Troy Family Tales: Harvey vs. Harvey

Friends and family,

Here is the latest letter from Elder Troy.

First, thank you for all of you who have reached out and asked about him. Your kindness has not gone unnoticed. As you can imagine, we have been very concerned about him since he was in southwest Houston, Texas during Hurricane Harvey. Unfortunately, his mission area was severely hit and there is much damage to many, many homes. Elder Troy’s own apartment was flooded and they were evacuated about 3 days into the hurricane. The flooding is beginning to recede, but the devastation is immense and there is a LOT of work to be done. These missionaries are going to be busy helping people for a long time. President Uchtdorf from the Church’s First Presidency visited the mission this weekend, but Elder Troy was in another Sacrament Meeting and out working on homes, so he didn’t get a chance to meet him. He was disappointed!

During this whole time, we have been blessed to have a mission president who has been very communicative with the parents and updated the mission blog several times a day to let parents know what was happening. Thankfully, all missionaries are safe and accounted for! We have not worried about Elder Troy during this whole situation. We know that he is smart and obedient to the strict mission rules (stay out of flood waters, take precautionary measures with safety equipment, etc.) and he can take care of himself. With everything that happened to him BEFORE his mission (hit by a car, bit by a rattlesnake, etc., etc., etc.), it is not really a surprise to us that he would be in a hurricane. When he was called to the Texas Houston mission, he was curious to WHY the United States, why Texas, why THERE. To this point, it hasn’t been a heavy baptizing mission or a place that was clamoring to hear about the Gospel and we think he might have wondered to what purpose he was sent here. That is, until Hurricane Harvey came. What is needed now are strong, capable and hardworking people who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty and help others in their deepest time of need. What are the chances that he’d be sent to a place that his carpentry and flood damage skills would come into use? He has been called to Houston for this time and this situation, for these people.

We are SO grateful that he has this unique opportunity to serve his brothers and sisters in their time of need. How many times will a young person in their youth get a chance to dedicate all their time, energy and talents to others without the distractions of school, work, relationships or technology? HE IS BLESSED!

We thank our Heavenly Father for protecting him for this time and place. God is good!

Thank you for your prayers and love. They are felt and so appreciated! Please keep the good people of Texas and our missionaries in your prayers.

Much love,

Terri & JD

P.S. At this time, the US Mail is not operational in his area. His apartment is still under water, so no mail for a while.

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Hey Y'all!

As you’ve all probably seen or guessed, most of this week was spent in service, mucking out people’s houses, and recovering from all of the flooding.

The Church was very organized, and there were many members who volunteered their time helping the community, going out all day in the heat in dozens of teams of five or six.

In the early days after the storm, Elder Labbee and I walked through the worst hit neighborhoods, signing people up who wanted help clearing out their houses. One of the people we found was ironically named Harvey, and he REALLY needed our help. I want to tell y’all about Harvey, because I think he’s representative of the people we are assisting, and I really love sharing these profiles of the people we work with.

His street literally stunk. Fetid mud was still mounded up against the curb, smelling of silt and decay. There was still water standing in patches in the streets. It smelled like a swamp, a dump, and a fish market had collided. As we walked down his street in the hot sun, we found few willing recipients of our help. People didn’t trust us or didn’t understand the scale of their project. There was no answer when we knocked on Harvey’s door, so we moved on. However, we left our phone number with his neighbors - a sweet Hispanic family - in case they eventually wanted help themselves. We moved on down the street, because there were hundreds of houses like Harvey’s. Later, we got a phone call from his neighbor, asking if we would try offering Harvey our help again. She explained that Harvey was elderly and had dementia. He wouldn’t open the door for strangers out of fear. His car hadn’t moved nor had his door opened in several days, and they were worried that he had fallen or trapped and hurt himself. We agreed to go by the next morning to retry.

This time, she came with us, and we knocked intermittently on the door and windows for five minutes. She banged on the door shouting “Meester Harbee? We are berry worried aboutchoo!” Eventually, Harvey limped to the door in a towel, looking for all the world like he had barely avoided drowning in the deluge. Tall and thin, with gray hair on his head and a long white beard, his wide eyes betrayed his anxious confusion. I tried my best to speak softly and act as if we had been friends for years. I shook his hand, and his long yellow fingernails tapped my palm in his frail, quivering grip. We asked about his house and he told us that everything was ruined. With a wavering voice, he explained that he had slipped in the invading water trying to protect his things, and fallen on his back, and couldn’t stand or walk. Two days had passed since his house first flooded, and everything was still in place. Stepping through his home, it already smelled like mold. Each step left behind a footprint in the carpet that filled with water.

The work needed after a severe flood is extensive. Carpets must be removed, and walls torn down from 4 ft, then all of the studs framing the house have to be periodically sprayed with fungicide for three days. All of the furniture has to be removed, and many belongings that were damaged must be thrown away. The water also drives pests into people’s homes, looking for somewhere warm and relatively dry.

We gained his permission and set to work quickly, but the problems were many. A salty old Vietnam veteran, many of the materials in his home were not conducive to the Spirit. We were warned that his Alzheimers and Dementia were severe; and he could forget who these people were who were knocking out his walls at any minute. To further complicate things, the man had dozens of firearms and swords scattered around his house. But the large group we had, made short work of his home, and it was finished by the end of the day, with no major complications except moving a water bed.

I've really enjoyed working with my hands again. The work has been satisfying and cathartic. It feels very meaningful and people are extremely grateful for our help.

I have been disappointed by how little most of the other missionaries have worked, spending hours of time every day chatting with each other and juggling (literally) tools rather than help in the mountain of labor needed for these hundreds of houses. I’ve ended up in charge of the work for a couple of houses somehow, over teams of both missionaries and grown men less experienced with this sort of task. Motivating the missionaries to help has been a challenge. They get bored or distracted too easily. I think every missionary needs a job in hard labor before coming out so they gain maturity and learn what it means to work, because it seems that the more missionaries there are, the less work they do. My experience this week has felt a little like the MTC at times, as I’ve been called upon to provide leadership I didn’t plan on giving, in challenges I never expected to face.

This storm has also strengthened my testimony of my call as a missionary. It has been pointed out to me just how serendipitous it is that I have served in Houston after this Hurricane, since I actually had a job in flood restoration for a while before my mission. It truly is a miracle. I feel that my talents are really being called on now.

I’ve also been pondering about this flood and the parable of the house on the rock, in Luke 6:48-49. Remember that the house is our lives, the foundation is our testimony of the commandments, and the flood is trials. We can have a good foundation, but if we make a mistake and water comes in, we must act immediately. If we wait, our house will rot from the inside out. And if we find that our house is full of water, the walls must be torn down. If we never tear our house apart and rebuild, our house will kill us, either as it falls on us or slowly poisons us with mold spores.

Have a great week Y'all!

Elder Derek Troy

Standing with the pile of debris removed from a home they have “mucked” out. It’s sweaty, stinky work.

Streets became rivers.

At another meetinghouse and expecting evacuees to hand out clothing and other supplies.

Friendly pool game after a hard day’s work.

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Parked the mission car as high as it would go!

Day three of Hurricane Harvey, the flood water had begun to creep up too close to these missionaries’ apartment complex. They were evacuated. They were getting cabin fever so they were ready to go. Floods? Still smiling!

Safely evacuated and brought to one of our church meetinghouses which is serving as a shelter for evacuees. Now it’s time to serve dinner to those who are homeless and hungry. His companion Elder Labbee.

Their final day with this member family they were inundated by the rest of the ward with food and other things for them to take with them in their next housing.