Helping Hands - Sorry, it's long

First of all, this is Spencer.  I had an awesome experience yesterday and wanted to share it.  Last Monday, the Birmingham area was hit by an EF3 tornado.  It struck early in the morning, around 4:00 AM and cause some major devastation.  I received emails this week about our church organizing efforts to assist in cleanup.  We met on Saturday morning at the LDS church building in Centerpoint to get into teams to head out.  Our team was sent to the town of Clay.  When we got to our assigned area I was amazed at what I saw.  Houses had been removed from their foundations, some had been split in half, and some were completely gone - leaving only a basement behind.
The first house we started to help at had no roof, and the whole back of the house had been torn off, separating the attached deck by 20 feet.  I met the home owner in what was left of her kitchen/family room.  She told me how they had been awakened by the sound of her house shaking apart.  She ran into her bathroom and her husband into the fireplace.  Their 5 year old son couldn't get out of his room in time.  None of them were hurt, and the son's bed was found across the street the next morning.  I tried to express to her how sorry I was, and she just hugged me, telling me how grateful she was for our assistance.

This is the view of her house from the backyard.

In the process of cleaning up at this house, I was carrying some lumber and stumbled a bit.  My right foot came down right onto a nail in the roofing.  It didn't feel pleasant.  I felt it go up through the sole of my shoe and into my foot.  I danced around for a moment, cursing under my breath.  Everyone kept asking if I had my shots up to date.  I was pretty sure the last time had been before my mission, but I'd have to worry about that later.
After finishing up at this location, our team was assigned to move down the street to another house.  This house was a completely different challenge.  Trees were everywhere.  Trees had been blown down on the house from the front yard and the back yard.  15 feet above the ground, nestled up in the trees, was a combination of the garage/kitchen section of the house from across the street and sections of the 2nd floor of the house next door.

This is a view from on the hill, these trees are resting on the house below.

This house required a lot of tree cutting.  I have learned quickly that in Alabama it is almost a necessity to own a chainsaw.  We worked here for most of the day...cutting, hauling, and clearing.  It was so sad to find everyday items hidden in the wreckage.  Our greatest find was the wedding ring of the homeowner, she was sooooo happy!  All day long, people stopped by offering food, water, gatorade and snacks.  It was amazing to see how many people came together to help.  A few hours after I stepped on that nail, and after me telling the young men to be careful of nails, another boy - John - stepped on a nail by accident.  At this point I found it important to seek medical attention.  I was fine, but I was not going to have one of my young men not get a shot.  We went up the hill to a tent that had been set up for food and water to ask if they knew where to go.  The ladies who were manning the tent immediately got us in their car and drove us down to the Red Cross First Aid Station.  Everyone was so eager to help.  They took us in, cleaned our wounds, and gave us the booster shots to prevent infection.  While we were getting our shots, the ladies that drove us down went to the deli and picked us up lunch.  They didn't know us but that didn't matter.  On the way back to the work site the lady driving started laughing out loud.  I was a little confused and then she said, "I just realized we tricked you...here you are, Mormons, and we just took you down and gave you a good old southern Baptist foot washing!"   We were thankful for their help, no matter what they did.
After a few more hours of work, we called it a day.  I had brought one of my young men, John (who stepped on the nail), his friend Chris (who just moved to Alabama from Montana), and Richard (a boy from our scout troop), and as we were getting in the car, Chris commented that he was amazed that after all this tragedy he had never seen so many happy people in one place.  I'm glad they could see the blessings of service and loving your neighbor.  My eyes were opened yesterday.  I'm humbled, and grateful for my blessings.  I love the people we served and those who served with us, may the Lord bless them.
I am posting videos in another post.