In the rush of things last week I never got to share our experience so here it is now, even though I’m a week late!
My companion and I had just gotten settled in from our day, it was around 10 o’clock and we were enjoying a nice bowl of rice and spam when the table began shaking and the window’s rattling. The floor moved under our feet in what felt like a wave… was that an earthquake? Then again, another wave rolled under our feet and this time we got up from the table and ran over to the front door to stand near the frame (thanks to the movie Cinderella Story with Hilary Duff in it that I knew to do that haha). Of course of all things I grabbed my bowl of rice & spam over with me as we waited for the shaking to stop. Shortly after, all went quiet. This was when we received our first prompting to call the Wilde’s, who are the senior couple from Utah called as the branch president for our branch here on Ta’u. Figuring they’d be asleep and were just fine, we didn’t.
We heard movements outside and opened the door to check what was going on… truck after truck of people were zooming up our hill. Then it occurred to us, TSUNAMI. Our thoughts went to President and Sister Wilde whose backyard is beachfront. It wasn’t long after when they showed up at our door, nightgowns and all wishing to take refuge at our home which is on high ground. We hurried them in through the door and just hugged. They too had felt the earthquake and didn’t think much about it, the village they said seemed quiet and the warning alarms didn’t go off for a Tsunami. They shared with us though that just as they were saying their nightly prayer together, there was a loud banging on their door. We rushed to the door to find a man there who screamed – “Tsunami! Go!” Then the man ran off to alert someone else.
Sister Wilde grabbed the car keys and the bug spray and got in the car. President said he decided to grab his suitcase and a box of food. He figured if there really was a tsunami, he would want some clothes and some food. They got in the car and sped up to the top of the hill where our house is located.
We sure were glad to see them… Right after we got in and were sitting down, our district leader over in Fitiuta on the other side of the island called. He had received a call from the zone leader, Elder Richards in Ofu, who had received a call from the assistant to the President, in Upolu. Elder Buchanan said that we were instructed to all be together. President Wilde and I did not think it was a good idea to drive 30 minutes over, especially when the road would have put us right along the water! In the tsunami zone. So we told the Elders to find higher ground (sorry). They are already up pretty high, but they decided to spend the night on the land the church owns next to the LMS church. They had hurried out so didn’t grab a blanket, pillow, not even a mosquito net. They didn’t get any sleep that night.
We felt blessed and gave thanks to our Heavenly Father for the safety He had provided for us that night. The Wilde’s stayed the night with us (good thing Pres had brought that suitcase, right?) They left the next morning just before seven. Needless to say, none of us really got much sleep. I had been receiving calls from the other missionaries all night long. Finally at 5:30 this morning, the AP’s called to give the clearance to the missionaries to return to their homes.
We went to the Farmers Market the next morning where we heard the news that the earthquake registered 6.9 on the Richter scale, with an epicenter one hundred miles south of Apia. No damage done, an earthquake registered at 7.1 is when we would have heard the Tsunami alarms go off around the island. Grateful all is well and no damage was done! What did I learn? For one, follow first promptings, and always be prepared. This time is so short, it truly is!
Sister Coggins - Samoa Apia Mission 