The Fire

So I am deathly afraid of tornados. I lived in Texas for 27 years and every year I would spend some amount of time in a closet crying and praying for the storm to pass us by. So it was a joy to know that I would be moving to a place that would never never have a tornado. However... there was the potential for wildfires, as we are surrounded by beautiful forests. Now, I figured- it's a fire. If there is one, you put it out. How hard is that. That's what the hot, half naked firefighters from those calendars are for, right? Well... when you look out your window and see the fire coming towards town- not so easy and the firefighters- not so half naked.

The town was covered in smoke for a week, as the fire began to burn... and burn... and burn... and then it grew bigger and bigger and bigger and then it came closer and closer and closer to town. See below:

Then you realize what a strange feeling it is to sit in your house, knowing you can't go outside because you can't breathe, and knowing that you are waiting to see if you will burn. Just as scary as sitting in a closet praying away a tornado. Only this takes way longer for the storm to pass. So you wait... until you see this:

and this:

And then you pack up to leave, driving through this:

not knowing what will happen to all you're meager belongings as you and your family try to stay safe. Thankfully we had a safe place to go- Jonathan's mom's house in St. George. Where we had plenty of room and food. Thankfully we weren't stuck on a cot in the evacuation station, a highschool gym. Thankfully the firefighters were able to keep the fire from the town and thankfully we were able to come home to nothing being ruined except what was in the fridge. They are still working on the fire, but things are getting better. The ward and stake were able to contact everyone and know they were safe and there have been many experiences of people helping people. Yep, I've gotten good at praying away tornados, now I just need to get good at praying out fires.