The day the earth REALLY shook...in Chili

Every once you read about something that brings flat out proof of the spiritual things that you believe.

Such is the case with the amazing account I just read of the experience/miracle of Pres. and Sister Laycock of the Santiago Chili, East mission of the LDS Church regarding the recent earthquake there which was "500x worse than the one in Haiti".

Here are snippets of her account. "Pres. Monson teaches ...When we are on the Lord's errand, we are entitled to His help. When we were set apart for this calling, Elder Scott of the Council of the Twelve Apostles, told us  ...."At times, during your mission, you will be awakened in the middle of the night or in the morning hours with thoughts of specific things you should do...do not ignore thee thoughts. They are promptings from the Holy Ghost who will communicate with you in the stillness of the night or in the peace of the early morning hours. He will speak to you then because that is when you are still enough to hear." (a lesson for us all...we ask and ask, but when do we make time to listen?)


"Elder Scott further instructed us to keep a notebook beside our bed so that we could record these precious promptings... we may forget by the morning." (also good advice) 


Well.... Nearly 3 weeks ago, Sister Laycock was awakened around 4 am....


"Nearly two-and-one-half weeks ago, I was awakened at around 4:00 AM by just such a prompting. I did not hear a voice, but the thought was as clear as if it had been in the form of spoken words: "There is going to be an earthquake. Prepare your missionaries." I sat up in bed and immediately remembered Elder Scott's counsel. That morning I told Larry what had happened. He immediately set to work organizing our missionaries to prepare for an earthquake.



We set a goal and arranged our schedule so that we could visit every apartment in the mission to check for safety and to review with our missionaries what to do in case of an earth quake. What a wonderful experience we have had as we have met with them and shared scriptures with them about being spiritually and physically prepared. "...if ye are prepared, ye shall not fear" (D&C 38:30).

We instructed every missionary to have a "go-bag" (36 hour kit). We reviewed our emergency action plan with them of where to go and what to do if they had phone service and in case they did not. We gave everyone a paper with all instructions in English and Spanish, and we reminded them that "this life is the time to prepare to meet God" (Alma 34:32-34). We shared with them our thoughts and feelings about the need for spiritual and physical safety.

Some of them became frightened and asked us if we knew something they didn't know. We smiled and repeated "...if ye are prepared, ye shall not fear." We didn't want to unduly alarm them, but we did want to impress upon them the need to be prepared.

Then we knelt with them in their apartment and dedicated each apartment, asking for a blessing of safety and security to be upon every apartment
.
When the earthquake came, we were prepared. We did not experience the panic that many felt. We knew we were prepared. Because of the words of the Lord's chosen Apostle, Elder Scott, we had listened and heeded the quiet, but clear promptings of the Holy Ghost. We were blessed with peace in the midst of chaos. We learned an important lesson: our preparation helped us to avoid panic and fear, but the Lord, in His wisdom, allowed us to experience enough discomfort to know that He has all power. He is in charge. We are nothing without Him. We are dependent upon Him for every breath we take. Only He can save us from death and destruction. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is our perfect example. If we follow Him, we will be saved through obedience to the laws and ordinances of His Gospel.

As the earthquake became more violent, the mission home groaned and wailed. The power died, so the whole city was black. The windows made a hideous screeching sound, and flying objects banged against swaying walls. The printer/fax machine, books, book ends, and fifty-pound television burst from the entertainment center and crashed to the floor, cabinets emptied, drawers flew open, the refrigerator moved, water sloshed out of the toilets, the floor jolted up and down as we ran across it trying to hold onto the walls to keep from falling down, and the piano toppled over like a small toy. As we made our way to the back yard, I remember thinking, "God is all-powerful. He is our only refuge from this horrible mess." I prayed and prayed for Him to still the earth.
When we reached the back yard, we watched in terror ".....read more here

                             

The lessons are many

Obey the counsel to be prepared...NOW

• Have confidence that the Spirit can and will warn us of dangers.
• Create still time to just listen
• The Lord gives warnings to those who have ears to listen, so that they can be calm help to those around them!
• Why didn't the Lord give the prompting to the mission president? The Lord gives promptings to those who have certain stewardships. In this case, every "mission mother" has the job of overseeing the health and welfare of all the missionaries in their mission.