but it reminds you that there are still good people in this world. I invite y'all to be those good people this week and reach out to those in need. Also, I'd ask y'all to keep all the people here in this area in your prayers.

Sorry this email has been such a long one. I real quick want to share a thought I enjoyed from Zone Conference. A big focus of this conference was how obedience leads to happiness. President Harris is known for producing some of the best quotes and he shared this one that I loved, "Accessing extraordinary power requires extraordinary devotion". As missionaries we are doing extraordinary things, therefore we need extraordinary power. I loved how President mentioned that accessing this power requires devotion. Being exactly obedient takes work, but it's so worth it.

Alright, that's all I've got for this week! Remember to be kind and watchful for opportunities to serve! I love y'all!!

Hermana Adams 

P.S. we're going to the temple again next week, so the next time you'll hear from me will be next Wednesday 

Pictures:

Sorry I don't have many photos this week

1. Fishing with Sam and Felix last Monday 

2. Sink Hole at the Elders apartment