I got involved in this through my church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) and I thought it was a great opportunity to give back to my community. My ward was assigned to a vacant lot that used to be a trailer park, but is now used by many homeless people as a sleeping area. We had the task of cleaning this lot up. This included digging up weeds and bushes (huge ones), and cleaning up all the trash...and there was a LOT of it! We came across many things, some gross and others even grosser (word/sp?). A couple people were lucky and found money...me, I just found lots of shoes, undies, and some other things I don't want to mention.
I stayed for about three hours and got a lot of the area cleaned up. It wasn't an easy job getting this place clean. Some of the bushes I picked up were as big as me and I ended up leaving with many scratches and a rash on my arms (next time I'll remember to wear long sleeves), but I also left with a good feeling knowing that giving up a part of my weekend was making a part of this city look a little better. Next year I'll bring my kids with me so they can learn how good it feels to serve and know the blessings that come with it.
I was lucky to be able to serve with some of my friends, it made the morning's work fun. I forgot my camera, but luckily Mary remembered hers. Here's some pictures she took for me...
(from left: Taryn, me, Mary)
This is one of Mary's cute little boys. He found this sign while we were cleaning up...his facial expression is too cute! It does make me feel bad though for kids that really have to live this way. I pray that our Heavenly Father will watch over them every day.
In my mind and my heart it felt so good to help out with cleaning up this part of town, but my body wasn't too happy about it the next day. My muscles ached for hours, I felt as though I was an elderly person already...the good feelings make it all worth it though.
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