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Finding Refuge during Natural Disasters
In response to severe natural disasters in their home countries, Latter-day Saints have shown how reliance on Jesus Christ can provide peace in troubling times.
The Savior prophesied that in the last days “there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places” (Matthew 24:7). We are seeing this prophesy unfold around us increasingly each year with natural disasters happening across the world.
Many faithful members of the Church have been tested by the effects of nature’s destructive forces. Yet their resilience and faith are both humbling and inspiring as they “wait upon the Lord” (Isaiah 40:31) and trust in His promised blessings.
In response to severe natural disasters in their home countries, Latter-day Saints have shown how reliance on Jesus Christ can provide peace in troubling times.
Waiting in Faith
In November 2020, Hurricanes Eta and Iota ravaged several Central American countries. The destruction caused by the storms was overwhelming. As Area President of the Central America Area, Elder Brian K. Taylor of the Seventy received an unforgettable text message from a stake president in Honduras. The stake president’s family was living in a temporary shelter after the storm forced them from their home; his text message read: “We continue with the same faith and hope that we will emerge stronger from this experience: more humble, more helpful — and willing to submit to whatever the Lord deems prudent.”1
It’s easy to get discouraged and feel hopeless in this modern “day of trouble” (Nahum 1:7). But we’re not alone in our struggles and suffering. Heavenly Father’s response to Joseph Smith’s desperate pleas from the depths of Liberty Jail are just as applicable to each of us: “Peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high” (Doctrine and Covenants 121:7–8).
The Lord promises us that He will make things right if we endure our hardships with faith. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has taught:
“While we work and wait together for the answers to some of our prayers, I offer you my apostolic promise that they are heard and they are answered, though perhaps not at the time or in the way we wanted. But they are always answered at the time and in the way an omniscient and eternally compassionate parent should answer them.”2
Thanks to Heavenly Father’s plan of happiness, we can remember that “when there’s no peace on earth, there is peace in Christ.”3
Serving Others
As a stake Relief Society president in Japan, Sister Junko Yoshida worked with members of her stake Relief Society to collect 1,000 towels for residents affected by severe flooding in early July 2020. Sister Yoshida said: “I wanted to help people. … I immediately [got to work]. … [We had] about 1,000 towels and rags gathered in a short period of about four days.”4
Similar Christlike service was shown in December 2021, when severe tornadoes tore across the midwestern United States, leaving many homeless and tens of thousands of people without power. Rather than letting the devastation of their homes debilitate them, members throughout the impacted states immediately got to work serving and helping their communities. Kevin D. Releford, a stake president in Hendersonville, Tennessee, said he was “absolutely blown away by the compassionate, Christ-like service our members have shown for each other, for their neighbors. … Members wrapped their arms around [their neighbors] and made sure they had a place to stay and have the support they need.”5
Elder Moisés Villanueva of the Seventy taught: “Jesus Christ showed us that during times of trial and adversity, we can recognize the difficulties of others. Moved with compassion, we can reach out and lift them. And as we do so, we are also lifted by our Christlike service. President Gordon B. Hinckley stated: ‘The best antidote I know for worry is work. The best medicine for despair is service. The best cure for weariness is the challenge of helping someone who is even more tired.’”6
Finding Peace
These stories are prime examples of how centering our lives on the Savior can help us not only find peace in troubling times but also allow us to be a source of peace to others.
The Savior said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).
Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, is aware of us. We can trust Him to make our burdens light (see Matthew 11:28–30). Whether the storms we face in this life are literal or figurative, “the Savior can provide protection and peace to guide you ultimately to safety and shelter from life’s storms.”7