Stories: Always Protected
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| February 27, 2011. Elder Edwards and I were headed home from an appointment with Solomon, our investigator with a baptismal date. We had had a good, Spirit-filled lesson with him and were driving home with smiles on our faces. We chatted lightly as we drove, the cool night air pouring through the open windows. We rolled them up as we turned onto the busier and faster 41st Street, but our happy mood continued none the less.
We had no idea what awaited ahead of us.
We came to a part of 41st where there are only two lanes. We were headed West when we were stopped by a car turning into an apartment complex on our right. Nothing felt unusual, in fact there was a line of 4 cars in the other lane headed East that were stopped aswell as the lead turned into the apartments. The car in front of us turned right and we accelerated to continue home. We had almost passed the last car in the other lane when I saw it happen. A small blue SUV headed East slammed into the stopped gray car on my left at full speed. There was a terrible CRUNCH as metal twisted and glass flew in all directions.
"We just saw an accident!" was all I could say.
We hurriedly parked the car in the neighborhood on our right and ran back to the scene of the accident. A horn was blaring in our ears as we approached the man in the grey car and a small group of people.
"Are you okay?" I asked him, looking into his bewildered eyes.
He stared at me for a moment before he asked,"Is that my horn?"
He fumbled around to find the key to turn off the vehicle - but it was gone, broken off or twisted into the dashboard. It was then that I took in the magnitude of the accident. The blue SUV had smashed into the stopped grey car at probably 50 MPH or more. It hit him slightly off-center towards the right. The blue car took most of the force and skid slightly sideways, forcing the front-left of the blue car into the car in front of it. The SUV's momentum was carried to the other cars in the line causing three rear-enders and pushing the blue car completely parallel to the road, facing South. The blue car was completly totaled. The trunk was forced into the back seat: a licence plate was the only identifiable piece of the back bumper. That was enough to total the car, but the front left corner was so smashed that it alone would have been enough. The other cars were idling and beat up - but they weren't crushed like the blue car was.
The man was bleeding and very confused, but ambulances, police cars, and firetrucks showed up shortly and carried him away on a stretcher along with two other people in other cars involved in the accident.
The woman driving the SUV was uninjured, but was having much difficulty walking - because she was extremely intoxicated.
A police officer asked her what had happened and she replied that she didn't know.
"You didn't hit that car right there?" the officer asked.
"No!" the lady replied. "That's not my car!"
"You weren't driving that car?"
The conversation went on like that for a while. At one point the woman tried to get into another car that really wasn't hers. Her husband, who was in the passenger seat confirmed that she was drunk and that he knew of her condition.
We stuck around for the police to record what we saw. It was in the light of the ambulances and and firetrucks that I had an incredible realization. Chills went up and down my spine as I considered the alternatives: If she would have strayed into the west-bound lane - she would have hit us head-on.
And we would have died.
My dear Family and Friends, your prayers for our safety are answered! Many times we may not even know how close we come to disaster, but I testify to you that God hears your prayers and we are protected by His angels every day. I have not seen them, but I have seen their fruit. Their fruit is three people injured instead of two people dead. Their fruit is two missionaries returning home safe every night after tracting in the ghetto. I am their fruit. My mission on this earth is not yet finished, and your prayers become our armor and our shield as we wield the sword of the gospel to strike down Satan and his dark forces. I testify to you that God hears our prayers. I testify that He is in control, and he moves the heavens for our sake. He leads and guides this great work we are in, and we teach and accomplish nothing save by His infinite power.
I have said it in nearly every report to you, but I repeat it again today with renewed testimony and gratitude: thank you for your prayers. I testify that they are answered. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Sincerely,
Your Protected Elder Samuel EliKeola Bartholomew |
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