Chainsaws and Nailguns!
A few years ago when I was working with Justin back in CA I asked our boss, an engineer with 30 years of experience, what he would do if he could work on anything in the world. With a gleam in his eye he said "Lasers and Railguns." Well, last weekend I attended an Elders Quorum service project and I discovered what every Elders Quorum member wants to do in a service project.
Chainsaws and Nailguns!
We were helping a member demolish a section of their house so that contractors could come in and build an extension. Paul, a Vandy Med student, and I were assigned to go up in the attic and start busting up a chimney that was a historical remnant of the house. Once we got up in the attic we told everyone below to be sure to stay clear of the chimney since brick would be falling. We expected the process to last at least an hour....it lasted about two minutes.
Once we cleared a few bricks the whole thing came down and brick flew everywhere in the room. The force of the impact was so great that the floor, also made of brick, visably recoiled. Thankfully no one was hurt. So, after cleaning the room of brick the homeowner had the bright idea of assigning Paul and I, who almost killed everyone, to go and cut down the huge trees outside with chainsaws. Neither of us had much experience with chainsaws and that nearly proved the death of everyone. I chopped the first side of the tree down with no problems but got the chainsaw stuck halfway into the other side and we had to use ropes and a crew to hank on the tree until the other side came down. The neighbors kept coming out to looking at us and just shaking their heads in disgust.
We then started to chop up the branches for fireword and disposal. While cutting someone noticed that there were squirrels inside on of the cut segments. I was terrified that I had cut one of the squirrels in half, but it turned out I had merely separated the mother squirrel from her babies. We were able to relocate them safely to the woods.
Anyway...I would recommend chainsaws and nailguns to any Elders quorum. Just be sure to get a prayer in before you start. :)
5 Comments:
You really put your life at risk when you do a service project with the Elder's Quorum. Like Scout outings, if it wasn't for the Lord's protection, I am not sure how we would survive them.
As for chainsaws, I remember when Grampy came over to help me cut down the big tree in the backyard. With Grampy urging me on, I climbed half way up the tree and sawed off a big branch. But instead of falling to the ground, it came right at me. It hit me dead center in the chest and knocked me back with great force. I was stunned and thought I had been skewered. The only thing that saved me from serious injury was the fact that I fell against the trunk of the tree which kept me from falling out of the tree with a live chainsaw in one hand.
Later, Grampy suggested I get on the roof and "guard" it against falling tree branches while he cut. Just as he sawed a huge limb, it came crashing down on the roof, right on top of me. I managed to push it off the roof but was poised on the edge of the gutter for a few seconds windmilling my arms so as not to take a nose dive onto the back lawn.
Grampy was laughing the whole time!
Doesn't grampy get it? The parent's job is to protect the kid, not encourage stupid stunts!
Yes, but when the parent is also a child .... and what do mean by "stupid stunts?" :-)
My most recent Elder's quorum project involved reroofing one of our member's houses. I have never 'roofed' anything. But, I am pretty good at almost falling off and almost dying.
Hm. I am learning more about the L.D.S. church everyday...nailguns...I will make a note of it! :)
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