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(KSL News) When you think of a monastery, you probably picture a place that's quiet and serene; a place of religious reflection and prayer. But that wasn't the case today at the Abbey Holy Trinity in Huntsville.
To be fair, there were plenty of prayers today at the monastery: prayers of thanks. The community came together this morning to help the monks with a rebuilding project which is vital to their livelihood.
They came from all over: men, women, children of many faiths. They brought their gloves and work boots. Area contractors donated heavy equipment.
Jim Truett, who helped organize the project, said, "[It's a] major project. We have about 115 people out here who donated their time today."
All these people were cleaning up what was left of three buildings that the monastery owns.
"The major outbuilding that collapsed, it's probably 100 yards long, to give somebody an idea of how big it is," Truett said.
The buildings collapsed in February, when Huntsville was hit with major snow. Houses and vehicles were buried; wildlife was, too. But the weight of the snow was too much for the buildings the monastery owns and leases to Tracy Woolsey. Woolsey works the land and stores his equipment in the buildings.
"We had thousands of dollars worth of equipment stored in this building for winter coverage. Then the snow came down and toppled the building on the equipment," he said.
Woolsey says $30,000 worth of equipment was damaged. Some has been repaired, and other items still need to be.
The income generated from leasing the land is what the 20 monks at the monastery use to live on for the year. After living expenses are taken care of, extra money goes to various charities. To keep that going, the damaged buildings will have to be rebuilt, which the monastery plans to do, hopefully this year.
Brother Bonaventure, the farm and shop manager, said, "We're really thankful to the community and all the people that pitched in and did such a wonderful job today."
The monastery still needs money to finish the buildings. And Tracey Woolsey had no insurance on the damaged equipment.
If you'd like to help, you can send donations directly to the monastery. The address is:
Monastery of the Holy Trinity
1250 S. 9500 East
Huntsville, UT 84317
