Stories: Violence in Leon pt. 4
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| This time she insisted we stay because it was too dangerous to be out on the streets. We ignored her after getting the local news and started for home. We again get to the same intersection where the street lights stop and we are looking into darkness. Since it was a new night, we said a new prayer. After this prayer we did not feel anything. After discussing it, we decided to walk straight home like we did the night before, but we would turn around if we started getting bad feelings. We got about a ½ a block when we heard a loud explosion and saw a great ball of fire rise into the sky ahead of us. Without missing a step we made a U-turn and took the long way home by the streetlights. Saturday, September 9th there seemed to be extra tension in the air. We decided to call it quits early about 7 PM. We skipped the members house and felt an urgency to get home. We even skipped the prayer under the last street light. It was weird, the people were wishing us luck as we went home, usually, they just ignored us. About two blocks from home a man grabbed us and pulled us into his house. He told us that we would be killed if we went out on the streets. Oddly, we had not heard any shouting, bombs or the usual nighttime activities. We stayed in the mans house for about 5 minutes and convinced him we would be careful as we went home. We told him where we lived and that we would sneak down an alley and through a vacant lot to get home. Reluctantly he let us go. We heard people running around in the darkness, shouting and yelling, but it was as if we were invisible. We did not see them nor did they see us. We walked through the gate and the other companionship was just sitting down for a snack. They too had come in early. Elder Smart was grinning from ear to ear and said, Did you hear it? Hear what? I replied. The guns, the war! Since we had not heard anything we said No. Before I could wash my hands, gunfire erupted on the street outside our gate. We had just walked through there about two minutes earlier. Needless to say, we took our snacks into our rooms to eat that night. As we are in our rooms, the Rebels come to the front door of the house and begin banging on the door. They threaten to kill all inside if the door is not opened. We locked our door and hid in the shower that way if the Rebels shot into our rooms, the concrete wall of the shower would protect us. I was truly in fear for my life at that time. I felt like Joseph Smith in the Carthage Jail no place to run with an armed mob outside. My companion and I begin to whisper fervent prayers for protection while the other companionship is praying quite loudly for the same blessings. The whole house is searched for guns and ammunition, but the Rebels never came back to knock on our doors. The whole night was crazy. A dump truck was blown up in the middle of the intersection outside our house. A tree with about a two-and-one-half foot trunk was chopped down outside our gate. Both of these obstacles served as a barricade to hide behind and block the street. Sunday we could not go to church. Our house was about 3 blocks behind the established Rebel lines. The people fought all through the night and there would be battles during the day. At one point we all went outside the gate to look at the destruction. We could look down toward the intersection and see men with masks shooting down the street. We took some pictures of the tree and truck, then decided to go back in after a volley of bullets went hissing through the air over our heads. Things settled down significantly that evening. There was only periodic gunfire going on through out the town. I figured everything would follow the established pattern: get rowdy on the weekends and everything would be back to normal on Monday. On Monday, things were quieter. We decided to go out and check on things. There was an older missionary couple Brother and Sister Call, who were serving as the Branch and Relief Society Presidents. They lived on the other side of town. The two senior companions were going to go check on them and the two junior companions were going to visit some members. Elder Smart and I bought some food at a local tienda (family store). We were able to do that because we knew everyone that made torillas or had a tienda. We walked deep into the Rebel territory, passing sentries who were keeping guard. Elder Smart and I got surrounded by four young bravos, one waving a pistol in our faces. Elder Smart told me to keep walking and get out of there. Not knowing what to do, I walked about twenty yards away while the kid with the gun was lecturing Elder Smart. I decided that companions had to stick together so I walked back and grabbed Elder Smart by the arm and half dragged him from the group. We turned, and walked away, carrying our food with us. We could not find the members at home they had left the city for safer areas. As we were walking past the sentries on the way out, the Red Cross was trying to get in. The sentries were refusing them access, yet we walked right by. The Calls were scared but okay, they moved from their house to live in the Church a house that was rented. They lived with a family that was somehow connected with the Nicaraguan government. The Nicas used Monday to dig in. The barricades were now reinforced with dirt, sand, anything that would stop a bullet. There was not any fighting on Monday, just digging in. Tuesday we had district meeting. The Calls did not come. Elder Hilton asked us to pray individually about the situation to decide if we should stay or go to Managua for a little while until things calmed down. I know I received an answer. We came together and discussed our answers. We all felt strongly that we should leave the house. The Red Cross offices were about four blocks away from where we lived so Elder Hilton and Elder Christensen went down there to arrange an escort for the following morning to get us out of town. The Red Cross agreed to help us get out. When the missionaries returned to the house and we all packed small overnight bags and then hid the rest of our possessions in the ceiling of our rooms. We called the family together and told them of our plans and then had them kneel down with us as we used our Priesthood to protect the house and the family. This blessing proved to be true we found out later. Their house was protected. While other houses on the street were riddled with bullet and one was even destroyed, the house where we live had no marks on it. Tuesday afternoon, September 12th, the locals set up an assembly line to make Molotov cocktails right outside the gate. They warned us not to take any more pictures or they would kill us. Later, they brought in a cow and butchered it outside the gate. Dinner was skimpy and we settled down for a nervous sleep. We got up about 5:30 am and got ready. |
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