I just want to point out that I do not share this experience to boast or puff myself up!! Only to inspire and encourage you!
On Jan 12th I was coming home from the gym. Turning into our neighbor hood and saw thick black smoke. I had a strong prompting to go check it out. I thought that was kinda silly because we live in a huge neighborhood and someone should have been on top of this! I kept going in the direction of the smoke. I didn’t hear any sirens. I began to wonder if anyone was inside the house, were they safe. A young man and I pulled up to the burning house at about the same time. He was already calling 911 and pounding on the door. No one came. The fire was coming from the back of the house on the side where the gate was. Between the two of us, we were pretty much non stop pounding and ringing the doorbell. We then went from neighbor to neighbor knocking to see if they knew who lived there and if they had their number. Looking back, we, the young man and I, didn’t think for a second that they might not be home! Finally, right before the fire trucks got there the owner came to the door. Shocked, he asked what was going on!! We exclaimed that his house was on fire. We all ran in. I kept asking if she had any kids. She sort of paused then said that she was out back! WHAT??? Lou, the dog, was out back!! We really couldn't get to her. He ran to the back of the house opened the door and the smoke came pouring into the house! His wife was really scared. Their back door is by the pantry and the pantry by her closet. She could see and smell the smoke and she totally freaked out. She started collecting precious jewelry. I told her I would get that and she should put on a shirt! Poor girl was just in her bra. Then we started getting as much out of the house as we could. Her home looked like a model home! I wondered if they really LIVED there! Tori, you would be proud! Anyway, there was a second of panic. I almost froze. What do I grab? What if this was my house? We ended up only having time to get a few special blankets, jewelry, pics and computers. We put as much as we could into my van. They soon were able to get Lou. I got to hang out with him. Lou is a pit bull. I know that if they are raised correctly, they can be great dogs! But I was asked to hold Lou’s collar which was around her thick neck! I was a little more afraid of her than running in and out of a burning house! She was scared but stayed right by me! The lady kept hugging me thanking me. Telling me she knew there were angels on earth. Right then I had another strong prompting to give her a Book of Mormon. All three of them were safe. There was damage to the back wall. Mostly smoke damage inside. As we were pulling away from their home, Bay kept asking me if my friends were ok. I am sure Bay got the impression we were friends because she couldn’t stop hugging me! I was happy to be hugged and give her the support she needed right then! I tried to reassure that my friends were safe, even Lou the dog! I told her the firemen came and put the fire out! Ok mama!
I happened to tell a couple of friends about my prompting to give “my friends” a BOM. The next day she asked if I had done it yet. Nope, not yet. I still really had a strong impression it needed to be done! I tried to make cookies Wed night, but that was a flop. Stupid baking soda! Well, at least I tried! I didn’t dare take them flat cookies. Later that night another friend asked If I had done it yet. It was still a big fat no!! I explained the cookie situation and she quickly said that she had cookie dough in her frig and I could come pick it up after going to the gym. That brought another silly thought. Who can keep cookie dough in the frig for that long?? She said she had made the dough earlier that week. But she displayed self control and gave me that dough. Many hours of the day passed. The big girls had just come home from school. I was so tired and asked them to wake me up at 4:15. They did but I kept telling them 15 more minutes! When I could finally wake up it was 5:00. I went to the frig to get something quick for diner; I had a stake auxiliary training at the stake center which is about 20 min away in good traffic. As soon as I opened the frig door and saw the cookie dough staring right at me, I felt this huge feeling of disappointment! I felt like Heavenly Father was so sad I had not done this yet! He had given me every opportunity and I did not do my part. So I pulled out the cookie dough and a baking sheet and turned on the oven. Then I sat down to type the letter. I just talked about how I was prompted to check on her. This is one way God shows us He loves us. I also told her that I didn’t think of myself as an angel, but a tool of the Lord. So I went to print then sighed and clicked cancel. I hadn’t added anything about the BOM. So I added that we believe in the Bible and BOM. We read and study from each set of scripture to learn more about our Savior and how to be more like Him. I then added she could call me anytime and I would share more about this wonderful book! This was hard because I didn't want to leave our names but wanted to so she would have the opportunity to call. When Koko saw what I was doing, she sat down and wrote her own little note! It was so special! We had our BOM, card, letter, cookies, & dog treat for Lou, the dog and off we went. By then it was 6:00 and we had not eaten! We drive up to their house and Bay rang the bell. Then, again a few seconds later. I thought to myself that I had at least tried. Just as I was going to put the items by her door I asked Bay to ring it one more time. Then the door opened. Tears were flowing down “my friends” cheeks and she said she had been looking for us! They had been driving up and down the streets of our neighborhood! She was so happy to have found us!! I wish we would have had the time to stay. Bay was happy to see the fire gone and our friends were just fine! It felt so good to do the right thing. It took a
On Sunday, I got a call from her!!! I was so dang excited to hear her voice!!!!! I thought she was calling to find out all there was to know about our church! She was calling to see if we were home so they could drop something off. I was out visiting teaching but told her Michael and the girls were home. I called Michael to give him a heads up. All he said was “there’s blood everywhere, gotta go” then click!! Oh boy! I really wasn’t worried about that! They ended up coming right then! They could see that it was bad timing and just left the gifts. She also wrote a letter to me. It basically said that she respected us for giving her “the book” but they only believed in the Bible. Then she invited us to go to her church!!
We have planted the seed hopefully! She didn’t return “the book”. I hope it will sit as a reminder to her of God’s love for all of us!
Another cool part of this story it that last night Koko and I were working on things in her Faith in God book. We were discussing the Holy Ghost. It was a perfect teaching moment. I asked her what she thought would have happened if I didn’t listen to the first prompting. We discussed that others would have helped her and maybe there could have been more damage to her home. Then I told her had I not listened to the first prompting, I would never have gotten the second! The second prompting was the most important! I might have missed the opportunity to help “our friends” know about the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ!!
I tell this story not to brag or try to make myself look better or anything of that sort. In fact, I was very humbled! It's embarrassing to have had that many promptings and help and still not follow thrugh!!!
So if you receive a prompting, no matter how small or silly it may be, act on it!!! You never know what the next prompting may be!
