How many miracles did you see on your mission? How many happened on preparation day? Sister Jana Shumway from Lehi, Utah, and Sister Heather Munford of North Odgen, Utah, usually leave their apartment in Albany, Oregon, before 10 a.m., spending their preparation day preparing for the next week by doing things like getting groceries and writing their families.
However, this Monday, June 13, 2016, it just so happened that they got a later start than normal— a fact that might seem insignificant in the daily / weekly routine of missionaries, but one that ended up saving the lives of two women in their neighborhood.
At 10:10 a.m.their apartment began to fill with smoke. “It was more smoking than flames, but it was pretty bad smoke,” Sister Shumway told the Democrat-Herald. Then, Sister Shumway heard yelling from the two older women who lived next door.
The sister missionaries quickly went to their neighbors to help them escape the blaze, but they struggled to get both women out on their own. Just then, a passerby in a car pulled over and rushed in to help. She grabbed one of the older women, carrying her to safety while the sister missionaries helped the other woman escape.
“It really was a blessing for that lady to be here,” Sister Shumway told the Democrat-Herald. “It was all a blessing. Everyone’s okay and that’s the biggest thing.”
The Albany Fire Department and Police Department both responded to the scene, and though one woman was taken to the hospital in an ambulance, no one was seriously injured. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but Sister Munford recognizes that “Everything that happened was a miracle.”
We are glad that both the sisters were safe and that they were able to witness such a miracle while in their daily missionary routine.
Story adapted from LDS Living and the Democrat-Herald.
