Shaken But All In One Piece

Jill suggested that I write a short post just to let everyone know that we are alive and okay after this afternoon’s earthquake.  At 1:00 p.m. we were at the institute visiting with people who had dropped in for a chat (today was the first day of University), when the building started shaking much more severely then anything we have experienced in the past.  Many of those with us had experienced the September earthquake and said this one felt worse.  It felt worse because the epicenter was much closer and the quake was very shallow.  The institute building is strong and weathered the shaking well.  Our flat is undamaged as well.  The roads around our home have deep potholes in places and other sections are raised up.  We are without water, but the power just came on after six hours.  Other than that, we see very little damage here.  The city center, and the eastern side of the city closer to the ocean, are badly damaged. 

We taught an early morning seminary class today.  On the way home, John suggested that we stop at the grocery store.  Being a very inspired missionary, I suggested we wait until we had finished our work for the day.  So, now we have very little food and we think the stores will be closed for some time. 

Those are little concerns.  I am only hoping that all of our Young Single Adults and their families are safe.  Many of them, when the university was evacuated, came across the street to the institute building.  There they spent hours trying to reach family members.  Alice finally found that her mother, who was working in a 5 story building downtown, walked away unhurt when the building lay in a heap of rubble.  Patty’s father emailed her and told her to stay where she was—there was no home to come to.  David got a text from his brother saying, “We need you”, and then lost contact.  He never did get his parents.  I’m dreading the news we might receive tomorrow.  We love these kids.

The aftershocks just keep coming.  Some of them are very sizeable.  I’m sure that we won’t get much sleep tonight.  It’s amazing how powerless we really are as humans.  There’s nothing like a natural disaster to drive that point home.  All you can do is cling to the people around you.

We are well and no one needs to worry about us.  Pray for those who are suffering around us.