“Faith to Face the Fires,” Ensign, December 2020
Faith to Face the Fires
Sometimes we are spared from disaster. Other times we are given strength to endure. Either way, there are spiritual lessons to be learned.
Bottom right: Doug and Carol Danz show some of the “baked goods” they found in the ruins of their kitchen after the fire in Paradise. Left: Their daughter Baylee walks through the nearby burned-out forest. Top right: Harvey and Karen Parrot hold the remains of their melted aluminum truck wheel.
Photographs by Richard M. Romney, except where noted
It’s a question as old as humanity: why do bad things happen to good people? Millions have suffered this year from the pandemic, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, locust infestations, and other disasters. Why are some people spared, while others must endure and overcome?
Scriptures and Church leaders can provide perspective. We can also gain understanding from the survivors themselves. This article features interviews with several people who endured fires in the United States and Australia during the past two years. What they have learned may help each of us faithfully face the fires of life.
Paradise, California, USA
“I Still Know What I Know”
In November 2018, fire raced through the town of Paradise so rapidly that there wasn’t time for most people to do anything but get out. When it was all over, 95 percent of the town was destroyed. More than 11,000 homes had burned to the ground.
“But it’s really just stuff that went away,” Doug Danz said months later as he walked through the ruins of what was once his home. “I’m still me. I still know what I know. I still have all my wonderful growing-up experiences and experiences in the Church that strengthened my testimony. None of that is gone. It’s all still inside of me. I just hope this experience is refining me and making me better.”
“Sometimes faith isn’t faith unless it’s all you’re holding on to,” said his wife, Carol. “When our home burned down, we could have shaken our fist at God in anger, but faith was the route we took instead.”
Their daughter Baylee, a Relief Society president of a young single adult ward, said that the kindness and service of others reassured her of God’s love. “Since the fire, I have seen Heavenly Father’s hand many times.”
Bryn Davis and her daughter Ellie look at what’s left of a storage room in what was their home.
“Don’t Be a Pillar of Salt”
Harvey and Karen Parrot lived in Paradise for 50 years.
“The only way I’ve been able to get through it is to think about Lot’s wife,” Karen said. “When the scriptures say she turned into a pillar of salt, I think it’s because she was so taken with the past that she couldn’t move forward. You have to take one step and then another, even if they’re tiny steps. So move forward with faith in Christ. And don’t look back. Don’t be a pillar of salt!”
Harvey said that one thing that’s been challenging for many fellow Latter-day Saints has been learning to graciously receive service.
“We’re used to helping others,” he said, “but we’re not so used to having others help us, especially people we don’t even know. So many have stepped up. How do you thank them all?”
“A Little Bit More Christlike”
Bruce Yerman may best sum up the feelings of those who lost everything in Paradise, materially speaking, but gained a lot spiritually. “We don’t feel punished,” he said. “We feel blessed. But we also feel a huge sense of loss.”
Bruce finds comfort in the story of Nephi from the Book of Mormon. “I feel that he had a sense of loss too. I can relate to that better now—loss of home, loss of community, loss of family members, people being scattered. That sense of loss is very real. It makes you take a step back, go to the foundations, and realize ‘Who am I? I’m a child of my Heavenly Father.’ And that hasn’t changed.”
Sarah and Bruce Yerman lost everything materially but gained spiritual understanding.
Through it all, he said the acts of service he has seen have changed him. “When I say my prayers every night now, I do a mental recap of the day and how I may have helped somebody else. I didn’t use to do that. Every single day I’m looking for something to do to help someone, and that makes me feel good. I suppose it’s being a little bit more Christlike than I was before.”
And what does he think will happen to his community going forward? “People are definitely going to be the most important thing to us, starting with our family and those around us. We’re going to be a little nicer, a little friendlier, a little more patient. We’re going to be just a little bit better.”
Victoria and New South Wales, Australia
Fire rages in Australia’s Blue Mountains.
Photograph from Getty Images
“Blessed and Watched Over”
The Australian bushfire season between June 2019–March 2020 is now sometimes referred to as “Black Summer.” At times it seemed the entire continent was ablaze. Braden Murrin and his family live on bush property completely surrounded by trees. When the fires came through, they were in danger of losing everything.
“Getting my family out to safety was my top priority,” Braden said. “We packed up as much as we could and evacuated.”
During one month, flames approached the Murrins’ property three times. The first time, the wind changed and blew the fire in another direction. The second time, the wind changed and firefighters stopped the fire.
The third time, Braden said, “I saw two big flashes of lighting and heard the loudest thunder I had ever heard.” It started to rain, which dampened the ground and once again stopped the fire from coming onto the property.
“I know we have been blessed and watched over,” Braden said. “I can only put this down to the prayers of family and friends, the temple prayer roll, and the fasting of faithful members.”
“It Rained Nonstop”
As the bushfires raged in Australia, the Area Presidency invited members of the Church to fast and petition Heavenly Father for relief from the fires and drought throughout the country.
“Before the area-wide fast, there was no rain in the forecast for months,” Ian Carroll said. “But after the fast, it rained nonstop. Our gutters overflowed and dams rose enough for stock to drink.”
Members of the Church in Australia can see the blessings that have come from the fast. President Graham Smith of the Melbourne Australia Gippsland Stake said, “As we follow the instructions of the prophet, apostles, and other Church leaders, we will not only be protected, but we will be able to assist others in need.”
Salem, Utah, USA
“The Lord Will Take Care of You”
Richard Jenni and his family have lost two homes to fire and been in several serious floods. He had recently moved from New Jersey, USA, to Utah, when he learned fires were threatening his home once again in September 2018.
“The Spirit whispered to me that everything would be OK,” he said. With that reassurance, he made sure his family was safe, secured his house, and then went to help others. He worked in an evacuation warehouse, helping displaced people find food and clothing. Meanwhile, he kept repeating his personal testimony: “No matter what happens, the Lord will take care of you.”
Richard Jenni worked as a volunteer.
“We Got Better and Better”
Church and community leaders quickly found that communication, cooperation, and coordination were the best way to avoid panic and confusion.
“By getting the cities, schools, and churches working together, we got better and better at doing what was needed,” said Becky Poulter, a stake Relief Society president. The spirit of mutual support still lingers in the local communities.
“We Need Your Prayers, Right Now!”
When the threat of the fires became apparent, stake president David Clare felt prompted to ask members to pray—often. They did, over and over again.
As part of a stake-wide appeal to heaven, a girl kneeled near a corral to pray.
Photograph by Richard Morley
One critical morning, he received a call from a fire coordinator. “We need your prayers, right now!” Winds were pushing flames over the last hill, putting them within a quarter mile (0.4 km) of populated areas. As embers landed around homes, President Clare sent a message to stake members, then found a quiet room and prayed himself.
When President Clare called back and asked for an update, he received good news. “The wind shifted,” the fire coordinator said. “It seems the fire has just stopped!”
After a Sunday community fast and prayer, with no rain in the forecast, the community witnessed unexpected rain and a rainbow filled the sky.