Volunteer Chore Services: Friday

Charlotte Dittmar


This was my first mission and I can honestly say that it was totally worth the hot, upper ninety-degree weather. Going into the week I didn’t have any friends and I was not looking forward to going at all. The first day I made tons of friends.
On the first work day, my group and I were introduced to a man named Lowell Ramfo who was going to help us make ramps. We were going to build a ramp for this man who had such a tough life. His leg was horribly beaten up and he had had 17 surgeries on it. The next ramp was for a woman’s mom and I have to say it was a ton easier to build than the first one. My favorite part about the spot where we were was that the lady who owned the house was selling little tiny puppies and we got to hold them. By lunchtime we were finished and we went to Lowell’s house for lunch where we got to eat the delicious peaches from his tree. Lowell had said that before his mother died at 95, she wrote him the most moving passage I had ever heard. This is what she said:

You can’t get much done starting tomorrow. It’s better to look ahead and prepare than to look back and regret. Be happy, it’s one way of being wise. Kindness is the ability to love people more than they deserve. Practice makes perfect, so be careful what you practice. Keep your ideals high enough to inspire you, and low enough to encourage you. You can’t turn back the clock, but you can wind it up again. If you have joy in your heart, it will be known by the look on your face.

Just by hearing those simple words made my week and made me realize, in a way, why I was on this mission trip. I am here to serve the lord by being kind and showing love to the people we were serving this week. This was not the only message I heard and will definitely take home with me. At the last place we helped we pulled weeds for an elderly woman, Margrett, who has a bad back and couldn’t really manage her garden herself. Our group went in to talk with her, and one really important advice she gave was, when you get a job have faithfulness because without it you will have a lot of trouble.
This week was very fun and was kind of a roller coaster. It was hot, sweaty, challenging and really fun. I also want to say that I learned how to use a power drill. I know that I will be coming back next year because I feel satisfied about being able to say that I might have changes someone’s life or just day but I feel good about the work I did.