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Stories: Job Well Done
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This story was forwarded to me by the Missionary World Support. -Webmaster
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I received the following letter through Missionary World Support. If
this could somehow be directed back to the Mission Office that would be great.
Thanks.
The following letter was sent by US mail to the church in Belfast (297
Belmont Avenue) and was subsequently returned, "not deliverable as
addressed unable to forward."
Somehow, I hope these young missionaries
are recognized for their efforts. Thanks. Jennifer Hill
October 30, 2003
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
297 Belmont Avenue
Belfast, ME 04915
An Open Letter to the Congregation:
A volunteer job, cleaning up after the clothing sale at the Unitarian Church in Belfast, Maine, culminated in a request to take a couple of
bags of clothing to Bern Porter, a 94-year-old poet who has been a great concern of late to our community. Nothing prepared me for what I was to find, however, on my arrival at his home. The stench of urine was overpowering on the porch. “Bern?” I hollered in.
“Come in!” I heard his weak reply.
Going deeper into the house brought more strong odors and by the time I reached his bedside, the foul smells made breathing difficult. As well, hundreds of tiny flies were hovering. Bern lay on his bed with his feet
on the floor. The sights and smells in the room stunned me. His body was filthy, he was lying on a bare mattress saturated with smears of human feces, there were plastic lids on the floor interspersed with food and feces, and the wood floor had mounds of feces that had hardened over time.
I got a mop and filled a pail with hot water and disinfectant and began to try to clean the floor, but Bern would not move his feet; when I went to pick up the lids to clean under them, he growled, “Put them back! Leave them alone!” I did not know what to do.
I picked up his phone and called a woman I had spoken to a year before about Bern. She advised me to get out of there as I might catch a disease. She also mentioned the threat of liability, as Bern is a cantankerous
old man. Discovering feces on the receiver, I told her I would call her from home, hung up quickly and left.
As I drove down the road, I was filled with anger and fear. Something must be done, but I hated to go to the police station to force Bern into submission. Yet, I knew that I could not just go home and forget what I had seen. I decided to go home and call Bern’s friend from my phone. That was when I noticed two young men in suits with nametags walking long the road and recognized them as missionaries. I swerved over and said, “Get
in. I’ll show you a place where you can do some good.”
The boys were like two angels of God. They leapt at the opportunity to serve and got right into the car. We drove to BernÂ’s house and I warned them about what they were to experience. They did not hesitate. We went
into the house and I sat chairs next to Bern’s bedside. I said, “Go ahead; preach the word of God. I’m going to start cleaning.”
From the kitchen where I was washing the grime off of various items at the sink, I heard the soft sounds of the young men talking to Bern. I noticed that the missionaries were able to move Bern to a chair. This enabled
me to start mopping the floor around his bed. Soon, the elder missionary came into the kitchen and said, “Many of the flies are coming from the port-a-potty. It’s full. Where should we empty it?” I suggested the bathroom upstairs. Then I asked him if he could get Bern’s permission to let me pick up the plastic lids so I could wash them and the floor under
them. I said if they could convince him, it would be a miracle every bit as impressive as parting the seas was to Moses. Bern is a violent and stubborn man.
The toilet was plugged, so they emptied the potty outside, digging a hole in the ground with a shovel without a handle. My husband, who had arrived by this time, braved the cellar filled with spiders to turn on the outside hose so the boys could finish the job.
When my husband came in to tell me that Bern had given us permission to move the lids if we promised to put them back where they ere, I told the young men and they beamed. hey felt the miracle as strongly as we did. I
must have washed and dried over 200 plastic lids that evening. My husband washed the loor. Beds were donated and brought over; the young men helped move out the filthy bed and bring in the donated ones.
After the missionaries left, my husband bought a tarp and brought a sheet from home. He washed BernÂ’s face and ears and we put him to bed for the night. On Sunday, we brought him some food and I cleaned and cut his fingernails; they were long and caked underneath with feces. On Monday morning, I called several state agencies and finally was advised to speak to BernÂ’s doctor. The doctor and I went to BernÂ’s house on Monday afternoon and found him on the floor. The doctor called an ambulance and Bern is now in the hospital (Room 211). We visited him last night and he looks clean and well cared for.
The weekend was emotionally traumatic for me. The sights and smells were so hideous that I still cannot get the images out of my mind, despite washing and soaking my body repeatedly. I can only imagine how those
young missionaries felt.
How can I thank these brave young men who brought not only the talk of God, but the walk of God into this impossible situation? I would not have gone back on Saturday afternoon had it not been for them. I could not have
faced the difficulties without the loving encouragement of these men of God. I do not know much about your church, but I know that a miracle occurred here in Belfast, Maine on Saturday, October 18, 2003 as the result of these young missionaries. I wanted you to know about it.
Bless the Lord and those who are willing to do the real work of reaching out in our community!
Sincerely,
Jennifer Hill
57 WIGHT STREET • BELFAST/MAINE • 04915
PHONE: 207-338-4501 • e-mail: rooted@verizon.net |
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| LDS QUOTE: |
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"You are a great army of returned missionaries. Go forward with new zeal and determination, and through your example shine the light of the gospel in this troubled world. This is the Lord’s work in which we are engaged. God lives. Jesus is the Christ. We belong to His Church. This is my witness to you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."
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