Suriving a Major Disaster on a Mission

October 17, 1989, started out as just another day in Watsonville, California.  We went back to our apartment for an early dinner around 5:00 p.m. and my companion decided to take a nap while I ate.  As I started to eat I heard a rolling/shaking sound outside, arcing toward the apartment, then the building began to shake.  My first thought was, "Oh, we get an earthquake today."  I had experienced a few other earthquakes in the 21 months I had been in California, and they were small quakes, each under 5.5 on the Richter scale.  It quickly became obvious, however, that this was not going to be a small quake.

Our apartment building was no longer on solid ground; it was as if we were aboard a small ship being tossed violently by heavy seas.  The shock waves of the quake would pick the building up and then drop it, over and over again.  BANG! BANG! BANG!  At this point my comp woke up from his nap, thinking I was playing some kind of practical joke on him.  The shaking intensified and books started falling off shelves.  We both jumped up and collided with each other on our way to the nearest door jamb.  As we stood there, I was conscious of nothing but the quake; I did not see the havoc being raised around me.

It was 5:04 p.m., and my companion and I, and everyone else in Watsonville, were just 17 miles from the epicenter at Loma Prieta.  According to official reports, the earthquake lasted just 15 seconds, to me it seemed more like three minutes, it just went on and on and on.  When it finally ended I gradually became aware of my surroundings, and the first thing I noticed were the chandeliers -- balls at the end of a chain -- swinging around overhead.  We didn't see much else as we decided to get out as fast as we could.  We crossed the street to a park and waited, not knowing what to do.  A man came by with a radio, and as we listened, we learned about the major disaster that had hit the Bay Area.

That night we slept in a tent.  The next day we traveled around Watsonville, seeing the devastation first hand -- houses burned down after gas leaks were ignited, houses that had jumped off their foundations, building facades that had crumbled, and a large crack in the downtown shopping center.  I saw porches that had collapsed and wondered what would have happened if we had been out tracting when the quake hit.  There was a long line at the grocery store as people lined up to buy bread and water.  Everywhere we heard rumors of another, bigger earthquake to hit sometime that day or night.

We went back to our apartment and had a barbeque lunch -- we were still without electricity.  Then we took a nap to catch up on lost sleep.  We were awoken by a knock on the door, it was our mission president, his wife and the A.P.s; they had come to check on us because we weren't home when they had called us on the phone.  They told us that church headquarters in Salt Lake City knew that all of the missionaries were safe, and that an announcement would be made on the news.

That night we decided to sleep in our apartment, but we were all experiencing a little fear and trepidation due to the rumors of a bigger quake.  As I prayed before going to bed, I thanked my Heavenly Father for my life, my safety and my shelter. I then explained my fears and anxieties about the rumors of another quake, and then asked for forgiveness for my weakness. I asked that he would help my lack of faith and then I asked if there would be another earthquake. I said that I knew there would be more aftershocks, but I wanted to know if there would be any more major earthquakes. The spirit gave me a sweet assurance there would be no more big quakes and I was blessed with peace.

There were more aftershocks that night; in fact, there seemed to be an aftershock every hour on the hour.  A particularly big aftershock at 2:00 a.m. woke me up.  My heart was beating fast, but I said to myself, “No, have faith. There can be no faith where there is fear. He promised that there would not be another big quake. Trust Him!”  A bigger aftershock around 3:00 a.m. woke us all up and we each ended up out in the living room. We listened to the radio for a few minutes.

By a quarter to 4:00, my companion, our district leader and his companion were asleep on the living room floor. I could not sleep and did some more reading by candlelight. By 4:30 a.m., I was also asleep on the living room floor. Thirty minutes later a big aftershock hit. Again I repeated, “No, trust Him.” That was the last aftershock of the night. The Lord kept his promise. By 8:00 a.m. then next morning we had electricity again. It felt like a turning point.  Later I wrote in my journal, "What an experience, though, to be able to go to a loving Heavenly Father and ask him if there would be any more big earthquakes, and then to receive an answer! What a confirmation of His love!"

I testify that Heavenly Father hears and answer prayers, and will give us peace when we need it, if we but ask Him in prayer.

Tomorrow I will write a little about what not to do regarding your parents after a major disaster.  I wrote about my fears; imagine how my parents must have felt.