Have you ever heard a story that made your hair stand on end or made you shiver on a hot summer day or made you kneel down in that very instance a offer a prayer to God??  If you haven´t, please, read on.

Just a few days ago, we headed to a road on the outskirts of our city, sharing stories, contacting those persons on the street, and searching for investigators to teach.  Unfortunatly, I felt like every house that we knock, every gate that we came to, contained a person of another religon that totally rejected us or began trying to sell his/her religon to us.  Man, religon is so different nowadays!  It´s more of a business than anything!  To those who are truely devote, it´s a way of life, but only to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints is it the way of ETERNAL LIFE.  

Sorry, I got distracted.  Either way, a slight drizzle began and everybody began giving up and without second thought turned their backs on the houses in front of them and headed back home with excuses that `we can´t work in the rain.  We´ll be wet and miserable.  Other people won´t let us in.` Without asking questions, I turned and began knocking doors (to my surprise the other Elder were quite annoyed with me).  As a result, everyone began working again.  The rain turned into a torrent and thankfully Elder Torres and I entered in a garage and began to give a lesson on who we were and the importance of prayer and family.  As we spoke of the fulness of the gospel to this man and his family, the torrent outside became a tempest.  Everytime we said a phrase a lightning bolt would flash and a resounding BOOM would rattle our teeth.  Near the climax of our lesson, I saw out of the corner of my eye a burning white bolt heading in our direction...then suddenly, without explanation turn to hit the roof, under which we sat!  The noise was instantaneous and the force of the lightning reaction sent a wall of compacted air that almost sent us sprawling.  

As we finished the lesson we ended with a prayer and the lightning stopped.  We ran out in the rain and met up with the other couple of Elders under an overhang.  Elder Rojas acclaimed that he and Elder Anizio were almost hit by lightning (passing near his neck).  Elder Torres and I looked at eachother and immediatly teared up, recounting that we had been in the same situation with lightning falling all around us, being `blocked` by an unseen power. 

There are souls to save in that area and I honestly think that our common enemy was directing those bolts to impede or destroy us.  Yet God was truly on our side protecting us.  Without Him, I am without doubt that all 4 Elders of Castro would be in the hospital.  I give thanks to him everyday that I live.

Elder Johnson