Jet Set Brunette: Crazy Soaking Rainstorms!

Dear family and friends,

I have an experience to share with you this week! This past Wednesday, we were on exchanges, and Sister Belnap and I were out tracting a little ways down the street from our apartment, around 8pm. We were on foot, and didn't have umbrellas, which was against our luck because we could see a storm building up a little ways off. We were talking to this lady and her husband who were doing some yard work outside, just carrying on a conversation. The wind started picking up. We could see a couple flashes of lightning in the distance. We finished talking to them and then started walking home. It would take about 3-4 minutes to walk home. It started sprinkling. Then it started raining harder. All of the sudden it was pouring, and the thunder and lightning seemed to get very close to us! We were in the middle of the storm! Without a second thought, we ran under a tree to keep from getting soaked. We had our Books of Mormon, planners, and other materials in our backpack that we didn't want to get wet! We stood for second, contemplating whether to call a member to come get us, or to just run home. We knew we couldn't stay under that tree, because that wasn't safe in a lightning storm. It was our (very limited) knowledge that if lightning is real bad, you should go lay in a field if you can't get shelter, and to stay away from trees, poles, and bodies of water. So our options were to quickly run home, or to just plop ourselves down on the wet grass. Since our apartment was actually within eye distance a ways off, it was tempting, and we decided to go with that. So I grabbed my backpack and stuffed it into my shirt to try and keep it from getting soaked, and we ran. It was intense to say the least, as the sidewalk we were running down was illuminated only by the frequent flash of lightning, which seemed to be so near to us, accompanied with the wind and loud crashes of thunder! We ran as fast as we could, and I'm proud to say that I did it in heels. As rain hit my face and lightning struck a little ways off to the left of us, I yelled, "Come on Sister! We're almost there!"

Finally, out of breath and soaked, we made it at least to the apartment office. It was locked, but luckily there was a porch to keep the rain off of us and two rocking chairs in which we slumped down in to catch our breath. I started laughing, partially from the shock of it all, and partially from the absolute ridiculous ordeal we just went through! Poor Sister Belnap had been scared for her life, and was a little shaken up. Right at that moment, the Wetumpka Elders called us to make sure we were inside for the storm. They were shocked to find that we had gotten caught in it! They told us to stay on the phone with them until we got inside somewhere, and that we could enter a code to get into the apartment gym, but we decided to just run the short distance more to our apartment. We ran, and made it. We were completely soaked, head to toe. Luckily, the contents of my bag were just fine! We were surprised to find our porch door wide open, probably pushed open by the wind, but luckily the floor didnt get wet from the rain. Also few minutes after getting back, our weather radio went off with a warning. Although the worst part of the storm had already passed. We took a couple pictures to keep the memory, changed into some dry clothes, and called it a night. Craziest exchange ever.

In other news, we've continued doing lots of tracting and I've focused on asking good questions and having quality conversations with people. It's really helped our work and given us more opportunities to teach with the scriptures! I love being directed by the Spirit and pulling out scriptures that relate to the person we are talking with. The scriptures are such blessing. Read 'em, they'll help you! One thing I love about the scriptures is that you can "read between the lines". You read a verse, but it will speak to you in a different way than what the text actually says. My challenge to y'all is to read a chapter in the Book of Mormon and see how the verse can apply to you personally. I would also suggest reading up on some personal safety tips in a lightning storm.

Sending love from Wetumpka,

Sister Griffith