Elder Miller asked our contact at the “polisi” that helped organize our Police English class for a community service project idea for December 1, 2018. He explained that there are many trees along a main street, and people over the past years hammered nails into the trees to hang signs of their choice. The trees are suffering from the many nails that were never removed. He suggested that we missionaries remove nails from the trees.
We began at 8 am Saturday December 1, 2018 for two hours. Eight Missionaries and 3 others came to help. Elder Miller challenged the companionships that who pulled the most nails, he would buy hamburgers and french fries for the two winners. In total we all pulled 404 nails. The winning Elders pulled 159 nails. We had a successful and great time. There were many great experiences with the community. Our hammer broke twice. It took less than 2 minutes for community support. After we went back on our way the hammer handle broke again and a becak driver stopped and he and his friend offered another repair, pulling out their personal repair tools and glue and sending us on our way. It is incredible the service that we received, giving service. The people in this community treat us with so much kindness it is an ongoing effort to give back!
The police told us that they heard one spectator say to a group, “ It is amazing to see strangers from another country concerned about the trees and environment in our city of Solo”. And the entire two hours we spent pulling nails there were community members giving back to us!
What a nice way to Light the World- by digging old nails out of trees and beautifying your community. So sorry, though, about the sprained ankle! Hope it's already better! (Curt hit his finger with a sledgehammer Friday and ended up needing stitches- ouch! So he feels your pain, Bob!)
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