Temples
And
Tornadoes
(c) copyright 1999
by Oklahoma Super Site

On the evening of May 3rd, 1999 a family of six was fleeing from their mobile home after dire warnings from Gary England's Channel 9 News Service about a powerful tornado heading their way.  The father was leading them towards the ravine closest to their home when suddenly the mother stopped and called him back.   "The Lord says to stay here."

"Here?"  He looked around the flat knoll and shook his head.   "No.  We must get in the ravine."

She started to follow him, then shrank back.  "This is where the Lord says we will be safe."

Father, mother and four children knelt on the knoll, closed their eyes and clasped their arms around each other so that if one went, all would go together.  For what seemed like an eternity, the winds whipped around them. 

When they opened their eyes once more there was a tree smashed to the ground to their left, its leaves almost touching their feet.  Behind them was an even larger tree, almost touching their feet.  In front of them was yet a third tree, almost touching their feet.

The father rose slowly and pointed at the ground where they had been kneeling.   "That is holy ground!" he declared.

There are miles of utter destruction left from those 314 MPH winds.  There were thousands of homes destroyed, but the biggest thing left in the wake of the killer tornado that raged over Oklahoma on that tragic evening of 3 May 1999 -- was miracles.

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A grandmother of 84 hurried to the shower stall even as she confessed to the Lord that she was ready to go home, having lived a rich full life.  When the storm had gone over her the only thing left still standing of her home was the two pipes which once were attached to her bathroom sink.  "But my hair wasn't even messed up."

A man and his wife fled before the storm with nothing but the clothes on their back.  When they returned, their home had been flattened.  Every wall had collapsed; everything in the house was either gone, under the three feet of crushed rubble, or ruined by huge hailstones.  A brand new riding mower was so twisted it could not be moved, only carried -- All of it's tires were not just flat, but crumpled so badly they would never hold air again.  A brand new chain hoist from a neighbor's garage half a mile away still looked new until the man picked it up; the other side of the pulley had been peeled back much like a banana peeling.
It took days for a team of LDS missionaries to dig down through the debris to find the original floor.  Suddenly they uncovered a cat.  It was still alive.   It wasn't even hurt.
They called the homeowners over to rejoice and were told:  "Please.   Keep digging, we had to leave all three of our cats behind."
The following day a second cat was found, still alive, unhurt.  Occasionally they would hear the pitiful meow of the third cat, still alive somewhere, but it was never found.
From all they had left behind they had only three things left intact... the two cats, and a history of the man's grandfather; it wasn't even damp.  "You Mormon missionaries understand how much this means to me, don't you?"

Baptist, Pentecost, Methodist, Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist; all have their stories to tell of miracles and sacred reasons for rejoicing.

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