Week 54: October 10, 2016

 So first of if y'all haven't heard we had a class 3 Hurricane come through named Matthew.  So that's pretty much all I'll write about in this email since that's all that has happened this past week.  So it all started off Tuesday, we found out from random people that there was a hurricane that formed down by Cuba and Hattie.  We don't watch the news as missionaries since we are too busy so we had only heard about from other people.  Then people started to freak out more.  While it was down by Hattie is was a class 4 which I pretty big from what I've heard, (I'm no hurricane expert) and so people were kinda getting scared.  So Wednesday and Thursday was pretty much just us helping people Prepare for Hurricane Matthew.  So that was a lot of fun, we were able to help a lot of people and it was great, I love serving people.  Especially when they themselves are not capable of doing i themselves, I truly felt the love of Christ during this whole experience.

           Come Friday we were told to stay in all day because that's when the hurricane hit.  Elder Barnes and I were told to evacuate to another missionaries apartment more inland since ours was 6 miles from the coast.  So while at the other elders apartment on Friday we did our planning for the next week and then when about noon hit we lost power.  Luckily we were stocked up on water and non perishable food.  But it made the rest of the day long and boring.  The wind outside was crazy fast and there was a lot of rain.  But the apartment we were in didn't receive any damage.  There were a lot of limbs down in the complex but at was it for us.  We tried to come up with some creative games to pass the time away but it still went slow.

            Now for the past 2 days and this morning we have done nothing but service.  The hurricanes damage was mostly in fallen trees.  There were a lot of trees that fell in yards, on cars, of houses.  So we have done a lot of work all of Saturday and Sunday and this morning to help people who had severe damage.  It has made me very tired the past couple days but somehow i am still able to continue.  God has blessed us all with strength to serve and with peace of mind that all will be ok.  It has also be great to see the churches humanitarian effort first hand.  The church sent a semi truck with supplies like chainsaws, wheelbarrows, shovels, and other necessities that people need.  With many all around e affected areas wearing the Yellow Mormon Helping Hands shirts it has been great to see how God has inspired church leaders with this wonderful program at assists in crises quickly.  I'm so grateful for all the blessings that God has given me, especially with safety this past week.  He has helped calm my mind and proceed us as we kept the instructions of local leaders.  I thank all those who prayer for me and for all those affected by Hurricane Matthew.  

Love y'all, have a great week!

ELDER GUINUP